By: The Orange Mask
Claudia and I stood at the makeshift enchanting table, making the final preparations. The room was filled with Bjorn and Kharjo’s nervous chatter. They had woken up a few minutes ago, and were startled by Claudia and her nature. I calmed them within a minutes or so. Claudia filled them in on the situation while I checked my notes on Wuunferth’s enchantment. I had broken my promise with him, but I thought I would have a better chance of surviving a few atronachs than in a magical prison.
“So, this enchantment… absorbs other enchantments?” Claudia scratched her head, confused.
“Yes, essentially. It absorbs the properties of anything magical, and puts that effect on the dagger.” I tried to put it in more common terms, but the words were hard to find. They were hard to find anyway because of my focus on Claudia.
“But how will that help us? This thing just absorbs magic, too!” Claudia pouted, half-understanding my explanation.
“Well, if this thing absorbed your spells, then that must mean it has a magical base; it’s probably a spell. If we can get rid of this thing’s magicka, then it should disappear.”
“Then we can escape, yes? This one wants to return to his caravan as soon as possible.” Kharjo seemed eager to get out. I shared his enthusiasm.
“Yes. Now, for this to work, Claudia, you and I have to be in perfect sync. If we aren’t, then this dagger is useless. We only have one shot, so we’re going to use a timing mechanism: I’m going to send off a flashing candlelight spell. We’ll base our count off of that. Got it?”
“Okay. What do I do again?”
“Just shoot some magicka into the dagger at the same time I do.”
“Sounds like old times, huh?” Claudia muttered. Bjorn chuckled, and Kharjo cracked a smile.
“Damn it, Claudia, we don’t have time for this!” I was thoroughly embarrassed and quite uncomfortable with the situation, but focused on the task at hand. I cast the magelight spell, timing my magicka flow with the pulse of the light.
“All right, Claudia. Are you matching the timing?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Good. Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Go!” I channeled the soul gem’s energy into the weapon, weaving the complex enchantment as I did so. I could feel Claudia’s magicka getting transferred into the dagger, as well. When the seemingly eternal second had passed, I looked down to admire my handiwork, for good or for bad.
“Did it work?” Bjorn said, still bathed in the light of the flashing magelight. I squickly dismissed the spell and stood up, holding the dagger in one hand.
“The only way we’ll know is to try it out. We should prepare first, though; who knows what’s out there waiting for us.” Everyone nodded in agreement, and went to get their things. I packed up the parchment and books, then went to get my satchel. Bjorn and Kharjo were still packing up when I returned, but Claudia was there. We stood next to each other silently for a few moments.
“Claudia, about that last morning with you; I-“
“I understand. It’s a hard decision to become like me. I found it hard, myself.” I was a little angry at her interrupting me, as I had a speech planned out so I didn’t say anything stupid.
“Claudia, I really do like you; you’re beautiful, kind, and your curiosity is insatiable, much like mine. I’d marry you if I could.” Claudia blushed, and I smiled. “But I can’t, and it’s not because you’re a vampire. It’s because I’m not ready to settle down yet. There’s so much to explore, to do, to learn. If I married you and settled down now, even after all this is over, I wouldn’t be satisfied. I would be restless, ever-yearning for knowledge.” Claudia took a long look at me, with a bittersweet look in her eyes. Then her eyes opened wide.
“Well, if we can’t be together in a home, maybe-“ Bjorn made a loud ’ahem’ sound, and we both looked in his direction.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to get going.” Bjorn said. I cracked a smile, looked at Claudia, then took the dagger out of my satchel.
“I can’t use the dagger; If I make one wrong move, then my left arm is going to be clear across the room due to feedback, and I’m not sure if I can manage with only one arm.” I said, quite seriously. “However, you all won’t have to worry about that; most of you have a functioning sword-arm. Bjorn, would you do the honors?”
“Actually, I’d rather not.” Bjorn said hesitantly, backing up a few steps.
“This one will do it, but only if the vampire does not.” Kharjo looked at Claudia, awaiting her choice. I knew she’d refuse, and started to hand the dagger to Kharjo.
“I’ll do it.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned to look at Claudia, extremely worried. If anything happened to her…
“Claudia, are you sure? If you absorb all that magicka into the dagger, there will probably be some sort of feedback; you might not be able to handle it, especially in your current state.”
“I said I’ll do it. I know how you feel about me, but I’m going to help you stop this, one way or another.”
I just nodded as I handed the dagger to Claudia. She looked at it for a few seconds, then gripped it firmly.
“Everyone back up…” She said, readying to plunge the dagger into the wall. Bjorn, Kharjo and I stepped back a few steps. Suddenly, Claudia’s eyes widened and she thrust her arm forward as fast as she could, jamming the dagger in the wall. All I heard was a dull thud.
To be continued…
Comments
Troll speak aside, just started reading these today, they are really good. Keep them coming.