The Beginning - Volume III: Valuable Lessons

[Ancient Magister]

Volume III: Valuable Lessons

"My, my, what do we have here?" the unnerving voice of Mephala's aspect echoed through the caves as the young boy Hjalti was brought before her presence, "So, you say you wish to serve me? Do you really believe yourself to be significant enough to be of use? To me?" her cold emotionless eyes penetrated the boy, "Before you answer; know that I am the Lady of Lies. I can tell when you are trying to deceive me… If you think you can fool me, I will trap you for eternity! And I always stay true to my word."

"Yes. I am destined to be greater than the lackey of this replaceable prince," Hjalti answered confidently. He was standing all alone now, for the cultists didn't dare to hold him in front of their Lady. But Hjalti wasn't intimidated by her. Although it was hard to tell what she was thinking, Hjalti kept himself standing brave while the seconds of her silentness crept away like hours. And just like the Lady, Hjalti showed no emotion.

The Spider continued: "Hmmmm… I do not sense any foolishness in you… Interesting. Very interesting… And very good," the Spider said and after, she ordered for the release of Hjalti: "Go now, my Scuttler, and weave this web for me to catch a king."
Hjalti left the caves through some small corridors, while the Nord and the other soldiers looked at him with horrid faces: "Did that little punk just betray us?" one asked, "Yes, he left us here to die," another said, "I can scarcely believe it!" the third cried out loud, then the Nord tried to comfort them: "Relax, we don't know what Hjalti is up to. He might be warning the others stationed outside as we speak."
"Nah, you heard the Daedra. She can tell it when someone's lying," the second one argued, "Prince Parren should have killed the little backstabber when he had the chance."
"By the gods, if I somehow make it out alive here, I'll kill him myself!" another swore and spit on the ground.

The Nord, however, continued to defend Hjalti: "If she is so all-knowing, then how do you explain…" he yelled but stopped abruptly. Before he continued, he lowered his voice and whispered: "...Then how do you explain that she believed him when he told the king is here when he is not?"
To that question the soldiers didn't have an answer. Still, they didn't trust the boy and at the end, they drew the conclusion that Hjalti had just abandoned them one way or another. Whether they were right or not; a few miles away, in the forests outside the cave, Hjalti came to a halt. His mind was in conflict, for he could indeed easily abandon the others at this point. He sighed and continued walking.

Then he found the soldiers who were still waiting for his return. They were all too glad to see him, and with a few words, Hjalti convinced them to follow him back to the layer, but this time via the other entrance that was hidden past the line of trees. No cultist was guarding the entrance and the soldiers were all too happy to make their way deeper into the lower Wrothgarian Mountains.

It was there where the screaming started. It echoed through the dark corridors until it was followed by the sound of fireballs being thrown and flesh being pierced by steel. Finally, the shouts reached the inner ranges of the caves, and beams of electricity shot through the area disturbed the ritual of the cultists. The fightings between the soldiers and the culprits made such a noise that even the imprisoned Alcairians turned their heads around to look curiously at what was happening. They all saw how Hjalti was not a betrayer and how he was leading the soldiers against the common enemy. With swiftness in efficiency, they had cut their way through the hideout. The followers of Mephala stood no chance against the knights!

Soon after the prisoners were released as well to join the fight, there were soon no more cultists left standing and all that was left was the Dark One, cornered at the back end of the cave. "I see I made a miscalculation about you, mortal," she said to Hjalti calmly, "Tell me, how did you do it? How did you deceive me?"
"Well, while I was guided through the tunnels for my release, I memorized the layout and the positioning of your followers," Hjalti explained, "Once I found the others outside, I instructed them in how to infiltrate this place. Once that was done, it was a piece of c.."
"I don't mean that!" she snarled, breaking her temper, "How did you deceive me?!"
"That was your own fault. You asked two questions at once, so I only answered with what I believed to be true," the clever boy explained, "I truly am destined for something greater, but I never swore to serve you."

"So you have avoided the tangles of my web," she said with the calmness from before. Strangely enough, she seemed to smile, yet she didn't seem to be impressed, "You think to be adroit, but this is far from over. I will not back down without a fight!" Before she finished her sentence, she already leapt forwards with her eight legs in an attempt to attack Hjalti. With the long fingernails at the end of her black arms she tried to clutch the boy, but he jumped back, just in time to avoid being shredded to pieces.

Immediately after, the soldiers charged at the spider creature with their weapons drawn. With wild and powerful strikes they slashed their swords and axes at the legs, and with fast and rapid movements they thrust their spears towards the body. But no matter how hard they tried, nothing could truly hurt the foul skin was too thick, while on the other hand all that Mephala had to do was just make one kick and the soldiers flew away like it was nothing. They shot through the air and hit the rocky walls, all the way to the other side of the cave.

"She is too strong!" the soldiers cried out, and there was little to stop them from running away, but the Nord didn't give up: "Head for the eyes!" he shouted, and Hjalti, who still had his bow, forthwith shot his arrows towards her face. However, she blocked his first attack and dodged the second, and before he put the third arrow on his bow to fire, Mephala made a successful hit and smacked the boy. Like a pebble kicked by a boot, he shifted through the air in a nice curve. As he came down, the air was pushed out of his lungs and dizziness overtook him. As he recovered, he saw how two copies of the enemy crawled towards him.

He had to blink a few times before the double images became one again, just in time to have a clear vision on how Mephala picked him up with the words: "You are going to love the Spiral Skein," she smiled evilly, right before she moved her head closer towards that of the boy's. The mouth of the aspect went wide open and countless rows of teeth lead towards a chasm of complete darkness. If Hjalti didn't act fast, he would be swallowed whole in just a split second! But right before that happened, Hjalti drew a dagger from behind his back and stabbed her in the face. A loud shriek followed before Hjalti was dropped. As he got to the ground again, one of the legs of the large spider legs tried to crush him, following almost directly after. But he dodged by making a tactical roll, combining it in a movement towards his bow while the arms of Mephala tried to reach him. With her arms spread wide, she was too late to block the arrows flying her direction and hitting her in the eyes.

"I… will have my… revenge, mortal," were the last words the Spider could bring out, before she collapsed lifeless on the ground.
Hjalti sighed a breath of relief as he plumbed down like a sack of potatoes. That was close. That was very close, he thought. But he was glad he made the right call. He looked around and saw how the others tended to the wounded and rounded up cultists still alive to arrest them. When he tried to get up on his feet again, a hand was reached out to him. It belonged to the smiling Nord, who pulled him back on his feet: "I am glad you didn't abandon us," he said, "I must admit, you had me a bit worried there for a second. You did sound very convincing when you said you didn't like us!"

Hjalti smiled back: "Well, I couldn't just let you be slaughtered by mad cultists now, could I?" he said. When the cultists released him from the cave, he could indeed have easily left this place behind, forget about it all. He could have ridden for the horizon and to never look back. But in his heart, he couldn't. Even though Prince Parren was treating him unjustly and serving him wasn't as glorious as he had hoped it would be, Hjalti could not just leave him. He had to save him, save them all. And so he did.

"Now let's see how our prince is doing," Hjalti suggested with a sigh. Parren had been unconscious for the last half an hour and it took some time waking him up. Afterwards, he ordered the men to kill all the cultists before leaving and burning the place. And so it came to pass. When the prince and the army arrived back in the castle a little over two days later, smoke was still coming out of the cave entrance and was smellable all the way over here. Not that the citizens of Alcaire Castle seemed to mind. They hailed the returning knights as heroes. And a feast followed to celebrate the victory.

King Tharlon received his son with open arms, calling him the hero who tricked and defeated Mephala herself. Well, as Hjalti later discovered, it turned out that before their departure from the cave, the prince had written to his father and claimed full responsibility for all the deeds Hjalti did. The boy couldn't believe his ears! He was furious, and anger overtook him. After the king's speech, he stormed off to his room, his head as red as a tomato. The Nord noticed it and followed, and when he entered the place, he was welcomed by the great mess that Hjalti had made in such a short notice by smiting items off a table.
"What the prince did isn't fair, I know," he started to solace the boy. He told that it didn't matter what the prince said, for the soldiers knew the truth. There were there, and they unanimously acknowledged Hjalti as the true hero who saved them. Well, except for a few bootlickers of Parren, but they didn't count.

This, however, didn't comfort Hjalti in the slightest. and he argued: "They need to tell the king! Or else I will!"
"No, no! You can't do that," the Nord stopped Hjalti from storming off again.
"Why?" Hjalti asked.
"If you do that, you'll disgrace the prince. And he doesn't take that lightly. He will make your stay in the castle a living hell," the Nord explained, "He has the power and the means. Trust me on this one. It is better to just let it go."
Hjalti sighed. The Nord was probably right, and so he calmed down. They continued to chat a bit afterwards, and when the Nord was about to leave, Hjalti asked: "Wait, what's your name actually?"

"It's Igor. A pleasure," the Nord said. And Hjalti nodded, and responded with the words that it was nice knowing him. At that time, he wasn't sure if he meant it, but in the coming days, it started to become truth. Slowly, but steady, the two grew towards each other and eventually they became friends. First, they started to train together, then they started to look each other up during meals. And later, Igor even took Hjalti apart to show him his favorite spots in and outside the city.

But then, a few days later when a royal caravan entered the city, heir time spent together came to a lower carriage had the colors of the blue banners of the ruling family of King Tharlon with the golden lion. And next to the entourage of Knights of the Flame which came along with the carriage, it was made clear for everyone in Alcaire Castle someone important was coming. Not that is was needed, for everyone who lived here longer than a year knew who it was.

Princess Juelli, third child of King Tharlon and his only daughter, had returned from her stay at Wayrest. For the last few months, she had spent time with her aunt, the mother of the High King, and now that she was finally home, she was hailed as their beloved princess. The people truly adored her and jublitated at the sight of her. But Hjalti didn't exult, for his cheeks started to turn red and his mouth fell open as soon as he saw the beautiful girl exiting the carriage, who was around the same age as him.

Clad in a white dress with golden updo hair revealing her naked shoulders, her appearance was nothing but enchanting. And when her big blue eyes met with Hjalti's for a second and she blinked with her pretty eyelashes, the poor boy's heart stopped that moment. He decided right then and there that he needed to talk to the princess, no matter the consequences.

"So dear sister, how is our cousin doing?" Parren asked Juelli as the royal family was having lunch. They were almost all here, with the king and queen sitting both at the long ends of the table, Parren left to his father and Juelli next to the queen. The only one who was missing was the eldest son. Hjalti was there too, standing in line next to the other servants, ready to assist his prince. As he was waiting there, he couldn't help himself but to quickly take glances at the princess, every once in a while.

Then he was pulled from his daydream back to reality by the angry voice of the prince: "Hjalti! I'm talking to you! Hello? Is someone there?"
"I… I'm s-sorry, is there something you want?" Hjalti stammered.
"Yes, are you deaf?! I told you, pour me some more wine, you stupid oaf!"
"Don't be so harsh on him, my son," King Tharlon lectured, "His father is a good man, and I have heard Hjalti is making a good impression on my knights as well."
"Thank you, my Liege, for your kind praise," Hjalti made a small nod towards the king, who smiled back. Then he continued to Parren: "See? He is educated as well!"

After lunch was finished, and the others were leaving the table, Parren was still sitting and signed Hjalti to come over. As the boy obeyed, Parren suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down, closer to him so that his lips were next to his ear. Hjalti could smell the winey breath and feel the prince's breathing tickling the small hairs in his auricle. In a threatening tone, the prince whispered: "Don't think I haven't seen you staring at my sister. I will give you this warning now, and only once: If I ever see you talking to her, Only a word, I will cut off your cock. Do you understand me?"

Hjalti nodded without daring to make a sound. Then Parren released him and pushed him away, and like nothing happened, he said calmly: "Now clean up this mess like a good boy." the prince stood up and left the room.
For a few days, the threat Parren had made was effective. Hjalti barely even dared to look at the princess. He avoided her as the pest. But yet, the words of Parren which have been echoing through his head started to eb away slowly, and they made room for the reminder of Hjalti's promise to himself: We wanted to meet the princess no matter the consequences. His feelings for her were just too strong to ignore!

So, one day, at the end of a sparring match while the Nord named Igor was cleaning his blade, Hjalti stepped towards him and sat uncomfortably close next to him. It made the knight raise an eyebrow, and this expression stayed stuck on his face, even after Hjalti began to whisper: "I need a favor from you," the boy paused to look around for a second before he continued: "Can you distract Prince Parren this evening for me?"
"Oh gods no. Please don't let this be what I think it is," Igor exaggerated with concern in his voice, but Hjalti ignored him, and started to give Igor some examples of how he could take the prince's attention: "It can be anything. Like discussing some strategies, or reports or something. Or better yet! Tell him his horse is sick! Parren loves his horse."
"And?" the Nord asked skeptical, "May I ask you why I need to do this? Does it have anything to do with er… -oh, I don't know- Princes Juelli perhaps?"
"No…?" Hjalti didn't sound very convincing. Igor knew him long enough to know he was lying, not that that intel was needed to unmask Hjalti.

Igor moved closer and yelled to the boy: "Are you out of your mind?! You told me the prince's warning after that dinner. Do I need to remind you what will happen if he catches you?!"
"Please, only this once," Hjalti cried and threw a tantrum like a little child, "I need to know what she thinks of me!"
Eventually he managed to persuade Igor, who took a deep breath like he already regretted what he was going to say: "Very well, I'll think of something. But you'll owe me. Big time."
"Thank you, thank you! I will not forget it!" Hjalti smiled, but the Nord seemed less happy about it all to say the least: "Let's just hope we both still have all our body parts attached to each other by the end of the week…"