bookpower Chapter 99: Chapter XL: The Solitude Catacombs
Chapter 99: Chapter XL: The Solitude Catacombs
Chapter 99: Chapter XL: The Solitude Catacombs
(General pov)
"Explain." commanded a frowning Rikke.
After taking one last look at Savos and confirming that he was no longer bleeding out Reyvin started pacing around to calm his nerves and spoke: "Unfortunately it seems that the spirit of Potema these idiots summoned was not completely banished to the afterlife when I destroyed her body, she is likely reconstituting herself within her resting place and if we follow usual Nordic traditions she is most likely already raising the followers that were buried with her."
A nervous Torygg shifted uncomfortably "You are certain that it was Potema?"
Reyvin raises a tired finger "Highly proficient in the thu'um" then another "They were quite literally calling her out when we entered." and one final finger "A lich so powerful it laid Savos on his ass."
The King sighed and nodded with a grumble "Yes, that doesn't leave all that many options but her."
Pretending not to already know Reyvin asked "Where was she buried anyway?"
Torygg cupped his chin in thought and after a moment answered with fear in his voice "I do believe she was still given the honor of the Solitude catacombs, even after her crimes."
"We need to get there yesterday." Reyvin said immediately.
Torygg paled "You don't mean..."
"Yup." Reyvin nodded with false cheer "Ole' Potema is probably resurrecting herself in one of the greatest concentrations of powerful remains in Skyrim as we speak, and if we don't get there quickly there won't be a city to come back to."
Rikke's almost perpetual frown deepened "It would take at least a day for our tired men to reach Solitude, and that is if we left the wounded behind which is not happening."
"There is a way to deal with this." Reyvin's tone was grave "If we were to get there quickly enough we could interrupt her revival and stop her from unleashing whatever she would do in her maddened state."
Sybille could see where he was going with this and sighed deeply.
Torygg looked at him oddly "We already established that it would take us a day to get there."
"Yes, it would take you a day to return."
Rikke rolled her eyes "Just get to the point Vy- *cough* Reyvin."
Chuckling at Rikke's slip of the tongue Reyvin pointed to Sybille and then to himself "The two of us could get there very quickly and gather a force to enter the catacombs, we would need written orders from the King to expedite things, but if we were to leave now we could get there in time."
Torygg didn't even wait for a further explanation and immediately commanded Falk to bring out some parchment and ink, which he carried with him for such situations.
Reyvin blinked in surprise, and while he was waiting for the King to finish his work he felt a cold hand grasp his shoulder and turned to see a somewhat annoyed Sybille giving him a half- lidded stare "How nice of you to volunteer me for this little quest." she drawled quietly.
He merely huffed "Oh come off it, you know damn well that if that city falls and Potema of all damn dragonbloods gets to live again we won't be just fucked, we will be-" He goes on to describe in great detail the depths of depravity only imaginable in a hentai.
Sybille blanches, making him laugh quietly "You rip a man's heart out with your bare hands, but a little degeneracy is what makes you flinch, eh?"
She gave him a disgusted look that screamed the question 'a little!?', but then her expression shifted to a more mischievous one as she purred into his ear "Is this what you fantasize about whenever you stare at me?"
"Of course not woman, I am a man of culture, not a degenerate." He huffed in faux-offence.
Her look was now stuck in a transition from amused to completely baffled, and before she could ask what exactly he meant, the King was done with his work and handed a sealed letter to her "Show this to Ingvar, he should get you the plans of the catacombs and gather the Thanes and guards to follow you down."
She nodded and turned to Reyvin, who was busy feeding another regeneration potion to the unconscious Savos. She rolled her eyes "You said it yourself that he will live, why waste the potions if he can just regenerate himself whenever he wakes up?"
He shrugged and continued with what he was doing "And me helping him out with it could be the difference between him being in time to help save us or being too tired to move."
Sybille blinked "That's fair."
Once Reyvin was done with Savos he got up and clapped his hands "Well, enjoy the trek back to the city kids, I am off to possibly die and become an eternal slave to a mad queen!" and with a loud pop he disappeared from his spot.
Sybille giggled at this and looked at the now baffled group "What he said." and also disappeared from her spot.
Falk grunted in annoyance "This is why I hate mages."
Bryling was another story, she bravely and boldly walked at the speartip, followed by her own housecarls who, much like her, were armed with grim determination and heirloom blades. The two court mages and palace steward were busy looking at the map and directing the formation toward the correct tomb from it's center, one mistake here and they could get lost for days.
After almost an hour of uncomfortable silence and shifting tunnels, they found themselves before an iron door, engraved upon it was a crowned wolf, bearing the symbol of the Septim
dynasty.
"This is definitely the place" Reyvin muttered "Even without the iconography, the aura
practically screams 'big bad lich bitch""
Erikur shifts uncomfortably and hisses "Are you sure you should be joking right now, she
could hear us!"
Reyvin lets out a hollow laugh "My good man, I just stabbed the madwoman with Meridia's sword, if she needed a reason to be angry at me it surely wouldn't be a bit of mockery."
"Oh..."
"A tale worthy of song, if true." Bryling says, doubt lacing her words.
As Reyvin is pushing the doors apart he shrugs "Well to be fair, good old Savos did batter her and practically throw me at her, but I did end up stabbing her so it counts!" Before she could comment, and the moment he opened the door a wave of dread spread
among them, it wasn't a spell or a curse, just the pure feeling of death and power waiting
inside.
With false cheer Reyvin clapped his hands "Well ladies and gentlemen, time to die a horrible death!" and with a cackle rushed into the damned tomb, leaving behind a bunch of scared
Nords.
Sybille rolled her eyes and followed him while muttering "That damned boy will be the death
of me."
The rest were stunned by the mage's nonchalance, but quickly collected themselves and
rushed in.
(Reyvin's pov)
Wheew, if I wasn't about to be buried down here and have my corpse molested in all manner of uncomfortable ways I would consider the place to be beautiful.
White marble all the way holding statues and engravings of past deeds and accomplishments,
even a plaque begging the god's forgiveness for the Queen's deeds.
I do slow down for the rest to catch up, going in alone is idiocy.
As we go deeper, the marble halls make way for grey stone, slowly shifting from a work of art
to a classic Nordic burial ground. And as the look shifts, so does the magic, and the moment I stepped into the next level a wave of necromantic magic exploded and we were met with the
growls of draugr.
Here we go again...
I shall require your powerstones to contain Potema's soul!
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