Jerric's Story, A Nord's Adventures in Cyrodiil Options

[Grits]

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Chapter 16 Valley of Hopes, Part Four

Lildereth followed Aravi down into the ruin’s main entrance. The passageway was wide and clear of debris, lit from behind by daylight through the open doorway. When they reached a turn Lildereth saw dim white light ahead. Perhaps for thralls, she thought with an empty kind of hope. As far as she knew vampires could see in the dark. Her life detection spell showed that the chamber ahead was occupied, but it did not differentiate between a living being or something else still animated by soul energy. Lildereth made the gestures she and Aravi had agreed upon. Two figures, prone, in the lower left part of the room. Aravi nodded her understanding.

The corridor led to a large, open, rectangular chamber with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. A terraced ledge ran around two connecting sides, ten feet deep along the chamber’s length but wider along the short ends. Lildereth suspected that the stairs and railings had fallen so long ago that no trace remained. White stones glowed in shallow metal bowls on the ground level. Aravi crouched down to avoid notice. Lildereth followed suit.

A whiff of rot was in the air, noticeable but not overpowering. Lildereth wondered at the source. Had new vampires accidentally killed their cattle in a frenzy? Were living thralls given corpses to feed upon? She had seen all types of horrors in these remote lairs, but she hadn’t managed to make sense of most of them.

Aravi moved around to the right at an angle to Lildereth. The chamber had no support posts, but there were two doorways that provided access to the rest of the ruin. One of them lay beneath Aravi’s position, the other directly across from Lildereth. It was Lildereth’s job to warn Aravi of approaching life signs.

Lildereth crept forward at Aravi’s signal until she could see down into the rest of the room. Bones had been kicked into a pile against the wall. Several looked newly stripped of flesh. Swords hung on a weapons rack, and a hide spread out on the floor held the implements of their care. The room formed a pit trap. As Aravi had told them a vampire’s preternatural strength and agility would carry them easily from the floor to the balcony, but an injured or weakened mortal would be confined.

The life signs belonged to two unarmored humans lying on pallets against the left wall. Perhaps they were Bretons from the village. Lildereth looked to Aravi.

The Khajiit made a signal indicating that she thought they might be thralls. Lildereth would attempt to frighten them away with a spell as soon as they awoke. She felt a trickle of worry. They were nearly within reach of these folk but still might not be able to help them.

Lildereth laid out her arrows and readied her bow. No life signs approached. She called Fear to her hand, strengthening the spell with additional magicka in case these were villagers who possessed natural resistance. Her spell would fail if they had been turned to undead vampires. If only she had received her master level training she might be certain of breaking a thrall spell. Damn Martina and her damnable Welkynd stones!

A distant explosion sent dust sifting down from the ceiling. The two humans lurched upright. There would not be time to cast a series of spells. Lildereth sent her Fear out in a swirling fog, hoping to catch them both.

The woman retrieved a sword and moved toward the exit under Aravi’s position. The man hesitated, head cocked as if listening. The spells hadn’t worked.

“No good!” Lildereth called, earning their attention with Aravi’s. These two could not be allowed to join the fight deeper in the ruin, whether they might have been saved or not. Aravi's shot took the woman in the shoulder as Lildereth’s pierced her throat. Blood jetted out, black from disease or maybe just blackened by the low light. The woman fell tugging on Lildereth’s arrow. She did not try to heal herself. Either way the woman was finished.

No regrets, Lildereth told herself. Cold flashed over her skin. Part of her stepped away inside until it could be over.

The man took two steps toward the weapons rack, reaching for a blade. Someone deeper in the fort started shouting.

Lildereth shot the man under his outstretched arm, sending him against the wall with a grunt. Aravi’s arrow clattered against stone. The wound should have killed a mortal, but the man pushed himself up. Aravi’s bow sang out again, putting an arrow into his abdomen and then another over his shoulder. Lildereth waited as he thrashed back upright. Then her arrow pierced his neck.

Lildereth glanced over at her partner. Aravi leaned forward with her hand on a sword hilt, watching as the two bled out on the floor. If they were vampires their flesh would rapidly decompose once the energy that had animated them faded. Old vampires would fall into dust, but fledglings would only wither. Lildereth looked away, watching for life signs deeper in the ruin. She could not allow distraction to creep in. And whether or not these humans had been infected no longer mattered.

A handful of robust pink glows appeared through the walls in the distance, leaping toward them in a distinctive fashion. Rats. Lildereth signaled for Aravi to save her arrows. With the magicka from Jerric’s Juice still rising within her Lildereth didn’t need to conserve her spells. As each rat entered the chamber she turned it against its mates. She didn’t want to leave any of the vampires’ pets alive as potential allies.

Four rats soon lay dead on the floor. The survivor began to drag itself toward the door under Aravi’s position. The Khajiit’s arrow stopped it before Lildereth could raise her bow.

She had no chance to offer congratulations. One life sign was approaching toward the doorway under Aravi’s position. Another farther away but blazing with strength moved toward the entrance across from Lildereth. Her hand signal died half-expressed. The bright sign moved with shocking speed, making turns without slowing. Lildereth’s breath seized in her throat. This must be a vampire of terrible power.

She signaled its approach to Aravi. The Khajiit turned away for an instant, laying down her bow. The other approaching being was sprinting down the straight section of corridor that ran beneath Aravi. Lildereth watched for the signal that would tell if it was friend or foe. Panic iced her skin. Her gut told her that this was Darnand. But he didn’t make the signal.

The brilliant glow surged into the chamber below, its author invisible. “There!” Lildereth cried out, pointing. The figure burst into sight as it cast a shock spell at her. Lildereth flattened herself to the floor on the balcony’s edge. Lightning struck the wall behind her. She saw Aravi poised to leap. Darnand appeared in the doorway below the Khajiit, his hands filled with fire.

“Darnand, no!” Lildereth shrieked. Aravi landed in a crouch on the lower floor, directly in front of him. The vampire spun to face Aravi, hands drawing back to cast.

Darnand’s fire blossomed into life around him, but he managed to contain it. He fell with a cry at the center of the blaze. Lildereth could only watch, horrified.

Aravi dove under the vampire’s shock spell, rolling to her feet as the lightning passed over her. She had a sword in each hand before Lildereth could blink. The vampire drew its blade, faltering slightly as Aravi’s swords found their marks. Then Aravi whirled out of reach.

The vampire closed with the Khajiit. Even Lildereth’s elven eyes couldn’t follow their movements. Every instinct screamed that she should flee.

Instead she ran along the balcony until she could drop down near Darnand. She had no way to heal him and little defense to offer. The Breton was on his knees in the corridor, arms tucked in and body curled over. Lildereth placed herself in the doorway, watching the fight over a nocked arrow. There was no need to ready another. If Aravi fell, Lildereth wouldn’t get a second shot.

Two more life signs approached rapidly along the path that the vampire had taken. The smaller one signaled. Jerric.

Aravi danced over the slippery floor, blades flashing in the pale light. Her enemy towered over her. He was an Altmer, garbed in some dark material. Possibly leather. His head was bare. The Khajiit’s strikes caused bursts of flame to race over the tall elf, and the blows she parried sent her staggering. The Altmer’s long blade was Aravi’s advantage. She was able to spin inside his guard to slash with her enchanted sword in the instant before he could recover his balance.

Jerric burst howling into the room, frost atronach at his back. The vampire’s head snapped around toward him. Aravi slipped behind the vampire, a slash to the backs of his knees bringing him down to her height. Her crossed blades neatly swept the head from his shoulders.

Lildereth turned to Darnand as the vampire fell into dust. A pale glow of healing surrounded the Breton, but he kept his hands tight against his chest. Jerric thundered up behind them. She felt herself lifted and placed to the side.

The Nord’s bulk filled her vision. “Everything’s dead,” he told her. Ishckrihk’s hard blue glitter caught in his eyes.

Lildereth backed into the chamber, keeping her distance from Jerric’s ice man. Darnand’s shoulders heaved as he vomited. Then all she could see was Jerric’s bent back and the shimmer of healing light.

“Be careful with that spell,” Lildereth warned him, sick with worry. “Don’t give him duck feet for hands.” She turned back toward the chamber and Aravi.

The Khajiit stood eyeing Jerric’s atronach, blades still in her hands. Her breath came in labored gasps. The vampire must have been incredibly strong, Lildereth realized.

Ishckrihk tilted his great crystalline head toward the ceiling. His arms swept out in an oddly fluid gesture, ice cracking and hissing as he moved. Blood streaked his jagged hands. The atronach’s inner light contracted, and then it exploded in a shower of shards as the Void called him home. The flying ice vanished into mist while she and Aravi flinched.

The Khajiit met her eyes in shared astonishment.

Jerric’s voice was a soothing rumble behind her, Darnand’s shaky in reply.

“What a mess,” Jerric said. “Are you poisoned? You spewed before I could catch you. You need someone to hold your hair back like a woman.”

Darnand words were unintelligible.

“Yeah. You need more protection against magicka. You should have worn my helm like I told you. Then that fire would have— wait, how did you get burned? It’s a bold vampire that attacks with fire.”

“It was his own spell,” Lildereth said.

Aravi spoke quietly at Lildereth’s side. Her ears were lowered. “I think it was my fault. I must have jumped down in front of him when he was preparing his spell. I’m sorry; I’m not used to working with others.”

Jerric hauled Darnand to his feet. The Breton’s hands were blackened but healed. His robe was a disaster.

“No,” Darnand said. “I knew you were in here, and I did not wait for your signal. I put you at risk. It is I who owes an apology.”

“Also you didn’t signal on your approach,” Lildereth told him. Sometimes a verbal slap cleared the air better than expressed regrets.

“You called your fire back to you?” Jerric sounded awed. “Damn, Breton.”

“Take a look at Aravi’s handiwork,” Lildereth suggested, nodded toward the pile of vampire clothing.

They spent a time settling their nerves and retelling events. Aravi had little to say other than confirming that the dead Bretons had indeed recently been turned. The Khajiit looked down at their shriveled corpses for a long moment, slowly shaking her head.

“We should lay them to rest,” Jerric finally said.

Aravi spoke up. “There may be danger in their blood even now,” she warned.

“I shall say the words over them, though I do not know if it will aid their passing,” said Darnand. “We must also check the work of our summonings and make a record of all who died here. The villagers may want to see what remains of their folk, but we might spare them that if we provide enough information.”

“Vampires often keep trophies,” Aravi said. “Valuables stolen from victims and from their thralls, even mementoes of their own mortals lives. Trinkets that the villagers could use to identify loved ones. We might find such things hoarded in the patriarch’s quarters.”

Jerric gave her a nod. “We’ll check on the way out, same way we got in. I’ll go with you.”

Lildereth looked up toward the galleries. She had no interest in picking her way through a vampire lair when only a short ascent lay between her and daylight. The only race that could match Bosmeri climbing was the Khajiit. She caught Aravi’s eye. “Shall we take the shortcut?”

Aravi made a regretful sigh. “I’ll help search the living spaces. It’s best if I look for myself before I make my report, and I can open any locked containers. Vampires aren’t known for trusting even each other.” She walked over and picked up the patriarch’s sword. Jerric and Darnand moved about their work with the dead.

Questions suddenly crowded Lildereth’s mind. Should they return to the village or make camp while they still had daylight? Would Aravi join them and rest for the night or take her leave? How many potions would Jerric gulp down before his mind found ease? He disliked these underground places. If she was anxious to leave then he must be burning to get outside. She must remember to fill her pockets with those glowing stones.

Soon the three headed into the corridor, leaving Lildereth in the dimly lit chamber. Jerric turned and looked back at her over Darnand’s and Aravi’s heads. “Say elf, you want a boost up that wall?” He gave her half of a grin. “All right, then. See you out under the sky.”

[mALX]

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EDIT: Forgot to add this:

Part of her stepped away inside until it could be over.

I loved this line - very much understand that!

Lildereth used to scout ahead of Jerric and Darnand in these dungeons - all this time I thought she was really brave - it was revealing and comforting to know how scared she gets (but still acts outwardly), how much she hates every minute of it (but still does what is needed to get the job done).

This POV explains why she was always so snappy and irritable with Jerric right after a dungeon crawl, and why (since she couldn't exactly snap at Darnand in the same way, she mated with him instead).

Really tough dungeon, but with all those helping it went much more quickly than I am used to seeing in Jerric's world, lol.

Awesome Write!


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This post has been edited by mALX: Mar 19 2013, 11:28 PM

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Darnand... Really?? You pick NOW to try out that spell?!

[Acadian]

Another exciting episode from Lildereth’s perspective. She lives between lethality and terror – her blond sister of the bow understands that fully.

‘No regrets, Lildereth told herself. Cold flashed over her skin. Part of her stepped away inside until it could be over.’
I second mLAX mALX. This is beautifully put and clear as a crystal.

‘Lildereth signaled for Aravi to save her arrows. With the magicka from Jerric’s Juice still rising within her Lildereth didn’t need to conserve her spells. As each rat entered the chamber she turned it against its mates.’
A mystic archer at work! Not touching the Jerric Juice line though.

‘Aravi slipped behind the vampire, a slash to the backs of his knees bringing him down to her height. Her crossed blades neatly swept the head from his shoulders.’
The beauty, power and grace that is Aravi.

‘Jerric thundered up behind them. She felt herself lifted and placed to the side.’
What a wonderful contrast!

‘“Be careful with that spell,” Lildereth warned him, sick with worry. “Don’t give him duck feet for hands.”’
Or turn him into a chicken!


Edited to appease the redhead below. *tickles mALX under chin to make her stop pouting*

This post has been edited by Acadian: Mar 20 2013, 06:14 PM

[mALX]

I second mLAX.

"Hey, that sounds too close to XLax, does this mean I give people gas? Diarhea?"

*mALX folds arms across chest and pouts*

[SubRosa]

Lilldreth has seen all kinds of horrors in these remote lairs? Could this be a hint about the mysterious wood elf's background? Could she be a member of the Dawnguard perhaps?

Damn Martina and her damnable Welkynd stones!
A nice reference to the master level illusion trainer.

Aravi's Shot was a perfectly placed picture!

That second one who Lil shot makes it clear these are not enslaved mortals. As she mused, no one survives an arrow in the armpit. That is a relief, as it means they were not forced to kill people who could not help what they were doing.

Well things finally went pear-shaped when the vampire and Darnand came running in, and Aravi got in the way of his fireball. Or what would have been his fireball. Hopefully his Bretonic magic resistance took the edge off of it. OTOH, now Aravi has her swords out. She is the best there is at what she does. And what she does isn't very nice.

Ishycrick's disappearance was certainly dramatic!

[King Coin]

So sorry it has taken me this long to properly visit this update, especially with Aravi in it! This week has been horrible!

Finally time to enact the plan! Having Aravi working with Lil is a treat.

They were nearly within reach of these folk but still might not be able to help them.
That would be horribly frustrating. A feeling I’m sure Aravi knows as well. Her frustration with the illusion trainer is well shown. She might have saved these people if she only knew how. It is neat how Lil swirls with emotion and thoughts until the fight starts, then as you said, that part of her steps away.

Oh my gosh, the description of Aravi’s fight with the ancient was amazing! And Darnand! Lil was pretty brave to stand in front of Darnand like that. She wouldn’t have presented much of an obstacle to the vamp, should he have survived Aravi’s onslaught.

Aravi reaction to Jerric’s iceman was perfect. I know I said that before, but I must reiterate!

“Shall we take the shortcut?”
Aravi made a regretful sigh.
She would have loved to! Ha! I’m sure Jerric would have loved boosting both of them up the wall!

[McBadgere]

Ishckrihk tilted his great crystalline head toward the ceiling. His arms swept out in an oddly fluid gesture, ice cracking and hissing as he moved. Blood streaked his jagged hands. The atronach’s inner light contracted, and then it exploded in a shower of shards as the Void called him home. The flying ice vanished into mist while she and Aravi flinched.

My eyes misted over at that...So beautiful an image...*Sighs*...

Aaamywho...I absolutely loved this...

Darnand pulling the spell back into himself was stunning...I'm not sure he fully understood what would happen, but that he did it rather than harm Aravi (who's massively badass ) was excellent!...

Actually, I've loved Aravi in this...She's an excellent character *Applauds King Coin*...

I'm also loving the fact that this is still from Lildreth's point of view...And that even though the story is titled Jerric's Story, this is also about the three of them...It's good to have Jerric there, but seperate sometimes...You know what I mean?...

Aaamywho...

Loved the whole thing...Awesome writing...

I shall then be awed by it... ...

Nice one!!...

*Applauds heartily*...

[Grits]

Previously: Jerric, Darnand, Lildereth, and Aravi assaulted a vampire’s lair. Aravi and her screenshots appear with the cooperation and generosity of her creator King Coin. Thank you so much, KC!!


mALX: You got Lildereth completely, and that’s exactly why she acts the way she does (and once rode Darnand like a racehorse). Your comments really made me grin. Thank you so much, mALX!

Elisabeth Hollow: And that’s how Darnand accidentally invented the Flame Cloak! Thanks, Elisabeth!

Acadian: Thank you so much for your kind words about Lildereth. That understanding is what I was really hoping to get across with these episodes from her POV, since the Nord doesn’t completely get it. I’m so pleased that you quoted Aravi’s killing stroke. I’ve been waiting so long to write it! Beauty, power, and grace is exactly how I think of Aravi. Thank you, Acadian!

SubRosa: Darnand wishes his Breton resistance was more of a help. Thanks to his Apprentice birthsign he is as weak to fire spells as is a starved vampire. Ishckrihk wanted to staaay! The Void is boring compared to running around with Jerric. Thank you, SubRosa!

King Coin: Indeed, a Bosmer in one hand and a Khajiit in the other would have finished the adventure nicely for Jerric. I’m glad you mentioned that moment with Lil defending Darnand. Times like that are why she thinks about leaving them. She’s not built for heroics. And I’m so glad you liked Aravi’s moment with the ice man! It was so fun to picture that part from her perspective. Thank you so much, KC!

McBadgere: I’m glad you’re enjoying Lil’s POV. I fretted over switching from Jerric for this long, so it’s great to hear that it might have been worth it. (We’ll hear from Darnand next, then it’s back to the Nord.) You’re right that Darnand’s pulling the spell back was a gut reaction to the danger to Aravi, and he didn’t really know if he could do it. I’m sure Jerric is going to add some more drills to his list to get him better prepared for surprises. So glad you’re enjoying Ishckrihk. He would just be a plain old lump of ice if not for inspiration from you. Thank you, McB!


Next: Let’s go camping! This is part four of five featuring King Coin’s Aravi. A warning if you’re short on time: this one is a touch longer than usual. I’ll wait an extra day or so before posting the next update.

[Grits]

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Chapter 16: Valley of Hopes, Part Five

Darnand followed Jerric into the corridor, Aravi walking silently behind them. He slowly flexed his fingers. The new skin felt tight. Thanks to Abiene’s instruction he understood how to repair burns with minimal scarring, but hands were always difficult to heal. Especially when they were one’s own.

His mistakes this day had been unacceptable. At first he had blazed through his surprised foes in a glorious storm of fire, Jerric’s solid presence in his mind balancing his dremora’s wrathful influence. But then Jerric had broken away for the last push, and Darnand raced on alone.

To the last chamber where he had nearly burned Aravi. His stomach heaved again remembering.

“We should split up here,” Jerric said. They had reached a junction. “You go see what your dremora was up to, and I’ll find out how Ishckrihk got blood on him. Do you remember where you dropped your staff?”

Damn it, thought Darnand. And I lost my lich’s staff.

Jerric walked away, and Darnand hesitated. To his relief Aravi slipped into the lead. He had to admit he felt better with an armored back of any size in front of him.

They reached a long chamber, dark like all of the others in this part of the fort. Darnand’s nighteye spell painted everything blue, but a light spell would interfere with Aravi’s natural night vision. Besides, he was not sure he wanted to view this carnage in truer colors.

“Their cattle,” Aravi said softly.

Naked figures lay on raised benches along one wall. Some had fallen to the floor in bloody tangles.

“My dremora did this,” said Darnand. “He slaughtered them while they slept.” He produced his charcoal and notebook. “I shall record any information that may be used to identify these unfortunates. Then I shall invoke Arkay’s Law over the bodies.”

Aravi gave him a look that he couldn’t interpret. “Are you a priest?” she asked.

“No. I just… do not want to allow further harm.”

Aravi moved to the nearest corpse. “I’ll help.”

Darnand recorded their findings and then Jerric’s when they met in the patriarch’s living quarters. Aravi easily opened the vampire’s locks. They filled a satchel with small personal items to pass on to the Hope Valley villagers. Darnand found his staff in the coffin room. He must have dropped it in his eagerness to incinerate the awakening vampires.

“I’m heading out unless you need me,” Jerric said. “I think you wrote down all my kills. I can’t see in the dark like you two, and I hate to waste another Prowler’s Potion.”

“I should like to collect some more vampire dust,” Darnand said. “Lildereth could use it to make a poison that curses the target’s magicka.”

Jerric snorted. “She can have it. The last thing I want is to stop a mage from casting.”

“Born under the Atronach,” Darnand told Aravi. Some of Jerric’s declarations sounded absurd without their proper context. He rummaged through his shoulder bag. “I wish I had brought more collection pouches.”

Aravi picked up a sheet of parchment and deftly folded it into an envelope. “This will hold dust,” she told him. “Take it, and I’ll make a few more.”

Darnand felt as much relief as gratitude. He had behaved recklessly, but it seemed that Aravi was not holding a grudge.

Jerric left, and they began scraping up the grainy dust. “I expect that midday has passed,” Darnand said. “I do not often presume to speak for my companions, but in this I know we are of the same mind. Will you camp with us tonight? The Nord’s cooking is far better than one would imagine, and between the four of us we might comfortably share the watch.”

Aravi nodded. “I found a place in the hills near warm springs. It’s only a little out of your way if you plan to return to Hope Valley. I wouldn’t camp there alone, but together we should be safe.”

They found Lildereth and Jerric waiting outside, the elf perched on a rock while the Nord savaged the air with shield and blade.

“Aravi knows a place to camp,” Darnand told them.

“Great!” said Jerric. “Let’s go.”

“Which way are we headed?” Lildereth asked Aravi. “I might take a different route and meet you. I’d like to pick some mushrooms for Jerric’s stew, and I might get lucky and find some wild mandrake.”

“Yeah,” said Jerric. “You two don’t forget to take your potions.”

Aravi stood next to Lildereth, murmuring and pointing into the distance. The elf nodded as if she knew what the Khajiit was talking about. Darnand considered drawing forth his map but decided he could do without Jerric’s inevitable jesting. He would mark the camp when they reached it.

They gathered hidden belongings and set out. Lildereth disappeared. Aravi walked in front of Darnand, shoulder to elbow with Jerric.

The Nord struck up a conversation in his usual direct manner. “Where did you get that armor?” he asked Aravi.

Darnand considered a Charm spell. Jerric possessed no guile, and folk were often put off by his blunt way of speaking.

But the Khajiit’s ears remained forward, and her tail stayed low keeping graceful time with her steps. “I got it from a vampire,” Aravi said. “She didn’t need it anymore.”

Darnand kept listening in the back of his mind while he unrolled the enchanted map. It was most gratifying to watch their progress past the noted landmarks, slow as it may be. And he could not feel safer than in the company of these two warriors.

In time they reached a thickly forested hollow between two bald ridges. Darnand stopped between Jerric and Aravi, one step before he would have tripped down into the hollow.

Aravi pointed at the foothills on the other side. The snowy Jeralls stood behind them in the distance. Darnand realized that the sun had dropped below the Colovian Highlands at their backs.

“It’s there,” Aravi said. “We can go around or down through the trees and back up.”

“Lildereth went down there I’d wager,” Jerric said. His ring would not illuminate life signs that far away, if he was even wearing it.

Darnand ached from his toes to the roots of his hair. He renewed the spell against fatigue and tucked his map away discretely. “Through the trees is the shorter path.”

Aravi glanced up at Jerric, and the Nord must have read assent in her expression. They moved down the slope. Darnand used his lich’s staff to help him balance, noting Aravi’s nimble progress with envy.

The level ground at the floor of the hollow stood in shadow, shaded by a dense thicket of tall trees. None showed the green of new leaves yet. No underbrush grew here. Darnand could hear trickling water, and the air was rich with wood rot and mushrooms.

They had not gone ten paces before blue light flashed ahead. The sound of a shock spell split the air. A thin shriek followed.

Jerric’s shield was on his arm before his pack even hit the ground. He sprinted away toward the sound, Aravi quickly outpacing him. They disappeared among the trees.

“Arkay’s balls!” cursed Darnand. He dropped the staff and wrestled his own pack to the ground. Then he kicked open his robe and ran after them.

Jerric yelled. Darnand heard more lightning and the boom of frost magic.

He found them in a small clearing. The Nord stood shield up with his sword hand full of frost. Aravi hopped from foot to foot at the near edge of the clearing, arrow at the nock. Something skittered between the trees ahead. Something big.

Jerric flung his frost with a wrathful howl. It impacted against a tree trunk. “Come out you fetcher! Fight!”

Darnand drew fire into his hand and readied the spell that would summon his flame atronach. What are we fighting?

“Daedra!” Lildereth cried out from somewhere to the rear and above. Up a tree, Darnand guessed. Jerric dropped his chin to his chest and stood utterly still, feet braced apart. He is summoning, Darnand realized.

Blue light flared in the trees, and a bolt of shock energy arced into Jerric’s chest. His body swayed as he absorbed it.

Darnand spotted their enemy. Her white face and bosom gleamed in the dusk, easily a dozen feet off the ground. Her torso melded into an arachnoid cephalothorax supported by hideous jointed legs. A spider’s abdomen bulged out behind her. Spider daedra. She raised pale hands.

The air ripped open, and Ishckrihk stepped into the clearing with the roar of an avalanche. Then there was the sound of a hundred rats stampeding over leaves.

Not rats. Spiders. A swarm of them broke free of the tree line. They swept forward in a thigh-high blanket of eyes and legs.

Darnand heard Aravi’s breath leave in a horrified hiss. He cast a hand forward, summoning his flame atronach in a swirl of fire. An arrow thunked into the middle of her back. She whirled around and whipped a flare past Darnand before he could react. At Aravi, Darnand realized. I summoned in her line of fire.

With the cracking groan of a glacier Ishckrihk twisted at the waist and flung his arm away in a volley of ice spikes. They crashed amongst the trees. A new appendage immediately sprouted from his shoulder. Then Darnand saw a surprising occurrence.

Jerric turned and ran back toward Darnand. “Fire!” he shouted, waving his free arm.

The spiders were coming. Darnand sent a jet of flame from left to right across the clearing, separating them from the spider swarm. The dead grass might catch but would not burn for long. He ran toward Aravi, half staggering with the effort of controlling his flame atronach.

The daedra’s mind was an ocean of rage. Fire snapped in a whirlwind around her as she fought his will.

Darnand heard Jerric shout a warning before he felt himself roughly shoved out of the path of a lightning bolt. He reached out blindly as he fell.

One hand scraped against an armored hip, the other closed around something warm and furred. With horror, he realized he had fallen into Aravi and was pulling her tail.

Aravi’s yowl sounded over his own surprised squawk. As her tail slipped through his frantic grip he felt an impact on the back of his head. Stars exploded in his vision. Was that her bow? he wondered, dazed. Did she punch me? It took far too long to reach the cold, hard ground.

“I don’t have a shot!” Lildereth shrieked from above.

Jerric yelled out something unintelligible. He staggered in a circle, covered in spiderlings. The grass had failed to ignite.

The Nord toppled over. He is paralyzed, Darnand realized.

A cry came from the seething pile of spiders.

“Burn them?” Darnand called back. He scrambled to his feet. “Did you say ‘burn them’?”

“Hrrrghaaah!” said Jerric from somewhere at the bottom.

Darnand’s mind raced. Jerric was wearing his Helm of the Nord, enchanted with a fire shield. And his ring of Hump You Fetching Mages. With a surge of hot joy Darnand shot his fire. The heaving mass disappeared in a ball of flame.

The spider daedra was still at the edge of the woods, pursued by Jerric’s frost atronach. She folded and unfolded her legs in an unholy dance around the trees, but the atronach moved like water. Rather than dodge an obstacle he simply flowed around it. They were making rapid progress around to the mortals’ side of the clearing.

Jerric thrashed to his feet. The fire was out, and there was no trace of the spiderlings.

The flame atronach whirled in place, throwing fireballs at Aravi and Lildereth while the archers pelted her with their crossfire. Darnand had lost that battle. He dispelled the magical ties that bound her to their realm. He would kick himself later. For now he would spend the rest of his magicka in fire.

Ice crashed under Lildereth’s position. The spider daedra skittered out into the clearing, waving her arms as if plagued by bees. Jerric’s battle cry sounded, sending a jolt through Darnand.

“For Kvatch!” Jerric cried. Aravi let out a high-pitched keening, trapped between Ishckrihk’s flying ice, towering spider, fire mage, and charging Nord.

Darnand shot a short burst of flame up the spider daedra’s near side. He flattened himself to the ground as she dropped her jaw to spew out a torrent of lightning. Aravi screamed and drew her blades. Then Jerric was there, splintering the daedra’s spider legs with sword and shield. As she fell he slashed open her abdomen, sending a gout of ichor out in a wave. Darnand stayed down. He heard Ishckrihk explode back to the Void. When he saw Lildereth running across the ground, he knew it was over.

The spider daedra lay dismembered mostly around Jerric’s feet.

“That was a bold plan, Nord!” gasped Darnand. Somehow he was standing.

Jerric glared, the fight still in his eyes. “What the fetch! Madman! You set me on fire!”

Darnand took a step back. “But you knew you would absorb my spell. And your helm bears a fire shield. You told me to do it! I heard you shout, ‘Burn them’!”

“‘Big one’!” Jerric gestured wildly. “That swarm was summoned. I said kill the big one!”

Lildereth clapped a hand over her mouth. Darnand recalled that she was prone to erratic behavior once a fight was over.

“Apologies,” said Darnand. He took another step back, pointing a finger. “You were mostly paralyzed, though, so you can understand why it sounded…”

Jerric and Lildereth were no longer listening. They both stared openmouthed at Aravi.

The Khajiit stood in the scattered spider parts, a sword clenched in each quivering hand. Black ichor dripped down her face and chest. Her eyes were wild, ears flattened back, tail rigid and bushed out.

“Spiders!” she hissed. “Nords! Bretons!”

“First undead and now daedra!” Lildereth declared. “I’ve been as useful as a Nord’s dictionary. Gods help any mortal creature that disturbs my watch tonight. They’ll need it!”

Darnand picked Aravi’s bow out of the sticky wreckage. This might not be the time to ask for help harvesting spider silk and daedra venin. “Aravi, I apologize for seizing your, uh… that is to say, the base of your tail.”

Jerric’s laugh had a wild edge. “Did you grab her ass, Breton?”

Aravi stared first at Darnand and then at Jerric, death in her eyes. Her claws were fully extended.

Darnand edged away from her, face hot with embarrassment. “Are you injured?” he managed.

Aravi spit out some spider glop, somewhat delicately. “No, I’m all right. But I’m really ready for a bath.”

Lildereth stepped forward with a cloth in her hand. She offered it to Aravi.

“I could use a bath, too,” said Jerric.

Aravi’s look should have flayed him where he stood, but the Nord seemed untroubled. He gave her a reckless grin.

“Gods,” Darnand breathed, half in relief that Jerric’s grief had not taken him, and half in worry that Aravi might slay them both.

“You’ll have to find your own pool or wait, Nord,” said Lildereth. “This is not the time to share your wooly mammoth impression. Aravi, I hope you’ll still camp with us. We’ll need to take extra care if there are daedra about.” She shot a worried look at Jerric.

He may want to look for a Gate, Darnand realized.

“You don’t need to work your wiles on me, elf,” Jerric said. “We’ll stick to the plan. If there’s a Gate open nearby we’ll see the light after nightfall. I spent some time in the hills west of here, after… Well, before I came back to Anvil. One daedra doesn’t mean an open Gate. Just means there was one.” He stared down at his feet for a long moment. Then he looked at Darnand. “You lost your staff again, Breton.” His slow smile told Darnand that he had pulled himself together.

“It is not lost. I know precisely where I dropped it.” Lildereth is untouched as usual, Darnand noticed. And Aravi is mopping her face with my handkerchief. He frowned at the Bosmer.

Lildereth’s return look carried all of her emotions.

She was right. There would be time for recriminations and apologies on the long road to Bruma. Tonight let the sun set on a company of friends.

He glanced again at Aravi. At least her teeth were no longer showing. “Let us go make our camp.”

[Elisabeth Hollow]

That was intense!!!!

[Acadian]

‘ He had to admit he felt better with an armored back of any size in front of him.’
The prudent mage, ever.

‘ Jerric snorted. “She can have it. The last thing I want is to stop a mage from casting.”
“Born under the Atronach,” Darnand told Aravi. Some of Jerric’s declarations sounded absurd without their proper context.’
A wonderful reminder of Jerric’s birthsign.

‘ They gathered hidden belongings and set out. Lildereth disappeared. Aravi walked in front of Darnand, shoulder to elbow with Jerric.’
This is another magical Grits passage. In two short sentences, you tell us so much about all four of these characters.

A spider wench! What a fight – somewhere between the Keystone Cops and sheer terror! Aravi’s fear of spiders, Frostie bursting onto the scene, Darnand’s Flame Mistress turning on the good guys over a ‘friendly fire’ boo boo, hacking off some of those spider daedra legs to topple her. . . .

‘ And his ring of Hump You Fetching Mages.’
That’s our Jerric!

Buffy sympathizes with Lil. Too fast, too many friendlies mixed in with targets, too close - not a recipe for successful mystic archery.

Whew, and after all that, Aravi chose to stay with this crew. They will certainly need a good night’s rest now!

[ghastley]

Aravi and Darnand certainly have misfortune working against them. First she jumps into his line of fire, and then he summons in hers. I presume that he doesn't have much control over where his atronach appears, it's just "nearby" as usual.

And do I detect a particular dislike of spiders? And does Jerric have any hair?

[Lopov]

I'm only on page 4 of Jerric's story so I have a lot to catch on. I won't comment on old stuff because it might ruin the flow of the present stories but I just wanted to let you know that your stuff is great and I have a constant need to return and read.

[mALX]

Darnand heard Aravi’s breath leave in a horrified hiss.

I love this line! Aravi hates spiders, lol.

Acadian already quoted another three lines I would have.

One hand scraped against an armored hip, the other closed around something warm and furred. With horror, he realized he had fallen into Aravi and was pulling her tail.

SPEW !!!!! ROFL !!!!

A cry came from the seething pile of spiders.

“Burn them?” Darnand called back. He scrambled to his feet. “Did you say ‘burn them’?”

“Hrrrghaaah!” said Jerric from somewhere at the bottom.

Holy Cow! This was Awesome!

The flame atronach whirled in place, throwing fireballs at Aravi and Lildereth while the archers pelted her with their crossfire. Darnand had lost that battle. He dispelled the magical ties that bound her to their realm. He would kick himself later. For now he would spend the rest of his magicka in fire.

ROFL! So Maxical is not the only one who conjures hostile Daedra, ROFL!

Jerric glared, the fight still in his eyes. “What the fetch! Madman! You set me on fire!”

Darnand took a step back. “But you knew you would absorb my spell. And your helm bears a fire shield. You told me to do it! I heard you shout, ‘Burn them’!”

“‘Big one’!” Jerric gestured wildly. “That swarm was summoned. I said kill the big one!”

SPEW !!! ROFL !!! Your fights are NEVER boring!

Awesome fight and write!




This post has been edited by mALX: Mar 24 2013, 04:07 PM

[SubRosa]

He had to admit he felt better with an armored back of any size in front of him.
Darnand sounds like pretty much every mage or archer here. Its always comforting to have a tank around like Jerric, Mazoga, or Tadrose whom you can hide behind!

The mention of Arkay's Law was a good lore friendly touch on your part. As was Darnand's concern for the people his summoning had slaughtered.

But the Khajiit’s ears remained forward, and her tail stayed low keeping graceful time with her steps.
A wonderful description of a calm kitty.

Something skittered between the trees ahead. Something big.
Uh oh, I don't like things that skitter. Or throw lightning. A Spider Daedra?

Sometimes I hate being right. Oh my, this is even worse. A horde of spiders? Ewwwww! Call Orkin! Or call Orcs in.

A nice description of Darnand's fight to retain control of his back-shot Fire Daedra. Plus I love the way you worked the Frost Astronaut's abilities. From flinging arms as missile weapons, to flowing around trees like water.

“That swarm was summoned. I said kill the big one!”
This had me laughing!

He may want to look for a Gate, Darnand realized.
I was thinking that too. That Daedra had to come from somewhere.

All in all, that episode was a fun romp. It was well worth the extra word-length. Once it got going, I did not really notice.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Sometimes I hate being right. Oh my, this is even worse. A horde of spiders? Ewwwww! Call Orkin! Or call Orcs in.

Aaaaahahahahahaha!

[Colonel Mustard]

I'm all caught up! I'm all caught up!

And god DAMN is this good! I mean, seriously, you have an incredible talent for character-driven writing; Jerric, Darnand, Lildereth and Abiene are all excellently written, well rounded, complex characters, and the way they interact with each other and the world is an absolute joy to read. Your world-building is excellent and well thought-out, your action scenes are exciting, fast-paced and realistic, the consistent thread of humour throughout is great and your everything is just so...everything! I'm even sure what that means!

Also, the Aravi cameo for the last couple of chapters has been great. Love that kitty!

[King Coin]

The detail on Darnand’s hands at the beginning was fun. I like the idea that healing magic is much more complex than it is represented in the game.

Yikes, Darnand really got the lust for battle with the vampires. His actions with the care of the bodies would definitely help Aravi trust him. Genius with the envelopes!

But the Khajiit’s ears remained forward, and her tail stayed low keeping graceful time with her steps.


And then the fight! Oh this was so much fun to plan out with you! Pulling her tail was absolutely brilliant! I still laugh about it! And then the spiders just for Aravi! We are cruel.

“What the fetch! Madman! You set me on fire!”
Not what Darnand was expecting!

...And then Aravi! Covered in spider innards. She probably wants to scream right now. Her reaction to Darnand and Jerric was perfect!

Great chapter Grits.

[McBadgere]

So much to love!!...

A truly incredible chapter...

Ishckrihk!!!!!...*Sighs*... ...Finally... ...I absolutely loved that whole thing with him shooting his arm off, and the flowing around the trees in order to cut the distance...

Oh, I also thought that it was cool that it seemed to be entirely from Danand's POV this time...*Applauds*...

Laughy bits ahoy!!...

“Arkay’s balls!” cursed Darnand.

One hand scraped against an armored hip, the other closed around something warm and furred. With horror, he realized he had fallen into Aravi and was pulling her tail.

Aravi’s yowl sounded over his own surprised squawk.

“Spiders!” she hissed. “Nords! Bretons!”

...Oh my, they were too funny...

I hope there's not going to be another gap after this flurry of excellence... ...

Looking forward to much more...

Nice one!!...

*Applauds heartily*...