I wrote this story near the beginning of the year and just found it again while going through my computer. It's a bit basic, and I can see now that I rushed it, but I hope you like it anyway.



Atmaier found herself in a spacious room with a large, circular door. In the middle of the door was a space for some sort of three-pronged key to fit, and a symbol of a claw on it. Understanding suddenly dawned on Atmaier, and she retrieved the claw from her bag. Pushing the claw into the wall, it seemed to slide in and fit perfectly, but when she turned it, nothing happened, so she turned to the notes of the previous owner. Within the notes it said something about the path becoming clear once you held the key, so she looked at the claw and sure enough, on the claw were some more symbols, this time matching the different symbol on the door. After repeating the same process as before, Atmaier continued down the passage.





Atmaier now found herself in a room with corpses filling the walls, but not the corpses she had found so far. These were preserved, some better than others and were so old, centuries old. Suddenly, eyes of the corpse she was observing shot open, and their blue-ish glow turned towards Atmaier. It lay there for a moment, glaring at her, but soon reached for an ancient Nordic sword, got up out of its alcove and started towards the intruder of its resting place.





This was something Atmaier was not accustomed to, reanimated dead, lumbering towards her with weapons held high. After the initial shock wore off, she jumped into action, drawing her sword and swinging it at the Draugro s head. The Draugr reacted surprisingly quickly, deflecting the attack into its arm, leaving a large, un-bleeding gash along its front that didno t seem to delay it at all. Grabbing a nearby iron shield, Atmaier attempted a o Bash and Slasho technique. The Draugro s head soon rolled across the floor. Atmaier, feeling quite pleased with herself, turned towards the passage to the next chamber, when three more Draugrs rose from their o bedso and lumbered towards her, some with swords, some with axes. Atmaier continued her o Bash and Slasho technique and soon found herself free of any animated corpses trying to kill her.





Numerous Draugrs continued to assault Atmaier as she continued from room to room, some even wielding some frost magic, draining her of her strength. But her shield and sword technique continued to support her in these struggles. After discovering a cavern that the ruins led to, and collecting some glowing mushrooms, as they would most likely have some sort of alchemical properties, Atmaier came across a large chamber, carved out of the rock, with a coffin of sorts, and a large wall with strange symbols scrawled across it.





Upon approaching the wall, Atmaier began to hear voices, speaking abruptly in a strange language, as she moved yet closer, one of the o wordso on the wall was glowing. She didno t understand what it said, it was just some set of symbols in an ancient language, but o readingo it felt as if something awoke inside her, and then she could read it, o Fuso or Force. Her head whirling slightly, Atmaier let herself collapse with her back against the wall, and slid to the ground. Just as she regained her composure, she noticed the lid of the coffin, sliding away. A lump in her stomach told her to hide, but she was so close to the end of this place, she could taste it; sheo d just have to go through one more Draugr.





But this was no ordinary Draugr; this Draugr wore a large horned helmet, and carried a massive ancient Nordic Greatsword in one hand as if it were a impish dagger. Atmaier rose to her feat, raised her shield, and moved towards the Draugr Overlord, but stopped when it opened its mouth as if to speak. In a spectral voice that chilled her blood, the Draugr spoke with words imbued with some sort of spell, because as soon as the words o Fus, Ro Daho had left the lips of the undead figure, Atmaier felt some kind of Unrelenting force throw her in the air and push her against the wall, instantly dissipating as she did so, allowing her to slide to the floor. Realising this might be a bit much for her to handle, Atmaier ran.





Blasting the Draugr with a small gush of flames, she sprinted straight past it, but not without opening a large gash in her shoulder. Clutching her shoulder, trying to stem the flow of blood, Atmaier ran for the opening that she knew would lead to the next room, where she would recover and find a good vantage point. Ducking behind one of the many coffins that dotted the rooms, Atmaier chugged down the crimson liquid of her last healing potion and instantly felt the magical properties of the drink repairing her shoulder.





The Draugr burst through the opening, but Atmaier was ready for him with an arrow knocked, firing towards the Draugr but not hitting it. As the corpseo s head bent back and resonated what might pass for a laugh, a ceramic lantern, filled to the brim with oil, came crashing to the ground that too, was covered in oil. The inferno singed the Draugr, but seemed to do little damage as it continued towards the intruder, fury now evident in its eerily glowing blue eyes.





In one swift movement, Atmaier put an arrow through the Draugro s leg, slowing its advance. Terror was starting to creep in from the corners from Atmaiero s mind, but she would not allow it to overtake her. Charging forward with her shield raised, Atmaier slammed the full weight of her body into the Draugr, sending it to the ground. Before it could recover, Atmaier slid the blade from its sheath; dashed forward, and thrust through where she thought the Draugro s heart should be.





The light faded from its eyes, Atmaier stepped over the Draugr Overlord and took the large stone tablet strapped to its back. This was what Farengar wanted. Atmaier turned back toward the room where she had found this fierce creature, assuming there would be some sort of back passage that would take her out of this place. As she strode towards the exit, looking forward to leaving this ghastly place, she felt something sharp slide through her back and out her ribs, barely missing any of her organs. Atmaier keeled over and turned to see the Draugr Overlord, who had used the last of the magic keeping it alive, to deal a mortal blow to its slayer.





Spitting blood, Atmaier stumbled toward the door, keeping deatho s embrace at bay with a simple healing spell. Swallowing her one remaining potion between the spatters of blood, she managed to keep feeding a steady stream of magic into her wound. The light of the sun hit her eyes like a mallet, and she almost fell over. After stumbling down the mountain, Atmaier quickly moved to the bridge that would lead to Riverwood, there was someone standing on the bridge but Atmaiero s vision was too blurred to see who it was. She could feel her supply of magic fading, and she soon found herself collapsing, darkness enveloping her.