Hello everyone. Just like the last interlude, this will be a collection of shorter stories telling what happened after the events of chapter 2 and introducing new characters. There will be no erotic content here whatsoever, so be warned. See you in Chapter 3 - Agrulla.
1. The assassin
Ulrise crouched behind a huge chunk of basalt, surveying her surroundings for hungry charus or a stealthy falmer hunter. Some time passed since she left the chitinous houses behind, along with their blind inhabitants, but one can never be too cautious. Hiding from falmers proved to be far harder than she expected, but the Pale Wraith got her nickname for a reason. Like an apparition, she slipped through their caves and was now entering a massive underground cavern, one of the many that formed the legendary underbelly of Skyrim - the Blackreach.
After she and Lana saw the unenviable fate of the Mistress, gathering her notes and other clues to their curse became the number one priority for the assassin. Without the looming threat of the angry employer punishing her for going rogue, Ulrise devised a plan.
The nine sealed potions she was carrying around finally were applied to good use. If they do not help locate the possessions of the Mistress, what was their purpose anyway? Maybe her curse amplified the effect of the potion, or perhaps she just became so good at detecting this magic, but on the edges of her mind, another source of it beckoned, leading her to a mountain ridge in the south of Skyrim.
Now finally looking at the gloomy, barely lit landscape she retrieved one of the remaining vials and gulped it down. Her biggest fear after traversing the dangerous tunnels was that falmers found the prize and now she had to turn back and assault their hive.
Fortunately, this proved not to be the case. The magic magnet beckoned, luring her deeper into the luminescent fungi forest. Out of her element here, Ulrise moved slowly and carefully, constantly checking her surroundings. She managed to spot a massive charus laying in ambush and gave it a wide berth. A lone falmer hunter followed her for some time, but Ulrise managed to lay an ambush of her own and soon the blind native got an extra hole in his throat.
Slowly crawling forward she passed the first cavern to find another enormous underground space, filled with plants and animals that never saw a ray of daylight. Not trusting the treacherous local illumination, she kept the night vision effect active at all times, spotting local predators hiding in deep shadows.
After hours of sneaking and two caves behind, the blond's tenacity was finally rewarded.
"Wait a second, I recognize this area!" Indeed, this was the clearing that two cursed women have dream-walked not so long ago. In the real world, the clearing was every bit as memorable as in the dream, covered with a thick fluorescent fungal growth.
"Well, I remember the direction, better check if this is the place." To her immense relief, soon the remains of the road became apparent, and in no time she stood in front of the hole in the ground, looking at descending marble stairway.
"I better be quick and very cautious, who knows what powers Sotha Sil's guard can wield. I am not too fond of joining the Mistress on her tour in Oblivion."
Down the stairway, the light of artificial Sun greeted her once more. She was delighted to see that local animals did not pilfer or trample Mistress's backpack.
"Maybe bright light scared them? Does not matter, I better get her stuff and be on my way."
Holding magic wards and shields ready, she approached the bag. She meticulously and very gently put the scrolls lying on the ground back into the backpack, took it, and stepped away from the circle of carved marble columns with a stone chest in the center.
"A wise choice."
