Chapter 5: Necromancy

"So when you went to Bleak Falls Barrow, you ran into the draugr from legend, right?" Torygg asked.

"Yes, and I've sent the undead back to Sovngarde many times over. But two things happened that I did not expect. One, I found the first word of power I ever learned."

"And the second thing?"

"There was a stranger waiting for me up at the top of the mountain at the entrance to Bleak Falls Barrow. And there was a necromancer that appeared. I never saw him, or perhaps her, but the rising corpses could be seen every time I thought they were cut down. At the same time, Stryger was dealing with his own draugr problem in Saarthal."

"Man, I'm glad my Nord blood is helping me through the cold of the mountain." Zacharius spoke to himself as he climbed up the mountain. His arms were getting the worst of the cold, but they could take it. Sometime soon he should consider buying a cloak. It may help him in the colder provinces should he have to travel far.

The path to Bleak Falls Barrow was snowy and easy to climb up. But Zacharius figured that there would be bandits. However, he's only seen corpses at the tower near the path to the entrance of Bleak Falls Barrow. That was strange for him to see, but if a disagreement came up between a few of their own bandits, it made perfect sense as to the stab wounds all over their body.

"Hmm. Looks like a greatsword wound. And the wounds are fresh. Whoever did this is still around." Zacharius stood up away from the corpse, noticing that there was a steel sword laying on the ground. "Hmm. Steel is good for weapons in Skyrim. It looks a bit dull, though. Perhaps I could head back to Whiterun or Riverwood and get it sharpened."

He picked the sword up and removed the sheath from the dead bandit so he could carry it safely on his back with his bow and arrows. But he would need something else to carry the Dragonstone if it was bigger than he thought. Perhaps there would be a backpack up at the place he could use.

The entrance to Bleak Falls Barrow was impressive for an ancient ruin. The fact that it had survived the years made it more impressive, and Zacharius had to appreciate his ancestors for possessing such craftsmanship. Already more bandits lay dead at the entrance, and a man who appeared to be a Vigilant of Stendarr stood with a greatsword in his hands. The Vigilant had to have been an Imperial or Breton by his size, and the greatsword was stained in the blood of the fallen as the tip pierced the ground. The one thing that felt off was that this man wore a steel plate helmet instead of a hood.

"I've been waiting for you, Zacharius Morrigan." The man spoke, an etheral echo ringing along his voice.

"You've heard of me?" Zacharius asked.

"I have eyes and ears all around Tamriel, and while I may be dressed like a simple Vigilant of Stendarr, I assure you that I am not affiliated with the group."

"Who are you?"

"I have gone by many names over time, but The Stranger has always been what most call me. If that is not sufficient enough, you may call me Advena."

"So, Advena, what brings you out here to an ancient Nordic ruin?"

"Besides waiting for you? I have actually come for an Ancient Nord Greatsword. Alvor the blacksmith wishes to reward me for rescuing his nephew Hadvar from Helgen, who I know you were with up to a certain point."

"Hadvar? He lives?"

"He does, but he does not know that you and Ralof made it to Riverwood. That helmet might conceal your identity enough for you to stay off of the Legion's radar. Neither of them know it yet, but the threads of destiny are bringing the two of them to a confrontation near the end of the war. And you won't be able to stop it because you will be occupied with other business at the time."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I have already said too much. I shall say no more." The Stranger held out a backpack to Zacharius. "In the meantime, perhaps this enchanted backpack will help you out more than it will me. It has an enchantment that stores equipment and other items taken from adventuring in a larger space inside than what it is outside. That sword on your back can be carried much easier now."

Zacharius took the bag and removed the sword from his back, dropping it in. "Thank you."

"I've already took the liberty of placing a woodcutter's axe and pickaxe along the sides of the backpack to collect firewood and ore materials, as well as things to build a campsite for two. Be warned, however, that the backpack can and will get heavy over time, so if you ever build or buy a house in Skyrim it is best to empty some of the things you carry to make journeying easier."

Zacharius slipped the backpack on after his satchel had been emptied of its contents. His longbow was in his hands and ready to be used. "So are you accompanying me into the ruins?"

"Yes. I will follow you into the ruins and will head back to Riverwood after you have completed your goal for being here. Whether or not we shall meet again afterwards will all depend on how your story unfolds."

"I assume that since you know my name and how I escaped with Ralof that you also know why I am here."

"I do. You seek the Dragonstone. But it exists beyond a puzzle door that only a special key can reveal. It shall be inside on the corpse of a dead bandit that met an ill-received fate."

"May I ask how you know?"

"The same way your grandfather knew of the Dragonborn prophecy that is in effect now as we speak. I have an attunement to the Elder Scrolls and their knowledge, but they; like myself, are a mystery."

"What do you mean 'like myself'?"

"I do not understand the Elder Scrolls and how they work, but they don't understand me in the process. They can't see me, they can't read my future, and when I pull strings they say can't be pulled, they are at a loss. Not many beings are meant to change fate, but there are those who can just by being there as they are." The Stranger pulled his sword out of the ground, cleaning the blade with a rag from a dead bandit. "We're wasting daylight. We may converse a bit more inside, but the draugr demand silence. We must be cautious when we walk by the dead."

Zacharius only nodded, but he still possessed questions for Advena as he wished to be called. "Let's go inside, Advena. The dead won't go back to Sovngarde themselves."

Back at Saarthal's entrance, Stryger munched on his green apple as J'zargo and Ormund, as Tolfdir had called them, approached them from the stairs down to the ruin.

"Took you guys long enough." Stryger commented.

"Sorry. J'zargo wanted me to check out this fire cloak scroll of his he was working on." Ormund apologized.

"More like rubbing his face in it." J'zargo snickered.

"Not everything is a competition, J'zargo."

"Oh, but life is a competition, Ormund. I figured you'd know about that since your people are still fighting for Skyrim against the Empire."

"War is different from competition, you know."

Stryger pulled out another apple from his satchel. "Apple?"

Ormund looked at Stryger and took the apple, being a little cautious in case Stryger had poisoned it.

"Relax." Stryger reassured him. "I'm not one of those Thalmor supporters with their 'Elven Superiority' shit. Nord are respected warriors, and it's not everyday I meet one that is a mage. I respect you and Tolfdir. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

With those words Ormund took a bite, enjoying the crispness of the fruit. "Thanks."

"How about you, J'zargo? Apple?"

The khajiit sneered. "J'zargo does not need any food from competition."

"It's still as crisp as the day that it was picked."

J'zargo's facial expression seemed to change from defiance to curiosity. "Do you have any red apples?"

Stryger smiled as he pulled out a red apple from his satchel and gave it to J'zargo. The feline mage took a large bite out of the side of the apple, and satisfaction came across his face.

"Now, I believe we are keeping Tolfdir and Brelyna waiting. Let's go inside where it'll be a little warmer." He allowed the other two mages enter the ruins first, closing the door once he entered himself.

"So everyone is here now?" Tolfdir asked as he tossed away his own apple core.

"Yep. We're all here now." Stryger gave the thumbs up.

"Okay. Let's get started. Now, as you all know, Saarthal was an ancient Nord city that was also the largest back then. Sacked by the elves in the infamous 'Night of Tears', not much else is known about Saarthal. This is an exciting opportunity for us to study the ruins for anything retaining to the history and magic to this place."

"Okay, what should we be doing?" Stryger asked.

"You can go and see if Arniel Game needs any help with anything. Brelyna, darling, could you look for any rune tracings on anything within the ruin? Don't try to tamper with them, just identify them."

Stryger nodded towards his command while Brelyna responded to him. Stryger moved around his friends and headed for the other teacher, igniting a candlelight spell over his head so he could see in the darkened rooms. After wandering around the ruin for a minute he eventually resorted to a clairvoyance spell just to find Arniel Gane. His spell ended when he reached a balding man in front of him.

"It's going to take forever to sort through everything!" The balding man randomly complained.

"Tolfdir sent me here to help you out." Stryger spoke, startling Arniel.

"He what? Oh, you must be one of the new apprentices. Why don't you go and search for any enchanted items within the nothern chambers. Please try to be careful. We don't want to break anything."

"Got it." Stryger ignited another candlelight spell over his head and looked around a bit more, picking up a few enchanted rings here and there. He shook his head over how the ancient Nords would leave such valuables laying around, even in ruins such as this. Catching the light the torch emited from another room, Stryger approached to see an amulet sitting in a wall. It caught his eye and he had to walk over and examine it more.

His curiosity was rewarded with an iron gate raising and trapping him in the room as the amulet was pulled out of the wall by his thin fingers.

Back at Bleak Falls Barrow, Zacharius and Advena had already killed the bandits from within the ruin guarding the path within. After collecting their arrows Zacharius was ready to continue, but he had some more questions.

"Why does your voice seem to echo, Advena?"

"There are a number of reasons I can give you, but the only reason you might actually believe is that my helmet has a few enchantments placed upon it, which is true."

"Okay." Zacharius shook his head. "Why is it you don't always seem to want to tell me everything I want to know? You're always dodging some of my questions with riddles and half-answers."

"I live by the philosophy that I don't lie, but I just don't tell the truth. Most men have misinterpreted that as me saying I'm a liar, but in actuallity I speak only the truth. I just don't speak the whole truth."

"Why don't you speak the whole truth?"

"Sometimes not speaking the whole truth is actually a hint that you will find out the whole truth without my help in time. Sometimes it is because I find it is not my place to speak of some things because warning you could change too much of the story. Everyone's destiny is written into history, but only a few have the power to change their destiny."

Zacharius was about to speak again when Advena raised his hand.

"Do you hear that?" Advena asked.

"No." Zacharius noted, but he looked down and grabbed a scroll.

"Exactly. It seems I was right. Normally, there would've been cries for help. It seems I predicted correctly. The brigand is dead."

"Brigand?"

"The one with the key. We should be careful."

Zacharius unrolled it for a second. "And if we need it, there's a fireball scroll here. Might come in handy later."

"Perhaps." Advena moved around the table and walked down the stairs, seeing a man stabbed by multiple darts in his face. "Zacharius, the next room is trapped. We must be careful."

"How can you tell?" Zacharius asked as he caught up, catching eye of the corpse in the next room. "Oh." He moved up and looked around, noticing no other traps in the room. He did, however, catch his eye on a few puzzles. "Hmm. Perhaps it's a puzzle. The bandit here didn't realize it was a puzzle, so this place became his tomb."

"A good observation."

"You knew about it, didn't you?"

"I did."

"I'm beginning to understand your philosophy, Advena." Zacharius looked around the room, pointing at three particular statue head carvings. "Look at their mouths. Symbols of animals just like on the pillars." Zacharius walked over to the pillars and turned the three of them to the animals he saw from the code the ancient Nords had hung out.

"Snake, snake, whale." Advena spoke, looking at the pillars before looking at the statue heads. "That should do it."

Zacharius approached the lever and pulled it, hearing a satisfying sound of a gate pulling itself up. "That did it. Let's keep moving inside."

Advena nodded as the two of them continued walking, stopping only when they heard a strange noise behind them. They turned around to see the dead bandit had arisen with the blue energies of conjuration magic around him.

"Tell me you brought him back from the dead." Zacharius stated, hoping that the corpse wasn't planning on fighting them.

"I cannot raise the dead. It is against my morals." Advena pulled his greatsword off of his back. "That is a hostile corpse."

"Who in Oblivion summoned him?!"

The corpse pulled out its mace and attempted to run towards them, but Advena raised his sword and a white glow seemed to emit from the blade. "TASTE POWER!" He threw the sword point towards the ground. An ice wall began to form on the ground, heading for the resurrected corpse. "NOW ENOUGH!" The corpse was hit by the ice wall, turning into a pile of ash and snow on the ground.

Zacharius looked at Advena. "And how did you do that?!"

"Like yourself, there is more to us than meets the eye." Advena put his greatsword onhis back. "We should move on. If the necromancer that raised the dead shows up, we will stop his or her madness."

"All right, then." Zacharius still had an uneasy feeling about that necromancer, but Advena was powerful and should be trusted. After Zacharius searched through a chest, the two travellers continued down into the ruins, running into a bunch of spider webs. Zacharius cut through them with his sword, but he did not expect to see the giant frostbite spider behind them. It was eating a wrapped corpse on the wall, and Zacharius caught notice of a golden claw sticking out of the victim's cocoon.

"In spider culture, females are always three times as big. That means if we kill this mother, there will be less spiders around for a while."

Zacharius nodded, crouching and wiping the web off of his sword. "Go for the back of its legs. I'll take its face and attempt to kill it from the front." Zacharius walked around, getting into position without tripping over any corpses. When he signalled Advena to move, the mysterious Breton moved in and cut off the spider's back legs, satisfied as the creature shrieked at the loss of its legs. It threw another leg at Advena, but he merely parried it without any effort before cutting that off. The spider fell onto the ground as Zacharius jumped in the air and ran his sword through the creature's head.

"A sound strategy. Your father must be proud you utilize everything he has taught you."

"He is." Zacharius pulled the golden claw out of the cocoon along with a journal. "Is this the key you mentioned?"

"Yes."

"And this will open a door that leads to the Dragonstone?"

"Precisely. The secret is on the claw itself. Look to the journal to understand more."

Zacharius attached the claw onto his belt and flipped through the deceased's journal. "It mentions that when you have the golden claw, the solution is in your hands. I wonder what that means." He slipped the journal into his satchel for now, seeing as it was still around his side and he didn't want to unsling his backpack over his shoulders.

They continued through a hole in the wall that led to the crypts. Zacharius could see all of the dead sleeping in small cubbies within the walls. They were dried out and didn't seem capable of moving, but he knew otherwise that that was not the case.

"Watch your step." Advena had warned just as Zacharius's foot hit a pressure plate that sent a wall trap right at him.

Stryger noticed as Tolfdir walked over to the cage he got himself trapped in. The old man had a confused look on his face.

"What just happened? Are you all right?"

"Am I all right?!" Stryger freaked out. "I'm trapped in here!"

"How in the world did that happen?"

"I just pulled this amulet off the wall and BAM! Cage door rose and trapped me in here."

"That is interesting. Wait. Look at the wall. It looks as if there is magic flowing around it. See if that amulet of yours can do something about it."

Stryger looked at the spot he had pulled the amulet out from and noticed he was right. Slipping the amulet around his neck, Stryger went and threw a spell at the wall. The magic flame busted the wall open, and he smiled as he heard the gate drop. Then he saw Tolfdir head through the hole in the wall, and he had to run to catch up to him. The two mages had reached a small burial chamber that housed three coffins lined up on the walls.

Stryger suddenly felt as if the world was no longer spinning. A purple haze seemed to fill the room, and right in front of him lay an appiration of a Dunmer in orange robes.

"Hold, mage." The Dunmer spoke. "Know that you are about to set in motion a chain of events that can not be stopped. Judgement has not been passed, however, because you were unaware of what is to happen. Now it is in your power to stop what will happen or risk certain destruction to your college and the rest of Tamriel. Know that our order, the Psijic Order, is watching you, mage. Good luck."

"What just happened?" Stryger heard Tolfdir asked. "I swear, I felt some kind of magical presence for a second."

Stryger placed his fingers onto his forehead. "I just had some kind of vision."

"Really? I didn't see anything. What happened in this vision?"

"A Dunmer who said he worked for the Psijic Order and that we've triggered events that could lead to dangerous consequences."

"The Psijic Order? That's amazing, if it's true. The Psijic Order hasn't been seen since they transported their island far away from Tamriel. But I don't know what their connection is to these ruins."

"Perhaps they know something we don't. You said the dark elves sacked this place and that it had magical properties. What if the ancient Nords had tried protecting some kind of magical artifact from the Dunmer and we're about to stumble upon it? And if it's as dangerous as the Psijic Order claimed, how do we handle it without causing some kind of apocalypse?"

"I guess we'll find out in time. Let's examine these coffins. Perhaps one of them holds a secret entrance."

As soon as Tolfdir had spoken those words, the coffin doors fell off, revealing three draugr. Stryger immediately bound a sword from the planes of Oblivion in his hand and fought off the draugr closest to him. Tolfdir shot lightning from his hands at the other two draugr, and Stryger's sword skills were put to the test against the one he was fighting. Swordplay wasn't his favorite form of combat, but it was still a necessity when summoning weapons. Once he found an opening, he stabbed the ghostly weapon through the draugr's chest, pulling it out and slicing at its neck for good measure.

"Well, at least you were right, professor." Stryger sighed as his weapon disappeared. "There's a secret entryway through this coffin. Shall we investigate?"

Tolfdir walked through first, and Stryger followed after he lit another candlelight spell.

It was a stupid mistake. Zacharius thought to himself as he breathed hard. The trap had nearly crushed him with those long spikes it had. Advena himself seemed to have taken a ghostly form and didn't move as it passed through him harmlessly. If Zacharius hadn't jumped back, he'd be dead already.

The draugr rose from their graves at the sound of the slamming gate.

"Quickly, Zacharius!" Advena yelled. "Jump over the trap button!"

Taking the powerful Breton's advice, Zacharius jumped over it before he could get himself killed by it and watched as the draugr walked right into their own trap. Advena turned back to his normal form, sparking another question in Zacharius.

"How did you turn yourself into a ghost?"

"It is actually a dragon shout called Become Etheral. You literally become intangible, so no one can cause you harm. At the same time, however, you can't hurt anyone yourself. The ancient Nords have practiced the art of shouting for thousands of years. I myself had plenty of time to learn a few more words."

"How much time?"

Before Advena could answer, however, the corpses that had been crushed by their own trap came back up, summoned again by the mysterious necromancer. A strange cackle could be heard echoing across the tomb, and Advena pulled his greatsword off of his back.

"Continue moving through the tomb! I will hold off these creatures and catch up with you when I can!"

"But-" Zacharius started to protest as Advena ran straight towards a draugr with a greatsword, stabbing it and picking up its weapon in his left hand. Advena then used both greatswords to deflect incoming blows from the other four draugr. Listening to Advena, Zacharius pulled out his sword and continued down the passageway. A draugr popped out of the wall and swung a battleaxe at him, making him step back to avoid being hit. He tried to stab the undead foe but instead got his sword caught in between the handle and the axe. The draugr then twisted his axe so Zacharius could lose the grip on his sword, and Zacharius was knocked onto the floor.

His bow fell off of his backpack and landed right next to him. Reaching for his dagger instead, Zacharius let the steel blade knock the undead Nord onto his knee as he sliced through the joint. He then thrusted the small blade into the draugr's eye, killing it. Three others began to approach, but Zacharius caught sight of an oil trap. Grasping his bow and an arrow from his quiver, Zacharius pulled back the string with all of his strength and let it loose, knocking the urn of oil that hung over the first draugr's head onto the ground. The sparks that flew combusted the oil and sent three more souls back to Sovngarde.

"I hope it's warm in Sovngarde, monsters." Zacharius muttered as he picked himself up and put away his weapons. He picked his sword up off the ground and wasn't surprised to see the unburned corpse rising back from the dead. Swinging his sword as quickly as possible, the risen corpse disintegrated into ash, granting Zacharius a moment to catch his breath before he continued on.

Advena was in a defensive position. Despite having slain the reawakened undead, he knew just who had been summoning these corpses back after they were slain a second time. The two greatswords in his hands were light as air, and his senses were acting wildly.

Finally, a black cloud flew around his head and landed in front of him, revealing a woman that was either a Daedra or a Dunmer. The daedric armor she wore was very revealing, and there were the many scars Advena had placed on her body that were not hidden by what parts of her armor she did wear. In her hands were a daedric sword and shield, and her mask hid her identity as much as his own.

"Jornada." Advena spoke calmly.

"Alpha, so defensive as ever." Her dark voice was as etheral as his own. That meant she had a clear mind. That would explain the necromancy she was pulling. The last time they were in this particular timeline, she had been a feral beast, and with the help of Caleb Secus she had been put down easily. But that was no longer the case now.

"You know it is still my duty to put you down."

"Like you always do. But things are different this time, Alpha. I have the help of a Daedric Prince. Mehrunes Dagon has blessed me with the gifts to cause chaos within this realm, and I don't plan on having you or your plan get in the way of that."

"You know I can't allow that."

"Then you'll just have to stop me." Jornada swung her sword at Advena, but he countered it with his iron greatsword. They continued to clash weapons for over a minute, never tiring themselves out as they swung and struck at each other. Suddenly, Jornada's swing snapped Advena's iron greatsword in half, and he resorted to stabbing her in the leg with it. Her cry of pain echoed throughout the tomb, and even Zacharius heard it as he walked into the inner sanctum. Advena took the ancient Nordic greatsword and attempted to finish her off, but Jornada turned herself back into the black cloud and retreated.

Zacharius was unsure as to what that loud sound was, but the dead reacted to it by waking up. He had to fight his way over to the puzzle door Advena had mentioned. Pulling out the golden claw from his satchel, he studied it and found that underneath it held three symbols that were also on the door.

"Another alignment game? Well, let's see." Zacharius twisted the rings on the door to the animals that were on the claw. "Bear, moth, owl. That should do it." He stuck the golden claw into the claw slots and turned it, hearing a satisfying click as the wheels spun to show all owls and begin to descend to reveal the passageway.

Stryger, on the other hand, wasn't having as much luck. After they had entered another room full of draugr, Tolfdir wanted to stay behind and study the coffins. That was fine by Stryger. Then there were a multitude of traps and draugr along the continued pathway to whatever it was that was dangerous enough to receive a vision from the Psijic Order about it. And just where it couldn't get worse, there were two puzzles in order to open doors. Stryger easily figured out the first one after he threw up a candlelight spell and saw that the ancient Nords were stupid enough to put up signs of what the animal needed to be. He figured the second one would be just as easy, but there were those that could turn the other mechanisms, ruining his progress.

"Julianos, give me the wisdom to solve this damn puzzle!" Stryger pulled a telekinesis spell out and spun all four blocks at once, landing them all on the right spot. The door in front of him opened, and Stryger was caught by surprise. "Hmm, I didn't actually think that would work. Thank you, Julianos."

Stryger walked through the corridors deeper into Saarthal until he heard Tolfdir yelling at him to wait up. Once the old man had caught his breath, they pressed on, opening the doors to a large chamber. Within it stood a large glowing orb that literally pulsed with magic.

"By Julianos, what is that?" Stryger's eyes grew wide at the object until he heard the unmistakable sound of a draugr. As he looked down, he saw an ancient Nord arising from the chair he sat in, wielding a war axe and a staff. Stryger threw a fireball at the undead nightmare, but the magic seemed to disperse around the battlemage, causing no damage to his target.

"Nothing seems to work against him!" Tolfdir shouted.

"Like hell nothing will!" Stryger jumped down and summoned his sword, facing the creature in single combat. The draugr attempted to use its staff, but Stryger gripped it with his fur glove and yanked it away. But all that did was make the battlemage grab Stryger's throat.

"I've got an idea!" Tolfdir shouted as he ran to the orb. "Just keep that thing busy!"

Stryger cried out as he was thrown into a wall. His back was sending signals across his body, but he could still pick himself up, which meant he was alive. "No problem." He muttered, getting back up and fighting the creature again. Tolfdir began to shoot lightning at the orb, and Stryger could visibly see the invulnerability barrier that the draugr had disappear before him.

With one swift move, Stryger sunk his summoned blade into the battlemage's chest, sending its soul back to Sovngarde (or wherever his soul belonged to).

"That's right!" Stryger yelled at the corpse. "You just got your ass beat by an elf! Think about that back in the afterlife!" When his excitement wore off, he looked at the corpse to see an amulet hanging around its neck. Reaching around, he unhooked it and brought it up. It looked like the amulet he found in the wall that started this whole mess, but it also looked incomplete, as if it was a fragment of a whole amulet. Seeing a scrap of paper tied around it, he removed it and unfolded it to read an ancient note:

Be bound here, Jyrik, murderer, betrayer

Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord

May your name and deeds be forgotten forever

And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward.

"Huh. I wonder what this guy did to get such a fate like that." Stryger then picked up the staff of Jyrick Gaulderson and twirled it in his fingers. The magics that existed both in the amulet and the staff were indeed quite powerful, and Stryger felt as if there was more to this than he figured. Slipping on the new amulet and placing the old one in his satchel, Stryger joined Tolfdir in front of the orb.

As the two mages conversed over the artifact they found, Zacharius himself was admiring the view of the caverns that the Dragonstone had to have been in. There was plenty of light coming from holes in the top, so Zacharius could see things clear as day. There was a large wall in the center with a coffin and a chest. Whatever this Dragonstone was, it had to be somewhere up there. Running along the pathway to the wall, he began his search of the Dragonstone. However, he couldn't shake the feeling he could hear... Chanting. That was what it sounded like. It sounded like a chorus of Nords chanting in a foreign tongue he couldn't quite make out. Looking away from the chest he was about to open, he saw the wall was glowing with a blue hue. More specifically, there was a word (at least, that's what he thought) that seemed to truly glow. The chanting was getting louder as he stared at it, and Zacharius couldn't help himself as he walked to the wall.

A strange energy seemed to surround him as he got closer. As the chanting grew louder, Zacharius's vision became fuzzier, and he could feel power seeping into him. It was a strange magic he had never felt before in his life, and it was very powerful indeed. Suddenly the chanting stopped and was replaced by one simple word that Zacharius seemed to understand.

FUS!

Zacharius shook his head as he felt his vision come back to him. He felt smarter than he was before, as if an ancient gift of knowledge had been bestowed upon him. Knowing his luck, he probably did learn something ancient.

A rumbling was heard behind him as his vision returned, and he saw as the coffin's lid flew off of the top. A draugr with a sword that seemed to emit Skyrim's coldest mountains and a shield that looked as black as the night popped out. Zacharius reacted by pulling out his sword and dagger. The draugr challenged him by beating his sword on his shield.

"What in Oblivion are you?"

The draugr pulled itself back, as if sucking in a breath. "FUS-RO-DAH!"

Zacharius watched as the creature's words echoed and hit Zacharius, nearly throwing him off of the side of the island the wall lay on. But Zacharius regained his balance fast enough to counter-attack, slamming his sword into the creature's shield. The draugr swung its sword at Zacharius, but he deflected it with his dagger. However, he still felt the icy chill it possessed. He stabbed his dagger into the draugr's chest, but it didn't go down. The draugr's shield immediately hit Zacharius in the chest, knocking him to the ground and making him drop his sword. As his enemy approached him, Zacharius immediately pulled out the scroll he found and activated the spell.

"Burn in Oblivion, you monster!" He formed the large fireball in both of his hands, throwing it before the draugr's sword stabbed him. The draugr flew back a little bit, falling on one knee as it burned. Not wasting his window of opportunity, Zacharius grabbed his sword and thrust it through the burning corpse. It slumped to the ground defeated.

Zacharius picked himself up and moved his muscles, hearing some popping and cracking from his fight. After he put his sword away, he removed his backpack, placing the enchanted sword and the shield he found within. Also seeing as there was no immediate danger, Zacharius was able to fit his long bow in one of the outside pockets on it, giving him easier access than attaching it to the back where it could break. When he saw that the chest did not have the Dragonstone, he merely took out what he figured would be valuable and any gold that was in it.

"Wonder if the dead guy here was guarding it while he slept." Zacharius went over to the tomb itself to see it laying right there. "Good. I was afraid this trip would be for nothing." He grabbed the Dragonstone with both hands and slipped it into his backpack carefully. It made the thing a lot heavier, but Zacharius could carry it to Whiterun before it got dark.

"I see you recovered what you were looking for."

Zacharius pulled out his sword and pointed it at Advena, who didn't flinch as the blade nearly cut off his head.

Zacharius lowered his blade. "Sorry. You just caught me off guard."

"I do that to people sometimes. The necromancer that had been reviving the dead has fled. I plan on chasing after them as soon as Alvor is done creating my new sword. My old one broke during the fighting, but I managed to draw blood with it."

"Who was that necromancer?"

"I should not say more, but we have crossed paths many times before. The necromancer was mainly targeting me, but now you might be as much of a target just for associating with me. Be on alert from now on." Advena then walked over to the word wall. "Ah, dragon script. This wall contains words in the ancient dragon tongue. It is incredibly old, but their words are powerful."

"So I just learned a word of power?"

"Yes, in fact. Now all you have to do is figure out how to unlock it. Knowing a word is different rom being able to use it. But I know you'll figure it out soon enough." Advena reached into Zacharius's satchel. "In the meantime, we'll go our separate ways. This claw was recently stolen from a resident in Riverwood. I will return it to them while you get the Dragonstone to Whiterun. We may run into each other in the future, Zacharius Morrigan, but until then, walk towards your destiny and embrace it with open arms."

Zacharius was about to ask what he he meant by that, but The Stranger had disappeared right before his eyes.

After Stryger and Tolfdir had made some small observations about the artifact, Tolfdir decided Stryger should go tell the Arch-Mage of their discovery while Tolfdir guarded it. Stryger agreed, but only because he wanted to get out of the ruins. Immediately after leaving the room with the orb in it, however, he ended up hearing chanting and found that a wall was glowing around a strange word. When Stryger walked up to it to investigate, he felt a strange magic envelop him, and he almost fainted from it. But when it was finished, a word echoed in his mind.

IIZ!

"IIZ! What in Oblivion is that supposed to mean? And why does it feel like it got colder?"

Shaking his head of the word, he continued on until he was out of Saarthal and heading to the College.

"So who, or perhaps what, was Advena?" Ronan asked.

"To this day, even I don't know. But I do know he was older than he appeared, wise and powerful. I haven't seen him in a long time. Maybe it was for the best."

"This is what leads up to you slaying your first dragon, right?" Torygg asked.

Zacharius chuckled "Yes, Torygg. This is what lead up to not only my first dragon I slayed, but the first time I felt like I was a part of Skyrim."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: What a long chapter. I hope it was entertaining enough.

Anyways, if you're wondering as to who this 'Jornada Del Muerto' is and haven't read my Mass Effect story, all you need to know is that she is the nemesis of The Stranger who always undergoes a process of reincarnation and tries to kill him, since they are the only ones who can hurt each other. This is the second time they have encountered each other in Tamriel, and you'll learn more about their first fight as the story progresses.

Now, for those who missed how none of the other characters appeared in this chapter, do not worry. Errick and Scarlai are definitely going to reappear in the next chapter. Speaking of Errick, he's going to meet up with a guest character from another novel in the chapter after the next one, but I won't go and reveal who it is until that chapter. As for the creator of that guest character, I'll be sending you that particular segment of the chapter to make sure I get things right for her appearance. It would suck if things were incredibly inaccurate.

Shoutouts to Admiral Anderson and SpiritofJazz for keeping up with my story so far. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll try to unveil the chapters for more followers.