Lands Unknown part 8

Across the great, frozen plains of Khamal the wind blew endlessly. Snow would fall here every hour of every day and cover the land in a thick layer of white. The cold rocks were beaten and chiselled into a smooth and hard wall that was unclimbable. Sharp edges and small crevices made the wind howl as it appeared almost to be a visible barrier that blew across the glaciers and mountains.

Inside a small cave, a few miles into the glaciers, a small fire was lit. Here two humans and a Ka Po Tun warmed themselves, trying to ward off the cold. It had taken them extreme effort to find enough wood to light a fire, and they now had burned all of it. This didn't mean much since it were only five small twigs, yet they knew it would only get more and more difficult from now on. The cold would get worse the further up and north they went, and since even Tarrion, who was used to the cold and harsh condition of Skyrim, agreed that this was an unnatural cold, they all started to think that this could quickly become a suicide mission.

They had travelled for two days into the frozen mountains. In that time they gradually became less and less confident that they would succeed. The terrain was difficult to travel, but the weather proved to be even harsher than the land. Snowstorms that lasted for almost days, and extremely cold temperatures made it seem impossible for anything to live out here.

'If there even is a tomb out here, it will be impossible to find,' Tarrion had thought to himself. 'Not even a 'Dragon Emperor' would survive for long out here. it is likely that he froze to death here.'

There was little opportunity for conversation. Even if there was, the endless howling of the wind would quickly silence their voices and none wished to shout loud enough to risk an avalanche and be buried beneath the snow.

After a week the biggest snowstorm they had faced thus far finally ended. The skies cleared and a few rays of sunlight pierced through. The three companions climbed out of a cave they found and looked around at the landscape and were both in awe, and terrified.

They stood on the edge of a massive cliff. The valley below was one giant glacier, almost half a mile below from where they stood. The valley seemed to be almost ten miles wide and twenty miles long, surrounded by high mountains on all sides. The sun was able to light a few areas up and if it weren't for the circumstances it would have looked beautiful. But all three, and Serana saw it clearly, could see small figures move down below. Even from a great distance, they saw that these figures were large. They had to be and the three had little doubt about what they were.

Serana saw that they were indeed much larger than even the Ka Po Tun and although they did not carry clubs, they looked like the giants of Skyrim. Large, with long limbs, a thick skin and a minimum amount of hair growing on their heads. Although they looked like the giants from Skyrim, they had large horns on their heads in different shapes and sizes. Some of them looked like the horns of a ram, others like the horns of a bull, and even more looked completely different. They had thick, white fur around their necks, lower arms and legs and their loins were covered in the large skins and hides of unknown animals. Their skin was icy blue and their eyes whiter than the snow around them. They walked slow and lumbering, almost as if they were controlled by a puppeteer.

"I thought you said they slept and only awoke during the winter," Tarrion barked at Shazra, trying not to shout.

"I know!" she whispered back. "I thought so too. But we know too little of them to be certain."

She looked at the lumbering giants down below and felt a cold chill crawl down her spine. One that had nothing to do with the cold environment. "I guess these tend to their brethren during the long sleep. Look…. They walk slow and seem to be weakened. I guess the long and ice-induced sleep gives them strength."

Tarrion looked down at the figures in the distance. He had no idea if Shazra was right, but he cared little about the habits of the Kamal. "Whatever the case is, we should not let them know we are here. We should leave them be."

Serana nodded in agreement, but Shazra looked at her bitter enemies down below. "Maybe we shouldn't. Maybe we should try and kill them."

"Are you insane?" Serana asked. "There are only three of us and at least fifteen of them, and you claimed they are powerful enemies."

"They are… but it looks like those are weakened. If we kill them, we might be able to delay a next invasion."

"How is killing a few of them going to help?"

"If they tend to their brethren now," Shazra explained. "that means they need tending to in their sleep. If we kill these, there is no-one to tend to the rest and we might weaken a large number of them… delaying or maybe even stopping a next invasion. What if they need a few to stay awake to wake them when the time has come to invade Akavir? What if they don't 'thaw' during the winter, but are awakened? Prevent the awakening, prevent the invasion."

"You're jumping to conclusions now," Serana whispered loudly. "You said you knew too little of them to be sure, yet now you say that this must be the case?"

"I am saying that I am willing to do anything to save my people from these monsters," Shazra said a bit louder. "Even if I freeze here, or die by their hands… I will do so knowing I have done everything I can to at least delay a next invasion."

"Quiet, both of you," Tarrion barked as loud as he dared to both of them.

Both looked at him and he pointed at the valley below where the figures had stopped moving. They stood motionless for a while and only Serana could see that they were trying to sharpen their senses. With movements like they were trying to smell their prey, they slowly turned their heads toward where the three were hiding.

"Duck," Serana whispered and all three lowered their heads, almost burying them in the snow, but it was too late. With a howl that almost sounded undead the Kamal knew where they were and when Tarrion looked up he saw that they were heading in their direction.

"Great," Serana remarked and she turned to Shazra. "Well done, now they know we're here."

"Me?!" Shazra blurted out. "You were talking louder than me."

"Enough!" Tarrion shut them both up and he turned toward the onrushing Kamal. Still barely a mile away they were closing in fast and still had a massive climb to go before they would reach the three companions.

"Shazra.. find us some rocks from the cave. The larger the better. Serana… help me with this."

Tarrion ordered them both to defend their position and Shazra ran to the cave.

"Here," Tarrion explained. "We're going to weaken the ice below us. When they reach the foothills, we will rain rocks down on them. If they advance still, we unleash a small avalanche down on them. If they survive that… we'll meet with them ourselves."

Serana nodded and agreed with his plan, having little experience with defending positions like this, whereas Tarrion had fought in the Imperial Army and had seen numerous battles and had to defend his position often enough. She knew her Ice Spells would not work here, but she was also versed in using Thunderbolts and Fireballs.

A few moments later Shazra had gathered a number of rocks that they could use to try and stop the Kamal from climbing the icy cliff. And not a moment too soon, since they saw that a few of them had reached the foot of the mountain below. Tarrion already fired a few Fireballs downward, yet they missed their targets, who simply moved out of the way. A few more Fireballs and rocks were hurled downward, yet all missed their mark as the Kamal were quick to dodge them.

"We need to create the avalanche," Serana suggested, yet Tarrion shook his head.

"Not yet. Let them come a bit closer… they won't have time to react fast enough up close."

This seemed like a bad idea to all of them, yet it was better than using up every trick they had too early. And so they let the Kamal come closer, while still throwing Fireballs down at them, trying to slow them down, until one of them took one square in his face. He roared loudly and lost his grip and with a howling scream he fell to his death on the ice below. The others looked at their fallen comrade and roared at the invaders, now climbing with more speed than before.

Tarrion and Shazra could now see the Kamal were using their sharp claws to climb the icy mountainside. Their eyes were pale white yet seemed to give off a blueish hue and their teeth were sharp and animalistic.

Tarrion fired another Fireball at one of the attackers, but as soon as it was dodged Serana fired another one. Not being able to recover fast enough the Kamal was hit and lost his grip. With a gurgling and haunting scream it fell down to the icy surface below.

The Kamal were fast climbers, faster than any of them had ever seen and before they knew it the Kamal were right below them. Shazra had thrown the last of their rocks and yet there were still a dozen left and it was only now that Tarrion realized just how large the Kamal were.

"Fall back to the cave," he said and Shazra ran back.

"What? Shouldn't we trigger the avalanche?" Serana asked him while Tarrion pulled her away from the ledge.

"Just do it… I have an idea!"

They ran back to the cave, but Tarrion turned around at the entrance. Serana looked at him with growing desperation as she heard the Kamal getting closer. "What are you doing?"

"On my signal," he answered and he charged a large Spell and both his arms were covered in flames. "block the cave with a large Ward behind me."

"What?!"

"Just do it. I do not plan on sacrificing myself, so trust me."

With some hesitation Serana nodded and stood behind him, ready for his word. She looked at how he still charged his Spell and the air around him started to vibrate with the heat and energy. She felt it coming off him as she prepared herself as she saw an icy claw grab hold of the ledge.

Even though she had seen them already, she was still astounded by how the Kamal looked. The white fur around their necks, arms and legs and their large horns made them indeed worthy of the name Snow-Demons. Their claws, teeth and eyes indeed made them terrifying to anyone who had not already seen worse.

"NOW!"

Serana placed her feet firmly on the ground and summoned a large ward to protect herself, right when Tarrion unleashed his spell.

A massive storm of flames erupted around him, charring the frozen walls of the cave and instantly vaporizing the snow near him. The Kamal was thrown back by the sheer force of the eruption and disappeared over the edge. Serana had braced herself and directed the power of the spell forward, yet was still overwhelmed by the power and her ward shattered and she too was thrown backward. The already weakened ledge now cracked and broke under the explosion and with a deafening rumble it came down, dragging anyone and anything with it. The remaining Kamal howled in the wind as they fell back down and all were buried under ice and rocks.

Tarrion stood in the entrance to the cave on the charred, black stone. The heat of the spell had been so intense that even the ice of the lands of Kamal had melted. The ridge had shattered and a large portion of the path they used had fallen to the depths below. The Kamal had been defeated, yet Tarrion did not feel at ease. Quite the opposite in fact.

He ran back into the cave and helped Serana to her feet. Shazra had ducked behind a rocky outcrop and looked with something that almost seemed like fear at Tarrion. She had never expected him to be able to do something like creating an avalanche and killing over a dozen Kamal. She had seen him fight Tarsh, someone three times his size and at least four time stronger, with only his own two fists and survive. She had seen how he was able to transform into a monstrous creature with fangs and claws, becoming as large as one of her own people. And now she saw that he wielded powerful magic… more powerful than that of her own people… maybe even rivalling that of the Tsaesci, whom she realized commanded powers that she did not know of. She saw someone who was greater than any of her kings, and she wondered what else he had not shown. How much more powerful can one small human be?

"Come on," Tarrion called her. "We have to leave. Now."

"Why?" she asked. "The Kamal are dead and buried beneath the ice."

"There may be more," he answered. "Maybe not nearby, but that explosion was loud enough to be heard for miles around. We shou-…"

But a massive rumble silenced him. The ground of the cave shook and the walls rumbled. A few small stalactites fell and shattered on the ground. A sound that sounded like the bellowing of a giant beast echoed through the cave and they all knew what was coming. An avalanche. A really big one.

"Stay in the cave," Serana correctly pointed out and all took cover in the back of the cave.

A few moments later the first blocks of ice and snow fell down near the entrance, and after that the entrance was blocked in only seconds. They could hear the thundering of the mountain outside and the cave shook. Hundreds, if not thousands, of years of snow came rushing down and it fell down to the valley below. It was dark before they could blink, yet the rumbling did not stop and they all covered their heads in case more stalactites would fall.

After what seemed like an hour the rumbling finally stopped and Tarrion felt Serana's hand on his shoulder, telling him she was still there.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers slightly as she stood up. "Shazra… you're still with us?"

A few metres to his side he could hear a 'yes' and he summoned a Magelight and it illuminated the cave.

Serana stood next to him and nodded slightly and seemed unharmed. Shazra slowly rose to her feet and they saw that her whiskers were still trembling with fear.

"Everyone is alright?" he asked. "No wounds?"

"A small rock grazed my shoulder, but I have nothing," Serana said and she dusted herself off.

"I'm alright," Shazra said hesitantly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I just don't like avalanches, alright?" she answered grumpily. "We don't have snow where I am from, and although I have seen it before…. An avalanche," and she shuddered.

Tarrion nodded and walked toward the entrance which was, as expected, completely blocked off by ice and snow.

"Now… how do we get through this?"

"Fire?" Shazra asked.

"No," Serana shook her head. "We will choke to death on the smoke before we break through. No… we need to dig our way out, unless the cave leads somewhere."

"I don't know… I can't see, but I haven't seen the end of the cave yet."

"Then maybe we should split up," Shazra suggested. "One tries to find a way out through the cave, while the other two try and dig their way through here, in case the cave does have a dead end."

"That is a good idea," Tarrion mumbled as he stared at the icy blockade.

"I cannot see very well in the dark," Shazra quickly remarked and she stepped toward the ice. "and I do not know any magic… so I will have to stay here with my Master."

Serana quickly raised an eyebrow. "In your dreams. I'm not leaving him alone with you."

"Why not?" Shazra asked indignantly. "I have already sworn myself to him."

"To his service," Serana corrected her. "but you were the one that drew the Kamal's attention by shouting so loud… plus I do not trust you."

"I drew the Kamal's attention?!"

But before Shazra could say any more the Magelight went out and they were again enveloped in darkness. Serana still had perfect vision of everything around her and saw Tarrion walk away from the ice that blocked the entrance.

"Tarrion, where are you going?" and she walked after him.

"Master…. What is happening?" Shazra asked and she tried to feel where she was.

"I'll try to find a way out through the cave," he said calmly and he lit a Candlelight above him. "You two can either continue bickering like little girls, or you can make yourselves useful by unblocking that."

"But-.." Serana started, but he turned around. "I'll see where this leads. If I find a way out, I'll come back or try to break through from the other side. I'll freeze my hands off if I try it from here anyway."

And with that he fired a powerful Magelight to the blockade and descended deeper into the mountain, leaving the two women alone who now glared at each other like they were mortal enemies.

The cave was deeper than Tarrion ever would have suspected, because after half an hour he still had not reached a dead end. He had seen a few small crevices, too small to squeeze through, but the main tunnel was wide enough for at least five people to walk next to each other. The bickering of Serana and Shazra had faded away and he now looked around him, trying to find a way out.

But the further he walked the more it seemed like this was no natural cave. The walls were too smooth and there seemed to be almost no obstacles on the floor. There were almost no sharp corners, no sudden drops and whenever either would show up, it was always roughly hewn steps or carved walls to ease passage through. And with each that Tarrion met, the more he started to worry about what might have created them.

After almost an hour of walking, with no idea if he had descended deeper into the mountain, of if he had actually reached up higher, he came across a large room. The walls on either side disappeared out of reach of the Candlelight and it seemed like Tarrion had entered a wall of night that enveloped him. He cast a small manipulation spell on the Candlelight that hovered above him. It floated upward and after a few seconds it suddenly grew and illuminated a much larger area and Tarrion immediately regretted it.

Although they had sneered a few things at each other, Serana now mostly ignored Shazra and pushed large blocks of ice to the side, trying to dig her way out. A few metres next to her Shazra did the same and made the odd glare to Serana while she dug her way out.

After not saying a word to each other for a while, Serana noticed how Shazra started to smirk. She ignored it at first, yet the more she ignored it, the more she became annoyed by it. She could notice how her companion smiled to herself and after accidentally sharpening her senses she noticed how Shazra's blood was flowing downward.

"Alright…" Serana blurted out and she stopped digging. "What are you smirking about?"

"Hmm?" Shazra smiled smugly. "Oh… nothing."

"It is not nothing… tell me."

To her annoyance, Shazra smirked even more, clearly enjoying to see Serana angry like this. "Oh… I was just thinking about my master," she calmly answered while she continued digging.

"What?"

"I just thought about how he can turn into this…. You call it 'Werewolf'. I was just thinking about that."

With every word Serana became angrier and Shazra's tone did not help. In fact, it was her tone that made it all worse.

"What is it about him being a Werewolf? I thought you were terrified of it?" she asked harshly.

Shazra slyly looked at Serana, wondering if she should say something, or keep it to herself. She decided the former would be more fun for her. "Well… at first I was, because it was a surprise. I didn't know humans could do that. But after seeing it happen to him.. twice… I can't help myself but wonder."
"Wonder what?" and Serana's voice was not trembling.

"Well…" and Shazra talked slower with every word, letting them sink in. "as you can see I have, compared to someone like you… a lot of fur. When i think of how he can be all 'furry' like that… it makes me all warm and fuzzy."

It took all Serana had to keep herself calm, but all that went overboard when Shazra continued.

"Can I borrow him for a night when he is like that?"

Before Shazra could blink Serana had fired an Ice Spike that missed her only by a hair, followed by the cold grip of Serana's hand at her throat. The smug smile that Shazra had quickly disappeared. Not at the anger of her assailant, but at the brute strength that she had not anticipated. With little effort Shazra was thrown on the ground and stared at the almost monstrous look of Serana who made no effort to hide her fangs.

"Let me make a few thing perfectly clear here," and Serana's voice was dripping with rage. "Firstly.. Tarrion is mine, something that you clearly cannot understand. You grew up with whores who think all men are yours to do with as you please… something I find beyond repulsive. Secondly.. do not think I will even hesitate to slaughter half of Akavir if anyone tries to take him from me. I have faced things that will make you die out of fear on the spot. And thirdly… if you say something like this ever again, I will drink every last drop of your blood, and trust me… I know of ways to make it last long… to make it agonizing. You think it will be painful? I will make you wish it was something as simple as 'painful'."

She held her hand firmly clenched around Shazra's throat until she saw her eyes roll backwards and she let go. Gasping for air and coughing Shazra tried to crawl to the far wall, but Serana pinned her down again.

"You will live because I allow it. You will live because I refuse to dig my way out of here with your rotting corpse to fill the cave with its stench."

She pushed Shazra to the ice and conjured a slight smirk. "That gives me another idea," and with a snap of her fingers a Gargoyle was summoned.

Immediately Shazra screamed and crawled to the other end of the tunnel. "WHAT IS THAT?"

"This?" Serana asked with a smile. "This is a Gargoyle… you don't have those here?"

"Is that thing even alive?!"

"Ah…" was Serana's slow answer and she grinned. "Afraid of the undead, are you? Well don't worry," and with two more gestures she summoned two more Gargoyles. "They won't bite."

Shazra clearly was on the brink of fainting as she pushed herself against the walls, trying to get away from these beasts that she had never seen before, but Serana walked past the three creatures and had a diabolical grin on her face as she brought her face closer to Shazra's and she bared her fangs.

"Now…. Dig."

Tarrion desperately looked around for a way out, but it seemed the hall was massive. Massive, rough stone pillars held up the rocky ceiling. The walls and pillars showed evidence of being shaped by hammers and chisels, yet in a primitive way. It seemed the Kamal were versed in building simple buildings, yet they only seemed to know the basics. Because Tarrion now had no doubt that the Kamal had built this place and had created the massive tunnel that lead to this hall.

All around him he saw large figures, completely covered in ice. The creatures in them looked like the Kamal that he had faced only an hour before. Large horns in many different shapes and sizes, fur around their necks arms and legs. Some of them had their eyes closed, yet many of them had them wide open and Tarrion saw that they were pale white. The icy blue skin was visible in the ice and all of them were large. The largest of them reached almost five metres tall and had horns that looked like the horns from a bull. The Kamal here, whose numbers reached in the hundreds, apparently slept here to wait for the next invasion. Tarrion's thoughts went rapidly as he looked around. He saw now other entrance… no door or escape route to use to leave this place. The Candlelight above him lost its strength and floated down till it hovered just above Tarrion's head again.

Tarrion himself sighed as he looked around again. The slight shimmering of the ice in the light gave him an ominous and unsettling feeling and he walked back to the tunnel. Knowing he had not found a way out, he did know that the Kamal indeed slept in ice.. seemingly to await the next invasion of Akavir. But there was nothing he could do here now, and so he turned his back to the sleeping Kamal and headed back.

After an hour he finally returned to the blockade at the entrance to the cave, where Shazra was digging frantically. To his surprise Tarrion saw two Gargoyles digging on either side of her and one was standing behind her, seemingly watching her dig. Serana sat calmly on a rock and jumped up as soon as she heard him.

"Tarrion… you're back," but her face turned sour. "So… no other way out?"

Tarrion shook his head and looked at Shazra digging next to the two Gargoyles.

"You summoned them to help digging?" and Serana nodded. "Smart… but what is going on with her?"

"I am digging for my mistress," Shazra quickly said with a small, trembling voice, not looking left or right toward either of the Gargoyles.

"'Mistress'?" Tarrion asked. "What is…." and he looked at Serana. "What did you do?"

"I didn't bite and enthral her, do not worry. She's just afraid of undead," Serana said plainly. "but I'll explain later. Did you find anything else?"

"Yes," he answered slowly as he looked from Serana to Shazra and back… knowing something clearly happened here. "I found a massive hall with Kamal. All frozen and asleep, but there was no other way out. It might be best if we dug our way out, and then block the entrance again."

Serana nodded in agreement. "Very well… we've made some progress, but we're still not through. I am sure you can Shout it away, but I do not want to risk another avalanche."

"Agreed," Tarrion nodded and looked at a clearly terrified Shazra. "She's afraid of undead?…. But Gargoyles are no-…"

"..-not dangerous," Serana interrupted him. "If you know how to control them. But their stone-like claws can dig through this without tiring."

Serana's commanding tone was one Tarrion had heard only a few times and this was clearly not the time or place to ask what happened and they joined the effort to clear the debries.

With now six pairs of hands to help they progressed much faster and before long they saw light shine through the now thin layer of snow and ice. After a few more pushes a cold wind blew through the cave again and snow came with it. Serana dismissed the Gargoyles, causing Shazra to visibly thank her, and they all climbed out of the tunnel and into the snowy regions of Kamal again.

Outside the night had started to fall and it had started snowing again and they quickly put their masks back on. They looked at the devastation the avalanche had caused and although there was not much to destroy, the mountainside above them was visible and almost completely devoid of snow.

"Tarrion… look."

Serana grabbed his arm and pointed upward to the mountains and although he could not see as well as her but he could still see what she meant.

Above them the mountainside was visible and they could now all see a strange shape. A few hundred metres above them there was a cave. Larger than the cave they came from, but it wasn't the size of it that drew them. Above the cave they saw two small other ones, both round. The mountainside around it was either through strange circumstances, or by hand, carved to resemble the shape of a head of the Ka Po Tun. The large cave represented the mouth and large stalactites and stalagmites looked like large teeth. The two small caves a bit higher looked like the eyes and more rocky outcrops gave shape to the rest of the head.

All three stood in awe of the mountainside that now seemed to stare at them menacingly, baring its teeth in defiance and as warning.

"I think we found our tomb," Tarrion said softly, barely heard in the wind, but Serana nodded.

"And it only took an avalanche to find it," she said both with awe and sarcasm.

Next to them Shazra fumbled with her hands and softly muttered to herself.

=End of chapter=

=Author's Notes=

So… after defeating a number of Kamal and being stuck in a cave for a while, it seems they found the supposed Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Tosh Raka. Let's see what they will find there.

It also seems Shazra underestimated Serana and overplayed her hand. A mistake she definitely regrets now.

But that is it for this chapter. I was quick this time… I often write in the train and since I had a lot of traveling to do this time, it was a lot faster than normal.

Also… this story reached 200 followers! Wohoo!