Chapter 370: The Elder of Coldharbour
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The place they were in was the highest point in the Tower of Lies as Xikil was hanged at a tree on a floating rock.
"Mortal? No! Leave me be." (Xikil)
"Isn't that the one you were torturing in the Castle?" (Serana)
"Yeah, don't ask me about the attitude, he's an idiot but the sort of idiot you'll like. Let's get you down, boy." (Jon)
"I said leave me be! I had enough torturing for two days." (Xikil)
"Okay, no one gonna torture you don't worry." (Jon)
"Why were you torturing him anyway?" (Serana)
"He sold me off, you know. I agreed to trade a thousand soul with Molag Bal and then Molag made this runt sell me off to your father. Also, I wanted him to bring me the Sigil Stone I used to give Molag Bal the souls. It should contain a lot of power." (Jon)
"Mortal! Leave me out of it! I don't want any of that." (Xikil)
"Too late." (Jon)
Xikil's chains were cut with Jon's sword and the Dremora was carried down like a helpless kitten. Jon was about to say something smug but he noticed a presence behind him. Before he could turn around, Jon was already waving his sword backward.
*Clink*
Two blades cut against each other and Jon rebalanced himself to face the attacker. His right hand held the sword and his left covered his face with his mask, [Krilon].
"Apprehend that Dremora." Jon spoke to Serana pointing at Xikil.
"Wha…" Xikil didn't seem to understand what is going on but Serana was already pushing his face to the dirt.
"If you don't want to look like a traitor, act like you are getting kidnapped." Serana whispered.
On the other side, Jon was facing the newly arrived enemy that walked the stone bridge to the floating rock.
"Who are you? Why did you kill my subordinate?" Markynaz Marx walked up with an angry face.
Jon completely ignored him and looked at Serana.
"Secure the package. I am getting rid of this."
"Humph! Don't look away!" Markynaz Marx seemed angry as he waved his Daedric Sword at Jon.
Jon recognized the power behind the blade and parried it to the side. With fast reaction, he counter-attacked horizontally at the Dremora. The latter pulled back his blade and stopped Jon's slash with two hands holding blades vertically.
Both of them were strong.
"I am the Overseer of the Tower of Lies, Marx. Who are you?" The Dremora was interested in this strong opponent.
"I am Krilon… Darth Krilon of the Sith." Jon didn't mind adding some bullshit to the fray. He was wearing a Sith Mask and Black Cloak while holding a red glowing sword after all.
"Krilon? Sith? What are you?"
"Humph! The likes of you are not worthy of knowing. Remember our name and tremble in fear, Puny Daedra."
Jon lost himself to the act and swung his sword empowered by his Aura at Marx. The Daedra kept up with Jon on equal footing for a few exchanges but Jon kept increasing the output of his power.
"HA! A worthy challenger!"
Marx seemed happy facing an opponent as strong as Jon and the latter was in no hurry as he was executing his dominance on his enemy.
As Marx's leg was cut and he was kicked on the ground, the Daedra crawled to the back with agonized expressions.
Before Jon could finish off the Daedra, the latter took out a red object and injected it with his magic causing it to glow and make a sound.
"Damn! An Alarm!"
"Hahaha! Mortal, fighting you brings me honor but I can't let you leave. You will be swarmed by every Dremora in the tower." Marx declared with ecstasy.
"Pathetic!" Jon beheaded the Dremora right away.
He nodded to Serana and the three were about to leave but before they could step down through the stone bridge, they were surrounded by a horde of Dremora.
"Tsk! We are fighting our way out, take away the Dremora." Jon shouted and Nefertiti jumped out of Jon's shadow taking Xikil in the [Cube].
Now Jon and Serana had to make it out but the charging Dremora were already closing on them. Serana was about to transform into the Vampire Lord form but Jon stopped her.
"We can't let our identities out. Fight as a mage and I will guard you."
Serana retreated on the Stone bridge and started spamming her Frost Magic as Area of Effect spells to kill as much Dremora as possible.
Jon guarded the front of the stone bridge by himself. The ones that survived Serana's magic were already in front of him and didn't even lose their momentum. Jon held his sword and commanded [Greed] to possess [Bloodskal], the end product is the 4 meters tall giant red sword.
One swing was enough to cleave three rows of enemies using nothing but brute force and the sharpness of the blade. Once Jon added his Aura to the mixture, he unleashed power attacks that made the weakling Dremora disintegrate from the energy density.
As he was not covered by [Greed] anymore and only a small portion was used as a prosthetic foot. He was not wearing the vampire armor either but rather returned to his normal gear to not give out his identity yet all that made his armor a bit lower. Using [Stoneskin] and the other protection spells only gave him peace of mind to face that big number of enemies.
Once the Dremora realized they are only thinning their own numbers without a result, the Soldiers stopped charging and the Elites took the front to face Jon. Things were going to get difficult for Jon as he was trying to avoid using his trump cards that may give his identity out to any pursuers but there was no choice now.
He was about to do something flashy when a volley of arrows attacked the Dremora facing Jon.
"The Hell?"
Jon backed off right away, he can swear he couldn't feel those arrows unless they were 10 meters close which was a point-blank distance. Such a terrifying attack was deadly for anyone.
Jon observed his surroundings and noticed that the volley of arrows was only one arrow, in the end, the only explanation he could think of is Illusion Magic.
And Illusionist Archer? Now that would be scary.
The Dremora was about to charge at Jon again but another arrow hit the ground and a cloud of smoke blocked the view. Jon could detect the source of that arrow which meant that the archer was trying to point Jon to his/her place.
"This way."
Jon took Serana by the hand and dashed out of the cloud of smoke back to the floating rock and from the high ground, Jon and Serana jumped.
The fall distance wasn't high but it would expose them so Jon had a Cold-Flame Atronach Hawk carry them and glide away without being seen. The Atronach took curves in the air and blended with its surroundings due to its color that resembled the realm and landed far away from the Tower of Lies.
Jon kept his guard up as he surveyed his surroundings, Serana also kept her guard following Jon's actions.
"Show yourself." Jon spoke.
As his voice echoed in the abandoned place, Jon felt a presence too close to him showing itself.
"This one means you will, furless ones. Please don't get triggered." A Khajiiti voice and accent spoke to Jon and Serana.
Jon backed away for a bit then looked closely at the man who appeared. A short one for a Khajiit with tabby fur carrying a bow and donned in grey robes.
"Greetings." "Hello"
Jon and Serana greeted the Khajiit.
"You are that one fishing at the river we passed through." Serana identified the Khajiit as the fisherman from the river.
"Yes, it is me. You can call me Mr. Skittles." The Khajiit said.
[A/n: Merkur1's sponsored character.]
"Mr. Skittles? Some sort of house cat?" Jon commented.
Serana poked Jon by the elbow and spoke.
"Thank you for packing us up, Mr. Skittles."
"No worries, Miss. This one was just returning the favor. Catching a 'Moray Leech' from the waters of this foul realm is a joy few experienced." The Khajiit spoke and looked at Jon, "So, what brings a fellow mortal to these sands of Oblivion?"
Jon recognized the Khajiit's sharp senses in discerning that he is a mortal rather than Serana. Jon smiled under his mask and replied.
"Haven't introduced myself, have I? Name is Krilon and this is my partner… Anares. We are with the Sith and we are trying to find a way out of Coldharbour back to Nirn." Jon said.
Serana tilted her head and Jon scoffed it off but the Khajiit seemed to not be caring for the identity rather than the answer.
"Furless ones, this one has been here for some time and believe me, life is very miserable." Mr. Skittles spoke with a hint of sadness, "Mr. Krilon and Miss Anares, it was wrong to enter Coldharbour without securing the way out. This cursed sands of Oblivion make one go crazy, you shouldn't have come without care."
"We have an idea of how to go out." Jon said.
"Hm? Then you shouldn't share it with anyone if you don't want to get chased by a horde of Soul Shriven who would do anything to get back to their home sands… Unless this one is Mr. Skittles, of course, Mr. Skittles will help you any way he can."
Jon nodded.
"Then can you point us to any of the old portals? Whatever seal there is on them, I can temporarily remove it."
"This one is afraid that it is impossible, Mr. Krilon. The old portals you are speaking off are a thousand years old and no longer have a link to Nirn. The recent ones are very hard to use and in very secure locations guarded by Molag Bal's own forces. If that's what you have then I am afraid you are out of luck."
"What about the other way?" Serana asked Jon.
"Then we need a certain list of items that may or may not exist in Coldharbour. We were kidnapping a Dremora I know for information but I guess you may already know something." Jon said.
"What are the items Mr. Krilon is speaking of?" Mr. Skittles seemed interested.
"A certain Soul Sigil Stone that has the carries Essence Energy of a thousand mortals, an item that carries the scent of Nirn, an Energy Source that negates Coldharbour and any Material that can endure spacial travel." Jon laid down his shopping list.
"This is indeed a lot of items and may not exist but a Dremora won't help you this easily. This one knows someone who knows all about Coldharbour maybe better than Molag Bal himself." Mr. Skittles said as rubbed the fur of his chin.
"You said we should keep others out of this." Jon said.
"Well, except that man. He doesn't need a way out of Coldharbour anyway. Come, this one will guide you to the Oldest Soul Shriven in Coldharbour."
Mr. Skittles covered himself with his grey cloak and started walking lightly and nimbly to the south.
Serana looked at Jon as they followed Mr. Skittles and wanted to say something.
{What?} Jon asked via [Telepathy].
{Anares! Really?} She seemed upset about her name.
{Cute Little Fangs doesn't sound that bad now, yes?}
Serana shook her head and asked.
{Do you have a plan and should we trust this Khajiit?}
{No and No. Now that our easy way is out, we can only rely on the difficult way. I have many tricks in my sleeve and an undead army at my disposal. I just can't attract Molag's attention so I'll take any chance I can get for the time being even if it is fake.}
{How optimistic of you to trust people!}
{Me? Well, I know that all people are hopeless and I rely on that too. As long as I know what they want, I can trade with them. Now, that's Khajiit's soul is black which means he is a Mortal, he also doesn't feel good about staying in Coldharbour and is desperately trying to leave.}
{Really? I think he fits in just fine with all the fishing and the following. How can you tell?} Serana replied.
{I raised a cat, I know how cats act when they are uncomfortable about their space.}
{Fine.}
Different than how she acts around Jon, Serana trusts nothing and no one. Jon's relationship with Serana is based on the blood he fed her, which made her see him a bit favorably. The Effect of Jon's blood at 'Level 3, Ebonblood Stage, Dragon Frame Realm' can at least do that much against Serana while it can completely charm lesser vampires.
The three moved to the south away from the roads and arrived at a rocky area then started traveling east. The road was blocked by a mountain but Mr. Skittles found a path through the rocks and started walking up. Jon and Serana followed with their sharp perception covering a half a mile in every direction like a radar in case if there was an ambush or trap. About that distance to the north, Jon and Serana detected some large ruins.
"That is… a city." Serana was surprised to see those ruins.
"The Hollow City." Jon seemed to have remembered about such a place.
In the depth of Coldharbour, there was a city protected from Molag Bal's influence and minions by his enemy, Meridia, the Daedric Prince of Infinite Energies who despises undeath. It was thus a unique oasis of light and life in one of the darkest and most dangerous realms of Oblivion.
That city was the main base of the forces fighting Molag Bal during the Planemeld a thousand years ago. But now… things are so different.
After the Planemeld, there was no need for Mortals to stay in Coldharbour after a thousand years and of course, the city was abandoned by both mortals and Meridia. Now, it is a husk of its former glory as a city that lies in darkness with broken walls, ruined houses and the lonesome Chapel of Light at its center covered with a heavy Aura of Gloom.
"We have arrived." Mr. Skittles declared as the three arrived at a narrow path down the rocky road.
At the end of the path, the three arrived at an isolated ruin with many signs of movement all around the place. Passing some old walls, Jon and Serana saw a gathering of people (or rather Soul Shriven) in what appeared to be a shelter. Many broken trees were arranged to resemble living quarters and some of the Soul Shriven were gathered around a bonfire. There, an old Soul Shriven man with a metal cooking pot on his head playing holding a lute and regaling the surrounding Soul Shriven with a short ditty.
"One fine day in the middle of the night, two dead kings got up to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their bows... and stabbed themselves!"
The ones around were entertained by the old man but Jon's whole being froze for a second. He removed his mask [Krilon] to reveal his shocked face while looking at the man he remembered.
"… Sir Cadwell!"
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