User blog:Apollo42/The Underland Saga: Part I: Into the Darkness

Hey, everyone! I’ve decided to start up a mini-series about one of my favorite characters, Arik Morgan! So, uh… Tell me if you like it…?

THE YEAR 4E 3

“B-but… The Map! The Map says it’s supposed to be right here!”

Arik barely glanced at the woman, choosing instead to look at the stone cliff-face. “Are you sure you read the map right, Kara?”

“Of course, I did!” The Breton woman said, indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. “I’m the best you have at reading maps!”

“Mmmm… This one thinks that you should have picked someone better, Mage.” A black-furred Khajiit purred, playfully. “She isn’t very good…”

“Quiet, Ja’Ron.” Arik said, quietly. “If Kara says she read the map right, I believe her.”

The Khajiit shrugged and laid down on the grass, stretching out in the sun. “That’s only because you two are-”

“Ja’Ron.” Arik said, again, his tone of voice making it clear that he wanted the subject to drop.

“Mmmmmm…” Ja’Ron purred, closing his eyes. “Wake this one when we are to leave.”

Kara rolled her eyes, glancing again at the cliff face. “I… I honestly don’t understand what went wrong, Arik…. It should be right here! I s-swear I read the map right!”

“I believe you, Kara.” Arik said, quietly, stepping closer to the cliff face and moving his hand over it, slowly, as if searching for something. A keyhole, a niche… anything.

“Mr. Morgan?” A Dunmer boy asked, eyeing the tall Imperial. “What are you doing? There’s nothing there…”

Arik paused, his hand on a small bump in the wall. He slowly moved his hand over it, before looking back. “Take a step back, Kara…” He murmured, and the woman did so.

Within a few seconds, lines of ghostly green fire began to carve through the rock face, spinning out a spectral web, with Arik’s hand being its very epicenter. The green flames began to dissolve the rock face, crumbling it and revealing a small, cave-like entryway.

“Yes!” Kara shrieked, happily, running to Arik and throwing her arms around him. The Mage laughed, returning her embrace and kissing her full on the lips. Ja’Ron and the Dunmer boy were laughing with joy.

The Dunmer lad ran towards the entrance of the cave, before stopping immediately in the entry way. He stared up at the ceiling of the cave, breathing heavily and shaking.

“What’s wrong, Verigo?” Ja’Ron called, taking a step forward.

Verigo simply stared up at the ceiling, wrapping his arms around himself and looking as if he was about to cry.

“Verigo?” Arik asked, walking so he was standing next to the young elf. He followed his gaze, staring at the top of the cave. He briefly glanced over the writing that was there, but was unable to read it. “What does it say, Verigo?”

Verigo glanced at Arik, as if confused. “What do you mean? Can’t you read it? It’s the common tongue!”

Kara shook her head, also staring up. “It looks like…. Aldmeri, maybe?”

Verigo shook his head, staring up. “Definitely common tongue…”

Ja’Ron sighed, running his claws through his fur. “Well, this one would appreciate it if the little boy would just read what it says!”

Verigo shivered, but he nodded, his eyes following the words as he read, “’Thou dost not know what thou hast awakened. Flee now, before thou art utterly destroyed, doomed to face a fate worse than death.’” The Dunmer looked at Arik, his eyes wild with fright. “I don’t want to face a fate worse than death!”

“Don’t worry.” Arik shrugged. “It’s probably a fake curse designed to scare people away from whatever lies beneath. It just makes the treasure we’ll be looking for even more valuable, to have something like this on it.”

“Yeah.” Kara laughed, taking Arik’s hand and keeping the other on her swollen belly. “There must be a lot of treasure….”

“This one would like to find it now!” Ja’Ron exclaimed, beginning to briskly walk further into the cave, leading right towards a carved stone staircase. The entire group paused, glancing at the staircase, before continuing on again, heading down it.

The stone staircase led down for a long time, before finally stopping in front of a small door, emblazoned with purple gems. Arik raised an eyebrow, before glancing at his group of 5 companions: Kara, Verigo, Ja’Ron, and two Bosmeri equipment carriers who didn’t talk much.

“Ready, everyone?” Arik asked, glancing around, and the entire group nodded, solemnly. The Imperial Wizard paused, his hand on the carved handle of the door, before finally tugging it open.

Arik walked through, before stopping in shock. “W-what…?”

“What is it, Arik?” Kara asked, following him in, only to stop in shock as well. The rest of the group followed in, staring around in awe and wonder. They were in a massive cavern, even bigger than the massive cavern under Skyrim.

“How is this possible?” Arik asked, quietly, looking to Kara. The woman didn’t answer, as she was staring at the strange flora that grew so many miles beneath the ground.

“This one thought that we were just going to be finding a small treasure room…” Ja’Ron said, awkwardly. “Not a cavern bigger than Blackreach!” The Khajiit Bodyguard placed his hand on his sword, nervously, and glanced around.

“Well, there’s probably still some treasure down here, don’tcha think?” Verigo asked, seemingly being the only adventurer who was excited about the prospect of exploring the cave.

“Maybe…” Arik mused, holding a mage light in his hand so that he and his group could see better. “Might as well look, right?”

“Of c-course…” Kara whispered, holding tight to his other hand. The group began to move again, heading further into the darkness. They passed by stone arches, glowing blue forests, deep rivers, and many other fantastical landmarks that didn’t seem to belong in a cave.

Eventually, however, they reached a building, carved into the wall. It seemed to be made of similar stones to the Daedric Shrines of Morrowind, but Arik wasn’t paying too much attention to that, instead choosing to focus on the doorway.

Ja’Ron stepped in, first, his sword drawn, to make sure that the coast was clear. “It’s alright!” He called, after a tense moment of silence. The group soon followed him inside, into a large, circular chamber.

In the center of the stone room was a gold pedestal, with a single, ruby gem resting on top. Arik raised an eyebrow at the ’massive amount of treasure,’ but almost immediately paused and stared at it. Because he was the only mage in the group, it seemed that he was the only one that felt the massive amounts of power coming off of it in waves.

“Erm… Maybe the other treasure is somewhere else in this cavern…” Aratius said, quietly, stepping up and grasping the gem. The power of it was so strong that it burned his hand immediately, causing him to drop it in his bag right away. “We should keep looking…”

“Can we go out and rest, first?” Verigo asked, cautiously. “We’ve been walking around for hours!”

“Okay, fine. Whatever.” Arik shrugged, glancing at his bag. He was half expecting for the room to blow up right about now, but it didn’t. “We should go outside, though.”

“Yes!” Kara exclaimed, happily, her swollen feet rather tired. She tugged Arik’s hand, before releasing it and walking outside, quickly followed by Ja’Ron, Verigo, and the Bosmeri servicemen.

Arik glanced cautiously at the now-empty pedestal, before quickly following them out. He quickly lay down next to the already-sleeping Kara, and wrapped his arm around her, before falling asleep.

Within a few hours, the man awoke, shivering. He slowly pulled himself away from the sleeping woman, before heading off into the glowing forest, to see what was going on with him.

After a few moments, he put his back against a tree and slid to the ground. He raised his hand to rub his eyes, only to see that he was holding the ruby in his hand. He stopped and stared at it, wondering when he had taken it out of his bag.

Arik took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were a bright red.

He stood up and summoned a Daedric sword, pulling his dark hood over his face, before walking back to the camp.

He walked up to the man on watch, one of the Bosmeri servicemen, and stopped to stare at him.

“Hello, there, Ari-” The Bosmer began, before it turned into a sharp gurgle, and then nothing.

Arik pulled his blade out of the man’s chest, and watched as the body slumped forward. The other Bosmer’s head shot up, and he leapt to his feet. “What do you think you’re doing?!” He shrieked, drawing his bow.

Arik simply strode towards him, not even bothering to wipe the blood off of his sword.

The Bosmer shrieked, awakening the other members of the group. “What’s going on?” Ja’Ron demanded, leaping to his feet and drawing his silver sword. “What are you doing, Arik?!” Arik just kept walking, towards the Bosmer. Ja’Ron shoved Verigo and Kara behind him, in case Arik tried to attack any of them.

The Bosmer fired his arrow at the Imperial Wizard, as Kara shrieked, “No!”

Arik stopped the arrow in midair, a few inches from his eye. He looked at the Bosmer, coldly, before using telekinesis to rush it over and shove it into the elf’s brain.

Ja’Ron leapt to action, swinging his blade at the taller man. Arik turned and parried the sword with his own weapon, before swinging at the Khajiit’s neck. The Khajiit stumbled backwards, to avoid the blow, instead getting nicked on the cheek.

Ja’Ron leapt back at Arik, his sword held high, so that he could bring it down in a devastating blow on the man’s head.

He stopped, after getting with a few feet of the man, as he stared into the Imperial’s eyes. The Khajiit screamed and ran off, into the forest, terrified and driven mad by whatever telepathic vision he had received.

Arik turned his eyes upon his two remaining companions: the Dunmer child, and the Breton woman.

Verigo shivered in fright, staring at the older man. “P-please…. D-don’t…” He barely had time to get this out, before the Imperial sliced at him, and the Dunmer’s headless body fell to the floor.

“Arik!” Kara shrieked, drawing her dagger and staring at her lover’s eyes. “W-what… What are you doing?!” The man remained silent, taking a step towards the woman.

Kara closed her eyes and lashed out at Arik, in a flash, carving a long cut into the man’s right cheek, from his eye to the edge of his mouth before he could stop her. “Leave me alone!” The girl shrieked, before Arik retaliated.

He drove his blade, hard, into the woman’s pregnant belly.

“A-Arik… O-our… child…” Kara choked out, before the Imperial drew his blade out and stabbed it through her neck.

Arik blinked again, his eyes once more turning green. His eyes widened, in horror, before leaping forward and catching the dead woman’s body before it could hit the ground.

“What… W-what have I d-done?” Arik sobbed, burying his head in his dead lover’s black hair.

“Something irreversible.” Said a voice behind him.