Chapter 16

Above all else it was dark. Normally you would think the lower you went the darker it got, but here it was nearly pitch black from the start. Raoul was practically stepping on my heels so he could be close enough to see me. We had been walking for around 10 minutes, continuously down the stairs, and the deeper we got the murkier it felt.

Just ahead we finally spotted a dim light, reassuring us these stairs did have an end. As we exited the corridor and entered into a huge open space we saw the first thing of worry since our journey here. Skeletons. Most of them were dead corpses lining the floors, while others were walking around aimlessly. As if in sink, we both drew are bows and fired towards the closest skeleton. That's when we saw our mistake… the arrows past right threw the skeleton and hit the floor on the other side. We did nothing but create a small scratch on one of the skeletons. In return they all looked towards us with their hollow, pitch black eye sockets.

We decided while our bows weren't likely to help in a fight with the undead, we would run deeper in past them and hopefully find a sword or blunt weapon of some kind deeper in. As we looked around we realized where exactly we were. It was a huge sarcophagus, big enough to fit a whole kingdom caskets lined the sides of the walls, while pots and various urns decorated the floor.

"I've read about places like this before, and from what I remember most of the gold and loot will be at the deepest part of the place, usually protected by strong undead monsters to stop looters from getting in." Raoul decided to share what he knew in hopes of forming a plan.

"From what I understand where we are now is probably, where all the villagers or "non-important" people are. So if we get deeper, while the monsters may get stronger, theirs also a chance of coming across dead soldiers meaning, we can get a sword." I wasn't sure how reliable this observation was, but it was certainly better to fight the undead than a dragon.

The path was long and the more rooms we entered the more it felt like we had become trapped in a labyrinth. Finally, we heard a low grinding sound, like something heavy being dragged across the floor. We crouched down and slowly made our way towards the noise, where the corridor opened up revealing a tall iron clad corpse, dragging a heavy sword across the floor. Wherever he passed the sword would literally carve through the floor, leaving huge cracks in the ground. There was a large double door behind him, which seemingly had no way to open. The Draugr hadn't noticed us yet, so we had a bit of time to plan our next action.

"This is the first sword we've seen and from the looks of things it'll be of decent quality too; even if it isn't we can use it to fight more monsters later on." I tried convincing Raoul before he decided to turn back. 'Wait I was able to inspect the weapon before maybe I can inspect the sword in his hand'

'Inspect' I decided to say it in my head so as not to confuse Raoul

{Intermediate Draugr Guard}

Health: 60; 15% chance ring will tame Draugr, to increase chance damage Draugr. Draugr drops a rare sword on death.

Now I just need to decide if I want a sword or a strong ally. If I kill him and take the sword, I still have more of the mission to complete; while, if I tame him it's a mission complete. But, it does say guard… what if theirs someone even stronger inside the door past him. Then again he could be guarding a room full of treasure, which might include a sword. WAIT, couldn't I just ask him to give me the sword after I tame him.

"Raoul that thing looks like a Draugr, lets weaken it a bit and then I'll tame it." I decided to tell him what it was in case he knew anything about them.

"Right now it seems to be weaker than what it would usually be; if your right its because its still daytime. Draugr are stronger at nighttime and collect everything shiny around them to guard with their lives."

'Well guess I was right in telling him it was a Draugr.' I decided to draw my bow while Raoul circled around to the other side to avoid getting caught in a corner. Finally the signal came when Raoul yelled "FIRE!" We both let loose our arrows and as I watched my arrow hit I quickly activated inspect again.

{Intermediate Draugr Guard}

Health: 59; 17% chance ring will tame Draugr, to increase chance damage Draugr. Draugr drops a rare sword on death.

This told me three things; one I could activate my bow ability and do more damage, two this was increasing my chances of catching it, and three this would be a hard fight.