FVN Chapter 317: Chapter XLIII: Of Forges And Far Eastern Art Pieces
Chapter 317: Chapter XLIII: Of Forges And Far Eastern Art Pieces
Chapter 317: Chapter XLIII: Of Forges And Far Eastern Art Pieces
(General POV)
Morning came much slower than many in the camp desired, most of all Katria who was not able to get a wink of sleep as she kept pacing in front of the unearthed Dwemer resonator, frantically scribbling down every detail she could see in an attempt to make time pass faster.
All she got out of it was a headache.
By the time the sun rose her eyes were half bloodshot, the temptation to attempt and activate the machine on her own growing with each second, even if the Aetherium necessary for the act was already given to Lord Dagoth.
She was just about to succumb to exhaustion but just then the flaps of the largest tent in the camp were pushed open and she was already back to her usual state with naught a single sign of fatigue visible.
A part of her mind told her that the Dunmer lord was looking at her like she grew a second head but she was far too excited to pay attention to any of that. Finally she would be able to get a nice present for her friend!
(Reyvin's POV)
'Dear god what in the actual fuck?!' I barely hold myself back from recoiling in surprise as I see Katria's lifeforce bubble with an unfamiliar yet suspiciously tinged power and essentially convince the world that she was in perfect condition.
Scorch too shared my surprise 'Umm... pops, I don't think that is how healing works.'
'Whatever the fuck that was, it sure as shit wasn't healing.' I practically spit out in my mind 'Something fucky is going on here and the fact that I can't detect what it is is not making it better.'
"My lord?" A scratchy voice calls out from nearby "Is there a problem?"
I turn to see the still slightly unnatural form of Eldor looking at me with a concerned frown "It is nothing." I say but still signal for him to be wary "Get everyone up and moving, I will be ready in a moment."
His face twists into a small worried frown but he still bows and does as he is told, heading to Edrassa's tent and not so subtly checking on his dagger.
I pretend to have forgotten something and enter my tent once again "Mephala." I mutter and the Daedric puppet materializes next to mem without waiting for her to speak I point in Katria's general direction and ask "What am I looking at?"
"What, not even a hello?" Mephala tilts her head and pouts.
"Really not the time." I mutter a bit more forcefully.
Her pout turns into a teasing smirk as she just keeps staring at me.
With a roll of my eyes and a tired groan I force a pleasant smile onto my face "A good morning to you, oh most appreciated of irritants. I am so happy and grateful you could take the time out of your no doubt busy day to visit this poor mortal."
She covers her mouth daintily and lets out a slight laugh at my deadpan tone "What a gentleman." She swoons lightly "Now, how can this little irritant help you?" Her tone told me I was going to regret giving her a 'title' and she knew I knew if her smirk was anything to go by.
I roll my eyes once again "What can you tell me about whatever the fuck it was that I just saw?"
She seems confused for a moment before seemingly noticing what I was on about "Oh, that." She sounds surprisingly serious all of a sudden. I go to ask again but she raises a hand "It would seem brother dearest has gotten his bits into yet another curious young scholar."
I slowly palm my face and groan "Bits as in tentacles?" I ask wearily.
She just nods with a strained smile.
"What the fuck do I do about this?" I ask, plans already forming.
Mephala ponders it for a moment before shrugging "Just go with it."
I pause and give her a look "Just go with it."
"Yup." She nods, her posture giving off a 'What can you do?' kind of feel.
"Are you ins-" I go to raise my finger and point at her but stop halfway and shake my head "No never mind."
She pretends to blush and looks away as if I had just given her the greatest of compliments.
I remain silent for a moment, searching for the right words, before settling on a firm "I am not giving that motherfucker access to aetherium of all things woman."
"I am afraid you won't have much choice here." She pauses briefly "He is far, far stronger than I Reyvin and his agents are everywhere."
"So what?" I ask, a bit irritated "Am I to just pretend I didn't see what I saw right then?"
"The fact that you even saw it in the first place is a miracle in its own right." Mephala says with a weight I had rarely felt from her usually relaxed and flippant self "My brother is methodical and patient, making him your enemy will only serve to hinder you in the long
run."
"I get that, obviously." I gesticulate with a scowl on my face "It isn't him gaining some knowledge that I am bothered by, it is the fact that he could gain the way of making aetherium, no matter how incomplete, something used to create the closest thing to a literal god possible by mortal hands!"
"Reyvin." She speaks after a moment's pause, a tinge o false worry in her voice "I understand that you are worried but you really shouldn't be." She explains patiently "He only wants the knowledge on everything, he vary rarely if ever uses it."
me.
"Eldor." She says warningly.
I raise my hands in surrender "I just wanted to check for traps, I swear!"
A couple of the asshole guards next to us chuckle.
"Shut it." She brushes it off and then speaks much more quietly "I wanted to ask you
something."
I frown "Yeah?"
She gives the irritated Lord Dagoth a quick look just in time to see him point at the Nord
warningly before looking back and speaking "Don't you think Dagoth is behaving a bit...
odd?"
"When isn't he?" I fire back on instinct.
Her eyes narrow "Be serious for a moment."
"Fine." I huff "Something is off with Katria." Edrassa's eyes narrow further "What?"
"How the fuck should I know?" I give her a dumbfounded look "He must have seen
something we can't and even he didn't she is acting far too subdued... almost as if she is waiting for something now that I mention it."
As if she had heard me speak, I see Katria give me a quick look, a light sickly green seemingly
shining in her eyes. I felt a sudden need to blink and when my eyes were open once more the shine was gone, and so was Katira's interest. "Something is very fucking wrong here Edrassa." I croak.
"Agreed." She whispers, too spooked to badger me for not addressing her properly.
We spent a few minutes checking for traps and other deep ones' fuckery before Lord Dagoth
stepped onto the bridge and lead us toward our destination.
The glowing halls of magma soon gave way to a place which looked as if it came from a whole
different world, advanced even by the standard of our traitorous kin it was covered in some
kind of brightly glowing lanterns and a bunch of tiny automata were quietly skittering on the sides of the hall, cleaning up even the slightest hint of dust.
A few turns, and a bunch of incredibly confusing sights, later we stepped into a massive
chamber. It looked like some unholy combination of a boiler room, a forge, an enchanting chamber and a magma pool all combined into one sleek design.
But our eyes were not drawn to the supposed forge, oh no, all of us were too busy staring at the gigantic fucking centurion standing in the middle of the lava pool, its bright aetherium blue eyes staring straight at us.
"Motherfucker." I heard the lord mutter before all of us were blasted with a wave of steam of
such potence I didn't doubt for a minute we would have all been deleted from existence if not
for the lord's ward pushing it away.
I quickly slinked into the back of the formation, positioning myself behind Katria who was
looking at the giant in awed curiosity. Someone had to keep an eye on her after all, no?
I wasn't trying to run and hide, swear!
!SENOTS RIEHT EM EVIG DNA SELOH REMEWD ESOHT NEPO PIR
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