A Thief's Temptation

5- Snow Veil Sanctum

"Good you made it," Mercer said as I rode up on my horse, "I've scouted the ruins, and I'm certain she's still here." "You saw her?" I asked. "No, I found her horse. Don't worry, I've taken care of it... She won't be using it to escape. Let's get moving, I want to catch her inside while she's distracted. Take the lead," He answered.

"You- you want me to lead?" I frowned. Will this mess with her plans? "I'm sorry, I was under the impression I was in charge. You're leading and I'm following. Does that seem clear to you?" "Got it," I sighed heading down the steps to the main door. "Just make sure you keep your eyes open. Karliah is as sharp as a blade. The last thing I need is you blundering into a trap and warning her that we're here," He said.

Just our luck... she'd locked the door. "They say that these ancient Nordic burial mounds are sometimes impenetrable. This one doesn't look too difficult. Quite simple, really. I don't know what all the fuss is about these locks. All takes is a bit of know-how and a lot of skill," He said as he was picking the lock. Then the door opened, "That should do it. After you." I hesitated a bit.

"What's the problem?" He asked suspiciously. "Nothing, I just don't- I don't like these kinds of ruins. The dead make me a bit nervous," I said trying to mask my true hesitation. "Great... Just get it in there," He said slightly annoyed. I sighed and walked inside. We reached a gate with a pull chain and a trap wall of spikes.

"The stench in here... this place smells of death. Be on your guard. Pull the chain over there and watch out for the spikes. Looks like Karliah reset all the traps," He said. I walked up to the gate and reached around the corner of the wall and pulled the chain, hoping that when the trap sprung it wouldn't hit me. Luckily, it didn't. The gate open and the spikes hit the wall just above my arm.

But then the dragur started to move and attack us. I fought with my bow shooting them all down, hoping to avoid close combat as I didn't want to be near them. When the dragur were dead we continued our path.

"Karliah always was a nimble minx... slipping past these dragur must be child's play for her. We're on the right track. She's been through here as well," He said, he really knew a lot about her. I mean, there is an exit door. She could've come in that way, but he's right. She'd reset traps and made traps of her own.

We fought our way through the hallways, then we came to a big set of double doors at the end of a long passageway. "That door up ahead... it looks perfect for hiding an ambush. Be ready," He said. We walked down the hallway, avoiding the bear traps that she'd set. I looked through the crack that had been worn between the doors. "What do you see?" He asked.

"Pots. The clay pots. She stacked them in front of the door. Probably to make noise for more dragur," I answered. "Great," He said sarcastically. "I have an idea. We could still sneak attack them," I said. "Sounds like a plan. What do you have in mind?" He asked.

I quickly pushed the door open, letting the pots make their noise. Then I shut the door quickly before we were spotted. I backed away with a readied bow, and he waited by the door to attack any that pass through. As soon as the door opened, I let an arrow fly. It hit the dragur, and the dragur fell to the ground.

Two more walked through the doorway, and I took one out as he killed the other. When everything settled, we walked through the door and eventually came across this big door with three rings and a claw-shaped key hole.

"Ah, it's one of the infamous Nordic puzzle doors. How quaint. Without the matching claw, they're normally impossibly to open. And since I'm sure Karliah already did way with it, we're on our own. Fortunately, these doors have a weakness if you know how to exploit it," He said picking and poking at the door. Suddenly it came to life and opened.