Scales and Hearts | A Skyrim Fanfiction

Chapter Fifteen: Ustengrav

Derkeethus

As the threshold of Ustengrav was opened and we treaded inside, Druthza and I were quickly greeted by the strong scent of rot, one strong enough to make my eyes water as we reeled back, Druthza covering her nose. "Waxhuthi..." she groaned, gazing at the decaying body of a bandit just off to our right. "That reeks... are there more necromancers in here?"

"There's only one way to find out," I murmured, keeping my voice low so as not to alert anything (or anyone) nearby, giving her a nod to continue. "Let us keep going." I then grabbed my bow from my back, as well as an arrow from my quiver, already preparing myself for what lay ahead of us, down those stone steps.

We both assumed a crouched position and proceeded forward slowly, finding ourselves in the first chamber of the ruins, a swooping stone arch supported by thick stone pillars the first thing that caught my eye before I saw the blazing light of a brazier up ahead and behind another stone pillar, the echoing clicks of pickaxes against rock sparking my intrigue. Miners? Why here?

There was also a set of stone steps next to the stone pillar leading up to something, probably nothing, but that wasn't my immediate concern as I heard something up ahead.

"...these thralls of yours are slower than Argonians in a blizzard," came a sharp, haughty masculine voice in the dark, a hooded figure near the brazier turning its head in response. "Feel free to grab a pick and help them out, then. I prefer not to sully myself with manual labor."

Their conversation went on as we snuck further into the chamber, with Druthza crouching behind the stone steps and I assuming a position behind the pillar, ignoring the body slumped against it as I nocked my arrow and pulled the bowstring taut, steadying myself with a deep, quiet breath through my nose as I aimed at the female necromancer's hooded head.

Only to slowly let out the air in my lungs as I let the arrow fly, striking true to where I was aiming as the woman collapsed to the stone floor without so much as the sound of her skull cracking from the shot, as well the sound of clattering pickaxes as her thralls disintegrated. The male necromancer (quite possibly an elf, I know that accent anywhere) then abruptly turned to face her lifeless body. "Show yourself! I demand it!" He snapped at the surrounding chamber, seemingly studying the arrow and the direction it had come from, his eyes suddenly meeting mine as a dark glare overtook his firelit face. "Aha! Found you!"

I moved quickly, my bow returning to my back as I suddenly withdrew my pickaxe and whirled around the pillar to face the necromancer, the harsh noise that was Druthza's snarling reaching my ears as she bolted up to my side, steel war axe drawn as we both wasted no time in swiftly dispatching the elf, leaving him full of gashes and savage puncture wounds moments later.

I kept my weapon out as we both looked around the chamber, Druthza's golden eyes catching fire in the brazier's light as she looked at me. "There's a chest just over there," she flicked a claw at the brazier, which now that we were in view of, I could see that a simple wooden table was set up just next to it, the chest in question underneath that table. "You should see what's in it." She said, her raspy voice echoing in the chamber as I walked over to it, setting my bloodied pickaxe down as I crouched to take a look inside the chest, lifting the lid curiously.

Inside it was a steel mace, the four sharpened flanges that made up the head of the weapon shining dangerously as I picked it up, testing its weight in my hand. Huh... pleasantly heavy. I thought, promptly replacing the empty loop in my belt with my new weapon, then looked further into the chest, finding septims, a few uncut garnets, and what appeared to be a spell scroll.