Thunder rumbles
Huntrek was not new to dealing with the Princes of reality and the heavens. He had worked with many of them as their agent on the mortal realm. Each one had its perks, although Peryite had given him one of his diseases as a "reward" for completing one task for him. The High Elf was careful since then when he accepted a task from them. This one from Boethia had inklings of deals with other gods, but he was not one to question such things. His was to simply do. He took a glance at the sealed stone door in front of him, carved from star-stone that reflected the pale light of the moon rather brilliantly off its white surface. The stone was pockmarked with erosion from the ravages of time, which turned out to work in Huntrek's favour when he blasted the door's magical barrier's away with a few blasts from a fireball, causing the already weakened stone to crumble into white rubble at his feet. He sighed softly and graciously stepped over the rubble and began to descend the steps into the Ayleid ruin, the air suddenly turning from warm to cold in a blink of an eye. A small mote of light appeared in Huntrek's hand before it bobbed up from his hand and with spritely energy hopped around its master and drifted forwards to look for friends to play with. Huntrek continued to walk, following the annoying thing. It's father had been much more tame. The path suddenly twisted and plummeted downward, the stairs having crumbled into dust. The mage dusted off some mortar from his garments before conjuring a spell to descend down onto the floor below, landing with a soft thump before continuing to walk. A gate swung open in front of him and the familiar sounds of ancient coffins rumbling open reached his ears. A ball of fire engulfed one of his hands, a spectral dagger appearing in the other. He knew what this meant.
Kari didn't ask about the other night's events. Her brain worked out what had happened once the throbbing pain in her head had dissipated. So the elf had returned to the library to continue her studying, only giving a nod to the servants when they appeared to give her food or drink. While there, she had a wander through the library to try and find any books she could get on the ancient languages that had appeared on her body, but nothing she found gave her any definite answers. She found a few tomes that explained what many others had described as blessings from their chosen gods and goddesses, but Kari felt that her situation was different. She had not been seeking favour from a god, a god had chosen to given her her favour. This only created an anger inside of her that caused her to throw the book she had been reading against a wall. The book landed with a loud thud before it's pages opened up and it floated up to where it had been on the shelf, nestling back in with its fellow tomes. Kari snarled and returned to her desk, angrily flipping one of her study books open, glaring holes in the book with her crimson eyes. She didn't even notice when Purple came in and gently tapped her shoulder.
"Miss Tanthia?". The Argonian sounded as she usually did, but with more emotion in her voice than she usually allowed to get through her mental filter. Kari looked up at the servant, her look not dimming. It took Purple aback by the sheer rudeness of the act, causing the reptile to return the look. The two held eye contact for a while before Kari's expression changed.
"Sorry Purple... I haven't slept well for a while". Kari's voice carried elements of truth, though the elf had been sleeping, it was a sick kind of sleep. It was sleep that could only be called as such because one awoke from it rather than drifting off into mindless oblivion. Her nights were plagued with visions of ape-like creatures furiously beating into the corpses of people she felt she had to protect, there was a woman in her dreams that had a hair of flowing quicksilver along with a giant of a man who wore a mask that obscure his face and were... Things in the sky. She didn't know how to describe them other than flying lizards. Purple-Claws sighed and smiled gently at the elven girl, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I don't blame you. You were rather drunk the other night. Your father should be returning home soon Miss Tanthia. I believe he would like to see the fruits of your study". The Argonian patted Kari's shoulder gently. Kari looked up, her eyes sparkling and a grin slamming onto her face. Purple couldn't help but return it, it seemed to be rather infectious.
"You mean I can finally start casting some spells? Finally!" The excitement could barely be contained from the trembling elf girl. Before Purple could respond, Kari was already on her feet raring to go. The Argonian simply smirked and beckoned for Kari go follow as she lead her from the library and into the courtyard that came out of the back of the house. Kari had been here once or twice, but found she couldn't stand the intense smell of plants that pervaded the spot. The courtyard was part of a much larger garden and was made of a golden sandstone, several planters with benches carved into them rose up from edges with an array of exotic and wonderful plants. Insects could be heard buzzing around, drinking in the broth of smells and the myriad of colours that some kind High Elf had created for them. Purple had set up a large stone target that the master used from time to time to practice his magics in the tranquility of the garden on the courtyard. The sky was a deep azure blue and a few wisps of white fluff drifted through the sky lazily.
"So Miss Tanthia. This is very simple. I would like you to throw a simple fireball at the stone target. Don't worry. I do not feel you will have the power to destroy it outright". The Argonian demonstrated, a ball of flame engulfing her hand before she flung it with a sweeping gesture towards the stone pillar. It blossomed against the pillar, blackening the spot where it impacted before dissipating, causing the air around the pillar to shimmer from the heat. Kari was practically hopping with excitement, swiftly having to compose herself. She took a deep breath and brought up the runes and words that had been contained in the spell book for the spell in her mind. She muttered the words under her breath and felt the blood in her veins rush to her hand. There was a rush of air and a weak fireball crackled in her hand. She looked at it and was amazed to see he fire, but not feel the heat from the orange flame. Before it could dissipate, she threw it at the pillar. To say she missed was an understatement. The weak ball if light flew up into the sky over the pillar, eventually fading as he mana used to create it burned itself out. Purple had to hold back a grin,
"Good Miss Tanthia. Keep practicing and try using other spells. You may need to work on your aim though." The servant couldn't hold back a chuckle when she said that. Kari rolled her eyes and tried again, feeling her blood rush each time she attempted the spell. It was an exhilarating feeling that nothing else could be compared to. It was as though her arm had been placed in ice water, then removed to let the warm blood return. Her second fireball was just as weak, impacting on the side of the pillar with a good sounding phwoosh noise. She continued to practice through the rest of the afternoon, the weakness of her spells not draining her mana reserves as much as it would for a more experienced mage. Purple stayed to supervise, watching the girl with passing interest as her range of spells were greater than she had expected. It seemed to the Argonian that it was true what they said about the Dunmer, her destruction school spells were more powerful than the rest, though her illusion and alteration weren't too bad. Her healing spells were pitiful and Purple preferred not to have the girl practice conjuration magic without Master Huntrek here to supervise. Silver appeared at one moment to bring refreshments, to which Purple only nodded. She hadn't spoken to her colleague since he did what he did the other night with the Master's daughter.
Huntrek ran a hand up his arm, the golden glow patching up the few scratches he had sustained during the fight. The scattered bones of the defeated skeletons lay on the ground, already crumbling to dust as ancient curses faded from their being. It had not been a tough fight, but Huntrek had not been counting on a few of the skeletons to be using bows. The Altmer stood, testing his freshly healed wounds. His little magelight watched him with childish interest, playing with a decorative chandelier that hung over the room. Huntrek moved very slowly towards a large coffin that hadn't opened during the fight, likely this was the lord of the skeletons he just slew. The lid was heavy and made of a mix of stone and metal, but Huntrek found the strength in his young bones to prize the lid off the ancient sarcophagus. The stench of decomposition reached his nostrils, even through his mask, before he saw the rotting remains of an Ayleid looking up at him through ceremonial armour. Around the neck of the corpse was what Huntrek was after, an amulet depicting a rune that many knew, the symbol of Oblivion. The elf wasted no time and grabbed the amulet, breaking the fine chain that attached it to the corpse. He knew that various trap mechanisms had been triggered and he was gone before the first block of the ceiling slammed into the ground, showering the dark room with clouds of white dust.
Kari fell to the ground, exhausted. Purple explained to her that this was likely because her magicka reserves will have run dry. The young elf grumbled, mostly annoyed that she wasn't able to keep practicing. She stumbled over to get a drink, finding herself exceptionally thirsty. A glass of water was offered to her by the servant. Purple turned when she heard the sounds of a bell ringing. It meant that the master had returned. Purple made her excuses and swiftly walked through the house up to the study where the tall Altmer was busy changing into his usual black robes. He acknowledged the servant with a nod.
"Prepare Tanthia for the ritual. Good work with teaching her magic Purple-Claws. And I will speak with Silver-Eyes once I am done". The list of orders came as quickly as they went. She opened her eyes to ask how he knew all this, but he cut her off before she could speak. As he usually did.
"Don't ask Purple. Do what I ask". He turned and walked down the stairs, walking past her as she hastily stepped aside. The Altmer disappeared into the growing darkness of the house, going through to one of the less used rooms in his house. The room was one of the study rooms, but it has been stripped bare of furniture and a few candle stands had been left here to light up the stone circle in the middle. It was one of Huntrek's teleportation rings, but is one was for time suspension. Don't worry. You'll find out what it is soon.
Kari was brought to the room by Purple who only said a few words, weirdly goodbyes. The girl was worried by this, thinking the worst as anyone would in this situation. She saw Huntrek standing in the room. He offered her a kind smile.
"I can see you are scared Kari. Your eyes betray you. You shouldn't be, I have done this before". The Altmer's golden eyes did do something to calm Kari's nerves and she slowly stepped forwards. He raised a hand and motioned for her to stop. Huntrek turned and sprinkled void salts over the ring, causing it to glow lightly with an incandescent violet light. He raised a hand to the ring, a similar glow radiating from it before a tendril of magic shot out and coiled around the ring, various runes starting to glow on it. Huntrek looked at Kari, and with a voice that carried much command, he spoke.
"Step on the ring Karinia. It will not hurt". He sounded sure, but Kari was worried. She hadn't had a lot of world experience, but she felt that stepping onto a ring of glowing magical runes was probably not good for her health. But something in Huntrek's voice beckoned her to put one foot in front of the other, despite her brain's violent protests. As soon as she stepped into the centre of the ring, the light enclosed around her. She turned and saw Huntrek smile, then everything blacked out.
Huntrek looked at the girl suspended in time. He let the amulet drop out of his hand, smoke curling from it. He had some time to kill before he could retrieve her. Silver-Claws was upstairs, cleaning Kari's room. She had made a lot of drunken promises to him the other night. He found himself thinking about it as he removed the various bedsheets and began to polish down the desk. Purple had said that her personal possessions were to be left alone. As he turned the mirror over to start polishing it, he saw that there was a letter attached to the back. Addressed to him. He sat down in the chair and opened it, skim reading the letter. It was written in a graceful elven script. With a massive drunken slur that could be seen in her script. It was mostly rambling, but it ended with three little words that caused him to ball up the paper in rage that he didn't return it sooner.
"I love you".