Chapter 6
-14 Hp
Error: No Daedric contract in effect
Yet another failure, I thought as I looked at the roof of the room, the charred remains of my latest attempt at using a conjuration scroll floating gently to the ground, reduced to cinders by the backlash.
"The same result as always, I honestly think it's because I don't have a contract with any a Daedra," I said, getting up from the ground. No thanks to Farengar, busy as he was looking at his notebook.
"I still do not understand your inability to use conjuration spells without a contract," Farengar said scratching his face, jotting down something quickly on his notebook "they shouldn't be that hard to do, even for a novice, hell, most of Daedra, those unaffiliated with one of the princes even want to come here on purpose!" Screamed Farengar as he held the notebook against his face, muffling his cries.
"This makes no sense… I blame this on whatever you are," he says, raising his face from the book and glaring at him with a huff.
"Believe me I know, you've said it at least a thousand times already," I said, looking around the big room that served as Farengar's testing ground for his fewer damaging spells and experiments, A mostly empty place with a few tables set on the sides to offer a place to hold whatever he needed at any time.
"At this point, I think it might be worthwhile to follow your theory and try and get you patronage, hopefully, shouldn't be as hard, I just need to find the reagents for the ritual… Oh, and naturally you would need to hope a Daedra's to choose to be your patron, I know more than one poor bastard that died to a pissed-off Daedra" He said with a wave of his hand, casually cleaning the room with a gust of wind.
I was surprised the first time I saw him using elemental magic outside of the three usual elements, while the fact that… whatever powers I had mimicked a modded version of Skyrim I did not expect it to work even for other people, evidently I was wrong.
"Do you need anything else from me or are we done for now?" I asked, dusting off the last remnants of the scroll's ash from my clothes, looking at Farengar, waiting for an answer.
"Oh, Not really, I do need some component for the ritual, if that's the road you are planning to go through, but they are either easy enough to find or something that you can't help me with, I suggest you go to the library and look on which Daedra you wish to try and communicate with." He said with a wave of his hand, pointing towards the Library at the end of the corridor.
"If you are sure," I said with a nod, taking the dismissal for what it was and proceeding towards the Library, my mind thinking back to the last few days I spent with Farengar.
It was… tiring, to say the least, Farengar was a demanding Master, my role more akin to a lab assistant than a proper student most of the time, what I did learn I either got it from self-study, by mimicking him or as a result of his experiments, and yet…
I summoned a wisp of magic, the energy twisting inside my palms until it took the shape of a semi-regular cube made out of fire, the shape not perfect but flickering with the air currents inside the corridor, something that I wouldn't have been able to do before.
DING! Destruction Skill Level up 31- 32
'Case in point' I thought as I dismissed the window with a smile, any progress was good these days, the last time I managed to level up the skill was 3 days ago, and I barely levelled up anything apart from a level of one-handed and heavy armour while training with Vilkas, while my control and my ability to actually fight with a sword instead of swinging it around like a monkey had improved, my skill levelling had slowed to a crawl after hitting level 30, even with the help of my teachers.
Normally would make me angry, mostly towards myself, and yet I couldn't bring myself to care, I was still moving forward, my power was growing as was my control.
"Life is good" I muttered as I opened the doors of the library, perusing the books on the shelves till I finally found one talking about the Daedra in their entirety, picking it up and moving towards a table.
I already had an idea of which Daedra to ask for patronage, already removing both Molag Baal, Clavicus Bile, Peryite, and Mehrunes Dagon was a straight no, One of them was a crazy psychotic bastard that actively wants to destroy the plane of existence in which I reside, Another was the cause and result of every STD and malady known and unknow to man, Bile was the god equivalent of a monkey's pawn genie with his worshipers and Baal….No, Just no, you don't get the title of God of Rape by being a decent god in any way, shape, or form.
As for the rest… Bohetia would probably try to backstab me as soon as possible, same with Mephala and to a lesser extent Sanguine, if the situation would be humorous enough at least.
Sheogorat is a lost cause as well, while It is still the hero of Kvach that we are talking about, the mantle of the God of madness has its side effects, like the so-called madness that the god incarnates.
Vaermina and Malacath are some of the best options, if it wasn't for the fact that one was a god of dreams and worshipping her would lead me to a never-ending Dream, while the other was a God of Strength and Honor, the best option I could ask of, really, if only it wasn't for the fact that he despises magic, which is kind of what I need for now, so, unfortunately, he gets a pass.
In the end, It came down to Four.
Hircine, God of the Hunt, Meridia, Lady of the Shifting Lights, Azura, Weaver of Fate, and Nocturnal, the lady of Luck and patron of Thieves.
Nocturnal would either wish me to deal with Mercer, something that I am in no way shape, or form capable of right now, while Hircine… well, let's just say that being a Lycanthrope or being forced to join his hunt when I die does not appeal to me in the slightest.
This leaves Meridia and Azura… and in the end, Azura was the Answer.
Now, People might think that my thoughts were too simplistic, that the Daedra are much more complex than what I am describing, unfortunately for me, I am the poor shmuck stuck here trying to get the best out of a terrible situation.
"God, I'm already talking to myself" I muttered, passing a hand over my bony forehead, closing my 'eyes' for a moment.
'I just hope Azura will be willing to help, otherwise, I will need to turn towards Meridia, and while that one might not be the most stupid idea I ever had, Just because Farengar hasn't been able to hurt me with the Invocations, doesn't mean I am immune to her, and yet… I must try, who knows, maybe I might actually be able to convince her'.
'Ah well, who dares Wins I guess.' I thought, putting down the Book with a sigh, looking out of the window at the Midday sun shining over the city.
"I guess I could go bother Vilkas for a spar" I muttered, rising up from my seat and outing the Book back on the shelf heading towards the Palace Exit, fixing my mask in place one last time to be sure it was stuck firm in place.
I quickly went down the twisting stair, passing the statue of Talos without sparing Heimskr a thought and opened the door to the interior of Jorrvaskr, the usual rambunctious hall for once quiet, its members out for jobs leaving in the few stragglers that had either just come back from a job or were still searching for one.
I greeted a few of the companions at the table, making a beeline for the training yard once I saw that he wasn't inside, drawing a sigh of relief once I saw his going at it against a training dummy with an Iron Greatsword.
"Vilkas!" I greeted with a smile, watching him huff as he used a nearby rag to clean the sweat from his brow, before turning towards me and greeting me with half a smile.
"Arthur, what brings you here?"
"Got done with Farengar for today, wanted to know if I could bother you for a lesson," I said, passing a hand over the weapons on the rack, wondering which one I should pick.
"Why not, I have nothing to do anyway, and beating on a defenseless dummy gets boring after a while" He mutters as he grabs a pair of Greatswords from the rack, passing one to me.
"So we are going with Two-handers today then?" I said, already aware of the answer as we started to circle each other, every thought about speaking disappearing as he sprung into action, directing a heavy downward slash towards my midriff.
I dodged backward, aware of the futility that was trying to block it, and stabbed towards his exposed neck, which he negligently parried, with the startling speed his sword flying upwards, using the momentum of his back-swing to follow up with yet another strike, catching me unprepared and hitting me in the chest lightly.
"Point to me," he said, getting back into position, waiting for me to do the same so that our bout could start again.
And so it did, on and on we fought until the midday sun started to hang low and the sword felt like lead in my hands.
DING!
LEVEL UP TWO-HANDED 29 -30
"I have to say, your growth in these few days has been astonishing," Vilkas said, cleaning the sweat from his face "If I hadn't seen how you fought but a few days ago I'd have thought you to be a warrior of some experience, not a complete novice with barely less than a week of decent training," He said with a laugh, patting me on the back with strength, forcing me to stumble a bit before getting back on my feet.
"You are giving yourself too little credit, I couldn't have come this far without your help, that's for sure" Arthur replied, cleaning himself of dust and grime.
"I'm sure… anyway, I do have a favour to ask of you, I need to take care of some business for Kodlak and I'm already late as is, if you could bring my Greatsword to Eorlund it would be appreciated," He said, patting to the Steel Greatsword on the rack, a weird swirling pattern on the metal denoted the difference between it and another steel Greatsword.
"I…Alright? Don't worry about it, it's not like I don't have time to waste" Arthur said, patting Vilkas on the shoulder before grabbing the Greatsword and walking towards the Skyforge.
It was yet again something that the game didn't make justice to.
It was a ginormous statue of an eagle in flight, its shape carved out of a single rock, the rough thing looking almost alive as if it was a roc about to take flight and take the cliff with it.
Below it stood a giant pool of what was, by all means, liquid fire, and even then that was a bit of an understatement considering the nature of the forge, the sheer magical might emanating from it, through now stale and dimmed by both time and misuse, was still stronger than anything I had sensed until now, almost blinding me for a moment.
And there, bowed before an anvil before the pool was Eorlund Grey-mane, Greatest Blacksmith of Whiterun and Skyrim.
"Are you done gawking or do you need an invitation?" Eorlund asked not even looking up from his latest work.
"Ah, yes, Vilkas wanted his Sword sharpened and told me to bring it to you" I said, rubbing my neck before putting it down near the wooden rack by the stone wall.
"Yeah, I suppose he did, wouldn't be able to cut shit with that blunt thing." Eorlund said, examining the blade "What the hell did he do with this thing anyway, smash steel plates apart?" he said with a chuckle, before noticing the look in my… not eyes.
"Uh, at least I now know who, or rather what, he smashed around" Eorlund laughed, turning towards me, before his eyes landed at the naked blade at my side, a growl slipping from his lips before he held himself in check.
"Boy, where did you get that thing," he said, his finger pointed at my sword.
"I… I made it?" I replied confused, unsheathing the blade before it was outright snatched from his hands.
"Maybe the blade, But I was talking about the metal, you are a hundred years too young to know how to shape Stalhrim iron, let alone make it, so tell me, where the fuck did you get this?" He said, a finger pressed against the ice-cold metal, a claw growing and scratching the metal, revealing the azure flakes beneath.
"I looted it off of a bandit at the shimmer mist camp," I said, backing off a bit at the intensity of Eorlund glower.
"…How much do you want for it, name your price, I refuse to let such a thing be wasted into… this," he said, gesturing at the blade, giving it back to me.
I would have felt offended if I didn't know I was a novice before a master of the craft, but still, even I had my pride I would be sure to get something out of this.
"What about a trade of knowledge instead?" I asked, passing him the sword "you say you wouldn't want to ever waste such material on a mediocre blade? Then teach me how to fix this," I said with a grin, my voice doing a wonderful job at hiding my mirth "After all, aren't you the best smith in Skyrim? Who other than the Best smith to teach the worst?".
There are a few things I learned while at work, from how not to cry when chopping onions to how to fry food without causing a mess, but perhaps the most important thing was how to deal with prideful people.
"I mean, you are Skyrim Best Blacksmith right?"
Always.
"Of course I am boy, who did you take me for… And what you are saying does make a modicum of sense…"
Always.
"Then it should not be any trouble for you to help me, right?"
Use their pride against them.
"Bah, I suppose giving you a hand or two wouldn't take all that much time… very well, come bother me after you finish your training with Vilkas, but I will keep anything you make while at this forge, using my materials, I refuse to let anything below my standards coming out of my forge."
"Fair enough, shake on it then?" I said, offering my hand for him to shake.
And when he shook it back the smile behind my helmet could have put a shark to shame.
TEACHER GAINED EORLUND GREYMANE:
SKILLS: Blacksmithing 100 (75)!
.I returned to the keep later in the evening, after I and Eorlund had finished putting down the bigger details of the contract he had started his first lesson, some sort of dumbed-down explanation of how to take care of the most common pieces of gear, from swords to hammers to shields, leaving things like armour out of the explanation, for now, something which, while quite useful to someone without my abilities it was a little less useful for me, even if it helped me iron out some of the chinks in the way I took care of my items, which is always useful all things considered.
So immersed I was in my thoughts that I only noticed arriving at Master Farengar's room when the man grabbed me by my arm and dragged me inside the room.
"Well? What are you doing staring at the wall like a fool, we got a ritual to do and you are already Late!" said Farengar, throwing him a rune etched robe, the magic on them shining of purple and gold "And put the thing on!" he shouted while bent over a ritual circle carved on the stone of the room, cursing at every nick and imperfection he found in the matrix
The thing was ginormous, barely fitting the room as it was, covering every nook and cranny of the floor with arcane markings. 18 circles for 18 Daedra were carved into the wooden floor, a Decagon inside an Octagon with the points ever-shifting, like a psychedelic mix of a kaleidoscope, an acid trip, and a Geometry 1 university exam.
A mixture of crushed soulgems and quartz acting as a binder and circuit for the Arcane energies permeating the room, the air feeling thick like molasses, feeling cloying, almost honey-like in its viscosity.
"Have you chosen which one you will appeal to?" Farengar asked as he finished checking the circle for any sign of imperfections, as such things could spell disaster for what they were preparing.
"Yes," I replied, staring at the circle and mentally preparing myself for the ritual "I'll beseech Azura, it's the safest option for me at the moment, and if that doesn't work… I'll try my hand with Meridia, with any luck I won't die," I said, shaking my head at the thought, before disrobing myself and putting on the robes, feeling their magic pulsate beneath the thin cloth.
"Finally you are dressed, remove anything that's on you apart from the robe before entering the circle, don't want anything to contaminate this," he said, and at this, I looked at him with my eyeless stare, "Where exactly, do you think I am storing anything else, in my ribcage?"
"It's called precaution you simpleton, but since it seems you have time to be this irreverent it means it's time to start the ritual, hope you are ready," Farengar said, and with a snap of his heel, the ritual circle sprung to life under my feet, isolating us from the outside world in a bubble of dark, small points of light not unlike stars reflecting the colours of the circle, lending a purplish hue to everything I could see.
"Oh, Azura, Queen of Dawn and Dusk, keeper of the Crimson Gate, Mother of the Rose, Queen of the Night Sky we call upon you, please, hear the plea of this misbegotten soul, and answer our summon" we intoned, our voices reverberating with magic, soon becoming an encompassing roar at the last syllable, before turning into a hissing grimace as we uttered those same words in Daedric "Oh Azura Queen of Dawn and Dusk keeper of the Crimson Gate Mother of the Rose Queen of the Night Sky we call upon you please hear the plea of this misbegotten soul and answer our summon" At this point Farengar hissed, clutching his throat in pain as soon as he was done, meanwhile I was more or less fine, one of the minor perks of not having a throat apparently.
The answer came sooner than expected, the air started to become lighter, the colours shifting from the almost black from before to an almost royal purple, before changing yet again to brighter tone and brighter tone still, cycling through all the colours of dawn and dusk as a feminine voice started to echo inside the chamber "I am Azura, Lady of Dawn and Dusk, and I have come to answer to your plea, speak then, oh mortal, so that I might know what ails you". And at this Farengar hit me in the ribs to remind me of my next line.
"Oh Mother of Roses, I come here today not as a supplicant, but as a man trying to strike a bargain with you, lend me your aid in my dealings with the planes of Oblivion, and I shall fulfill whatever task you ask of me, if it is in my power to do so," I said, trying to sound as sincere and confident as I could, while the circle would probably protect me, I was still dealing with what amounted to a deity, one could never be too careful when dealing with them.
"You ask for not a small thing, oh mortal, and yet… I sense that accepting this bargain may work in my favour, after all, no other Daedra could claim to have someone from outside the Aurbis as one of their devotees… Very well then, do this for me and I shall consider this bargain completed, a few hours south of here as far as the crow flies, a group of falmers, the wretched things, has found and desecrated one of my lesser temples south from here, kill them all and bring my light to the Temple once again, and I shall accept your bargain, you have 24 hours" She said, before disappearing as soon as she came, leaving behind only a small silver ring, shining of its own light.
"This ring shall guide your way and offer you a way to bring my light back to my place of worship, good luck with your task."
DING, QUEST RECEIVED: TO UPHOLD A BARGAIN
You have been given a task to complete from the Daedric lord Azura.
Use the Lightbringer ring to find your way towards the temple and end the desecration once and for all.
Time Limit: 24 hours
Rewards: a completed pact with Azura
"This must be the light she was talking about" I muttered as I picked up the ring, the thing was screaming at my 'magic' sense, appearing more as a small star of Daedric energy than anything else.
I turned towards Farengar, noticing him focusing his gaze on the ring in my hand, I shifted it around, noticing his eyes focusing on the thing as a cat ones do with a laser, before closing his fist, hiding it from Farengar's yes, snapping him out of his confusion.
"Are you alright?" I asked, snapping my fingers before his face, finally breaking him out of his confusion.
"Sorry, it's just that that thing is… mesmerizing," he said with a wheeze, moving away from me and pouring himself a glass of mead, downing it in one shot to regain some of his composure, letting out a sigh after to centre himself.
"Well, that was an experience I don't wish to repeat anytime soon, anyway, did you manage to get whatever you wished for, the sound was muffled on my end," He asked, setting down the goblet on a nearby table, locking his gaze with Arthur.
"So, what has she asked of you, what dastardly deeds will you need to do, mine was simple all things considered, go to the halls of the dead in an abandoned village and put the dead there to rest, I expect your own mission will be of a similar nature." Farengar said, muttering the last part to himself as he bent down to pick something off the ground, a small gemstone, shining like a star from within "And this, is for me" Farengar said, putting the gem into a locked box before locking it again with its key.
"What's that thing?" I asked, curious as to what the thing he picked up was.
"Oh nothing much, just something I needed for my experiments, that's all, Normally I would need to go to the college and murder a Daedra for this thing, but this is both easier and safer." He said, plopping the key back into its pouch, as I frowned.
"Then why didn't you do that from the start?"
"Oh no, I did, why do you think I made a contract with Meridia? I just had to use the gem for… another thing" he said, stopping for a second before turning his eyes to me "So? Are you waiting for? Go complete your task!" He said, shooing me out of the door.
I ran towards my chamber, shedding the simple robe as soon as I entered and putting back on my armour, quickly fixing it up with a few touches of alteration, grabbing a few of my prototype daggers and my sword and bow to be sure, before rushing off, running straight through the half-asleep streets of Whiterun and into the steppe outside the walls, running forward the direction that the ring's light pointed too.
I quickly reached the entrance of the cave the ring pointed to, the place undoubtedly under the falmers management due to the half caved-in entrance and the totems at the smashed statues with daedric inscriptions on them, now covered in the classic falmer totems.
"Well, this seems to be the place" I muttered, bending down to enter the dilapidated cave, the entrance adorned by little more than levigated rock and broken murals, chimes of bones and flesh falling from the stalactite-less ceiling as a crude warning system.
I kept on walking inside the cave, my 'eyes' adjusting quickly to the dark ambiance inside, the glowing mushrooms seemingly ever-present in every falmer cave giving off enough light that I could see with some trouble.
"STOP PLEASE! NOOOO" I stopped for a second, grabbing the bow from my back and casting a quick [Muffle] spell, I made my way towards the back of the cave, where the sound was originating from, and the sight that greeted me disgusted me beyond belief.
The temple was desecrated, the marble stone was cracked and stained, the statue was defaced and stained with blood and feces, perverse symbols carven on the once stainless wonder.
The altar was the worst, blood and flesh caked every surface as those same symbols were carved in arcane patters, hurting his mind in the worst way.
And yet it wasn't that that drew his sight, but what was happening on the altar.
There, two people were laid bare, the very same runes carved into their bodies with broken instruments, their flesh warped into hideous forms, half insect and half man… wait 'Is that how charruses are created?' I thought in disgust, watching as the falmer priest started carving the last few runes into them, completing the hellish transformation into a chaurus.
"Now I get why it was a timed mission" I muttered as I saw another woman getting dragged from what I assumed was a prison in the back, who knew how many people they had in there.
I steeled myself, ignoring the woman begging for her life, and scouted how many falmers were near the structure, finding more or less 10 before the statue and another 10 all around the temple.
I took a deep breath pulling in the mana from inside me, shaping it into a spear of absolute cold, a burning core of fire shining bright inside it, only the magic I was supplying it was keeping the thing stable but even that had its limits.
I kept on going, feeding more and more to it until the fire turned blue from the heat it was generating, and the ice started vibrating, almost begging to get out.
'Just one more second' I thought, feeling the thing suck in every drop of magic I had, watching the counter go down.
[…13]
[…12]
[…11]
'Fire' I thought, pushing the projectile with all the strength I could, watching it sail through the air like a shooting star, landing in the middle of the congregation before exploding in a ball of fire and ice shrapnel, killing the ones closest to it and badly wounding the ones nearby, with the least mutated sacrifice only having her life spared in lieu of the falmers between her and the spell.
Ding! Combat initiated!
6/20 Lesser Falmers Exterminated
2/4 Falmer Exterminated
1/1 charrus eliminated
I quickly grabbed the bow I had dropped on the ground and started nocking arrows, sending them towards the downed falmers first as they were the easier target, killing one by one until none remained on the ground.
I shifted my attention towards the rest, watching as they scrambled trying to find me, utterly failing due to their blindness, and started nocking another arrow, letting it loose towards one of the mages, who just in the nick of time raised an Oak-flesh spell, the arrow almost bouncing from his skin, only dealing superficial damage as he sent a bolt of lightning towards me, making me duck down to avoid it.
"Well, there goes the surprise" I muttered, dropping the bow again, waiting for my magic to recharge again 'only 50%... fuck it, good enough I thought, as I started to cast as many runic traps as I could on the ramp outside, picking up my bow from where it had fallen and ducking behind a pillar, waiting for them to be triggered.
I didn't have to wait long as a group of falmers, led by one of the mages, started approaching my position.
They snarled as soon as they saw me, the wizard raising a warding spell as he started to charge his staff, preparing himself to unleash a lightning bolt, when the group reached the inside of the runic traps, and all hell broke loose.
[0!]
[Magika depleted!]
Thunder and lighting wrecked their bodies as flames charred the air out of their lungs and the flesh off of their now corpses, killing them in an instant, a greater mercy than what they had afforded to their captives.
11/20 Lesser Falmers killed
3/4 Falmer Mages killed
I gave a gasp, watching the last dregs of magic be drained out of me before gripping my bow tightly and dashing from my spot, nocking an arrow and letting it loose towards the armoured falmers, barely nicking the thing in the chest before it started recklessly charging at me, uncaring of the still-burning corpses between us, I reached for an arrow, cursing at finding my quiver empty, before dropping my bow to grapple the thing as it launched itself at me.
It snarled at me, its face a permanent rictus of anger and hatred, its bleary, blind eyes full of grime and pus, whatever this thing was before, snow elf or else was no more, as it clawed at my non-existent neck and face, slamming a stone against my shoulder and fracturing a bone.
[-40 HP]
I struggled against its attacks, grunting in pain as he stabbed again and again against my armour, the thing creaking after the 4th hit when I finally managed to grab one of my daggers, pushing with all my weight against the thing and flipping it over, slamming my dagger against in his head and activating the enchantment with the little dregs of magic I had left.
I gasped, feeling the rush of magic flowing from him to me, filling back my reserves almost to half-full as the thing exhaled its last, the lasts dregs of Magika it had disappearing into the aether, turning back into background Magika.
[+70 Magika]
1/1 Falmer Skulker Killed
[PROTYPE MANA-DRAIN DAGGER BROKEN]
I cursed at that, feeling the blade shatter and crumble beneath my fingers, the metal too weak and the enchantment too strong to be handled by such a base thing as iron.
"Goddammit, and here I thought I nailed the formula" I snarled, throwing the corpse to the side as I got back up to my feet, the bow laying discarded on the ground as I unleashed my sword, the blade buzzing with electricity as I chanted under my breath, my bones creaking as a skin of translucent bark started covering them, reinforced as they were by the oakflesh spell.
I took in a breath and then started running towards the exit of the tunnel, my sword in hand to deal with anyone trying to get close to me, while the other was sheathed in lighting, ready to blast apart anyone foolish enough to show itself to me.
And foolish they were, as one by one they started running towards me, dressed in little more than rags and the bugs chitinous flesh, barely enough to keep safe their modesty, if they had any, let alone capable to stop my blade, nothing like the thing that had attacked me before.
I reached the first pair, stabbing one in the neck while the wild flailing of the second barely left a scuff in my armor, the strong steel capable of absorbing the wild flailing of the creature with ease, before turning towards him and dealing with the thing, stabbing him deep in the chest piercing his heart in one fell swoop.
"OH FOR FUCK SAKE!" I screamed as my sword got stuck in the chest of the thing the ribs acting as a vice and trapping it there, I tried to chick the corpse away, trying to somehow free the sword as I watched yet another group approach.
"Fuck this shit" I snarled as I kicked away the corpse and grabbed the last of my prototype daggers, trickling Magika into the thing, watching the enchantment spring to life before my eyes as the blade was encased in ice, turning increasing its length by a good margin, until what I held in my hands was less of a dagger and more of an arming sword, its surface chiseled and sharpened by an alteration spell without much thought as the last group of the things almost caught up to me, before getting blasted away by a rain of firebolts, slowly draining my reserves until I was left dry, and most of the things were dead.
[20/20 Lesser Falmers Killed]
'Only one of the fuckers left' I said, rushing towards the center of the place, where the last two falmers stood, holding a knife to one of the girl's throat while the other tried to complete the ritual in all haste, carving runic lines after runic lines into her flesh, her body twisting and contorting itself, chitin sprouting from flesh as a bug like armour covered her body, her legs fusing themselves into a tail, her arms dividing in 2 pairs of bulky pincers, her face twisting and contorting in pin until a thick, bug-like visor covered it, doing nothing to cover her screams
'Fucking Hell, I'm too late' I thought with a grimace, the ritual was too far gone for me to do anything, the poor woman barely alive as it was, even if I interrupted it, she would still die and yet… "I can't let this continue" I muttered, summoning to me the last dregs of magic I had on me, throwing a dart of ice to one of the runic inscriptions just as soon as the mage finished the ritual, plunging the blade into the woman's flesh her scream cutting off as the magic finished its work.
"SCREEEEEEEE" The mage screeched, pointing a finger towards me, expecting the creature to attack me ad rip me to shreds at his command, before one of the pinchers shoot up from under him and grabbed him By the neck, choking him to death.
"GROOOOO" the thing that was once a woman screamed, hitting the falmer over and over again, the pinchers doing short work of its creator body, reducing it to a smear on the ground.
4/4 Falmer Mages Killed
And then it turned its attention to me, because my luck is just that great.
'Goddammit, No Magicka, No plan or a weapon worth a damn… this is going to be interesting I thought, readying the dagger in my hand as I saw the thing come near… but it never attacked, its emotionless eyes staring at me, or rather at the pouch at my hip,
'What the hell is it staring at-THE RING!' I thought as I slowly reached for my pouch, trying not to startle it, and drew out the ring, the thing shining so bright it was hard to even see its shape.
As soon as I brought it out the thing gaze focused on it, reaching gently with one of its pincers, moaning soft noises as it brought it close to its face.
'Is it crying… wait, she's still aware!' I thought, surprised that her mind had managed to survive the transformation process despite none of the other charruses maintaining even the merest shred of humanity 'Did this happen because I interfered with the ritual' I mused as I reached out to touch the woman in the shoulder, recoiling slightly as she moved back, the ring clutched tightly in her hand.
"Shhh… it's alright, it's alright, I will not hurt you" I said, kneeling down and putting the dagger on the floor, showing I was Harmless, waiting for the woman to relax with abated breath, letting out a sigh as she did so.
"Good, good, I'm Arthur, I was sent here by Azura to restore her temple and-" I got stopped as the woman charged at him, wrapping him in her arms around him in a poor attempt at a hug and started weeping, the sounds coming out muffled and echoing due to what she was now.
"It's fine, it's-it will be fine, let it all out," I said awkwardly, trying to comfort the woman as best as I could, 'thank god I don't need lungs, she'd have killed me already otherwise' I thought, finally wiggling my way out of her arms.
"Were there other people with you? Other Prisoners?" I asked, trying to both snap her out of the confusion and lead me to wherever it was they kept the prisoners, but given the shaking of her head, it seemed I had come too late, for she was the only one left.
"I'm sorry, I wished I could have gotten here sooner," I said dejected, before shaking my head, throwing off the small funk I had gotten myself into, 'Fucking Falmers.'
"I need the ring, Azura gave it to me to purge the Falmers taint from this place," I said, pointing towards the defaced altar as I opened my palm for her to drop the ring into, which she did with great reluctance "Thank you," I said with a nod, making my way towards the Altar, the ring's light shining trough my clenched fist as I walked over the Altar's step, finally reaching the altar, the ring flying from my hands into the ring finger of the defiled statue, and the cave tinged of the colours of Dawn.
Quest TO UPHOLD A BARGAIN completed!
Fight over… calculating exp 2300.
Destruction 32- 33
Illusion 19-20
Sneaking 07-10
Heavy Armor 25-26
Level up 6-7, perk point acquired
Magika 120-130
The statue started to shine with purpureal light, stone reforming itself, returning the statue to its original splendour, to the pristine visage of a young maiden holding both stars and the moon in her hands.
The cave itself started to change, the falmer corpses on the ground slowly turning to ash and flowing back into the cracks of the pavement, forging the new marble floor for the temple.
A bright light surged forth from the statue's breast, taking the shape of a small wisp of light, shifting in hues to mimic the sun outside.
And then the Statue began to speak.
"Good, you have upheld your side of the bargain and saved my worshipers, or at least what remained of them," she said, sounding mournful at the death of her worshipers, before her voice turned resolute again.
"Nonetheless, you have accomplished the task I set before you, I accept to act as your patron in oblivion, I hope you will not disappoint me." She said, before turning to the last remaining cultist.
"Clara of Rorikstead, last of my flock, I am sorry for what has been inflicted to you, be cleansed of the taint of that accursed ritual" she intoned as golden light flew from the statue into the cultist, the bug-like flesh sloughing off from her body, leaving behind a crying Breton girl dressed in a white robe, the runes carved in her flesh shining gold and rearranging themselves into the circle of Azura, but the goddess wasn't finished yet.
"Be blessed in my light and be the first priest of my new flock" She intoned before turning her gaze towards me "Go now Outsider, move fast, for time waits for no one" she said, and with a flash of light I found myself outside the cave, the entrance to the temple barred by a golden barrier.
"What did she mean by t-" and I was cut off by my musings when an all-encompassing roar shattered the quiet of the forest.
I rose my eyes to the sky, watching as a gigantic shadow left the peak of the throat of the world, Alduin, world eater, had arrived, I was officially out of time.
There was only one thing I could say.
"Well fuck."
A.N. Sorry for the wait, had problems with uni and work, you know how it is, I hope you guys liked the chapter, if you have any question regarding the chapter or simply want to chat then here is the Link to the Discord server dPpfRWrUGJ Bye!