Chapter 26: Necromancers
"Oh, I was so hoping that would be your answer."
The head necromancer immediately broke into a cold sweat. Something in the way this strange man looked at him was unnerving. He felt more like a plaything in the eyes of a sabre cat than a master level necromancer. Before the necromancer could react, there was a brilliant flash of green from the stranger. The light broke him from his fear, and he finally acted. The necromancer commanded 2 of his advanced zombie thralls to charge and attack as he began to launch a giant ice spike. He was originally going to capture the man, but the humiliation and feeling of powerlessness was unforgivable.
Rictus was focused on the head necromancer. The launched ice spike was very predictable and easily dodged. The zombies were moving extremely fast and would be upon him in a couple seconds. Each zombie appeared to be a deceased mercenary wearing iron armor with both wielding swords. Rictus quickly raised up the stone directly in the zombies' path by a foot. This was enough to cause the zombies to trip and fall before they reached Rictus.
Rictus dodged a couple more ice spikes before picking up the two zombies with telekinesis. He used one as a meat shield for the ice spikes while he tossed the other one over the ledge. While holding the zombie before him, Rictus threw 4 brilliant magelights in quick succession right into the face of the master necromancer. The necromancer tried to dodge, but 2 still managed to hit him. One landed on his shoulder and the other right in the middle of his chest. The sudden bright lights were jarring since the necromancer had not left the cave in weeks. Had the light actually landed on his face, the necromancer would have been totally blinded by the light.
Rictus threw the zombie he was still holding at the distracted necromancer. The necromancer barely saw the zombie in time and dove to the ground. While he was on the ground, the necromancer began calling forth his other zombies which were in the room behind him. He never imagined he would have needed more than the two he had with him in the chamber.
Before the necromancer could fully recover, Rictus cast a different spell at him. He had never used the ash shell spell before, but this was a great time to try it out. The spell landed on the chest of the necromancer as he was still trying to rise from the ground. The air around the necromancer seemed to convert itself into hardened ash as it quickly spread over the necromancer's body, entrapping him.
The whole rapid exchange had only taken a few seconds. Rictus quickly checked the remaining 4 apprentice necromancer to find them still paralyzed. The spell seemed to be quickly fading from 2 of the apprentices who stared hatefully at Rictus. The friendly necromancer was still staring in shock at the whole battle, while the last one seemed terrified.
Rictus quickly pulled two stone spears from the ground as the two hateful apprentices broke free from being paralyzed. They immediately tried to cast an ice spike at Rictus, but they missed horribly. Rictus decided not to take any more chances and launched the spears at them. They were close together and decided to layer their wards together for protection. Rictus was actually a little impressed they worked so well together. Sadly for them, it was all in vain. The wards only stop magical effects. While the ward would stop his telekinetic control of the spears, it would not stop the large spikes.
One of the spikes impaled an apprentice through the chest while the other one went clean through the stomach of the other. The impaled one died almost instantly, but the disemboweled one still had enough life to let out a demented scream as he fell to the ground.
Rictus put the sight out of his mind as he moved his sights to the friendly necromancer who was still partially paralyzed. Rictus cast an ash shell at him as well before turning back to the last apprentice.
The final apprentice had broken free of the paralysis and done the smartest thing he could. He ran. Rictus was just about to send another stone spike at him when a group of 5 zombies in heavy iron armor carrying swords and shields came rushing around the corner. They barreled into the terrified apprentice and trampled him as they continued their charge towards Rictus.
They hadn't made it very far when Rictus noticed a buildup of magic. He quickly found the source. There was a large frosty aura around the master necromancer trapped in the ash shell. Suddenly, the ash shell was torn asunder as a huge ice storm was launched at Rictus.
Rictus tried to raise up some of the stone to block it but was only partially successful. The ice storm was very forceful and threw Rictus across the room and slammed him into the wall. Rictus was extremely glad he had already cast ebonyflesh before combat even started. He may not have lived without it activated.
The unintended benefit of being hit with the spell was now Rictus was farther away from the charging zombies and necromancer.
Rictus would kick himself later for such a rookie mistake as forgetting an enemy. Right now, he pulled out the staff of fireballs he had gotten from the dragon priest. With the staff in hand, Rictus began spamming fireballs towards the charging zombies as he began making barrier of stone between him and his enemies. The barrier would entirely cover Besides a single viewing port. The necromancer was using this time to channel an absolutely massive ice storm.
Rictus quickly reached out with telekinesis and launched one of the now flaming zombies at the necromancer before the spell was completed. The necromancer had to use the ice storm as a barrier to stop the zombie then tried to send it at Rictus, but it was significantly weaker at this point. The fireballs did a good job of stopping the ice storm as well as stalling the zombies which allowed Rictus time to dump stones spikes from his dimensional storage. Once the spikes were back out, Rictus began going on the offensive again.
The spikes were shot out towards the enemies in rapid succession. Most all the spikes were sent barreling towards the necromancer. He was able to avoid a killing hit, but his left leg was shattered when one of the spikes slammed into it sideways. As the necromancer fell towards the ground, Rictus quickly took advantage and covered him in an ash shell once again. Once immobilized, he was easy prey for Rictus's trusty ax.
Upon the necromancer's death, the remaining zombies fell as if their strings were cut.
Rictus looked around for any remaining threats. Finding nothing, he went to the friendly necromancer still encapsulated in the ash shell. Rictus was pleasantly surprised to find he could manipulate the shell as he opened it enough to reveal the terrified face of the boy. The boy began sucking in huge gasps of air.
"Now…about the Helm. Where is it?"
The poor boy stared blankly at Rictus for a moment before his eyes darted over to a large chest in the corner of the room.
"iiiittt… iitttsss….um…in the chessss… chesssttt.."
Rictus quickly made his was over to the chest. He noticed it seemed to be locked, but a quick spell was all that was needed to open it.
There was a flute, some clothes, a large mana potion, a purse of septims, and an ancient looking helm. Rictus studied the helm to make sure it appeared like the various sketches and descriptions the Jarl had given him before. It was indeed identical to what he was sent to find. Rictus quickly placed the helm and the entire chest into his storage.
Rictus could tell more necromancers were in this cave than what he encountered. Rictus could see the blood stains of the one who got trampled disappearing down the corridor. There was an alternative to searching through the cave system and eliminating the remaining necromancers. Rictus approached the corridor and began channeling his mana into the surrounding stone. He completely blocked the entrance with over a foot of solid condensed stone. It would take time for anyone to get their way through that. Rictus was just glad no one interrupted him.
When he was done, Rictus turned around to find the cooperative necromancer had gotten out of his ashen prison. Instead of attacking, he simply was sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. Rictus decided to leave him where he was for now since there was no threat at the moment.
Rictus moved towards the middle of the room to try another one of his spells. He had a spell which was supposed to transfer items on dead bodies to him. The spell seemed to somehow cause everything attached to a dead body to slowly float towards Rictus. Once they got near him, Rictus simply opened his storage and put everything there to go through later. He was honestly a little disappointed in the spell. He was really hoping it would have been a sneaky way to look dead bodies, but sadly it was obvious what was going on. Still, the spell allowed him to retrieve things without touching the bodies which is always a plus.
Rictus then moved around the room collecting various profitable items such as potions and soul gems. There were even a couple black soul gems which just gave off a feeling of wrongness compared to the natural soul gems. Once everything was collected, Rictus returned to the boy.
"You were helpful and didn't attack me so I will let you live. I would recommend you finding something else to do with your life instead of this. I do want to know if the only prisoners you have are those three lying unconscious in that cell."
The boy slowly looked up to the man who had turned his life upside down in the span of a few minutes. He was feeling too numb to really protest and decided to just tell the truth. He had already seen what this man was capable of doing. If he could kill the boy's master, then the boy stood no chance at all.
"Those are the only prisoners we have. Master wanted to make sure they were only close to him so he could be even more in control. I did not want this to be how my life went. I just wanted to study magic and be a powerful necromancer like the old Nords. Instead, I was run out of town and joined up with Master just to survive. He was far too powerful for someone like me to deny. I knew better than to join a cult, no matter how good it sounds."
Rictus felt a little bad for the guy. He seemed to still be a teenager who got caught up in the wrong crowd. Still, Rictus had been fooled before.
"I told you I will not kill you, but you still will be punished. We all must live with the consequences of our actions."
The boy stared blanky at Rictus. Rictus did not take any joy in punishing the boy, but even a passive/forced role in human sacrifice was wrong. Deciding to be quick about it, Rictus quickly cut off one of the boys arms and healed it with alter body spell. He then knocked the boy out and moved him towards the cell. Rictus used his telekinesis to pull out the prisoners and place the necromancer in it. If he was really a mage and wanted to live, he could get out of the cell.
Rictus then began the process of waking up the three unconscious prisoners. There were a Redguard man, a male dark elf, and a female Imperial. They were slow to wake up, but when they did it was quite an ordeal.
Rictus patiently told them what had happened to them He assured them they were safe from the necromancers for now, but they all needed to get going soon. Rictus corralled them towards the ledge where he made a slope for them to easily climb down. He then went over towards the corridor which led further into the cave and completely closed off that area as well.
Everyone seemed to breath easier once they were out of the cave. Rictus was sorely tempted to leave the 3 prisoners, but he felt a little bad for them. He was also exhausted from the battle and traveling. He really should not have risked combat after traveling with his magic for so long. It was an unneeded risk. It all worked out this time, but that does not mean it would every time.
They travelled 10-20 minutes away from the cave before they stopped. Rictus could tell that the prisoners were still not at 100% either and needed rest. He then decided to make a crude shelter.
Rictus raised up the stone to make a small hut where they all could rest. He even made sure to attach a small outhouse so they would not have to go back out into the cold. Once everyone was inside, Rictus made a fire from some wood he pulled from storage. He then passed out food to the eager prisoners. While they were eating, Rictus found out a little about each person.
The Redguard was named Brand. He was a cook for a trading ship based out of Dawnstar. His ship had been docked for some repairs, and he had gone out for walk. Brand talked about how the snow of Skyrim still amazed him since it was so different than the sand he grew up around. While he was on a trail, he heard a woman scream for a second before it was cut off and ran to investigate. When he got there, he discovered a group of people in dark robes carrying two bodies. Before he could respond, he was knocked unconscious. He had faint memories of a potion being forced down his throat, but the next thing he knew Rictus was waking him up.
The dark elf did not share much. His name was Artem, and he was a simple fisherman who lived in a cottage outside of Dawnstar. He did not really comment on anything else and attentively ate his food.
The woman's name was Larina. She was originally from Solitude where she was part of the Bard's college. She was looking for a buyer of an old flute which had rumors of being able to make even the dead dance. She discovered the necromancers who seemed to be very interested in the flute. Everything seemed to go well at first, but after she gave them the flute, they decided to keep her too. She was knocked out and drugged like the other 2. She was curious as to what happened to the flute, but Rictus decided the ancient flute would be better kept by him. It seemed like the woman probably obtained the flute by not so legal means.
All three were immensely grateful towards Rictus for all he did. They knew if he had not shown up, they would have been in a bad place. Getting your soul trapped into a black soul gem was not a pleasant experience, especially when your soul was then sacrificed to some dark entity. Each promised him some rewards. Brand told him that he would cook him any meal Rictus could imagine. Brand was not the Gourmet, but he did claim no one had complained about his food before. Artem said he would give him some of his fish and be willing to show Rictus his special fishing spot.
Larina said she didn't have much, but she would do whatever she could to repay the debt. She seemed to have a little something something in mind to thank Rictus, which he was not interested in. It wasn't that she was ugly or against doing it in general, just not with her. She gave off some dirty vibes, and not the good kind. Maybe if they weren't disgusting and in a small bare stone hut with 2 other people there.
Everyone eventually made themselves comfortable as they rested for the night. Rictus was still thinking about the previous battle. Everything worked out in the end, but he was disappointed in his performance. He was still very new to battles and lacked a lot of experience. This was also his first real fight against a real opponent where he fought by himself. He had considered summoning his familiar but wanted to see how he did fighting solo. Based on this fight and previous ones, Rictus realized how much better he was as a support and control fighter. He could still be effective by himself, but he was deadly when fighting in a group, as evidenced by fighting with the Companions and at Winterhold. Summons would be a good way for him to augment his effectiveness. He had just got the spells for fire and shock atronach which he made a higher priority to learn.
Maybe it was time to look for a follower? Rictus still wasn't 100% sure about having someone with him, but it was worth considering.
The next day everyone was ready to leave this place. Rictus wanted to get back as fast as possible, but he felt a little responsible for the prisoners. Despite them living in or near Dawnstar, he told them they were going to Winterhold because it was closer, and he had to deliver the Helm before the Jarl left for the Moot.
Rictus had actually forgotten how much traveling by foot sucked. It was tiring and not very efficient at all. He kept considering summoning Billy but felt it would be a little cruel for him to be casually sitting on his mount while the others were struggling so much. Rictus kept himself in excellent shape with his alter body spell, so it wasn't all that difficult physically, just tedious.
After a couple hours of traveling, Rictus could sense a group of people not too far away from them. It was a good thing he checked his surroundings with detect life and mana ever so often, or he could have missed it. Rictus got his travelling companions to hide as he went to investigate.
He was immensely surprised to see Faralda leading a group of mages on horseback. Rictus couldn't help but smile at his luck. He hid as he waited for them to approach near his position.
"Ah Faralda. Your timing is impeccable as always. I am glad to see you, but what are you doing out here?"
Rictus was all smiles as he approached the group of mages. He was curious why they were all the way out here. Mages from the College weren't really known for leaving or exploring.
Faralda and the rest of the mages nearly blasted Rictus when he suddenly appeared like that.
"By the Eight Rictus…You should know better than to try and scare a group of battlemages. I almost roasted you."
Rictus could only rub the back of his head sheepishly. It was a little childish to try and surprise the mages like he did, especially when one had enough destructive magic to destroy entire groups of warriors instantly.
"Heh sorry about that. I couldn't help it. What are you all doing out here though? A little far from the College, aren't you?"
"We were actually sent to parley or clear out the group of necromancers in Hob's fall cave."
Faralda left unsaid anything about the Helm, but both knew that played a large part of it all. Seems Morrigan was trying to play politics and gain some more influence over the Jarl.
"Ah well that is great to hear. I just came from there and rescued some people about to be sacrificed. I also took out what I assume to be the leader and a couple others. I am sure there are more left there, but I blocked the main entrances to keep them in place. I wonder if you would be willing to escort these people back to Winterhold or even Dawnstar. I would like to make sure to get back before the Jarl leaves."
It was a little unbelievable to Faralda that Rictus had time to do all of that. He had only left a couple hours before them, and he seemed to be on foot. Still, Faralda had no reason to not believe him. He had proven trustworthy so far, and she was even beginning to consider him a friend. Listening to what he said she could only let out a sigh. Rictus's actions would technically make her job a lot easier. She turned towards 2 of her followers.
"You 2 will escort the people. I will leave it up to you whether you take them back all the way to Dawnstar or to Winterhold. Without the leader, the necromancers should not be much of a problem for us. I guess I will owe you another meal Rictus if this is as easy as I think it will be now."
"Sounds like a good plan to me. Thanks for taking them off my hands. I will see you soon Faralda. Happy hunting!"
Rictus quickly summoned Billy and rode off before much more could be said. He trusted Faralda to get the job done. He almost flew away from them right there but decided against it for now. Rictus was not particularly hiding his ability, but he wasn't showing it off either. Once he got out of sight from them, Rictus began rapidly flying back to Winterhold. He was ready for a warm bed and hot meal. The Jarl was sure to give him a good reward for this.
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[Riften]
A smile tugged at her lips as she observed her sleeping mark. It had been surprisingly easy to get in here. Men were always a little more willing to let in a woman. It was almost impressive the way they would let their guard down from a few flirtatious remarks. All her extensive planning was not even needed for this job.
It turned out 'tutoring' young women over some black-briar mead was a favorite past time of his. He always seemed so stressed and irritable, so it was no wonder he was fooled. A little hip swaying, a soft flick of the tail, and some gentle purring was all it took for him to lose all focus on what was going on. Now, he was passed out from a sleeping potion which spiked one of the many of bottles laying around the floor. A couple quick knots ensured he was not going anywhere.
A whistle out the back window alerted her accomplices it was safe to enter. It was extremely easy to get a couple of lowlifes from the ratway to help carry a body. She had given them instructions on where they would be taking the body. There was a delightfully artistic chef who lived in the ratway named Knjakr who was always wanting some fresh meat.
Normally she would follow along with them to make sure they delivered, but she needed to stay here and check the place for anything needing liberation. She left the business of dealing with the lowlifes to her friend.
"I don't know why you are doing this. You could get in a lot of trouble if this goes south you know?"
She couldn't help but let out a sigh at her friend's continued insistence.
"Well, it is too late now to do anything else. If we don't deliver him to Chef, and he wakes up, we are in for a world of hurt. Please make sure it happens. Don't worry about missing out of your cut. You know I am good for it."
She slowly moved her tail along her friend's jaw. She could see her last resolve crumble under her touch. She knew her friend wasn't really opposed to it anyways. Her friend had been part of the Dark Brotherhood after all.
"fine. I will get to it, but you be careful. There are bound to be traps and locks I bet even you would struggle opening in here."
A small laugh escaped the woman's mouth at her friend's worry.
"Don't worry Sapphire. I knew the risks coming into this. We all will be better off. Trust me."
A sigh escaped Sapphire as she began leading the lowlifes away.
"I still can't believe I am taking part of robbing and killing the guild master. Strange times."
She watched Sapphire quickly lead the lowlifes and Mercer Frey away. She couldn't help the excitement which welled up in her after the successful heist. She lived for the thrill of sneaking in and taking things she desired. Killing was not normally part of her MO, but she made an exception for Frey. She knew he was the cause of the guild's misfortune. He was a murderer and did plenty of bad things in his time. Plus, technically she would not be killing him. That would be Knjakr. Or maybe it would be the poison she had injected in him. It was slow acting, so Knjakr would probably kill him first. Probably.
Once the cost was clear, she went deeper into the mansion as she pulled something out of her pocket. He paw held a very special key. It looked old and a little rusted with a strange blue and black nob on the end of it. Many would overlook it, but they would be remiss to do such a thing.
She couldn't help but laugh at her luck. Normally, she would be worried about being unlucky for stealing this, but it was not her who stole it from Nocturnal. She simply stole it from Frey. She would not squander it like he had been doing. She was not entirely sure what all powers it possessed, but she was more than willing to find out.
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[A/N]: Well I decided to give a little insight into the Skilled in lockpicking. I thought it was kinda fun. I never did like Mercer Frey.
Well, I wrote the longest chapter I have written as the last chapter of the year. (the insert about the lockpicker totally counts towards the word count which was 4300.) I am a little amazed we have made it through another year. That this story is still going is also a bit of a surprise to me. If you have any inputs into how to make this story better, please let me know. I need all the inspiration I can get to keep writing stuff.
I hope you all have a wonderful new year. Hope to hear from you all next year.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Pepey_LePew
Pepey_LePew Hello there readers. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. If you have anything to add, please let me know. I love hearing feedback from people, even if it is telling me about mistakes I made. For those dedicated people who read these notes, I really don't understand you. Your naive hope of something interesting being written in these notes is almost admireable. Maybe one day you will be rewarded for your dedication, but it is not this day nor even this year.
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