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Flame-Child Chapter Fourteen: No Good Deed...


blazingsai

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Flame-Child feat. Lucari Pure-Shot
Chapter Fourteen: No Good Deed...

 

Last: http://www.loverslab.com/blog/156/entry-2022-flame-child-chapter-thirteen-sadness-in-markarth/
Next: http://www.loverslab.com/blog/156/entry-2024-flame-child-chapter-fifteen-the-returning/

 

 

 

As soon as she entered, Tyranus began to disclose his findings. “Fresh food, no wood rot on the furniture, and the faint smell of blood… Someone’s been here. Recently.”

 

“Could it just be a squatter?” Lucari asked as she drew her bow.

 

“I don’t know, but the people I asked say no one enters or leaves.”
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A sudden sound made him stop in his tracks. “Wait. Did you hear that? I think it came this way,” Tyranus said as he started off deeper into the house.

 

“Tyranus wait!”

 

“Eyes open. Somethings going on—” As soon as he entered the next room, Tyranus was struck with a red magic spell that he immediately recognized. “Drain Life… You undead scum, show yourselves!”

 

“H-hold on, I can’t get a clear shot.”
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“I said, show yourselves,” Tyranus yelled.

 

“Tyranus stop!”

 

It was too late. A blindingly blue explosion occurred in the other room and Lucari knew what this entailed.

 

“So it was just a Master Vampire,” Tyranus said arrogantly. “No matter.” He engulfed his hands in flames and readied to do battle with the creature. “Bring it on!”
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Everything happened too fast. Tyranus lunged toward the vampire and threw torrent after torrent of flames at it. But not only did the creature not seem bothered, it seemed amused. Enraged at the undead’s arrogance, Tyranus kept throwing bolt after bolt of fire, but in doing so he kept himself between the vampire and Lucari.

 

(Please Talos… even Stendarr, help us through this.) Suddenly the way was clear and Lucari was about to take aim when she suddenly froze only being thawed by the vampire’s words and another blue explosion.

 

“Foolish Vigilant,” the vampire said standing over Tyranus’s corpse.
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Peering inside, Lucari could see another figure emerging from the explosion and was gripped with fear, and also anger.
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The first vampire finally noticed Lucari and smiled. “Here,” he said as he cast something on Tyranus’s corpse. A whirl of blue impure magics swirled around the deceased Vigilant and continued to do so until he was standing upright just as he was moments before.
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“Take your trash with you.”

 

“N-no…”
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What stood before Lucari wasn’t the same man from before. He was just like these vampires, even worse. He was their thrall, their puppet, a shell of his former self. Lucari had to remind her self of these facts as she trained her arrow on the corpse’s back.

 

“What are you waiting for,” the vampire said. “Attack!”

 

In one motion Tyranus’s body turned and flung itself toward Lucari with all its might. But in that same motion Lucari let loose an arrow that caught the corpse between the eyes and turned him into dust before anyone knew what had happened.
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Continuing her attack, Lucari got into a low crouching position and maneuvered herself so that she could get a clear shot at the two vampires that she faced.
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But it would not be that simple.

 

Lucari tried from all angles whilst keeping her distance but it was impossible; the vampires had positioned themselves so an attack from the room she was in would be an unmanageable feat.

 

But Lucari knew what she had to do. Keeping her arrow nocked, she slowly crept toward the door and as soon as she heard a single sound that wasn’t from her, she jumped back.

 

Lucky she did.
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“Hahaha! Foolish Nord,” the vampire screamed. “You and that Vigilant are equally ignorant and foolish to think you can take me on! Maybe when I’m done with you you’ll come back through the Dreamsleeve. Hahaha!!”
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(I’ve had it!) Lucari took a deep breath and simply let her arrow fly true. It caught the vampire further back in his knee. She then took another deep breath, nocked her arrow, and released it as well.
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It found its mark.
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Realizing the same trick wouldn’t work twice; Lucari abandoned her bow and took out a blade that she always kept on her person and leapt toward the remaining vampire with the intent to cut it down. She took its spells head on, and countered with an assortment of slashes to the undead’s body. Throughout it all she was getting bloody, pissed—even bloody pissed one might say—and the good girl image she had been trying so hard to maintain was beginning to slip, but none of that matter, not if she couldn’t survive through this.
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However, within moments it became clear that surviving wasn’t Lucari’s problem, but the vampire’s. As a last ditch effort for survival, the remaining vampire let out a horrid screech followed by a blue explosion that pushed Lucari back a bit, but she pushed on through and her blade found its home in the vampire’s chest.
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“Hurts doesn’t it,” Lucari said as her enemy slid to the ground. “Dying that is.”
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She felt ill, sticky, sweaty, warm, lightheaded, and so many more things, but looking down at the two dead vampires she felt more than anything else, angry. “A good man died you bastards, and for what?! What purpose did his death have? You didn’t even feast off of him, you just turned him into dust… you… you…”
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She sliced both of the vampires heads open and they both shattered into dust. Everything seemed too unreal to her, and in her trance-like state Lucari retrieved her bow…
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And said a prayer for Tyranus.
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As she concluded her prayer, she felt something ominous swell in her bosom again, but ignored it as she struggled to fight back the tears swelling in her eyes.
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When she stands and turns to leave she feels a chill down her spine. …ther down…”

 

Lucari whipped her head around for the source of the voice, but to no avail.

 

Further down, mortal. Your reward is waiting for you… said a voice from behind her.

 

“W-who’s there!” She quickly turned to face this new threat.
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But there was nothing there.
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(Get it together Lucari. You’re not crazy, you’re just stressed. Right, right. I mean, by the Nine, you almost died. You can’t help but be a bit rattled… right?) Lucari then closed her eyes and covered her ears trying to completely block out the voice
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However all that was nullified with one word spoken with a familiar voice, “Come.”

 

(Niyleen?) As if compelled to do so, Lucari went deeper into the house.
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"Deeper."
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Until she came upon an ominous looking alter.

 

Come now… kneel…
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Her mind told her turn and run far far away from this place, but her heart was being pulled along by Niyleen’s voice and her body was not her’s to control.

 

And so she knelt at the altar.

 

HahahaHAHAAAA!!!” Spikes shot up from the floor and trapped Lucari in place. The suddenness of it caused her to cower with her heads over her head, but it mattered not. There was little else that she could do. Nothing… but face the altar as it now spoke directly to her.
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"Fool! Did you think Molag Bal, the Lord of Domination, would so easily reward you? What do you see from that little cage? Speak."
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A lump formed in Lucari’s throat as she tried to answer. “A…al…tar…”

 

"Yes. It's an altar. Men would come and sacrifice the wretched in my name. The weak would be punished by the strong. But a Daedric Lord has his enemies, and my rival Boethiah had her priest desecrate the altar. Until you came."
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(Revenge?) Lucari borrowed courage from elsewhere and said, “I’m not going to be a pawn for Daedric scum like you.”

 

"Fine. I offered you a reward. You'll get the freedom your kind enjoys so much. But Boethiah's priest is imprisoned as well. But not by me. He is hurt. Suffering. Save him as I know you so much desire. Let him perform his rites one more time. And when he does, I will be waiting for him."

 

“N-no, I won’t.”

 

“Hahahahahaaaa. Do change your mind, mortal…” The spikes fell down from around her and everything went eerily silent.
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Lucari’s heart was racing and she felt unstable on her feet. Too much was happening at once. First, Tyranus is killed by vampires he believed to be Daedra worshipers. Then, Lucari had to fend off said vampires in a two versus one situation. And then… Molag Bal.
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“So I was abandoned by Niyleen and I mouthed off to a Daedric Prince…” She sighed and tried to catch her breath and still her heart. “AND I’m covered in blood…" She pouted. "*sigh* There’s no way this could possibly get worse.”
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The last words from Molag Bal rung through her ears: ‘Do try and change your mind, mortal’. (Heh, like that was happening.) Her mind was still cloudy, but she knew what to do. “I must report this to the Jarl as soon as—”

 

“Haaaa….haaaa….”
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(This just isn’t my day.) Lucari sighed and in a single motion turned, drew her bow, nocked her arrow, and… froze? “B-by the Nine…”
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Before her stood the tallest woman being Lucari had ever seen breathing heavily and reeking of blood and death. She let out an earsplitting screech that made Lucari drop to her knees.
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(This… is the end) Lucari thought as she looked up at the gigantic woman that overwhelmed her. For all that she was terrified by the woman and her mace that was bigger than her… she had some fine skin. (Get your head in the game girl!)

 

“R..un…” The rather normal voice from the woman shocked Lucari more than anything. “Lea..ve Mar….kar..th… or die…” She then let out a fearsome roar that shook Lucari to the core.
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Frozen in place, Lucari watched as the woman brought her mace over her head and prepared to turn her into a pile of mush. But Lucari didn’t—couldn’t—look away. She couldn’t run, scream, cry, fight, all she could do was watch as she met her end. (Help me Niyleen!)
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And then she blinked. “…What!?” And the woman was gone.
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With the feeling back in her body, Lucari made a hasty exit from the house only stopping to make a quick glance back at the altar. “Molag Bal…”
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(This isn’t real, this is just a dream.) These thoughts returned to her as she rushed to exit the house. However upon returning to the scene of combat, the blood—Tyranus’s blood—pooled on the ground reaffirmed how real this all had been.
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Wave after wave of feelings flooded through Lucari and when she finally couldn’t take it, she passed out.
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Sometime later Lucari awoke once again feeling empty, but also so alive. Moving slightly she sighed and said, “Ysmir’s Beard! I’ve got to get this blood off of me. I’m so… sticky.”
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And so she got herself together and ran from the house.
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Through the city.
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And right into the cool waters of Markarth.
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Lucari came up from the water gasping for air. “I c-can’t believe *cough* that after all of that, I’M the reason I almost die *cough cough*”
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After wiping the rest of the blood off of her, Lucari closed her eyes and floated peacefully along the cool river.
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That is, until the sound of an angry woman disturbed that peace.

 

“Tacitus? What is this?" Whoever she was talking to must have responded, because she then said, “Is that what you call it? In the Legion we would have called it 'useless.' Look how brittle the metal is!"

 

“What in the world?” Lucari stopped floating and looked toward the sound of the argument.
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Suddenly she was in hero-mode again as Lucari began to ascend the steps. (Maybe I can assist) she thought.

 

"You thought what?” The woman said angrily causing Lucari to momentarily flinch. “You would skip a step?” She continued. “Not heat the metal all the way through? Useless! Now do it again."
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When Lucari finally arrived at the forge there was no sign of a woman, just a man that looked more shaken up than Lucari felt.

 

“H-hey,” Lucari said uneasily. “Are you alright?”
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“I can’t do it!” He said suddenly. “Day in and day out… I try and try and try and try, but no matter what I do, how I do it, the result comes out the same. Failure. Master Ghorza’s right, that’s all I am, useless, a failure.”
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“Hey there,” Lucari said interrupting his monologue. “I don’t know what’s going on, but If I can be of assistance I’ll do what I can.”

 

“You, assist me? I’m an apprentice and I can’t get these things right. What’s a nubile thing like you going to do?”

 

She flashed him a warm smile. “More than you can imagine.”
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“Besides, nothing beats a failure but a try right? Maybe if we combine our efforts, your Master might have a higher opinion of you.”

 

“W-would you really help me out?”

 

“Of course!” Lucari laughed.
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“T-thanks.” He lowered his hands and looked more relaxed. “But smithing’s tough work, do you think you’ll be up to the task?”

 

Lucari laughed. “Well you know what they say, ‘Moms are tough’. And I plan to be one.” She flexed her arms expecting to get praise.
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“Hmmm… I don’t know…”

 

“Relax,” Lucari reassured him. “Besides how hard can making nails really be?”

 

“Y-y-yeah! Let’s do this!”

 

Lucari smiled. “Now that’s the spirit! Come on, let’s get started.” (Time to pound my troubles away.)Posted Image

 

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