Two Graves - The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna

Chapter 20: Scorched Earth

Heavy clouds were hanging low across the dark night's sky, promising a furious snowstorm to erupt soon. The Dunmer were treading slowly through the knee high snow, the horse at their side carried the dead vampires. "This forest looked a whole lot different in daylight.", Brelyna began to speak. "It has to be around here somewhere." A faint orange glow appeared over a hill in the distance. "Look!" She pointed at it. Then she quickly stuck her hands back under her armpits. "Damnit, it's cold."

As the light drew closer, faint music could be heard. Brelyna began to wonder. "This man they called the Unliving... What is he all about?" "Necromancer." was the short reply. "All right? Got anything else?" A moment passed "He was always there... his plan, his men." "He was their leader? The man Frokwulf was writing the journal for?" Nephiah nodded, her face showing the discomfort of bringing the images to memory. "All right, so I asked around. Siegalf has been a hired sword for as long as people remembered him. There were some grim tales of him doing despicable things. Apparently anything was acceptable for the right amount of gold." Nephiah didn't hear anything that was new to her. "So I've been thinking. Maybe you don't kill him right away. Maybe we could ask him about his former employer first? See if he knows how to find him?" Nephiah looked to her side and nodded. Talking to the man had never occurred to her, she was pleasantly surprised by the idea.

Snow began to fall, a few flakes at first, the promised storm followed soon after. The roof of the hall appeared over the horizon, Brelyna stopped the horse. Nephiah pulled the corpses down and grabbed them by the collars, one in each hand. She looked at her mage, her face asking for instructions. "Let's sneak up and have a look through the window first. See what we're up against." The corpses were dropped, they carefully moved up the hill until they reached a window. Nephiah's breathing had begun to intensify as soon as the entire hall was revealed and the sound of song and laughter from inside had gotten louder. She took a quick look through the iced up glass. The hall was packed with Vigilants, a few of them mages, many of them armed with steel swords and maces. She sunk to the ground, pressed her back against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut as her breathing got deeper, her heartbeat faster.

"Nephiah!", she noticed a whispered shout. She quickly opened her eyes and looked into the direction of its origin. Big, worried eyes looked at her. "Remember what we are here to do!" Her face was gently taken hold of by two soft hands. "You are in control now!" She shut her eyes and nodded quickly, trying to calm down. After a moment of conscious deep breathing, her heartbeat slowed down a little, she took another look inside. "Do you see Siegalf anywhere?" She did. He was sitting at a table in the middle, a Vigilant sitting to both his left and right. If they were to defend him, it would be a tough fight. She already pondered ways to quell their numbers before any actual fighting could begin. Him. And the two at his table. She could knock them out before anyone would have a chance to react. Then it would only be ten of them. The fight was playing in front of her eyes, movements planned, reactions anticipated. "Nephiah!" She was drawn back to reality. "Remember. Don't kill him until we have our answers." Nephiah looked at her, the expression on her face showing her need for action. "Just... just let me do the talking." Nephiah's face now informed her of the redundancy of that last remark. Brelyna gave off a short laugh. "All right. Go get the decoy, I'll be inside. It's freezing out here."

Brelyna stepped up to the door as her warrior disappeared down the hill. She took a few deep breaths, she was nervous. She had seen Nephiah do what she does often enough to know that she was about to enter an unpredictable battlefield. This hall of song and chatter would soon be a room of chaos and violence in which luck would dictate who walks out and who doesn't. Never mind that they were outnumbered six to one. She ran through her spells once more, remembering the many weeks she practiced. "Don't screw this up, Brelyna.", she said to herself. She took another deep breath and pushed the door open.