Author's note: Well, this took longer than expected...By the way, the violence gets fairly bad in this chapter but not too awful.
It took us a fortnight to finally get to Korvanjund, partly due to the fact that a group of Stormcloaks held us up twice. We killed them with ease (we meaning the older recruits. Legate Rikke said she didn't want me or Darvak to kill yet unless absolutely necessary) but it took half a day each time. During those two weeks, the Breton and I bonded very well. We shared many of the same likes and dislikes. We even shared the same tactics for using a sword. I was glad to have found a friend in this war. Otherwise, I'm not sure I would be able to cope with everything. Finally, we arrived at the Nordic crypt. Legate Rikke had told us about it yesterday, including what we would likely find inside. To my dismay, she mentioned Draugr. The things terrified me and even seeing a picture of one had given me nightmares for months when I was younger. Darvak wasn't too fond of them either so we promised to stay close to each other while inside.
Legate Rikke brought us down some stairs and gathered us at the entrance to the crypt, pulling out her sword. "Alright, soldiers. This crypt is likely infested with Draugr and Stormcloaks. Be on your guard at all times. Stay close to me and do not get lost. Move out" she ordered, leading us into the dark tomb.
The smell was almost non-existent, something I had not quite expected. I figured it would smell of rotting corpses but there was nothing. This did not really make me feel any better, since that meant that if there were corpses here, they were not rotting.
"This place is already creepy..." muttered Darvak to me. I nodded in agreement. Creepy was an understatement though. The walls were cracked in several places and the only sources of light were a few torches on the walls, bathing the area in an eerie light.
We stopped at the entrance to a large room with several fallen pillars, ducking behind one of them. Beyond these pillars was a large staircase that was so tall we could not see over it.
"There are Stormcloak soldiers over there. They have not noticed us yet. On my command, we attack. Are you ready, soldiers?" asked Legate Rikke. We nodded and, as silently as possible, unsheathed our swords.
"Alright, charge!" shouted Rikke and with a loud yell we jumped over or went around the fallen column, running towards the very confused Stormcloaks. Before they could even draw their swords, we had already killed them. Although we were told to avoid killing, we were never told anything about wounding. Darvak and I managed to stop the few Stormcloaks who had drawn their swords then left them for the others to kill. I felt awful about it and I wanted to throw up knowing I might as well have killed them. While the others were busy with their own soldiers, I was trying to take a particularly strong one. He wasn't good at attacking but he blocked everything I tried. I swung my sword at his head and he blocked it, but he positioned his sword wrong which caused him to drop it. I pointed my sword at his stomach, trying to ignore his face. It was as if he was pleading with me to spare him. In that instant, I thought of what I was truly doing; the man likely had a family...maybe even a child. I may not be killing him directly but it would be because of me that his family would be in grief. They would never see him again, despite his assurances that he would come back safely. A few tears came to my eyes.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered, stabbing him. My blade easily pierced his skin and his face filled with a mixture of shock, pain and grief. He fell to the ground, gasping from the pain, tears mixing with his blood and staining the floor a deep red. I wiped the blood from my sword using the body of a dead soldier and sheathed it.
"Good work! Let's keep going. Two of you stay here and guard the entrance. We wouldn't want any Stormcloak reinforcements taking us by surprise" said Rikke, sheathing her own sword and leading the rest of us down more stairs and out of the room. The only person who seemed troubled by what they had done was me. Even Darvak had little expression. I didn't understand how anyone could do this...to kill without feeling...to be honest, it's awful and only a monster could truly do that.
After one more flight of stairs, we came to a room with a broken bridge in front of us and a path on our right. We took it and were ambushed by Stormcloaks, who were waiting around the corner. We took only a minute to kill them all. I tried to hold back as much as I could, defending myself until someone else came and killed them for me. Once the soldiers were gone, we proceeded down yet another flight of stairs. A large pile of rubble, likely the remains of the bridge, stood in the middle of the room. We took the door on our right but Legate Rikke stopped up before we could go through it.
"Hold on. I'm willing to bet Stormcloaks are plotting to ambush us on the other side of this door. You, boy" she said, pointing at me, "Try to find another way into the room. We'll charge in to help you as soon as we hear fighting"
I nodded and began examining the room while Rikke discussed strategies with the others. Noticing no other entrances, I went back up the stairs and went straight. I didn't notice this path before but it seemed to lead into the room where Rikke thought soldiers were waiting for us. She was right; standing on a bridge high in the air, I could see several Stormcloaks waiting in the shadows. They were whispering to each other but I could hear them fairly well.
"Ok, they should be coming through any moment now...when they do, hold your ground. They're faithless Imperials and we have mighty Talos on our side. There is no way we can lose" one of them said. The others nodded and said something about "praise Talos" but I ignored that part. I may be a Nord, but Talos was never really a big part of my life. To be honest, I don't really believe in him the way Stormcloaks do. I believe in the possibility of the story and that he was an incredible warrior, yes but I don't really think he would become a god. Maybe it was because my parents weren't Nords. Anyway, I was about to go back to Legate Rikke and tell her about the alternate route I found when I saw what they were standing in; a shiny red liquid was beneath them. I never knew the name, but I knew what it did. The liquid was extremely flammable and even the smallest spark would cause it to flare up. I went back and took a torch from the wall, then stood over them. I took a deep breath, not at all liking what I was about to do.
"...I know I'll regret this...but...it has to be done..." I muttered to myself a quietly as possible. I knew I had to do it no matter how much it seemed wrong, so with shaking hands, I dropped the torch onto the liquid. I turned away as the men who hadn't burst into flame and died immediately screamed in agony. It was the most horrifying thing I've ever heard; the immense pain covering their entire bodies made their voices rise to high pitched screams. I closed my eyes, wishing for it to stop.
"...I cannot believe I just did that" I said, hot tears falling from my eyes. Why was I crying? They were my enemies...I should not feel bad about it...it had to be done, right? That was how war worked. I knew this but that didn't stop me from wishing I could take back the last few moments. If I had never dropped that torch, at least those men could have died honorably, not bursting into flame without any idea what's going on. But no...I just had to drop that stupid torch. I was amazed how a few seconds could change everything.
The noise stopped. The screams echoed for a moment then were followed by an eerie silence. I opened my eyes and went back to the others, trying to not think of what I had just done. Despite my shock, I could not help thinking that they were pretty stupid to have been standing on the liquid. I guarantee they knew what it did. Then again, if you were going to follow a man like Ulfric Stormcloak, I guess you wouldn't be very smart. I went back to the others, wiping away my tears.
"Oh, you're back. The others went in when they heard screaming and told me to keep watch for you. What happened?" asked Darvak, who was waiting by the foot of the stairs.
"Some Stormcloaks were standing in that flammable red liquid so I grabbed a torch and dropped it. They were burned to death within a minute" I said, trying to sound cool about it as though it didn't bother me. However, my bloodshot eyes obviously didn't fool him.
"...you were crying...weren't you? You felt bad..." he said softly. I looked away and nodded, sitting down on the bottom stairs and burying my face in my hands. Gods, was I weak. Why couldn't I take something simple like this? Why did I have to be so pathetic...?
He stepped forward and sat down beside me. With concern in his eyes, he hugged me tightly. Our armor made it slightly uncomfortable but that didn't matter.
"It'll be alright...this is war, remember? It's necessary to kill. We've all done it or will do it at some point. Why focus on it? Just keep going. Focusing on the past brings unrest in the present and mistakes in the future" he said gently. I nodded and smiled.
"Thanks. We should get going" I said, standing up and leaving to catch up with the others. We climbed yet another set of stairs (what is it with this place and stairs?) and turned right into a dark passage that led us to a small room. It was brightly lit by candles and several urns were placed around the room. A large structure stood in the left wall and covered about half the room. The others were waiting inside.
"It's about time. Good work, by the way. You managed to kill those rebels faster and easier than we could. That was some very good thinking" she said, looking at me. I nodded and thanked her, wishing that I never had to talk about what I had done again.
"...why is there a dead Stormcloak? Did one of you kill him?" I asked nobody in particular. The body was face up and had several marks on it, though I couldn't identify them.
"No. He was here when we arrived, as was that" said Legate Rikke, pointing to another body on the ground. It was a dull pink color but I wasn't sure what it was. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Draugr. I drew back, somewhat frightened and disgusted at the same time. Oddly, it didn't smell bad which likely meant that it was alive until recently.
"We've faced worse than this. We're not leaving until we get what we came for" said Legate Rikke, determined. Darvak was also determined but the others, including me and the Argonian female, were less so. We left the room and went down more stairs in a dark passageway. It was creepy and gave me the impression that a Draugr would attack us at any second. I stayed as close to the group as possible, looking everywhere to make sure nothing would sneak up on us. Our footsteps echoed off the dark walls, adding to the creepy atmosphere.
"Ok, the Crown should be just beyond here" said Legate Rikke, stopping at a large iron door. She opened it and led the way. We went past another dead Draugr, me and the Argonian shuddering at the sight, and the body of a Stormcloak. Clearly they didn't have good luck with the things. Maybe we should just let the Draugr kill them for us.
We went up yet another flight of stairs and followed the path to a right turn where, surprise, Stormcloaks ambushed us. Getting used to this, we quickly killed them (we meaning the others. I stayed behind and only involved myself when necessary) and proceeded. The passage led to a long hallway with engravings set onto the walls.
"This must be the Hall of Stories" said Legate Rikke, sheathing her sword. I followed her to the end of the hall while the others examined the walls. A large circular door stopped up from going any further. "See what you can do about that door, soldier. Let me know if you find anything"
I examined the door. Three circular plates were set into it on the three separate sections. In the middle was a picture of some kind of claw with a hole above each of the three fingers. After a few moments, I discovered the plates all moved to make way for other ones. I figured that the claw was the key to open it so that meant the plates had to be in the right order.
"Hmm...this is different. How to figure this out..." I mumbled to myself, deep in thought. There was no way I could know what the combination was. Of course, I could keep trying things until it worked but that would take too long. Taking a step back, I felt something beneath my foot. It was a black claw, seemingly made from Ebony. On the bottom of it were three circles with a fox (or something resembling it), a bird (again, or something that looks like it) and a dragon in the middle. I had a sudden idea and tried making the plates on the door match the claw. Then I put the claw in the three holes. Nothing happened. Maybe it was like an actual lock. I turned the claw and the panels spun back to their original places. Then, the door slid downwards and out of sight.
"Good work. Let's move" said Legate Rikke, rushing past me and up the stairs. I groaned to myself, sick of them, but I followed her without outwardly complaining. The others did the same. We soon came to another iron door which opened to reveal a large, slightly dark room. The opposite door was blocked by a gate.
"Ok, soldier. Do what you do best. Find a way to get that gate open" she said. I had already begun to search for a way. There was another entrance to our right so I went that way. Hey, you never know. Sometimes the answer is simple like that. It took me to the upper part of the room. The others were examining everything from the shelves to the urns but nobody found anything. Returning my attention to my job, I noticed an Orcish Dagger resting on a pedestal on top of a stone table. I wasn't sure why it was there but I knew it couldn't be for no reason. It was placed so that it was in the exact center of the pedestal and nobody would take that much care to put it like that if it meant nothing.
"...yeah. I'm willing to bet that's a trap" I said, going past it and using the bridges to get to the other side of the room. The only thing of importance was a chest but I didn't have time to open it. Looking around, I saw a lever on the wall above a burial urn. I pulled it, praying it wasn't a trap. Nothing happened other than Legate Rikke saying "Good work! Let's hurry!" so I assumed it opened the gate. However, as soon as I got to the bottom part of the room, several Draugr came out of the coffins on the walls. Most carried swords and the ones that didn't were carrying bows or axes. My fear paralyzed me. Everyone else was fighting a Draugr while I stood there in fright, unable to move. An arrow flying by my head made me come to my senses. I turned around and collided with someone. A Draugr stood in front of me, its eyes glowing white and its flesh rotting. It said something in what I assumed was Ancient Nordic, making me cringe.
"Oh my Gods..." I said quietly. Its breath was putrid and every time it moved, it made a sound that resembled the rustling of bones. The flesh was falling off the body and the armor it wore was in pieces. I backed up and tripped over something, landing on my back. It said something else and swung its sword at me. I rolled to dodge the sword and just barely avoided it. The sword struck right where my head had been a second earlier. I got up as quickly as I could and spun around to give my strike more momentum. My blade cut across the creature's neck while it tried to pry its sword from the crevice in the rock it had struck, nearly severing the head (hey, it wasn't technically alive, right?). It fell to the ground just as another one came up to me, this one with a shield.
"You've got to be kidding" I growled, attempting to stab it. It dodged with surprising agility for a corpse. I blocked an attack with my shield, ignoring the pain in my left arm. To my surprise, the thing was stronger than any normal human. I always figured they could kill easily but weren't very strong since their muscles would have decayed. A quick stab to the heart killed the zombie, hopefully for good this time. As soon as I withdrew my sword, the glow of the eyes faded away and the Draugr fell to the ground.
"Nice work, soldiers! Let's move!" commanded Legate Rikke after the remaining Draugr were dead. We followed her through the now open gate and through another iron door.
"Hey, you alright?" asked Darvak, concerned. We were told to take a short rest just after the door. It was good that she ordered this because all of us were exhausted. He sheathed his sword and placed a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged, honestly not sure. Physically, I was fine. A little tired...but fine otherwise. Nevertheless, I was beginning to think that I wasn't cut out for war. I couldn't kill anything living without serious regret and the Draugr had nearly killed me. That's not even mentioning the fact that I was scared out of my mind during the fight with them. I explained this to him and he went silent for a few moments.
"I understand, Leif. I really do. I can't kill any easier than you can. Those Draugr creep me out too. However, if there's one thing I've learned from the mistakes of those older than me, it's that you you have to distance your mind from fear and regret during war. If you don't, your moves will become slow and you'll die. When you fight, you have to really think: what is more important? Is it more important that the other person lives and possibly goes home to a happy family or is it more important that you survive to meet your goal? If you choose the other person, why are they more important than you? Why is one person better than another? In reality, we're all of equal value and killing someone won't make the world stop. Focusing your attention on it is like paying attention to a leaf blowing in the wind; it's there one moment but soon, it'll be swept away and you likely won't ever see it again. Does that mean you should cry and be sad that the leaf is gone from your life? No. You have to keep going and search for more important things to focus on. I can't tell you what you should think. However, I suggest you take what I said into consideration" he explained. I nodded, not sure what to say to that. Darvak was certainly wise beyond his years. He smiled and unsheathed his sword, Legate Rikke having just announced that the break was over. I unsheathed mine as well and advanced into the next room. It was different than the others in that a single throne stood in the center and in it was a Draugr, seemingly asleep. I hoped that it was dead but my luck hasn't really been that good lately so I wasn't counting on it.
"Alright, spread out! The Crown must be around here somewhere!" shouted Legate Rikke. We began to look around but had no idea what the Crown might look like. Obviously, we had some ideas but that was it.
"Hey, there's some sort of crown on this dead Draugr!" called the Argonian female, pointing to the body slumped over on the throne. It was indeed wearing a crown but it was unlike anything I had ever seen; it looked to be made of bones.
"Good wo-hold on...get away from it! It's not dead!" exclaimed Legate Rikke. Before the Argonian could even process what she heard, the Drauger had stood up and driven its sword through her skull. She died instantly, blood painting the floor a dark red. It wiped its blade on her armor and attacked Darvak. He blocked every swing but was quickly overpowered. His sword was knocked out of his hand and was about to be stabbed when the Nord man who had traveled in the carriage with us severed its head. The Nord picked up the head and removed the Crown, giving it to Legate Rikke. She put it in a pouch on her side and, for the first time, smiled.
"Good work, men. You've all done a great job. I wish that the Argonian did not have to die, but at least it was not in vain. We have the Crown and are one step closer to defeating the rebels! Let's get out of this dreary crypt and go back to Solitude"