Skyrim: A New Crisis!

My only focus was getting as far from the cliff as possible, so I bolted in a straight line away from it.

Zack didn't weigh much, but enough to slow me down. Our pursuers would eventually catch up to us.

A short sprint later, we come up to a cobblestone road. Instinctively, I chose to follow the road leading downward.

After running for a few minutes, I'm forced to stop in my tracks. "No way! My luck is not this bad!" I mutter to myself, voice low.

A huge dark brown bear—a grizzly, if I'm not mistaken—is up ahead by the side of the road! It's standing on its hind legs up against a tree, stretching toward a beehive.

It still hasn't noticed us, so we're not dead yet!

The bear was also radiating a calm fire, but his was red! And it also had blurry letters hovering above it.

"What am I seeing?..." I whisper to myself, but there was no time to figure it out now, we had to get out of sight!

Heading back the same way wouldn't be any safer, at least not for me. That Archmage guy wanted Zack alive for some reason.

With soft steps, I carry Zack off the road to a large nearby bush, hiding us both within its cover. Running around with him slung over my shoulders has left me short of breath and badly in need of a break.

Now I finally had tome to focus my gaze on the bear, wanting to see if it also had a level.

It did, the writing over it's head read: 'Level 12.'

But it didn't have any class, but why would it? It was just a bear.

A short moment later, one of the mages comes running down the road.

The hood of his dark blue robes is pulled back, revealing his black short hair.

He has a goatee, and red war paint drawn from his eyes to his temples, and then running down onto his neck.

Despite being a mage, he also carries some kind of sword on his hip.

"Nghhh..." Zack moans, a bit too loud for my liking! I quickly cover his mouth with a hand.

I hold my breath, watching intently from the bush at the mage, hoping that our cover hasn't been blown.

He doesn't look in our direction, but his gaze is focused at the bear. It also seems to have noticed him and pushes itself away from the tree, landing on all fours, facing the mage.

"Please, attack him!..." I mutter silently, wanting to get rid of the mage. Or even better—they could both take each other out, but that was probably too much to ask for.

The mage stood still. There was no fear, no hint of retreat. He was calm.

The bear roars at the mage, making him envelop his hands with crackling electricity.

"Come on then!" he says, taking on a pose which reminds me of a duel in the Wild West.

The bear starts his charge, running at him at full speed.

"Come on... Take him down!" I cheer silently for the bear.

Just as the bear was about to reach him, a massive lightning bolt shot forth from the mage's hand, surging through the bear.

That ends its charge, stopping it in its tracks.

Without making another sound, the bear collapses onto the road.

The mage spits at the bear. "Foolish creature, know your place."

He had killed it! Instantly! Like it wasn't even a challenge!

Like all the other mages, he was also radiating that blue calm fire.

I don't believe that everyone here is on fire, not really...

It's my eyes—it has to be! Everyone I've seen since my eyes burned has had it around them!

Am I able to see auras?...

The mage isn't very close to me, but I'm able to see that he has a blend of red in his blue aura, and the blurry letters that are hovering above his head.

I focus my gaze on him, wanting to see his level, and sure enough, the letters become clear. "Level 40. Class: Battle Mage."

Level 40?! No wonder he beat the bear—he's over three times its level!

"Maximus!" another mage calls out as he comes running. "Did you see them?"

"No," the black-haired man called Maximus answers.

"But they can't have run through here. That bear would have attacked them instead of me," he says, pointing to the now dead beast.

The newly arrived mage had also pulled back his hood. His hair was long and blonde, neatly slicked back.

Curious to see how powerful he was, I focused my gaze on him.

"Level 45. Class: Black Mage."

"Of course... he's even stronger than the first one," I mutter to myself.

"Santerre, wasn't your brother sent down this road recently?" Maximus asks the other mage, revealing his name.

"Yes, but Mordyn sent him all the way to Rorikstead. Why do you ask about my brother Sandor?"

Maximus shrugs. "No reason... But do you think that he'll make it into the inner circle?"

Santerre sighs. "No. He is somehow skilled with destruction magic, but he's not powerful enough to be here."

"He's smart though. There's a reason why Master Mordyn left him in charge of the Necromancer Branch."

"But we digress. Let's head back and help the others search!"

Maximus nods, and they both start running back to where they had come from.

I let out a deep breath. "We made it..."

Zack was still unconscious, and now that I finally had time to check up on him, I notice that his aura isn't golden anymore. Heck, it's not even powerful!

And the deity class—what the hell was up with that?

I focus my gaze on him, wanting to see what's really going on.

Level 5. And there's no mention of any class. This seems more reasonable!

"Ngh..." Zack moans again.

"You awake yet?" I ask him.

"I think I hit my head..." he murmurs, before opening his eyes.

I let out a deep sigh of relief. "You really had me worried, man! You've already missed out on a lot of action!"

I tell him everything that happened after he pushed us both over the edge of the cliff.

"This is too much..." Zack says, scratching his head. "All I remember is suddenly standing in front of that robed guy, ordering the others to kill you..."

He seems to have no recollection of someone else talking through him.

"You don't really remember anything?..." I ask.

"No..." he answers at first, but seems to hesitate before continuing, "...or maybe. I had a vague dream—something about a woman—but I can't remember anything clearly."

Zack's expression goes from lost to curious. "But what do you mean you can see people's levels?... Do I have one?"

I chuckle. Of course he would be intrigued by that—he loves video games. "Well actually, you do, Zack. It's level 5."

"Level 5, huh," he says, not too impressed with his number. "What's yours then?"

I hadn't really thought about it. Hadn't had a chance to look at myself since coming here—wherever 'here' is.

I raise a hand and look at my palm, and surely, there was an aura around me as well, but it was weak. And like the bear's, it was red.

I narrow my eyes, and letters appear. 'Level 2. Class: None.'

"Level 2..." I mutter. This can't be. I'm a boxer—Zack has never lifted a weight.

"Hit me!" I say.

"Excuse me?" he says, surprised by my request.

"Zack, I want you to punch me, with everything you've got!"