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Two days later, late afternoon, and they were outside the entrance to the Forsaken Cave. Nora wasn't sure what they were in for, probably Draugr, which seemed to be the most common inhabitants of these types of environs. Of course, she really didn't know what was in there, just assuming that the master alchemist had been interned in the type of tomb that every other legendary resident of Skyrim had availed themselves to.

 

They had crossed the Hold border into the Pale by early afternoon of the first day. It was covered in snow, colder than hell, and had to be the most miserable Hold as far as Nora was concerned. Even Haljmarch and Haafingar had their garden spots, but this miserable little duchy had nothing. It did have bandits, though, but these had proved smarter than most and ran at the first sight of the party. Eldawyn and Sofia had sent fireballs after them, and a few had dropped burning to the snow, the rest disappearing into the thick forest.

 

I wonder if they'll catch the serial killer while we're gone, thought Nora. The man, for they all assumed he was male, had not struck on the night Nora had tangled with Rollf. She hoped the bully went to Oblivion for his part in letting the murderer get away that night. Nora was sure the killer had been following her, and the most likely outcome of that would have been her taking him down. If not, the guards would have gotten him, and she would have fast recovered from any injuries he inflicted. That she might have died had never crossed her mind, though her companions had let her have an earful for using herself as bait.

 

They had taken all their horses, since they would need to camp. Nora had let the stable master know that she didn't expect a refund, and expected stable room when she returned. He had been most happy about that since her payment was going to carry him through the rest of the month. Now she had to set her party, and of course a pair of them would not be happy.

 

“Elesia and Sofia will watch the horses. The rest follow me into the cave.”

 

“But, you might need my magic,” argued the spellsword.

 

“I think me and Eldawyn have it covered,” said Nora, looking away so she didn't have to look into the imploring eyes.

 

“But, I...”

 

“Sofia. I have to rotate people to watch the horses and gear. It's only fair. I can't have the same people pulling boring duty like that, but it needs to be done. If we come out of the cave and find the horses missing, or dead, we're so fucked. So please, pull this shift with good grace. They'll be other places to explore, I promise.”

 

Sofia still looked like she wanted to argue, but she finally nodded her head and accepted the order. Nora had to remind herself that this wasn't a military unit, and everyone had their likes and dislikes. Still, they needed to follow her orders if things were to get done. She could afford to reason with them, sometimes, but if someone simply refused her orders they needed to go, no matter her friendship with them. She didn't want robots, but people who didn't move with a purpose in a dangerous situation often ended up dead, and she couldn't allow that to happen either. People died, that was a fact of life in her business, but for her own sanity she had to ensure that it happened as infrequently as possible.

 

“Set up camp, keep watch, and we should be back inside of three hours.”

 

Of course she couldn't guarantee that, but it was based on past experience. Even in the Commonwealth it hadn't taken much longer than three hours to clear out most places. Cordova had been an exception, taking almost an entire day, and clearing towns of feral ghouls had been a different prospect altogether, consisting as they did of multiple buildings. And Ustengrav had been an unholy bitch, but this didn't promise to be so involved.

 

At first Nora wasn't sure that this was a ruin at all. There was an ice tunnel, as if it penetrated a glacier. A cart with a chest lay on one side of the tunnel, a skeleton and a sword lying beside it. Wolves were howling ahead, and she started to think that if those were the worst of the inhabitants this would be a breeze. The tunnel opened into a large cavern, ice on most of its faces with some stone showing, still not looking like any kind of ruin. She and Annekke killed the wolves with their bows and moved in. The far wall finally showed signs of being a ruin. There were a couple of sets of stairs, one leading to a door that would not open no matter what they did. There were urns everywhere, containing jewelry and some of the ancient silver coins.

 

After a short search they found an iron door that opened. A short corridor later they found one of the spiral staircases common in such places, leading down. The feeling of evil in the place was palpable, and though they had yet to encounter any undead, Nora knew they were there, waiting. She wanted one to appear so she would know what she was dealing with. The party continued on, through a twisting turning corridor lined with urns.

 

The Dragonborn designated Lydia to form rear guard and to loot all the urns. The woman was a veritable tank when it came to fighting, with her almost impenetrable ebony armor. But Valdimar was much bigger, and stronger, and his warhammer took down most enemies with one swing. Though Nora had to admit, Lydia was indomitable, and would drive in for the kill no matter what. She was a different person in a fight, no longer the polite and demure retainer, but a born killer that gave no quarter. Nora was thinking that she was actually quite fortunate to have the two Housecarls with her, as they were really better than she could imagine any mercenaries being.

 

“Hold up,” whispered Annekke, pointing to the statue ahead, a chest underneath. And a dark warhammer leaning against the chest. “See the small holes on the statue. That's a dart trap.”

 

Nora nodded, seeing the pressure plate in front of the chest. There were so many ingenious traps on this world. Thankfully not the mines of her world, which could slaughter a half dozen people in a moment, or the deadly machine gun or laser turrets that tracked and attacked from a distance. But the swinging gates, blades and dart traps were bad enough. Nora moved to the side of the chest in a crawl, motioning for her people to get out of the line of fire, then tapped the plate. With a hiss the statue released streams of darts which went down the corridor.

 

“Sometimes they have more than one shot,” hissed Annekke, her words echoing down the corridor and making Nora cringe. No help for it, though Nora resolved to work out a silent language with her people that went beyond just pointing and motioning. The Dragonborn tapped the panel again, eliciting another volley. Then again. The fourth time she tapped it nothing happened, the trap finally empty.

 

Nora looked through the chest, gathering a few gems, some coins and a fine dagger. She picked up the ebony warhammer and looked over at Valdimar.

 

“Here, Housecarl,” she whispered, motioning him to her.

“That is a fine hammer, my Thane,” said the big man, hefting the weapon. He quickly untied the strap he used to carry his steel hammer, replacing it on the ebony version, then slung it across his back, picking up his old hammer again.

 

“Not going to use it?”

 

“I will, my Thane. Once I have some hours to get a feel for it. Learn its balance and all.”

 

That made sense. The big man was a master with his weapon, but the new one would have a different profile, one that might cause him problems in a fight. Again the man had proven smarter than she thought, and she told herself to quit underestimating him.

 

Nora could feel it before she saw it. Undead. The awful feel of them hit her, just before she heard the shuffling of feet on the stone. It came into sight around the corridor, into the reach of Dawnbreaker, which sent in down in a flaming pile. Others appeared, most with melee weapons, though an archer opened fire from down the corridor. The melee versions were really not a threat to someone with a weapon like Dawnbreaker, but the archers were always a danger. Nora bounced an arrow from her buckler as she serviced a Draugr halding a mace, then she ran down the corridor to attack the archer, just to see it crumble as Annekke put an ebony shaft through its head.

 

“Sorry,” said the ranger with a lopsided smile. “I already had it in my sights when you made your move.”

 

Nora was just glad she hadn't gotten in the way of the arrow. Annekke's bow, firing the heavy ebony arrows, would definitely penetrate Nora's chain, and maybe even one of the thin plates over chest and back. Something to think about when moving ahead of the ranger. They found more loot along the way, gems and jewelry, ignoring the heavy items like iron armors and weapons. Two short flights of steps and they were down a level, and fighting more Draugr. These were sneakier than most, and some let the party pass before coming out of their alcoves, to fall to the two Housecarls and the magic of Eldawyn.

 

Nora ignored the iron ingots, too heavy and not valuable enough, but picked up the old book that was sitting on the top of the ancient shelf. She flipped it open, seeing symbols she couldn't interpret, but was compelled by something to keep flipping through. She felt as if something in her mind unlocked, and she knew that she was more proficient at using a shield. She remarked as much to Elda, her took the book and looked through it, a smile on her face.

 

“And now I'm better with the shield as well,” said the elf, passing the book to Lydia. “The ancient skill books are a work of magic like no other. They somehow impart knowledge to your brain and muscle. Not even the eminent scholars of magic know how they work. Just that they do.”

 

“We're keeping it then,” said Nora, looking over at a smiling Lydia, who passed the book to Valdimar. She thought that Sofia and Elesia should take a look, even though they didn't use shields that often, because the day might come when they were forced to.

 

They found eight gold ingots along the way, stowed in packs before they moved on. And a corridor with the suspicious holes in the stones. Nora took an ancient ax from another room and tossed it on the floor. Flames shot up, hot enough to have killed quickly despite their enchantments. She threw an iron trident on the other side of the corridor and grunted in satisfaction as nothing happened. There was rubble on the left side of the corridor, and the collapse had rendered those spouts inoperable.

 

“Let me go first,” she told her party, raising a hand when Annekke started to protest. “I'll have Ethereal ready to shout. First sign of flames and I'm no longer susceptible.” She might still get burned some, but a couple of healing spells and she would be as good as new.

 

Annekke made a mistake. It had to happen eventually, and the ranger was lucky that she had friends with her. She stumbled at the end of the corridor, before a door, and must have tripped a plate. A heavy log came down swinging, hitting the ranger in the chest and lifting her from her feet to land hard on the stone floor. She cried out in pain as she took a breath, and Nora was certain her friend was on the verge of death.

 

“Oh no you don't,” cried Nora, pouring in the healing magic. In moments Eldawyn was beside her doing the same. They went through their store of magicka, stabilizing the ranger, who was breathing easier but not yet out of trouble. Two more cycles of using all their magicka and Annekke was sitting up and breathing normally.

 

“I'm glad the two of you worked so fast,” said the ranger, moving her arms and testing her ribs. “A second later and I'm afraid I would have been gone. A damned rookie mistake.”

 

“Heh, you made it,” said Nora, helping her friend to her feet, making sure that everything was working before releasing her steadying hand.

 

They found more Draugr ahead, and Nora thought she would try a spell she had yet to use. A restoration spell made to specifically target undead. Bone Spirit it was called, and Nora went through the casting in the hall before a room that held several of the nastier specimens of the creatures.  A glowing ring appeared in the air and moved down the corridor. Coming to the first Draugr it exploded with light and the undead creature went down. Nora, meantime, had cast another. The Draugrs were charging out, now aware of their enemy. Another went down, and Valdimar smashed the last with his hammer.

 

“Well, it works,” said the Dragonborn to her fellow mage. “A little slower than I had hoped, but I can see some uses for it.”

 

“Don't depend on it to take down the more powerful Draugr,” cautioned Eldawyn, waving a finger in the air. “But it will weaken any of them, so there's that.”

 

They found eight silver ingots in the room, valuable enough to keep, as well as a number of coins, gems and potions. “I think we can ignore the silver coins from here on,” ordered Nora, thinking that the Harolds, as they were called, were not valuable enough for their weight, not compared to gold and gems.

 

The party continued through an iron door that led deeper into the crypt. More Draugr, but the party was getting very good at taking them down. One with a shout of fire, which Nora's enchantments partially diffused, though the force of it knocked her on her back. The others finished it before she could get up, and she was glad that she had such beefy friends. More loot and they were getting near their limit. Despite the riches, Nora refused to let any of her people get weighed down to the point where they had trouble moving.

 

Further on it became somewhat of a maze, multiple levels with raised pathways over, and of course, more Draugr. Nora thought that if the creatures ever organized they had the numbers to take Skyrim from the Nords. Fortunately for everyone they were brainless undead, trapped in their tombs. Bad enough, but not as big a threat as they might have been.

 

In one room two Draugrs came out of their cubbyholes, while another burst from a sarcophagus. Nora was noticing a difference between the ones that came to life and the ones that just lay there, the risen ones had armor, a visible weapon, and a fullness to their bodies that the more desiccated ones didn't. Not always, and sometime the ones that looked the most harmless rose as well. But enough of a marker to make use of.

 

The three shuffled forward, one throwing cold magic from a hand, the others ready to swing their weapons. One stepped in the middle of a chamber, to be carried into the spikes in the ceiling by a rising circular platform. Too wicked, thought Nora as she swung Dawnbreaker through the undead magic user. If any of her party had stepped on that platform they would have been punctured through the head and upper body, and no amount of healing would have saved them. Nora again resolved to learn a resurrection spell if such a thing existed.

 

They opened an iron door and were greeted by a gauntlet of swinging blades. Nora went Ethereal and walked through unharmed, then pulled the switch to lock the blades. A large room beckoned, and the Dragonborn could hear the faint singing of a word wall somewhere ahead. And the feeling of evil when she looked at the large sarcophagus straight ahead.

 

“Be ready,” she told her party, gripping Dawnbreaker and readying a shout. Just before she got to the sarcophagus its lid flew into the air and a large Draugr in full armor started climbing out. While the lids to four more sarcophagi on the sides of the room fell open and reinforcements entered the fray.

 

Nora shouted at the Draugr straight ahead, Marked for Death, and it staggered as the shout weakened it. Curalmil, I presume, thought Nora as she sprinted forward, swinging Dawnbreaker and not about to give the undead beast an even break. Eldawyn cried out and flung fire, while Annekke serviced another draugr with arrows, and the two Housecarls took down the last pair close up.

 

“Well, that does it,” said Eldawyn, just before three more Draugr came running into the room. With the extinguishing of that trio the feeling of evil lifted, and Nora thought they had truly cleared the place, though she wasn't about to take chances. She went past the central sarcophagus and up some stairs, the song growing louder in her ears. To see the familiar curved wall with one glowing word. She ran to it, wanting to see what she had unlocked. She was hoping it would be the second word of a shout she already knew, since that would strengthen it considerably. The word unlocked and she yelled in joy.

 

Marked for Death, the second word of the shout she had just used against Curalmil, a most useful weapon. She unlocked one of the dragon souls swirling its energy through her body and felt the word become part of that shout.

 

The chest under the word wall contained more riches, and quite a few items to be left, useless to the party. A corridor under the wall led to a small room with an ancient bowl on a pedestal.

 

“I think you need to pour the mixture Nurelion gave you into that bowl,” said Eldawyn.

 

Nora poured it in, and a portion of a stone wall moved back and lowered itself into a recess, revealing another chamber. With the White Phial sitting in an alcove, waiting. Nora rushed to it, picking it up, and groaning in disappointment as she saw it was cracked. Well, Nurelion might not have gotten what he wanted, a working White Phial, but she had obtained a word to a very useful shout, so her disappointment over the white bottle didn't last long. The party gathered all of the rare alchemical ingredients in the chambers, and another skill book, this one for alchemy of course, and went out through the corridor that led directly to the first chamber in the cavern. And soon they were out in the night air, to be greeted by Sofia and Elesia, who had pitched the tents and built a blazing fire to cook over and warm up around.

 

“What did we miss?” asked Elesia, back in her Recorder persona for the moment.

 

“Well, it was cake,” said Nora, “if you discount the fact that Annekke would have died if we hadn't have had two healers. And the thing we came for is ruined. But I found a word wall.”

 

“You should have brought me along,” said Sofia, still not over being left behind. “With three healers it would have been so much easier.”

 

Nora thought the spellsword was correct. But what was she to do? Designate two people as permanent baggage and horse guards. That wasn't fair. Every member of her team was here for adventure, as well as loot, and no one wanted to be cut out of the quest completely. It was a dilemma, and one she didn't have the answer to.

 

Nora set the shifts, giving Sofia, Elesia and Valdimar the last, since they were already looking like a threesome for the night. Lydia approached her, smiling demurely, glancing at Eldawyn as well.

 

“Could we continue my, training tonight. You and Lady Eldawyn.”

 

“I think Annekke mentioned something earlier about wanting some of your time.”

 

“Oh,” said Lydia in a barely audible exhalation. “But...”

 

“Annekke is very good, Lydia. You can learn much from her.” And Nora really didn't want anyone to go to bed alone tonight, unless they were set on it.

 

“But, the way I insulted her before I...”

 

“Don't worry, my dear,” said Annekke, walking up behind Lydia and running a hand over the back of the Housecarl. “All is forgiven, as long as you don't give me any trouble.”

 

“I would never...”

 

“She's joking with you, Lydia. Now be a good girl and let Annekke tuck you in.”

 

Annekke led the still hesitant Housecarl away, but soon after they entered the tent the sounds of women enjoying the pleasuring of each other came out into the night.

 

“So I guess it's first watch for us,” said Eldawyn, slurring her words after she took a long swig.

 

“And I want you to get good and drunk. Not so drunk that you can't take care of me later, but with enough of a haze that your passenger won't interfere. And then I want you to tell me everything you know about this guy. How he entered you, what it felt like, and what things you have already done to try and get him out.”

 

“Why?” asked Elda, grimacing as her spirit punished her.

 

“Drink more, and don't bother answering before you can feel no pain. But in answer to your question, when we get to Winterhold I am going to ask their foremost expert on possession...”

 

“That would probably be Phinis Gestor,” said Eldawyn, again grunting in pain.

 

“Keep drinking. Then we will ask Phinis if he has heard anything about getting rid of a recalcitrant spirit.”

 

Eldawyn nodded as she chugged the rest of the bottle, looking none to steady. “Why are you going to all the trouble?”

 

“Because you are my friend, and you are worth the effort.”

 

They talked for an hour, Nora learning everything she could about the possession. Elda was working on another bottle, her speech growing more and more slurred, but the indications that the spirit was punishing her were gone. Nora learned much, and thought she could give a good presentation to Master Gestor at the College. “Thank you. That gives me a lot to work with.”

 

Eldawyn nodded, then passed out, her body sliding off the log. Nora moved quickly to catch her body before she hit her head on something, then picked her friend up and carried her to the tent.

 

The camp was silent by this time, everyone else having worked out their own passions and faded into the land of dreams. Nora looked regretfully at Eldawyn snoring away. She knew she was going to have nightmares about the crypt they had explored that day.

 

Too bad, she thought. I'll live. It had been more important for her to help her friend at this time.

 

The first shift passed, and Nora woke Annekke and Lydia, letting them get dressed and out by the fire before she went to her tent. To fall asleep immediately. Soon after the dreams followed.

 

*     *     *

 

We're being attacked, said the voice in her nightmare. Nora had just entered a factory with her party, Heather, Barb and Valkyrie, and everything had been going fine, until the feral ghouls started coming out of nowhere. They had fallen back, but Barb had been cut off and had gone down under the swarm of snarling ghouls. Nora was trying to figure out how to get to her, blasting away at the ghouls with her auto-rifle, but there were just too many ghouls.

 

“We're under attack,” screamed a voice, and Nora came awake, fully alert, realizing that the shout was not part of a dream.

 

Something exploded outside, horses screamed, and the sound of metal on metal penetrated her mind. Her people were in trouble. The voice sounded like Sofia, and Elesia wasn't laughing, so they weren't doing well. Nora threw off her fur covering, looked over at a snoring Eldawyn, and realized that the elf was still sleeping it off, of no use to anyone. My fault, thought the Dragonborn as a scream split the night.

 

Nora grabbed her belt, sheathed sword and pistol hanging from it, and started to crawl out of the tent. She didn't have time for her armor. Hell, she didn't have time for clothing, and the cold night air on her naked skin was like a punch.

 

“What have we here?” asked a man in a rough voice, and Nora looked up to see a bandit raising an ax in the air, obviously thinking that he had an easy kill.

 

The forty-caliber pistol spoke, sending its round into the groin of the bandit, up through his abdomen and into the chest. The bandit grunted and fell dead to the ground, and Nora scrambled to her feet. To see a dozen men and women fighting her people.

 

Elesia was down, blood spurting from her right thigh, a deep wound that was quickly taking her life. Annekke had retreated behind some rocks and was sending arrows into the bandits. Lydia was dueling with a pair of bandits, as naked as Nora, but using her ebony shield to good advantage, bashing and slashing with her blade. And Sofia? The spellsword was in trouble. Three bandits were pressing her, and as Nora watched one hit her helmet with a mace, dropping her unconscious to the ground. Another stepped forward, lining his sword up for a killing thrust.

 

Nora saw all of this in an instant, selecting her targets based on their threat to her people. She walked forward, Dawnbreaker in her left hand, the pistol in her right. The gun barked, and the bandit about to skewer Sofia fell back with a hole in his forehead. Another shot, and the man with the mace dropped his weapon and tried to clamp down on the bleeding wound that had been his throat. Again, and a woman with a pair of daggers went down, a bleeding hole in her chest.

 

Nora shifted her body and her aim, shooting one of Lydia's opponents in the back, then again, and that man fell lifeless to the ground. Lydia pushed her sword through the body of the second man she was facing, he being distracted by the sound of gunshots, something the bandit had likely never heard. Two more shots and the bandits that Annekke was sniping at were no longer a problem. Nora did a fast assessment, seeing no more bandits on their feet, and hurried over to the side of her friends who had been on watch.

 

Sofia was groaning, still alive but with possible damage to her head and neck. Elesia was white faced and breathing hard, probably on the verge of dying. Nora knelt beside the observer, dropping her weapons and casting healing from both hands. The wound in the leg started to close, slowly, and Nora kept pouring in the healing until the bleeding had stopped, then sent everything she had into her friend until her breathing calmed and she appeared to be out of trouble. Elesia would need more healing magic, but she was out of trouble, and Nora turned her attention toward Sofia.

 

The spellsword was groaning, eyes fluttering under her lids, her breathing ragged. And Nora was out of Magicka for the moment.

 

“Get me a healing potion, someone,” she screamed, looking around. Lydia had hurried over, as had Annekke, looking down on the injured pair. “A healing potion.”

 

Suddenly Nora felt the energy of a healing spell washing over Sofia, and she looked up to see a naked Eldawyn pouring the magic into the injured woman. Annekke ran to their baggage, coming back with a satchel of potions, pulling out some that glowed with a golden light. The ranger knelt by Elesia, holding her head up and pouring the potion into the injured woman's mouth. Nora grabbed another and helped a semiconscious Sofia to drink it down. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her friends were no longer in danger of dying, though they weren't by any means fully healed.

 

“They took some of our horses,” said Valdimar, who had finally woken from the noise and come out, as naked as everyone but the sentries. Annekke and Lydia had gone to their tent to get dressed and armored, and as soon as they were out Eldawyn stumbled away to do the same.

 

“How many?” asked Nora, going to her baggage to get what she thought she needed. And seeing that the case that her rifle stayed in was gone, along with several other containers of high value items.

 

“Six of them. They took six of our fucking horses.”

 

Nora dug into a container and pulled out her nanoarmor, then searched through another to find the helmet that went along with it.

 

“We have a live one over here,” called out Annekke, now in her leather armor, sword at her side. “Don't know how long she's going to last.”

Long enough to tell us where her friends are, thought Nora, walking over to look at the young bandit woman, badly burned but conscious. The bandit had pulled herself up to a tree and was leaning against it, eyes wide with fear watching as the naked woman with the strange objects in hand walked toward her.

 

“Tell us where they are and we'll heal you, then let you go,” said Nora, wanting to give the woman the best offer up front so she could get the information fast.

 

“They'll kill me if I tell you.”

 

“They aren't going to be around to kill anyone. And if you don't tell me, I'll leave you here to die in pain.”

 

The woman thought about it a bit, wincing in pain, then spoke. “We have a camp to the west along the road. About a mile up, three hundred yards into the woods. But there are a lot of them.”

 

“Thanks. Make sure she stays where she is,” ordered Nora. “And give her a healing potion.”

 

“You don't want us to put her down?” asked Annekke, glaring at the bandit.

 

“No. I made a promise to her, but if she has played me false I will make her wish you had killed her.”

 

Nora got into her nanoarmor, then her helmet, checking the power readouts and grunting in satisfaction. She had half a charge, and thought she might want to recharge it from her power armor the next time she was in Whiterun. But more than enough for now.

 

“Where are you going, my Thane?” asked Lydia, in her small clothes and hauling her armor out so she could dress standing.

 

“I'm going to get our horses back,” said Nora, scowling. “And kill the bastards who attacked us.”

 

“Nora,” said Annekke in a loud tone, frantic with anxiety. “Wait for us.”

 

“Nope. I'm going to do this the old-fashioned way, and they won't know what hit them.”

 

Nora turned and ran, a jog that was as fast as most people could run flat out. She ignored her followers yelling for her to stop and ran to the west, a hundred yards in from the road, making about as much noise as someone walking nonchalantly would. She covered the mile in three minutes, slow for her, but allowing her senses and the suit sensors to scan the area. The scanners picked up the heat of a fire from three hundred yards out, and she had to admit that without the high-tech sensors she might have missed the well concealed camp. Engaging the invisibility field of her suit she moved forward in a crouch, sword in her left hand, pistol in her right.

 

The camp was a sprawling affair, a score of small tents, most with more than one set of furs. A large fire sat in the center, cooking pots hanging from a spit. A dozen bandits were sitting around the fire, more walking around and talking, a pair in a heated discussion off to the side. Nora thought them the big boss and the man who had grabbed the horses.

 

“You should have stayed and taken care of them,” said the large man who had the attitude of being in charge. “And you lost how many of my people?”

 

“I've never seen anything like that woman, Hrongar,” said the smaller man, a Bosmer. “She just walked into the gang, sword in one hand, that barking thing in the other, and every time it sounded one of my people fell dead to the ground. Me and Netty already had the horses in hand and were out of the camp, so I thought we had better get them and the things we grabbed here, and come give you warning.”

 

“I'd like to see them try and hit us here,” said Hrongar, growling deep in his throat. “We'll make them sorry they've ever been born.”

 

Well, one is going to hit you here, thought Nora, grinning. But you won't be seeing her until it's too late.

 

Nora spotted her rifle sitting discarded among some other items. The bandits probably didn't know what to make of it. A hundred round drum was inserted, and a couple of hand grenades lay on the ground. She walked over to the weapon, invisible, and picked it up. The rifle faded to invisibility as she gripped in, contained within the field. She slung the rifle over her shoulder and picked up the two grenades, clipping one onto her belt and keeping the other in hand. Pulling the pin on that one, she tossed it into the fire from thirty yards away, then back peddled, rifle ready.

One of the bandits cursed when the grenade hit the fire, then looked around with an angry expression. None of the primitives knew what was about to happen, and an argument broke out over people throwing crap into the fire. The grenade exploded, a sharp sound, and the flaming logs were thrown into the air, some going out as far as twenty yards. What they didn't see were the hundreds of sharp metal fragments and ball bearings the fragmentation grenade expelled. They felt them though, and everyone around the fire caught at least a few of Nora's offerings.

 

Seven of the bandits fell back off their logs, screaming out or silent in death. The five others fell back and scrambled up, all bleeding from places where projectiles had pierced them. Not serious injuries, but enough to hurt and stun them.

 

Nora fired a three-round burst, becoming visible for a second while the rifle fired. A wounded bandit went down, dead. She fired burst after burst, only visible for a second each time, constantly moving, until all of the people around the fire were dead or so badly wounded they weren't a concern.

 

“What the hell is that?” yelled Hrongar, pointing to the spot where Nora had appeared. She had already moved, and fired a long ten round burst into three bandits that were hurrying in her direction, knocking them to the ground. She moved again, taking out four more bandits along the way, until only Hrongar and his lieutenant were left.

 

The Dragonborn disengaged her invisibility field and walked slowly toward the boss and his man. She fired a short burst, blasting the head of the lieutenant into fragments, some of which struck Hrongar.

“What the hell are you?” screamed the boss, pulling a huge great sword from his back.

 

“I'm the woman you wanted to see hit you here. Well here I am, you son of a bitch. And what are you going to do about it?”

 

Nora let the rifle hang from her neck as she drew Dawnbreaker. This was personal, and she wanted to see the man's face as she defeated him, his knowledge as he knew he was doomed, then his horror as she took his life.

 

Hrongar screamed and ran forward, his sword up, then coming down in a stroke he must have hoped would take Nora's life. It was a clumsy attack that might have worked on a slow opponent, weighed down with armor and weapons. Not on an augmented woman wearing and carrying less than forty pounds of gear, with the muscles to move many more times that amount. Nora stepped out of the way and swung her sword, making a shallow cut into the man's left thigh. Hrongar turned, quickly for one his size, only to find that his opponent had moved behind him, and he received a cut into his right calf.

 

The fight, if it could be called that, went on for minutes, Hrongar never getting near his target, Nora slicing into him over and over. The man was weakening from swinging the huge sword and loss of blood. Nora should have finished him, but she wanted this man, who led the people who had hurt her friends, to suffer.

 

“Nora, stop,” yelled out Eldawyn, riding beside Annekke as they came up on their horses.

 

“He's responsible for Sofia and Elesia's injuries.”

 

“And they're fine,” yelled Annekke. “Both are up and eating. I think they'll be able to travel in the next couple of hours. So stop this torture and finish him.”

 

Nora nodded, her eyes locked on the bandit leader. She feinted to the right, a move he could barely follow in his current state, then sliced into the front of his left thigh. As the bandit leader dropped his sword and tried to clamp his hands onto the deep wound, Nora spun in place, swinging Dawnbreaker into and through his neck, launching his head into the air. The limp body fell to the ground, blood spurting from the stump.

 

“Satisfied,” said Nora, turning back to her friends.

 

“Yes,” said Annekke as Eldawyn nodded. “What do you want to do with the bandit we have?”

 

“We'll let her go. I promised her, after all. After we loot this place.”

 

*     *     *

 

“Now remember to use the proper spell to set them off,” said Eldawyn, accompanying Nora on her inspection of the perimeter.

 

They had camped in the early evening, less than a day's ride from Windhelm. Nora had decided to follow Eldawyn's advice and had laid a network of fire runes around the camp. Low powered ones that were unlikely to kill, though they would injure while warning the camp that someone was approaching. Elda had taught her the fire version, promising to later teach her the shock and cold versions of the spell.

 

Nora threw a fire bolt at one of the glowing runes, which exploded in a burst of flame that reached out several yards in all directions. They moved onto the next and she did the same, until they had traced the perimeter of the camp and set off all the land mines, as Nora liked to think of them. Then it was back on the road the Windhelm, everyone thinking of a hot bath and a full night's sleep in an inn.