Oren's blade couldn't be grabbed fast enough from his back as he turned to face the voice. His hands almost slipped in his rush to grab onto the leather wrapped hilt of the weapon. Boots ground against the floor as he moved, his eyes working to focus on the figure in front of him, the orbs light bouncing off the dark blue colors of the figures robes. Straps surrounded the midsection of the figure, holding together the fabric of the clothing. Smaller bones and whittled white items hung strung to some of the straps, their sound a light tinkling when the figure moved.
"I wouldn't advise attacking" He said calmly, the raspy even tone voice had returned, he raised a skeletal hand up in a loose halt motion, the loose fabric of his sleeves falling down the arm a little way. His movement, though little, was followed by the soft tinkle of the bones on his waist. "I'd hate to have to clean up my guests from the floor"
Oren narrowed his eyes, hands flexing on his blade as he stared at the creature before him. It wasn't the first time skeletons had walked again, but speaking was a bit of a different experience. He normally could have attributed it to the acts of a necromancer, though it seemed highly unlikely that this would be the case this far into the mountains, and in what they assumed was an abandoned tomb. Tales did tell of creatures who walked due to their gods hands, the Nord was not one to possibly anger a god. He would keep his eye on the walking pile of bones though; his alert mannerism strong as he found his next words.
"What did you say before." Oren asked gruffly as he took a slight step back, his heel hitting the stone coffin behind him, he was not retreating, but attempting to get a better position if he needed to fight. The coffin would be problematic if the skeleton did decide to make a surprise attack, his mind was already working on his battle plan as he kept his eyes trained in front of him.
"Cleaning your bits up from the floor?" he raised a hand to his chin, bone meeting a silver colored mask with amethyst toned glowing eyes behind the eye holes. There was a momentary pause from the figure who shook his head briefly right after. A sarcastic 'ah-ha' made its way out as a dry snap of his fingers like he had figured it out. "No, the part about not choosing to be foolish and attack?"
"No, don't play dumb. You said something about a Dragonborn" Oren said hesitantly lowering his weapon just a touch below his shoulder to keep himself from tiring himself out by holding it above himself for longer than he needed to. Barely in a few sentences with this creature and he was already getting frustrated with the antics. It was clear the skeleton knew better than what he was playing at, the way he had approached in a calm manner definitely didn't originally reflect a sense of humor. The skeleton sighed and moved his hand from his chin before nodding.
"Oh yes, I didn't expect to be granted a visit from the Dragonborn" He said placing his hands together and taking a small step forward. The lights in the room wavered, their little spines of light dimming before brightening again. The shadows blending with the black tones of his bones, small white lines crossed his hands here and there, their appearance similar to that of veins. "It's an unexpected turn of events truly"
Oren's weapon came down now as he stood there, taken aback by what the undead in front of him was implying. He cleared his throat and shook his head, amber eyes filled with a confused disbelief. The skeleton came closer, his hand outstretching as his pointer finger came to rest on Oren's armor, over his heart. Oren's home village had celebrated the stories of dragonborn for years, they ate feasts for a figure that no longer walked the plains of Nirn. To have it suggested that he was the one who had been carrying the dragonblood this whole time, it seemed beyond comprehension.
"Ah, I may have spoken more than you know" he said with an amused broken chuckle in the back of his throat. "The confusion in your eyes speak volumes about your current mental state." Oren stared at the glowing purple eyes behind the mask before lifting a hand and shoving the undead's hand away. It was just tales, if he was such a warrior then he would have known sooner about his fate, or one of the mystics in their village would have been able to tell..at least he figured so. At the same time he felt pride swelling in the back of his mind, if it wasn't simply tales, well then Akatosh couldn't have chosen a better person. He was a solid warrior, unafraid to take battles head on, willing to do whatever it would take to achieve his goal. The fame it would bring him, the willing ladies to bed, the power he would have before him. His thoughts had begun to trail off, the flicker of the orbs lights again brining him back to the present, he couldn't let himself get carried away with such a fantasy.
"You're just talking about old Nord tales. Which make no sense, there are no dragons roaming the world outside" He said using his free hand to motion up towards what he could only assume was the ceiling at some point up in the darkness. The undead made a thoughtful hm as Oren's words before taking a slight step back. "There hasn't been a Dragonborn in millennia, not that the world needs them without dragons." His words were stern, but honestly hollow, the power a Dragon born could have even without dragons might still be quite powerful. Did simply having the dragon blood within your veins create a stronger individual?
"Well, that does make no sense, albeit I shall still offer my services to you, after all your entrance into my tomb was what allowed me to awaken" He said straightening up and placing his hands behind his back. His posture returned to that of a seasoned scholar, the hood of his robes never falling fully over the front of his mask, but rather sitting neatly on the edges of the silver mask. "The name is Vyron, conjurer of lighting and the arcane" Oren stared at Vyron, his weapon moving behind his back and settling back into the sheath that loosely carried it around the hilt.
"Oren. If you tag along, remember that I will not hesitate to kill you if you make one wrong move" The man said his tone becoming cold and stern, ignoring the fact that the glowing purple behind the mask was sending nervous chills down his spine. He was hesitant about brining this unexpected guest along on his travels, though part of him was more on edge about what might happen if he refused the offer. The whole air of the tomb now sat heavily with a pressure, the undead's presence creating an uncomfortable situation. He couldn't rule out the fact that this creature..Vyron might be able to get them out of this place. He hadn't given up, but if he could lessen the amount of time that he would be trapped down here, he would gladly take it. The words had put him in a place that confused him, he made a note to head right back to Markarth after they left the tomb, someone there would be able to validate the skeletons words, at least he hoped.
Ylva slowly scooted herself back up the wall, having slid down during the confrontation between the two men. Her hands pressed against the broken stone carving as she straightened up, silver toned eyes dancing between her hire and the newcomer. Her skin tingled as she swallowed a lump in the back of her throat.
"Oren..we need to get moving, I'm running low on magic and potions.." she managed, her hire turning his head to look at her before grunting and waving for her to move them. Ylva headed over to Oren, readjusting her pack against her back, the thick furs of her robes were starting to get warm from fear and the amount of orbs she had placed around the space. Her gaze stayed on the floor as Oren looked at Vyron, the dark figure still keeping his slight distant between them. Ylva could see his robes were torn near the bottom, otherwise the fabric seeming to have kept pretty well over the years. The mask lifted with his face as he waited for Oren's words.
"This is your tomb correct, you must know the way out" he said addressing the skeleton who gave a swift nod and motioned out a hand. Oren was the leader now having accepted Vyron's offer to assist him, he would do as the other requested and fulfill his duties to the best of his abilities.
"but of course, tombs were always built with efficient escape routes in time of danger. Sometimes they were too well hidden though" He said walking over to the carved story wall and searching the panel, the boney hands came to rest of a slightly indented portion that he pushed in. A low groan of rock on rock came from the panel as it steadily moved aside. The hall behind the stone was small and as dark as the rest of the place had been, though Vyron headed right in without another word, a soft glow coming from where he walked, most likely a mages spell effect for easier lighting. Oren looked at the tunnel and shook his head before following after he undead figure ahead of him, following the small bit of light from the other. One hand pressed against the wall as he walked, keeping himself from falling over surprise rocks and possible tripping hazards. Grit covered his hand, the stones texture becoming softer as it faded into a cold dirt hole. The smell of earth filled his nose as the footsteps became lighter against the earthen ground, the creaking of the bones ahead of them was steady and constant, barely echoing anymore in the small space.
Vyron stopped at a large stone that sealed the end of then tunnel, the years untouched had left the cracks between the stone and the entrance to fill up with debris from the ever shifting world. The black boned hand reached up to the crack and ran a finger along it, knocking some of the dirt onto the floor. Oren stood behind him, only able to make out a portion of what was going on ahead of him. The soft metallic rattle came from his right as the skeleton grabbed ahold of the smooth metal ring and pulled swiftly. Stone lurched, the dirt that remained in the space was crumbled and sent tumbling to the floor as the door disappeared slowly into the crevice it sat above. Light began to leak in through the cracks that had opened up, Oren raised a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding day. The dirt tunnel was still small, but a bit less cramped feeling now that they could see the walls of the area and the way out ahead of them.
The stone came to a stop almost all the way gone, though it seemed to be wedged part way, dirt and debris had piled up over the years into the space below the stone. Vyron looked down at the rough rock that sat sticking part way out of the floor, bending his figure he stepped through the space that was open, and out into the snow.
"Come along then, simply bend over it isn't that difficult" He said giving his hand a small wave to the others who were still tucked in the small space. Oren grunted at the tone as he leaned over, the pommel of his sword still scraping the ceiling of the tunnel and knocking dirt down the back of his armor. Not much could be done though as he climbed through the space, straightening up once he was in the open air again. Muttering came from him as he shifted his shoulders around, failing at trying to achieve whatever it was with the dirt. Ylva had a much simpler time getting through the space, her small frame barely needing to tuck in as much as the males had. The bright daylight caused the snow below their feet to sparkly, the storm cracking off in the far distance over another mountain now. Ylva looked towards where it was and let out a soft breath of relief.
"At least we won't have to be dealing with that issues for a while" the elf looked over her robes, taking a gloved hand and brushing bits of earth off of her clothing. The brown flecks speckled the pure white ground as she cleaned up, her lute thumping softly against her pack as she moved around. She was more than glad to be out of that space, normally she had no problems traversing the tombs and caves with her hire, but those were times when she had been able to stock up sufficiently for a trip like that. She thanks the gods silently for their luck in getting out of the darkness of the tomb without any major injuries. Her ribs almost made her take the last part back, but she wasn't dying from the pain in her ribs so she would call this one a victory.