Chapter 18:
- Siris, why are we doing this again?
- Long story. – he shrugged of, concentrating on the steps ahead of him. - To make it short, I need to know how Razara got his filthy hands on one of the most powerfull weapons of Tamriel.
- Simple, then.
They had been walking for many hours, and, about an hour ago, they had started going up some stairs that someone with way to many time in their hands had cut into a mountain. Siris still wouldn`t tell her where they were going, but she figured it would have to be important, for such a long detour. She noticed that Siris seemed to know the path really well. He knew which curves to take, and even where the steps would be loose.
- Siris, how do you know this place?
He stopped and looked at her.
- Haven`t I told you that already? – when she shook her head, he began to explain. - I once came here with a… friend of mine. Though the path we are taking is slightly different, the bulk of the way is still the same. We will be arriving soon.
He continued to walk, leaving Dila in basically the same situation. She gave up on trying to make sense on what he was saying.
- Don`t worry, it won`t take long now. Only about five minutes.
Exactly five minutes later, they came across a fork in the stairs. Siris took the right path, leaving Dila to imagine what was hidden in the left path. One "flight" of stairs later, they arrived at Siris`s destination. Dila`s mouth hit the floor.
An altar was in the middle of a platform, both made out of stone. Behind the altar, stood a massive statue, a devil-like man holding an axe, sat down. Between his legs, a door.
Near the door, a body is laying on the snowy ground. The human wore a dark red robe. Dila saw that his throat had been slit. Siris walked to the altar and put both his hands on it. The sword on his back began glowing a demonic red.
Suddenly, a booming voice came from nowhere.
- I sense Mephala`s artifact. – Dila looked around, surprised by the voice. – Who are you, Champion of Mephala?
- I`m not her Champion. – Siris said, to the voice. – But I need to know where your`s is.
The voice let out a demonic chuckle. Dila looked up. She was sure that the voice had come from the statue. She recognized the devilish figure carved in the rock. It was Mehrunes Dagon, one of the sixteen Daedric Princes.
- You say you are not her Champion, but you carry her Ebony Blade. Pardon me if I don`t believe you, Argonian. As for your other question, I might tell you where he is.
With that, two purple flames erupted from the ground in front of both of his legs.
- If you survive.
Two Daedra`s were now standing on the platform, where the two flames had sprouted. One had a warhammer, the other a greatsword on their hands. They were covered in a dark armor that seemingly pulsated with red. Dila drew her new bow, even though she doubted it would do much damage against the two devil-like creatures.
Siris jumped on the altar, and again, this time, aiming at the creatures, while spinning to gain momentum to strike them. Shockigly, the armor they were wearing didn`even dent at the blade`s strike. Siris was surprised by this. Then he spun backwards and aimed at the uncovered head of the hammer wielding Daedra.
Dila didn`t loose the tempo. She fired at the other Daedra`s head, but he grabbed it out of the air, breaking it with his bare hands. She fired again, and this time, it could not react as fast as he had. It struck him in the eyeball, but he merely grabbed his eye, hissed a little and then charged at Dila, who was surprised to see what had just happened. She slowly stepped bac, continuously firing arrows back, and with her peripheral vision she could see that Siris was clashed with his own opponent. She could see that he had the upper hand, but she needed to fend of her own opponent before thinking about him.
Seeing that her bow wouldn`t be much of a help in her current situation, she drew her daggers and darted to the Daedra. He was surprised by the sudden change of tactics on the cat`s part, but it didn`t matter. He was going to crush her under his sword anyway.
He swung heavily downwards. She sidestepped the blade and tried to stab the being in his already damaged eye. He managed to narrowly avoid it, and he used the force to turn and extend his own blade, trying to hit the nimble Khajiit. She crouched under the strong swing and went upwards, trying to do the same thing she did to the Wispmother. The Daedra, however, managed to bring his head back, and he followed by bringing the pommel of his sword onto Dila`s stomach. She felt the air being knocked out of her lungs. She held her stomach, trying to keep her balance. The Daedra lifted his heavy weapon with both hands, prepared to bring down the finishing strike.
Suddenly, something wrapped itself on his leg. Something orange.
He looked down and saw the Khajiit`s tail around his lower leg. Suddenly, it pulled back, making him loose his babalnce and fall to the ground, hitting the back of his head on the stone floor. Before he could get up, Dila grabbed his sword and lifted it back up, bringing it down on the demon`s neck, cleanly loping his head off. It rolled on the ground, leaving a small trail of blood. She released the heavy steel sword. She looked at Siris.
He was casually siting on the altar, cleaning his sword, while a shredded pile of remains she suspected was from the Daedra lay by his feet.
- Took your sweet time, Dila? – he said, looking back up at her.
- I`m sorry, oh-great-assassin . I don`t have any sort of otherworldly weaponry here with me. Next time try to do it with your tail.
He innocently held his hands up, laughing at her outburst. He then looked up to the statue.
- So, we`re still alive. Tell me where Razara is. Now.
- He left a message inside my temple. You can come inside.
Dila heard the door lock click and unlock itself. At least the god-like being had saved them the trouble of using lockpicks.
Siris jumped from the altar and opened the door, holding it open to Dila.
- Such a nice man…
- I make exceptions for pretty ladies.
She giggled as she entered, and he followed suit, leaving the door half open. The shrine was but a small cave, with one bigger chamber after a small "hallway". Dila saw that the bigger chamber had a few chests on it. She rushed inside…
… to be greeted by a haze of flames, forcing her to step back to avoid burning her fur. Two other Daedra were inside the temple, but this time, they were wearing robes, as if they were mages. Siris swung his sword at one of them. The blade managed to cut through the ward and severed the red man at the waist. Dila shot at the other, hitting his stomach. He fell on the floor, dead.
Dila stepped past the two Daedra. Siris, however, took out a small dagger and crouched near the body that Dila had shot. He turned his head to her.
- You might want to turn around. This is going to get pretty messy.
She walked to one of the chests, and she heard squishing sounds. She didn`t even want to know what Siris was doing to the corpses. She opened the chest and looked at it`s contents. A few bars of gold were there, alongside a few others of an unknown metal. It was pitch black. She picked one ingot. It weighed about the same as gold.
- Siris, what is this? – she turned around, and droped the ingot, trying not to vomit. – What are you doing?
He looked to her. The Daedra`s chest was opened, and Siris`s hands were bloody red. In his hands, he held something about the size of a fist, filled with fibers.
He was holding a heart.
- Dila, wait a couple of seconds. I can explain this and… is that ebony?
He rushed to the bar that she dropped. He picked it up with his free hand, smearing blood all over it. Dila unconsciously took a step back.
- Yes it is. And… - he stepped past her, looking inside the chest. – Three bars. Dila, I will refrain from… why are you that scared?
She pointed to the heart he was holding.
- Dila, you have no idea how valuable these things are. And, now that I have ebony…
He picked up another bar. Dila saw fire in his eyes.
- I can give you a little present…
00000
- It didn`t go as planned.
Balgruuf sighed. The Legion was not going to be pleased with the news.
- What happeded, Siris? – he asked.
Razara knew about us. He sent another assassin after us. If I had predicted that, I would have done something.
Siris knew that it wasn`t his fault the mission had gone awry. He had no way of knowing that Razar was going to send an assassin after him. Well, he suspected as much, but he never expected it to be Tar-Ma. And he certainly wasn`t expecting to face against the Mace of Molag-Bal. He needed to know how Razara had laid his hands on it, along the Black Star.
- The assassin he sent had a Daedric artifact, as well. One we both know a thing or two about.
- You don`t mean…
- Yes. The Mace.
Siris saw Balgruuf shiver at the mention of the weapon. The Mace had tried to do the same thing Siris`s blade was doing to him to it`s previous owner. And, one day, it had succeded. Siris never forgot the bloodshed that had ensued that night.
And thinking about it again made a shiver run through his own body.
They had arrived in Whiterun when the sun had settled. They were now standing in the main hall of Dragonsreach. Siris felt tired, but he knew that, after giving his own report to Balgruuf, he had one more thing he would do.
- Siris, how is Razara getting his paws on the Artifacts? Last we heard of them, they were safe and unreachable,back in High Hrothgar.
- High Hrothgar? – Dila asked. Siris rememebered he hadn`t told her about the artifacts the Dragonborn carried.
- The Dragonborn had two artifacts with him. – Balgruuf began, straightening up on his throne. – One was the Black Star, of which you already know about. The other was the Mace of Molag-Bal. It is said to steal the souls of every being it kills.
- Balgruuf! That`s it!
Realization had dawned in Siris`s mind. It all made sense.
- What is it, Siris?
- Tar-Ma! He is keeping Krona alive! The Mace is joined with the Star!
Balgruuf`s visage soon accompanied the one in his friend`s face. Of course! How had he not thought about that?
- That`s something, at least. If we can get the Mace back, we save ourselves two problems. There`s nothing else to relay, I suppose? – when both Siris and Dila shook their heads, he nodded and said. – You are both free. Your room in the inn is still there. Or, wait a minute…
Siris and Dila were turning their backs whe Balgruuf called them back. When he turned around again, Balgruuf thre him a key. Siris grabbed it in midair. He looked at it, puzzled. He had seen that key before, he just couldn`t remember when.
- The Dragonborn made you a favour by restoring it. I believe it is now yours. Free of charge. You have done enough to me to deserve it.
Siris smiled when he noticed the letter B eteched in the key. He remembered what it opened.
- Siris, what is this?
- Something better than an inn.
Siris guided her outside. Instead of going to the inn, however, he went down the small stairs on the main garden. Dila had a very confused face. She was probably asking herself they weren`t going to the inn.
They stopped in front of a house, near the entrance of the town. Siris put the key in the lock and turned it, unlocking the door. He entered and gestured Dila to come inside with him. She did.
Siris turned around and saw that the room was pitch black. He took two small stones and approached what he remembered being the centre of the room.
- What is this? Where are we? – he heard behind him. He frictioned the two stones, producing a bright spark and igniting th fireplace.
The room lightened up. Breezehome was just as he remembered it.
Nobody had stirred the house since the last time he had been there, a few months ago. The stock of food had been replenished, no doubt by someone waiting for the return of it`s rightfull owner. He wasn`t returning any time soon, but now, it had a new owner.
Siris.
00000
Dila took another step into the room. She was impressed with the house. It had two stories, and it seemed to be teemingwith things from it`s previous owner. She saw the weapon racks, letting her eyes rest on an orcish broadsword. It`s design was impressive, and it seemed stronger then any other sword she had seen. Apart from Siris`s, of course.
She then shifted her eyes to the shelves. Lots of books were stacked on it. She casually took out one, putting it back into place giggling when she read the title.
"'The Lusty Argonian Maid'? Why would anyone have such a book on his or her house? "
She then saw that Siris had gone to a side room next to the stairs. She followed him. He was leaning against a table. Various phials and bowls were placed in it, and a green liguid took the whole centre of the small piece of furniture. Plants and other sorts of miscellaneous items were hanging in another table.
- Good. – he said. – Nobody took any of my ingredients. And my books and recipies are still here.
- Anything I should take note of?
He turned around, and Dila shot him her smuggest stare. He snickered at that.
- Probably. Have you forgotten that you asked me to give you lessons in the regard of alchemy?
- I haven`t. Have you?
He laughed, and walked to the door, Dila following him closely. He went up the stairs. There were two rooms on that floor: one was separated by a small door, and the other was behind a wooden wall. Siris went through the door in the wooden wall, revealing a large bed, one table, a few chairs, a chest and various decorations on the walls. Dila had no idea the house was that big. It certainly didn`t seem like so on the outside.
She looked longingly at the bed. She was tired and weary, and the bed seemed so very comfortable. She felt Siris`s arm coil around her waist. She smiled, teeth shining. Perhaps her sleep could wait a little bit.
Siris spun her around. He kissed her, and she could fell her want for him growing.
- I need to go take care of a few business, Dila. – he said, breaking the kiss and massaging her head. She groaned at his statement. She wanted him near her. – I`ll be back soon, I promise.
- The last two times you said that, you were either gone for one week and a half or you were assaulted by an assassin.
- Don`t worry. Nothing will happen now. We are safe.
She nooded and he let her go. She held his hand a little bit before he walked out of the small room, closing the door behind him. She turned around and looked at the bed, then back at her armor.
She heard the door slam, and another smile flashed through her muzzle.
- I can at least be presentable when he comes back, now can`t I?
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Siris hurried to the alchemy store. He had a great deal of ingredients he had to sell. It was late, and he enetered the shop right as the owner, a young girl named Arcadia could close the shop.
- Siris! – she said, with a juvenile voice. – What brings you to my humble store?
- I came across a few interesting things on my recent travels. – he said, opening his knapsack and showing her the items inside. – Do you need anything?
She took a quick look inside, and her eyes went wide with what she saw.
- Siris, how did you get one Daedra Heart? Or… knock me blind… two?
- Long story. Take one, but the other is not for sale. I need to do something with it.
- I`ll give you 300 septims for it. As for the rest, I can get you 500 on them all.
He took out every item, including the Taproot he had collected from the Spriggan, the Wrappings and the Glow Dust from the Wispmother and one of the Daedra Hearts. Arenia picked them all, putting them in their respective jars and shells and giving him her money. He took it, grateful, and went outside. Now that he had delt with her, he went up to Jorvaskrr.
Instead of going through the door, he took to the left. The mighty Skyforge stood triumphantly in front of him. He went up the stairs. He knew his way around he forge, but he would never do this without a proper forger by his side.
- Seems like you need help, Siris.
He turned around and saw Adriana Avenccini there. She held her arms crossed under her chest.
- I could definitely use some, yes.
- What do you want me to smith? According to my father, now that Eorlund is gone, the Skyforge belongs to me. It is amazing. With my old forge, I was good. But with this? I am unstopabble.
Siris laughed at the woman`s enthusiasm. Yes, Adrianna was a good blacksmith when she was confined to the normal forge. She would be of very good aid here.
- Adrianna, what metals can you use to make weapons?
- Every single metal in all of Skyrim.
- Even ebony?
She turned to him and saw that he held three bars of the black metal in his hands. She smiled. She could make some good quality weapons out of it. Then, she noticed that he was holding something. Something crimson. Her eyes widened when she noticed what it was.
- Is that what I think it is?
- A Deadra Heart. A very rare and costly ingredient for alchemists. But, in the hands of the world`s best forger. – he said, giving her some incentive. – It can be combined with ebony to give birth to…
- A Daedric weapon.
- Exactly. And, if I account correctly, you are now the bes forger in all of the provinces of Tamriel. Right?
She took the heart in her hands.
- Of course.
She took it near the forge. She gently placed the organ in the border of the forge. She would need it later.
- What do you want? A sword? A mace?
- A bow.
She was surprised by that. Siris wasn`t known for his skills with the bow. He was good, yes, but no one was better with a sword than him.
- It`s not for me. It`s for my friend.
- Oh. The Khajiit?
He silently nodded. She laughed and said the words he was so desperate to hear:
- You can go now. You look like you need some rest. I will have this done by tomorrow.
He went happily down the stairs. Then, he strutted back to Breezehome, faster then he thought he should have gone. He was practically running through the streets of the city, wanting to get back to Dila as quickly as possible.
When he arrived back at his new home, he heard a soft humming coming from upstairs. He went up, and slowly opened the door.
Dila was lying on the bed, stark naked, with her head being held up by her left hand. She looked at him with hungry eyes. The tune she was humming went slower and turned into a seductive purr as he stepped closer. She was only wearing her amulet, he didn`t fail to notice.
- You got ready for me? – he said, kneeling in the bed. She knelt too, bringing herself to almost his height.
- Of course I did. I wouldn`t want you sleeping like last time.
- Well, you`ve got my attention. Now let`s see if you can`t maintain it in you…
He closed his eyes and kissed her. The kiss was slow, passionate. She brought her arms to his chest, and slowly slid her hands down his still covered torso. She touched his manhood over his trousers, elicting a soft moan from him.
- Can I take that like a sign you won`t be sleeping? - she asked, sounding half innocent and half sedductingly
- Definitely.
He wraped his arms around her waist and brought himself in for another kiss. Slowly pressing his body against her own, he gently forced her to lay on her back. He took of his coat and shirt and threw the sheets over themselves.
He definatley wasn`t going to sleep that night. At least, not until Dila slept herself.
He hoped that that would take a while.
8,5 out of 9 in the IELTS! DAMN, I`m good.
JK, of course. I will be back shortly. Sorry for the long delay. Exam week, you know the drill...
Eddy out.