CHAPTER 7: PRINCE OF TRICKERY
As Natsu stared at the vacant space on the mountain path where Lucy had just been, his heart skipped a beat, then another. Shock dispelled the aura of flame around him, letting the frostfall whip his face like a thousand tiny needles. Her distant screams got buried under the howling wind. As he stood there frozen, steaming hot blood flooded from the troll's neck and soaked through his boots, but he couldn't feel it.
I'll try to keep you safe.
Steel clanked on steel when running steps approached him. Natsu turned his head towards the noise. His hollow gaze met Erza and her sword, adorned in dark crimson liquid that dripped from the blade.
"What happened?" the warrior questioned, wiping her sword to the dead troll's fur. "Where's Lucy?"
Natsu tried to answer, but no words slipped past the lump in his throat. His shivering fingers squeezed the dagger's hilt as he peered down in shame, realising he was standing in a pool of blood. Droplets stained his robes, the stench of iron permeated the air and made him sick. With a hollow disgust churning in his guts, he stepped away from the blood, leaving red footprints on the freshly-fallen snow.
But I couldn't keep you safe for a single day.
"Where's Lucy!?"
Erza grabbed him from the brooch of his cloak and pulled him closer. Forcing him into eye contact, she shook him vigorously, demanding an answer. Natsu raised his hands to cover his face as the tears began to well up. Lucy had been right there, behind him, not that far away, and Natsu had truly thought she'd be safe.
"There… there was a third..." he stuttered quietly, "the third troll, and it… it got her..."
"A troll got her?" There was nothing but anxious urgency in Erza's voice.
The mage nodded and held his breath. He expected her to throw her against the rocks, but instead, she put him back down gently. His legs almost gave up as his bloody boots touched the ground. The tension in his arms wore off and they fell lifelessly to his sides, for all his strength went on holding back the tears.
"It picked her up and ran downhill," Natsu whispered, nearly sobbing. He lowered his gaze again. "I… I… I didn't see it until it was too late. Now she's…"
Natsu's eyes caught something dashing at him, too fast for him to take cover. Then there was pain. Erza's armoured palm slammed against his already-bruised cheek. Natsu's head swung to the side from the force of her strike. He would've hit her back, but his arms remained limp and powerless, for he knew he deserved that. He had just one job, and he had failed miserably.
"Too late!?" Erza yelled. Natsu shuddered – even his dead mother hadn't yelled at him so loudly. "It will be too late if you just stand there like a dead tree, you goddamn idiot! Come on and let's go save her!"
Erza wasted no more time. She left Natsu alone as she rushed after the fading screams, disappearing into the blizzard. She ran past the backpack Lucy had dropped to the ground. The bag had opened in all the hustle, the spelltome had slipped out and the apples had rolled down the hill. The sight struck Natsu's heart like a dagger made of frost. Lucy's hopes for her future had lied in that simple book, and now it was there, abandoned, being buried under the snow.
Natsu took a deep, shaky breath. He placed the orcish blade back to the scabbard secured on his belt, and walked down the hill. He crouched by the spelltome, wiped the snow from its purple-dyed leather cover, felt the carved Daedric letter with his fingertips. Just last night, Lucy had summoned her first familiar, and only the gods knew where her path would lead if her talents wouldn't be left to waste, be torn apart by an angry frost troll. She could achieve anything if just given a chance.
Just yesterday, Natsu had truly thought that she'd be better off without him. He'd just lead her into unnecessary trouble, and in his mind, this proved it. But she had pleaded him to stay. She had chosen this path, knowing the dangers that loomed ahead, and still, despite everything, wanted to keep chasing her dreams of magic. And Natsu just couldn't let her walk to that path alone.
At that moment, determination pushed away the guilt in Natsu's mind. Together with Erza, he would save Lucy. Once in the past, Natsu had been a novice as well, fully in someone else's mercy. Without Igneel's help, he wouldn't have made it this far either – the Dunmer had saved him countless times, and now, it was time to carry that torch, carry that responsibility, and help others as he had been helped in the past.
The melted snow disguised the tear which ran down his face. He didn't bother to wipe it. Natsu put the tome into the backpack, tossed it on his shoulder and hurried after the warrior.
When the beast smashed her on the cave's stone floor, Lucy prayed she'd lose consciousness.
Gasping in ragged breaths, she rolled around and crawled backwards on the moist, cold ground. Tears of terror flooded down her cheeks and her throat stung from screaming, but no one seemed to have heard her. If the bear had been scared by her voice, this troll was merely annoyed by it. It stared at her with strange, feral amusement, holding its large paws on its ears.
Lucy didn't know how far the troll had taken her. At some point, the snowfall had ceased as they entered the darkness of a cave. When she'd been carried through the narrow tunnels, her head had repeatedly hit the rock walls. Trembling, Lucy touched the sharp pain on her forehead. Blood stained her fingers, dripping down into her eyes, and her mind began to dim out. If she closed her eyes, would she ever open them again?
Behind the ten-foot tall troll, light entered the cavern through a crevice in the ceiling. The faint rays illuminated the hideously-ugly beast, three eyes staring right into Lucy. Clawing the wet ground with her nails, she crawled until her back hit the wall. Her bow was missing, and she couldn't remember where she had lost it. It won't matter anyway, she thought, for this thing is going to kill me soon anyway.
Strenght left Lucy's limbs and she collapsed to the ground. She lay down on her side, face in the dirt as she tried to suffocate her sobs. Perhaps, if she played dead, the troll would leave her be. She was petrified in fear and closed her eyes as fierce steps closed in. The beast halted beside her, turned her around with its hand, but left when it noticed she was still breathing. Lucy bit her lower lip as tears poured through her closed eyes.
I should've gone to Riverwood, she thought, regrets swarming in her mind. I should've turned back, gone to the goddamn Trader and asked for work when I still had a chance, but now I'm going to die here, and no-one will ever find me.
When the steps went further, Lucy dared to look around again. She did not lift her head from the mud. The troll walked into the middle of the cavern, stopping where the ray of light hit a strange altar. Lucy focused her gaze on the altar again. It was, in fact, a statue – a horned man, holding a horned masque in its hand.
Then, the troll grunted and kneeled in front of the shrine. It lowered its head down, waving its hands as if worshipping the statue. Lucy furrowed her brows. Since when had trolls prayed to man-built shrines? Something was off here, so she observed in quiet submission. The troll's low growls repeated in similar patterns, sounding a lot like chants in a ritual. Lucy's chest spasmed in sudden anguish. Gods, will it sacrifice me to some troll-deity?
The line of the growled chants came to an abrupt end. Silence fell into the cavern. Lucy's heartbeat drummed in her ears, panicked, but her limbs remained frozen in fear. Suddenly, the troll roared. The screeching, deafening roar filled the chamber, reverberating from the stone walls as the beast flit into a berserk rage. It leapt to the air and clung to the statue's neck. Lucy's eyes widened at the sight. The troll slammed its enormous paws against the features carved in stone, again and again, and kept roaring.
Then, Lucy realised her only chance to escape was now.
Slowly, she turned her head in the opposite direction. In the darkness, there was the narrow tunnel she'd come from. If she'd follow that route, she'd make it out, back into the snowstorm, but anywhere was better than here. She could make it if she'd find Natsu and Erza – she held onto the hope that they had seen the troll capturing her, and that they'd be coming to help her. Energy began to flow through her veins, like bringing dead flesh back to life, she felt like she had to get up, she had to run, she had to live.
She wouldn't die here, not yet, not today.
While the troll assaulted the shrine, Lucy pushed herself into a crouching position. She crawled forward in the darkness, inching closer to the tunnel, and when she was close enough, she bolted. Her boots slid on the slippery wet ground. As if skating on ice, she rushed for her escape, but when she made it to the passageway, she fell. She muttered a curse when the troll went silent somewhere behind her, and as fast as she could, she got up and continued running.
She fumbled forward in the dark passage, the troll's roars echoing from the narrow walls. Her face hit the rocks ahead when the tunnel made a sudden turn, but she carried on, blood and tears mixing on her cheeks. Enraged steps followed her, closing in fast. A clash of despair and hope commenced within her rapidly-beating heart, a sudden realization that she wanted to live. She'd been drowning in the sea of grief, feeling like she'd die as well, but now, she knew that she wanted to live.
"Natsu! Erza! Help me, I'm here!" she shouted into the darkness, though she knew that no one would hear, except only if they'd found the cave and followed the beast, a small uncertain maybe. "Help me!"
And suddenly, she dashed against something soft.
She let out a whimper as arms wrapped around her, strong and secure. For a moment she thought she'd rammed into another troll, but this one was smaller and didn't smell of rotten flesh. When she recognized the familiar, smoky scent, an enormous wave of relief washed over her.
They'd come after her.
Natsu muttered something as he grabbed her from the wrists and pulled her behind him, but Lucy could not understand his words. Helplessly shaking, she peeked through half-closed eyelids, her lashes heavy with dirt. An orb of blue, bright light hovered above the mage, illuminating the tunnels.
"Stay back, I'll handle this," Natsu whispered to her, his tone stern. Lucy nodded and clutched her fingers into the mage's cloak like hanging on a lifeline.
Hearing the troll's fast approach, Natsu prepared a firebolt in between his palms. Threads of energy were woven into the spell and then set aflame, tight and condensed sorcery ready to explode. Lucy flinched when the first hints of white fur showed behind the tunnel's corner, and then the mage launched the flaming ball straight at it.
The pressure wave of the explosion threw both of them off their feet. They stumbled to the ground, but Lucy heard the terrified shrieks emerging from the troll's throat as it retreated to the inner chamber. Lucy gasped for air in short, rapid bursts, gazing into nothingness, unable to believe that she had survived – again.
The mage listened for a while, making sure that the beast was gone. Then he turned his head, shouting over his shoulder, "Erza, I found her!" Natsu got back to Lucy and lifted her trembling chin to examine her wounds in the magelight. "She's alive, at least, and well… relatively fine."
The world around her went suddenly very quiet, and the light began to dim out. Natsu wiped the blood from her face, she could feel the warm touch of his fingers on her skin, but then she started to grow numb. A tingling burn spread in her neck, nausea caught her guts into an iron fist, and her limbs went limp. Natsu waved his hand in front of her eyes, saying something, but the words melted into one incomprehensible mess.
The last thing she saw before her mind blacked out was a scarlet spot appearing through the mist, then it disappeared into the darkness.
When Lucy's eyes slipped closed and she fell limp in his arms, the relief of finding her alive wore off quick.
"Hey, Lucy, are you okay?" Natsu asked as he shook her gently from the shoulders. She didn't awaken, didn't respond. He wiped her forehead again, and new blood flowed from the wounds, mixing with the brownish dirt on her cheeks. Worry gnawed his insides like a venomous snake.
Erza kneeled next to them, keeping an eye out for the corner ahead. "She's out of it. Must've hit her head pretty hard," Erza said and placed her armoured hand on Natsu's shoulder. He shuddered at the touch. "But she's going to make it, thanks to you."
Natsu didn't answer. Erza was right – Lucy had certainly hit her head, more than once. Rusty stripes stained Lucy's fair hair as more blood oozed from her scalp, never ceasing. Natsu grimaced at the sight, knowing that much bleeding was a very bad sign. Life with Igneel had taught him to recognize which wounds would heal on their own, and which ones needed magic to quicken the process. This was certainly one of those.
"Watch my back while I patch her up," Natsu whispered to the warrior, his voice still worn out from running through the frozen cave.
He placed his hands on her forehead, gathered magicka upon his fingertips and channelled the energy into closing her wounds. Light flashed in the darkness, dancing upon her bleeding skin, and with threads of sorcery, the cuts were sown back together. Bruises remained on her face, would remain for a few days, but she'd be left without scars on her fine features.
A strange expression lingered in Erza's eyes as she stared at them. As if mixed with envy and impression, she appeared by what 'patching up' meant for a mage. Nords shunned magic, sometimes for a reason, but when wielded correctly, it was the true power of the world. Stitches and bandages paled compared to healing sorcery.
"I've never heard of trolls capturing humans. Usually, they kill their victims right ahead," Erza said. "Something feels a bit off here."
Natsu lifted his shoulders. "It looked like a regular troll to me."
Suddenly, Lucy began to stir awake. She coughed dirt from her mouth and opened her eyes, hazy gaze lost and unfocused as she rapidly gasped for air. Natsu went uncomfortable when their eyes met, and he realised she was still in his arms. Quickly, he moved her away, placing her to sit on the ground with her back resting on the stone wall.
"Don't move much, Lucy," Erza told, crouching beside the girl. "This little wizard healed your wounds some, but you're still hurt. Better take it easy. The troll escaped for now, but I'll finish it once we're sure that you're okay."
Lucy nodded to them softly. Then she glanced at the mage, a small smile on her lips as she muttered, "Thank you." Natsu looked away when he felt suddenly so embarrassed, not knowing why – he was relieved that she had awakened so fast, but still, she didn't need to thank him for healing her. He owed that to her, after all. "There's… something strange with the troll. There's a shrine in the inner chamber, and the troll was… angry at it."
"A shrine?" Natsu wondered, knitting his brows. Why would a shrine have been built here, in the middle of nowhere, in some long forgotten cave? "What kind of a shrine was it? Did you see? It seems strange that a troll would care about shrines."
Lucy concentrated on her memories, though it took her a while to answer. "A small, horned man, with a horned helm," she said. "The troll, it kept… hitting the shrine, so frenzied that it didn't even notice when I managed to slip away. At first, at least…"
Natsu rubbed his chin. Everything about this was so strange. Could the troll have captured Lucy for a sacrifice? As far as Natsu knew, trolls weren't intelligent enough to have faith in anything – well, Natsu didn't necessarily have faith in any gods either – and they weren't known to perform any rituals with their prey. More importantly, whose shrine was it? None of the Nine Divines was depicted as a scrawny horned man. That description was more fitting for the Deadra, and not just any lesser atronachs Natsu used to summon, but the Daedric Princes, the rulers of the realms of Oblivion.
"I've got a feeling that there's some Daedra worship gone straight to the Void," Natsu muttered then, still leaning his chin to his palm as he gazed absentmindedly into nothingness. "I don't know that much about them, but my brother used to have an interest in everything uncanny and forbidden. He taught me some things about the Daedric Princes, things that I, unfortunately, can't remember anymore."
There was something his brother had once told him, that he could remember to this day. 'Do the gods even exist? How can anyone tell? But Daedra Lords, they exist. They do things. Bad things, mostly, but things I can see. The gods? They don't do a damn thing.' And though Natsu never meddled with the Daedra, he agreed with his brother. The gods had never heard his prayers, never answered, and in the absence of the divine interference, the Daedra often found their place. Because they heard mortal prayers – and sometimes, they answered.
Erza's eyes turned to him. "If there's some Daedra worship included here, we'd better get out as quick as possible. Dealing with them is never a good idea."
Natsu understood her point. She, like many Nords in Skyrim, barely tolerated summoned atronachs, not to even mention worshipping the Daedric lords. Despite that, many turned to the dark path, lured in by the hunger for power. Not all of them were entirely bad, though. Igneel had faith in the Prince of dusk and dawn, Azura, but even he had warned him about meddling with other Princes. Now, Natsu tried to recollect those memories, dig through the nights they'd drowned in mead and conversed about everything from here to Oblivion and back.
Horned man with a horned helm, and a dog.
"Clavicus Vile," Natsu said suddenly as the memory surfaced in his mind. "That could possibly be him. He's the Prince of trickery, bargains, and wishes. Did the shrine have a dog?"
Confusion fluttered on Lucy's face. "No, it had just a troll."
Natsu chuckled into his sleeve. She truly had hit her head quite hard. But still, it seemed she couldn't remember whether the shrine had a dog or not. It didn't matter. Natsu was quite certain that Clavicus Vile was behind it all, or at least somewhat included in this.
"So, even if the Prince is manipulating the mind of some frost troll, I think we should let it out of its misery," Erza said then. "Follow me, fire mage. Let's go kill us another troll."
"Wait a moment," Lucy told, catching Erza's hand before she marched into the inner chamber. "Let's not… kill it yet. I was thinking that maybe, what if…" Erza lifted her brows in wonder, and Lucy continued. "That Clavicus thing was the Prince of wishes, right? What if it wants something from the Prince, but cannot express itself? It seemed very distressed. Maybe it wanted me to speak with him."
Erza shook her head fiercely. "Even if it wanted, you should not speak to the Daedric Prince. You could get cursed, or killed yourself, or –"
"Let her speak, gods damn it," Natsu interrupted the warrior and glanced at Lucy. "What you said makes sense, but what would a troll want? How would they even know that the shrine is for the Prince of wishes?"
Lucy looked into his eyes, silent at first, then the insight flashed within her mind.
"What if it's a human trapped in the body of a troll?"
Erza and Natsu stared at her without saying a single word. She had hit her head, but this… this made sense. Trolls did not capture people, they did not pray to some shrines. It had to be a human, somehow turned into a troll, perhaps by the vicious sorcery of Clavicus Vile.
"Well, if that's true…" Erza started, but Lucy spoke over her.
"We have to help it," she said. "Before we kill it, we have to try something. It cannot be left like that. Maybe… Maybe there's a way to dispel whatever transition magic had been cast on it. Do you know anything about such things, Natsu?"
Natsu shrugged. "Not really, and Daedric sorcery is almost impossible to dispel by mortal magic," he said. "We can still try, and see if there's anything to be done. If not, well, I guess it's best to end its misery. What do you say, Erza?"
Erza lowered her gaze to her boots and sighed heavily. As a Companion, she was honour-bound to help the citizens of Skyrim. If there was a fellow Nord in dire need of help, she had to offer her hand – even if there were Daedric forces included in the issue.
"Okay," the warrior muttered. "You're right. Let's not waste any time, then." She glanced at Lucy before she turned. "Do you want to come with us, or stay here? Can you walk now?"
Lucy rubbed her temples and nodded faintly, then attempted to stand. Erza helped her to her feet and let her lean on her arm as they began walking toward the inner chamber. Natsu followed them. He let his Candlelight spell expire, and so the light above them dimmed out.
The troll's pained roars echoed in the cave as they reached the end of the tunnel. They crouched behind the rocks and peeked into the middle of the chamber, where the shrine stood, illuminated by a faint ray of light. Altars surrounded the shrine, candleholders were torn down and instruments of sacrifice were scattered all around, as if thrown away in frenzied violence. But as Natsu noticed the troll, laying on the ground and sobbing, his heart skipped a beat.
Its white fur had turned black where the firebolt had caught it. The troll gathered some ice from the ground and placed it on the burned wound. Trolls were aware of their weakness for fire – the thick layer of fat below their fur was very flammable, and they were often hunted for it as humans turned their fat into candles – but they usually didn't know how to heal their burns. This one did. When the piece of ice had melted, it replaced it with another one.
"Do you see that?" Lucy whispered. "It seems to be in great pain."
Erza nodded. "It certainly is, but does it mean it has human consciousness? How could we even find out?"
"I guess we have to just ask," Lucy answered, and before Erza and Natsu gave her a fierce retort, she continued, "I know it's dangerous, but this troll captured me. It thinks I can solve its problem, so I've gotta speak to it. Let me try."
Natsu pressed his lips into a thin line. He knew that the troll wouldn't want to see him after he'd blasted that firebolt at it, but he dreaded the thought of letting Lucy go there alone. "If the beast charges at you, we'll kill it without mercy," he said. "Be careful."
"I'll be."
Natsu saw how her fingers trembled in fear, but she still rose to her feet and took a step closer to the troll. The troll heard her approach. It lifted its head from the ground and stared at her, a low growl emitting from its throat. Natsu squeezed his hands into tight fists as his heart began to race in his chest, cold sweat breaking on his neck. This was a bad idea, he thought. Really fucking bad idea.
"Hey, do you understand me?" Lucy spoke to the troll from a relatively safe distance. "Raise your hands if you understand what I'm saying. But try anything funny, and my friend here will burn you alive."
The troll grunted quietly, but then it lifted its arms towards the cave's ceiling. Natsu's eyes widened in amazement. Could it really be true? Had she figured this out so easily? And how, just how could she speak so calmly in that state? Terror had frozen her limbs, but she pushed through that fear with incredible bravery.
"Now, that's good," Lucy said, a sigh escaping through her clenched teeth. The troll growled again as it stared at her. Tension began to grow in the atmosphere, and Natsu did not like that. Probably sensing that too, Erza placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Are you… are you human, trapped into –"
Then, a man's voice filled the chamber like a blast of thunder, sudden and deafening.
"So, a maid has come to rescue the beast, huh?" The sly, loud voice seemed to come from inside Natsu's head, but as everyone else flinched as well, he knew they heard it too. "How boring. I was excepting something more… violent."
Lucy's head spun around, looking for the source of that voice. "Are you Clavicus Vile?"
"What? Of course, I am! I am Clavicus Vile, the child-god of the Morningstar, the Master of Insidious Wishes, and the Prince of Bargains. What do you want, my dear? How can I fulfill your wishes?"
The troll got to its feet, all the peacefulness in it gone. It roared to the shrine, shook its arms in the air and stamped the ground with its paws. Hearing the voice worked like pouring salt on a wound. It had heard it before, and now, it nearly flitted into a burst of apoplectic rage. Natsu walked closer to Lucy and formed a firebolt between his hands. When the troll saw it, it calmed down.
Knitting her brows in confusion, Lucy stared at the shrine, the impish man carved into stone. "Did you turn a man into a frost troll, Clavicus Vile?"
"It might be that I did. Maybe," Clavicus answered. "A young man came to me, and begged me to make him stronger. And look at him now! He's gone absolutely berserk!"
Lucy buried her face into her hands. "He probably didn't want to become a troll..."
"He wanted to be strong, and now he's stronger than any man he rivals with! He should be dancing from happiness, not ruining my hideous shrine!"
"He can't be left like that," Erza said from the background as she hesitantly joined the conversation. "Turn him back to normal."
"Just kill the beast, that will end his misery. You, little fire mage, should be able to do it in no time. Now, if you don't have anything better to wish for, then leave me alone. I've got better things to do."
Natsu grimaced. Now that they were sure that the troll was a man, he couldn't just kill it if it wouldn't attack them. Whenever Natsu had killed another person, it had always been in self-defence. Murdering a man who just searched for help… that was against his morals.
Silence fell to the cave as they thought for an answer. Clavicus was a Daedric Lord who loved toying with mortals. The troll was his plaything now, and he wouldn't give it away so easily. But, as the Prince of Bargains, there had to be something they could do for him. An idea started to stir in Natsu's mind. In all descriptions about him, Clavicus Vile was always accompanied by a dog. It was even said that half of his power resided in that mutt, but now, there was no dog to be found. Even in the shrine, the place beside the impish man was vacant, as if something had been there, but wasn't anymore.
Natsu smirked. "Like searching for your dog?"
"What? What dog? I don't have a dog."
"I think you used to have. Without it, you don't even have the power to bring this man back to normal, right?" Natsu answered. Lucy stared at Natsu, her eyes saying you're gonna get us killed. He kept grinning. He had a plan. "If your dog has gone missing, we could help you… if you promise to turn him back when you've been restored to your full power."
A murderous stare landed on Natsu's back. He sensed how fiercely Erza opposed the idea, but what else could there be done? They had to offer something the Daedra could benefit from, which would harm them as little as possible. Clavicus remained silent, and Natsu waited nervously for his answer.
"Well… I had a bit of a falling out with Barbas. I banished that insufferable dog, and now he's somewhere out there, looking for someone who can settle our… disagreement. I'm glad to be rid of him, but as much as I hate to say it, you're almost as powerful as I am now. Come to think of it… maybe it would be a win-win situation for both of us. Maybe. No promises. I've grown fond of this little troll… Maybe I'll make it my new pet..."
"So do we have a deal?" Lucy asked. Natsu glanced at her, surprised that she supported his plan. "We bring your dog back, and you turn this person back to normal?"
"Fine, fine. If you bring him to me, I'll grant you my boon. No strings attached. No messy surprises. At least, not for you..."
Then, the voice faded away. Everyone stared at the shrine without saying a word, dumbfounded that they had truly just communicated with a Daedric Lord. Natsu had expected them to be more… difficult to deal with.
The troll let out a delighted roar. It plunged to the ground, its palms brought together in hopeful praise. Traces of humanity gleamed behind those ugly three eyes, pleading to be released. Natsu's stomach sunk as he gazed at the troll. To be trapped within such a hideous form… that wasn't an enviable fate, not at all.
"Don't worry, you'll be back to normal soon," Lucy said to the beast. Her voice hadn't ceased quivering, but she seemed slightly revealed as well. "Just don't go kidnapping any more maids, okay?"
"Yeah, you caused enough pain for her," Natsu added. "You really scared the shit out of us."
The troll nodded repeatedly. Then, as if apologizing, it spread its arms and walked towards Lucy, attempting to close her into an embrace. Lucy shrieked and hid behind Natsu's back, and the troll halted at its steps. Ashamed, it hung its head low and turned away. It sat down in front of the shrine and leant its chin into its enormous hands.
"Well, let's hope there's not a dog buried here," Erza muttered as she walked to them. "If you get into problems because of this, I'll not be involved." Then she reached the troll. "There's one thing you could do for us, as a payment for our troubles. We can't carry on in that blizzard, so we are going to stay in this cave for a night. Keep a guard at the cave's entrance, and we'll be even."
It nodded again, giving them a friendly grunt. It went to the darkness behind the shrine and disappeared into a tunnel, that most likely led to the other entrance of the cave. Natsu hadn't even thought that they'd be staying here for a night, for all that had been forgotten while they had followed the troll's tracks through the cave. It was still the best option. The blizzard was still raging outside, and Lucy needed to recover from all this before they could carry on.
When the troll was gone, Erza turned to them again. Lucy finally dared to step away from Natsu's back, the frightened tension in her finally starting to wear off into tiredness. "Let's leave this accursed shrine now," Erza said. "We'll camp in the chambers closer to the entrance. Some pilgrims, or well… Daedra worshippers, had made those sections rather liveable."
Now, Natsu could barely remember seeing any traces of settlement earlier. Maybe a few abandoned travel chests and unpacked bedrolls, as if someone had been there, and left quickly. If there had been some pilgrims recently, had the troll asked for their help as well? Maybe, and none of them had even tried to help. Out of desperation, it had captured Lucy – and thanks to her empathy, help was finally on the way.
Well, metaphorically speaking, since Natsu didn't know how in the Oblivion would they find that damned dog. But that was tomorrow's problem, not today's. They had more acute issues to deal with, like finding food and fresh, clean clothes. Natsu hoped those Daedra worshippers had left something good behind, because he was really, really dying to change his robes.
With Erza's lead, they left the shrine behind. Lucy took support from Erza's arm again and Natsu followed them, drifting lost to the sea of his thoughts again. He was glad, so incredibly glad that Lucy was okay, but what would follow now? Would this change her mind about joining the College and learning magic? Life outside Helgen's wall wouldn't be just a merry, lighthearted story she'd always heard about, one she had wanted to be a part of.
Stories don't make you bleed, Natsu thought again. Reality does.
Then, when he stepped into the tunnel, he heard a voice echoing behind him.
"Hey, fire mage, have you heard of your big brother?"
Natsu's heart jumped into his throat. Lucy and Erza halted as well. He turned around, staring at the distant shrine. For a second Natsu hoped Clavicus had mistaken him for someone else, but an ill feeling spread in his guts. The Daedra did not mistake people. "What about him? How do you know him?"
"Oh, he came to me with a request, once. Such a majestic wizard indeed, yet there was one thing even he couldn't do… and neither could I."
Natsu didn't know what to say. A Daedric Lord knew his brother, and recognized him as well. In all these years, Natsu hadn't found a single clue about his brother's whereabouts. Never until now, from a fucking Daedra. "Sheogorath's beard…" Natsu muttered, burying his face into his hand. "When… When did you meet him?"
"I don't know. Was it five years ago, or fifty? You mortals have such a different flow of time."
The mage scoffed. "Well, I haven't heard of him in a while, but I know that's he's alive. That's all that matters to me. Why do you care?"
"I was just wondering. Were you aware that he's gained quite a reputation among us? Especially our old Molag Bal might have taken a liking of him..."
Natsu gulped in doth despair and disbelief. He'd always known his brother was rather eccentric, but meddling with Molag Bal, who sought to enslave and destroy the mortal race? That… That just couldn't be true. Lucy sensed his growing discomfort and caught his sleeve, but she didn't seem to know what to say either.
"But oh, that's all I can tell you for free… There's actually something I'd want in return for more information about your dear brother."
"This is a fucking trap," Natsu muttered under his breath, then raised his voice. "Whatever you've got, you can keep it! I don't want to hear any more from you, Clavicus Vile."
"Such a shame," the Daedra answered. "But I'll tell him you stopped by, if I get a chance..."
Then, the Prince of Trickery disappeared again, leaving Natsu with bitterness he had thought to have forgotten long ago.
