From: Sherrian Subject: Porc Tale--Cat and Mouse Here's my latest one, kids...I'm making an attempt to tell it in first person, which is what I use for my novel, just to see how it comes out. Now on to the story... The caverns were a few mile's ride outside of town. I'd left shortly before dawn and I reached the cavers by midmorning. Outside the smallish mouth of the limestone cave was a confused tangle of vines, weeds, and spider webbing. "He's here, all right," I muttered, and pulled out my little handaxe. Spider daedra didn't weave webs per se, but they could weave nets and snares to trap their victims if they wished. This one had used his webbing to cover the mouth of the cave. Then he had taken advantage of the natural ground cover to hide his handiwork. "Clever bastard," I said with grudging admiration. I began chopping up the tangle of webs and weeds. The webbing wasn't sticky, but it did have the annoying habit of getting wrapped around my handaxe. Though the day was cooly overcast, I soon worked up a sweat. The webbing and weeds didn't just extend across the cavern mouth, they went into it for almost an entire foot. I would have burned my way through, but I didn't want the smell to alert the daedra. Of course, he might have already known I was there, but why take chances? At last I cleared it all away. the entrance to the cave was dark and so jagged that I almost hesitated to go inside. I shook my head. "You're an adventurer, not some superstitious peasant. It doesn't matter if the cave mouth looks like a dragon's mouth, an orc's mouth, or a rat's mouth. You're going in there.' But it wasn't the cave iutself that bothered me, it was what was waiting for me inside the cave. I'd had just about enough of spider daedra to last me several lifetimes. I'd dealt with Red and Blackie, and an area of Battlespire, The Caitiff, had been infested with them. And then, of course, was Vorn, their self appointed master, who-- I wouldn't think of that right now. 'Still,' I thought, peering into the tenebrous cavern ahead, 'if those adventurers that Joel was always yapping about were here, this would be much easier!' I sighed and pulled a glowstone from a pouch on my belt. the yellowish gem flared with soft golden light. It was my first attempt at creating my own magickal item, and I was still quite proud of it. My mithral saber, potent against daedra of all kinds, had been created shortly before I entered Battlespire. I ducked into the cave opening. Once inside, I discovered that someone had attempted to do some mining here at one time. the walls and celing were shored up by old, decaying timbers. Even as I looked at them, a sprinkle of dust and small rocks showered down. Oh, lovely. If the spider daedra doesn't get me, the cave in will. The timbers were laced with delicate webs belonging to large, but perfectly normal spiders A large black one stared at me from a web littered with the corpses of unfortunate cave insects. A tunnel branched off to the west. Rocks and bits of Silver, too small to be of value, littered the floor. I detested mapping, so I was glad that I had set a recall spell back at the Angry Porcupine. I'd set it for just inside the taproom, just in case I was injured or captured. That way, I could escape to safety if need be. I peered down the tunnel and saw more of the same: beams, dust, rocks and spiders. 'If this was a story, the reader would die of boredom,' I thought with a grin. 'But right now, boredom suits me just fine.' The light from my glowstone cast murky shadows. They danced along the wall like darksome imps, following me and mimicking my every move. The light did little to chase away the surrounding gloom, but I could see enough to go on. I moved down the tunnel as silently as I could. The light gleamed off delicate veins of silver embedded in the walls. It was too little to be worth much, but it was pretty to look at. It was cold and damp, even with the thick woolen cloak I was wearing. I shivered and moved on, wishing I could have worn more. But heavier armor would've made too much noise. Air currents whispered and chased each other, adding to my disquiet. My keen ears caught snatches of words: "--come find me...before I find you..." I shuddered, then shook my head. "I didn't hear that," I told myself. "I'm just nervous, is all. and why not? None of my encounters with these creeps have been pleasant." A wicked chuckle echoed down the tunnnel from the darkness ahead. "Mortal." He said this in the teasing, singsong way that a bratty child might torment a younger, weaker sibling. "Come and play with me, mortal. Don't worry...I won't eat you. I've already had my lunch!" There was a lewd giggle. "But you'll make a nice dessert!" "Fat chance, spider boy!" Silence. I forced myself to relax. Even so, the sabre in my hands rattled lice teeth in a tin cup. With great force of will, I forced myself to stop shaking. I took a deep breath, and got moving again. "All right," I told myself. as I moved on. "I'll be fine. I have to be fine. Zerith needs me." I nodded to myself. I was still trembling, but thinking of Zerith helped. There was nothing that I wouldn't do for my beloved. 'Oh, love, how I wish you were here!' Something dark and glistening on the mine floor caught my eye. I didn't want to look, for I was pretty sure that I knew what it was. But some masochistic urge made me kneel down and confirm my suspicions. I touched a finger to the slick stone. It came away wet and tacky, smelling strongly of copper. It was blood. I cursed in dark elven, Tamrielic, and a little Daedric thrown in to boot. Some poor misguided fool had wandered too close to the cave, or perhaps it had been some hapless animal. Either way, the spider daedra had been telling the truth: he'd had his lunch. I sighed raggedly. "Don't worry, you twisted bastard," I growled. "I *am* for you. And I'll knock your ass so far into Oblivion that when you come back, your clothes will be out of date!" "Do you always talk to yourself?" I leapt to my feet and drew my saber in one fluid motion. I lowered it, but didn't put it away, when I saw the speaker. In spite of the heavy black armor of a Dreadmaster, I could tell the speaker was female. Ruby red eyes regarded me through the slits in her helm, and she carried two Daedric katanas. They were beautiful weapons. I knew that her clan? group? were an honorable, if warlike bunch. I smiled crookedly. "Not as a matter of course. Most often when there's no one about." I sheathed my saber and extended my hand. "Well met. I am Nyxalinth, of the Shadowalkers." She clasped my hand in greeting, then released it. "I am Kriella Khan, Dreadmaster>" She pushed up her visor, and eyed me a tad suspiciously. "To be honest, I didn't expect to see another person here." Kriella was quite pretty in the exotic way that dark elves have. I smiled and said, "That makes two of us. We seek the same quarry, I think. Might we work together?" The Dreadmaster was about to answer when the spider daedra giggled from somewhere in the darkness. "Oh, it must be my lucky day!" he yelled out cheerfully. "Two mortals to play with! Find me if you can, ladies, I have a *big* surprise for you!" "I'll just bet you do," I grumbled. "I have a surprise for that fiend," Kriella growled. "Two daedric katanas!" Apparently, the fiend heard her, for he giggled and said, "And I have a Daedric Dai-Katana to show you, girls!" His lecherous giggle left no doubt in our minds as to what he meant. "And I'll cut it off!" I snarled. Kriella grinned for the first time. "You'd have to get in line, I fear. Let's move on. I think his taunts come from this direction."