Capítulo 229: Paranoia?
Thirty minutes later, the quiet murmuring of a Daedric plot being afoot is silenced as they find themselves standing before a raised rocky incline. Flora and trees grow next to and around it, almost making it impossible to see the entrance into a cave system.
Michael takes the lead and shifts some low hanging branches to the side and peers into it, his nose scrunching at the smell of death and decay coming from within. "Yeah, we're gonna need a torch for this..." he says, looking behind him at the nervous-looking guards. He could tell why they felt anxious as well... Spears and greatswords did not do too well inside confined spaces.
Not that he blamed them, he didn't want to get sandwiched between a huge bear and a thin passage... If the bear was so big, it was possible they wouldn't be able to dodge or manoeuvre at all if they fought it down there.
"Look, Valdr, I know you loved Lohir like family, but is it worth risking everyone here delving into that hole?" one of the guards asks, only to be cuffed in the back of the head by another.
"Coward, if you want to run with your tail between your legs, go ahead while the rest of us face it like true Nords!" Valdr growls.
The guard shakes his head and tightens his grip on his weapon, "Can we at least draw it first? Fighting that thing in there is a death sentence."
Ari snorts in derision, "And who will volunteer to go alone? Maybe we should toss you down there with a rope tied to you." she smirks, "We'll pull you out when you scream like a little girl."
"I have no wish to be the rope between you and the bear's rug of war!... Someone else will have to go, because I'm definitely not!"
Michael watches all of this with a raised brow, "Man, I thought Nords were supposed to be courageous... How do you expect to get into heaven-er, Sovngarde, if you're scared of a single bear? He shakes his head as Valdr looks to want to volunteer, "I'll go, I'll have a higher chance of surviving than the rest of you. Plus, it'll be fun to see your faces after the 'Milk-Drinker' shows you up." he says, taking a jab at Ari who'd called him exactly that when they first met.
"Michael, are you sure? I know I asked you to help but you've already done more than enough." Valdr says.
Michael nods, "It's fine. It's not the even in my top ten of most dangerous shit I've done." he sarcastically remarks while taking a prepared torch from a guard and beginning to climb down the cave system. It was steep, but not so steep that gravity would send you tumbling to its depths. It was also relatively wide, allowing him to stand up straight and hold his arms out comfortably.
While delving, he notices dark stains on the stone, which he quickly recognises to be the blood of the bear's victims... Perhaps even Lohir's, if he'd survived the journey to the cave. He was around eighty percent sure that Lohir was dead, but there wasn't any real reason to point this out to the group... Let them keep their hope, no need to draw their ire by personally breaking it.
*Crunch!*
...
*Crunch!*
Yeah, that definitely wasn't his footsteps... He was kicking himself right now as he couldn't even go invisible since he was carrying a torch... He and the torch might be invisible, but the light would make it incredibly obvious where he was, even for something as stupid as a bear.
Michael creeps forwards and peeks his head around a corner before taking a quiet breath and holding the torch out, allowing it to illuminate a dead-end where a huge brown bear was sitting and eating.
Lohir was in its paws, his face blood-soaked with most of the flesh having been chewed off. He'd been disembowelled and obviously wasn't among the living anymore. As for the bear?
*CRUNCH!*
It had Lohir's leg in its mouth and was chewing on it as if it were pocky. Each bite shattered the bone, allowing it to twist off and devour the flesh, bone and all.
It was huge, and his buddies seemed to have been mistaken, as the bear should be around 17ft if stood on its hind legs... Yeah, he may have faced dragons, but something about the blood-soaked beast of death before him put him on edge.
Unfortunately, the bear seems to have noticed him and turns its head from its meal. It bears its bloody teeth at Michael and slowly stands preparing to charge him. Michael was about to bolt, when the creature suddenly stiffens, its eyes gaining a glint of intelligence.
"Greetings to you, Traveller." the bear states, its moving mouth looking unnatural as it fluently speaks.
...
Fuck.
"Hircine, I'm guessing?" Michael calmly asks, concealing his anger at potentially being caught up in shit AGAIN!
"So you know of me? Good, it will save time explaining... From the first moment you arrived in this realm, I've been keeping an eye on you... But thus far, you have been an utter disappointment! I have waited long enough, and given you ample opportunity to entertain me! But if you will not come to the hunt, then the hunt will come to you!" the Daedric Prince announces, causing goosebumps to appear along Michael's arms.
"BUT! I am not an unfair game master! Should you come out victorious, I will grant you a gift... But first, to even the playing field..." Hircine states, causing the bear's eyes to flash a glowing white as a barrier made of roots blocks off the exit, leaving Michael stranded in this area with an angry bear as his only company. "Now show me! Are you a hunter, or the hunted!?"
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