The plains of Whiterun
"Hey, chief!"
Vilkas snapped back to reality as Helgi's voice tore his thoughts.
"Are you worried for the little blonde?"
"Aye," he grimaced after some deliberation. "But that's none of your business. We still have some distance to go to the reported area. What did you need?"
"Nothing, I was just wondering what you were thinking about."
Well, she's right, I should not be losing the surroundings to my own thoughts. He sighed. "Well, now you know, so no more asking."
"Is there some deal going on with her? I saw how the Circle regard her," Helgi grew thoughtful. "Other than what you two have going on, I mean."
"Make it among the ranks of the Circle and you'll know," Vilkas deflected.
"Well, she's one of them Lakeview ladies, no? I heard them mentioned more often. And she looks like the tiny menace. Is she sending the ravens? I saw some of the guys and gals from there, the ones wearing silver crow necklaces, well I saw a few of them in Whiterun. Is the boss from over there helping us with the other mercs because you and his daughter are-"
"Calm down with the wild theories," Vilkas cut her off. "Ysmir's beard, just read a book if you're that bored." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Or train more. Seems like you have too much free time."
"Quiet like a grave, chief!" Helgi immediately withdrew.
He sighed. "What information did you gather for the job?"
"The place is in Giant territory," she started counting out on her fingers, "no people around, really. Some hunters in the mountains and a handful of shepherds. One of them reported strange lights and later rising dead. They haven't spread too far for now, but we were called to nip it in the bud."
Vilkas nodded.
"The undead stay up during the day too, so it's different from the ones in the ancient ruins. That points to necromancer activity. Therefore," she lifted a finger, "I prepared a bag of potions. Resist magic, resist frost and resist lightning, because according to what the court mage had said, necromancers usually don't openly use flames. Their minions tend to be very flammable."
I wonder what did the dark flame engulfed skull count as, Vilkas' thoughts ran away for a bit. It didn't produce any heat...
"There are some bits and pieces of an ancient ruin in the area," Helgi continued counting out, "and I picked that as the starting point, because, as we all know, all sorts of weird shit happens around those."
Vilkas hummed in agreement. There indeed were all sorts of disturbances around the ruins. He remembered reading something about ancient dragon cult magic. But...it shouldn't linger in all of the tombs, as some were still in use today. So why...
"I also brought a mace, since I don't have a skyforge steel axe yet," she grinned. "Bones are easier to bash than to cut."
"Good thinking," he patted her on the shoulder.
Helgi beamed like a puppy who just got scratches from its master.
Vilkas withdrew after a short encouraging squeeze and looked around. When he faced away from Helgi, he enhanced his senses through the Beast. He kept doing it as much as possible without raising her suspicions.
So far so good. He detected neither pursuers nor the undead. Only wild animals roaming around and a giant herding his mammoths.
That didn't mean nothing would go awry.
He needed to remain vigilant.
XXX
They finally caught sight of their target.
A slight rise in the plains sat in a distance, and in between them and the small hill...skeletons roamed the grassland.
They withdrew to a safe distance to prepare. After drinking their potions, Helgi shook in disgust.
"How are you so calm, chief? These things taste worse than bad beer."
"You'll get used to it," Vilkas had a hard time keeping them down himself. However, he had mastered the art of stony face ages ago, and wouldn't allow anyone catch a glimpse of weakness. "So what's your plan?"
"Lure the ones we can see and dispatch them as quickly as possible, then go scout for more info," she grabbed her ranged weapon, one she trained with on her own as no one else in Jorrvaskr really used it - a sling. "Gonna join me with that fancy bow of yours, chief?"
Vilkas shook his head. "Arrows are no good against skeletons. I'll make sure nothing jumps you while you swing the sling."
They neared. Once they were within range of the sling, all skeletons raised their eyeless skulls and turned their way as one.
Helgi spun her weapon and shot.
Bang!
A skeleton went down as its skull broke into pieces.
Spin. Shot. Another skull crushed.
After two more dead skeletons and three missed shots, Vilkas stepped in while Helgi swapped her weapon. Together, they dealt with the remaining enemies quickly.
"Hey, chief, why is this one green?" Helgi turned a bone over with her boot. Strangely glowy green veins ran through it.
Vilkas' eyes shot in that direction. It smelled...strange.
The smell kept strengthening.
He grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back. Right as they stumbled away, the bone exploded in a cloud of green smoke. A rancid stench of disease filled the air. More bones on that skeleton lit up.
"Back!" Vilkas yanked Helgi once more, throwing her out of the way. She made several unsteady steps, then broke into a run.
He himself was not as lucky. As much as he tried to escape, some of the putrid green mist ended up on him. His eyes started burning and tearing up. The skin the cloud had touched got affected as well. When he dared to inhale after leaving the noxious space, his throat itched, forcing him to cough.
"Chief! Chief, are you alright?" Helgi hurried to him.
"No!" he raised a hand, trying to get a breath in between the coughs. "Stop!"
She froze mid-movement. Still some distance from him, good. He had no idea how the magic worked, namely if it could spread from him to her. Soon the coughing eased up, allowing him to catch his breath.
Gods be praised. I feared repeating choking to death.
"Are you alright, chief?" Helgi called out again.
"I'm good enough," speaking made another fit of coughing break through. His stomach started hurting a little. "My eyes burn as if I had a fever," he straightened after, wiping the sickness-like sticky tears.
"What was that?" Helgi tried to reach out to him again. He stepped away.
"Don't touch me until we can wash it off with water or something. Or until the wind disperses it a little. You might get affected."
"Your armor is all blackened from it," Helgi frowned.
"It smelled like rot," Vilkas spat. The inside of his mouth felt foul even though he kept it closed during his exposition to the cloud.
Is it magic inducing diseases? Mori said I wouldn't get any diseases now that I am turned. Is that why I only suffered light effects? It even ate through the metal of my plate a little...
"Let's avoid it," he looked over his shoulder. The green cloud had been dispersed already, leaving only lingering smells of sickness behind. "If we can't, let me block as much as possible and run."
"But-"
"No buts," he cut her off. "I have a little gift from lady Lakeview, it helps protect me from disease. You are vulnerable. We both need to make it back, understood?"
"Understood," Helgi turned her gaze down to her feet.
"Good. Do you have any cure disease potions?"
"Just one."
"I have two. We should keep them for after this is done, but if something really foul breaks out, use it." He breathed in. His throat itched a tad, but not enough to make him break into coughs. "Let's go."
XXX
After dispatching four more groups, the area around the small hill was free from roaming undead. There was only one more instance of an erupting skeleton, and knowing what to do, they managed to fully avoid the deadly cloud this time.
"They seem to be too smart," Helgi breathed out.
"Aye."
"And they work together. I didn't think the base skellies could do that."
"Always assume the worst when it comes to magic," Vilkas grumbled.
"And you picked a witch as your woman?" she gave him a look.
"Hers is different," he scoffed. "Natural. You know what to expect. Kind of. It's beasts and roots and water and wind. Not...exploding skeletons and rotting clouds."
"So...getting eaten by a bear is better than dying to a disease cloud?"
Vilkas touched his throat. "Aye. Trust me." He let his arm fall to his side. "At least your soul is safe," he mumbled.
"Wha-"
"Nevermind," he waved her off. "What's your next step?"
She hmphed. "Go look at what's on top of the hill among the ruins."
They ascended carefully, trying to stay in cover for as long as possible. Sadly, if anyone or anything on top happened to turn their way, there was no chance of avoiding detection.
They could only hope that no one would look down this particular side of the hill.
So far so good.
Their heads rose above the top of the hill.
An altar stood amongst remnants of an ancient ruin. The altar itself was clearly younger than the weathered carved stones. Lit candles flickered in the wind at the edges of the altar.
In the middle, a robed corpse lay lifelessly.
Three shapes hung in the air around the corpse. Half a body, wrapped in a grey shroud, hanging off of their shoulders and fluttering in the wind.
The cloth was half translucent.
Three heads snapped around like one. The two on the sides had a grey-green look of zombies, as transparent as they had been, with black, hollow eyes like the void. The one in the middle, wrapped in a purple robe instead of black one, had the look of an older dried out corpse. Its eyes glowed deathly white and a little vision of a crown sat upon its brow.
The purple wraith held a beautiful, silvery arming sword with a bright golden hilt. According to its eagle imagery and delicately decorated glistening blade, Vilkas guessed it was an old style elven sword. Probably enchanted.
The wraiths opened their mouths as one, letting out gaspy screams.
Vilkas and Helgi broke into a run.
The regal wraith raised its free hand. The ground beneath their feet began shaking as they rushed towards the three ghostly figures.
The dirt before Helgi exploded. A giant skeletal hand reached out, followed by innumerable smaller ones.
Helgi shrieked. She didn't stop moving, though. Instead of running into the grasping hands, she leapt over. As she flew, the hands tried to grab at her legs.
Without purchase.
The other grey wraith pointed at Vilkas. He dodged. Vaft of deathly frost touched his face as an icy dart flew by.
Vilkas stumbled. His limbs grew cold and heavy with the call of the grave. He blinked. Actual graves were rising out of the ground, looking solid but at the same time slightly ethereal. The ground started freezing over.
He was right in the middle of the circle of ghastly gravestones.
He pressed on, grinding his teeth in effort. Every move felt heavier and heavier as the cold slowly crept towards his heart.
Something heavy hit him from the side. It lifted him from the ground and sent him flying.
Somewhere from afar he could hear Helgi screaming.
He landed on the ground. The hit robbed him of all his breath. But once he gasped for another and his lungs filled with the warm, fresh air of the grasslands, all the sluggishness left him.
Just in time. He promptly rolled to the side. A rusted warhammer landed in the spot his head had just left.
Vilkas swept his legs at the skeleton assaulting him. It, not having much weight to itself, crumbled to its knees. He used the time to get back on his feet.
Thin dry fingers wrapped around his neck from behind. The chainmail and leather guard of the helmet prevented them from actually choking him, but it didn't prevent the frosty burn spreading across his skin.
Vilkas spun around, breaking the hold of the fingers on him. Strangely enough, the wraiths were fully corporeal when it came to touching him, but when he tried to slap them away, they turned into an unpleasantly sticky and cold mush.
Like trying to catch mist in your hands.
He swung at it.
Are they like the daedra? Immune to mundane? Skyforge steel should still damage them, right? It damaged the xivilai...
The blade of his longsword cut right through. The wraith deflated around it, screaming soundlessly as it condensed into a pool of ectoplasm on the ground.
He could see Helgi on the other side, swinging her mace with rage. It went through the other grey wraith without any purchase.
Rustling of bone and grass alerted him to another sneak attack. He darted to the side.
The Beast is useful sometimes, it seems.
Filled with anger, he swung at the skeleton's neck. His blade went through the bone with only a slight hitch and the empty skull flew off. The rest of the skeleton crumbled to the ground.
Vilkas sprinted away. The bones had started glowing green and just moments after exploded into a noxious cloud.
Helgi backed away from the wraith. Its hands were reaching after her, leaving frosty mist behind.
"Get the sword! The elven sword! It's enchanted, it will-" Vilkas shouted as he ran, trying to get to her.
The purple wraith turned its head towards him. Contempt flashed in its dead white eyes. With its free hand, it reached down. Cold wind whistled about, sending chills down Vilkas' spine.
Almost there, I can stab it-
The wraith raised its hand to the sky. The clear blue turned into a mass of boiling grey clouds. Sounds of chains being pulled echoed through the area. The ground opened into a cold blue oval.
Shit!
Vilkas abruptly changed direction. He ran into a skeleton. It tried to bite his throat out, but instead broke its ancient teeth on Vilkas' chainmail.
The ground beneath his feet ran aglow with ominous blue veins. Black and blue light pulsed in them with a slow, hypnotic rhythm.
Throwing caution to the wind, Vilkas called on the Beast. Just enough to rip the skeleton apart and continue running in large leaps.
He could feel something huge filling the empty space behind him. A voice unimaginably deep and absolutely inhuman rumbled, making his rib cage ache from the vibrations.
The Beast stirred. His heart began beating faster. Bloodlust started creeping in, making him wish to sink his-
No.
A weight descended from above. First he could feel the whooshing of wind. Then the presence of something heavy. He leapt. A blast of air sent him flying in a different direction as a massive arm ended with a gargantuan bladed mace attached to it landed on the ground, burying deep.
Cold winds carrying ash filled snowflakes descended upon Vilkas, freezing him to the core.
He jumped back to his feet. One quick look Helgi's way didn't reassure him in the slightest. The grey wraith was on her heels, not allowing any respite.
"Hel-" he broke in the middle of the word. A freezing sensation, accompanied by weakness, spread through his body. No matter how much he tried, not a sound came out of his throat. His voice was sealed.
GROOUMGROOOUGR.
Here the arm came again. Vilkas bolted.
The saex is also skyforge steel. I can give it up and use my sword against the big thing.
As much as the spell inducing weakness sapped him, the Beast countered it with its own vigour. He could swear he heard howling in his head, accompanied by loud wolfish breaths.
He was nearing Helgi.
Don't look at my eyes, please. Please, please, please, please.
He grabbed her and forced her away with him, keeping his face turned away.
She was shaking.
"Chief," she broke into a quiet sob once they stopped out of the reach of immediate danger.
No time. They will be on them in heartbeats. He pressed the saex into her hand, pointed at it, then at the wraiths and gestured slitting the throat. He gave her a quick pat on the shoulder, grabbed his longsword in two handed grip and went back into the fray.
Helgi can take care of the wraiths if she has skyforge steel. That and if I keep the mountain of rotting meat away from her.
He finally saw what it was that crawled through the obvious doorway to Oblivion. A literal mountain of flesh. Mountain stitched together out of skin, flesh and metal. It sported several sets of teeth, each larger than the other, descending its face and non-existant jaw. Blue ooze leaked out of the stitches, spreading an ungodly rancid stench around.
Even the Beast got a little hesitant about biting that thing.
One good thing was it remained stuck in Oblivion. Only its pelvis and up stuck out from the portal.
Vilkas ran under the arm descending on him. Every step on the desecrated ground beneath him burned like walking on ice barefoot.
Good thing we took all the potions. I don't want to know how this feels when you don't.
He slashed at the enormous belly jiggling in front of him.
The thing didn't even flinch. His blade opened quite the gash and blue ooze poured out, almost drowning him, but it had no effect. Instead, the monstrosity tried to squash him under itself.
Vilkas barely made it on top of its forearm. The blue ooze was sizzling on his armor, making him want to vomit from the stench.
Luckily, it just ate a thin outer layer of the skyforge steel plate.
Vilkas continued running up the monster's arm, using the metal pieces jutting out of the flesh as footholds. The thing tried to shake him off, even swatted an arm at him. He dodged under it, choking on the horrible rotting smell of the mass he lowered to.
At the neck, he started hacking.
It's probably useless, but where else am I supposed to attack it? It's so big I can't get to any weak points.
He grabbed onto one metal rod close to him as the thing roared and shook.
Maybe the head. Eyes or brain. Does it even have a brain?
His eyes darted down. Helgi managed to kill the other grey wraith and now she was harassing the purple one. A thick layer of silvery frost covered her armor.
More horribly loud rumbles shook Vilkas' insides. Another blind hit neared him.
He let go of the rod and jumped.
The thing turned.
Its mass hit Vilkas mid-jump, sending him tumbling down its back.
He stabbed his blade in, hilt deep. His shoulders almost broke out of their sockets with the tug stopping his fall.
But then the flesh ripped. Vilkas continued sliding down, slower, and showered in blue ooze coming from the wound his sword was leaving in the monster.
As he tried to find purchase with his feet, the sword cut through into one of the stitches. Powered by Vilkas' weight hanging on it, it went right through the stitching. By cutting the first few, the others started unraveling.
Unfortunately for Vilkas, the flesh there was much less held together. The sword slipped out of the wound. He started falling again, right into a slit between the edge of the portal leading to Oblivion and the monster.
It screamed and moved again, angrily lashing at the newly made wound. Its log of an arm hit Vilkas like an avalanche, swatting him away as easily as a rag doll.
He let go of the sword. Just before falling on his butt, he bent his knees. He continued the roll on his back and over his shoulder. The energy of the fall was enough to send him into a somersault.
His bones ached, but didn't break.
Thanks, Beast.
He forced pain and stiffness away. Another meaty log was coming down on him, completely covering him in shadow. Tapping even deeper into the Beast, he sped away.
Feverish shivers ran across his whole body. If he used any more of the Beast's power, he would transform.
He sprinted around in an arc, aiming to get his sword back. While he did so, the flesh mountain, now leaking blue ooze everywhere, climbed out of the portal. Once it did, the regal wraith let out a raspy growl and stopped holding the portal spell. With ominous clanking of chains, the hollow in the ground closed and the veins of desecration around it disappeared, leaving only dead, burnt grass behind.
Vilkas slipped in a puddle of the ooze. Gargantuan mace was coming after him. He lowered while trying to regain his balance. The mace swooshed right above his head, missing him only by a breath.
He used his hands to prop himself back up to his feet and continued. His sword was so close-
He changed direction on an instinct.
The other bladed mace landed where he would have been, sending dirt flying in an explosion.
A deafening cry of pain caught his attention.
He turned just in time to see the wraith finish a move with a dissipating spectral scythe. Helgi was stumbling back, no visible wounds on her. But...
Her eyes and mouth were bleeding. A lot.
We're not equipped for this! Damnit!
The thought flashed through his head while he was already rushing towards the two.
Another spectral scythe appeared. The wraith was raising its arms.
Just as it moved on blinded Helgi, Vilkas jumped in front of the blade. Cold sensation spread in his stomach. He could see the blade passing through his body, but leaving no wound.
Except...
He coughed up blood. As the blade went out of him, pain came in the wake of the cold. Excruciating pain. He bent over under it. The scar on his stomach was opening and blood started pouring out.
Shaking, he grabbed Helgi. He dragged her behind him as he ran, putting some distance between them and the undead butchers.
He couldn't run anymore. With a stumble, he fell to the ground as his legs gave out.
"Chief?" Helgi called out, unsure.
"Potion, do you have one?" Vilkas managed to squeeze out between rapid breaths.
"In the bag. I can't see, chief!"
Vilkas groaned. He pulled himself up and downed one of his own healing potions. The flesh mountain was approaching slowly, as if it and the wraith knew the Companions didn't have the energy to run.
As he was pressing an open bottle from his own supplies into Helgi's hands, wolf howling rose in the back of his mind.
Kill her.
Drink her blood. It will strengthen you.
It will strengthen US. We will rip the walking dead flesh to pieces. What a glorious hunt it could be...
He caught himself staring at her throat. His hands were raised, fingers contorted into claw-like shapes.
Panting, he forced himself away from her. He wanted to hide his face in his hands, but remembered last minute he shouldn't do that - all of him was covered in the blue ooze that ate through his armor.
"Are you okay, chief?" Helgi's voice sounded a little steadier.
"Aye," he closed his eyes and shook his head. He turned back to the approaching undead and opened his eyes again.
The flesh mountain broke into a run that shook the very earth underneath their feet.
"Kill the wraith," he growled, "and we should be good."
"But you don't have a weapo-"
"Kill the wraith!" he snapped. He slid the enchanted bow off of his shoulder and nocked a hagraven claw arrow on it. The Beast inside was roiling and fighting against his will. He could feel his own pulse thunder in his ears, boom-boom-boom.
His legs never stopped trembling.
I can't let go of the Beast. If I do, we're finished.
He breathed in and out. His bow arm rose and he pulled the string.
I hope the arrows count as non-ordinary, since a bow like this one fired them. And since the head has been cut out of hagraven claws.
He released the string.
It sang quietly, only for him to hear. Warmth seeped into his arm, steadying it.
The arrow flew.
Am I dreaming or is it leaving a thread of cleared skies in its wake?
With a gleam, it buried itself into the hulking monstrosity's shoulder. Nothing happened. The thing just kept walking, thundering towards them.
Vilkas nocked another arrow, aiming for the wraith this time. Helgi readjusted her grip on the saex. Her muscles started to tense for a run.
A flash of green light came from where the first arrow landed. Bramble vines exploded from the wound, tearing the dead flesh around apart. The monstrosity roared, shook and then started flailing at the vines creeping around the arrow shaft and leaving deep gashes in its body.
"What the fuck is that?" Helgi took a step back, her jaw dropping.
"I-I don't know," Vilkas, as stricken as she, lowered his weapon. "It never did that before."
"Well, shoot some more!" she broke into a run. "Maybe we actually can kill this thing!"
Vilkas raised the bow once more. He released an arrow at the wraith. It screeched. With a gleaming arc, it slashed its sword for the first time, tearing the arrow down from its path.
Vilkas shot a few more arrows at the monstrosity instead, landing all hits. It was so gargantuan that even the poorly aimed ones ended somewhere on the target.
All of them left threads of purified air in their wake. All of them exploded into angry brambles.
Now he had the mountain's full attention. Roaring, it hurried after him, even breaking into a clumsy run.
Gathering all strength he had left, Vilkas ran in an arc, circling back to the spot where he had let go of his sword. As much as the bow had proven miraculous, he didn't like not having a close-range line of defense.
He stopped at one spot. The thing was near, he could even see the saliva dripping down its manyfold sets of teeth.
There was a very convenient seam going through its upper arm. Will it...?
He took time to aim properly. As much as he wanted to bolt with the mass charging at him, he remained steadfast. The bowstring sang. The arrow gleamed.
Vilkas dodged a hit and broke into a run.
The scream of outrage from behind him almost tore his ears off. He risked a quick look over his shoulder.
The brambles were going through the stitching, undoing it just as he had hoped. As he ran, the arm started detaching, hanging on less and less stitches.
When he finally got to his sword, a heavy thud betrayed the work of the brambles was done.
He picked the blade. It was all blackened and pock-marked from the ooze, but still held true. His eyes darted to Helgi. She was holding up so far, but the wraith's longer reach kept her at bay.
Gods' dammit!
Hating even the notion of it, Vilkas rushed towards Helgi and the wraith to give her his sword.
He had to be quick. The mountain stopped shrieking and now renewed its pursuit.
"Helgi!" he screamed. She turned to him, enough to see but also not to lose sight of the enemy in front of her. "Catch!"
He hurled the sword, hoping it might hit the wraith.
It didn't. The undead creature let out a gaspy scoff and swirled to the side, unbothered by the pull of the earth. The sword splatted into some ooze on the ground.
The ghastly scythe appeared again.
With a disdainful groan, the wraith swung it.
Oh no.
On instinct, Vilkas blocked.
Nonononononono, it's just a bow, it will break-
CLANGGGGGGGG!
It felt like metal upon metal. A thin, barely visible green shield sprung up, making the scythe slide down it in a rain of sparks. It dissipated a heartbeat after without even reaching Vilkas.
The tiny branches and leaves on the edges of the bow grew much, much bigger and the wood itself pulsed violently with energy.
Vilkas broke into a run before the wraith could try another strike.
It feels angry. Is the bow angry?
How can a thing be angry?!
A mace landed right in front of his face. The dirt exploded right into his eyes. Luckily enough the Beast had good enough reflexes to shut his eyes before dirt got in.
Vilkas slipped around the mace.
I need to get up. If there is something in the head, I won't be able to get to it from down here in the chaos.
He slung the bow back to its holster. He jumped, grabbing the metal parts jutting out of the undead flesh, and pulled himself up on the monster's arm.
His fingers left blood on the metal.
His whole body was aching, reminding him that he was overspending his energy.
Just a little more, almost at the shoulder.
Even the Beast began to die down.
The thing snapped at him with its reeking maw. With a yelp, Vilkas slipped down the outer side of the arm, hanging on a metal rod precariously. The teeth closed a hair's width away from him.
As it reared back to bite at him once more, Vilkas swung his legs to the side. There was another piece of metal, even some chains hanging around. If he could reach, he would be on its side, able to climb again...
He let go. The energy of his swing propelled him out. He reached forward. His fingers wrapped around one of the chains. It hurt, but he held on. Another swing got him a foothold, which he then promptly used to climb up.
Finally standing on the monster's shoulders, he released an arrow into the back of its neck.
Not waiting for the brambles to appear, he continued up on the head.
The monster shook it violently, letting out earth-shattering roars. Vilkas managed to get two more arrows in.
The next move sent him flying high above the monster's head. As he turned to face the thing, he saw Helgi slapping the wraith's sword to the side. She continued with a lightning fast stab at it.
As the sword buried itself into the translucent body, the wraith raised a hand. With one last shriek it released a wave of blue energy.
Vilkas finally rotated enough. Few more arrows broke through the monster, spewing brambles that started tearing its skull apart.
Vilkas hit the top of its head hard. All breath escaped his lungs. Before he could even gasp for some air, he slid, rolling down the monster's face. He almost fell into its mouth as it shrieked in pain and struggled, flailing its remaining meat log of an arm around in panic.
Several sets of teeth bonked into his plate.
Meeting with the ground sent white searing pain through his whole body. His vision flashed away. It came back as he gasped for air, along with more agony.
The brambles were splitting the skull in half.
CRACK.
The disgusting sound ended the monster's struggle. With its mushy, blue-gray brain pouring out, it started collapsing.
Right on top of Vilkas.
XXX
I always thought necromancers in Skyrim were not...that scary. So I borrowed some ESO and Oblivion bits for these.