Chapter Twenty-Five - Fort Amol - 30th of Last Seed - Umbra
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter Twenty-Five - Fort Amol - 30th of Last Seed - Umbra
Someone had taken a page out of a gory horror book to craft the interior of Fort Amol with the blood and the entrails of the dead conjurers. Most of the conjurers hadn't died in their sleep, but through atrocious pain as their faces foretold, all neatly sawed off their headless bodies and stuck with nails to the doors.
"I'm waiting in the courtyard," I said after viewing nothing but the main entrance, my breathing uneven as the stench of rotting flesh was overpowering, and second only to the smell of blood. My steps brought me outside just in time to heave on the ground. I stumbled further away, the morning sky clear of clouds as I came to a halt beneath the altar of Julianos, propped up on a stone slab right in front of the entrance. The thick rain had made it near-impossible to see, and perhaps that had been our saving grace from whatever madness that vampire would have bestowed upon us.
"Julianos," I hissed out as my fingers clutched upon the sides of the perfect ebony pyramid that composed its shrine, "you're heavy," I continued as I actually managed to pry the small pyramid off, clutching it with both of my arms. "I'd like some sense and logic in this world, Julianos," I whispered to the pyramid. "Any form of sense and logic would be welcomed," I added, tightening my grasp on the pyramid.
The wind picked up gently, the last batch of warm breeze flowing freely through the courtyard as Summer would soon end, to be replaced with what passed for Autumn around these parts, but would definitely feel like the deepest of Winters for me.
Half an hour later, but to me it was an eternity, the main entrance opened to reveal the trio of green-faced members of the fellowship of Umbra, having returned from their glorious task of corpse-looting.
"The fools did the black sacrament," Ralvas spoke as they neared, "and then they decided not to pay. In Skyrim, the Black Brotherhood still holds strength it seems," he continued while shaking his head and massaging his beard. "It is foolishness to the highest degree. If you wish for someone to die, kill him yourself and grow stronger from the deed. Don't take the weak way of letting someone else kill your target for you."
"What are you doing with that weight?" Berry asked as I stood up, still holding on to the shrine of Julianos.
"I'm bringing it with me," I replied nonchalantly. "I'll find him a better place to rest than an abandoned fort."
"Is this the same thing as the pet rock?" Ralvas asked. "You might have convinced Tsavi that a pet rock was a perfectly normal pet to have, but it will not work on-"
"Its weight is a challenge for my back," I said quite calmly, making Ralvas pause.
"You did not need to convince me. I am not the one carrying it," Ralvas said with a small chuckle. "We can leave this place," he added, starting to walk out through the main gate.
"Aren't we taking the horses?" I replied nonchalantly, gesturing towards the stables where the animals stood, their long faces halfway buried into the haystacks near them.
Ralvas said absolutely nothing as he kept walking.
"Well, fine," I muttered as I began to resolutely march towards the stable. "Come along, Fury!" I said as I stopped right in front of the black furred horse, who neighed and trotted out to stop by my side. I calmly saddled the creature, grabbing a few more straps to ensure the shrine of Julianos wouldn't fall from the horse's saddle as I climbed up in turn, coming to a rest atop a horse for the first time in years.
"Now," I said quite calmly, tugging gently the reins to the left, "Let's go show the world what we can achieve."
Fury neighed in turn, only for another horse to neigh in turn, Berry already on it. "I pity the horse stuck with you on its back," she said. "Come on," she kicked the flanks of her ride, and as it broke off in a slow trot, Fury instead sank its head down in the nearby haystack, grabbing a last mouthful of hay for the road.
"And off we go in turn," I replied, Fury trotting along as I patted the horse's neck, letting it come to a gentle gait by Sharrum's side, Ralvas already back on the orc's shoulders. The woods of Skyrim remained as thick as ever, but this time a stream seemed to pass by our left. The silence was broken after a few minutes, during which I realized that Ralvas was now at my same height, if only due to him piggybacking on Sharrum's shoulders.
"So you don't know how to a horse," I said.
Ralvas huffed, "It is inconsequential. I can bring down the very power of storms upon my foes."
"And yet you can't ride a horse," I cheerfully remarked. "Shouldn't you challenge yourself and try?"
Ralvas rolled his eyes, "Why would I? It would only render me lazy."
Sharrum snorted, and as Ralvas narrowed his eyes and looked down, the orc chuckled. "Brother is mighty in the arcane arts, but terrified by any movement not meant to be the back of a carriage. Be it the back of a horse or a ship, if he cannot control it himself then it is the one thing he fears the most."
"If we want to reach Ivarstead we should start going west," Berry said, "We're right next to Darkwater River." The cobblestone path that we trudged upon didn't seem to have any splits on the road, but if Berry was suggesting to simply charge into the thick undergrowth with our horses beneath us, then she was more than welcome to open the charge. I would let the bushes full of berries survive another day while looking for a point where the road forked further ahead.
"We are?" Ralvas asked, before quickly pulling out from his backpack his map, his brows furrowed, "We overshot while trying to run away from the Stormcloak patrols," he said crisply. "Since this is the case, and Darkwater Crossing is close by, you two will continue on horseback towards Ivarstead, climb the seven thousand steps, and then meet us back at Ivarstead's Inn once you're done."
I stared at the Dunmer, "you do know that Willow will...ah, yes, right, that's what you're hoping for, aren't you," I muttered under my breath. "There are trolls up in the mountains, Ralvas. You can't expect us to manage against a troll."
"Use fire, copious amounts of it," Ralvas replied undaunted, "My apprentice knows how," he continued. "We'll try to recover what was lost at the crossing," he looked straight up at me, "You will have to put your trust in the fact that I seek to only bring you back to how you were before all of this happened, Umbra."
"It's not that I don't trust you. It's that I don't trust ourselves from getting neck-deep into danger," I said, only for the Dunmer to scoff.
"Oh, but knowing yourself, Umbra, you'll get ear-deep into danger, willingly. That's why I'm letting you go together with my apprentice. You have yet to kill someone in cold blood too, so if you get the chance, do kill a sleeping bandit by the road or something like that. Drag his body in a ditch and leave it there to rot. I'll see it along the way and..."
"Make haste, my brother!" Sharrum yelled, a hand raised to clasp onto my wrist and squeeze it with surprising tenderness. "And may your road be clear of dangers, but not of challenges! Kynareth be with you, and you too fair fruit of the forest!"
Berry groaned, and then kicked the flanks of her horse to rush ahead once more.
"Umbra," Ralvas said, his expression utterly serious as I looked back at him, our eyes locking up in a challenge of gazes. "Promise me you won't die."
"Because you need me to tell on you with Willow?" I said as I shook my head in disbelief.
"Exactly," Ralvas smiled. "Let's go Sharrum," he said next to the Orsimer beneath him, and as the duo began to walk, I kicked Fury's flanks and rushed to close the distance with Berry, coming to match her speed as both horses galloped along the cobblestone road on our way to Ivarstead.
I hoped whatever we would meet on our path wouldn't be as fast as our horses.
The telling sound of a dragon's roar not five minutes later told me everything I needed to know about my luck in this world.
It was non-existent.
Someone had taken a page out of a gory horror book to craft the interior of Fort Amol with the blood and the entrails of the dead conjurers. Most of the conjurers hadn't died in their sleep, but through atrocious pain as their faces foretold, all neatly sawed off their headless bodies and stuck with nails to the doors.
"I'm waiting in the courtyard," I said after viewing nothing but the main entrance, my breathing uneven as the stench of rotting flesh was overpowering, and second only to the smell of blood. My steps brought me outside just in time to heave on the ground. I stumbled further away, the morning sky clear of clouds as I came to a halt beneath the altar of Julianos, propped up on a stone slab right in front of the entrance. The thick rain had made it near-impossible to see, and perhaps that had been our saving grace from whatever madness that vampire would have bestowed upon us.
"Julianos," I hissed out as my fingers clutched upon the sides of the perfect ebony pyramid that composed its shrine, "you're heavy," I continued as I actually managed to pry the small pyramid off, clutching it with both of my arms. "I'd like some sense and logic in this world, Julianos," I whispered to the pyramid. "Any form of sense and logic would be welcomed," I added, tightening my grasp on the pyramid.
The wind picked up gently, the last batch of warm breeze flowing freely through the courtyard as Summer would soon end, to be replaced with what passed for Autumn around these parts, but would definitely feel like the deepest of Winters for me.
Half an hour later, but to me it was an eternity, the main entrance opened to reveal the trio of green-faced members of the fellowship of Umbra, having returned from their glorious task of corpse-looting.
"The fools did the black sacrament," Ralvas spoke as they neared, "and then they decided not to pay. In Skyrim, the Black Brotherhood still holds strength it seems," he continued while shaking his head and massaging his beard. "It is foolishness to the highest degree. If you wish for someone to die, kill him yourself and grow stronger from the deed. Don't take the weak way of letting someone else kill your target for you."
"What are you doing with that weight?" Berry asked as I stood up, still holding on to the shrine of Julianos.
"I'm bringing it with me," I replied nonchalantly. "I'll find him a better place to rest than an abandoned fort."
"Is this the same thing as the pet rock?" Ralvas asked. "You might have convinced Tsavi that a pet rock was a perfectly normal pet to have, but it will not work on-"
"Its weight is a challenge for my back," I said quite calmly, making Ralvas pause.
"You did not need to convince me. I am not the one carrying it," Ralvas said with a small chuckle. "We can leave this place," he added, starting to walk out through the main gate.
"Aren't we taking the horses?" I replied nonchalantly, gesturing towards the stables where the animals stood, their long faces halfway buried into the haystacks near them.
Ralvas said absolutely nothing as he kept walking.
"Well, fine," I muttered as I began to resolutely march towards the stable. "Come along, Fury!" I said as I stopped right in front of the black furred horse, who neighed and trotted out to stop by my side. I calmly saddled the creature, grabbing a few more straps to ensure the shrine of Julianos wouldn't fall from the horse's saddle as I climbed up in turn, coming to a rest atop a horse for the first time in years.
"Now," I said quite calmly, tugging gently the reins to the left, "Let's go show the world what we can achieve."
Fury neighed in turn, only for another horse to neigh in turn, Berry already on it. "I pity the horse stuck with you on its back," she said. "Come on," she kicked the flanks of her ride, and as it broke off in a slow trot, Fury instead sank its head down in the nearby haystack, grabbing a last mouthful of hay for the road.
"And off we go in turn," I replied, Fury trotting along as I patted the horse's neck, letting it come to a gentle gait by Sharrum's side, Ralvas already back on the orc's shoulders. The woods of Skyrim remained as thick as ever, but this time a stream seemed to pass by our left. The silence was broken after a few minutes, during which I realized that Ralvas was now at my same height, if only due to him piggybacking on Sharrum's shoulders.
"So you don't know how to a horse," I said.
Ralvas huffed, "It is inconsequential. I can bring down the very power of storms upon my foes."
"And yet you can't ride a horse," I cheerfully remarked. "Shouldn't you challenge yourself and try?"
Ralvas rolled his eyes, "Why would I? It would only render me lazy."
Sharrum snorted, and as Ralvas narrowed his eyes and looked down, the orc chuckled. "Brother is mighty in the arcane arts, but terrified by any movement not meant to be the back of a carriage. Be it the back of a horse or a ship, if he cannot control it himself then it is the one thing he fears the most."
"If we want to reach Ivarstead we should start going west," Berry said, "We're right next to Darkwater River." The cobblestone path that we trudged upon didn't seem to have any splits on the road, but if Berry was suggesting to simply charge into the thick undergrowth with our horses beneath us, then she was more than welcome to open the charge. I would let the bushes full of berries survive another day while looking for a point where the road forked further ahead.
"We are?" Ralvas asked, before quickly pulling out from his backpack his map, his brows furrowed, "We overshot while trying to run away from the Stormcloak patrols," he said crisply. "Since this is the case, and Darkwater Crossing is close by, you two will continue on horseback towards Ivarstead, climb the seven thousand steps, and then meet us back at Ivarstead's Inn once you're done."
I stared at the Dunmer, "you do know that Willow will...ah, yes, right, that's what you're hoping for, aren't you," I muttered under my breath. "There are trolls up in the mountains, Ralvas. You can't expect us to manage against a troll."
"Use fire, copious amounts of it," Ralvas replied undaunted, "My apprentice knows how," he continued. "We'll try to recover what was lost at the crossing," he looked straight up at me, "You will have to put your trust in the fact that I seek to only bring you back to how you were before all of this happened, Umbra."
"It's not that I don't trust you. It's that I don't trust ourselves from getting neck-deep into danger," I said, only for the Dunmer to scoff.
"Oh, but knowing yourself, Umbra, you'll get ear-deep into danger, willingly. That's why I'm letting you go together with my apprentice. You have yet to kill someone in cold blood too, so if you get the chance, do kill a sleeping bandit by the road or something like that. Drag his body in a ditch and leave it there to rot. I'll see it along the way and..."
"Make haste, my brother!" Sharrum yelled, a hand raised to clasp onto my wrist and squeeze it with surprising tenderness. "And may your road be clear of dangers, but not of challenges! Kynareth be with you, and you too fair fruit of the forest!"
Berry groaned, and then kicked the flanks of her horse to rush ahead once more.
"Umbra," Ralvas said, his expression utterly serious as I looked back at him, our eyes locking up in a challenge of gazes. "Promise me you won't die."
"Because you need me to tell on you with Willow?" I said as I shook my head in disbelief.
"Exactly," Ralvas smiled. "Let's go Sharrum," he said next to the Orsimer beneath him, and as the duo began to walk, I kicked Fury's flanks and rushed to close the distance with Berry, coming to match her speed as both horses galloped along the cobblestone road on our way to Ivarstead.
I hoped whatever we would meet on our path wouldn't be as fast as our horses.
The telling sound of a dragon's roar not five minutes later told me everything I needed to know about my luck in this world.
It was non-existent.
