teeling yourself, you stand up and approach Lucan, "Sir, I'll get your claw back."
"Oh by the Eight, thank you so much," he sighs, smiling. "Good luck in that Barrow, I think you're going to need it."
After a long, rather uneventful climb, you find yourself perched on the threshold of a large, ancient door, a snow storm whipping around you as with but a second's hesitation enter Bleak Falls Barrow.
...
Cautiously inching your way forward, it takes you but a moment for your eyes to adjust to the dim lighting - you spot two bandits, discussing the absence of a third. Excited, hoping that the claw would be yours so easily, you charge, battleaxe raised for the assault!
"What the -!" exclaims the man, as your surprise attack sends him collapsed to the floor; the woman yells in rage as she wildly aims a arrow your way, missing you by a hairsbreadth.
However, the bandit doesn't have time to fire again as you rush forward and deftly slice right through her fur armor and cut her down.
"Damn it all," you swear, finding nothing worthwhile on their bodies but a few jewels and a small vial of blood clot. Leaving the bandits' broken armor and bodies behind, you press on deep into the barrow, encountering little besides a few skeevers and one rather primitive trap.
After what seemed hours of walking through the dark, silent halls you think you can hear something... yes, its defiantly a voice, shouting for help! Perhaps this is the lost bandit with the claw!
You turn a corner - a Dunmer is struggling in a thick web, he yells, "Oh gods no, here it comes again! Help me!"
A massive Frostbite Spider drops from the ceiling, stumbling you back as the ground shakes! It charges you, pincers chopping with poison saliva and ready to strike - you dodge back, swiping at its large body with your ax; it reels as you knock against its thick hide!
A leg lashes out, tearing a strip from your pants and cutting your thigh, "Aaargh!"
The spider's lunges forward, pincers wide open - you heave your battleaxe and with a ferocious yell, plunge the blade directly into the beast's face! The monster convulses and releases a stench so foul you almost retch before collapsing, still and dead.
"Oh by Arkay's blessing, you actually killed it," breathed the Dark Elf as you downed the Blood Clout potion, grimacing at the horrid taste, but your thigh stops bleeding almost immediately. "Cut me down so I can get out of here!"
"Sure, I'll cut you down... if you happen to know anything about a gold claw," you bargain harshly.
He struggles against the web, "Yes, the claw, right I do have it, and I even know what it does! I figured it all out, so just cut me down and I'll show you, right?"
With a few careful swipes of your ax, the web reluctantly break, but the Elf quickly turns and sprints away from you, laughing, "Did you really think I'd let you have it? Idiot Nord, I'll be the one to open the door, not you!"
You run after him, shouting for him to stop, but he continues to sprint ahead, out of your reach, until you turn a corner and your heart stops as your feet freeze cold - three Draugr had stepped out of their coffins and attacked the bandit, quickly overpowering the Dunmer and slicing off his head; a small, golden claw bounces away from his corpse.
In fear and desperation, you madly swing your large ax, catching one Draugr by surprise at cutting off a leg - the other two yell incomprehensibly and raise their blades against you.
Fending off two enraged zombies without any form of armor didn't seem like a good idea, so you acted swiftly - grabbing the fallen Draugr's ancient sword, you thrown the weapon at one, forcing it back a few steps so you could concentrate your blows on the other.
In short order the remaining Draugr are put down, leaving you a little breathless, staring at the largest's fallen body. It's cock looks almost twelve inches long.
Shuddering, you press onward, but the dark, wet stain at your crotch was not the blood of a wound, but the evidence of a dark and unwanted desire...
A long hallway stretches before you, lined with very old carvings on the walls, and at the end stands a door with three rings, each bearing a different animal... |