Skyrim
A Tale of Two Souls
Chapter 6
The cat Usshin looked around at the attention he and his young charge were getting from the people of Riverwood, the adorable scene running on from before as Ne’Ma refused to let go of her fathers hand as they left the general goods shop. It didn’t bother him as much as one might think however he did feel better once they where out of town, but once across the bridge they both looked up the path that would lead them up the mountain where bleak falls barrow sat. Looking down to the young argonian girl the cat saw a visible shiver run down her spine right to the tip of her tail, with a chuckle the cat says kneeling down to her,
“You sure you want to come? Its only going to get colder from here.”
The girl took a step back for a moment then grabbing her fathers hand with a nod, the cat signing as he then began his trek up the mountain; the cold wasn’t the reason he wanted her to stay behind, it was the barrow itself, he knew the stories of those barrows, how the dead came to life to attack the living. He’d deal those problems as they came, however at least the new additions to the girls outfit did help a lot, the pants and boots helping her from getting to cold however the higher they got the colder it got and soon she was holding herself with a little bit of shivering as she trudged alongside her father, the cat finding they irony of how many times he had semi lifelessly trudged behind her in the past, now the shoe on the other foot.
It took quite some time for the two to make it up the mountain, about an hour and a half give or take, but finally they where on the precipice of the burrow the young girl noticing how untouched by snow the entrance was despite the fact it looked all but abandoned even as the wind lightly wiped up the snow. She took a step forward but was stopped by her father, the girl looking up to her father as the cat surveyed the structure, the cat thinking he saw movement though the snowy wind at the burrows entrance. The girl looked on as her father closed his eyes for a moment then upon opening them looked almost like an aura of blood was dripping from his sockets, the cat’s eyes quickly flitting back and forth across the entrance, then saying with a grin,
“Ah, there you are, don’t think you can hide from me.”
He then looked down as the girl tugged on his sleeve, then watching as the girl tried to pull him down, the cat humoring her and sinking to one knee, where the girl tried to wipe away what she thought was blood, the cat then quietly chuckling before saying,
“Relax sweetheart, nothing is wrong with my eyes.”
The girl then cocked her head as if asking “then what is it?” the cat replying,
“Its an old vampire ability, one most vampires now a days have forgotten they can perform which is for the best if you ask me, its call the eyes of the hunter, it allows me to see a living creature’s heart beat and blood as it coarse though their body even if they are hidden through stone. Mages can use a spell similar to this ability called life sense but its not as potent as this”
The girl nods with an odd cringe, the though of seeing someone’s heart through their skin sounding a little unsettling to her. She then looked up as her father says motioning for her to stay low,
“Keep low and follow me quietly”
The girl nods following her father as she stepped softly making sure she didn’t step on anything that would make a sound. Watching her father closely, always taking these moments as a chance to learn something from him the girl watches as the cat sneaks up on the burrow’s entrance where she finally sees one man standing guard with a bow in hand watching over the area. She watched as her father made his way up to the elven man pulling hid blade as he did then with the skill of a pro gripping tight the mans mouth then slitting his throat.
Holding him tightly for the few moments it took the man to bleed out the cat took this opportunity to feed, all blood spilling from the elf’s neck being to good a thing to waste, and set himself upon the wound, lapping up mouthfuls of the crimson liquid. As the elf bled out the girl walked up, she’d seen her father feed like this before, and as such it didn’t disturb her much, however as she watched she was spotted by one of the other bandits patrolling the entrance, An orc man then shouted as he drew a large hammer strapped to his back,
“Intruders! Get them!”
The cat looks up from his meal, blood still dripping from his muzzle looking on as the orc drew close, said orc then saying as he saw the cat shove the elf off the edge to bleed elsewhere,
“It’s a vampire, kill it quick!”
The cat then growls as he picks up his sword saying as the orc, seeing the cat as a much greater threat only shoved Ne’Ma to the ground to get past her,
“You just spoiled my meal, you’ll have to pay for it now.”
Ne’Ma looked back as she saw the orc swing his hammer at her father, the cat who’s muzzle still dripped with fresh blood lifted his blade and blocked the hammer blow with a single hand upon his blade, the orc then struggling as he tried to bring the blow down on him, leading the cat to say,
“You clearly haven’t heard of how strong a vampire is, shall I show you?”
The orc looks on still trying to force down his strike as the cat reached up to the hammer head and then gripped it, the orc more then surprised as the heavy stone head was crushed in the cats grip. Dropping his now destroyed weapon the orc backs away saying to his companion a redguard woman who was lining up a shot with her bow,
“Careful, he’s dangerous!”
The redguard woman then says as she takes her shot,
“You just now figured that out? He’s a vampire! Of course he’s dangerous fool!”
The cat evades the shot, the orc the drawing a sword from his belt then resuming his attack, the cat parrying it then forced to doge another arrow. Watching the fight go on Ne’Ma wanted to help her father, however she could, trying to think of how, she would be no match for either foe, she couldn’t fight, however she looked over at the redguard woman as she continued to shoot at her father then thinking to herself as she figured out what she could do,
‘If I break her bow, then she can’t use it. . . I’ll cut the string with my claws.’
With a nod the girl attempts to sneak up on the redguard woman, using the fact that she was solely paying attention to her father to her advantage. The girl forced her claws to retract from her fingers, thinking about all of the times her father had told her to keep them put away as to how sharp they were then waited from her chance, watching as the woman drew back her shot, Ne’Ma then striking as the string was pulled taught and cut it, the bowstring snapping then forcing the redguard woman to wonder what the hell then saying as she saw the girl with a grin on her face,
“You’ll pay for that one you little brat.”
She tossed her now useless bow aside and drew a dagger, turning on the girl who could only let out a silent scream as she then had to run from the enraged redguard, Usshin only able to see the events taking place from his peripheral vision, the orc saying as he struck at the cat again,
“Keep her alive, we can punish her properly once we turn this cat into a rug.”
The cat glared at the orc as their fight continued, unable to assist Ne’Ma who continued to run from the redguard who kept on her, said redguard aggravated when the much more agile then she looks argonian girl kept hiding behind pillars to force the woman to chase her around them. Usshin smiled at the cleverness of his daughter she had managed to buy him the time he needed to deal with the orc with her little tactics continuing to bob and weave in-between pillars to keep the redguard at arms length. Once more focusing on the orc who was gripping the sword with both hands, trying to use all of his strength, the cat could only laugh as the orc failed to remember that he was stronger then him by miles, and parrying till he found the moment to strike which once it presented itself, the cat cleaved the orc’s sword in two.
His remaining weapon destroyed the orc foolishly tried to attack the cat with his fist, only to have the cat then remove his head from his shoulders. The orc’s now lifeless body fell to the ground allowing the cat to turn to the redguard who had just managed to get Ne’Ma, having knocked the girl to the ground then mounting her as to keep her from being able to run any more. Hearing the cat approach the redguard woman then grabs up the girl placing her knife to her neck says as she faces the cat,
“Hey, no sudden moves now, toss down your weapon or I’ll slit her throat.”
The cat stops moving and does as the woman demanded and drops his sword. The woman chuckles then says as she tried to force the cat into a bad position,
“Now I want you to go . . . . . . .”
Ne’Ma looked up at the woman who began trembling in pure fear then dropping the girl who took this as a chance to go hide behind her father, the cat just glaring at the woman as he approached, the woman saying as she backed away, waving her knife around in an attempted to ward off what she now thought was something nothing short of pure evil, clearly the cat using another vampire trick to instill absolute fear in her.
“No . . no stay back you demon stay away!”
The woman backed herself into a corner trembling head to toe as the cat approached then said as she dropped her knife and begged for her life,
“I think you’ll do nicely.”
The woman unable to move due to the purest of fears gripping her mind watches as the cat pulled a black soul stone from a pocket of his robes, then casting a spell on her, giving her a strange black outline, the woman babbling “no, please no” as she then saw the cat raise his claws then jab his hand through her chest, the woman quickly falling dead and her soul then being sealed away inside of the gem the cat held. Ne’Ma’s eyes where wide, she’d never seen her father do that before and it frightened her a little, she then watched as he put the gem which now had something swirling inside it back into his pocket quickly pulling a book from his bag; then flipping through the pages till he found the page he was looking for, scrolling down the page with his finger, till he mumbled “that’s one ingredient down”. She’d seen him pull that book out once before, she knew quiet well that the book was her fathers Grimoire she had looked inside of it once the great details of his magical knowledge at the time going over the girls head. He however rarely looked into it, what ever he was looking at was something he wanted to make sure he was getting right. looking to his daughter who finally approached him dragging his sword with her as he put the book back into his bag says as he kneels down to her reclaiming his sword,
“That was a dumb idea Ne’Ma never put yourself in harms way for me again got it? You nearly scared the life from me.”
The girl nods holding her fathers side as the cat then said,
“Now that they’re done with, we still have to go get the dragon stone from inside the burrow.”
The girl nods then follows after her father as he approached the large iron doors to the burrow, the girl taking this moment to grab up the fallen redguard’s knife, she knew not how to use a blade but she felt a little safer for hiving it then looked up as her father called to her then returned to him as he stepped inside. She followed her father inside, which she felt it was much warmed inside then out however the inside scared her a little and holding onto her fathers sleeve walked in with him, the cat observing where a small camp site was, most likely the remains of the bandit band fellows, but none where left to be found, most likely having gone into the dungeon below. Ne’Ma took this chance to warm herself next to the fire as her father spotted the chest the group had been using to store their spoils, and once he had picked open the crappy lock on it he looked inside at what was mostly crap, however he did find a purse with several dozen coins in it, and with a smile the cat pocketed the bag, then saying as he saw Ne’Ma next to the fire quickly warming herself,
“Ok, lets get going.”
The girl nodded then followed behind her father as he descended the stone stairs down into the burrow, staying behind her father as he led the way down. It got darker as the went down, the light from the camp fire quickly becoming a fading memory. It was soon pitch dark in the pathway, all the torches on the walls having gone out, however the cat was not worried, he balled up one of his fist and brought life to a small magical light then letting it go to shine light for them, the cat quickly conjuring another to give his daughter the light see needed. The pair followed the old and slightly decrepit hallway into the burrow, looking at the occasional table or old bookshelf and old pots, sometimes coming across long collapsed pathways which blocked their way and forced them to find another route. Eventually they found themselves at more stairs going down, the cat grabbing his daughters shoulder as he heard voices a little ways down. Following the stairs down he then came to where the stairs opened to another room, inside of which a few people stood, arguing about how to get past the gate. The cat quickly glancing into the room saw the room was fairly big room but was blocked off at the other end by an old metal gate. Looking as one man asked “How do we get past this gate?” then seeing the woman next to him say, “How should I know do I look like a scholar to you?”
The two then started glaring at each other before the third person in the room said as he approached the lever in the middle of the room,
“Hey maybe this will open it.”
The two are unable to stop him before he pulls the lever which instantly caused hidden traps in the walls to start spewing poisoned darts into the room, quickly felling the foolish three bandits. The cat shook his head then said as he approached the room,
“Foolish bandits, anyone with half a brain could tell that it part of a trap, stay close Ne’Ma, and don’t touch the lever.”
The girl nodded as her father walked into the room, quickly kicking aside the dead bodies left behind, He remembered how these traps worked, having encountered them long in the past then saying as he took a look at the gate then to the two faces about it; quickly noticing that one from the middle had fallen from its place on the wall. Dusting off the plate from face on the floor he found that it was a carving of a snake, then looking to the other faces quickly put two and two together, saying as he looked back to Ne’Ma,
“This is the password, snake, snake, and fish?”
Whatever the third carving was had the cat baffled whoever had carved it so long ago clearly wasn’t up to the job, however putting that aside the cat then began looking around the room trying to figure out how the three plates fit into the lever, knowing it was some kind of rotating tile, then looking far to the left seeing the three objects standing against the wall seeing the same symbols engraved on them, grinning as he called over to Ne’Ma approaching them,
“Here is the lock, sweetheart help me turn these.”
The girl grinned with a nod rushing to her fathers side then the pair trying to turn the tiles, which stuck at first, most likely due to their age but finally broke free and began to spin, the cat then quickly setting them to the proper order, returning to the lever, saying to Ne’Ma as he readied to pull it,
“I believe it will work now.”
The girl nodded then watched as he pulled the lever, there was a moment of pause but then the gate began to open the girl patting his arm as if to say good job then following the cat into the next room where sat another table and a few fallen pedestals, the girl rushing over to collect the gemstones for her father the cat accepting them with a thank you. Looking over to the table the cat found a book, he glanced at it for a moment then set it aside, Ne’Ma however collecting it up then sliding it into her little bag, said object barely having the room for it. The father daughter pair looked around the room, quickly finding the stairs and going down, the cat effortlessly dispatching with a trio of skeevers along the way. Once at the bottom of the spiral staircase they found a small room that fed into another corridor but on the table the cat found a few things, a scroll for a magical spell and a vial of poison, the cat pocketing both before continuing on. The pair followed another path for a short while before they heard someone calling out, addressing three names before shouting for help. Looking at the entrance of the next room the cat saw that had been completely covered in spider webs, however he saw Ne’Ma dart off and looking at the girl as she pulled at some cobwebs in a section of the path that had caved in, looking at the girl she pointed at something hidden beneath it, the cat quietly chuckling then saying softly,
“Leave it to you to find something, lets see what you got.”
The girl nods as she watched her father approach with his blade then cutting the webs away showing an old forgotten chest, which the cat quickly picked open allowing the girl to look inside where she found a long forgotten bag of gold coins the girl grinning as she offered them to her father, the cat then saying as he pushed it back to her,
“Nah, its yours sweetheart.”
The girl grinned ear to ear putting the coins into her bag with a smile, her father shaking his head with a smile of his own as he instructed her to stay here as he went to look into the next room the webs blocking the path quickly removed with his blade, at which point he sees a wood elf in a rather sticky situation, the elf completely wrapped up in webs which blocked the next path. The cat takes a step forward before the elf shouts,
“Careful here it comes!”
The cat looks up only to see a huge frost spider emerge from the ceiling, the cat then conjuring fireballs as the spider dropped down, trying to charge the cat who called upon more of his magic to deal with the creature, the fight being a short one before the cat claims victory his magical prowess being to great for the wounded spider. Looking back to his daughter, the girl clapping her hands for her father, then both looking as the elf said looking to the two,
“You did it, you killed it, now please cut me down from here.”
The cat says as he approaches the elf,
“You must be the one with the golden claw huh?”
The elf manages a nod then saying,
“Yes the claw, look I know how it all fits together, the engravings, the door in the hall of stories you‘ll not believe the power the nords have stashed away in here, just cut me down and I’ll show you.”
The cat nods then quickly goes about cutting the elf down, and once freed the elf says thanks before he shoves the cat down saying as he ran off,
“As if I’d share my treasure with you, you’ll never catch me”
The cat growls a little then chases after the elf, calling for his daughter to follow after him, the girl nodding the following the path her father had run down, and into another room where she is not able to help herself and with a grin quickly found a few things that might come in handy, namely a few coins and some soul gems. After the few moments of her looting she continues back down the path where she see the elf was dead, and her father fighting with a corpse wielding a large ax. She looked on knowing that she shouldn’t get in his way, however another one rose from is spot, glaring at the girl before hissing at her in anger. The girl let out a silent scream as the newly woken draugr drew a sword intent on slaying the girl, said argonian drawing the knife she had taken from the redguard then shaking as the draugr drew near; the girl somehow managing to parry the first strike the corpse thrown, then running away as it swung again. The cat looked away for a moment to see Ne’Ma running from an attacker, however as a large ax swung his way he was called back to his own problems conjuring a little lighting as the draugr before him started hissing once more. As her father fought with the other one Ne’Ma was running from the second one, the corpse hissing at her as it gave chase, the girl desperately avoiding its sword, said blade clanging on the stone as it missed time and time again. As she avoided another swing she heard her father shout parrying the other draugr’s ax,
“Careful Ne’Ma, there is a pressure plate trap over there stay away from it!”
The girl looked behind herself seeing said plate in the floor, and then saw the spiked wall that it triggered and quickly hatched a plan to use it taunting the draugr into following her as she jumped over the plate, the corpse unwittingly following after her. The girl thinking herself terribly clever watched as the undead triggered the trap, the girl waving goodbye to it as the spike wall spring forward impaling the draugr, the undead quickly dropping its weapon as life left its husk again. Looking back to her father, she watched as the cat said finally disarming the undead, by removing its arm,
“I’ve had enough of you!”
Lopping off its head, the cat then said as he turned to help his daughter,
“Don’t worry, I’m coming Ne’ . . . . . Ma.”
He looked at the girl who smiled waving at him then motioning for him to follow her showing him the golden claw as if saying “This way” the cat then saying as he put his sword away,
“That girl is too smart for her own good.”
The girl lets out a silent giggle as her father nearly pouted at the fact that his daughter who had no combat experience managed to defeat her draugr before he could his then lead the way once more, obviously avoiding the pressure plate. The pair walked further as they continued on deeper into the ruins of the burrow, the cat dealing with the draugr as they found them, his daughter for the most part hiding from them. They continued on this way till the finally reached the hall of stories, and the Nordic puzzle door within it that sealed the path forward, the cat asking his daughter for the claw, which she handed him, the cat then saying as he looked at it,
“I’ve heard that the claw is the means to open these doors, If I remember correctly the has the password,”
Turning the claw over so that he could see its palm he resumes saying,
“On their palm, shall we get these into the right order dear?”
The girl nods then spinning one of the locks as her father did the rest, till they had them in the right order, her father then saying as he picked up the claw once more,
“Alright now all we need to do is place the claw and turn the center plate.”
The girl nodded watching as her father placed the golden claw into the hole like grooves in the center plate then turning it like one would turn a key, the three sliding locks spinning around for a moment till they all landed on the same symbol the door them beginning to open. Once the door was opened the cat once again led his daughter through into the depths of the burrow, till they approached the last room, the large room with for the most part looked little more then a big cave however on the far side the girl saw something, a wall, oddly placed next to a table and a stone coffin; if you where to ask her she would have asked what the heck, but she followed her father as he crossed the room then a small stone bridge, the cat all but ignoring the wall, said as his daughter couldn’t take her eyes off of it,
“Alright, lets find that dragon stone.”
The girl nodded finally looking away from the wall to help her father look, but it was rather pointless the area was sparse to say the least, it was just a table, a pair of empty pedestals and the old stone coffin, the cat then saying as he and his daughter stood before it,
“It must be in here, lets get this lid off.”
The two tried for a few moments till the finally gave up, realizing that the lid was not going to move. Usshin sighed it was useless the lid was not going to move most likely magically sealed, he then looked down as Ne’Ma pulled on his sleeve, then pointing to the wall, the cat nodding then saying,
“Right Ne’Ma, maybe its over there.”
The girl nods with a smile leading the way for her father as they walked over to the wall, which the cat stopped once he saw, suddenly remembering that strange dream he had the night before, the cat muttering “the word wall” under his breath, the cat approaching the wall and setting his hand on it. Ne’Ma watched as her father looked over the wall, then tugging on his sleeve as something disturbed her, a few of the words began to glow. Her father looked down as he examined the wall noting aloud how this was clearly the language of the dragons, then asking as he looked down to the girl,
“What is it sweetheart?”
The girl pointed to a word on the wall, then watching as the suddenly backpedaled, the word startling her as it seemed to fly right at her, the cat for a moment nothing how her eye for a moment, which normally looked strangely like a humans eye despite her reptilian race suddenly became a slit, the girl unable to look away from the word leaving her father to think to himself for a moment,
“Could she be?”
His train of thought was cut short however, as the second the girl stepped back from the wall, promptly falling onto her butt the lid from the casket nearly exploded from its place on the coffin, startling both father and daughter as a different looking draugr pulled itself up from the inside, the creature stopping for a moment and looking at the cat, then surprisingly giving a bow before reaching into its coffin and grabbing up a blade, the corpse saying aloud in a language the cat subconsciously realized was the dragons tongue,
*writing this is English because don’t know how to write in dragon tongue*
“I was told to defend this place, from all who dare enter, even you; DEFEND YOURSELF!”
The cat quickly drew his blade as the draugr attacked, the clang of steel on steel ringing out within the cave as the fight began. His daughter could only watch as her eyes felt heavy for a little, the girl unaware that her pupils where changing back to their former shape, watching her father through blurry vision as her father fought the corpse. The cat quickly noticed how the draugr moved with agility that he didn’t see in the others before, and realized that just swordplay alone would not win this fight, deciding to shake things up as the cat forced the magical element of lighting into his sword, making the steel blade crackle with electrical discharges.
The battle continued to go back and forth as the two fought, the draugr’s skill with a blade surprisingly matching the cats, forcing the cat to have to change tactics, beginning to utilize his magic more then his blade, calling forth flames, and shards of ice, and electrical discharges, managing to deal some damage to the undead, said creature then standing upright before shouting, the cat knowing what it was doing and bracing himself with its first word,
“Fus, Ro Dah!”
The cat was prepared for the blast and once it came only slid back a ways, his daughter on the other hand was clueless, and once the blast wave reached her, she felt some kind of force starting to shove her back and hard, so much so that it lifted her up off of the ground and them slammed her mercilessly into the stone wall behind her, cracking her head against the word wall. The girl felt heavy as she slid back to the ground below, she couldn’t move and her eyes felt heavy, she looked up for a moment to see her father looking back toward her calling her name but she couldn’t hear him and when she didn’t respond he turned to the draugr enraged, a strange almost aura like field of magic enveloping him, but before she could see what he was doing the girl blacked out her eyes shutting tight as she was taken from the waking world as the loud clang of steel rang out in the cave once more, the girl bleeding from where her head struck the word wall.
~end of chapter~
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