Dragonborn Chapter 63: Dungeon Delving

"SOVENGARD!!!"

My War Cry echoed around. What else could I shout anyway?

My party got buffed and the troll slowed its advance. This was the perfect time for me to release my spells.

Two 'Fireb.a.l.l.s' were cast from each hand. And two perfect hits blasted on the troll.

The monster won't be easily done by this. But I guess it lost most of its endurance now.

There were no time to cast more spells, the troll was fast, much faster and more dangerous than the ones from the game. I had to fall back allowing Mjoll and Ongeim to take my place while carrying their s.h.i.+elds.

The situation will get dire from now. I can't use fire with my allies close to the target, fire tends to be tricky to use in this situation. The troll may start regenerating and his stamina is also a pain to deal with.

The trolls clashs with s.h.i.+elds badly. Mjoll was pushed back but the sailor behind her was supporting her well. Ongeim was superior to Mjoll in the term of weight so he didn't move from his place.

I think the vanguard need more support, the man for the job is... 'Frost Atronach'-Chan.

It made its appearance after the coming out from the void.

The problem now is that the Atronach won't deal much damage to the Ice Troll as the troll has a high resistance to Frost. Also it has already started regenerating.

I am hating the situation but the only solution is to do something about his Vitality.

Beside my mastered spells, I am researching new spells most of the time. The aspect of 'Vitality' is a hard to control aspect but I can at least Absorb and Supply it.

It's dangerous to use the effect of 'Supply' with 'Vitality' as one gives his own vitality to others. It's more effective than healing though. Mages tend to use the effects 'Fortify' and 'Restore' with aspect 'Vitality' to make the healing spells.

If I absorbed the Troll's vitality it may affect me as my vitality is full or different in nature than a troll's vitality but I can supply it back to the members of my party as they are taking damage directly from the troll.

Fine, I'll risk it.

I evoked to different spells on each hand, the right is 'Absorb Vitality', the left is 'Supply Vitality'.

I aim my right at the troll and my left at Mjoll who received a hit. After a minute of struggle, the troll's regeneration actually slowed down.

It took us five more minutes to put the beast down. The three sailors made sure to make their spears go through all its vitals to make sure it died.

"This was tough!"

"If there is anyone in the cave now I doubt they didn't know about us already!"

"Don't let your guard down! They didn't come at us when we took down the troll so don't worry about it now." I said, "Julls, you will scout ahead, make sure to use 'Scan' and 'Alarm' like I taught you, do what you do best!"

Jull was taking the role of my mysterious right hand girl so she rarely spoke.

How adorable!

"Now everyone on me! I maybe a mage but I'll kick your a.s.ses if you come at me combined. Don't focus on protecting me unless I am doing some serious magic casting. I'll tell you by then! We will walk light and not trigger any attention! I am taking the lead with you three, we'll use our bows and bring any target down swiftly. Ongeim and Mjoll, you two will be our rearguard. If it turned dangerous ahead then switch into vanguard. Everyone stay cool and don't lose your s.h.i.+t if you saw a freakin undead in there, just shoot on my signal! Understood?"

"""Yes, Captain!"""

Good! I gave these guys few lessons on tactics and infiltration strategies, we will move and kill like shadows.

Jullanar took the lead and sneaked into the cave. Her mission was disarming traps and scouting for enemies. She also would leave us marks about the situation ahead and wait for us if there is an enemy. This is how my tactical lessons were hammered into her.

I cast 'Bound Bow', this way I have my own bow and a quiver with many arrows hanged from my waist.

Now we are ready to roll.

Upon entering the cave, we found ourselves in an icy cavern. It was very s.p.a.cious with ice walls, floor and ceiling. I was in wounder even though this is not my first time witnessing such a thing. 'Whistling Mine' looked similar but I had no time to admire it. Still, I can't say anything or make any sound for an echo may form.

The only way right now was only ahead so there were no argument what should we do. I took the lead and walked carefully and quietly while notching an arrow in my bow.

Reaching the end, the tunnel turned right with a slight slope going down. It was no different from the first tunnel so we headed ahead again.

As we rached its end, the tunnel turned right and opened into a larger s.p.a.ce of a two leveled cave. This cave contains several small empty cages filled with bones and empty bottles scattered all over the floor.

Jullanar was crouching after the turn and signaled us not to make no noise. Trouble ahead!

I halted the group with a fist sign, then a 'wait' sign. I had to sneak to Jull alone.

Putting thoughts into action, I moved as fast and quiet as I can.

"What's the situation?"

"Two enemies ahead!"

"Anything near them?"

"No, just two boys chatting and drinking."

I looked where she pointed and found the targets.

"Be careful! The cave is leveled so maybe someone watching from the higher level!"

Indeed! Above to the north is a ledge with a wooden palisade along the edge, it came from the higher level, we can't let anyone see us.

"Relax!" I said, "Ready your bow! You take right I take left. I'll shoot when you ready."

Jull took her bow and arrow, aimed and shot. I followed her actions like her shadow!

Two arrows tore the wind and rested in the two boys' necks.

Another 'Follow' sign made the party follow ahead. Jullanar, checked around then went ahead.

We followed closely to a tunnel on the left as it is the only way forward at this point. This narrow tunnel twists and turns left, right, left, right before continuing ahead to a wider one.

Julls was waiting, "Undead ahead, no life reactions near them."

Moving a bit ahead we saw nearly seven skeletons. This was easy! Skeletons are a bit hard to shoot with arrows but they crumble when a blunt weapon crushes them.

"Stay behind! Mjoll and Ongeim, on me!"

I dispelled the the 'Bound Bow' and cast a 'Bound Battleaxe'. The two followed me like wind and we swiftly stormed the skeletons.

Each skeleton took one hit but they were giving a fight, I was worried about the noise in a cave like this but luckily I remembered to cast 'm.u.f.fle' on the zone of the fight.

"Reset formation!" I gave the command and everything was back as it was.

We continued the tunnel and took a left but no traces of any presence was there. Another left took us to a slope and corridor. After a small walk we reached a wooden bridge and we found Jull waiting there.

"Few living signals ahead, they are on alert."

This may get tough!

It will be like this then. Switching back to the bows and getting protected for the next raid.

"Everyone! We'll go in storming arrows! Shoot fast! Mjoll and Ongeim, you two will have to s.h.i.+eld us if we fell under heavy fire. Remember, our target on the other side and warlocks tend to use Frost Magic."

Everyone nodded!

Taking a deep breath, I made a count down with my fingers and moved to the next location.

It looked like some apprentices were positioned in this place, they were between the ranks of beginners and didn't even look tough. But there were seven of them and five archers of us.

a.s.signing the target with signals was an easy task for those guys. They are already an experienced SWAT team.

At the signal, five arrows tore the air and five enemies fell. The remaining two were alerted and tried to run, one got shot by me and another got an arrow to the thigh and escaped while limping.

c.r.a.p! The area ahead is unknown but I and Jull gave a chase through the wooden bridge and honeycombed him with arrows. Tough b.a.s.t.a.r.d resisted.

As we reached the end of the bridge, we noticed that the wooden bridge spans over a deep cavern, I knew this but still, it looked fearsome.

Reseting the formation and moving forward was done even before I say anything.

The walk ahead was strangely not interrupted by any traps. I even felt worried for Jull.

Still, we met her after we walked down a few slopes.

"Two paths ahead, one had a mage with many undead and the other is going down somewhere but I can't check it else I get seen."

"Fine! I'll deal with the undead. The rest of you take the mage with arrows. A mage that can control many undead is a dangerous being."

Everyone readied themselves. As the fight starts the mage will surely hide behind his undead creatures. This will prove troublesome if they are Guardians not just his Zombies.

The mage was indeed relaxing but the undead were guarding him. Behind him is a pa.s.sage blocked by some iron bars.

My move was the first, I have to eliminate all the undead around him with one move while the rest take care of him quickly.

I will use a spell that is as strong as a 'Fireball'. The spell is my original 'Holy Smite'. It is the same as 'Fireball' but it's made of Sun element. The best anti-undead element that doesn't deal any damage to humans in my a.r.s.enal.

As I cast the spells, the undead skeletons explode everywhere from its effect. Followed by the arrows that tore the mage apart.

We stormed the room destroying any undead in the bath. The area is clear and few items and books were found.

"Put anything of value in the sacks! Rest for a while and will move in a minutes! Keep your guard up!"

The room we stormed just now appeared to be a guard post for something important after the pa.s.sage that was blocked with iron bars.

There is still a location we haven't checked but I had an idea what it was.

After looting the place and resting for a minute, I moved the boys and got out the way we came in. We will take the corridor that Jull hasn't checked.

Sure enough after walking for a while, we reached an empty room under the wooden bridge we pa.s.sed on a while ago. It was the living quarters of the necromancers living in this cave.

There were more stuff to loot here, I scanned the place carefully and found some money, hidden chests, as well as some valuable weapons and research paper.

From what I could tell, these people were cultists of 'Molag Bal'. One of the most fearsome and hateful Daedric Princes (Dardra G.o.d) whose sphere is the domination and enslavement of mortals. He is known as the G.o.d of Schemes, the King of ****, the Harvester of Souls, the Lord of Brutality, and the Prince of Rage. His main desire is to harvest the souls of mortals and to bring them within his sway by spreading seeds of strife and discord in the mortal realms. One legend claims that Molag Bal created the first vampire when he raped a virgin named Lamae Beolf.a.g, who in turn slaughtered a group of nomads who tried to help her.

I just get the urge to puke when I sea a someone that wors.h.i.+p this piece of s.h.i.+t.

I, myself, am not a good guy but I have my limits. I don't mind making pacts with Daedra as long as it doesn't affect my soul or essence like becoming something inhuman or stuff like that. Of course becoming an immortal is cool but I would love to do that with my own power.

During the looting, one guy found an unusual gem. He came to me running after he did.

"Oh! A Stone of Barenziah. Give me that, I'll give an extra silver for finding it."

The boy gave it and I gave him a silver septim as a reward, the other two looked at him enviously.

"Is it of any value?" Ongeim asked.

"Don't you recognize the Name Barenziah? The Dunmer Queen of Mournhold? One of Tiber Septim lovers? One of the most bada.s.s women in this world? Sigh!"

He and the rest shook their heads to every question.

"it's one of twenty four stones that belonged to the beautiful crown of Queen Barenziah. The crown was lost in Skyrim after the disappearance of the queen during the War of Accesstion and its gems started to appear in different locations. Collectors like myself fancy those stones."

"You sure know a lot about a random gem in a cave!" Mjoll said mockingly.

"You don't understand! Queen Barenziah of Mournhold is one of my favorite historical figures along side our well known Queen Potema of Solitude."

All the people present s.h.i.+vered when they heard the name of 'Potema'. Any Nord knows this famous, or rather, infamous Wolf Queen.

Queen Barenziah and Wolf Queen Potema are the most fearsome Queens in the history of Morrowind, Skyrim, and the Empire. They are the most bada.s.s queens. Even Cersie Lannister would look like a cute kitten beside them.

Queen Barenziah started her life in exile after she was taken from her father's home who was the Lord of Mournhold. Her exile was in Skyrim but she escaped and became a thief in Riften. Years later she was found by a Dunmer General that worked under Tiber Septim himself and later became the general's wife and Tiber's mistress in secret. This was some story to read. She lived a long life full of events and political struggle after that until her disappearances two hundred years ago.

Queen Potema of Solitude is a cut of the same. She is well known to all Nords. Known as Potema Septim of the Imperial Family. She was wed in Skyrim to the High King but she practiced Necromancy and Thievery. She also started a civil war in the Empire to get the Imperial Ruby Throne for her son who eventually died in the fight. Her rage was not simple as she unleashed all her necromantic power and released an army of undead on Solitude. She was later cornered and sealed under Solitude. My theory is, she became a lich and waiting to be unsealed.

The reason why these guy s.h.i.+vered was the public knowledge of Potema's fearsomeness. Still, that story will be left for another time.

I stored the gem in my pocket and smiled as I have an idea about the locations of the rest of the gems, and this gem confirmed that they are most likely in these places.

"Now hurry up, don't laze around!"

We moved back again to the pa.s.sage blocked with iron bars and started looking for a mechanism to unblock the pa.s.sage. I can do it by force but it will take time.

A minute later, Jull found a chain and when she pulled it down, the bars moved and the pa.s.sage was unblocked.

We moved again in formation but I heard Jull's screaming. I didn't think and ran to her location.

Jull was. .h.i.t by a magical trap. These traps were shooting 'Frostbite' spell on her.

I cast 'Grip' and dragged Jull from harm's way. Her arm turned blue from the spell damage.

"I didn't know what were these! I approached them and they shot magic at me. Also someone saw me and went running the other way."

This is not good! I started healing her as it was easy to cure the frost effect by just healing.

These traps were nasty still magic traps are actually very simple. You only needed to cast the 'Rune' of the normal spell then install a Soul Gem on it. This will work as a sentry turret.

To disarm them one can use just shoot anything at the Gems powering the Runes. I can just take them by 'Grip' spell. There were three of them and I took the three Soul Gems as loot.

The mage that spotted Jull has clearly went far and warned the rest ahead. This is now an all out fight.

"Okay be ready for some resistance! Jull stay at the back!"

The scouting now will be done by me. This was a good training for Jull but I can't afford to tire her this much.

I moved ahead of the group and the cave turned left and right until it reached a big s.p.a.ce. There were indeed many mages here. They were also trying to check the pa.s.sage.

"SHOW YOURSELF INTRUDERS!"

One was shouting like crazy. As if I will ever do that anyway.

The number of the necromancers here is five and they seemed like the bosses of the cave. They also had few undead minions that were being put into formation around the pa.s.sage.

I moved back and met with the group to lay down the plan. This is the last clash now.

"The plan is like this." I said then cast a spell three times and three Frost Atronachs appeared, "These big guys will clash with the undead after I cast a sun spell on them. Your rule is to rain the mages with arrows and I'll join you with magic. Ongeim and Mjoll, you guys will protect the flanks from the undead."

The last spell I cast was 'Paladin's Aura' on both of them and myself. This spell is a Cloaking spell that will cover us with the Sun element and Healing effect. It will do harm to undead and heal us. One of my masterpieces.

The three Frost Atronachs took the lead followed by Mjoll,Ongeim and the fabulous me. Then Jull who insisted to follow and the three sailors who will shoot arrows at the mages.

The first move was mine, I cast 'Holy Smite' that exploded in the undead formation ahead of the pa.s.sages. My Atronachs swarmed the undead followed by Mjoll and Ongeim. This was a glorious start, shame I can't use 'War Cry' or I may faint this time.

The arrows flew at the mages but they were a bit off. Still, it kept them in check. The mages tried to cast Frost Magic at us but it was not even a threat.

One of the mages shouted, "MOVE!" to his colleagues. He was charging a strong Frost spell.

I evoked 'Chain Lightning' and casted at him head on. He also cast the spell and we pressed on each other. This was a magic duel. Two spells pus.h.i.+ng back each other by the sheer power of Magicka.

I was superior as always. My Magicka training can make me above and beyond any of those guys! Even a Battlemage Scholar from the college will get his a.s.s kicked by me if he thought to duel me like this.

The mage was blasted away by my spell and was sent flying.

After that, the undead he controlled crumbled and the remaining four surrendered themselves.

Now that place is secured!

The place was indeed a big cavern with cages and dead bodies in it. These guys were experimenting in necromancy and looked like they were doing something big. They also had a lot of resources and money in this room.

Now to the prisoners.

"Which one of you is the leader?"

They didn't speak.

Hehe! Fine! Let's see if this works.

"You will start dying if you don't talk. The Jarl is annoyed from what you did and will execute you guys on sight!"

"The Jarl!" One of them shouted, "What did we do? We honored the agreement with him."

"Oh! He doesn't think so! Few days ago, he sent a poor fool for you guys to kill but you didn't and he returned back with a Helm that he claimed that it was the Helm of Winterhold. Now, the people believed him and the situation is not looking good!"

"No! We received your messenger but that mage did not come!" Another one said, "We even lured a troll outside the cave as your messenger said but he didn't come at all."

Hmmm! So it was as I thought.

"So, which one of you is the leader?"

They pointed at the mage I just dueled.

"Oh! So that was him? How very... dead!" I said, "Who is the next in command?"

Another guy raised his hand!

"Fine! You are in charge now! Stand up."

I took the guy away!

"The Jarl also wanted me to change some items in your... 'Agreement'. Hmmm! Let's see... what do you guys usually do?"

"Eh! Sir, we maintain 'The Chill' and install 'Frost Guardians' there, we also get rid of the unwanted troublemakers in secrecy! What else should we do!"

"Nothing, nothing at all! Oh, one last thing. This helm, do you still have it?"

"What helm, good sir! We don't hav... Oh!" The guy said but he realized it and glared at me.

"I also thought so! Sorry man, time to die!" I stabbed him with a hidden dagger and he didn't even make a sound.

"Kill the rest!"