The chill had pierced his very soul. Creeping up his small body from feet already frozen to the floor....unable to move or prevent the inevitable icy fate that awaited him and all the while that nasty wizard had gloated. What a shame that his ugly face - with its warty nose - had been the last thing Skeetr would ever see. A pang of regret before being fully entombed in magical ice....his family would likely wonder what had become of him. Poor mother would fret terribly as mothers do, and no doubt his older brother would set out in search of him as he had done many a time before, but this time he would be powerless to rescue his trouble-prone sibling. Evil wizards were in an entirely different league to rival cutpurses, pickpockets, street urchins, oafish town guards, and the occasional mark with unexpectedly fast reflexes. 'Ah well, a valuable lesson learned too late for this curious lad,' he thought ruefully.
Of course he'd had plenty of time to think whilst in his frozen prison. Think and dream - that much he could still do. So he thought of his friends, his family, of misadventures past and dreamed of places he would never have the opportunity to discover and people he would never meet, of locks left unpicked and shopkeepers resting peacefully in their beds, knowing their valuable merchandise was safe from his once-deft hands. He wondered why he never felt hungry or thirsty but supposed it was something to do with the spell - not that he wouldn't have liked to sink his teeth into a nice juicy apple, or a sticky-sweet bun.....
His reverie was interrupted by a "whump" and a surge of heat. Something was happening in the outside world...something exciting! The ice casket that had cocooned him melted with such surprising speed his body crumpled to the ground like some child's discarded rag doll. He could hear muffled voices nearby, but weak and blinded as he was Skeetr couldn't see a thing so he lay there and listened to the sounds of mayhem around him. Judging by the crackle of magicka in the air and the surprised shouts it seemed that the nasty wizard had an unwelcome visitor - and one who couldn't easily be dispatched with a spell or two. Good! It served the old coot right. Then, before he quite knew what had happened Skeetr experienced a most unusual sensation. A sudden jolt and then his limbs began to move of their own volition and he sensed a presence around...no...*within* him, forcing him to stand and face the mage and another, younger man - similarly clad in spellcaster's robes. An apprentice perhaps? 'Maybe I've become one of those zombie things' thought Skeetr as he tried without success to regain control of his body. Though he could now see with perfect clarity his vision was strange....everything around him was devoid of colour.
The younger mage began drawing a dagger from his belt - obviously not intending to clean his nails with it - and without warning Skeetr's right hand balled into a fist then slammed with incredible force into the side of the mage's head, felling him in an instant - quite a feat considering the young Khajit's wiry frame was all of four feet nothing in height. Had Skeetr been able to do so he would have punched the air and whooped with boyish exuberance, but instead his disobedient body turned to face the mean old mage (who appeared to be casting a powerful spell) and his reedy voice invoked ancient, unknown - to him - words of power. Just in time too...the warty-nosed wizard loosed a fireball of immense proportions in his direction, only to have it dissipate harmlessly against the shield "Skeetr" had just raised. The Khajit noted with some amusement that the backlash had singed the mage's whiskers and eyebrows. Before his opponent could ready another spell he retaliated with one of "his own"...and a glittering ball of ice now rooted his foe's slippered feet to the flagstones, rapidly freezing his body from the ground up. An interesting medley of emotions flickered across the mage's ugly face: surprise, indignation, fury, and eventually fear and desperation as he realised he was undone. Skeetr noted with some satisfaction that the horrid man was about to meet with an ironically similar - and well-deserved - demise to that which he had suffered. A few seconds later Al'ali, self proclaimed Grand High Archmage of the Guardian Citadel (and completely encased in an icy sheath) was just another statue in the bizarre gallery. A visitor inspecting it closely would have marvelled at the fine detail - right down to the warts on its nose....
Skeetr was basking in a self satisfied glow when suddenly everything went black. He came to, unsure of how much time had elapsed, covered in a woollen blanket and surrounded by strange people. Adventurer types, garbed in armour and bristling with weapons. Two of the strangers - a statuesque Nord woman and a strangely familiar Dark Elf man were standing over him, conversing in quiet, urgent tones, while the others - three Elven women -appeared to be gawking at the curios on display. The young Khajit observed them awhile, then deciding they meant him no immediate harm coughed politely (though he felt weak as a kit his body was once again his own to command!) to attract their attention. "Ahem."
Immediately all attention was focused on him and he waited to see what would happen next….
Tenaka turned away from Pilar as he heard the young Khajit cough. Breathing a sigh of relief that the young man had survived his ordeal, he silently looked him over. He knew that his survival was largely due to Pilar's healing skills, just as he knew that his near death was due largely to his interference. He waited for the young man to speak.
It did not happen, but a voice came from the Nord at his side: "Are you all right?"
"Yes, thank you, milady. With a little rest, I'll be right back to action. Name's Skeetr, by the way. Do you know what happened?"
"Well met, Skeetr, and thank you for the use of your body," said Tenaka. "I am Tenaka Khan, Dreadlord, and it is largely due to myself that you were in danger in the first place. However, your assistance did save my life, and I thank you for it. I am forever in your debt. This lovely young lady is Pilar Kent and it is she who saved your life with her magic. The other women around are Twilight, J'layah and Mea Culpa. You may have heard of them – they are apparently quite well known in these parts. Rest here a moment." Skeetr lay back and Tenaka left Pilar to attend to him. He walked over to Twilight.
She was still looking at the same statue – the one that he had created from the Archmage only moments before. The other two had looked at many different ones, but she seemed strangely focussed on this particular statue. "What is it?" he asked, realising that she must have found something.
"This statue has a soul gem embedded in it, but the composition of the statue is magical. And the magic is far too powerful for me to remove the gem."
"I thank you for the compliment, my Lady, for the magic is of my creation. If necessary, I could revive the man so that we can retrieve this prize. But what is so important about a soul gem? They are easily found and cheaply bought these days."
"I do not know. But I feel something from this one. I feel that I am familiar with the soul entrapped within it, but I do not recognise it."
"What does it feel like?"
"I am strangely reminded of J'layah when I stand close to this statue."
Tenaka called her over. "J'layah," he said when she had crossed the room. "Do you feel anything from this statue?"
"Yes," she replied. Tenaka smiled. She was subconsciously fingering the hilt of the blade he had given her. "I did not notice before, but now I am close to it, I do feel something. It feels like… my sister!"
"Then we must indeed retrieve the gem. Stand back."
Everybody moved away from the statue and Tenaka began to weave his magic. He hoped that the mage's time inside his icy prison would have affected him similarly to the way it had Skeetr. It would take him a little time to weave a spell to bind him and cut off his magic after he was freed – time he may not have. He looked at Twilight. She nodded at him. She realised the problems that were inherent in this operation and was ready to counter them. He felt the build up of power within her.
Suddenly he threw his hands forward and his magical fire flew towards the statue. He absently noticed a shout from Skeetr – he clearly did not want this mage to return. He saw through the corner of his eye Pilar telling him that all would be well. He subconsciously noticed that Mea's attention had also been directed at the three of them. The ball of magical fire hit the statue squarely on the torso and the ice began to melt. As man's head was freed, J'layah drew her enchanted katana and held it to the Archmage's throat. Tenaka noticed a look of surprise on Twilight's face which was surely mirrored on his own. J'layah had become far more aggressive since the battle with the Orcs – this was not supposed to happen. The blade was meant to earn her trust, not alter her personality. She must have been in recent contact with a very powerful magic to have affected the enchantment so. He felt the surge of power from Twilight. Now, not only did the man have a Daedric katana at his throat – he could not move or use magic either.
"His medallion," said Twilight with a strained voice. The man was clearly trying to overcome his imprisonment. "The soul gem is within his medallion."
Tenaka walked up to the Mage and removed the jewellery from around his neck. Now that he was so close to the gem, he also felt the pulse emanating from it. Holding it in his hand, he turned to face the Archmage.
"This time," he said menacingly, "I shall ask the questions." He held up his finger to the man's nose and allowed a tiny sliver of Antilight to escape from his upraised hand. The Archmage gulped loudly at the sight. The man nodded hurriedly, not wanting to disappoint the Dreadlord and this earn his displeasure.
"Where did you acquire this gem?" Tenaka's voice was firm.
"It was g-g-g-given t-t-t-to m-m-m-me," said the man.
"By whom?"
"A one-eyed m-m-m-man."
"Name of?"
"H-H-H-Heeram Th-Th-Th-Thule."
"Does anybody have any further questions?" asked Tenaka, looking around the room. "If so, please ask. If not, we should hurry. His apprentice has now been gone a good long time, and the sooner we dispatch with this sorry piece of garbage, the sooner we can move on."
Well things are getting along nicely so I thought, while perusing the various "curio's" in this sinister place. How ever it appeared that there was going to be some action, after I heard Tanaka, Twilight and J'layah discussing the soul gem, "Oh lovely I mused they are going to unfreeze the Mage", meantime my brain was going at full speed trying to remember a suitable spell that would come in useful if things didn't work out, "huh not likely" I told myself seeing J'layah with that rather huge Dai-Katana and pointing it at the Mage's throat, in any case I thought that the best action was to be ready, after all one never knows about Mage's, they have contingency spells, items and Shegorath knows what else, so taking up a defensive position behind one of the multitude of statues (hoping desperately it'll stay frozen) I prayed to Julianos for guidance and help if He deemed it a useful learning experience, then I said to my comrades in arms " Ready when ever you are" and braced myself for the worst.
"Thank you for the use of your body?!" Skeetr had heard some unusual introductions in his time - ice breakers as it were - but this one was by far the most
bizarre. Somehow the Dark Elf had possessed him - it was Tenaka's will that had directed his body to throw punches at mages and weave powerful magic. He lay down again to digest this information, and Pilar covered him with the blanket once more."Are you hungry, young man?" she asked gently and Skeetr nodded. "Ah, I forgot...all boys have hollow legs. "Smiling, she reached into her pack and rummaged around, eventually producing a large red apple which she handed to the young Khajit. Skeetr munched gratefully as he looked around the room, his brown eyes shining with excitement. The Wood Elf - Mea was engrossed in examining the numerous curios in the room, moving from one to another with an expression of wonder on her pretty face, the other two Elven women and Tenaka still had the ugly old mage bailed up, and the nice Nord lady - Pilar -wandered over to the door and braced a bookcase against it to buy sometime when Orim the apprentice returned with the expected reinforcements. "A shame he regained consciousness so swiftly," thought Skeetr, "I wanted to tell Pilar how I knocked him out cold...but I'll bet he has a headache and a good-sized bruise to remember me by!"
***
Al'ali was in a rather unenviable position. With two powerful spellcasters - one on either side of him - ready to blast him into Oblivion and beyond, and a wickedly sharp katana at his throat he knew he had no choice but to obey their orders. Swallowing his pride he told them how Thule -the one-eyed man - had delivered the soul gem to him for safekeeping and had never returned to collect it. At this point the two Elven women exchanged a knowing glance and he knew then that something terrible had befallen Thule. The murderous look in the Dark Elf's eyes told Al'ali an equally terrible fate was likely to befall him. He swallowed nervously, sweat glistening on his balding pate.
***
***"Does anybody have any further questions?" asked Tenaka, looking around the room. "If so, please ask. If not, we should hurry. His apprentice has now been gone a good long time, and the sooner we dispatch with this sorry piece of garbage, the sooner we can move on."***
Before anyone could reply an ear-splitting explosion in the corridor shattered the door, heralding the arrival of Orim and his cronies. Had Pilar not thought to brace it with the bookcase everyone in the room would have been injured by a myriad jagged splinters. Instantly Pilar, Twilight and Tenaka leapt forward to "greet" their uninvited guests with their weapons drawn, leaving J'layah to guard Al’ali, her sword remaining poised at his throat. Skeetr scuttled under the mage's mahogany desk with his apple still clutched in his hand. Of Mea there was no sign...perhaps she too had dived for cover when the door imploded.
***
Now was the time to act, whilst the party's number was divided. Even though Al'ali was certain the young High Elf would not hesitate to use the katana - biting painfully into the delicate skin of his neck - if he made any sudden moves, he was equally certain he could distract her long enough to weave a simple sleep spell. Then it would be a matter of rendering the others immobile and they should provide him with many an hour of lively entertainment. Perhaps he would torture them at his leisure before finally granting them the blessed release of death, or perhaps he would add them to his collection of statues, or maybe he would hang the Dark Elf's head (and that of the wretched Khajit boy's as well, curse him!) above his door as a trophy - he would keep the heads animated of course, so he could engage in 'stimulating conversation' whenever the mood took him, or perhaps......ah, but he digressed. Al'ali waited but a moment more then made his move.
"Excuse me, but I think you had best put that soul gem in a safe place," he told J'layah, feigning concern, "else it may become damaged beyond repair and the soul within will be lost forever. See, it has already cracked from the explosion!" Al'ali had to repeat himself, such was the clangour of ringing metal and dying screams from the doorway...by all accounts the battle was not going well for Orim (who once again lay unconscious on the floor, this time by Twilight’s hand).J'layah's eyes widened in concern as she absorbed mage's words, and as he'd expected her attention was diverted for an instant as she inspected the gem hanging around her neck. A gesture, a single word composed of complex arcane syllables and the young Elf slumped to the floor, asleep. Now to deal with the three - still with their backs to him, blissfully unaware of what had happened - at the doorway. The mage flexed his fingers, mentally preparing himself for the powerful spell that would render Pilar, Twilight and Tenaka helpless. The desire to see their horrified faces as the spell took effect was too compelling to resist, and Al'ali cried out in his most dramatic 'harbinger of doom' voice "Pray to thine gods, for only they can save ye now!" The trio, busy subduing the last of their foes, spun on their heels as the mage raised both arms and opened his mouth to incant the spell.
He'd barely formed the first syllable when, seemingly from nowhere, a partially eaten apple flew with incredible accuracy and surprising force into his mouth, effectively preventing speech and ruining the spell (and Al'ali's credibility as a 'serious mage'). Less than a heartbeat later his body stiffened and his eyes widened in shock as he looked down at the five inches of bloodied blade protruding from his chest. As his lifeblood drained he fell to his knees and saw Skeetr- still in his hiding place under the desk - wave cheekily at him. With his last breath he tried to curse the boy, but it wasn't very effective since the apple was still firmly wedged in his mouth. Then, laying in a pool of rich scarlet blood, Al'ali's life force flickered and died.
"I guess the gods must have heard my prayers," remarked Mea as she dispelled her improved invisibility and casually removed Sacre Noir from the dead wizard's body with the aid of a booted foot. Cleaning the blood from its blade with Al'ali's richly brocaded robes, she looked at the Twilight, Tenaka and Pilar, at their stunned expressions, shrugged as if to say "who me?" then jerked a thumb in J'layah's direction.. "Perhaps one of you could throw a bucket of water over sleeping beauty there? Now is not a good time for a nap, methinks." She reached down to Skeetr, ruffled the young Khajit's hair before helping him to his feet. "I must say we make a good team. What say I find you another apple?"
Eventually, after a variety of spells came and went I settled on invisibility, no sooner thought of and cast, ........... when all hell broke loose, the bookcase that Pilar had so thoughtfully placed in front of the door, went flying while the door it self shattered in to a thousand pieces, Tenaka, Twilight and Pilar turned as if one and proceeded at full speed to make mincemeat out of the intruders (intruders?) leaving J'layah with the Mage and that huge Katana, which I'm sure must be getting heavy by now, even though it seem to be leaning quite uncomfortably against the Mage's Adam's Apple.
By the cacophony of sounds coming from the door the "battle" was well under way and considering that the "Three" where still standing and holding their own plus a few others, I thought it a good idea to keep an eye on the Mage, sure enough, (Geez I'll tell you, I've never seen a non sneaky Mage, must be a prerequisite for the job) the old guy started a conversation with J'layah, presumably about the soul gem as he was pointing at it, then his pointing turned a little more elaborate.
Now as you probably know, I did a few years at the school of Julianos and one of the first spells you get to learn is a sleep spell, but this old man was really good, he made that sleep spell so simple and easy I nearly missed it, as it was I was nearly too late, because I saw J'layah falling asleep and the Mage started an other far more complicated spell, however in the middle of the chanting He all of a sudden shut up, at this time I decided that I really didn't wanna find out what sort of Magicka was gonna turn loose, so I quickly sneaked (huh, mages aren't the only ones)up to him and let Sacre Noir drink and talking about drinking, by Dibella, that Mage was stoked with Magicka, it felt like I was floating and could carry the World on my shoulders, I actually had to pull Sacre Noir out of the Mage by force, cause it wouldn't let go, so putting one elegant Elven boot on the not so elegant Mages back I jerked and out she came, luckily Al'ali's robe was a burgundy red and I do detest red and brocade to boot sorta speak, I wiped my trusty companion on the robe, looked up and saw three faces that seem to say " I thought you where just a pretty face" .
Shrugging my shoulders I said " Who Me?" and directed their attention to J'layah who was doing a hell of an impersonation of some one sleeping and said "Perhaps one of you could throw a bucket of water over sleeping beauty there? Now is not a good time for a nap, methinks." Looking down at the now forever sleeping Mage I saw the core of an apple sticking outta his mouth, a slow smile spread across my face as I put two and two together and got a Khajit with a sly smile on his face, I ruffled Skeetr's hair and told him that we make a good team " What say I find you another apple?" and got the best reward a person can get a enthusiastically smiling young Boy.
Tenaka looked over at the prone form of J'layah. He cursed his oversight in leaving her to deal with the mage herself, but she had seemed in control, the sword giving her an uncharacteristic mean streak. How he had managed to get the better of her, the Dreadlord could not figure out, but he recognised the residue from the magic that had been used. A sleep spell, but no ordinary one. This would not be broken with something as simple as a bucket of water as Mea had suggested. They would need to wait for it to wear off naturally.
He looked around with a fair amount of surprise at the small party around him. All had handled themselves well – save J'layah. He had expected it from Twilight who practically radiated experience, and he had guessed that Pilar would hold her own. Mea's tactic of back-stabbing had surprised him somewhat, but the actions of the young boy Skeetr had truly been a shock. Who would have thought that the remains of an apple could be used in such a constructive way? It must have been quite a good throw too.
He looked over to the table where Skeetr was still on the floor. He waved the boy over. "Come lad," he said. "This is as much your victory as ours. Come share it with us while we await the awakening of sleeping beauty over there." The young Khajit crawled out and walked over. Tenaka clapped him on the shoulder and the young boy positively beamed with delight. Not for the first time, Tenaka wondered what such a young boy was doing in such a place, but he withheld his curiosity and did not ask. That was Skeetr's story, and if he wished the others to know it, he would tell them in his own time. It probably had what the boy considered an embarrassing bit where he was frozen, but to even be here showed that he should not be embarrassed at a little misfortune.
The past few events ran through Tenaka's mind and he realised that during this wait there was a danger. Not from any corporeal being, but from a drop in morale. This was when it happened. After battle came exultation, but after that, if you had to wait for too long with nothing to do, came despair. He looked over at Skeetr. As the youngest he would surely feel it first. "Skeetr," he said. "How about you guard the mage for us. If he appears to be regaining consciousness, just call one of us over and we will put him to sleep again." The boy smiled again. Now he felt useful.
"The rest of you," he said when the young Khajit had gone. "What do we plan to do when sleeping beauty awakens? Where to next. This would appear to bean easily defended position, but we cannot defend and advance at the same time."
"None of us knows this place," commented Twilight.
"Can you not Spirit Walk again?" asked Pilar.
"Unfortunately no. This place seems to make it harder to do that, and besides, I am not yet well enough recovered to Spirit Walk again so soon," replied Tenaka.
"Then we must await further developments," said Mea.
"But what do we do then?" asked Tenaka. "I can only open Windows to places I have been to before, and I am assuming that none of the rest of you has a better means of transportation."
"On the contrary," said Twilight. "We have the other sleeping beauty. I am sure he knows this place well and can teleport us around."
"But can we trust him?" said Mea. "Would he not merely teleport us into a wall or something?"
"He can teleport me," said Tenaka. "If I find that he has done as he was asked, I shall open a Window back to here. If not, you can kill him."
"You would be risking your life," said Pilar.
"We are all risking our lives here," replied Tenaka.
The rhythmic tremors were powerful enough to be felt many levels above, dislodging small pieces of masonry from the ceiling, strong enough even to wake J'layah from her magicka induced slumber. She stretched languorously, yawned and sat up to see her companions scattered about the room, worried expressions on their faces. Another rumble chased away the last vestiges of sleep with a sharp jolt.
J'layah looked around her. The room was certainly a mess...blood, bodies, apple cores, shards of rock, fragments of wood...somehow the door had been blown to smithereens. She struggled to stand, brushing stone chips, splinters and dust from her clothing. "What has happened?" she asked Mea, who was crouched nearby.
"Not sure," replied the elf, apprehension evident in her voice. "One minute we were mopping up after dealing to these mages, and the next we know the ground starts trembling!"
Seemingly in reply to the elf's remark the intensity of vibrations increased, accompanied by an ominous rumbling, and everyone dived for cover as larger chunks of ceiling smashed on the floor. Indeed this was an unnatural earthquake, and it seemed an eternity before the worst was over. After clutching Ariana's soul gem to reassure herself it remained intact, J'layah began rummaging through the contents of her pack, checking for any breakage. At that moment Skeetr, who'd been keeping an eye on the unconscious mage, called out excitedly. "He's waking up! Quickly!" Twilight, Tenaka, Pilar and Mea rushed over to the young boy's side, picking their way through the fallen timbers and stone.
Orim, favoured apprentice to Archmage Al'ali - now laying in a pool of congealed blood with an apple wedged in his mouth - groaned loudly as he returned to consciousness. His back ached, his head hurt, there was a heavy pressure on his chest...he even felt an unusual stinging pain in his neck. Forcing open one eye he squinted up at a vision of loveliness in black standing above him, one booted foot planted on his chest, and holding an ebony sword to his throat.
"Am I dead?" he wondered aloud.
"That remains to be seen," replied Twilight levelly, twisting the katana a little for effect. The fine point bit into Orim's fleshy jowl and he whimpered. "Do as we bid and you shall in all likelihood live to see another sunrise. Try anything foolish however, and you shall join your master ere you can draw another breath!" The man's eyes were drawn to Al-ali's quickly cooling corpse, and he hastily reassured Twilight of his complete co-operation.
J'layah gasped loudly, drawing the attention of all but Twilight. On the floor where she'd dropped them lay a scroll case and a wilted, blackening flower. She quickly bent to retrieve the flower, a -once blood red- rose, and several delicate petals fell to the ground as she lifted it up.
"The rose....Balefire....he said that while he yet lived the rose would continue to thrive." Tears welled in her eyes and she suddenly found herself unable to continue.
Succumbing to temptation Twilight hauled the stocky apprentice to his feet, handing him over to Tenaka before forcing herself to look at the rose. Her expression unfathomable she touched it gently, and another petal fluttered to the ground leaving but three remaining...
"All may not be lost but we must act quickly!" Tenaka's voice penetrated the heavy silence and everyone in the room turned to look at him, puzzlement on some faces, hope on others." Our friend here," he grabbed a double handful of Orim's robes, lifting him none too gently clear of the floor, "may be able to take us to Balefire's side. I'll wager he knows the citadel quite intimately."
The mage tried to deny this but one look from the dark elf silenced him. "Well?" Tenaka's patience was wearing thin. "Can you take us to the source of these rumblings or shall I just kill you now?" Orim needed no more convincing.
"Yes...yes I do know...or at least I think I know where your friend may be, though if he is, he is already lost."
"Let us be the judge of that!" Twilight snapped, her eyes flashing angrily.
Tenaka lowered Orim to the ground but did not ease his grip on the man's robes. "Now, you shall teleport me there...you *do* know the spell? Good, you shall send me there and will be released once I have opened a Window for my companions. Let me warn you though," and he lifted the man off the ground once more for emphasis, "if you think to send me to my doom you shall die a slow, horrible death at the hands of this lovely lady here," he indicated Twilight who was toying with her katana, an extremely sharp and deadly looking katana. Orim swallowed nervously and nodded, and Tenaka reluctantly released him.
At first the mage found it difficult to concentrate -his situation similar to that of a hapless bug in a spider's web, only instead of one hungry spider there were several- but eventually he found his focus and began chanting the words that would send Tenaka to the bowels of the citadel. For several long moments he incanted the spell, drawing on his reserves of magicka and calling up a clear mental image of the destination, then suddenly Tenaka disappeared with a blinding flash.
The group held their collective breath for the space of a dozen heartbeats, during which time another petal fluttered to the ground, leaving only two clinging forlornly to the rose. Sweat was pouring down Orim's face as Twilight edged closer to him, sword held aloft. Another bright flash and Tenaka's magical portal was open, and the portly mage heaved an audible sigh of relief.
Orim forgotten, the companions leapt through the portal one by one....straight into a scene from hell.