Post new topic   Reply to topic    Penumbra Forum Index -> Dark Opportunity
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Aijalon
Officer

user avatar

Joined: 06 Sep 2013
Posts: 33

Send private message
Reply with quote

re: Chapter 3 - A Kitten's Strength

Chapter 3

A Kitten's Strength

Present Day - Stormhold Sewers

 

 

“Faradin, you know what Tolan has started here, it’s a little late to change this one’s mind.”         

 

 Artemis lay in a bed, whatever conversation was taking place a few paces away, they must of assumed her to be asleep. She was going to play coy. Let her captors keep thinking she was unconscious, and the moment she got the chance she’d grab a weapon and plunge it through an eye socket or two.

What was she thinking? Her body ached like she’d been running day and night for three weeks straight, but she knew better.  Her thigh was on fire,  had that been where the assassin’s blade had took her? She felt like a stranded kitten, the runt of the litter. She managed to crack her right eye, she figured that would be the best bet as she heard the voices echoing from her left. Artemis could also make out that her captures were most likely speaking in the next room.

 

 “Now brothers, this one knows that sometimes Tolan can be irrational, but Ri’shai believes this bosmer may be useful to us.” The voice drifted across the air to sing happily into Artemis’s ears. The voice of a kind and wise feline.

 

 So maybe a kitten was exactly what Artemis was. Yffre, was she going to ever be able to take care of herself. She managed to view the blanket that lay over her lower body. Her torso covered in a few bandages. The wamasu had definitely gave her a few bruises, but after that fight with those lizards…. Well she must look exceptionally attractive. The smell of dampness filled the air, combined with the musky smell of the swamp. Artemis had a good nose, though her fatigue rattled mind may have been hallucinating for however knows how long, she could make out that she was most likely underground. The temperature of the room alone spoke volumes. The chill a nice change from the endless humidity that was commonplace above ground.

 

 “Yes Ri’shai, What do you think we should do with her.” The more curt of her captors spoke.

 

 “She’s staying here.” Tolan spoke, his voice seemed more on edge than the other two.

 

A moment passed between her captors, she imagined them eyeing the rash beast that had spoken in her defense. Artemis leg spasmed slightly as she experimented with her fingers, Well at least they moved, however she had to bite her tongue to stop from gasping. Liquid acid spiked through the length of her body. why so much pain? Then it came to her. The blade of the blasted Argonian master must have been poisoned.

The mere fact that she was still alive spoke a great deal about her captors. They must of administered an anti-venom. A good sign to be sure. If they were kind enough to take the time to diagnose her specific poison, and then acquire the right ingredients to inject an anti-venom. It also meant they were intelligent and capable. Whatever the case, they had left her alive. Artemis tried to recall the last moments before she was here. She remembered a white tale, a Kha’jiit tale.

 

 

“Ri’shai believes it will be okay for her to stay here for now, but can she be trusted? The bosmer have hardly been our friends in the past. While we may be in a  foreign land, it does not mean that she is as stranded as ourselves. Jone and Jode, she could be an aldmeri spy. You know what that would mean for you Tolan.”

 

 
One of the kha’jiit emitted soft growl at the mention of the Aldmeri Dominion. They of course were wrong about her, she had as much reason to hate those supremacists as anyone. But something being true, and convincing a possible frenemy, are two different things. They may just call her a liar if she were to tell them the truth. Maybe it was better to find a lie, a lie that they would believe because the truth would probably sound to crazy. Yffre! She needed to get out of here.

 

 She managed to crack open her eye again, this time however she looked upward. Artemis only saw a stone ceiling looming above her.  Grey-green Mold staining the walls. She inhaled deeply, trying to gauge the smell of the place. It was… unpleasant. This must be part of a sewer system. Artemis thought with despair. It smelled it, Yffre! She would die before she made it out on her own. She snapped her eye shut as one of her captors entered the room.


An elegant hand was placed across her brow, most likely inspecting her for a fever. The soft fur felt warm and gentle. “Her Fever isn't breaking, This one thinks she will not live, if she continues like this.” A kha’jiit woman, Most likely the one called Ri’shai spoke. “The anti-venom isn't working, the shadow-scales added a catalystic agent This one has not encountered before.” Ri’shai placed a wet cloth over Artemis’s forehead, presumably kept in a water basin nearby.

 

this pain is pretty consistent, there is something running through my veins. Artemis Thought. She didn't know how long she had been lying there, but obviously she wasn't getting better. This Ri'shai might of been an accomplished healer, but without the proper components, usualy the natural form of the poison itself, it would be impossible for her to implement a real cure.

 

 

Those bastard lizards were able to get some of the rarest components from within the black marsh. This Kha’jiit didn't have access to those.  Artemis began to monitor her heart beats, at first she thought her accelerated heart rate was due to the fear of waking up in this strange place captured by Yffre knows who. It was pounding, pumping a dull ache down every inch of her body.

 

"Faradin, This one needs bosmer blood, One that hales directly from Valenwood." Ri'shai spoke, Artemis could smell the minty breath of the looming Kha’jiit Woman.

 

Artemis clenched her left fist a small spasm of pain once again assailed her. It was the worst pain she had ever known. What sort of creature would be able to inflict such pain without killing? Then she lost feeling in her left arm, her clenching fists going limp as she lost control of the limb. She began to shake slightly, it was uncontrollable.

 

"Is there any reason why Faradin must always do the killing?" Faradin said, he was speaking from the other chamber.

 

Then the pain came on to violently. Artemis convulsed in pain as something in her chest felt like it was breaking. Her stupid heart was failing. Her eyes shot open and she met those of the beautiful feline looming over her. She had a single gem adorned to her forehead, marring her otherwise black fur. At the foot of the bed stood another Kha’jiit White fur a worried planted his face, his hand stroking his black goatee.

 


Ri'shai lifted an arm, gesturing toward Faradin curtly, sticking palm up. "Tolan hold her down." Ri'shai spoke, panic tinging her voice.

The pain wracked her. Convulsions coming in waves. The white furred Kha’jiit. The one that saved me?Artemis thought. Ri'shai had a silver bowl in hand, and began removing long slug-like creatures out of a bowl. Artemis lost a few moments, she couldn't tell how long, she felt a hundred little cuts on every inch of her body. Eventually she opened her eyes to see leeches covering every inch of her exposed skin.

 

Ri'shai lifted a bowl to the lips of Artemis, it tasted like grass mixed with goat milk. After carefully placing the bowl aside the kha’jiit placed her head upon the chest of Atermis. Presumably monitoring her heart rate. Artemis felt even weaker than she did before. The pain began to retreat slightly. Suddenly, a small man was shoved into the room. Artemis turned her head slightly to see the intruder. He was shaking profusely. Artemis wasn't sure how much time had passed since Faradin left to retrieve "a bosmer", but apparently he hadn't killed the man, just forced him here.

 

The lean kha’jiit walked in behind the little man. "This one found a squeamish one, he smells of Valenwood to Faradin" Faradin said, meeting the gaze of Tolan. A knowing smile passed between the kha’jiit.

 

"That was the quickest time yet my friend." Tolan said a wide grin planted across his whiskered face. 

The bosmer was looking about frantically "Are.. Are you going to kill me"

 

Ri'shai lifted a hand, touching ring finger to middle. She inspected the bosmer closely, holding his gaze for a time. "Do you hail from Valenwood, Bosmer?"

 

The terrified man squealed more than spoke "Yess!"

 

Ri'shai snapped her fingers and Faradin took a step forward and knocked the man unconscious, He hit the floor with a loud smack. Artemis started, but immediately felt a spasm of pain before fatigue hit her. She lay backward, weariness drenching every thought and feeling.

Posts from:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Penumbra Forum Index -> Dark Opportunity All times are GMT - 6 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum