The Gift of Akatosh - Part 4

So, another chapter. Sorry for the delay. I kinda needed a break from writing for a few days. However, now we're getting to the point of the story where I might need to replay some segments of it. So updates might not be so frequent. Still, it's not like I'm adhering to some posting schedule or something. I post when I have a chapter and that's it.

Enjoy!

After a climb up a mountain, they were finally standing at the foot of the structure known as the Bleak Falls Barrow. Before they could start climbing up the stairs leading to the entrance though, an arrow whizzed past them.

“Looks like we have company,” Martin commented.

He summoned his Bound Bow – still very grateful that the Hero taught him this spell – took aim and shot a bandit that was charging at them. Riku, meanwhile, was hiding behind a pillar and flinging shock spells at the archer that surprised them. So far, it didn’t seem to have much effect, but at least the archer was forced to dodge every few seconds, thus making it hard for him to aim his bow.

Martin glanced Riku’s way and decided that he was holding his own quite well for now and then turned towards the third and last bandit that was charging at him. He dodged out of the way of a fire spell and dismissed his bow, drawing his sword with one hand and casting a magic ward spell with the other instead. The ward wouldn’t hold against anything too powerful but from what he saw so far, these bandits only knew a few of the basic spells.

The bandit swung his ax at Martin and he sidestepped the swing, slashing and managing to catch the bandit on the arm. It was only a small wound but it made the bandit angry and even more predictable.

Martin dodged out of the way of another swing of the ax and dropped the ward. Instead, he charged a strong fire spell, the Magnetic Flux. Another one the Hero taught him, claiming it was the most powerful fire spell there was. And yet, he never learned where the Hero learned it.

Instead of dodging the next swing, Martin let the spell fly and it hit its intended target full force, forcing him to stagger back, screaming in pain as he was engulfed in a fiery storm. Martin kept the fire going until the bandit dropped dead and then let it fade away.

Letting himself catch his breath for a second or two, Martin then turned toward where Riku and the last bandit were still going at it. Both were panting, Riku from exhaustion, and the bandit from being singed in several places. Martin wanted to just re-summon his Bound Bow and finish the bandit, but at the same time, he knew that with the war going on and now the dragon, Riku would be forced to kill sooner or later. And right here, right now, at least he wouldn’t have to go through it alone. So he got ready to step in if it became necessary to protect the kid but waited to see what would happen first.

He didn’t have to wait long. He saw the glint of an idea in Riku’s eyes, saw his right hand go for the dagger, and understood what was going to happen. And just as expected, when the bandit dodged the latest lightning, he dodged it directly into the path of a flying ebony dagger that embedded itself in his throat.

Riku slumped down, exhausted and Martin made his way over to him, retrieving the dagger on the way.

“How are you holding up?” he asked the kid.

“I… I don’t know…” Riku admitted.

“That’s normal. And unlike me, you at least have a chance to process what just happened.”

“What do you mean?” Riku looked up at him.

“My first kill was after I escaped Kvatch with the Hero. We have just arrived at Weynon Priory and it was overrun with Mythic Dawn assassins and while they were enemies, they also were, in the end, just people. However, the way those events played out, I simply didn’t have a chance to process things…” Martin explained.

“So what happens now?” asked Riku.

“Now you tell me, honestly, if you are ready to continue or not.”

Riku thought about it for a moment before replying.

“I think I’ll be okay as long as I’m with you.”

“Alright,” Martin nodded, handed Riku his dagger back, and when the boy put it back in its sheath, he offered a hand to him. Riku grasped it and let Martin pull him to his feet.

Then they turned toward the entrance to the barrow and started walking.

Martin slowly pushed the gate open and they slipped inside. The entry hall was a huge cavern-like room with a high ceiling and partially crumbled pillars to support it. In the distance, they could see a small campfire and several voices drifted over.

“More bandits,” Martin guessed based on the conversation.

“I’m ready,” Riku said in response, steely resolve in his voice.

“Alright, let’s get closer,” Martin nodded, and slowly, they crept forward, hiding In the shadows.

“One of them has a bow,” Riku commented when they were close enough to see their enemies.

“Do you want to take him on or do you prefer I take him down?” Martin asked quietly.

“If you would…” Riku trailed off uncertainly.

“Sure,” Martin nodded.

Then he summoned his Bound Bow and let an arrow fly at the bandit woman with the bow. This, of course, gave away his position, but he managed to fire off one more shot and taking down the other bandit, thus ending the combat before it even properly started.

“Look, chest,” Riku suddenly pointed.

“Let’s see what’s inside,” Martin nodded.

Riku happily skipped to the chest and tried to open it. It wouldn’t budge.

“Let me?” Martin let a spell dance in his hand.

“Oh, the unlocking spell?” Riku smiled.

“Yes,” Martin said and touched the lock with his hand and muttered the correct word.

The lock clicked open and Riku eagerly opened the chest.

Iside were a few gold coins as well as several steel arrows.

“Teach me how to shoot?” Riku asked as he grabbed the arrows.

“Sure,” Martin nodded and then went to loot the bow from the female bandit.

After showing Riku how to properly hold the bow and how to nock the arrow, they continued down the corridor and deeper into the barrow.

 

A short few turns and twists later, they saw a man going down a corridor. Before they could decide if it was better to just follow from a distance or outright kill him, as he was definitely with the bandits they eliminated in the first room, the man entered a chamber and pulled a lever located in the middle of it.

Immediately, darts shot from hidden contraptions around the room and killed the man before he could so much as blink in shock.

“Guess we need a different lever to open the gate…” muttered a shocked Riku.

“I think it’s going to be a little more complicated than that…” Martin answered as they stepped into the chamber.

“Why?” Riku asked.

“Look there,” Martin pointed to the side where there were three pillars that looked like they could be turned. “I think you need to put them in the correct combination before pulling the lever.”

“But what is that combination?”

Martin looked around the room, thinking. At first, nothing seemed like it could hold the answer they needed.

“Look!” Martin was interrupted by Riku’s shout. “I found a healing potion!”

Martin looked up at where Riku was standing by an ancient bookshelf. And then he saw it.

“And I think I have the answer to the puzzle.

“Really?”

“Yes, look here,” Martin pointed when the boy joined him again. “See the heads? The symbols on them correspond to the symbols on the pillars. One head is missing, but if you look, you can see that it’s just fallen down. The symbol on it is still legible. So, the correct answer is Snake, Snake, and a Fish.”

“Okay,” nodded Riku and made his way to the pillars and started turning them.

“Done?” Martin asked after a moment.

“Yes!”

“Then now it’s the moment of truth.” He turned toward the lever and pulled it.

The gate slid up, letting them through.

They continued walking through and after rounding a corner, they could see a chest sitting in a corner of the chamber. On the other side was a way down to a lower level of the barrow.

“Do you think it’s locked?” Riku asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Martin answered.

Riku nodded and skipped to the chest. He tried to open it and it did. Easily. Peering inside, he saw a few gold pieces, a weird looking gem, and a dagger.

“Anything interesting?” Martin wondered over.

“There’s some gold, a weird gem, and a dagger. Looks like steel,” Riku answered.

“Weird gem?” Martin asked.

“Yeah… Look,” he held the gem out to Martin who took it and examined it.

“Looks like a soul gem,” he said after a while. “The Hero would always carry at least fifteen of those on him at any given time, sometimes more.”

He pocketed the gem and looked at the dagger.

“Definitely steel. Do you want it? You could use it as a throwing weapon,” he offered.

“I’ll keep it as a backup for now,” Riku decided and strapped it on the opposite side of the ebony dagger.

 

They continued and after descending a spiral walkway and killing a giant rat Riku said was called a skeever, they could hear a voice shouting not too far ahead of them.

“Is… Is that you guys?! Did you f-follow me after a-… H… Help! It’s coming back! Please somebody kill it!”

“Kill what?” Riku whispered.

“We’ll find out,” Martin answered. “Let’s go.”

They continued forward and found themselves facing a thickly spun spiderweb blocking their way.

“Know any fire spells?” Martin asked Riku.

“No, the only spell I know is that lightning spell I learned recently,” answered Riku. “Do you know any?”

“You’ve seen one in action already,” Martin answered.

“Oh…” Riku looked sheepish.

“But it’s a bit showy. I’m thinking that maybe we should just cut through the web. That way, it’s less likely that whatever is on the other side will immediately know our presence.”

“Okay,” Riku pulled out his dagger and set to work.

Martin joined him with his sword and after a minute or so of hacking at the webs, they created an opening big enough for them to slip through without getting tangled in the webs.

Martin looked around but at first, couldn’t see any possible enemy. The only thing he could see was a man caught in a web blocking the doorway to the next passage.

“Above us!” Riku suddenly shouted and Martin had just enough time to step out of the way of a gigantic spider that dropped from an opening in the ceiling.

Martin wasted no time summoning his magic and unleashing a torrent of fire at the spider. It shrieked and charged at him, but he managed to jump out of the way at the last moment, slashing at one of the spider’s legs in the process. In the meantime, Riku charged his own spell and hit the spider from behind. It turned and started advancing toward him, but stopped and turned back to Martin when he shot it with his Bound Bow. He let the bow dissipate and then unleashed the Magnetic Flux again. This time from both his hands for even more burning power. e HH

The spider reared back, shrieking and tried to evade the fire, but Martin followed it.

And while all that was happening, Riku got an idea. He took out the bow he just recently got and nocked an arrow. Then, he charged his lightning spell and engulfed the arrow with it. He took careful aim, deciding on the upper body instead of the legs or even the head, as he was not yet that good a shot, and let the arrow fly.

The arrow went slightly off course but luckily didn’t miss completely. Instead of hitting the torso, it actually hit the head of the beast. It effectively fried the monster’s brain, thus killing it.

“Nice shot,” Martin said as he canceled his spells and watched the spider drop to the ground.

“I was aiming for the torso though,” Riku admitted.

“Just call it a lucky shot for now. I’m sure that soon, you’ll be able to make a shot like that on purpose. Good idea with the lightning spell on the arrow. Sometimes, I wish I had an actual bow as spells like that don’t work with a Bound Bow.”

“Okay.” Riku nodded and smiled at Martin.

Then he went to retrieve his arrow.

“Well, that’s great, but can you cut me down now?” an annoyed voice spoke from the spiderweb.

The duo turned to the trapped man.

“Should we?” Riku asked.

“Can’t move forward with that web in the way anyway,” Martin answered and lifted one hand to again summon the fire and burn through the web.

“Well, that’s definitely faster than trying to cut through it,” Riku commented.

“Yes, but it also gives away your position more easily.”

Before any of them could say anything else, the web was destroyed and the man dropped to the ground. He was still for a split second, but then bolted down the corridor.

“The treasure will be all mine!” they could hear him shouting.

“He’ll get himself killed…” Martin deadpanned.

“Shouldn’t we follow him?” Riku asked.

“I’m not going to run blindly after him. That’s the best way to get yourself killed,” Martin announced and started walking in the direction the man bolted to.

“Okay,” shrugged Riku and followed after Martin.