Day Ten
In the morning I woke to feel my body aching to the Nines and a gnawing void that could only be filled with a quick hit of skooma. I had a breakfast of cooked beef and a honey nut treat. Lydia had the same plus a few boiled cream treats afterwards. She stood from the table and complained her armor was feeling a bit snug lately from all the traveling food she had been eating. I agreed that that was how it looked. She stared daggers at me.
"What?" I asked. "I was agreeing with you."
"Idiot."
"I'm not complaining. I like a girl who is not afraid to eat properly. Shows she has an appetite for good food, among other things." Wink.
"On second thought, you're not an idiot. You're still just a pig."
We headed north through a cold forest. The light of day saw the woods turn into swampy bogs filled with dead wood, buzzing dartwings, and big purple flowers. No dangerous denizens to deal with, however. It must have been too early for them.
The map I had was fairly detailed and it appeared Ustengrav was not far from the edge of the swamp. I slowed to a crouch when I saw the raised mound that could only be the ruins I was looking for. I saw smoke from a fire burning on the other side. I slowly circled the ruins until I observed three bandits milling around the fire. I tried out my fury spell again and sent a red flare into the group. All that seems to happen is I make them aware of our presence. Perhaps I needed to hit someone for it to work.
They charged up the hill after us. I got my bow out and set the lead bandit on fire then switched to my sword. He barely lasted long enough for the fire on his clothes to go out. Another bandit, an orc, got in one shot before I cut off his foot at the ankle then smashed the edge of my blade into his chest as he fell. Lydia was backing up as a dark mage was encasing her in an ice spell. His balding head was no match for my blade.
"Ugh, necromancer," I said, noting the skull on his black robe. "I fear this ruin is going to be as foul inside as it is outside."
I found the body of another bandit, a woman, by the fire. No doubt they had killed her to turn her into a thrall for their uses, the nature of which I cared not to ponder. Inside the burial mound, I found stairs leading down to a set of iron doors and another dead bandit. Right above his head I spotted two bottles of skooma resting on a barrel. I was close enough to the bandit to pocket them but Lydia is right behind me.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
"What?"
"Check the top of the steps. I thought I heard another mage up there."
Lydia gave me a funny look but dashed up the steps anyway. I quickly put the bottles in my pocket then rummaged through the sacks and chest nearby until Lydia came back down.
"Nothing?" I said, "Really? Must have been a bird. Let's go get this horn."
Inside the ruins it seemed as though a battle had just been fought. Two dead bandits were close to the door. I could still smell the blood in the air. I crept down a ramp and I saw another bandit lying prone against a stone pillar. A battleaxe laid at his feet. I looked away from him in time to see three mages fighting a bandit on the other side of the large chamber. One mage was simply standing while the other two were sending bursts of fire and ice at the bandit. He did not last long. The two mages walked away and I saw the third mage simply disintegrate into a pile of ash. The two mages acted as if it was normal then continued talking about how worthless thralls were as slaves. Their kind sickened me more and more. I could not let them get away to create more thralls. I struck one with an arrow that hit him unawares. I was able to hit him again before he figured out where it had come from.
The two mages ran towards us. One went after Lydia and the other engaged me. I got one swing through his gout of fire spell when suddenly a bandit was attacking me with a pickaxe. I shouted him aside and finished off the mage with one more hit. Now that I looked at the bandit, I could see a bluish glow to him. The poor soul must have been enthralled. I was about to help him with his undead condition when he fell apart, leaving only an ash pile. I glanced over at Lydia and she was bending over the other mage cleaning her axe on his soiled robe.
Lydia came up to me and handed me a scroll. "He had this on him, not much else."
I unfurled the paper. It was a spell to create a blizzard indoors. Interesting, but usually I tried to avoid blizzards. I tucked it away for sale later. There was a chest on a table with a few gold coins and I found two other piles of ash nearby. Apparently creating thralls was the reason I saw so many brooms lying around. All that ash must really build up. The only exit I saw was a tunnel so I followed that a short ways, finding more dead bandits and one dead mage. Voices caused me to stop.
"What was that?" a voice ahead said.
I thought we had been detected so I unsheathed my sword and prepared for battle. Then I heard the sounds of fighting so I slipped forward down some stairs and saw two mages spellcasting at a group of draugrs. I switched to my bow and my choice of who to help took all of a moment to make. My first arrow embedded itself in a mage's hood. I was aiming for his ear, but it was hard to tell with the hood still up. The draugr did the rest. I liked watching that, but then they turned their soulless eyes towards me. I shouted at them and they all reeled back, giving me time to switch back to my sword and for Lydia to run past me yelling some threats I thought vulgar even towards draugr. They must have been pretty damaged already because they went down like wheat before a scythe. I checked the corpses for loot and found mostly coins but on one mage I found a spellbook titled, 'Raise Zombie'. I was repulsed even to have touched the book, which I swore was made of something more... organic than parchment. I tossed it into a flaming brazier nearby. It stank like maggoty meat. Next to the brazier I found two bottles of mead, one of them Black-Briar mead. Draugr hacking was hot work, especially in a stagnant ruin, so I drank down the Black Briar mead and handed Lydia the other. She drained her's faster than I did and I tried to ignore how her lips lingered on the bottle. Too late, she noticed.
"What?" she asked.
"Nevermind," I said, "You've already said it enough times. Let's keep going."
Suddenly Lydia belched loudly and covered her mouth.
"Nice," I reprimanded, "Can't take you anywhere."
"Sorry. It slipped."
We both laughed and moved on.
I saw rooms to the left filled with golden urns, but I doubted what I was after would be so close to the entrance. I kept us moving through a maze of corridors, finding hidden rooms and more draugr, but no horn. We found a set of iron doors and beyond it is an enormous underground hall.
"I've never seen anything like this," Lydia commented.
While looking out over the hall, I spotted one skeleton walking along a stone bridge. I got out my bow and with one steady shot, blasted him into pieces.
Lydia was impressed. "You're turning into quite the marksman with that bow."
"Of course," I said, "I think the magic in this is used up now, though. I didn't notice any flames when it struck."
Lydia shrugged, "Could be the distance."
I nodded but even the warmth from the wood was gone. We pressed on.
I thought I had found the horn in one chamber where a smaller room was blocked by two stout metal gates. The trigger to one was right next to them but it took us quite a while to find the other, hidden around the corner near a coffin. Inside the room was one of those glowing tables I saw in Farengar's den. On the table was a chest but the only thing in it besides some gold was a scroll for a spell of mayhem. I put that one next to the blizzard spell. No horn, however, so we moved on.
The path we found took us back to the hall we saw earlier. I noticed a catwalk that went above it so I decided to use that for reconnaissance before we just waded into whatever might be waiting. The catwalk, though, was broken in several places. The first spot I managed to jump over. I was known as quite the athlete back home. The next however even I could not span. While I debated continuing, I saw several skeletons walking around patrolling. I stayed crouched and managed to take them all out with one shot each. I saw Lydia down below looking for something to hit. She gave up and sat down on a bench to wait. I almost went back but then I recalled the Shout I learned at the Greybeards. I stood at the edge and used my Whirlwind Shout. The only thing that stopped me was a stone pillar and I pulled back with a bleeding nose. My ears were just fine and I could hear Lydia laughing and I saw her roll off the bench in hysterics.
"Laugh it up, Sweetroll," I called out.
The catwalk led me to a room with a chest and a dead draugr cradling a soul gem. In the chest I found a scroll for a hysteria spell. Whoever used to use this place sure liked his spell scrolls. Must have had a pretty poor memory. I returned to the catwalk but I decided to jump down to another platform where I could see some gems sitting on a shelf. I grabbed those and ran through a firetrap to where Lydia was waiting. She was still smiling and trying not to laugh.
"How's the nose?" she asked, through a series of chuckles.
I touched my nose and recoiled. I allowed some of my healing powers to fix it. "Better," I reached for her face, "Now let me see if I can..oh, that's right. You were born like that."
Lydia mock laughed and followed me as I went down a path towards a waterfall and pond I had spotted from the catwalk.
The path was merely a ledge and one misstep would send me plummeting into the water, which would not be so bad, unless it was shallow. At the bottom of the path I could hear the chanting from the dragonwall. I had not seen that from above. I got my sword ready since it seemed releasing the word often attracted unwanted attention. I stepped to the wall and the word, 'Fade' became clear to me. I stepped away as my vision cleared, but nothing happened. Somewhat disappointed, I started towards the waterfall.
"Where do you think you're going?" Lydia asked, "Not that I don't think you could use a bath."
"You'll use any excuse to get my clothes off, won't you? So obvious."
Lydia sighed and waited with her hand on her hip.
"I saw a space behind the falls as we were coming down. You coming...with me, that is?"
Lydia shook her head, "Pig," and followed.
We dashed through the waterfall and found a dark room. Lydia lit up her torch and we walked towards a small table with a chest on top. From the left, the top of an upright coffin fell down and a grumbling draugr stepped out holding a sword. He struck harder than the ones before, forcing me to down a healing potion before we could chop him to pieces. The chest held only some coins and an iron sword on the table was not even worth carrying out.
The rest of the area only yielded two more potions and some coins. Back up in the hall I crossed the stone bridge I had killed the first skeleton on. It led to a strange room with a gate at the back, three stones in the middle, and stairs on the right. Something blue caught my eye to the left and I find a blue potion next to a dead draugr stuffed in the rocks. An arrow struck me in the shoulder. I was more startled than hurt. Lydia bounded up the flight of wooden stairs and before I could reach her, she sent a skeleton to the boneyard. I grabbed its arrows and another potion nearby.
Down at the three stones, when I got near each one I saw one of three gates open down a hallway. I tried to get through them in time but they kept closing. I told Lydia to go down the hall and I would open each gate for her but she refused, saying she suspected a trap and would not leave me alone. I pondered briefly what to do next, then it came to me. I stood by the first stone and walked towards it. As soon as the gate opened I used my whirlwind shout and sprinted passed the other stones which opened the other gates. Once through the last, the gates stayed open. Lydia followed and we continued until we reached an odd room covered with spider webs and a tiled floor. I stepped on the tiles and I smelled gas coming from the floor just before fire erupted in front of me.
"Die!" Lydia yelled and I spun around with my hands up. She was pointing her bow towards the far wall at two spiders lurking in the shadows. I laughed but I did not think she was paying me any attention. The spiders spit down poison but they were no match for our bows and now I knew for sure my bow's magic was depleted.
We made our way quickly across the gas trapped floor and suffered only minor burns that I handled quickly with my new magic. I spied two more spiders and managed to kill them from my hidden spot with a single shot each. Seeing no more we ran across the last of the tiled floor to a dais covered with webs and a few desiccated corpses. On one I found a lockpick.
No sooner did I stand to show Lydia than a huge spider, bigger than the one in Bleak Falls, dropped from the ceiling. I shouted at it but I mixed up the words and instead of hitting it with a force, I sprinted to a far corner of the room. Lydia, however, covered for me by charging at it with her axe and hacking at its frail limbs. It began its attack by spitting poison at her then chomping down on her arm with its hairy mandibles. I cut it deep in the hindquarters with my sword and it spun around on its eight legs and hit me full in the face with more poison. The green acid stung at first then burned on my flesh. It forced me to back up then it hit me again with more poison. I fell to the ground, gasping from the pain as it felt like my skin was sloughing off. My shaking hands managed to grab a bottle from my pouch but I could not see well enough to know if it was the right one. I drank it and destiny prevailed as the healing potion quickly ran its course. Lydia had drawn the spider's ire with her wicked weapon and I was able to scramble away to drink two more potions. I got hit by another splash of poison and I saw Lydia down on one knee. The spider looked weak and was oozing green blood from a dozen vicious wounds. I pressed the attack and finished the giant arachnid with a single thrust into its cluster of eyes.
My skin was still raw and even smoking from the poison so I concentrated on my healing and I was able to recover almost completely before I ran out of energy. Lydia was picking herself up as I walked over to lend her a hand.
"Next time we see webs like this," she said, "How about we just make a run for it?"
"Deal."
I did not see another exit but I followed the stairs off the dais to a wall of webs. I used one of Lydia's extra swords to cut them down and behind them was a door. Through the door was a large burning brazier and another gate. I pull the chain for the gate then Lydia and I stepped into a grand room with rectangular pools on both sides and a large stone alter in the middle. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the ground trembled and four identical statues rose slowly out of the water. I expected something else to appear and try to stop us. When only silence greeted us, I proceeded cautiously to the alter. There were stone hands that looked like they should be holding something, the horn, I assumed.
The horn, however, was missing. In its place was a small note. I read it and had to laugh. I handed Lydia the note.
"It seems someone beat us to it," I said to Lydia, "I have a friend who wants to meet me in Riverwood."
"A friend?" Lydia asked, "So it's someone who hasn't met you. Do you think you can trust them?"
"I don't know. Let me see the note again."
I took the note and compared it to the last note I found on the assassin. The writing did not match. "Whether it's a trap or not, I need that horn to move on. Let's grab what we can and get back to Riverwood."
I loaded us up with anything worth keeping or sellling. I located a tunnel that lead to the rooms I had passed by earlier with all the urns. We rummaged through everything and the only useful item was an interesting text called 'Mystery of Talara vol.2' that showed me a way to block out distractions to improve my healing techniques. I left the ruins by the same door I entered.
It was late by the time I breathed fresh air again and I knew the walk to Riverwood was over too many mountains to cross at night. Instead, I checked my map and decided to make for a place labeled Solitude.
The one thing I could say about maps is that they could be very deceptive. We slogged through the swamp, which became a frozen mess by the time night descended fully on us. I fought the occasional spitting spider, which I was getting better at dodging. We finally get near where the map said it should be and all I saw was water and a mountain. I was about to crush the worthless parchment up and throw it in the water when Lydia tapped me on the shoulder and pointed upwards. On top of the mountain I saw the silhouette of a walled city. Too late to turn back now, I vented my frustration and fatigue by force shouting across the water, causing an echo that lasted quite a while.
"Well, at least we know someone will be awake when we get there," Lydia said.
"They'll get over it. Maybe the inn's cook will have more than stale bread and cold fish to serve now. Let's go, I'm freezing my amulets off out here."
If I thought I was cold before, I was kidding myself after I realized there was a huge harbor in between where I was walking and the quickest way to Solitude. After a delightful nighttime swim I spent several more minutes wringing out my clothes in my hands. I did not want us to arrive in a new town chattering and squishing like two refugees from a swamp prison.
As we approached I noticed a lot of lights and commotion despite it being past midnight. That could not have all been my doing, could it?
"It looks like you've woken more than just the inn's cook," Lydia said.
"This couldn't be my doing. What is this a whole town of light sleepers? One little shout and they can't get back to sleep?"
"I don't know but they sound upset in there."
I shrugged. "What are they going to do? Kill me?"
I passed through the opened gate and the first thing I saw was a stage with a chopping block and a masked executioner.
"Damn," I said, "They take their sleep pretty seriously around here. All right, you go over there and yell, 'Dragon!', and I'll make a break for it to one of those boats back there. Meet me back in Whiterun..."
"Hold on, hold on," Lydia interrupted, "Take a look at the stage. It's not about you."
"It isn't? Why is everyone bothering to be out here, then?"
"It appears you're not the only person people want to see killed."
I watched for a few minutes as the Imperials accused someone of opening a gate that let Ulfric into the city where he killed the king. The man protested, saying that Ulfric killed him in a fair fight according to Nord traditions. The Imperials then said he cheated and used the voice. I understood the challenge part, but I don't see how using the Voice was cheating. It's not Ulfric's fault if the King showed up to a sword fight with a butter knife. Even so, as the guard's head made the basket wobble, I decided to just keep my Voice to myself. Lydia seemed delighted with the idea of my silence and even offered to pay for the night's room to celebrate. When I told her just the dragon-voice, she was less enthusiastic but did not take back the offer.
The closest place we found was called the Winking Skeever and while the name was questionable the establishment inside seemed adequate. We got a small dinner, mostly to have something to do by the fire, then rented a room. I was not looking forward to a night on the floor but when we were shown the room we were amazed. The room was huge with tables and bookshelves - with books - and most importantly, a large bed, big enough for the two of us easily. Of course this time I did not have an excuse to go on a 'pillow' hunt, but it would save me from having to evade her dagger, also.