-Clatter!
I brought the back of my blade down hard on the skeleton, and its entire frame shattered into pieces, dissipating into nothingness.
We had finally reached the halfway point of Wolfskull Cave.
Near the entrance, we had encountered mostly the usual cave dwellers—wolves and frost trolls—but as we pushed deeper, things associated with necromancy, like draugr and skeletons, began to appear.
"This is suspicious. Something is definitely happening in this cave," Lydia whispered, looking down at the scattered bone fragments.
Since I already knew exactly how this situation ended, I knew she was right. As Lydia suspected, a ritual was being conducted in this cave to summon the spirit of a being called Potema.
'I remember being shocked by the sheer scale of this quest when I first did it.'
Still, it wasn't a particularly difficult quest. As we pushed forward, picking off mobs one by one, voices echoed from the other side of the cavern.
"How long has it been?"
"Nearly an hour. The ritual should be nearing completion soon."
"Hah... What a waste. If only I had the talent, I could have participated in the ritual too."
"Keep dreaming. Not just anyone can take part in that ritual."
Two figures draped in hooded black robes were conversing in low voices while guarding a weathered wooden door. Their outfits practically screamed 'I'm a necromancer.'
I took a slow breath and drew the string of my bound bow to its limit. In an instant, my vision narrowed and sharpened, the target magnifying as if I were looking through a scope.
-Thwip!
The arrow sliced through the tomb's stagnant air and pierced the necromancer's neck with perfect precision.
[Sneak Attack - 2.0x Damage]
"Aargh!"
"What?! Who's there?!"
The woman in the black hood immediately tried to gather magicka to summon an undead thrall, but my second arrow pierced her chest before she could finish the spell, sending her slumped to the ground.
"Phew..."
I let out a sigh as I dispelled the bow. I had worried they might be strong, but they were easier than expected. I lowered my guard and scanned the surroundings.
On top of a rickety desk lay a messy spread of necromantic materials: blood-stained bone shards, rotting human hearts, and black soul gems. Next to it stood an enchanting table.
"Just as I thought... the marks of necromancy," Eloise said, examining the desk with her wealth of magical knowledge. She pointed toward the weathered door, claiming she felt a strange, unsettling energy emanating from beyond it.
Of course, the Dragonborn and I, both capable of handling magicka, felt it too.
"Everyone, stay sharp."
-Creeeak
As we pushed open the old door, I stood dazed for a moment at the sight that unfolded before us.
The narrow, suffocating cave was gone. In its place was a vast space reminiscent of a massive underground city. High-rising stone towers stood tall in various places, with bridges connecting them like a tangled spiderweb.
Most overwhelming was the flow of magicka that seemed to vibrate through the very air. All the ambient energy in the room had turned into a mysterious blue aura, swirling and converging toward the tallest central tower. And, as if to break that oppressive atmosphere, a chilling incantation echoed throughout the cavern.
"Wolf Queen! We summon thee! Appear before us!"
"They've already started, just as I thought."
In the game, Potema was never actually summoned no matter how much time you wasted, but here, there was no telling how the story would play out. If we were unlucky, Potema might actually manifest.
"Whoa...! What is that?"
Ha-neul asked me in a panic. She wasn't the only one; everyone else was equally shocked by the sight. Even I, who knew exactly what was coming, was overwhelmed by that massive pool of magicka and the brilliant blue light.
I shook my head to clear my mind and called out to the group.
"They're performing the summoning ritual! We have to stop it!"
Being well-versed in necromancy myself, I could feel it. The ritual was moments away from completion. However, the central tower was far away, and draugr along with other warlocks were patrolling the area on high alert.
I quickly drew my sword and sprinted toward the tower. Ha-neul followed right behind me.
"Who are—urk!"
A necromancer, startled by our sudden charge, didn't even get to finish his sentence before I slit his throat. I shouted back to the two trailing behind us.
"Lydia! Eloise! Handle the draugr!"
"What? Just the two of us?!"
"Don't worry about us! Stop that ritual, quickly!"
The undead draugr were slow, making them easy to kite, but the spell-casting necromancers were a different story. Stopping the ritual was the absolute priority over sweeping up minor mobs. I had to leave the draugr to them. Ha-neul and I, being the fastest, had to stop the ceremony ourselves.
We headed for the tower, cutting down anyone who blocked our path. The air grew thick with the scent of blood and echoes of groans, but we didn't stop.
"How dare you interfere with the sacred ritual!"
-Pshhhhhh!
A necromancer blocked our way by summoning a Frost Atronach. After summoning the construct, he conjured a bound bow. I tried to ignore him and push past, but the massive bulk of the Frost Atronach blocked the entrance to the tower entirely.
"Tch—annoying."
I clicked my tongue and rushed him with my bound sword. As he aimed his bow, I timed my movement and swerved to dodge the arrow.
"How is he so fast...!"
The panicked necromancer hurriedly tried to nock another arrow, but I plunged my blade into his stomach.
-Squeltch.
The skin of an untrained mage tore as easily as wet parchment.
'I suppose I really have gotten more agile since I started putting points into Stamina.'
I realized my own growth through that quick exchange. Once the summoner dies, the summoned entity vanishes with them. The Frost Atronach melted away the moment he died, and Ha-neul and I bolted up the stairs.
"Something is wrong. Someone has infiltrated the cavern."
The Ritual Master, who had been focusing on her incantations with closed eyes, spoke as she slowly looked up.
"What should we do?"
"I will maintain the ritual circle. You two go and deal with them."
"Yes, mistress."
Following her command, two necromancers hurried down the tower stairs. The Ritual Master looked back at the vortex of energy. 'The ritual is almost complete. I've poured in so many rare materials... I cannot let it be interrupted now.'
The two assistants helping her were quite skilled. She was confident they could handle the intruders and return without much trouble.
"Fus Ro Dah!"
-Aaaaaaargh!
But the unexpected happened right before her eyes. Her subordinates—who were supposed to be high-level practitioners—were blown away. The intruders were even using a Shout.
'It was almost finished...!'
Realizing we weren't just common pests, she was forced to stop the ritual and prepare for combat. She could always perform the ritual later. But if she died here, or if we escaped to report this, it would be the true end of her ambitions.
The top of the tower radiated a blinding blue light as the woman I presumed to be the high priestess glared at us.
"You shall pay dearly for interrupting this ceremony!"
"Yeah, right!"
Ha-neul and I lunged at the priestess immediately.
'I can dodge magic arrows or whatever else she throws.'
However, she didn't summon a bow. Just as I reached her and prepared to lunge with my sword—
-KABOOM!
I stepped on a Lightning Rune hidden on the floor and was caught in a massive explosion.
"Foolish boy."
"Augh!"
She sneered at me as I lay twitching on the ground from the shock. But I wasn't alone. Leaving me behind, Ha-neul rushed her instantly. However, the Ritual Master created distance and cast a high-level summoning spell.
"Deal with these two arrogant fools."
-Bzzzt!
Purple sparks flickered where she pointed, and a rift in dimensions appeared. From within stepped a Dremora Lord and a Storm Atronach.
Clearly, the leader of these necromancers wasn't a joke; she had summoned two incredibly powerful entities at once. They were incomparable to the clumsy, unstable Spark Atronach I used to summon.
-Thud!
The Dremora Lord kicked Ha-neul in the stomach, sending her flying. She was knocked back a short distance but landed with a clean roll. Wiping the blood from her lip, she rushed back to pull me up.
"Kuh—Mister! Snap out of it!"
"Urgh...! Right!"
I forced myself to my feet and summoned a Frost Atronach. Perhaps because my magicka pool and proficiency had increased, it manifested in a nearly perfect state.
"Savor your final moments, mortal!"
The Dremora Lord unsheathed a greatsword as tall as a man and swung it at my Frost Atronach. Cracks spiderwebbed across the construct's icy body, but it held its ground and swung a massive arm in retaliation.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the Ritual Master lowered a bridge leading to another tower and attempted to flee.
"I'll take these guys! You catch her!"
"Okay!"
Ha-neul dodged the Dremora Lord and sprinted after the priestess. While the Dremora and the Frost Atronach traded blows, I stood against the Storm Atronach. The construct gathered lightning in one hand and fired. I tried to telegraph its movement to dodge, but there was no dodging a hit-scan bolt of lightning. Moreover, its accuracy was disturbingly high.
"Gah!"
Because my shock resistance was low, my health bar began to plummet.
"This is getting ridiculous," I muttered, diving behind a stone structure on the tower. I chugged a potion and decided to change tactics.
-Crackle!
My Frost Atronach was finally shattered by the Dremora, and this time, I summoned a Flame Atronach. I commanded the summon to charge into the Storm Atronach, and then I intentionally destabilized its magicka, causing the Flame Atronach to collapse.
I amplified the resulting explosion with a surge of energy.
-BOOM!
The Storm Atronach was torn apart by the intense heat. One powerful summon down, but the fight wasn't over. I immediately summoned a Bound Shield—an effective counter for large weapons like greatswords.
-RAAAAAAARGH!
The Dremora Lord let out a battle cry and performed a horizontal sweep. It was too fast to dodge. I raised my shield to block. A massive impact vibrated through my arm, but thanks to the perk I'd taken that increased Block effectiveness by 20%, I managed to endure it.
'If it were the old me, that would have shattered my arm! Not anymore!'
Having successfully blocked, I immediately lunged for his face. The Dremora Lord was fully armored in Daedric plate, but he wasn't wearing a helmet. I was able to land a series of glancing hits.
However, his health was incredibly high, and I was only leaving shallow cuts. The Dremora Lord laughed as if it were a joke and buried his fist in my solar plexus.
"Hrk—blegh!"
I doubled over, retching up the breakfast I'd eaten earlier. I had bad memories of getting hit in the gut like this, and the beating brought them all rushing back.
"Heh, overwhelmed by my strength, are you? Prepare for death, human!"
The Dremora Lord raised his greatsword high with both hands, but he never got to finish me. A fireball flew in from a distance, engulfing him in flames. It was Ha-neul. The flames were fierce, but the Dremora Lord seemed unbothered. However, his attention shifted from me to her, and he swung his blade toward the Dragonborn.
"Tiid!"
Ha-neul's body seemed to accelerate. She dodged every swing of that massive sword by the narrowest of margins.
"Huff...! You oversized beast!"
The Dremora, having exhausted his stamina with those reckless swings, panted heavily. Ha-neul took the opportunity to use her dual-swords to pummel his face relentlessly.
"Gwaaaaaaargh!"
His face mangled, the Dremora clutched his head and fell to one knee. Ha-neul finished him with a kick that sent him plummeting off the tower. Crashing into the ground below with the full force of gravity, the Dremora Lord was forcibly unsummoned.
"Could've come a little sooner..."
"Shouldn't you be thanking me first?"
I poked fun at Ha-neul, and she replied with a cheeky grin. With that, the Ritual Master was dead and the ceremony had been completely halted. However, Potema's soul didn't dissipate; instead, it flew out through a hole in the cave ceiling, heading somewhere far away.
"Get up, quickly!"
Ha-neul reached out a hand to pull me up. I took her hand and dusted myself off as I stood. We had solved the case, but I couldn't shake a feeling of unease.
"Now that I think about it, didn't we forget something?"
"Huh?"
Ha-neul rubbed her chin, deep in thought, until something clicked.
"Wait!"
-GRRRRRR!!!
"Aaaaagh! Get away from me!"
"Miss Eloise! Get behind me!"
Down below at the base of the tower, Lydia and Eloise were currently surrounded and fighting for their lives against a literal army of draugr.