Alanya wondered who the people Sereth was babbling about were, even as she looked to see the Skeletons parting again to make way for another Skeleton to enter. The new Skeleton wore an old iron cuirass, unlike the other Skeletons, and had a sword and a shield in hand as it approached Alanya. Upon reaching her, the armored Skeleton bowed and took Alanya's hand, raising it to its fleshless mouth in an oddly endearing facsimile of the knightly practice of kissing a lady's hand.
" ... Mister Deadroth?" Alanya asked, rhetorically.
The armored Skeleton nodded solemnly, letting Alanya's hand go.
"When you last met, Araes was using a bow with paralyzing arrows, I believe," Sereth said. "Not his usual ammunition but it's what was on hand in the tomb."
" ..." Alanya remembered her encounter with No Eyes Deadshot Pete, the Skeleton Archer who had almost killed her, back in her days before Caius Cossades, and the Sixth House ...
"It was a most impressive victory on your part," Sereth continued. "No living folk had managed to get the drop on Araes for the last two hundred and seventy years - he was this close to making the Thousand Club too - the guy who lost Mentor's Ring in that tomb had been his nine hundred and ninety ninth clean kill without getitng killed again himself ..."
Alanya blushed. " ... Um, sorry ..." she whispered, a feeling of dread returning as she contemplated how Araes probably felt about her ruining his record ...
"Ah relax; Araes is a perfect gentleman," Sereth chuckled. "But still - you can see why we had to have the two of you face each other again, right? Everyone's anxious to hear about this fight; we've got some very rare artifacts on hand to capture every blow and exchange for posterity and the competition for being on hand in person was something fierce ..."
Alanya said "No, no, I understand ..." as she looked around the room, seeing the Skeletons looking back at her expectantly. " ... Um, I ..."
"Not to worry, Miss Alanya," Sereth said benevolently. "Just this once, we're bending the rules; if you beat Araes you're free to go without having to face the rest of us. Heck, we'll even tell you the locations of a couple of tombs where some useful artifacts lay waiting for someone as adventurous as you; you'll still have to get past their guardians but I can assure you, they won't try all that hard to kill you."
" ... That's very generous of you," Alanya replied. " ... If I may ask a favor of you, though ..."
"Hmm?" Sereth inquired.
" ... Well, you see," Alanya said as demurely and politely as she could, "I came here looking for the skull of one of your people; it has certain magical inscriptions I need to recover ..."
For a moment, Alanya wondered if she just made a mistake; Sereth began figiting and the assembled Skeletons shifted uneasily. Alanya opened her mouth to retract her request, figuring that she'd just try to come back for the skull in a few weeks, but Sereth raised his hands and answered " ... Talk to me after the fight, if you win; we'll discuss Lleevule's skull then."
"Thank you," Alanya said gratefully, feeling a small wave of relief.
"Anyway," Sereth said, more loudly than before," it's time for the Main Event! In light of the cramped conditions in here, and since Araes really needs to work on his sword technique some, this will be a melee fight."
The Skeleton who had taken Alanya's spear returned it to her with a slight bow; Alanya took it and looked over at Araes, who was readying his sword and shield and taking up a defensive stance.
"Let the best fighter prevail!" Sereth announced grandly, as the surrounding Skeletons began banging their swords against their shields to provide the proper ambience.
Araes and Alanya began circling one another, Araes with his shield and sword raised in a classic Dunmer defensive fighting stance, Alanya crouched low in her self-taught defensive style. Occasionally, Araes's sword would flick out at Alanya's head, but she bobbed and weaved to avoid it, or turned the blade aside with her spear; Alanya followed up with light, probing pokes of her own, but Areas's shield turned away any jabs whcih got too close to him.
This feeling out went on for some moments, neither opponent commiting early on to a major offensive, and soon both Araes and Alanya began moving in response to each other, rather than simply circling. Alanya would step forward, Araes would slide to the left; Alanya pulled back a step and then slid to her right, Areas would pull back; Alanya moved forward, Areas raised his shield; Alanya stepped back ...
This dance couldn't last forever, however, and it was Alanya who made the first major offensive move. Determining that Araes was somewhat slow to get his shield in position to defend his lower body, Alanya weaved for a bit, and then made a series of strong strikes at Araes's legs. Araes, however, had anticipated her strategy and had in fact been feigning slowness in lowering his shield to block low ...
Alanya realized she had fallen for a trap too late, and her spear skidded off the lower edge of Araes's shield, just as he brought down his sword in an overhand chop. Alanya twisted, unable to bring her spear back in time to parry, and tried to use her chitin armor's paudrons to deflect the blow; the sword bit into her shoulder armor and made Alanya stagger a bit even with her crouch. Araes brought his sword back up for another blow, but Alanya brought her spear into a parrying position in time to counter - however, she was in no position to attack, and Araes took advantage of Alanaya's prediciment to bowl her over with a short shield rush.
Rolling with the rush as best she could, Alanya got back to her feet in time to dodge three slashes to her chest and to parry a fourth. Pressing Araes's sword down, she whipped her spear in a bludgeoning swipe, forcing her weapon against Araes's shield; strong as he was, he was still only a skeleton with a simple iron cuirass, and Alanya managed to force him back three steps. Pulling her spear back into line, Alanya feinted low, then went for a high strike to Araes's head, but the Skeleton Archer Knight was too good to fool; again Alanya's speartip skidded across his shield, though this time Alanya was able to jump back to avoid Araes's counter stab.
Warily, the two opponents began circling one another again; Alanya found herself breathing rather hard, and realized she needed to conserve her energy more if she was to win this fight. Araes's defense, however, seemed to be too good for her to get around, unless she threw herself into the attack - but if she miscalculated, she'd pay for it ...
Araes took the second offensive, dashing forward suddenly; Alanya tried to sidestep but couldn't move fast enough to avoid the charge. Araes's shield pushed Alanya's spear out of line and then swung at Alanya's head in a backhand blow; Alanya saw stars as she got smacked in the head, then cried out in pain as Araes's sword slashed acrosss her abdomen ...
Alanya doubed over from the pain, and Araes raised his sword to finish Alanya, but the Breton lass threw herself to the ground and rolled away, trailing blood. Araes chased after Alanya, stabbing down at her, not giving her a moment to recover, and his sword caught her in the arm, drawing more blood. In desperation, Alanya threw herself into a bodycheck at Araes's legs and bowled him over; the Skeleton hit the ground with a clang and tried to swipe at Alanya's legs, but Alanya jumped out of the way, casting a healing spell on herself to dull the pain and staunch the bleeding.
Turning back to her opponent, Alanya saw that Araes had regained his feet - however, he caught her off-guard by slinging his shield at her, discus style. She ducked the flying shield, but her dodge gave Araes a chance to leap at her, closing the distance; the Skeleton proved himself to be an agile warrior by rolling into a swipe at Alanya's legs and moving away before Alanya could counter. Alanya felt his sword graze her thigh and growled angrily, charigng him despite the pain ...
Araes's shield skidded across the floor at Alanya; the Skeleton warrior had rolled towards it and pushed it back at her. Alanya tripped over the shield, and went into another roll to recover, losing her spear this time. She heard Araes's sword whizzing through the air and moved instinctively; she was rewarded by the sound of metal biting into stone instead of flesh ...
Unarmed, Alnaya kicked at Araes as hard as she could, wishing she had worked on her hand to hand combat more since getting out of prision. Luck was with her this time, however, and her kick sent Araes back - right to his shield, which he promptly scooped up.
Alanya cast another healing spell on herself as she dashed to recover her spear; Araes's slash at her head seemed perfunctory, more a formality than an actual attempt to kill her. As she grabbed her spear and returned to her crouched stance, she saw Araes raise his sword to salute her.
Panting with exertion, Alanya raised her spear to return the salute; the other skeletons, quiet save for their shield banging until now, gave voice to a low, whistling sound, that Alanya guessed was meant to be a cheer.
"You'e doing great Miss Alanya," Sereth said encouragingly. "You've gotten Araes good and warmed up ..."
------
This fight was different from her fight with Dagoth Fovon, Alanya realized as she and Araes began exchanging parries and thrusts once more. Fovon had charged her like a rabid animal, and she had responded in kind; their battle was brutal and frenzied, and lightning quick in retrospect, both parties caring only for killing the other. Araes was different; his attacks, even his seemingly wild ones, were calculated and controlled, his pace deliberate instead of frantic, and, Alanya slowly came to realize, his intentions less focused on killing her and more on the simple fact of the fight itself ...
This warrior was less trying to kill her and more trying to best her, despite the lethal nature of his strikes. Or perhaps not even best her so much as test her - or himself, against her ... in any case, Alanya could see herself fighting alongside of Araes as easily as they fought against each other now; she couldn't possibly envision herself fighting alongside Fovon like that.
It was an interesting realization, to say the least; in some way, Alanya took comfort in it. Less comforting was the realization that Araes was a better fighter than she was, even if his reactions did seem to be a touch rusty - but rusty or not, anything she tried, he seemed to have something in response. She needed something new, or else she needed to do something desperate that would take him by surprise, and not get her killed in the process ...
Araes's sword bit into Alanya's spear yet again, leaving its mark; Alanya noted with dismay that both her spear and her armor were starting to show major signs of wear and tear. Her spear, at least, had the advantage of the enchantment, which she hadn't called upon yet; her armor though had no such advantage. She needed to evade more effectively, lest she find her chitin breaking at a bad time and leaving her dead.
Time was running out, Alanya realized; she needed that something now.
As she parried yet another slash and made yet another series of pokes, Alanya assessed Araes's equipment; his sword was holding up better than her spear, blast it, and his cuirass looked like it could take another day's worth of punishment. His shield, though ...
His shield was showing the effects of both Alanya's parried attacks and Araes's unorthodox attacks from before; if she could wear the shield down before he wore down her spear or her stamina, she could break through it with the enchantment on her spear ...
It was something; hopefully it was the right something.
Araes's sword whistled through the air at Alanya's head; she ducked and leapt back to avoid his backhand follow up. Areas, though, was shaking off his rustiness by this point, his advancing steps seeming to take him left when he was really moving right, and Alanya proved unable to dodge the third swipe, taking another blow to her armor. Chitin groaned in protest and began to crack, and blood slowly seeped from the new wound in her side.
Araes saw the crack in Alanya's armor and swung at it again, intending to take advantage of this hole in Alanya's defenses. Alanya started to parry but checked herself; she needed to keep her spear in workable condition for her plan and Araes was putting a lot of power into these attacks. For her hesitation, she earned another cut, one above the crack in her armor; the chitin groaned and cracked again, and Alanya realized with sick certainty that her cuirass was going to give out any blow now, assuming she didn't lose enough blood to keel over ...
However, she had her plan of attack fully worked now, and threw herself wholy on the defensive, staying close to the walls as much as she could. When Araes struck at her, she let his sword hit the walls, and more often than not, she was rewarded by the clang of metal against stone, and a small shower of stone chips. After the third such missed strike, Araes pulled back, realizing that Alanya was luring him to break his own weapon, and in that moment Alanya got off a third healing spell, giving her a new rush of energy.
Araes moved back to the center of the room, waiting for Alanya to follow; Alanya stayed frustratingly near the walls, however, luring Areas closer to her once more. Still, the Skeleton warrior was not out of tricks; he managed to draw Alanya into a feint, going for the damaged side of her armor before suddenly reversing and catching her flat-footed with a swipe to her face; Alanya could only pull her spear up and parry, and both weapons showed the effects of that clash.
Araes staggered slightly - the only sign he showed thus far of suffering from fatigue - but he recovered and aimed a thrust at Alanya's abdomen. Sensing that it was now or never, Alanya tensed her perfect legs and jumped, flipping over Araes and landing ready to thrust. Araes whirled around, his shield leading to block ...
... and Alanya popped her spear's enchantment and thrust forward, throwing her whole body into the attack.
Enchanted Daedric steel ripped through worn iron; Araes's shield shattered with a screech of tortured metal. Alanya's spear, with her whole strength behind it, continued forward and similarly shattered Araes's shield arm before puncturing his iron cuirass. Any counterattack was lost as the force of Alanya's thrust knocked Araes backward, bowling him right over; Alanya herself, unable to stop her forward momentum, slammed into the wall with a grunt - but she managed to trample Araes in the process, and this time it was Araes who lost his weapon.
Alanya looked down at her fallen opponent, seeing him looking back up at her with calm resignation plain in his body language. Slowly, he brought his good arm up, and saluted her once more ...
... and Alanya returned the salute, raised her spear ...
... and used it as a crutch to support herself, as she reached down to lift Araes off the ground. And the entire tomb trembled with the sound of Skeletons banging wildly against any surface they could, for they lacked lungs and could not otherwise give voice to the resounding cheer each of them had to let out.
------
"What skill, what valor," Sereth said enthusiastically, casting healing spells on both Alanya and Araes. "And what honor, sparing a fallen opponent; you do all Bretons and indeed all Outlanders credit Miss Alanya, and you have given us all something to talk about for decades ..."
Alanya smiled; the whole mood in the tomb was celebratory, as Skeletons danced about and made vauge gurgling sounds in a damn good approximation of drunken singing. One Skeleton even produced a fine bottle of Cyrodiilic Brandy a descendant had left for the ancestors, and had thrust it into Alanya's hands, insisting that she drink it. Grinning, Alanya took a swig, producing more faux-cheering from the crowd.
"Seriously, that was quite the duel," Sereth continued. "Araes offers his heartfelt contratulations for your victory and his thanks for the honor of fighting such a skilled warrior; I shall have to give you a copy of a sign language primer so that you and he can exchange pleasantries properly, and we must, absolutely must , think about another bout between you two in a decade or two ..."
"If I'm still alive by then, I'd be happy to I'm sure," Alanya said, sounding amused. "You'll forgive me if I demur from any more such duels in the near future though; I've been having way too many near-death brushes this last week alone ..."
"Hmm, well, I've no idea what the Breton Afterlife is like so you have a good point," Sereth chuckled. "There; you're both good as new ... well, almost. Araes, you're going to want to watch that arm for a while ..."
Alanya put her hand on Araes's shoulder, using what remaining magicka she had to add a small healing spell of her own to Sereth's efforts. "Nest time, maybe we should stick with practice weapons?" she suggested with a small, demure smile.
Araes took Alanya's hand and brought it to his fleshless lips once again, nodding solemnly. He seemed to be grinning - more so than usual, for a skeleton.
"Anyway," Sereth said, his tone growing more somber, "there's a little bit more for you and I to do now, Miss Alanya; if you would come with me ..."
------
"You've proven yourself to be both skilled and honorable," Sereth told Alanya as the approached a door deep in the bowels of the tomb. "That goes a long way in my book, but for Llevule's skull, we need a little bit more ..."
"I understand," Alanya said quietly, thinking to herself that everyone required a favor nowadays, even the dead. "What can I do for you?"
Sereth chuckled. "I think you're misunderstanding me a bit, Miss Alanya," he said, throwing open the door. "You want Llevule's skull; I think it's only proper to bring the matter up with Llevule himself. And here we are ..."
The room was like any other one would expect to find in a Dunmer tomb, including the ash pit; the only oddity was the skull sitting in the center of the pit, mystical symblos adorning its crown. Nonetheless, Alanya felt slightly uneasy; she could feel another difference in this room ...
Sereth began chanting quietly, and an aura of magic permeated the room. The symbols on the skull began to glow softly with a while light, and the skull floated up into the air, a full, glowing skeletal body forming underneath it.
"Miss Alanya," Sereth said formally, "may I present, Llevule Andrano, former journeyman of your Empire's Mage Guild."
------
I am given to understand that you have wish of my surviving earthly remains, came a ghostly voice from within the skull. You have shown yourself to be a most singular woman, Alanya of High Rock, and for this reason I am inclined to listen to your case, but I ask of you that you tell myself and my honored ancestor Sereth the full reasons why you have come here, seeking my skull.
Alanya took a deep breath. " ... I have been tasked with learning more about the Sixth House and the Nerevarine prophecies," she said to Llevule. "I agreed to retrieve your skull for a Mage Guild member, one Sharn gra-Muzgob, in exchange for her knowledge on the Nerevarine prophecies."
Both Sereth and Llevule were quiet for a moment ...
An Osimer seeks my skull? Llevule said finally. Is this ... mage ... a Necromancer ...
Alanya frowned. " ... She might be," she said reluctantly. "I've no proof of it ..."
I see ... Llevule said.
Sereth sighed. "Why are you seeking information on these topics, Miss Alanya?" he asked, his tone that of a man trying to find justification for something he didn't like. "Neither are exactly matters you'd expect Outlanders to be interested in ... well okay, the Sixth House I could see ..."
Alanya looked down at her feet. " ... I was told to seek the information out," she said, " ... and I owe the person asking a debt. That, and ... I've met the Sixth House ..."
We know, Llevule told Alanya. Your destruction of the nearby Hassour was noticed by those of us in the Afterlife.
"You did a good thing by wrecking that place," Sereth said, vehemence creeping into his normally-friendly tone. "You saw what those bastards do to the minds and bodies of our descendants; what you didn't see and don't want to see is what they do to their souls. Really messed-up, let's leave it at that. Some of them, we can fix in the Afterlife, but the ones who became Ash Creatures ..."
It is not pleasant for us to see our loved ones twisted into such evil forms, Llevule concurred. If we could do more to act against the Sixth House, we would; as it is though, they are still Dunmer, and they can still call upon their ancestors to protect and aid them, no matter how misguided we know they are ...
"We're caught in a no-win situation," Sereth growled. "We can't directly do anything; hell, if those Sixth House bastards call on us, we have to protect them, same as we protect these tombs. It's not healthy for anyone, and it's only been getting worse with each passing year ..."
"They're attacking us Outlanders," Alanya said quietly. "They've declared war; I've heard this from the lips of one of their priests ..."
If it ultimately means that you, or your mysterious benefactor, can take action against the Sixth House, Llevule said solemnly, then I assent to donate my skull to this Shrarn gra-Muzgob; there are ways to deal with Necromancers ...
"... And she may not be as bad as she sounds," Sereth said with a cough - a distinct oddity for someone lacking lungs. "In any event, Miss Alanya, we ask one more thing of you before we conclude this transaction ..."
Alanya looked At Sereth and nodded. "Yes?"
"Whenever you come across the Sixth House," Sereth said, vehemence returning to his voice, "Wipe Them Out. Send them back to us to deal with; we'll heal the souls that can be saved and we'll ... deal ... with the ones that can't. But do not let them remain free to taint our descendants any further."
Alanya felt her emotions rushing through her. "For my people and for yours," she said, trembling slightly with the power of her conviction, "I will destroy any Sixth House creature I find ..."
The glowing skeleton slowly faded, and Llevule's skull floated into Alanya's hands. Sereth nodded grimly.
"I will teach you the sign language we use, that you may converse with my fellow guardians in other tombs," he told Alanya. "Not all of them are as ... fun-loving ... as we are here, but enough of them are, and your name will become known to many after tonight. Also, I will share with you the secret location of two rings of legend - the Ring of Denstagmer and the Ring of Phynaster; these two rings combined will give you decent protection against magical attacks of all types, epsecially lightning damage - the most favored attack spell of the Sixth House monstrosities."
"Thank you," Alanya said, smiling gratefully.
"Thank you, Miss Alanya," Sereth said, smiling back.
------
"Remember," Sereth told her as he escorted Alanya to the tomb entrance, "mum's the word; our descendants don't react well to the idea that their beloved ancestral guardians can get bored out of their skulls and crave a little excitement now and then. They'll learn when they reach the Afterlife and until then, better they not give themselves headaches thinking about this ..."
"I'll keep quiet," Alanya promised. " ... Thanks, again. For everything."
"Our pleasure, Miss Alanya," Sereth said. "Don't be a stranger now; chat with our fellow guardians when you meet them, share the latest news, and don't worry about them trying to kill you - none of us are gonna hold it personal against you. Well, maybe the Ashlander spirits; they tend to remain grumpy even in death, but for the most part, you're Good People in our book."
"Same here," Alanya answered, giving Sereth a hug. " ... Hope to see you again, and Araes too. I'll stop by later ..."
Sereth coughed a little, and Alanya swore in the odd moonlight that he was ... blushing. "Might not be here; rotating duty details and all that," he said, harumphing a little. "But we'll be in touch, don't you worry. Now, git; go enjoy the living world while you're still breathing."
Alanya laughed, and Recalled back to her cave, smiling as she drifed off to sleep.
Immediately following the events in this Chapter, Alanya ended up getting a little sidetracked before learning of her next mission for Caius. You can read about her digressions in the Side Story Rewards of Heroism.
Return to the Previous Chapter
Go On to the Next Chapter
Return to the Main Story Main Page
Return to the Home Page