The Fall of Lord Kelvyn
By Commentaholic - Alpha 02
A/N: Well, this certainly has been on the backburner... Hard to say whether or not this will be finished before long, but I certainly will try.
I've taken to playing Oblivion, trundling around in the Battlehorn region, looking for inspiration, imagining hundreds of combatants in a swell of blood and blades all around me... it actually worked, once I got on the hill overlooking the field... and after exploring other places.
On to the story, I guess.
Chapter Fourteen: In the Halls of the Winter King Part I
Drip.
Drip.
The old wooden door creaked open as two cloaked figures slipped out of the bright sun above and into the dark recesses of Fort Rayles. Their tails, for they were the Argonians Shadow and Starlight, twitched in excitement as they crept through the dimly-lit gloom. The bandits and marauders they were leading filed in behind them, torches lit to lead them through the darkness. Shadow and Starlight, however, required no such assistance. Their eyes already adjusted to the shadows. Being assassins by trade, they were well-versed in the Illusory art of Magic. Night-Eye enchantments were also placed on their hoods, should their magicka be taxed by unexpected circumstances.
"There." murmured Starlight, pointing at the opposite end of the hall.
Two statues stood there, just before them, two gates faced each other from the side walls. Set into the forehead of each statue was a small diamond that gleamed with an unearthly light. These stone figures gave off a magical aura akin to that which guarded the Brotherhood Sanctuary in Cheydinhal. On the pedestals beneath each statue, there lay a silver arrow. Shadow picked one up, examining it from every angle.
"It sseemsss normal..." The arrow was snatched out of his hand by his sister.
"That's because it is normal, Hist-for-brains!" Her azure eyes darted across the scene, taking in everything, her mind whirring beneath her ocean blue-scaled head.
She pulled something out of a satchel hanging at her side, a bundle of wood, or at least, that's what it looked like. She began unfolding it, and soon a fully-formed bow was in her hands. She nocked one of the arrows, "Which door?"
"What?" asked her brother.
"Which door do we go through first?" she asked impatiently.
At a loss for words, Shadow pointed a pointy claw-finger at the left door. Starlight adjusted her aim and fired. The silver arrow flew straight and true, striking the gem on the left statue's forehead. A rumble was heard and the metal gate rose up into the ceiling. Shadow turned to see Starlight folding up the bow and replacing it into her satchel.
"What?" she asked, "Simple gate mechanism safeguarded by unassuming crystal enchantments. We dealt with them before on the job with that Lich, remember?"
"Oh, yess... right..."
Starlight shook her head at her brother's stupidity. It was a wonder that she kept him around. "This way", she said, beckoning to the column of bandits behind them.
"... Only you would manage to guide us into 3 dead-ends in a row, Brother." Starlight muttered exasperatedly, looking at the wall before them.
"Don't blame me, Sisster... At least we got sssomething out of it, correct?" Shadow said, gesturing towards a goblin corpse that was surrounded by bottles of beer.
Starlight's palm soon became very well acquainted with her forehead. "And only you would think about drinking in the middle of a mission..."
Shadow prised a bottle from the goblin's hand, "Killing isss thirsssty work, Sisster. I will need thisss to drink over our foesss' bodiess."
Starlight snatched the bottle from his hands and threw it against the wall, where it shattered, splashing the dingy alcoholic beverage all over. A droplet of beer traced a line down Shadow's cheek from where it had landed, where his tongue darted out and tasted it. "It wass foul anyway..." he grumbled, spitting out the liquid.
His sister just grumbled and backtracked to the group. "That's the last passage in this half of the ruins..." she began, "So we'll have to try the other route." The men let loose a chorus of complaints, only to be silenced by the resting of Starlight's claw on the orange-jeweled hilt of her sword, which hung down from her waist in a loosely-wrapped leather sheath.
Normally, the men wouldn't be intimidated by this, the insane, bloodlusty marauders and bandits that they were, but something about that obscured blade scared them. It was almost as if the orange gem was looking at them, counting out in their minds how many of them it would slay.
"That's better." Starlight said, "Now move out." She brushed past them, followed by her brother. They retraced their steps back to the statue chamber, Starlight knocking the gem on the forehead of the right-hand statue, eliciting a magical chiming sound before the grinding of metal gears rose the gate blocking the other passage.
The group snuck along silently for a time before hearing voices. Starlight signalled a halt, nudging Shadow to follow her into the next room, crouched and moving silently. She slid the blade from its sheath, it emitting a slight orange glow before fading into the shadows, the light illuminating a split blade with things akin to teeth lining the gap.
"Hmm?" Raenor asked, raising his gaze from the book he was reading to look at Fervin Ureles, the conjurer addressing him. "What was that?
The Dunmer sneered at him, "I asked if you'd gotten those samples for me yet. My experiments can't wait any longer."
"I'm not your servant, Fervin," the Altmer stated firmly. He'd had enough of those bullying higher-level mages back at the Arcane University. That had been why he'd left that stuffy institution to study abroad, unrestricted by the 'rules'.
"Oh? The whelp chooses now to grow a spine?" Fervin chuckled, a hand behind his back beginning to emit a cold aura in preparation for a frost spell. Before he could plunge his hand forward, though, a strange chill ran up his spine that had nothing to do with the frigid blast in his hand. He whirled, arm raised, but there was nothing but the dark corridor.
Raenor's girlish yell of terror came from behind him as a silvery blade sprouted from the Dunmer's chest. Fervin looked down and fingered the sharp tip a moment before it retracted with a wet squelch, a small burst of fire spurting from the wound. The mer was dead already, his body just didn't know it, and he rocked back and forth for a moment before crumpling to the ground.
One, came an eerie voice in Raenor's mind as he looked at the shadow-wrapped figure standing between him and his fallen compatriot. The dark shape turned towards him, tail whipping around.
An Argonian, then, Raenor's mind randomly noted. Not that it had anything to do with his inevitable doom. He couldn't even see the killer's face, it being hidden by a hood pulled over its face, not that it would do much good. One could not report their own murderer to the guards from beyond the grave. All Argonians looked alike, anyway, according to the guards.
"Tell me, conjurer," whispered the figure in a raspy voice, "Do you fear death?"
"Yes yes yes yes yes! Very much so!" Raenor blurted.
"Good, then this is that much more enjoyable..." they said, bringing their blade down across Raenor's chest. Blood spurted for a moment before the blade's scorching enchantment seared the wound shut and lit the Altmer's robe on fire. The conjurer's screams echoed through the ruin's empty halls as he was burned alive.
Starlight watched the body burn out and collapse against the wall.
"You alwaysss ssssurprise me, Sisster. Ssso calm and collected, then you show your dark ssside." Shadow murmured from her side.
"Silence, you fool. What's the point of killing someone if you can't enjoy it?" she said, sheathing the blade, which purred a pleased Two as it was slid into the leather wrap. She walked past the bodies of the other conjurers, who had already been dispatched by Shadow while she'd dealt with the first pair. The bandits followed, terrified at their guides.
Another large wooden door was pushed open and the assassins and bandits entered the Halls of Winter.
As they did so, a long-dormant enchantment sparked to life. Deep in the depths of the ruin, down forgotten corridors and neglected halls, A tomb hissed as it cracked open, a billowing white fog seeping out. A wandering rat padding next to it shivered for a moment before collapsing to the ground, its whiskers and tail frozen out straight, rigid. It was frozen solid before it'd hit the ground.
"The Winter King has returned." whispered a voice from across the hall and an ethereal figure bolted from the room, ghostly armor clanking as it ran.
A/N: Short, I know, but I've got big plans for what's coming up. Sounds like a broken record, eh? But still. I apologize for how short it is. I laughed a bit as I wrote the StaSha interactions :P They're fun!
-=Commentaholic - Alpha 05=-
PS: Sorry for the strange document mix-up. FFnet's being an idiot.