Sorry for the lateness! Awful of me to not upload anything in a while, but I had good reasons, I promise! I've had an awful month-long flu that just wouldn't quit...got me in trouble at work, at school...blah!
I made this chapter extra long to make up for it!
.-. .-'. .-. .-. .-. .-. .`-. .-.
:::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\
' `-' `.-' `-' `-' `-' `-.' `-' `
Her name was Helgi, and she had been, once, someone's daughter. She had been born and raised in Morthal, and her house had flanked the cemetery, but she was never afraid of death or of the dark. Her best friend had been Joric. They had shared his visions and her dreams at dusk, every day. Her bear doll was lost in the fire and she was still looking for it. Amina didn't have the heart to tell her she had found its arm next to the rest of it, charred save for the buttons that were its eyes.
If that is what the voice in her head told Amina to smite, well…she couldn't get it in her to want to kill this little girl. How could one kill a restless ghost anyway? One that was a child, no less? One could be ruthless against the mythical draugr in the Nord tombs, or perhaps against the skeletons necromancers animated, but this? Save for the translucency she possessed, this little girl looked very much alive.
Amina felt like crying. A little life was in front of her, snuffed by flames before it could truly begin. At first, Helgi had wanted to play Hide and Seek, but then changed her mind as she saw her father in the distance, hand in hand with a woman she had called Alva. Helgi's expression hardened, her innocent face turning rageful, inhuman in her gostly transparence. ". I tried calling for him every time, and he heard me, I know he did! He never answered…and I…I feel so lonely. I just want to go home. ". Then her translucent eyes turned back to Amina. If she were alive, they would have been filled to the brim with tears. In that moment, she looked very much like a scared little girl, not a ghost.
Of course, Erik and Meeko didn't really think so. Erik was green and held a hand to Amina's small of the back, protectively. His hand was poised on his sword, as if it were any good. Meeko was laying at their feet, his ears back and tail out of site, his whole fur on end. Amina was petting him to calm him down as Helgi continued her story.
The flames had licked first at the wood from the stairs. They came from above, from the common room many Nord houses had, then made their way down the stairs. Her mother screamed, took a blanket and start pounding at the flames. Then, her whole being was on fire, as if by some supernatural force. The last thing Helgi saw of her mother were her terrified eyes as she made her way through the flames towards the upstairs, screaming, batting at the flames, thrashing her whole body to get them off her, yelling: "Hroggar! Hroggar!" over and over again, in a voice that wasn't hers.
Helgi could not comprehend, at the time, what was happening. She saw her mother's body collapse in a heap of flames. She retreated to a corner of the room, trapped like a rat. The first thing she felt was the choking, her lungs full of soot and smoke. Her eyes stung, she could barely breathe, she could only scream, as her mother had. The flames took her.
She remembers little of the flames, lot of the screams for a father that never came to give help, even though she knew he had been upstairs while her mother and her were in the basement. Had he gone outside, not noticed the fire?
"Why can't you…you know, move on, where ghosts usually go?"
"I can't. She won't let me."
"Who won't let you?"
The girl smiled innocently. "Let's play Hide and Seek!"
Erik's mouth went agape. Amina froze. The little ghost girl ran off into the night, into the bushes and into the marsh behind her house.
Erik was the first to follow, and then Amina with Meeko at her heels.
Truthfully, it wasn't so much a game of Hide and Seek as it was a game of chase. Ghost or not, Helgi was limited to the speed she had in life, and thankfully, Erik and Amina had both longer legs than her. Amina still lagged behind due to her short stature, but Erik reached the child quickly...only to find himself in the middle of the cemetery, almost toppled over in a grave hole over a coffin: Helgi's coffin.
Something pounced on him and snarled in his ear. He could smell the creature's fetid breath, its claws digging in his arms, teeth snapping at his neck as he was struggling in its gasp. By the gods, it felt almost human! But it was too dark too see anything, so he could only hear animalistic sounds of hunger and predatory intent. The dim light cast from his discarded lantern didn't help at all to discern what the figure was.
A sickening crunch. Wetness. Blood flowed over his face, into his hair, choking him and getting into his clothes. Wide-eyed he looked at the creature's head rolling over toward the light.
Amina pulled him up with the hand that wasn't holding her sword. She was panting, white in the face, her eye whites showing like a mad man's.
"What took you so long? I almost got eaten." said Erik, trying to lighten the mood and make Amina forget that she had just swung a sword in the dark, hoping not to miss.
"Well if you wouldn't have run so far ahead, maybe you wouldn't be bathing in a pool of blood right now, Erik."
He shrugged. "As long as it's not mine. What was that, anyway?"
They both turned towards the head of the creature.
"By Talos, it's a woman!"
"It's a vampire!" Erik spat. "No wonder that filthy creature was clawing at my neck!"
Amina started to dry-heave. Erik started rubbing circles on her back while she was bent over, trying not to vomit. Vampires?! That was entirely too much!
"I thought they were legends!"
"…I've told you I've encountered them. Several times, in fact."
"I thought you were trying to frighten me!"
Erik shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Oh, you sweet, sweet summer child."
Amina glared, and straightened up. "Ok, so what now?"
"We go to the Jarl, I guess. Tell her the whole thing."
"What if she doesn't believe us?"
At this, Erik pulled up the head of the vampire, holding it like a sack, by the hair. Drops of blood dripped from its neck.
"That's disgusting."
"But highly effective!"
.-. .-'. .-. .-. .-. .-. .`-. .-.
:::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\
' `-' `.-' `-' `-' `-' `-.' `-' `
It was a good thing that Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone wasn't one to fuss over petty things like a trail of blood over her carpets. Nonetheless, she raised an eyebrow when her doors were slammed by two travelers holding the severed head of someone long thought dead.
"My, my. Well, this has occurred a bit faster than how I saw it."
Amina and Erik looked at each other, then back at her. The Jarl's entourage, ready to pounce, looked equally as confused. Why wasn't the Jarl ordering the capture of two people who seemed like they had killed a law-abiding citizen? Was it one of her visions?
Amina decided to speak up and explain things. The little colour the Jarl had in her face paled away to nothing.
"Call Thonnir. Quickly!" she said to one of the guards, who sprinted out into the night, leaving the Longhouses' doors wide open. Fog and cold started to sweep into the longhouse, enveloping them all into an ominous embrace. Amina's skin erupted into goosebumps. A disembodied voice, a ghost, and now vampires? What had she done to anger the gods so?
Thonnir's presence was marked by a long strangled scream. As soon as the man saw the severed head, he lunged at Erik, sobbing and throwing punches at the same time. The guards caught him, but he kept struggling, crying and screaming "Laelette! Laelette!". The guards managed to subdued him and bent him over, holding him by his forearms and the scruff of his neck. His body was trembling with sobs, his face botched red and full of tears. He was still screaming his throat raw even on his knees, pleading to the gods and damning Erik in the same breath.
The Jarl managed to explain the situation to him, and he was overcame with sobs once more. "I thought she had joined the Stormcloaks! Oh, my poor Laelette!"
Amina went over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing circles on his back. "We'll avenger her, sir. We'll find out who did this and avenger your wife's memory. It will all be alright, stop crying. She wouldn't want you to cry, right?"
Thonnir shook his head. "You're right. She wouldn't want to see me like this." He straightened up, and Amina offered him a small smile, hand still on his shoulder, even though the height difference made it quite awkward. Meeko started wagging his tail and pushing at his feet, nipping at his trousers. The man put a hand on the dog's head, petting him.
Erik sighed. Just like Amina, to not want to get in danger one moment and then offering to get themselves in danger to avenge a stranger's memory.
"Sir, did anything strange occur to Laelette before she disappeared?"
"She was spending more and more time with Alva, even though she despised her….Ye gods! You think Alva is a vampire?
"It's a possibility we can't ignore…" Erik chimed in.
"No! You're wrong! You must be wrong...I refuse to believe we'd have such a creature in our midst! Maybe Laelette found her fate out in the marshes!"
Jarl Ravencrone and Gunmar, her housecarl, exchanged a look. It was not surprising that Thonnir wouldn't consider that option.
It's easier for man to attributed another man's horrors to nature, easier to assume chance rather than premeditated evil. We all like to convince ourselves the world is good so we don't fear our every steps. Unfortunately for our heroes, evil in the world comes and goes like the tides, periodically, daily, and you should expect it.
"We'll go investigate Alva's house. We'll get to the bottom of this, Jarl, we promise."
The Jarl nodded. "Very well. Should you prove guilt or innocence, I'll reward you."
"There's no nee-" Amina's protests were cut off by Erik putting a hand over her mouth. "Thank you, Jarl, you are very generous. We'll make it worth your while.". Amina glared at him as he released her.
Sunrays peeked through the still open doors, and the fog was slowly lifting as our young adventurers made their way out of the longhouse.
"Another rule of the road: when someone offers you money, especially a Jarl, always take it. Honour doesn't keep you fed."
Amina huffed.
They made their way into Alva's house as sneakily as a pair of armour-clad aventurers could. That is, they clanked their way down the pier and knocked on the door. When Hroggar answered, Erik pushed him back into the house, and Amina shut the door behind them.
"Listen up, little man," Erik snarled "Time for some answers, don't you think?"
Hroggar's eyes widened, his whole body tensing. He looked like an animal trapped in a corner. He lunged at Erik, but the other man was too fast, and ended up subduing him, throwing him down on the floor, a sword tip pointed at his throat. "Knock him out!". And Amina did.
With Hroggar sleeping peacefully, albeit unvoluntarily, in the bare main room, Amina and Erik made their way down to the basement. Meeko was left upstairs to do guard duty in case one of the hold's guards got too curious for their own good.
"Oh gods, it reeks here" she said, holding her nose. The stairway to the basement was damp and slick with blood, as dark as night. The basement was bare save for some crates…and a coffin.
"Shit." They said at the same time. The coffin quaked, and its lid was pushed back to reveal Alva, in all her beautiful deadly glory.
Amina shrieked. "I'm not ready for this!"
"Make yourself ready!" Erik yelled, as Alva lunged at him, snarling. He ducked and tripped her, snagging himself away from the grasp of her hand on his ankles. She lifted her legs and kicked at him, sending him sprawling on top of some crates. He moaned in pain. Fighting in a small room was very different than fighting in the wild, and truth be told, he didn't have much experience in it. Which explained why now he was cradled by crates like a mother's embrace, and out cold.
Alva got back to her feet and faced Amina. The girl was sweating profusely, her hands trembling on her weapon as she was backing away from the vampire, one step at a time. "Stay back!"
Alva chuckled, looking at her nails. "Or else what, little girl? You're going to scare yourself to death? Not much use without your companion over there, aren't you?"
"I said stay back, you filthy creature!" Amina was practically sobbing by now. Bears and sabercats? No big deal. Bandits? Can do, barely. Vampires? Now that's a whole other story Amina never, ever wanted to get into.
"Aw, how cute. Widdle adventurer all snot-nosed and red-eyed. You humans are so cute. Tears always make the flesh taste tender."
The vampire lunged at Amina, who barely managed to duck out of the way. "Shit!" Her scimitar felt cold and alien in her hands as she tried running away towards Erik. Alva jumped over the coffin and in front of her. "Nu-huh, no waking up your friend there, love. Wouldn't want to spoil our game, now would we?"
Amina sobbed. "Get away from me!"
Alva smirked. "Make me, little bitch."
Amina screamed, and attacked. The vampire ducked the first few blows, but soon enough Amina's fear turned into pure adrenaline, and she became more and more wild and unpredictable in her attacks. She was so afraid she didn't care what she hit, throwing herself fully in every attack, sword and body becoming one. She didn't care if she managed to body-slam or cut Alva to pieces, as long as she could get herself and Erik away from her. She had to get out, she had to get Erik to safety, she had to get out, she had to, she had to, she had t-
Her scimitar cut through Alva's throat like a knife though butter. Her face felt warm from the blood that rained on her from the vampire's severed jugular. Amina collapsed in a sobbing heap on the floor, cradling herself.
A groan from the crate pile was the only signal that Erik woke up. He felt dizzy, like he just got thrown off the Throat of The World and landed in the middle of nowhere. Gods, but his head pounded. He jolted up when he remembered where he was, earning himself 3 seconds of his vision blacking out.
Amina was in a pool of blood, the vampire's body somewhere next to her. Erik gasped, and made her way towards the girl, hugging her while she sobbed. "It's okay, you killed it, it's okay, shh, you're safe now…". He stroked her hair gently. "I'm going to find some clues regarding the vampire, okay? You stay right here, I'll be right back."
Amina sniffled, dried her tears and wiped her snot with her sleeves, and stood up.
"No, no, I'll be fine...let's look together."
Erik looked her over. "Are you sure?". She nodded.
"I need to get used to this kind of stuff if I want to be part of the companions, right?" she said, offering him a watery smile.
They found a journal describing Alva's vampiric activities…and activities of another sort. Erik felt dirty only touching it. "What does it say?" Amina asked.
"You're too young to read this sort of filth. For the Jarl's eyes only."
She snatched it from his hand, read a few pages…"I don't know if I should want to throw up or be aroused."
"Yeah, this thing is a veritable joyride from murder to the vampire version of that argonian maid book."
"What's that?"
Erik's face flushed. "Nothing of importance. Let's get back to the Jarl."
.-. .-'. .-. .-. .-. .-. .`-. .-.
:::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\
' `-' `.-' `-' `-' `-' `-.' `-' `
Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone was both disgusted and grieved at what happened in her hold. Thus, our heroes had a new mission: kill the vampire Movarth, and restore peace to the land. As they made their way through the doors to meet up with the furious mob waiting outside to help, Amina stopped dead in her tracks.
Erik made sure to pretend it was all intentional by putting his arms around her and pretending to talk to her about something or the other.
She felt like fog was enveloping her once more. Her heart made way to the pit of her stomach, and settled there in a ball. Her eyes glossed over.
"Oh, not again." Erik said. Meeko whined.
Amina found herself in conversation with the disembodied voice again.
"My, my, champion, you're getting braver by the day. Facing a ghost story, then vampires? You're going to become a fine slayer of the undead by the time you get to my temple, I dare say. Then again, I have perfect tastes in Champions, which couldn't be said for the rest of my peers…but I digress."
"Why me? And who are you? I thought you wanted me to kill the ghost, but…"
"Ah, but who better to cleanse than undead than someone who fears them the most? The ghost was just a means to an end."
"What end?"
"Getting my Beacon out of the hands of this Morvarth, a foul vampire trotting through this parts, spreading his foul filth all though Morthal with impertinence."
"Beacon?"
"I am Meridia, Prince of Life and Lady of Infinite Energies…I hope you do know who I am?" Amina nodded. "In the other eras, only mentioning the Beacon would have elicited recognition... So much for the constancy of mortals, their crafts and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them? No matter. Your goal is to get my Beacon to my temple, and cleanse it. It is time for my splendor to return to Skyrim, but how can mortals worship me if there is nowhere to do so?"
"What happened to your temple? Undead invasion?"
"Awfully perceptive. Yes. The Necromancer Malkoran defiles my shrine with vile corruptions, trapping lost souls left in the wake of this war to do his bidding. Worse still, he uses the power stored within my own token to fuel his foul deeds. I need him and his filth purged from my temple so it may shine again with my light and the love of mortals. Now go, enforce my will!"
Amina sighed as her senses were returned to her.
"It seems this whole champion…thing…wasn't a fluke of the imagination."
Erik sighed. "How could you have found such trouble so fast? Daedra are serious business!"
"Yeah well…apparently we need to find some vampire lair which is nearby, get her…Beacon?...and then kill some necromancer who is resurrecting the dead right in her temple."
"Right in her temple? That guy's just asking for trouble."
.-. .-'. .-. .-. .-. .-. .`-. .-.
:::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\::::::::.\
' `-' `.-' `-' `-' `-' `-.' `-' `
Thanks for reading! Reviews and critiques are very welcome and will be rewarded with Sweetrolls :D