well, here's another chapter. hopefully wont take as long to get the next chapter out as it did for this one, but eh, who knows?
Max shivered as he stared up at the massive stone structure of the barrow, half obscured by a swirling snowstorm. In particular, he was watching the torch wielding people patrolling it from an out cropping of rocks. They were well above the snow and treeline now, and he was utterly freezing. If it wasn't for the obvious people at the barrow, he would have been using magic to summon forth flames by now. M'rissi was beside him, shivering uncontrollably, her teeth chattering. Ranger though seemed hardly affected by the cold at all.
"Well, what should we do?" Max watched his breath turn into mist before him as he spoke, still watching the patrolling people.
"I could get closer. Give us a better idea what we are looking at. Bandits are my best guess. Someone did rob the general store in Riverwood and headed up here." Ranger spoke calmly and evenly, Max glancing his way to see his eyes flicking all across the structure.
"What if they spot you?"
"They won't."
"You're wearing a green cloak in snow."
"They won't." Ranger responded with the exact same words, more firmly now as he grabbed the clasp for his cloak. The air around his hand seemed to bend and swirl for several moments before the cloak suddenly changed colors, matching the rocks behind him perfectly.
"Okay. Point taken."
"Whatever we do, make it quick. M'rissi is freezing out here! She thinks her tail might fall off soon!" Max smirked at M'rissi, the girl having buried herself in the hood of her fur coat. Of course, it wasn't much of a coat, as it had no armpits and only covered her upper arms and body, her lower arms and legs still exposed. Until a few minutes ago, she had been using a blanket to help ward off the cold until they had seen the sentries.
Ranger slipped out of the rocks, his cloak melding and changing with the terrain, nothing like the invisibility spell Max had seen in the past. Invisibility spells tended to make the object under them shimmer like water or glass. His cloak, though it was shifting colors, was still visibly there, it just made him blend into the terrain perfectly. It likely wouldn't have worked indoors, but within him leaving a few paces from them, Max had already lost track of him.
Hmm, neat trick with the cloak. I wonder how it works… is it a spell he cast or an enchantment on the cloak? He shrugged as he let his attention return to the sentries, watching them patiently as M'rissi chattered away beside him. Several minutes passed, but sure enough, Ranger seemed to materialize out of the snow a few dozen paces away, Max nearly drawing his blade upon seeing him.
"Five total, definitely bandits. Two archers up near the door, one mace and shield guarding the main stairs, one with a long sword and one with a spear roaming. Overheard them talking about more inside." He sat back down beside Max as he spoke, his bow resting in his lap.
"Archers would be tricky to deal with head on. I could take at least one guard on by myself but three with archers? I think we're screwed."
"Directly sure. Think you could strike up a conversation? Get the melee fighters near you?" Ranger responded as calmly as he had been, his eyes fixed on Max.
"Sure, but what good will that do us? I can't take on three people at once. Not without some sort of back up."
"I'll take M'ri up there under my cloak, the snowdrifts made a path that I can get up on the structure behind the archers with, if we're careful. Once you have their attention, we could take out the archers quietly, then take out one or two of the melee fighters from afar before they even know what's going on." His voice was still eerily calm and even, never once wavering.
"Would work by me, if you think you two can really get up there before they gut me like a fish."
"M'ri, are you up for this?" Ranger shifted his attention to the half-Kajiit who was still shivering madly.
"i-is it w-warrmerrr under-rr your cloak than out herrre?" she stuttered that out, her teeth still chattering.
"Eh, a little."
"Then what are we waiting forrr!"
"Well, let's get going then. Wish me luck!" Max let out a soft chuckle, making sure his heater shield was still snuggly lashed onto his forearm before he stood and started fromping through the thick snow toward the ruins. He wanted desperately to see if Ranger and M'rissi were moving yet but that would have meant looking back and potentially giving them away.
"We got someone coming!" one of the bandit sentries shouted that out, the bandits rushing toward him from their locations. Even the two archers moved down the stairs from the main entrance.
"Hello! I saw your torches and thought I might wait out this storm with you all!" he shouted that back to them as he stopped at the edge to the first flight of stairs leading up to the structure. The three melee fighters, equipped exactly as Ranger had said they would be, arrayed themselves on the stairs, weapons at the ready. The bandit with the shield and mace took front and center, smirking at Max.
"Now why would we do that? We don't know ye! Ye could be a bandit for all we know!" his was smirking deviously as he spoke, one of the other bandits chuckling.
"Well, I don't have any gold, but I have some mead I could share! Make the time go faster at least!"
"Or we could just kill you and take all your stuff. No one would even know up here. And that's a mighty nice shield ya got there!" as the bandit spoke, Max spotted M'rissi seemingly appearing from nowhere up near the main entrance, her bow in hand and an arrow nocked. If he squinted, he could faintly see Ranger's own longbow, already raised with an arrow nocked.
"Well, that's not very nice of you!" he tried to buy them a few more seconds of calm, seeing one of the archers, a female, nocking her own arrow. There was a flash of movement before an arrow ripped through the back of the woman's throat, any noise she might have vocally made lost to the wind. Her body clattering down the stairs on the other hand caused one of the melee fighters to begin turning. A moment later, the second archer had an arrow buried in his back, screaming out in pain.
In that instant, Max sprang forward, his blade slithering from it's scabbard as he shield rammed the mace wielder, the startled Nord unable to react as he tried to process both sudden threats at once. Max easily drove him to the ground and jabbed his sword into his chest, the man screaming out. The spear wielding woman to his left moved to engage Max, but an arrow buried itself in her shoulder before she could.
The last melee fighter instead turned his attention up the stairs to Ranger and M'rissi, managing to swat the arrow fired at him aside with his blade, the shaft disappearing into the snow. But that gave Max an opening to slash the back of the man's knee. As soon as the man was on his knees, screaming in pain, Max rammed the blade through his throat, silencing him. With him down, Max quickly and easily silenced the other two bandits, Ranger doing the same up on the stairs with the archer M'rissi shot.
"Well, that went smoother than I expected. We should take any coins on them and get inside."
"Are you really thinking about looting them!?" Max immediately retorted with that, stunned by how calmly Ranger had shouted that down to him, already searching the male archer's body.
"Yes. They won't need any septims where they are going, and would have done the same to us. And it helps us stay alive. It's just the way the world is." Ranger was again calm, lightly tossing a coin purse before he dropped it into his satchel, M'rissi already looting the female archer.
"Alright, fine…" Max sighed as he followed suit with the corpses around him, not particularly happy with what he was doing.
Can She just go back under Ranger's cloak? It was warm under there… M'rissi shivered in the cold wind, feeling almost as though she had frozen solid. Every inch of her had ice crystals freezing her fur together, only to be melted and refrozen by her body heat and the wind. The trio had made their way up the stairs to the entrance of the barrow.
"Alright, as soon as we open this door, they will know we are here. I think our best bet is if you and me rush in and tie down any bandits inside, while M'rissi stays back and takes any shots she can with her bow. Sound like a plan Ranger?" Max spoke shakily to Ranger, though M'rissi couldn't tell if it was from the cold or fear.
"Yeah, sounds reasonable. I'll take right." Ranger responded as he slung his bow over his shoulder, his own blade singing out of its scabbard.
M'rissi got behind the two of them, who were placing themselves on each of the barrow's double doors. Once positioned, she nocked an arrow to her bow, the trio exchanging a nod. Immediately after, Ranger and Max rammed the doors open, rushing into the building. As soon as the doors had opened, warm air blasted out, M'rissi hesitating as she enjoyed the sudden warmth. That hesitation was only for a fleeting moment as she rushed after them.
There were only two bandits inside, near the back of the large entry hall. Both looked up when the door opened, startled. M'rissi didn't waste a breath, raising the bow and drawing back on the string. The motion felt extremely natural and practiced to her, something that had startled her the first time she had shot a bow. It felt so… familiar that there was no doubt she had known how to shoot a bow before losing her memory. As she let her breath out, the she let the string slip from her fingers, the arrow leaping across the room and burying itself in the female of the two bandit's chest, the woman dropping to the floor instantly.
The male of the pair managed to draw his sword, but it was already too late for him. Max and Ranger reached him at the same time, Max using his shield to deflect the nord's attack away while Ranger slid his blade across the nord's throat, opening it in an instant. The nord dropped his blade, stumbling for a moment as he tried to stem the flow of blood from his throat to no avail, just before collapsing.
"Alright, from here forward, M'rissi, watch our rear, Max, take front. If the halls are big enough, I'll move abreast with you. If not, I'll switch back to my bow and be ready to shoot by you." Ranger spoke as he cleaned his blade, sliding it away.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll keep watch while you two search these two." Max walked to the back of the room as he spoke, his focus on the hallway entrance back there.
It didn't take long to take the gold pouches from the two bandits, M'rissi's satchel already considerably heavier. Once they were finished, they moved to Max, a simple nod sending them down into the winding corridors of the barrow. The whole building had an eerie air to it, as though there was a sort of static in the air. All of her fur was standing on end, sending uncomfortable tingling sensations throughout her body, especially where she was wearing clothing.
"M'rissi doesn't like it here… the air feels… wrong." M'rissi shuddered, despite the fact that was warm enough in here for puddles of water to be on the floor.
"Always does in these old tombs. Dad always said it was because of the embalming agents used in ancient times. Keep in mind, the less we disturb the ruin, the less likely the daugr will awaken. If they do, destroy the head. Either cut it off or smash it. Arrow might work." Ranger spoke very quietly, M'rissi seeing him stepping very gingerly as he slipped his bow from his back, the corridor thin enough that Max could block most of it.
"Alright. Sounds good." Max voice shook slightly as the trio continued down the path, leading deeper and deeper into the mountain.
M'rissi quivered as she walked behind Ranger, fighting to control her breaths as she routinely glanced back behind them. A strange hollow sound registered in their ears, like a breath forced out of massive lungs, the air in the hallway shifting toward them. M'rissi let out a yelp, nearly dropping her bow to wrap her arms around one of Ranger's.
"Uhhh, M'rissi? It was just a noise…" Ranger had an amused tint to his voice, M'rissi unable to not glance at his eyes. Not that she could see them in this light.
"S-Shut up! She thought you might fall over from fright!" She snapped that back as she let go of him, stepping back from him.
"Whatever you say fluffbut." Ranger's hooded shifted back and forth as he shook his head, the trio beginning to move on.
"HELP! SOMEBODY, GET ME AWAY FROM THIS THING!" a screaming voice echoed back to them before they could travel more than ten feet. The trio exchanged a glance before they took off at a sprint through the halls. After only moments, the stone floor started to become covered with thick, sticky webs, M'rissi feeling it tugging at her boots with every step. Ahead of them, the hallway was totally occluded by the white webs, the trio slowing to a stop.
"Just cut through it Max." Ranger spoke quickly, and surprisingly calmly. If M'rissi had tried saying anything, she would have been stuttering every word.
"Better idea." Max spoke as he released the grip on his shield, the shield twisting on its forearms straps as he held his open palm toward the webs. A moment later, flames leapt from his hand, burning the webs out of existence. As soon as he was finished, he returned his grip and rushed past.
The other side of the webbing was another larger chamber, looking like a portion of the tunnels had collapsed. Every inch of the walls was covered in webbing, several corpse sized bundles hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a massive spider, larger than a bear. Wh-what is tha-tt!
M'rissi took a step back from the massive insect, her eyes wide in fright. Neither Ranger or Max stopped, Ranger drawing his bow and loosing an arrow straight into the spider's eye. A strange shrill squeal ripped from the spider with the wound, it staggering several steps back.
"Stay mobile, this thing can spit poison that will paralyze you!" Ranger was already stepping to the side as he shouted, Max rushing right up to the spider and swinging for its head.'
The spider skittered to the side to avoid Max's swing, unable to back up again. This caused the downward swing to slice a leg clean off, the creature squealing again. Max didn't miss a beat, holding his shield hand out as he had earlier, fire spewing forth and burning the thick hairs off the spider's body. A second arrow plunged into the creature's head from Ranger's bow, the spider trying to scrabble away from the flames as it shook it's head in pain.
M'rissi can't just stand here! She has to fight it too! M'rissi nocked her own arrow, drawing and loosing it in one smooth motion. It snapped from her bow and plunged into the creature's massive thorax, even it's fletching disappearing inside. The creature's screams intensified from the shot as strange blue hued fluid spurted out of the wound.
"Nice shot M'rissi! Ranger, I'll keep it on the run, you see if you can't kill it!" Max shouted as he pressed after the spider, still spewing flames from his hand.
M'rissi prepped and fired another arrow as Ranger slung his bow, his sword singing out from its scabbard once more. The spider was skittering around the edge of the chamber, it's back legs actually scrabbling along the wall. Her second arrow had disappeared into the spider's thorax, just like the first.
Ranger though, ran for the wall the spider was scrabbling across, jumping at the wall ahead of the spider. As soon as he hit the wall, he pushed off it in a second jump, more for the spider now. This caused him to land on top of the spider, Ranger ramming his blade into the spider's thorax and forcing the blade back and forth. The creatures scream intensified before it collapsed, it's blood and guts leaking from the massive wound Ranger had opened in it.
"Damn! This is one of the largest Frostbite spiders I've ever seen…" Ranger sounded shocked as he slipped off the corpse, walking back toward Max as he tried to clean his blade.
"How big do they normally get?" Max flipping his sword in his hand and setting the point in the ground, panting slightly.
"Maybe a large dog at the biggest. Occasionally a little bigger. They don't normally live lo-"
"RANGER!" M'rissi screamed in a panic as she saw the spider try to lunge for Ranger, guts and gore sloshing from its thorax.
Max was quick to respond though, dropping his blade entirely to grab Ranger's collar and drag Ranger behind him before ramming the bottom point of his shield onto the spider's head, forcing it to the ground as he crushed it. Its legs squirmed and shook for several moments as he repeated his strike several times, slowly crushing the head more and more until it cracked open, grey tissue spurting out the sides. With that, the legs stopped squirming, simply twitching incessantly.
"By the nine that was close… Thanks Max…" Ranger took several visibly shaky breaths.
"O'course Ranger." Max immediately responded, the pair both breathing like racehorses.
"I-Is it dead!? By Akatosh… Quick, cut me down from here!" M'rissi looked to the sound of the voice, finding a dark elf struggling against webbing he was enthralled in. he had a blade in hand, but it was clear he couldn't even think to cut anything with it, the blade so covered in webbing that he couldn't move it. "Come on! Don't just stand there! I know the secret to this tomb, the door, how to unlock it, the treasure! I'll share it with all of you if you just cut me down!" the man shouted again, his voice dripping with venom and impatience.
"Alright, just give me a sec, calm down." Max spoke as he moved to retrieve his blade, having to give it a visibly hefty tug to get it free of the webbing. Even free of the floor, it was covered in wispy webs. "Well, I don't think I can just cut you free. This stuff sticks like nobody's business…"
He stared at his blade for several moments before closing his eyes. He took several deep breaths before flames suddenly enthralled his blade, burning away the webs. "There, this should do the trick."
"Hmm. Creative. I like it." Ranger spoke up from beside Max as the pair began to make their way toward the dark elf. M'rissi moved a little closer herself, but stayed back, her instincts screaming for her to be wary of the man. Just for good measure, she pulled another arrow from her quiver and left it nocked to her string, ready to be drawn and loosed in a flash.
Several swift cuts later, the elf fell out of the webs, his weapon left stuck. He was still covered in webs but was now able to move. "Thank you! I can't believe I was nearly eaten by that thing." He stood as he spoke, trying to clear as many webs from him as he could, but the more he tugged and pulled the, more the stuff was simply moved elsewhere before he gave up.
"No problem. Where are we going from here? We really only want one thing from this place." Max was calm and friendly with his words.
"Through the webs I was just stuck in! there's a path through there! Damn spider knocked me into the web before I could fight it then shat that web all over me!"
"Spiderweb isn't spider shit. Spider shit smells a lot worse." Ranger boredly mentioned that, seeming calm, but M'rissi could still see his slightly lowered and ready stance.
"Well, guess I gotta keep cutting." Max shrugged as he got to work, slowly burning and cutting his way through the webbing.
Max followed the bandit, eyeing him suspiciously. He knew the man was affiliated with the bandits they had been fighting earlier but was content to just let him lead the way. That said, he was keeping himself ready for any sudden action on the bandit's part. The bandit had been chattering almost ceaselessly, his eyes darting around like crazy. He was clearly waiting for a moment to get away from them or stab them in the back.
Ranger stepped up beside Max as they walked, gently bumping his elbow before gesturing at the bandit's waistline. Specifically, the golden ornamental claw hanging there. He curtly nodded back to Ranger in acknowledgement, Ranger falling further back once more.
"So… what's the shiny claw for?" Max calmly said that, shocked at how non-chalant it was.
"O-Oh, that? I-it's just a good luck charm I carry! Nothing important!" as he spoke, they were entering another long chamber. The strange smell Max had noticed when they first entered was now overpowering, the walls lined with alcoves. Each alcove had the dried out husk of a body, some in full rusted armor, some completely wrapped in linens.
I do not like the look of this place… never liked the ideas of crypts in the first place, actually able to see the bodies is definitely worse… his eyes were so focused on the corpses that he only caught what the bandit was doing out of the corner of his eyes, the man grabbing one of the small urns and chucking it at the wall.
"As if I would ever share the treasure with any of you! Have fun with these draugr!" the bandit cackled as he took off running, Max stepping to follow him.
"Leave it Max! Bigger problems!" Ranger shouted at him, Max hearing both Ranger's and M'rissi's bows thrumming. All around him, the corpses were rolling out of the alcoves, drawing blades and axes. Their eyes glowed a brilliant blue as each corpse creaked to it's feet. One corpse was still in it's alcove, one of Ranger's arrows through the side of it's head. Another had an arrow sticking from the chest. There had to be at least a dozen of the corpses that had awoken, many others still in their alcoves.
His gut lurched as he quickly rushed to the two of them, the trio back pedaling into the hallway. Ranger and M'rissi loosed more arrows past him as they backed into the hallway. M'rissi missed, and Ranger's arrow tore a jaw off one of the corpses, but neither stopped one.
This is bad… Max couldn't help that thought, doing everything he could to not panic. They were up against nearly a dozen undead after all.
A series of screams rang out ahead of them, along with the sickly sounds of blades ripping through flesh as the bandit somewhere out of their line of sight screamed for help and mercy. His screams eventually fell off, almost certainly dead.
Meanwhile, the closest corpse to Max took a swing with its axe, Max deflecting the attack into the wall with his shield as he stabbed his blade through it's neck. He felt the spine sever from the strike, the blue glow of its eyes dropping away as he yanked the blade free. Alright, that worked…
"Max, down!" Ranger's shout caused him to drop to a knee, a pair of arrows whipping over his head a moment later. This time, both arrows plunged cleanly into draugr, one straight into a draugr's forehead, the other into one's throat. The one with the arrow in the throat wasn't fazed by the arrow, the other dropping like a sack.
"M'rissi! You gotta hit high head! Just hitting the jaw won't stop it!" Ranger's voice was still calm, clear and easy to hear. Despite his youth, his calmness in tense situations belied a level of experience surpassing Max's own.
"Sh-She's trying!" M'rissi's voice on the other hand was shaky and screechy, the girl clearly terrified. She was acting despite it though, something Max respected full heartedly.
Max rose back up, shield forward and ready to block any attacks. The draugr were being forced into pairs to try and attack them in the hallway, Max mentally thanking whatever divine had allowed all three of them to remember this plan of theirs. The next two draugr were both wielding blades. Max was unable to really counter either of them, blocking their swings with his sword and shield before scampering further back. In doing so, he had forgotten about the steps behind him, his heel painfully slamming into one and causing him to fall to his rump. In almost perfect harmony, two arrows ripped over his head, dropping the two draugr.
"Come on Max, we're counting on you!" Ranger yanked Max to his feet by the collar of his vest, Max immediately getting ready for another attack.
The draugr's certainly didn't disappoint, a draugr with a two handed axe swinging wildly for his shield. It slammed into him with enough force that he was slammed into the wall. The draugr was an adept enough fighter that it was already preparing a second swing, aiming for Max's exposed head. Max's heart leapt into his throat as he panicked, barely bringing his shield up in time. The impact shook all the way down his body from his arm, pain lighting up across his forearm. He could see the axe just an inch or so above his scalp, having clanged into the wall and broke a chunk out of the stone.
Max heard the thrum of a bow a moment later, the draugr beginning to fall back as he sprang to his feet, trying to be ready for the next one once more. The falling draugr hit the draugr behind it, the second draugr trying to shove past the corpse. Max used the moment to line up a beautiful slice through the draugr's throat, cleaving the head off. Without missing a step, he rushed forward to slam his shield into the next draugr and jam it into the wall. At the same time, he deflected a thrust from another draugr's sword, swiveling his blade around as the draugr's shoved on his cross guard to try to slice that draugr's head off. His blade was stopped in that draugr's spine, but the corpse fell still. Its weight ripped his sword from his hand, Max mentally cursing. Arrows ripped by on either side of his head, one into the draugr he pinned, the other into the remaining three. Both found the draugr's skulls and killed them, Max dancing back as he prepared to fight with only his shield.
"Two more, don't miss M'rissi!" Ranger called out, Max taking that as his cue to crouch. He was right in doing so, as a moment later, two more arrows ripped overhead, dropping the two draugr. "Get your sword Max. There is going to be more ahead." Though Ranger sounded calm, one glance at him showed how badly he was shaking. M'rissi was even worse beside him. Of course, he himself was trembling from both fear and pain.
"Ye-Yeah… okay…" Max took a deep breath before ripping his blade free of the draugr. He cautiously moved forward through the chamber, trying to step quietly to keep from disturbing any more of the corpses. The hall straight ahead that the bandit had disappeared beyond veered to the right, Max readying his shield and resting his blade atop it as he moved around the corner.
The sight on the other side made bile rush up into Max's throat, burning at the back of his throat as he did his best to keep it there. The bandit was literally in several different pieces, seemingly every drop of blood that should have been in his body spattered across the walls. Around him were four draugr, not one reacting to Max despite staring straight at him.
Max took another shaky deep breath as he edged forward, hearing Ranger and M'rissi's bows draw back. "Ready back there?"
"Yes." With Ranger's one worded whisper, Max dropped to a knee again, arrow's lancing into two of the draugr. They both collapsed, Max launching forward. One of the draugr never had a chance to react, Max's blade smashing into its exposed head. The issue was, his poorly aimed strike meant his blade was now lodged in the draugr's skull. Thinking quickly, he moved to kick out the knee of the other draugr with his dominant foot. This forced him to pivot on his non-dominant foot, his boot losing traction in the slick blood he was now standing in.
Pain howled through his body from the harsh drop, knocking his breath away. In spite of that, he continued his momentum for the kick straight into the back of the draugr's knee. It dropped the draugr to its other knee, knocking all of the power out of the draugr's return swing. Even so, the blade slammed down on his side, stopping on his chainmail vest. He had barely moved his unarmored arm out of the way in time. A moment later, a hunting knife slammed into the draugr's head, sinking down to the hilt as the draugr fell to the ground.
Max's heart raced as he searched his aching side for any sign of damage, only feeling some sharp aches. Though his vest had a cut in it, the chainmail beneath had held, Max breathing a sigh of relief.
"You alright Max?" Ranger spoke as he walked over the body parts, yanking the hunting knife from the draugr's head.
"Yeah, surprisingly." He gingerly got up as he spoke, realizing his whole back and side were now coated in blood, shivering at the thought.
"C-Can w-we ke-ep goi-ing please? M'rissi does not like this…" she gulped several times as she skittered around the mess, her eyes averted.
"Yeah, lets." Max yanked his blade free before grabbing the now blood covered claw off the remains.
The chamber they were in had four sarcophaguses in the first portion of it, the lids on the floor in front of them and empty. The rest of the room was a pair of long murals leading to a strange door. The center of the door had a single round plinth, a molded shape much like the claw in Max's hand. Above it was a series of six rings, covered in small glyphs depicting animals and items alike.
"Well now what?" Max stared at the door having no idea what to do. He figured it had something to do with the claw in his hand, given the imprint in the center.
"I have no idea. I've never seen one of these before…" Ranger gently pushed on one of the rings, able to rotate it.
Max dropped his eyes to the claw once more, turning it over in his hand several times to see a series of disks along the palm. In each disk was a glyph, seeing matching glyphs on the door. "I think I have it…"
"Really? Knowing the ancient Nords, this thing has some sort of trap if you screw up…" Ranger gave max a concerned look as he spoke, his face lit up by the strange natural light of the chamber.
"I think." Max spoke as he began turning the rings to match the symbols. Once he was done, he stepped back from the door and waited, biting his lip.
"nothing's happening…" M'rissi's voice echoed slightly in the room, Max not even glancing at her.
"Try putting the claw in that plinth. It looks like it could move." Ranger gestured at the circle in the center.
"Well, worth a shot…" he gulped, taking one more look at the claw before pressing it into the plinth. The plinth sunk into the door, Max feeling it turn slightly on a track before dust rumbled off the door. He barely managed to pull the claw away before the door dropped into the floor, exposing a massive natural cave behind it. As soon as the door opened, a strange rhythmic chanting echoed at Max from the far side of the chamber.
"Please tell me I'm not the only one that hears that chanting…" Max muttered that to himself as he stepped over the threshold, feeling Ranger take the claw from him.
"Chanting? M'rissi doesn't hear any chanting…"
"Me neither Max. are you sure you didn't get hit in the head?" Ranger's question earned him a glare from Max before the trio pressed into the room. The closer they got to the back wall, the more the chanting seemed to get louder and louder, resonating across the entire chamber. Past a small natural underground spring was a raised platform, a single extremely ornate sarcophagus on it. Beyond that sarcophagus was a carved curved wall in the cave wall, words written all over it. One of the foreign words seemed to be glowing to Max.
"Alright. We're looking for that dragon stone. I hope it's actually here… or that we haven't missed it some how." He gulped once more as they approached, his eyes fixed to the glowing word. The other two split away from him, as he walked by the sarcophagus to the wall, feeling simply drawn to the wall. As he got closer, the word glowed more and more vibrantly, the chanting increasing to an ear splitting roar. Suddenly, light spilled from the word in the wall, spiraling toward him. He let out a startled scream, trying to hide behind his shield. But he found himself unharmed. If anything, his aches and pains seemed to fade away, a sort of warmth he couldn't describe filling him.
What in oblivion is this!?
"Max!" he glanced over as Ranger rushed almost to him, a panicked expression on his face. He could hear M'rissi on Max's other side as well. "A whole bunch of light just ripped out of that wall and into you… you're kinda glowing now!"
"You could see that too?" as he responded, he realized the chanting had stopped, the word no longer glowing. A few moments later, his skin stopped glowing as well, the warmth falling away.
"Yeah… you feel alright, you look normal now." Ranger crept closer to Max, visibly inspecting him.
"I feel fine. Bett-" Max didn't get to finish, hearing the lid of the sarcophagus crash off. Stunned he turned back to face it to see a draugr in ornate armor clamber out. It's eyes seemed to glow with an insane intensity that he had never seen before, like a pair of brilliant blue flames.
"Fus-Ro-Daaaa!" the draugr screamed at them, energy visibly rocketing out of its mouth and slamming into them. The energy lifted Max off his feet and slammed him into the stone wall. Pain ripped across his body, his world going black for a split moment as his head struck the stone. But it was only a moment, as he retched them open to find himself on his side, the draugr having taken only a step toward them.
He scrambled to his feet, readying his sword as he heard Ranger do the same. "You good Ranger?"
"No. I think my wrist is broken. Have to fight lefty right now…" he could hear the pain in Ranger's words, glancing his way.
"M'rissi?" Max called that out as he glanced her way, seeing her still in a crumpled heap against the wall.
Crap! She's down! Talos, please don't let her be dead! Max immediately shifted himself between the draugr and M'rissi. Ranger's hurt, M'rissi's down… I need to kill this thing myself…
"Max! I need to see if M'rissi is still alive! Think you can handle it alone for a moment?"
Figures he would be thinking the same as me…
"Yeah, I got this, check on her." As he finished, he rushed forward, the draugr swinging at him with its sword. Max braced himself for a moment, feeling the sword strike his shield. The moment it touched the blade, ice exploded onto his shield, tripling it's weight and causing the steel to feel like it was burning his skin it was so cold. He screamed out as he danced back, the draugr visibly grinning as it creaked calmly forward.
Max dropped his sword as he undid the clasps for his shield's straps, feeling it rip skin from his hand where he gripped it as he dropped the steel. He cried out from the pain, looking up to see the draugr upon him again, swinging for him.
Ranger was between him and the draugr before it could strike, blocking with his blade. Ice coated the blade as Ranger stepped to the side, shoving the draugr's blade away while rotating his own point toward its throat. The counter was a success, slamming into the draugr's throat, but the ice build up along the blade made his blade about as sharp as a stick. All the blow did was stagger the draugr a few steps away.
"Max, do that thing with the fire! Might be our on-"
"Fus-Ro-Daa!" Ranger didn't get the chance to finish, as the draugr turned back to them and shouted again, Max barely diving to the side. Ranger was hit full force by the energy, sending him flying into the wall off the raised dais, splashing into the stream.
Max scrambled back to his blade and scooped it off the floor, ignoring his ice covered shield for the moment. As soon as he had his blade, he poured his magicka into his makeshift spell to wreath his blade in flame. The flames flashed into existence around the blade of his sword, almost blinding him as he advanced on the draugr. His right hand burned from the flames on his blade as his left burned from gripping the hilt with skin missing, but he grit his teeth against the pain, watching the draugr carefully.
The draugr cocked its head at the flaming blade for a moment before lunging forward, thrusting at Max. Max moved to knock the sword away and counter, but found his blade striking nothing. The draugr had turned the thrust into an over head chop, Max narrowly bringing his blade horizontal to block it. The force of the strike made him lose footing, dropping to a knee. Steam exploded from his blade as ice tried to form on it, his fire instantly burning it away. That steam blasted the draugr back from him, and clear of any counter he could have performed. This is going nowhere! I gotta find a way to beat this thing!
Max slipped back onto his feet as he circled the draugr slightly, trying to keep himself between the draugr and M'rissi. His attention was so focused on the draugr that he didn't see Ranger rushing back into the fight until the draugr was blocking his attack. Ranger managed to force the draugr's blade out of the way and jam it to the ground, but it put his blade virtually behind him. If he were to break the lock in any way, the draugr could have easily slid the blade across Ranger, and likely killed him. That's when Ranger slammed the back of his injured hand into the draugr's face, staggering it as he shrieked in pain.
Max leapt forward at the opportunity, bringing his own blade down in a murderous downward swing for its head. At the same time, he funneled every last ounce of his magicka into the flames surrounding his blade, the fire intensifying tenfold before it slammed into the draugr's helmet. It cleaved clean through, the flames melting the steel and burning away the flesh like butter and paper. Its head was completely pulverized as it staggered back, just before falling to the ground.
Panting, Max released the flamed on his blade, the steel glowing red as the tip of the blade slowly drooped to the ground. Cursing, he dropped the ruined sword, trying to shake the burning pain out of his hand, able to feel the burns on it from the flames. "Fuck! I can't believe that worked!"
"Me either…" Ranger groaned that out as he stood up, clutching his wrist.
"I'm going to do one more check for the dragon stone. I'm out of magicka so I can't heal your wrist right now. Sorry." Max gave Ranger an apologetic look, sincerely wishing he could help Ranger. The boy's face was contorted in pain as he clutched at his injured wrist.
"It's alright. I'm going to check on M'rissi. I really hope her neck isn't broken…" his voice was strained and forced as he staggered toward her crumpled form.
Max let out a sigh before moving to the sarcophagus, looking into it to nearly scream out in victory. Lying inside was a stone tablet identical to what was in the sketch he had, Max letting out a sigh of relief as he moved to pick it up.
"M'rissi is alive still Max." Ranger's words behind him drove away the last little bit of anxiety in his system, nearly collapsing right there from the relief.
"Good. I have the Dragonstone too. Let's get out of the damned cave…"