Author's Note:
TRIGGER WARNING!
A little unexpected I guess O:)
Well… I'm not gonna say a thing here, as always, to avoid spoilers. Just read and I'm pretty sure you'll know when to check the bottom of the chapter for specifics if you feel like you should. Or just check right now if you prefer :)
I hope you will enjoy the chapter. Currently, it's the longest chapter I have ever posted. But I'm afraid there will be even longer ones down the road :D Sometimes I have trouble controlling myself.
And thank you all for your continued readership :3
Chapter LVI – A Perfect Place
Bishop and Aeyrin were all done with shopping for supplies in only a little while and they slowly returned towards the market by the gates.
They were all set to leave Markarth and now there was only one more thing to consider.
"So, where are we going?" Aeyrin asked while they stopped just above the market by the small stream.
"I don't know. How about we get out of the cities for a while? We could do with some time in the wilderness," Bishop pondered on the question. It had been some time since they found themselves with no immediate plans. He always liked that when it happened. It was the only time when they could lose themselves in the wilderness, just adventuring and spending time together alone.
Staying in the Reach was probably not the best idea with how things were now, but they could maybe go to Haafingar to explore the northern forests. They hadn't ever spent much time there. Every time they got to the area, it was for Solitude and their stay there soured Bishop on the entire Hold promptly.
He was about to tell her this idea of his as he idly leaned on the door to a nearby house.
He never managed to get a word out, however. As soon as he leaned his weight against the Dwemer metal door, it creaked and he felt the empty space behind his back all too late to save himself.
Bishop fell flat on his back as the door suddenly opened and Aeyrin couldn't help but giggle at the inept stunt.
"Are you alright?" she asked in between the barely subdued giggles.
Bishop groaned loudly while his back vibrated with unpleasant pain after the impact on the cold stone floor inside the house. Who the fuck leaves their door unlocked?!
In a second, Aeyrin outstretched her arm to him and he took it to hoist himself up.
Only then he noticed why the door was unlocked.
He looked around the house that he had accidentally ended up inside. It was fully furnished and lived-in, but everything was covered with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. This place must have been empty for quite some time.
"What is this place?" Aeyrin wondered as her eyes roamed over the house. There was a fireplace by one of the walls with a bear-skin rug and an expensive-looking couch right in front of it, but it all looked old and neglected. Did someone leave this house fully furnished like this?
"Don't know. An abandoned home, I guess." Bishop shrugged. It was weird that so much stuff was in it, but maybe the owners died and the city didn't clean the place out yet.
He took a few steps further into the chamber, still looking around.
It was so quiet. And a little eerie. They were all alone in the dark quiet house, but there was still some light coming through a narrow slit in the wall to serve as a meager window.
All alone in a completely empty house.
Hmm… this could be fun.
Bishop gave Aeyrin a wide grin, earning a confused expression from her, before he stepped towards her and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"You know… we could spend a little more time in Markarth, I guess. Alone. Undisturbed." His suggestive wink did most of the talking for him. He didn't need to elaborate any further.
"What?" Aeyrin giggled at him while her cheeks flushed instantly. "Here? Why? There's an inn right across the street! And what if somebody comes in here? We don't know the situation with this place."
"I know. Exciting, huh?" Bishop smirked at her and he promptly dipped his head lower to nip at the tip of her ear teasingly.
Aeyrin giggled again and she shook her head at him disbelievingly. Although she couldn't say that it wasn't tempting for some reason. Even if it was completely pointless to pick a filthy abandoned place for such activities.
"Come on, love, let's have some fun," Bishop groaned into her ear while he pressed her body closer to his. This was a perfect place for it.
"We had some 'fun' just a few hours ago," she smirked in response. She was still unsure about this, but it was getting more and more tempting by the second.
"So? Aaww, are you all tired out already?" he mocked her, earning a light punch to his chest in response.
"Fine. Let's see who gets 'tired out' first." She promptly disentangled herself from him and she dropped her pack to the dusty floor below her feet.
Bishop followed suit and he briefly looked back over his shoulder. The door was closed. Good. Aeyrin must have shut it before.
Once their packs were disposed of, they instantly threw themselves into each other's embrace with passion. It was exciting. What if some old hermit lived here? What if they didn't care about the state of the house and were just resting somewhere deeper into the house?
This was so stupid.
Why was it so hard to resist this urge?
They met in a deep kiss as their arms grabbed each other around their backs. Bishop's tongue slipped inside her mouth instantly, teasing her own with hungry movements while he began to walk, taking steps forward and forcing her to walk back.
He only stopped when Aeyrin collided with a cupboard by the back wall. She could already feel Bishop's hands move over her buttocks to her upper thighs, but she stopped him promptly.
"Wait," she tore herself away from his lips reluctantly with heavy breaths. "New clothes."
Bishop laughed heartily at that, but he did briefly outstretch his hand to brush off the thick layer of dust from the surface of the cupboard. He didn't do that very meticulously, he was too eager to continue their ministrations.
When he was done, only a few seconds later, he grabbed her by the backs of her thighs and hoisted her up to sit her down onto the wooden surface. She didn't seem to care about the dust anymore either. Her legs eagerly wrapped around his hips and she used them to yank him closer towards herself, pinning him to her form.
One of Bishop's hands tangled into her hair and he dipped her head back to move his eager kisses down onto her neck. The other hand roamed around her back for a while before it slid under the layers of her trousers and undergarments to stroke over the bare skin of her lower back and buttocks.
A sudden loud crash startled them and they quickly looked to the source. There was a broken glass goblet on the ground, right by their feet all of a sudden.
Huh… it must have been on the cupboard, Bishop figured. Aeyrin had likely nudged it with her leg and sent it falling on the ground.
He instantly returned to his ministrations and started to suck on his favorite spot on her neck, eliciting a strained moan out of her, but, while before her hands tangled in his hair eagerly, now her clutch on it eased with palpable uncertainty.
She couldn't help but look over his shoulder at the broken glass on the floor. Where did that thing come from? She didn't notice anything on the cupboard.
She could hear a faint creaking sound coming further from the house, but it got soon drowned out by Bishop's groan of pleasure. His hand was still stroking over her bare skin under her clothes while the other snuck in between their bodies to squeeze her breast over her new shirt.
What was that creak? She was sure that she had heard it. Or was it just her imagination?
"Bishop?" she tried to get his attention uncertainly, but he was fully absorbed in his activities. He squeezed her breast hungrily while his teeth dipped into the skin on her neck.
"Hmmm… Aeyrin. Fuck," he groaned again and the hand on her buttocks yanked her closer to press her towards his groin. He started grinding himself against her in eager motions, but that was right when she heard the creaking sound again.
"Bishop… wait." Her hands moved to his shoulders to push him back a little, but he didn't let her. He kept kissing her skin, groping her body and pressing his hips against her with more and more pressure with each motion.
"I can't wait anymore," he growled against her skin before he bit her neck again, now even more firmly.
"N-no… there's… there's," she tried again, but she didn't get the words out properly as his constant nips and squeezes of her flesh interrupted her with jolts of pleasure. It wasn't unusual for either of them to get completely absorbed in the passion like that, no matter what was going on around. But still, underneath the heat spreading through her body, she couldn't help the uncomfortable feeling that rose in her gut.
Something wasn't right here.
She couldn't help it. There was an overwhelming burning sensation at the back of her head and her stomach clenched almost painfully.
"Bishop! Stop!"
That did it. Bishop tore himself away from her, although his hands stayed right where they were before, stilled in shock.
"What? Why?"
"I… I don't know… something's not right…" she stammered as she looked back at the broken glass on the floor. Maybe it was nothing. Just old wood making noise and an inopportune goblet. Did she just panic for no reason? She wasn't exactly sure what even could be wrong.
"What? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He quickly took his arms away from her body and he looked down on her, from head to toe, in order to see if anything was wrong. Was there more glass on the cupboard? Did she cut herself or something?
"I don't see…" He didn't get to finish the thought. Something hit him firmly on the back of his head and he could hear more glass shattering close to his ears. Hot pain spread through his scalp before he could realize what happened.
"Oh Gods!"
"What? What was that?" he groaned as the pain eased and his hand darted to the back of his head. He felt a little wet spot there, but it didn't hurt anymore. Just a small cut. He examined his hand and he could see the small spots of dark blood in the shrouded room.
"That… that glass! I didn't see it! It was just… here, suddenly. It was like someone threw it at your head!" Aeyrin explained with clear panic in her voice and her hand darted instantly to the spot on his head where the glass had shattered. She couldn't feel any wounds, but her hand lit up with magic all the same, just in case.
"What do you mean? What…" again he was interrupted. This time, the couch by the fireplace started to shake in spot, making a loud clattering sound.
"What. The. Fuck?" Bishop stared at the couch in disbelief.
"Something is here… something strange," Aeyrin started to look around frantically while the couch stopped shaking, until her eyes fell on the glinting gold-bronze metal on the other side of the room. "Did you close the door before?"
"I thought you did," Bishop's eyes went wide at her. This was getting fucking creepy. What was this? A ghost? Ghosts didn't do shit like that! They would see one by now, right?
Before they could ponder any further, a loud creaking sound echoed from further in. Now it was so loud that nothing could drown it out.
They shared an uncertain look before Aeyrin disentangled her legs from Bishop's waist and hopped down back to the ground. They both looked towards the closed door leading outside, but after another shared look, they turned towards the hallway leading further into the house instead.
This mystery was just too tempting to abandon.
They walked forward cautiously while the furniture around continued to shake or rattle on occasion. Nothing else was happening though. No entity revealed itself and nothing tried to attack them.
They marched for a longer time than they had originally thought they would. Or maybe it just felt like it due to the anticipation. Finally they reached another metal door and they tentatively opened it.
Beyond the door, the Dwemer stone only spread a very short way before it was replaced by a cavernous hallway. It looked like one of the Falmer-made cave-ins, but… Falmer couldn't do spooky shit like that.
They continued further before the Dwemer structures appeared again with another door ahead.
"…lo?... there?" Suddenly, there was a voice coming from beyond the door. It tried to call out desperately, but the metal muffled it too much.
Aeyrin didn't hesitate for a second and she opened the door wide. The sight inside stunned them to silence.
There was a small stone chamber behind the door with a strange black altar in the middle. There was something on it, rusted metal with a lot of spikes, but it was hard to tell what it was. There was another black altar at the very back of the room with some strange face depicted on it and liquid in a bowl-like protrusion on top.
But most importantly, there was a man, standing between the two altars.
He was surrounded by a strange circle of long curved spikes protruding from the ground, made out of the same black metal, likely ebony or something, but there were bright red lines at the edges of them. He was trapped.
Only a second later, Aeyrin noticed the man's armor. Black with golden engravings and a familiar circle with a hammer depicted on the chest plate.
A Vigilant of Stendarr.
"By the Gods! People! Oh Gods! You have to help me! Get me out of here! Please!" the man cried out desperately as he almost sobbed through his words. He looked so tired, so… broken. How long had he been in here?!
"Who are you?" Aeyrin stared at the man with concern in her face. Something here… something felt… wrong.
"I am a Vigilant of Stendarr. Please, you have to help me out of this thing!" He clenched his hands in a desperate plea and his knees started to shake violently, making the metal of his armor clank loudly.
Bishop took a step forward to examine the strange cage, but he didn't get to reach it.
"Stop!" Aeyrin yelled at him suddenly. "Don't touch it! It's Daedric!"
Bishop's eyes went wide at her before they turned towards the strange cage. How could she tell? He had never seen Daedric metal before. But… it looked kind of sinister with those red lines. And was it really dangerous to even touch it? That… sounded wrong. It might have been a little exaggerated in her Stendarrite education. It was just metal, right? Still… the fact that there even was Daedric metal here did not bode well.
"W-what?!" the Vigilant exclaimed. Did he not know? If anyone, he should know, right? "N-no! It's not. Please, just see if you can get me out! It's just some mechanism. I don't know how I activated it. Probably some strange Dwemer thing…"
"That's not Dwemer," Bishop narrowed his eyes. He was lying. Aeyrin recognized it! And nobody trained in killing Daedra would not recognize the metal. If Aeyrin did, so should he. And how stupid did he think that they were? 'Dwemer'… pfft. Any child could recognize Dwemer metal. Especially in Markarth.
"You're a Vigilant. You know what this is," Aeyrin growled at him. Why was he lying to her? She didn't realize it herself for a while, but… that horrible feeling, that sinister-looking metal and those spikes… she was sure that she had seen similar depictions of Dremoras clad in similar armors.
"I… alright… I'm sorry," the Vigilant let out an exhausted sigh. "I was worried that you wouldn't help me… if you knew. I'm sorry. But please, please get me out. It's just metal. I was battling a Daedra here and it did… this. I killed it through the bars, but… I can't get out."
"A Daedra did this? What kind of Daedra?" Aeyrin gaped at him. What Daedra would be able to trap someone in spikes like this?
"Where's the body?" Bishop snapped at him before he could answer. The Daedra didn't just disappear after a battle… right? He'd only seen a summoned one before, and just atronachs, so he wasn't sure. But a summoned Daedra couldn't just be in an empty house like this, so that was out of the question. It made sense that a Daedra that was actually on Nirn would leave a body, right?
"It… it turned to ash… dust. I don't know. It was… it was just a Dremora. Please. Let me out," the man pleaded again.
"A Dremora did this? But… how? And those things… moving inside the house… Dremora can't do that! They're soldiers. Pawns. I studied the Daedra. What aren't you telling us?" Aeyrin scowled at him fiercely. She was pretty sure that a Dremora couldn't do this. They shouldn't have the power to affect the world around them this much.
"I… you have studied the Daedra?" The man looked at her with a resigned expression on his face. "I… I'm sorry. I just… I need to get out of here and he won't let me."
"'He'?" Bishop pressed him with narrowed eyes watching the man's every move.
"Yes… him. Somehow… he has a hold on this place. I don't know how. He promised to release me if…"
"'He'?" Bishop repeated. Why was that man avoiding the answer so much?
"Molag Bal."
Bishop and Aeyrin stared at the man in shock, but it lasted only briefly. Soon enough, Bishop riled himself up and turned on his heel quickly.
"Nope. Fuck this shit." He took a few steps towards the door instantly. That idiot Vigilant can rot there for all he cared. They were not getting mixed up in anything involving a fucking Daedric Prince! He didn't care if he had to drag Aeyrin out kicking and screaming. They were out of this place. Now.
But the second he got close to the door, it suddenly slammed shut, right in front of him, sealing them in the room. As much as he knew that it was pointless, he frantically tried to push and pull on the door to open it again, but it wouldn't budge at all.
Then something happened that chilled the both of them to the bone.
A malicious deep laughter echoed throughout the small chamber, bouncing off the walls and seeping into their ears unpleasantly.
"You failed, paladin," the voice boomed menacingly. "Now you will submit in another way."
Bishop looked at Aeyrin with uncertainty and he noticed that she stood entirely still in one spot with her eyes wide, staring at the metal spikes and the man inside. She was holding a clenched fist to her chest, clutching her Stendarrite amulet as if it would protect her from that… thing.
"The paladin serves no more purpose. He is beaten and defeated," the voice continued to creep into their ears unpleasantly. "Finish him. Make him weep for his life, make him beg on his knees. Take the mace and beat him until there is no struggle left in him."
Bishop and Aeyrin's eyes went automatically towards the object on the first black altar. It was a mace, spiky and rusted. It didn't look like much but a blow from it would be more painful than they wanted to imagine.
"You." The voice echoed again. It would be hard to assume who it was talking to, but somehow, they knew. It was as if the voice was… looking in the exact direction. Right at Bishop. "You will submit. You will do my bidding. You are weak. I can sense it in you. You pretend to fight, you pretend to struggle, but in the end, you always submit. You will submit to me."
A chill went down Bishop's spine at the words. How… how did it claim to know things about him? And… was it right? No… right? He always fought for his freedom, he didn't 'submit' to anyone! Only when his life was at stake. Or someone else's life… or…
No. It was wrong. He wasn't fucking weak!
"Fuck you! I'm not submitting to anyone!" Bishop growled at the… presence.
There it was again… that horrible laughter.
"Beat him. Make him beg. And I will allow you to leave. You will be free when you do as you are told."
What? A Daedric Prince was not to be trusted, right? He wouldn't let them out? But… Bishop had certainly done worse for his freedom before. Beating a man with a rusty mace wouldn't even warrant a spot on the list of atrocities that he had done before for Thorn.
If it would really free them from this…
"No!" Aeyrin gaped at him in shock when she saw him consider the option. Was he insane?! This was a Daedric Prince for Gods' sake! How could he even consider obeying it?!
Bishop creased his brows, but he nodded at her with determination. Yeah… Aeyrin was right. That thing was not to be trusted.
"And now, you submit to her wishes, like the weakling you are," the voice laughed at Bishop mockingly.
"Pfft. You think that bothers me? At least I trust her, unlike you," he only rolled his eyes. 'Submitting' to Aeyrin was really the least of his concerns at that point.
"Very well. Have it your way," the voice growled.
Then there was silence.
The Vigilant was cowering in his prison, sniffling and crouching down in despair. But the door was still closed shut.
What now?
Suddenly, there was a metallic sound, echoing through the chamber and the spiked bars retracted back into the floor. The man was free!
But he didn't move. He kept cowering and sobbing in the very same spot. He must have been exhausted both mentally and physically. Did he even notice that his prison was gone?
Aeyrin rushed to him instantly as her senses came back to her. The poor man must have been so scared! He needed help.
"Aeyrin, no!"
It was too late.
Bishop's panicked shout echoed through the chamber, but she was already inside that circle. And the second she stepped past the spots where those spikes had retracted, they shot up again, trapping her there with the Vigilant.
The laughter permeated through the room again, now even snider and more malicious than before.
A brief feeling of panic overwhelmed Aeyrin for a moment, but soon enough, she calmed down. What was she worried about? She had a way out of this. She could leave this entire building if she wanted, but she was not going to leave Bishop in there.
She calmly stepped towards the Vigilant, who was still crouching down by the ground and she nudged his shoulder a bit to make him let her examine his wounds, if he had any. Bishop seemed to have calmed down in the meantime too. He probably realized the same thing that she had.
The paladin finally let Aeyrin examine him briefly, but she could see no blood and no strain in his movements. Strange. Then again, he was just trapped there. Molag Bal likely had no way to physically hurt him.
"I'm… I'm fine… I just… need to get out of here…" the Vigilant said in a shaky voice. He was likely just very rattled. And it was no wonder. How long has he been in here?
"We'll find a way," Aeyrin nodded at him reassuringly before she turned towards the spiky bars. It was time to leave this prison and find a way to release the man.
"FEIM!"
The small room seemed to shake a little when she Shouted and the Vigilant was completely stunned, staring at her translucent form with his mouth opened in shock. Aeyrin didn't pay him much mind by then though. She quickly approached the spiky bars to step out of her prison.
But… what?
She couldn't. The bars were there! Physically. Even though nothing else was. In her confusion, she ran her hand quickly through the Vigilant's body, who was still just staring in shock, to see if the Shout didn't work for some reason.
But it did. It was just the bars. She couldn't pass through them.
"What the fuck?" Bishop's eyes went wide at her and the panic set in again instantly.
"I… I can't get through," Aeyrin shook her head desperately. What was she to do now?
The infuriating laughter echoed again through the chamber, making her jerk in discomfort at the sound. It was both jarring and terrifying at the same time.
"I could sense the power in you when you entered this house," the voice boomed across the area. Just like before, it was as if the presence was looking at her, piercing her with the nonexistent gaze when it spoke. "It is there, not earned, not achieved. Innate. Inborn. Inbred. There is something in you that has to win over everything, to surpass everything. And I will conquer it. You will be a welcome challenge. But I will break you."
What? What did it mean 'not earned'? She fought for everything in her life. She had to overcome so much to be able to control and accept her power. That wasn't 'earned'? That thing was just trying to rattle her. It was trying to prey on whatever made her insecure. It did the same with Bishop, calling him 'weak' and telling him that he would always 'submit'. That wasn't true and neither was this.
She had to remind herself what this presence was. Daedric Princes would do anything to toy with mortals. She couldn't trust a word it said.
"Paladin," the voice addressed the Vigilant. "This is your last chance to do my bidding. Do as you are told and you will be released. Refuse, and you will die here, starved to death in my sanctum. You will die, forgotten and buried with that which you despise. If someone ever finds your corpse, your brethren will know everything. They will know that you fell in front of my might. They will know that you allowed yourself to be bested by me. And your name will be struck from their records, shamed and forgotten."
The Vigilant was shaking violently as he stared at Aeyrin with a blank look. He seemed to be considering the words, but he didn't look at the altar or anywhere else. His eyes were on her firmly while her corporeal form slowly returned.
"W-w-what… what do you want me to do?" the paladin stammered.
"You already know what I want you to do," the voice laughed at him in unbridled delight. "You pretend to hesitate, but you already know what you are required to do and you already know that you will do it. Stop waiting. Take her. Make her submit. Take her against her will until she begs me to make you stop. Until she begs me for mercy."
Aeyrin couldn't help but shiver at those words. She should have expected something like this, she studied the Princes, she knew what this monster was about. All that talk of submission, she should have known that he would try to tempt the paladin into doing something like that. The scarier part was that the man was clearly determined to obey Bal.
"What?! You fucking lay a finger on her and I will end you, you scum!" Bishop yelled at the Vigilant furiously. He hadn't moved any closer to that cage the entire time, but now he took a step forward threateningly. "I don't give a fuck what happens to me, you touch her and I will take that fucking mace and beat you to a bloody pulp!"
"Good," the voice only laughed maliciously at Bishop's outburst while Aeyrin threw Bishop a warning look.
"No! Bishop, don't you dare touch that thing!" Nobody should do anything that Bal said! Why did these two idiots have such a hard time understanding that?! "Listen," she turned her eyes on the paladin. "You can't do this. You can't submit to it. You know what it is! You know what it does to people! You swear yourself to that thing and your soul will be trapped in its realm forever. You can't do this to yourself."
The laugh echoed through the room again as the voice started to talk once more. "I knew you would be the hardest to break. But you will break too. Like him. He's already gone. He doesn't care about his soul, he will do anything that I say. He already tried to trick you into approaching the cage to 'release him'. He knows that I have won. He will do anything to save the rest of his pathetic life, anything to escape."
The words rang unpleasantly true when she looked into the paladin's eyes. There was no hesitation in them. He was determined.
Only now she realized that she didn't even have her weapon with her. In their curiosity, they have foolishly left their packs in the entryway of the house. How stupid was that?! Why did they not think?! When the strange noises started, they should have prepared themselves for anything! There was only the mace for protection now, but she was not going to use it.
Wait… 'use it'? What came over her?! She couldn't kill that man! He was tormented and broken. He needed help!
The paladin lunged towards her suddenly and she quickly moved out of the way. The circle prison was so small though, there was not much room to maneuver.
"FEIM!"
She barely managed to take a breath before she saw Bishop move. Gods, did he not see that she could just avoid that paladin's attempts? He looked so furious, ready to kill that man in whatever means he could.
"Bishop! Stop! Don't touch that mace! How hard is that to understand?!" she yelled at him. She already had a suspicion about what that thing was. It didn't occur to her before that something so rusty and unimpressive could be a legendary Daedric artifact, but Bal was so insistent on trying to make Bishop take it that it became telling. "And don't come near this cage!" The last thing they needed was for him to somehow get tricked and trapped in there with them.
The Vigilant tried to touch her a few times, but of course, his hand went right through her body. He had nothing else to do but wait.
"Fine! Fuck!" Bishop stomped his foot on the ground in frustration while his fists clenched, as if to prevent him from touching anything. He knew that she was right, but fuck! They needed to do something! "You do it then! Kill him! We need to stop him."
"What?!" Aeyrin's eyes went wide at Bishop. What has gotten into everyone?! "I… I can't!"
"Yes. Kill him," the voice laughed again. "End his misery. You need to win, to conquer. It is in you. Your conscience means nothing when you are faced with danger, you will realize it sooner or later. Better spare yourself the despair and pain."
Liar!
She would not do anything it said! She would not kill a helpless broken man because he was confused and threatened. She would find another way out of this.
Funny, if that monster didn't insist so much, maybe she wouldn't be so opposed to defending herself from the paladin. Although… was it funny or disturbing?
She barely even noticed that her form corporealized again and the paladin instantly lunged at her. He managed to pin her painfully to one of those large spikes, forcing the sharp red edge against her spine, but luckily, she realized what had happened soon.
"FEIM!"
"How long are you going to do this?! Kill him!" Bishop growled at her. He had to make a lot of effort not to run at the cage, grab that fucker by his collar and smash his head against those spikes until he bled to death.
"Yes. Kill him," the voice rumbled through the chamber again.
"No! Fuck! Stop telling her to do it! She won't do it then!" Bishop fumed at that thing, earning only a malicious laugh in return. Did it want her to kill the paladin? Or did it just try to trick her? This was getting so fucking confusing. Bishop didn't even know what was the best thing to do here. Any tactic could be a trick. Maybe it was trying to convince them to do what it didn't want so that they would do the opposite. Maybe… doing what it said was the right choice then?
"Shut up! Both of you! I am not…" Aeyrin started to yell again, but before she knew it, her form returned to normal and the Vigilant instantly charged her once more.
This time, he knew what to do.
A heavy armored hand landed on her mouth while his body pinned her back to the spike. The man used his other hand to wrap it around her neck and press his thumb under her chin.
Dammit! How did everyone just know how to do that?!
She struggled and tried to push the man away, but he was so strong. Why was he suddenly so strong? He looked so weak before. It was like he was possessed, like he gathered all the strength that he could muster to do this, to fight for his release.
She tried to wrap her own hands around his neck to turn the tides, but instead, he yanked her away from the spike and she was slammed down by his body onto the floor with great force. Damn that stupid armor of his! It was so heavy and it hurt so much when he used it to his advantage like that. She was still struggling for breath, now pinned under the man's weight with her arms and legs trying to push him away.
She would not let Bal do this! She would not let him manipulate the man to make her submit.
"Fuck! That's it!"
She heard Bishop's angry voice and she instantly looked at him sharply.
Stop doing this, you idiot! Don't move!
She tried to communicate with her eyes as much as she could, and fortunately, she earned a frustrated furious growl out of Bishop's lips.
With a few more curses, he punched his clenched fist into the stone wall nearby to relieve some of the anger and helplessness. It didn't help at all. He knew why Aeyrin wanted him to stay away. He got that. She was trying to save him from the stupidest thing he could probably do. He wasn't actually sure what grabbing that mace would do, but anything that Bal wanted was a bad idea, right?
But seeing her pinned down by that man like that, struggling to escape… he couldn't help it.
Finally the man removed the hand from her throat, letting her breathe at last. No conscious sound could escape her though as she gasped through her nose for breath. She couldn't even concentrate on trying to Shout with how much her head was spinning.
Then she could feel the armored hand run over her thigh slowly, almost hesitantly, before it stopped by the hem of her trousers.
She needed to do something.
She couldn't let the man do what Bal said, and she certainly didn't want to go through that. Even if she had to, in the end, she would not give that monster the satisfaction of begging and…
Oh!
Bal wanted her to submit, to beg for mercy. It was awfully familiar, it seemed to be a common desire among monsters like these. But… what if she didn't? What if she denied him the outcome that he wanted? Bal wanted the man to force her. He wouldn't get to see that.
Aeyrin relaxed in the Vigilant's grasp while his shaky hand hooked under the hem of her trousers. It was not like he would manage to remove them with only one hand and her pinned to the ground so firmly, but she still couldn't help but feel an uncomfortable knot tie in her stomach at that touch. Still. She was determined not to look scared or rattled in any way.
Her back arched under the man, making her breasts press up against his chest plate, and through his armored hand on her mouth, as well as the burning pain in her throat, she let the most lustful moan she could muster escape her lips. It was muffled, but the chamber was so eerily quiet that it was very easy to hear the tone. She stopped struggling completely and the man suddenly wavered in his movements.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Bishop fumed when he noticed her antics.
Well… that went over his head.
"Trying to trick me," Molag's voice boomed through the chamber with a malicious chuckle accompanying it. "She thinks that this display will sour me on the act. She thinks that I cannot sense the fear in her, the despair at the inevitable. She thinks that she can fool me. Pathetic. You will suffer the same way if you allow this, as you would if you struggled. You will suffer more. Because you will know that you let yourself be conquered and tamed without a fight. It will break you. It will make you so easy to control."
Dammit!
Fine! She couldn't trick that monster, she needed more time to think about her next step. When the Vigilant was still caught off guard by her lack of resistance, she lodged her hands against his armored arm and she pushed it off her mouth quickly as much as she was able to.
"FEIM!"
The man fell flat on the ground and she could feel her stomach churn uncomfortably as he fell through her ethereal form. She jumped up on her feet, panting heavily after the ordeal, but she was safe for a couple of seconds again.
"Aeyrin, fuck! Please, just kill him!" Bishop called out to her desperately. He wasn't sure if it would be just playing into Molag's cards, but he didn't give a fuck anymore. He just needed this to stop. He couldn't take it anymore, just standing there helplessly while that man kept trying to paw at her and… Fuck! Why wouldn't she just kill him?!
The Vigilant stood up again shakily and threw a determined look at Aeyrin. It was obvious. He would lunge at her again when she materialized. And he would try again and again, until he managed to please Bal. He wouldn't stop. No matter what.
"She has decided," the voice echoed around them again. "She will kill you, paladin."
What?! She hasn't decided! The Prince was lying!
"The second she is back to her mortal shell, she will attack. And you will be no match for her. You have failed, fool. You will die. Unless you accept my help. Kneel, paladin. Swear your soul to me and I will give you the power to survive."
To her horror, the paladin kneeled.
"No! He's lying!" Aeyrin cried out at the man. "I won't attack! Stop it! Don't do this to yourself!"
"She is trying to trick you, just like she tried to trick me. She is afraid of the power that I will grant you," Bal retorted instantly. She could feel her body become corporeal again, but the man didn't even look at her to see that she wasn't attacking. He was still kneeling on the ground, with his eyes downcast and tears streaming over his face.
"Molag Bal, I… I…" the man choked out a sob. He knew what this meant for him, but he was still so broken that he would give anything to get out of that place.
There was only one thing that could help him now. And it had to be done fast.
"KRII!"
The man's body got enveloped in red glow and his eyes turned to Aeyrin in horror.
"I told you that she will attack! Swear yourself to me now! Quickly! This is your last chance!" The voice almost sent the whole chamber shaking with its loud insistence.
But Aeyrin was faster.
She lunged at the paladin with all the force she could muster and she hooked her arm over his neck.
He barely even registered what happened before his body was yanked back forcibly and thrown against one of the spikes.
A sickening crack of bones vibrated through the room and the light left the Vigilant's eyes within a second.
Then there was silence, only interrupted by Bishop's loud sigh of relief.
"You have killed a broken, weak and innocent man," Bal chuckled at Aeyrin maliciously.
"No. I saved his soul from you," she growled angrily back at the monster.
"Hmm. How very noble," the mocking tone in Molag's voice was unmistakable, but only a second later, a metallic sound echoed through the chamber again. It took Aeyrin a while to notice that the bars had retracted.
What? Was this it? Did he give up, now that he had lost his plaything?
She didn't wait to find out. She rushed away from the cage quickly, but just as she got past the proverbial barrier, the spikes shot upwards again at an intense speed. One of them managed to rip against the skin of the back of her arm painfully, but fortunately, she was free.
She stumbled forward when the painful scratch caught her off guard and she practically fell into Bishop's arms. He had already been approaching her swiftly after all. Before she even managed to gather herself in his embrace, he pressed her tightly to himself with palpable relief in his touch. He lowered his head to press his face into her hair, as if he was unwilling to leave even a single part of their bodies apart from each other.
As comforting as his embrace was, however, there were still other concerns to address right now.
They were still here, in the chamber, locked inside with Molag Bal and his rusty mace.
At least it looked like it.
Aeyrin disentangled herself from Bishop, who let her go only reluctantly, and rushed towards the door again. She pushed on it with all her might, then pulled, then kicked in frustration, which stubbed her toes painfully through her leather boot.
Still closed shut. Dammit.
In a pointless desperate attempt, Bishop rummaged in his pocket for his lockpicks, but he soon found out that the door wasn't locked at all. It just wouldn't move.
"What do you want from us?!" Bishop snapped and turned back towards the altars.
There was a long while of silence, before Bal's voice boomed across the room once more: "To play a game."
Aeyrin and Bishop shared a disturbed look. Whatever game Molag Bal wanted to play, it wouldn't mean anything good for them.
"You," the voice addressed Bishop again. "Finish what the paladin couldn't."
"What? Fuck you!" Bishop scoffed at the altar. What was all this even about? He didn't get the mind games at all. It was not like it was working. Or maybe… maybe it was… maybe he really should be doing what Bal said, because he was trying to trick them. Because he knew that they wouldn't want to obey him.
Fuck. He wasn't sure about anything anymore.
"How else are you going to get out of here? You will both starve to death. Rot here in my sanctum. Just like the paladin. Or you will share his fate. Your mind will falter, your resolve will evaporate and you will either submit willingly to end the torment or you will be slaughtered by another curious passerby or thief," Molag's voice seeped into their ears uncomfortably.
"You know…" Bishop muttered under his breath. "We were going to anyway. If it will get him to open the door…"
"Bishop!" Aeyrin looked at him incredulously.
"What? What's the big deal? It's not like it's the same thing," he grumbled.
"I am not doing anything it says, no matter who with," Aeyrin clenched her teeth. How could he even suggest something like that in this place while that monster demanded it? How did that not sound disturbing to him?
Why would Bal even demand this? Did he just enjoy anyone being forced to submit to something? Was this some game to come up with things that would make them more and more mentally scarred and easy to manipulate and claim for the afterlife? The paladin was certainly ready to obey the Prince's every whim. Aeyrin didn't even want to imagine what he had told or done to the man to systematically break him like that.
"But he knows that! He's been trying to trick us the entire time!" Bishop threw his arms up exasperatedly. "He's saying things because he knows that you won't listen. Because you will do the opposite. That's what he wants! Can't you see it?"
That was a disturbing thought. It definitely sounded like something that these mind games could result in. But Aeyrin still felt her stomach clench uncomfortably at the mere thought of listening to that monster even for a second. Even if Bishop was right. Right now, she just tried to cling to the fact that Bal expecting them to do the opposite right now made no sense to her. What would Bal's game be in that scenario? Having them do nothing? Why would he want that in any way? Bishop was definitely just getting overwhelmed by the mind tricks. But… she did keep thinking about his reasoning. Everything was getting so confusing. She hated playing mind games.
"Come on, it's our way out," Bishop gave her an encouraging smile as he took a step closer to her. "It's not like we're doing what he asked. We're just doing what we want." He wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I don't want that," Aeyrin pushed at his chest to keep a little distance between them, but she didn't push him enough so that he would remove his arm from around her waist. She couldn't help but think: what actual harm could it actually do to go along with Bishop's suggestion? Except for being immensely uncomfortable probably. She didn't even want to imagine doing anything intimate in this place. And she still understood none of these intentions behind these games. She understood none of this, she just knew that she couldn't bring herself to obey this thing, no matter what. "Bishop, I think he's playing with you. He's just looking for ways to break us." She hoped that that was true and that Bishop wasn't actually right.
"This isn't 'breaking' us," Bishop scoffed at her before he started to stroke over her back gently. She couldn't help but flinch at the touch at that very moment and it didn't escape his notice. He suddenly looked much more uncertain.
"I don't want to do what he says," she shook her head briskly and, this time, she pushed him away from herself altogether. The back of her arm started to sting with the motion – she had almost forgotten about the deep scratch there. It only reminded her why they were here, why she had been trapped in that cage. How could Bishop even consider listening to that thing after all that?!
"What if you're doing what he wants?" Bishop let out an exasperated sigh again. "Why can't you see it? That's the trick. He's trying to turn us against each other with this. We show him that this doesn't 'break us' and he'll have nothing on us."
She couldn't help but consider his words again. There was some logic behind them, like there always was. But… just the thought of complying still felt so wrong. She couldn't do that. She could never bring herself to do that willingly. And that was what Bal counted on.
Surely she was right… wasn't she?
These mind games made her head hurt.
"It's not the same thing he's asking for, sweetness," Bishop nodded at her encouragingly and he looked like he would take a step closer, but he seemed to reconsider, as if he was worried that she would flinch away again.
Aeyrin shook her head in response. She just couldn't.
This wasn't the solution. What would it help anyway? As if Bal would ever let them out because he couldn't break them this way. He would just try something else again and again. This was just making everything more confusing. Why did she even consider letting Bishop talk her into this? He was clearly already too lost in these games to think rationally. And she didn't want to admit to herself how uncertain she was getting too. This thing was evil and wrong in every way. Her Stendarrite brothers would probably chastise her endlessly for even listening to it for a single second.
The voice, that had been eerily silent until now, boomed across the room again with malicious laughter. "Yes. It's not the same thing," the tone was palpably mocking.
"Ugh… fuck, that made it creepy," Bishop let out a disgusted groan and now it was he who willingly took a subconscious step back from her.
"It was already creepy before," Aeyrin shuddered. Everything about this place and about that monster was creepy.
Her expression promptly earned a very guilty look from Bishop in return, but… she couldn't exactly blame him for getting tangled up in the mind games. She herself wasn't sure anymore whether anything that Bal said was true.
But that didn't matter anymore. She couldn't stand this much longer. They needed to get out.
"Step back," she nodded determinedly at Bishop and he retreated back, closer to the altar with the mace.
"FUS RO DAH!"
Aeyrin Shouted at the door, intent to break it, or to crumble the wall around it. It had to work, right? There had to be some way to get out of here!
Nothing. The chamber trembled and some small pebbles and dust got dislodged from the stone ceiling, but nothing else.
"FUS RO DAH!"
Again, the same result. No matter. More would do it.
"FUS RO DAH!"
More pebbles got loose. This had to work.
"Pointless." Molag's voice echoed through the room, but she ignored it. This had to work.
"FUS RO DAH!"
"How long until you lose your voice? I prefer to hear the loud cries of submission. Do not deny me," Bal laughed at her efforts. "There is only one thing powerful enough to break the door. I wonder what it is."
Bishop's eyes fell on the rusty mace at the altar. Molag was so intent on them taking it. What would it do to them? It must have been something powerful. Aeyrin might have even known what that thing was – she was much more versed in all this shit than he was.
He had no idea how to deal with something like this. He could fight a lesser Daedra any day… probably, but this? How should one deal with a fucking Daedric Prince? And how did one even get here? Well… he wasn't here exactly… he… wait…
How was he here? Didn't they need to be summoned or some shit? Bishop had heard about people making offerings to them so that they would talk to them. How did this asshole remain here for, likely, days or maybe more? What kept him here? Did the Vigilant keep summoning him over and over? Why would he…
While Aeyrin was still Shouting at the door, Bishop's eyes got caught on the ground, right by the circular prison. There was a thin groove there, dark, encircling the spikes and leading towards the altar. It looked like it was lined with the Daedric metal but… upon examination, it was stained with blood. Old blood. The Vigilant's blood? He wasn't wounded, but… then again… he was a healer. Did Bal bleed him with the spikes whenever he needed to? He did try to bleed Aeyrin like that, with the promise of escape from that prison.
For the first time, Bishop looked at the second altar properly. The liquid in there… now it all made sense.
He stepped towards the altar without hesitation. Let that asshole try something! He was just a voice, capable of throwing furniture around. They've dealt with worse threats before.
Bishop dipped his hand in the water carefully. It wasn't so clear when it was surrounded by that black metal, but now he could see that all the liquid in there was blood. It stained his whole hand.
"Drink?" the voice boomed with a very amused laughter. It didn't seem to be fazed at all. "Try it, mortal. Perhaps you will get a taste for it. Perhaps you will crave the cold eternity of becoming one of my children."
Aeyrin turned around sharply at those words, although she had no idea what was happening behind her back. However, Bishop only shook his head at her before he gave her a reassuring nod. "Keep it up, sweetness. We'll be out of here soon."
He could see the hesitation on her face. He couldn't blame her. He hasn't really been very trustworthy during this whole ordeal. That thing knew exactly how to mess with his head. But now it wouldn't get to. Now he was sure about what he was doing.
Something in his face must have convinced Aeyrin, because she turned back to the door and Shouted at it again. Soon it would work.
"Don't mind if I do," Bishop scoffed when he faced the altar again. He took the waterskin from his belt and he haphazardly let all the water escape from it down onto the ground. If this didn't work, it may have been shortsighted, but… this would work. It had to. What else would be keeping this thing here?
He dipped the waterskin into the altar full of blood and he let it fill. When it was completely full, yet again, he poured all the blood onto the ground. He made sure that it was far enough from the groove so that it wouldn't spill back in and then he dipped the waterskin back again.
The voice only laughed loudly at his antics.
"Is your mind broken already? Has insanity claimed you?" Bal didn't seem fazed by what was happening, but he was lying! "What will you do next, I wonder? Lick the stone walls? Scratch your back with my mace? I am eager to see."
"I'm thinking that you won't be seeing much around here anymore," Bishop retorted with a stony expression while he continued to spill the blood on the ground, interrupted only occasionally by Aeyrin's Shouts and the sound of small stones and pebbles clattering onto the ground.
"You have disposed of your sustenance. You will die of thirst first then? How foolish of you. And now you are getting rid of the only other source around here. Will you bleed it from her skin later, only to survive another day? I am excited to find out," Bal laughed.
"What? What… are you doing?" With a somewhat hoarse voice and labored breathing, Aeyrin turned around again to look at Bishop. Only now she noticed what he was up to. A brief fit of panic enveloped her when she saw him doing something around the altar, but then it was replaced only by confusion when she saw what that was.
"He's awfully eager to convince me of how stupid this is," Bishop smirked at her victoriously.
Well… that was true. She had no idea what he was doing, why it looked like he was pouring blood from his waterskin, but… her head was spinning. Maybe she was just imagining it. She should… probably try to Shout at the door again and leave him to it. Whatever he was doing, he seemed sure of it. And she was sure of this. Already she could see the cracks in the stone around the metal door deepen with every Shout.
"The ceiling will collapse before the door gives way. She will be crushed here," Bal noted with a barely invested tone in his voice. He was getting nervous. The ceiling looked fine. He was just trying to make Bishop stop what he was doing to go drag Aeyrin away from the door. But instead, he dipped his waterskin back again.
"FUS RO DAH!"
Almost. There was almost a crack! She was getting woozy from the Shouting, but it would work!
Bishop watched her while he continued with his own endeavors, but, then, something caught his gaze.
The mace.
It rose up in the air, completely on its own. Just like the glass must have before. Bal was controlling it. And now it was moving towards Aeyrin, without a doubt to smash her over the head!
In panic, Bishop tore his hand away from the pool of blood, but he didn't drop his waterskin. The filled container ripped more sustenance from the altar and the second it did, the mace faltered and instead of flying towards Aeyrin, it flew directly into the corner of the room harmlessly.
It was working! Bal's hold over this place was getting weaker with the lack of blood. And Bishop almost got tricked to stop!
With an angry growl he swiftly emptied the waterskin again and shoved it back inside the pool. There was not much blood left there now.
"She will bring the ceiling down! You will both die here!" Bal now almost screamed in fury. "Swear yourselves to me and I will give you the strength to survive!"
Now it just seemed pathetic…
"One more time, love!" Bishop called out to her when he retrieved another full load from the pool. Bal couldn't control the mace, so surely he couldn't hold the door anymore, right?
"FUS RO DAH!"
The door practically shot from the stone frame, colliding with the cavernous wall further in.
They were free!
Bishop quickly dragged another filled load from the pool and he tossed the entire waterskin onto the ground haphazardly when he bolted towards Aeyrin and the door.
She was heaving a little from the constant Shouting and she was staring at the doorframe as if she couldn't really believe that she managed to dislodge the metal. But she didn't remain like that for long. Within a second, Bishop was by her side. He grabbed her arm and yanked her along with him, running inside the cavernous corridor.
"You will come back this instant, weaklings! You will submit to me!" the voice screamed behind their backs, but it had no impact now, no power. It was an afterthought.
When they encountered another door in their flight, Bishop threw himself at it, but it was again closed shut firmly. With her remaining strength, Aeyrin Shouted at the door again and, once more, it practically flew off the hinges with a loud crash into the nearby wall.
They were almost out of that horrible place.
They reached the entry hall at last and they grabbed their abandoned packs. The last door was firmly shut too, but there was no way that the last obstacle would stop them.
"FUS RO DAH!"
"Aaah!"
A loud cry and an even louder bark greeted them when they practically fell out of the doorframe in their hurried flight. They collided with each other in a confusing mess for a while, before they both ended up splayed on the street, right in front of that fateful house.
It took them quite a while to get their bearings.
There were three guards standing around them, pointing their swords right at them as they still lay on the ground, panting in exhaustion and relief both.
Karnwyr was nearby, whining and trying to ascertain whether the two of them were unharmed, but the presence of the guards forced him to stand back a bit.
There was also another guard, crying out in pain loudly. He was pressed against a cliffside on the opposite street, across the stream, and there was a very heavy metal door trapping his leg against the rock. He must have gotten caught in the impact.
"You two! Explain yourselves! What was that noise? What did you do with the door!" one of the guards barked at them.
This… was going to be tough to explain.
* Trigger warning: attempted rape, discussion of sexual acts in dubious and uncomfortable circumstances
The chapter includes no actually explicit or even implicit sexual content (unless you count a make-out scene) but it's possible that it might get triggery with the themes, so I included the warning to prevent catching anyone off guard.