Chapter 487: Ancient Whispers
"Gods, will this mountain never end!?" Surtr grouses, preferring the warmth of Cyrodil as opposed to this... Wading through snow up an incredibly slippery almost verticle path.
"Hmph! And I thought Shakeesh was the Milk-Drinker between us!" Jackle laughs, just as Shakeesh slips on some ice and falls face-first into the snow. "Hah! Maybe he still is, despite your incessant complaining!"
Shakeesh scowls, "Mind yourself 'Horky', or I'll take your ponytail as a trophy... Do you even grow hair besides i-Puuffff!" he's suddenly struck in the face by a snowball.
"You wanna talk about race? Let's talk about how most Redguard are built like fat Altmer!"
"Both of you be quiet! I thought you were supposed to be the professionals here!" Surtr grouses before pausing his stride, "Wait, there!" he says, pointing towards the large arch not far from them.
"I think that's it... Seems to be inhabited too..." Jackle adds, gesturing at the humanoid shadows positioned across the structure, keeping watch for any intruders.
"Bandits?" Surtr questions.
"Bandits." Shakeesh confirms, "No sane person would make this place their home without being hunted first. Besides, wouldn't you want to get rid of them anyway? Back in Hammerfell desecrating graves is one of the worst crimes."
"Aren't we technically going to rob the grave anyway?" Jackle deadpans.
"Well, yes, but we have a purpose..." Shakeesh retorts despite his increasingly weaker argument.
Surtr shakes his head, "Whatever, let's just kill them and be on our way. I doubt we could sneak past them all anyway..."
"Wait, I've got something just for this..." Shakeesh says while pulling out a scroll, "That Farengar lent it to me since everyone else he hired never came back."
"What is it?
"Ah... A scroll of..." he pulls out the note Farengar had also provided, "A scroll of Vigour...?"
"Vigour? Sounds like the mage gave us his 'stimulation scroll' by accident..." Jackel sarcastically remarks.
Shakeesh shakes his head, "No, it says here that it'll boost our vitality and stamina."
"Whatever, just use it so we can move. I don't remember Skyrim being this cold in the past." Surtr mutters.
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The trio quickly slaughter their way through the bandits, each person bloodying their blades while the enemy was almost completely helpless to stop them.
*Slash!*
*Thud!*
*Clash!*
*Squelch!*
The trio cut their way through the bandits until they find themselves standing before the large door leading into Bleak Falls Barrow.
"Jackle, you've got something..." he trails off, gesturing to the arrow protruding from her shoulder.
She sniffs at him, "You think?" she jokes while wrenching the dagger from her wound, luckily pulling both the shaft and the top out. The wound then quickly seals itself with the help of the vigour scroll from earlier, "Huh... Looks like it came in handy."
Surtr nods, "Indeed, let's continue before it wears off." he says while entering the dungeon.
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The group kills the rest of the bandits, along with some Draugr and a thief named Arvel that was on the brink of being eaten by a giant spider... The fool attempted to flee from them when they cut him loose, screaming about the 'treasure being his'. They recovered the Golden Dragonclaw from his corpse, which allowed them to unlock a door with it.
"Thank the Gods that thief had the key, otherwise we'd be unable to continue the mission..." Shakeesh says as the door slowly opens with a low rumble.
Surtr shrugs, "I mean, it doesn't look all that hard to pick if needed. Just randomly guess the symbols and you're through... Easier than most home locks to be honest.
"For you maybe, but Shakeesh would stand a better chance smashing our heads against it. Picklocking isn't something taught in the Companions."
The group enters the large cavern and spots a word wall at the end, along with an ornate chest sitting next to a tomb.
"That's it, I think." Surtr says as they shuffle over, but pauses when a glimmer catches the corner of his eye. "You two see that?" he questions while slowly approaching the Word Wall, feeling like something was calling to him.
"...Whispering?"
"You all right there, Surtr? We don't hear anything..." Shakeesh says, glancing at Jackle who shrugs her shoulders.
Surtr continues walking towards the wall, his eyes locked on the glowing words in the center of it. "Here lies the Guardian, Keeper of Dragonstone, a force of unending rage and darkness..." he unconsciously mutters to himself as the words burrow into his mind.
"Oi! What babble are you speaking!?" Shakeesh says, louder than before. "I think he's being possessed!"
Jackle shakes her head, "That's a Word Wall, language of the dragons... Does he understand it?"
The light that only Surtr could see was blinding in its intensity now, the indecipherable whispering shouting not only into his ears but his very soul.
Then, it stops. Leaving Surtr numbly standing as his mouth continues all on its own, "Force, strength, coercion, energy... Fus." he whispers the word and doesn't notice the slight breeze produced by it.
He shakes his head, feeling an uncomfortable sense of deja vu, despite his mind also feeling somewhat numb. "W-what was that...?"
Before the duo behind him are able to answer, a loud *CRACK!* echoes through the room as the stone lid of the tomb fragments slightly, with lines running all along it.
"Shit! Draugr!" Jackle exclaims, pulling Shakeesh out of the way before the lid completely explodes, raining stone fragments onto the group as a Draugr in full ebony arm steps forth from it.
"RUSH IT!" Surtr shouts, no wanting to give the thing any time to pick them off. He sprints at it and slams his shield into its side as it draws its weapon from the sheath still somehow attached to its hip.
It stumbles from attack, hitting the edge of the tomb before landing heavily on the stone floor, turning an angry glare towards the person responsible.
"FUS. RO. DAH!" the undead shouts, blasting Surtr head over foot and causing him to slam into the Word Wall behind the group.
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