Ingredients for a Summoning (Nidhug)

[Ande]

"Wolf Queen, hear our call and awaken, we summon Potema."

"We summon Potema."

Ande began to stir due to the echo and the proximity of the chanting, finding that he felt slightly sick and cold upon awakening. The second thing he noticed was the dim blue-violent glow positioned almost above him, and the long snake-like tendrils snaking toward the huge mass above him. Rolling slightly onto his back, he could see just how large that glowing mass was, and just looking at it made him feel even sicker. He looked away in stead, seeing all of the necromancers standing a short distance away from him, following in a chant led by one older woman.

"Mmph." Had there been no gag, Ande would have cursed. He knew exactly what was going on, and it was going to be very very bad for him and many other people. But it was going to be bad for him first. The Altmer tried to sit up, and quickly became aware of cold chains holding his wrist behind his back and to the ground. He sat up awkwardly and twisted to see behind him; an iron ring was bolted to the center of a platform and through the iron ring was the short chain of shackles that held his wrists there. The Altmer tried to curse again, pulling on the metal and managing to get up onto his knees to give himself as much leverage as possible, pulling as hard as he could. Nothing gave.

He looked down at the circular, slightly raised platform he was on, noting with increasing sickness that he was bolted to the center of a dark sigil made in blood. The blood was somewhat dry, but some of it had smeared on his robes when he'd been laying on it. Probably the blood of the young man he'd agreed to find.

Two days ago Ande had been in Dragonsreach, and he'd heard of the rumors of travelers gone missing and strange lights from the cave. He'd also heard of its Necromantic past, and he had mulled over the idea of checking out the cave for a day before he met a distraught mother of two, one of whom was missing. That had sealed the deal, and he'd set out to look into the cave. The skeletons he'd dispatched at the entrance had confirmed Necromatic activity, and the Mage marched right in hoping that this cult did not dispose of its 'volunteers' immediately. He had killed three Necromancers in the entrance before Draugr sudden appeared. He'd been in danger of being backed into a corner with ice magic, but the use of his Thu'ums had saved him. The Altmer had gotten to see the large underground tower and the glowing lights before he was surrounded. That had not gone well.

Now he was getting to see the ritual up close and personal, and the fact they'd gagged him meant they either knew of his Dragonborn status or they were following a general procedure. It didn't really matter at this rate; he was going to be dead at this rate either way.

Ande pulled at his wrists again with a grunt, looking again at the Necromancers surrounding him and locking eyes with the Ritual Master. She smiled at him, a sadistic glint in her eyes to see that the Altmer was struggling and not at all coping with being a ritual ingredient. He scowled and jerked at his shackles, looking around himself for anything he could do to disrupt the ritual. He scuffed a knee over some of the lines of the sigil, and made a disgusted sound when he saw the lines had been layered in blood. They had clearly been painted over several times. He leaned slightly to the side and scuffed at the lines with his heel, only stopping when he saw the line glow faintly and then fade. The energies were already too grounded in the sigil, and barring some soapy water and a stiff brush, he wouldn't be able to erase them. The Altmer looked back to the Ritual Master, seeing her smile having evolved into a malicious grin while viewing his struggles.

"Long have you slept the dreamless sleep of death, Potema. No longer. Hear us Wolf Queen. We summon you!"

"We summon Potema."

"Mmph." Ande's glare flat lined at the Ritual Master, sitting back on his haunches and pulling at his restraints as he tried to think of something to do. Anything.

Nothing was coming to mind.

[Nidhug]

Wolfskull cave... the energies coming from it were not pleasant as Nidhug approached. He had been traveling through Dragon's Bridge, staying over a night at the inn, when he had heard about the cave. He was currently searching for a new place to set up his base of operations to rebuild his followers in order to serve the mission Alduin had given him. However, he wasn't actively recruiting at the moment, just seeking out a place to call home. His original home had been a series of uncharted Dwemer ruins in the Falkreath hold, near Helgen. Now in the Northern region of Haafingar, he felt it might have some good locations he could scout out and see what he liked.

The problem with Dragon Cults was that they needed very secluded, secret places to hide out. So hearing about a "cursed" cave had been a boon. All he would have to do was clean it out of any current residents and make it his.

Slipping inside the cavern, he found several broken skeletons that had likely once been part of a necromancer's security system. He hummed gently, perhaps someone else had already cleared part or all of the cave out. Continuing on, he found a few dead necromancers, his eyes narrowing. So, dark magic was in play here... that means that he could find anything...

Deciding it would be better to go into this well-protected, he removed his black cloak, laying it down near one of the corpses, revealing the bronze ceremonial Dragon Priest armor. He left his ancient Nord greatsword on his back, but readied a lightning bolt spell in one hand, a fire bolt spell in the other. He pressed on into the ruins that lay ahead, seeing the swirling tendrils of energy overhead, feeling the dark soul that was connected with them.

"Wolf Queen, hear our call and awaken, we summon Potema."

"We summon Potema."

He could hear the voices of the Necromancers ringing out through the ruins and he began to follow the chanting slowly, keeping his eyes open for guards or Dragur placed in his way...

[Ande]

"Yes! YES! Return me to this realm!"

If had been a lesser man/elf, he would have shit himself when that booming, malevolent voice sudden erupted from above him. As it was, he started and looked around for the source of it, eventually looking up above him to the glowing mass. Had that truly been Potema?

"As our voices summon you the blood of the innocent binds you, Wolf Queen."

"Summoned by words, bound by blood."

Ande looked at the Ritual Master again, blinking and letting out a quiet, muffled sound of protest. He was mean to be the sealing element of the ritual, which meant she would probably walk up to him and slit his throat at the end of it. And in his current position, he couldn't really do anything other than try to kick her in the knee. Which, by Oblivion, he would do if it was the last thing left.

"WHAT?! What are you doing?! You fools! You cannot bind me to your wills!"

The Altmer winced slightly at the echoing bellow almost in his ear, trying to shrink away from the glowing mass above him while still maintaining a stable position on his knees.

"Summoned by words. Bound by blood."

"You ants don't have the power to bind me!"

He felt a little more sick as the Wolf Queen raged above him, some of her dark energy making itself known since he was so close to it. This was it. After living through a war and searching for Thu'ums and killing Necromancers, he was going to be killed to bring back one of the most infamous necromancers to history's credit. Perhaps it was some dark form of poetic justice. Ande grit his teeth and pulled hard at his shackles again, inherently resisting the idea of being sacrificed by Necromancers.

[Nidhug]

The booming voice of the Wolf Queen did nothing to startle Nidhug. Perhaps it was half stupidity, half bravado. He knew nothing of the history of anything outside of the Dragon Cult, so Potema was something that didn't matter to him. What mattered was the fact that this energy was powerful, and dangerous.

He worked his way through the ruins quickly, not knowing they had a life on the line. His goal was to put a stop to this, clear out the cave, and explore it fully as a potential new home base. The few draugr that stood in his way were nothing to him. He destroyed them calmly without even batting an eyelash, no matter what it took, either by spells or by sword.

He was about halfway through the ruin, having ducked behind a fallen wall to catch his breath when he heard the Ritual Master speak something other than the words of the ritual. "Something is wrong... There is an intruder..."

So, she could feel his approach, good... it would be an interesting fight then. Nidhug smirked to himself, taking out a few more Dragur and a Necromancer or two as he continued following the ruins to that large, central tower where he could feel the energies were converging, thus that must be where the ritual was taking place...

[Ande]

The Altmer blinked when the Ritual master paused and spoke, he himself looking around for whoever she spoke of. At the moment his senses were stuffed full of Necromantic energy, and so he could not feel anything or actually hear anything beyond the hiss and low roar of the energy circling above him. He could feel the shift and slight clink of the short chain that bound him to the ring when he tugged and pulled on it, but that was really about it.

He watched as she motioned for a few of the Necromancers to descend and see what the commotion was all about, his head turning slightly to follow them as they walked out of sight down the stairs. It was actually starting to get a bit difficult to see through the bright glow above him, and he had to squint slightly in order to see what the Ritual Master was doing now. She was, as it turned out, drawing a crude looking knife from her robes. But she walked slowly, thank the Divines, as she approached the alter, clearly wanting to maintain and build up as much energy as possible before attempting to bind the Wolf Queen.

[Nidhug]

Nidhug did not pause, knowing now that the Necromancers were aware of his presence. He had fought his way to the central tower where the ritual was taking place, never backing down nor stopping. His energies were slightly depleted, so he was depending more on his greatsword. But the draugr and necromancers were little challenge compared to the falmer he had once fought against.

"There he is!" He heard a necromancer declare. Nidhug smiled his snakeish smile, readying himself for the fight. Not giving the first one time to focus on any spells that would cause him any inconvenience, he charged forward, spearing the Necromancer through the middle with his greatsword, tossing his corpse down the stairs. The second Necromancer immediately began to try and revive that first corpse, planning to use it against Nidhug. The key was to get to her and break her concentration before she had time to revive the corpse, then it would crumble to dust, all its energies expelled thanks to the breaking of the magic....

First, he shot out a lightning bolt spell, hitting the necromancer dead-on. Her concentration was broken due to the pain, but she drew a crude dagger, choosing to face him while her third companion began to use frost spells against him, severely slowing him down...

[Ande]

Both Ande and the Ritual Master glanced toward the stairs at the commotion, and they both looked back at each other at approximately the same time. Through eye contact they both registered the same thought; She was running out of time. That slightly manic and mostly sadistic smile had turned down into a scowl, and her grip on the dagger adjusted with far too much confidence for Ande's liking. He let out a muffled sound of alarm and struggled to get his legs out from under himself as the Necromancer climbed up onto the small platform with dagger raised and free hand stretched outward for Ande's hair.

He managed it with a panicked jerk to the side, landing on his side and rolling awkwardly and painfully onto his back while the shackles dug into him. But it got his legs in between the both of them, letting out a muffled, panicked cry as he kicked her square in the chest and thrust her off the platform. The dagger went flying out of pure surprise and she landed flat on her back off the platform, temporarily stunned.

Unfortunately the stun did not last long enough for whoever was on the stairs to arrive, and Ande watched with a panicked start as her head popped up over the edge of the platform, sporting a furious snarl. With renewed vigor she climbed back up on the platform, using her better maneuverability to step out of Ande's kicking range and descending on him from the side. The Altmer let out a cry of panic and struggled to turn himself toward her, the short chain holding him down making a quick maneuver almost impossible. She punched him, hard, in the mouth and then again in the temple, stunning Ande before grabbing a fist full of his hair and lifting his head up to a point where he would be unable to give himself any sort of leverage or stability.

He squirmed with difficulty in her grip, barely able to see a sword being conjured in her free hand. It would take several seconds though, but it didn't look like it would make much of a difference given his current position.

[Nidhug]

Even slowed by the frost spells, Nidhug pressed on, beheading his second opponent when he saw his chance before focusing on the third, a determined look on his face as he decided to directly counter his frost magic with fire magic, steam coming up from his form due to the combination of blazing hot and freezing cold. It took a few moments, but Nidhug eventually overtook his opponent, making sure to drive his sword in deep into the Necromancer's chest, killing him.

His kills had all be cold and clean. He wasn't one to make someone suffer, even if he wasn't the best individual who ever lived. It was rather sad... these necromancers were so inexperienced in combat and so young. Seeing this youth cut short by his own hand was distressing, especially considering what happened to his clan. But they had initiated the attack, so he was able to easily absolve himself of their deaths, instead turning his attention to the main necromancer.

He ascended the rest of the stairs quickly, holding his sword ready as he took a stance, glaring at the Ritual Leader.

"So you would kill an innocent to further your own goals? That's pathetic," Nidhug stated, spitting onto the symbol painted on the altar. "Come, face me fair. You can use my corpse as your sacrifice if you can manage to kill me, I have a feeling I might provide you with a more energetic sacrifice."

Nidhug smirked, slightly adjusting his grip on his greatsword.

[Ande]

Ande wriggled weakly in the Necromancer's hand, struggles ultimately ceasing when the blade of a conjured sword met his neck and stayed there. Her attentions had been turned to the Nord who so blatantly challenged her and insulted her. Her inefficiency with a blade combined with her inattentiveness led to a shallow cut on Ande's throat, causing the Altmer to arch and tense at the sudden burning pain on his neck.

She bared her teeth at Nidhug, straightening slightly with dignity as she stared at him, "You would challenge me, one who holds enough power to bind the Wolf Queen herself?" she declared, eyes narrowing in a very haughty sort of way at him. Mages were frequently known to be slightly snobby due to a higher education, but most Necromancers tended to be outright sadistic and arrogant. The Ritual Master was no exception.

In a reckless display of power and to vent her own anger, she turned on Ande and forced his head to tilt more upward, the tip of her conjured sword coming down to his face. The complete terror and sheer panic was quite evident on the elf's face when the sword's tip came close, and he jerked and struggled the best he could in his awkward position, which wasn't much. But instead of being horrifically stabbed in the face, the tip of the blade pressed into his lower lip and flicked upward, splitting the skin there and causing Ande to gasp. He was abruptly dropped right afterwards, head hitting the hard surface of the alter with a semi-audible smack.

"I will be back for you," she hissed in a very delighted sort of way, relishing in his fear and pain. The Necromancer stood and turned toward the Nord, back straight and head high as she raised a hand and prepared an ice-spike spell, stepping forward before leaping at Nidhug with the conjured sword. She fired an ice-spike spell as she jumped, fully confident after years of killing innocent and frequently untrained travelers.

[Nidhug]

Nidhug rolled his shoulders back, adjusting his grip on his greatsword. He was not about to let some uppity, bragging Necromancer get the best of him. He was a Dragonborn and a priest of Akatosh and Alduin, but saw no reason to brag or promote his abilities needlessly. Actions spoke much louder than words at any rate.

"I would challenge the one who thinks herself above all others without reason. You are able to call upon strong spirits, but bind them? I severely doubt you could ever do that, even with a proper sacrifice," Nidhug stated, taunting his opponent. He had a good feeling that this Ritual Master would be easy to taunt into a mistake, especially considering the fact she seemed to have little awareness about how to actually use that weapon she had conjured up.

He also knew that as long as he had her attention on him, the Altmer bound to the altar would be safe. This was one of the first times he had been close to one, the only previous experience he had ever had with mer were the falmer, but he was not one to judge the merits of one race based only upon his experiences with a related race. He would do his best to make sure that no harm would come to this Altmer.

Since his attention was more on the Ritual Master, Nidhug managed to dodge to the left as she leapt and cast, bringing his sword in a downward arc hard on her back before taking his right hand off the hit to quickly cast a lightning bolt spell on her. His movements were well-practiced, used to fighting tricksy and merciless falmer. You did not show mercy unless you wanted to die...

[Ande]

She let out a scream as the sword swept down her back, cleaving through her flesh there and causing her to drop the conjured sword. Furious and in pain, she turned her body to face Nidhug, charging her own electricity spell but being hit with his first. But combat with magic was something she was more familiar with, and she moved forward through the pain and extended both hands out to dual-cast her electricity. The sword strike had given her a heavy wound though, and while she was still standing and fighting, it was clear that he'd taken her down a notch.

Ande trembled on the altar, hyperventilating and trying to calm himself down. The last time he'd been captured by Necromancers he'd been held for about a month. The last time he'd been held by Necromancers and had something sharp come close to his face, he'd lost the ability to use his left eye. And it had hurt. A lot. That had been a long time ago, and it was not something that haunted him; but this experience was incredibly close to that one, and the very re-visitation of how that had felt physically, emotionally and spiritually was painful. And scary.

He shut his eyes and curled more in on himself, trying to concentrate on calming down in the situation. Tears had formed and rolled the way gravity commanded, and his throat tightened as he tried to reign in his breath. It wasn't a pretty or dignified thing, but fighting for your life rarely was. Especially if you couldn't even fight.

[Nidhug]

The pain that flowed through his body from the electricity was expressed in only the lightest of grunts and grimaces, not wanting to give her the pleasure of knowing she was causing him a great deal of pain. However, she seemed to have forgotten that in addition to his magic, he was a swordsman. So, instead of just sitting back and taking the pain, he lifted his blade parallel with the ground and thrusted forward towards her, immediately thrusting into her chest. He lifted the sword upwards in order to make sure she was speared good on it, but it also brought her face close to his so he could show her a sadistic, snakeish smile before she died.

"That's all for you and your summoning, witch," he stated, listening to her dying gurgles as her magic died. Overhead, there was a loud clap like thunder as the swirling energies dissipated, the summoning interrupted at the height of its power. The wind created by the energy blew Nidhug's long hair around as he shoved the Ritual Master's body off his sword, letting her fall down off the tower to fall into the blackness of the cavern.

His attention was now turned to the Altmer huddled on the altar. He took in a calming breath, looking over the chains that held him down to the altar, humming softly.

"Hold still. Unfortunately I don't have any lock picks so this will have to do," he stated in a calm voice, sliding his sword into the ring that held the chains down and using it as leverage to destroy the ring that kept him tied down to the altar.

[Ande]

Ande had flinched at the sudden almost explosive rush of wind, breath hitching as he looked up and watched the bright glow swirl and flow out of the cave. He realized his body had been trembling at that point, and that he was able to relax it now that the source of the dark energy had dissapated. It was amazing how the sickness and weakness left him once the ritual had been snuffed, and now nothing other than the cold, fear and adrenaline were making him quiver.

He stirred and looked up when the Nord climbed up onto the platform with him, staring almost wide-eyed at his essential savior. Ande only made a muffled sound of acknowledgement and tried to sit up and pull his hands as far from the ring as possible. When the ring was broken he shifted into a full sitting position with his legs partially curled, trying to turn and see the shackles holding his arms back still. They were heavy and made of cold iron, something that was probably just as coincidence. When it was clear that he would still be unable to do anything on his own, Ande looked back up at Nidhug again for a little more assistance,

"Mmph."

[Nidhug]

"Here," Nidhug said softly, speaking in a reassuring voice as not to scare the Altmer further. He untied the gag from around his mouth, tossing it to the side. Noting the blood that was dribbling along Ande's chin due to the cut on his lip, he gently reached up, wiping the blood away with his thumb. "Better?"

Nidhug managed a gentle, reassuring smile as he moved to inspect the chains that kept Ande's hands confined to his back, humming softly. "I'm afraid I have no lock picks, so unless you have some you'll be stuck in those chains until we can find some. I highly doubt that these mages will have any, but I can check if you'd like," he said still in that gentle tone.

[Ande]

Ande closed and wet his mouth once the gag was removed, looking a bit disgusted by the dryness and taste left in his mouth. His mind went a bit blank at the gentle touch on his chin, removing some of the blood that was irritating him there. But because it was a fresh injury, more blood soon replaced it. He pressed his lips together and smiled a bit timidly at the Nord standing before him. The smile stretched at the cut on his lip though, and he grimaced as a result, "Yes, thank you," this was a bit of an awkward situation for him. Not that he wasn't grateful.

The Altmer shifted his weight to get up on his own, finding the task of balancing a bit more difficult than he'd remembered due to his restraints. He turned slightly once standing, moving his hands to the side the best he could to get a look at the shackles, "I... hope one of them has a key. And please do check. I'd look myself but it'd be a bit difficult." he admitted.