All around him the wind wiped, the snow fell from the sky. And yet through all that he could hear it. Someone speaking, whispering to him. and yet no one stood near him.

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CHAPTER 8

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KURA'S POV

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Kura couldn't help but like this assignment. Often time when someone employed the dark brotherhood it was for political assassinations or because 1 feudal family had done something to upset another. However this assignment was simple. So simple in fact she'd bent the rules a little for their patron. Creeping through the cave kura paused as she came in sight of the exit to the cave. Reaching up behind her kura pulled out her trusty daedric bow and slung and ebony arrow into it, before continuing forward. No this contract was simple, a group of khajiit immigrants new to Skyrim had arrived in Skyrim a few days ago. They had been supposed to meet up with the traveling caravans. Instead the forsworn had attack them and killed several of the khajiits. The heads of the caravans had performed the black sacrament and had asked for revenge. She was to find the group of forsworn that had attacked the khajiits and leave none alive.

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Exiting the cave kura hugged the side of the cliff as she snuck along. But as she neared a corner of the cliff she felt her nostrils flare. Fire, brimstone, burning flesh. Turning the corner kura felt her bowstring go slack as she looked out what should have been the foresworn encampment. Except that there was no encampment left. Large plumes of smoke billowed up into the sky, small fires lapped at the remains of the camp. All around the camp bodies lay strewed about; left where they had fallen. Moving through the camp Kura kept her bow at the ready, it could be a trick, and yet as she continued through the camp, she found no other living soul. She had just come out into a clearing however when groaning and hissing met her ears. "who walks near?" turning towards the voice Kura felt her eyes widen as the sight of a burnt and half dead hagraven met her gaze.

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"they attack us. We did nothing, no provocation, no warning, no reason. And yet they came from fire, they attacked, they burned, they destroyed, they killed everyone." Kneeling down Kura readied her bow. "who…who attacked you." 'casue they just cost me my contract.' "your voice…unfamiliar. I can feel it in your voice…assassin." Kura smiled. "yeah. I'm an assassin. But I'm curious who attacked your camp?" the hagraven shook her head. "they came from fire. And when they killed everything, they retreated back into their fire." Kura nodded. "well…sucks to be you." Releasing the arrow Kura watched as the arrow buried itself in the hagraven's neck, and finishing her off. Straightening up, Kura focused her magic into her eyes and the familiar feeling of a detect life spell. Nothing….. well not nothing there were a few wolves at the edge of the camp, but no other living person. Her contract was over. Turning away Kura headed back in the direction of the khajiit caravan who had hired her.

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OKAN'S POV

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Okan gripped his elven greatsword tightly. Across from him he could see the draugur death lord glaring it him. the eyes had long since decayed from their sockets but there could be no mistaking the look he was getting. The draugur was going to kill him, and considering the undead corps was wielding an ebony greatsword Okan had no doubt it would not be an easy enemy. Lowering his blade, Okan grinned as he drug the tip of the elven blade against the floor of the tomb, causing a loud scrapping sound to echo off the walls. Okan narrowed his eyes as he watched the draugur began to attack. Charging forward Okan brought his sword up and caught the draugur's attack, causing a shower of sparks to erupt from their connected blades. Planting his feet Okan pushed back against the draugur, who stumbled back and off balance. Pressing his attack Okan dropped low a swung his blade towards the draugur's waist.

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But the draugur proved to be too fast and deflected the attack. Moving away from the draugur Okan allowed his blade to dip down slightly. When fighting with greatswords you couldn't use normal sword techniques. It was less like using a sword and more like using a club that had a sharpened edge. Crouching down slightly Okan charged the draugur, and at the last moment spun his whole body around and slammed his blade into the side of the draugur's armor. The draugur staggered, again off balance. Brining his blade back above his head Okan swung the massive blade straight down trying to cleave the draugur in half. However again the draugur dodged the attack and moved to launch its own. Letting go of his blade Okan was forced to leap away from the draugur as the blade crashing down where he had been only seconds before.

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Rolling to his feet, Okan brought his fists up ready to do his best to fight off the draugur till he could get his sword back. The draugur however seemed to be very against him getting his blade back. The attacks came fast, each one coming closer and closer to his skin. As his back hit the wall Okan cursed the gods in his head. Lunging forward Okan used all his strength and grabbed the draugur's wrists. Okan felt his muscles strain against the draugur's unfeeling body. for a moment they both struggled neither one able to gain the upper hand. Okan's eyes widened as he watched the draugur's mouth open. Letting go of the draugur's wrists Okan, leapt backwards as the draugur let loose a shout. "RO-DAH!" the air itself seemed to grab at him. Okan found himself lifted momentarily off the ground; just long enough for him to be knocked off balance. Stumbling backwards Okan ducked a vicious swing by the draugur who let out a roar of anger and swung again.

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Behind the draugur Okan could make out the form of his greatsword still stuck in the ground, just waiting to be retrieved. Okan watched as the draugur raised the blade above his head for a final attack. Lunging forward Okan hit the draugur in the chest, causing it to stumble backwards. Using this moment, Okan pulled his feet off the ground and pulled himself into a kind of hug against the draugur's cold ancient armor. The draugur went down crashing to the ground, it's sword going rolling away into the darkness of the room. Wresting with the draugur, Okan managed to sit upright so he was straddling the draugur's chest. His fists began to ache as he repeatedly struck the draugur in the face and neck. The skin may have been old but the bones had yet to full decompose.

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"RO-DAH!" Okan grinned as his plan fell into place. Again the air grabbed at him, and this time it lifted him off the draugur and pushed him to his feet. Turning around Okan made a mad dash for his sword and grinned as he felt his fingers wrap around the hilt of the sword. Pulling Okan grinned even wider as the blade came free from the floor. Spinning around Okan couldn't help but wonder if the draugur was reading his mind. It had followed him, and now stood just within his greatsword's reach, with now ebony greatsword to defend itself with. Charging forward Okan let out a small battle cry as he jammed the blade forward and into the draugur's chest. No sooner had he felt the blade penetrate the armor than his changed the angle of the blade and lifted the draugur off it's feet imbapling it on his sword for a moment, before bringing the blade back down and allowing the draugur to fall off it now completely dead.

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Pausing for a moment Okan gasped fro breath, with the battle over he now felt suddenly drained of energy. But he had no time to rest, he had to find the others and help them remove the eye of magnus from the ruins. Heading for the exit Okan staying in the room just long enough to grab the ebony blade and attach it to the same harness as his elven greatsword. He could see this blade for a good amount of money if he made it back. Leaving the room Okan couldn't help but feel on edge. Things had been going fine at first, the runes had done their job and most of the draugur had been killed when their sarcophagi had opened. But the eye had other defenses, one they couldn't have known about. They had barely pulled it from the when they had found that the ruins were rearranging themselves, creating new passages where there had been none before; while at the same time making other passages vanish all together.

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Grumbling slightly Okan stopped in the middle of the passageway. In front of him, 5 other passageways started. Closing his eyes Okan allowed his mind to stretch out. he could smell decay from 2 of the tunnels so he would not take them. one of them had the stinging smell of lamp oil, probably a trap, one of them had no smell what so ever, and the last one….okan's eyes flashed open and the smell of khajiit blood met his nostrils. Charging down the hallway Okan brought his sword up ready to do battle. It was a good thing he did, because a moment later he emerged into a room in the middle of a full scale battle. Spinning his body around Okan sliced clean through a draugur cleaving him in half. Slowing down slightly Okan took in the battle, Nisha was kneeling down blood staining the fur on her arm. Alea was standing in front of Nisha, twin skyforge daggers drawn. In front of them 3 draugur stood each with their ancient blade drawn and ready to attack.

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Spinning his blade Okan watched as one of the draugur's head slipped right off it's shoulders. As the draugur turned Okan ducked a swing of its sword and smiled as he watched Alea jam one of her daggers into the draugur's back while reaching around with the other and slitting the draugur's throat. The final draugur was killed by Nisha who managed to use her good arm and set the undead corps's skin ablaze with a fireball spell. Kneeling down Okan gripped nish'a good shoulder and pulled her up to her feet. "You ok Nisha?" Nisha nodded, but winced. "I'll be ok. Alea can you.." but Nisha didn't even need to finish her sentence before Alea was dabbing at her injuries with a cloth soaked in a health potion. Bandaging up the slowly healing wounds Alea spoke to Okan as she worked. "What happened? We saw you get sucked through the floor. What happened after that?" Okan shook his head.

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"I wandered around for a bit, ran into a draugur deathlord; killed him and found you." Nisha laughed. "You're such a smart ass." Okan grinned. "That some kind of gay joke?" Alea cleared her throat. "If you two aren't too busy we need to get out of here. Okan can you help Nisha walk, while I go on a head and try to find the others?" Okan nodded and helped Nisha to her feet. Moving down the hallway Okan couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. The feeling was so strong that several times he stopped and turned just so he could be sure no one was behind them. "you can feel it too?" Okan nodded. Nisha shivered slightly. "the angry eyes of the spirits are upon us. We should not be here." Okan shrugged. "not sure about that. But let's get out of here anyways."

AN: WELL FOLKS THAT'S CHAPTER 8. HOPE EVERYONE LIKED IT.

SO WHAT KIND OF ENEMY DO WE KNOW THAT COMES FROM FIRE? AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL AN ENTIRE FORSWORN ENCAMPMENT?

REVIEWS AND COMMENTS ARE DESPERATELY WANTED.