Again, enjoy the story. If you see any Giovanni's, I would like it if you changed them back to Zane. (I changed the name after I finished)
Fun Fact; on the Ayleid Language page Sunna translates into Blessed, Ehlno translated into Mortal, and Aran translates into King, coming out to Blessed Mortal King, a fine name for a lost king.
Now time to die, Zane. Dha'rasha said. "W-what?" Raylin asked, baffled. "Oh, come on, lets humor them. They deserve to know the truth." S'arad said. "Lets start out on this. I'm betting your not who you say you are." Zane asked. "Oh-Hooo. smaaaart. Well lets start on names. I am really S'arad, actually. This is Tsradhji, who insisted on faking her name to you. And, yes, this is really where Nerastarel is hiding, just incase there is the zero percent chance we fail, you go in and he finishes you. Ever heard of the Mages Guild's blunder?" Without waiting for a response, S'arad went on. "Once, the Mages Guild made two Kajiit mages warlocks. Those two Kajiits then killed eight mages and fled. Those two Kajiits... are us." "Your mages?!" Zane asked. "Yes. Now, Tsradhji, attack!"
The two Kajiits raised their hands. Sparks and fire appeared. They fought a tough fight. with sparks and flames and frost flying everywhere, but in the end, they fell. Dha'rasha/Tsradjhi got stabbed in the heart by K'haz, and then she fell, dead. S'arad suffered a huge blow to the head by Grolug and crumbled, then fell into the bushes, out of sight. That was it. The two Kajiit that were the team's faithful companions for so long, turned traitor and had to die. After cleaning their wounds, the team opened the door to Nagasel, and ventured in.
It was dark, cold, and empty. When the team reached a chamber door, Raylin read the words written in Ayelid. "Tomb of Sunna Ehlno Aran." "Sunna Ehlno Aran? That's an odd name." "It's not a real name, I think. Probably a nickname. Definitely a lost king. Interesting. Well, anyway, let’s go on."
The team was creeping along a passageway. Zane stopped. He whispered, "Stop! Look! There, over there! a High Elf. It is Nerastarel, it has to be!" Drevesi looked focused. "Okay, gang. Here's the plan-" K'haz, who was normally a quiet person, spoke up angrily. "NO! No more hiding! This Altmer trash has brought us enough trouble already! Nerasteral! IT'S... TIME... TO... DIE!"
To be continued...
Immediately.
K'haz charged at Nerasteral. Nerasteral had his back turned to K'haz. "YEEAAARRRRRRHHHHHHHHG!" K'haz bellowed a war cry. "Huh? What?" Nerasteral was caught unaware, but then ducked fast. K'haz ran into the wall. "Ooorf!" K'haz huffed. He turned around. He raised his sword. But not before Nerasteral could drice his fine steel shortsword into K'haz's heart. "There. Rest now, Kajiit. I'll study you later, I promise." Nerasteral grinned with an evil glint in his eyes. "Uhhhhhhh..." K'haz groaned. "don't... let... him... live." With that, Nerasteral yanked his sword out of K'haz's chest, falling the great thief. K'haz the bounty hunter took his last breath, and died.
"So, they finally arrive. I'm guessing S'arad and Tsradjhi failed, right? Well, hello, Zane. Drevesi Onther. Raylin. Grolug Gro-Bulmeg. And... I'm assuming that was K'haz, hmmm? Hahaha!" Raylin looked shocked. "You... You killed him! I can't believe you did that!" Nerasteral looked bored. "But why, my dear? If you were in my position, would you not kill a lackey of mine?" "He wasn't a lackey! He was a... friend." Raylin looked close to tears, but then toughened up. "You heard K'haz's last words, gang. Let’s not let Nerasteral live." "Agreed." Said Zane.
"Ha! So the big bad bounty hunters need to kill the bad guy? You goody-two-shoes are all the same. Boring. I'll give you a deal, though. If you can get past my trap, you can fight me. Goodbye." With that, he vanished, and a rock wall collapsed to show the way to Nerasteral's test.
"Okay, guys, we'll honor K'haz later. We need to kill Nerasteral or else his death will be in vain. Lets go."
There was a stone slab containing the body of Sunna Ehlno Aran in the next room. "See if you can beat this, hunters!" Nerasteral's voice boomed over the team. With that, the ghost of Sunna Ehlno Aran appeared in the form of a lich. It tossed a huge fireball at Zane, barely missing his body, but his chainmail was singed. Grolug did his signature move and cut the lich's head off. Terrifyingly, it slowly lumbered around, randomly swiping around its arms. Once it came so close to Drevesi she almost fainted from shock. It is time to end this. Zane thought. He drove his sword through the old king's back and brought it up, setting Sunna Ehlno Aran to rest once again.
"Well, you killed Sunna Ehnlno Aran. You must be so proud. Well, hunters, no more hiding. No more trickery, its time... to... face... ME!" Another rock wall collapsed to show Nerasteral's lair. "Bring it on, necromancer." Zane shouted back to the walls where Nerasteral's voice was coming from. Okay, team. It's time to face this coward and end it once and for all. Zane proceeded into the lair, followed by Grolug, then Raylin, then Drevesi.
When the team entered, Nerasteral was waiting for them. He was wearing his dark brotherhood armor and his steel swortsword. He shook his long, natural auburn hair out of his face. "Well, hunters, it's time for a duel, isn't it?" "Yes, Nerasteral, its- wait, a duel?!" Zane asked in shock. "Well yes, that's the proper way to fight, isn't it?" "No, team, lets attack" "No. I will fight him. One on one." Raylin said.
Flash out of the story for a bit
The truth is, Raylin and K'haz grew up in the same orphanage together. K'haz was like a brother to Raylin. When K'haz was killed, it caused more of an internal struggle than she let on. She will deal with this problem later on her own time, but right now she feels she needs to avenge K'haz in her own way, by single-handedly killing Nerasteral. Or, this could just lead to another death in the team.
Back into the story
Nerasteral smiled. "Yes, my dear. That will work. So your companions won't get in the way, I'll just do this..." With a wave of his hands, Zane, Grolug and Drevesi disappeared. "What-" Raylin started. "I teleported them to the exit of Nagasel. They'll be back here in about an hour, so let's get started." "Fine by me." Raylin said, and revealed her bow and arrows, with a silver dagger as a backup. Nerasteral drew out his shortsword and ran over some spells in his head. They were both ready. "Begin." Nerasteral said. Raylin smiled. "My pleasure."
Raylin shot an arrow towards Nerasteral's heart. He cast a shield spell, and the arrow clattered off his body. He sent a frost ball towards Raylin, who swiftly dodged it. The frostball hit the wall and made a huge ice spot. Raylin was ready, and shot another arrow. It hit his leg. Nerasteral yelped in pain, and limped towards a wall. Leaning on it, he summoned a skeleton hero to battle in his place. It raised a elven battle ax and swung towards her head. Raylin, being an experienced duelist, dodged it expertly. She pulled out her silver dagger, and severed the hero's spine, making it collapse, then vanish back into the void. Raylin fired yet another arrow at Nerasteral. He jumped away, making the hole in his leg into a huge gash. "Bah- you fight well, Raylin. But time's short, and I think," He waved his hands, meaning he reanimated something, "Will be a tough foe to beat, well, for you, at least." Suddenly, K'haz's reanimated corpse staggered into the room. Raylin uttered a gasp. Grimly, she pulled back an arrow, and was ready to fire.
The arrow missed K'haz's unmoving body, which was very unusual for Raylin's expert shot. "What's the matter, Raylin?" K'haz's dead voice rasped, "Can't kill your old pal K'haz?" "I- I can!" Raylin shouted. She took a dagger to K'haz's neck. As much as she wanted to, Raylin couldn't bring herself to slice the corpse's neck. She just stared at the sword hole in K'haz's chest, and fell to her knees. "Fine, K'haz. Kill me if you want. I can't kill you. At least my spirit will be with yours." "Don't mind if I do." K'haz's corpse said. Raylin closed her eyes. She waited. Finally, she looked up. She ended up looking down. K'haz's body was laying on the ground. "May you rest in peace." she whispered. Raylin crawled over to Nerasteral, who was lying on the ground. Apparently, he didn't have enough energy to keep up the spell. The gash on his leg must have hit several important spots, because he lost over 1/4 of his blood. She looked over him. "Huh. Nerasteral, look like your time is up." Nerasteral opened his eyes. he didn't have enough energy to speak. He just glared at her, with so much hatred, but at the same time, helplessness. Raylin slit Nerasteral's throat with her dagger.
That was it. Nerasteral died. Raylin won. It was over. Raylin looked down at her foot. She stepped on K'haz's elven shortsword. Her foot was bleeding badly. With a grunt, she limped out of the lair. Zane, Grolug, and Drevesi ran down the passageway they original came down. "Raylin- your safe! But what about-" "Don't even mention his name. He is dead." Drevesi smiled. "That's great! let’s get outta here- quickly!"
As they were making their way out of Nagasel, Drevesi told Raylin, "We have some bad news for to drop on you, Raylin. It's S'arad. He's alive. The blow to his head- just knocked him out. He's out there somewhere. And S'arad isn't the type to just let something like this go. He'll be coming for us, but when he does, we'll be ready."
Flash out of story
The team went back to the city, and got paid 3000 septims. Their life continued. And Drevesi was right. S'arad's revenge will come, another time. But that's another story. In fact, that will be another story. Get ready to see the next chapter in Zane and the team's adventure, S'arad's Revenge.
The End.
See your person of choice appear in the next story-- S'arad's Revenge. I would like to include some characters you can think of or from your game. They would either be,
- The new mark the team needs to hunt down (and kill, no matter what) I will choose several for this, all i'll say is that there will be many bad guys, and one leader. (note your person will be the 'evil' one, but will be very important in the story.)
- And informant, like S'arad or Dha'rasha in the first story, only yours will be... well, a normal informant ;)
- A new addition to the team. Thats right, a new bounty hunter to replace poor K'haz.
- Or, just anyone else making an appearence!
Message me on my talk page. --Arch-Mage Matt