Dragonborn Saga Chapter 184 Into Quagmire 1 : Wait... What?!

"I know- I know how to find Alina and your friends." Sigurd whispered closely to my ears.

Sigurd words meant that something has gone pretty much different than what I expected.

The next words said by Sigurd made me understand that this is not the way things should have went anymore. From this point onward, I can only hope to save Alina and the rest on my own.

At that time, Erandur caught up to us.

"It... it worked. Mara be praised! You vanished after drinking the Torpor and materialized on the other side! I have never seen anything quite like it!" He started talking to the worn out Sigurd that didn't even bother to reply.

"Erandur, we can't waste time." I said to haste things up.

"Yes, Lord Jon. Let's go."

Erandur and I followed by Sigurd, who walked on his own pace, arrived at the last chamber in the inner sanctum of the temple. There was a boss battle when two powerful Priests of Vaermina were awakened and they were conscious to Erandur as they were his old friends. After putting them to their final rest, Erandur seemed heartbroken but I didn't care about that, we still had work to do.

Once we entered the last room, all three of us turned quiet. It was a circular room with an altar, on the altar was a staff and it was covered by a powerful barrier, that staff was the most infamous 'Skull of Corruption'.

Sigurd looked around the room for any last hope but he knew better, they are not in the tower anymore.

"Behold the Skull of Corruption, the source of Dawnstar's woes. We must destroy it." Erandur walked ahead.

"Wait, Erandur. My friends are nowhere to be seen." I said in a demanding tone.

Erandur looked at me with a complicated face.

"Lord Jon, I know your worry but please, destroying the skull is… it is the best way to avenge. They are within Vaermina's grasp now. You- You can't deal with Vaerm… Ugh!"

As Erandur was explaining, I threw a small dagger to his chest, Sigurd came from the back and stabbed him too.

"I am sorry." Sigurd apologized to the dead Erandur before laying his body on the ground.

We looked at each other as we understood what we just have done. Killing an innocent man while he was doing good in the name of divine like Mara, this won't end well for either of us.

"Now what?" I asked.

"We wait."

It was indeed like that.

When Sigurd entered the Dreamstride, Vaermina revealed to him the place where Alina, Jull, Wulf and Nefert.i.ti were.

They were swallowed to Quagmire, the realm of Vaermina in Oblivion outside the Mortal Plane Mundus.

I don't know the details but it seemed that any intruder to Nightcaller Temple gets swallowed by Vaermina to Quagmire if they are not protected with the power of a Divine.

Luckily, both I and Sigurd wore our Amulets of Talos.

{Interesting!} A voice sounded in my head.

{The man was shown what he wanted to see and you believed him! You knew of something.}

The voice was that of a young female, it was slow and quiet but carried a lot of pressure and power.

It was her!

{What do you wish for more than what you already have?}

I see!

"I want my friends, the one you took, back."

{And what can you offer in return?}

The voice was strong and it almost enchanted my mind but I had some functional resistance working against it.

"That staff! I will take it too." I pointed at the Skull of Corruption inside its barrier.

{... You want to take your friends and take my staff? Is that what mortals consider an offer?}

The voice seemed to be pressuring me even more.

"Do I really need to explain? I will have fun with the staff to my heart content." I replied at her while trying to withstand the pressure to the best of my ability.

'Augur! Do you hear me?'