12
i. Öenthir.
The corridor continued on for another two hundred yards, or so, the flameless lights flickering on each time that they neared them. Soon, the corridor opened out into a room with an alcove on each side and it was here that they saw the first wandering spirit in the tomb.
The spirit floated in an aimless fashion, completely ignoring the group, or not sensing their presence at all. Öenthir noticed a skeleton, that had, most like, been the body of the spirit, laid on the floor in the corner of one of the alcoves, surrounded by camping paraphernalia. It had likely been some adventurer or treasure seeker that had somehow gained entry to the tomb but never managed to leave.
The room then gave way, through an archway that appeared carved whole from the rock, as the rest of the ruin seemed be, to a set of stairs leading downwards. The stairs led into another room, this time of enormous size. Bigger than the cavern outside that they had left.
Upon entering the huge room, lights throughout the room came to life, forcing the shadows into the corners and revealing the intricate nature of the room. Columns rose from the floor and blended into the roof without any seams that they could see. An altar of some kind could was to one side and another, of a different design, on the other. Across from them, another set of stairs lead upwards and, in the centre, a circular dais held a well-like structure with sharp, horn shaped protrusions leaning in towards the centre and four tall columns of stone, parallel to the corners of the room, around it.
"An Ayleid well." Öenthir whispered.
"A what?" Revna, ever at the ready, stood beside her, her eyes surveying their surroundings for possible threats.
"A source of healing and revitalisation." She almost couldn't stop herself from running down to start taking measurements and making notes, but she controlled her intellectual urges. "It looks completely drained though."
They continued, down the stairs, stepping with caution forward and, as they did so, they began to see more of the wandering spirits and their corresponding, lifeless skeletons. There were ceremonial pots and chests dotted here and there and Öenthir found herself frustrated that she couldn't take the time to examine and catalogue everything. She had to remind herself that she wasn't here for research.
That was no more clear than when, upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, they ran into, or, more accurate, almost ran through one of the spirits. With a hiss, its eyes glowed bright as it reached a clawed, almost transparent hand out towards Öenthir. She jumped backwards, bumping into Tilly, but, no sooner had the spirit noticed them than a swing from Itagaki's sword swept through it causing the apparition to howl an unnatural sound and to dissipate like smoke.
"Do not let them touch you!" Itagaki kept her sword at the ready, matching the surveying looks that Revna was performing, watching one side of the group as the Khajiit watched the other. "Their touch is the touch of the damned."
"You've fought spirits before, then, Redguard?" Revna didn't look at Itagaki, her constant moving eyes watching their surroundings.
"Once." Was all the reply the Redguard seemed willing to give. "Let us keep moving."
They edged their way across the floor of the room, taking wide circles whenever a spirit came close, until they reached the stairs on the other side. With no spirit ahead, that they could see, they soon ascended the stairs out of the great altar room and up into a room the twin of the one at the other side.
Except it wasn't a twin. There was no corridor ahead, but a door of intricate forged metal was to the left and the alcoves, here, were in front and to the right and, in the centre of this room there were four skeletons, sat in a circle. The skeletons were almost perfectly articulated, almost all the bones still attached to each other by some unknown means and, as the party entered the room, all four skeleton heads twisted around on bony spines to look at them with sightless, eyeless sockets.
"Sithis' soiled pants!" Tilly muttered under her breath and the sound of her daggers drawing accompanied it.
The skeletons, with surprising quietness, began to stand, each picking up a pitted, rusted sword that had lain beside them. At first, they did nothing, standing there in silence, staring at them with their unnerving empty eye sockets. The two groups stared at each other over the short distance, neither seeming to want to move.
"How about if we just, you know, slowly and carefully run?" Tilly gripped and re-gripped her daggers. "I mean, the skinny bastards have no muscles. They can't run that fast, surely."
"I think they heard you, Tilly." Öenthir watched as all the toothy skeleton heads turned to look only at Tilly.
That was when the skeletons attacked, lipless mouths opening in silent war cries, as they launched themselves at the party and Öenthir cursed the day she had refused to join the other students when they had sneaked in to the Guild library to snatch spell books well above their levels. Because now she was stuck between skeletons in front of her, or ghosts behind her and not one of her pitiful spells was going to be of any use.
ii. Itagaki.
The skeletons were fast. Very fast. Itagaki had bare enough time to lift her sword to block the first blow and a second sword was already swinging for her throat. She ducked, stepped sideways and swept her sword upwards towards the bony wrist of the first skeleton. The skeleton was as fast, though, stepping backwards and swatting its sword downwards to parry Itagaki's.
She saw this, though, changing her swords direction, mid-swing, looping it in an arc away from the parry and using the momentum to swipe towards the neck of the second skeleton. Again, their speed amazed Itagaki as the second skeleton bobbed out of reach of her swing with ease.
She glanced across from her to see Revna locked together with another of the skeletons, its sword trapped in the 'horns' of the Khajiit's axe head and, in that small pause, the first skeleton took advantage. A bony shoulder slammed into her, with surprising weight, sending her stumbling backwards and leaving her at the mercy of the second skeleton as it thrust its sword towards her chest.
Using the momentum that the body strike had given her, she rolled backwards and was back on her feet in one fluid move. She feinted left then made a diving forward roll to the right, finishing on her feet once again, spinning around to slash at the back of the second skeleton. Her sword clattered against the spine and ribcage, chipping off bone, but causing little damage.
"Don't dance, Redguard!" Revna caught the wrist of one of her skeletons, twisted its arms out of the way and, with one mighty swing, brought the flat of her axe down like a hammer onto its skull, shattering it into pieces and knocking the rest of the skeleton crashing to the floor. "Smash!
Revna's victory was short lived, though, as her other skeleton had found a way to her rear and swung a slashing sweep across the back of the Khajiit. Revna howled in pain and turned towards her silent, skeletal opponent, her eyes burning with rage.
In the sliver of a moment where all the skeletons had seemed to pause, recognising the final demise of their comrade, Itagaki had taken the advantage and unsheathed her long sword. Standing, now, in a dual-sword stance, she waited for the next attack.
It came soon enough, both skeletons swung their swords. One high, one low. But Itagaki had prepared, parrying both blows then launching her counter-attack. The exchange was furious and with such great speed that it almost became a blur even to Itagaki. Strike and counter-strike, move, slip, swipe, parry, duck, weave. Blow after blow. And Itagaki did dance. The dance of a consummate warrior.
When the opportunity came, she took it immediately. The tiniest of things. The smallest of slips. One skeleton stood upon the bones of its fallen comrade, its balance off-centre by the barest amount, its stance broken for a fraction of a second. Bashing its sword aside, Itagaki spun on the ball of her foot, launching a perfect arcing kick that knocked the head of the skeleton flying far into the distance.
She followed through with her leg completing the arc and landed in a wide stance, a short distance apart from the second skeleton, launching herself forward trapping her swords, crossed, within its rib cage and then separating her arms, tearing apart ribs, spine and arms in one fantastic dual sweep. What remained of the skeleton crumpled to the floor.
With her side of the battle complete, she spun around to render aid to her comrade, but it wasn't needed. Somehow, both Revna and the skeleton had lost their weapons, but this worked to the Khajiit's advantage. Picking up the skeleton, Revna lifted it high above her head and with a guttural, throaty roar, she smashed it hard against the floor, sending bones and fragments flying in all directions leaving only a thigh bone in her hand which she tossed aside in disgust.
"That ... that was a good fight!" Revna was shaking with excitement, her teeth bared and her eyes flashing with fervour. She looked around for a bit and saw her axe on the ground. Lifting it up, she kissed the double-head and swung it in triumph.
Itagaki, however, was more worried about her other two companions. They both appeared to be fine, however. Tilly had been standing with her two daggers, the 'Sisters', at the ready, but Öenthir was already moving towards Revna.
"Throw the bones over the side." She shouted over her shoulder. "I don't think they'll reform, but better safe than sorry."
And then she was checking Revna's back that had taken the blow, muttering to herself about people not being careful.
"Do me a favour." Tilly began as she and Itagaki started tossing the skeleton bones down into the altar room, "If any of you people ever turn evil, remind me not to try fighting any of you."
Itagaki said nothing, continuing to discard the bones, but she did look over at the Khajiit. She didn't have Itagaki's skills, but she more than made up for that with her strength and sheer brutality. She didn't foresee any time in the future where she would have to fight her, but it would be a battle for the ages if they did, that was for sure. Especially if Revna was wearing that armour. The mage had finished examining the Khajiit's back and was almost scratching her head at what she had found.
There was no wound. There wasn't even a scratch on the black leather. It was possible some tales of the armour of Scorpion Black were not myths after all.
iii. Revna.
For the second time in less than two hours she had fought monsters and had taken a big hit, yet had suffered little more than a scratch or a bruise. She considered that, if pressed, the armour that she was wearing was not such a burden after all. She had to be careful, though. She didn't want to end up relying upon the properties of the armour to save her life in the future, that would lead to mistakes that could cost her her life, or worse, the lives of her comrades.
"Are you sure you're alright?" The Bosmer mage was fussing over Revna. "I mean, there's no cut or anything, but that was a hard blow."
"I told you," Revna stepped away, self-conscious of the attention, "I'm fine. I shouldn't be, but I am. I just let my guard down. It won't happen again."
That was for a certainty. She lost concentration in the heat of the battle and had almost paid for it. She had been lucky, but she had learnt from it. Life, and enemies, outside of Skyrim was very different and she would adapt. If her mothers had taught her anything, it was that. A warrior must be ready for anything and expect nothing until it is right there in front of her. Plans were all good and well, but often got lost in the ever changing field of a fight.
She hefted her axe and moved to join Itagaki and Tilly, who were examining a door at the left of the room. Öenthir followed her and Revna could tell that she still had concerns, but Revna wasn't lying. She was, in truth, fine.
"There's no lock to pick!" Tilly threw her arms up and turned away from Itagaki. "How can I pick a lock that isn't there?"
"Then what use are you, dark elf?" Itagaki stared at the door, her hands on her hips.
"Maybe you should just press the button?" Öenthir had stepped forward and pointed to a square of rock, about a foot on each side, with a small blue crystal in the centre. Neither Itagaki nor Tilly had noticed it, but the wood elf mage had seen it straight away.
As she pressed the button, a click echoed around the room and the door opened with a musical tinkling noise. Beyond the door a set of steps led upwards and, as before, flameless lights flickered into life at their approach.
Revna looked at Itagaki, her short sword still at the ready, and could sense the angry irritation through the binding. It was clear there was some conflict between the Redguard and Tilly, which surprised Revna, considering the intensity of the feelings from the night before. As usual, Revna felt nothing from Tilly. How was that possible? Was the binding weaker with the dark elf, or did she not have emotions at all? Revna was certain that she had transmitted her own pain through the binding, earlier, which was, in all likelihood, why Öenthir had been so concerned, but Tilly? Revna could not say for certain she had received any feelings from the Dunmer at all.
Regardless, both Revna and Itagaki took the lead once more, the Redguard once again projecting a stoic countenance. The stairs went upwards for quite a distance before levelling out to a small landing with a corridor to the left. As the lighting fixtures came to life, Revna could see rows, on both sides of the corridor, of some kind of sconces, each holding a large blue crystal.
"Am I the only one that thinks this doesn't make any sense?" Revna looked back at Tilly. The dark elf was frowning as she turned back from looking behind them. "All of this can't possibly be carved into the cliffs we came through. Can it?"
"Magick, little elf." Revna shrugged her shoulders. "It's here, that's all there is to know."
"Well, 'big cat', I need more of an explanation than that." Tilly tried to grab Öenthir's attention. "What do you think, Wen?"
"What? I ... umm ... yes. Magick. Probably." The mage found herself lost in her own little world again. She had been in wide-eyed awe since they had entered the corridor, moving from one sconce held crystal to another. "I've never seen so many Welkynd stones in my life."
"Welk what?" Tilly joined Öenthir and poked the crystal with a finger. "Are they worth anything?"
"Yes and no." Öenthir slapped Tilly's hand before she poked the crystal again. "To you or other everyday people, they're not worth a scrape of gold off a coin, but to scholars ... to scholars, they're priceless. Even these that have lost all their power."
"So, that's a 'no' then. Scholars barely have two coins to rub together anyway. Too much thinking going on in their brains." Tilly lost interest in the Welkynd stones and looked around again. "You know, there's not been an ounce of treasure in here. What a waste of time."
Revna had been half-listening to the conversation. She and Itagaki had been more concerned about what lay ahead. They could see that the corridor was coming to an end and could sense, rather than see, that the room ahead was big. A musty smell drifted under their noses as they edged forward and, as they set foot across the threshold of the room, lights everywhere sprang into life.
"Wen!" Revna called over her shoulder. "I think we've found your treasure."
"Treasure?" Tilly sprang forward to join them, but her face fell into disappointment immediately. "Where?"
"Not you're kind of treasure, little elf." Revna laughed at the dark elf and moved backwards towards Öenthir who was still deep in a fascinated examination of the Welkynd stones. "You're kind, Wen."
With gentleness, and with not a little amount of struggling from Öenthir, Revna took hold of the mage's shoulders. Turning her away from the crystals in the sconces, Revna helped the Bosmer along to the end of the corridor.
"Oh. Oh, my." The wood elf clasped her hands to her mouth and her eyes became watery as she left Revna's hands and stepped into the room. "I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life."
iv. Tilly.
What was so beautiful about books, anyway?
The wood elf was almost in tears as she moved from one book shelf to another, almost unable to stop herself from trying to just touch every book that she could. She was like a giddy school girl. Giggling, clapping her hands in excitement. And that big oaf and Tilly's frosty one-night lover were standing there laughing at the mage!
Tilly pulled a book from the nearest shelf, coughing at the dust the action had raised. It was thin, they all were, she was surprised to find. She flicked through the pages, with scribbled, tiny words and strange illustrations of which Tilly had no comprehension of at all. It was all garbled nonsense, to her.
"Oh! Oh! That is interesting!" Öenthir had run over to Tilly as soon as she had touched the book. "That's a spell book. My Ayleid is a bit rusty, but I think it's for something called 'crystal shard'. Fascinating! This whole book case seems to be for spells and over here, it's all historical volumes, and there ..."
"I don't care." She dropped the book on top of the others and brushed the dust from her hands.
Öenthir let out a little shriek at Tilly's manhandling of the spell book. She lifted it from where Tilly had dropped it and, with care and reverence, replaced it to its proper position on the book shelf. But Tilly's disinterest did nothing to dampen the mage's enthusiasm. Straight away, the Bosmer had scuttled away and was looking at yet another bookcase, her eyes so wide, Tilly thought they were about to pop.
While everybody's attention was on either the books or on Öenthir's excited gushing about the books, Tilly slipped three of the books from the shelf, including the one she had flipped through, and stuffed them into the band of her breeches, hidden by her ageing noble's coat. If there was nothing else of value in this Divine's forsaken tomb, it was possible she could make some coin on the books instead.
"Mage!" The big oaf was shouting at the wood elf, her stupid face had that bared teeth look that believed to be a smile. "We must continue. You know where this place is, now. You can come back after we have returned all the gems."
"But what if I can't? What if this is my only chance? What if I ..." Itagaki had grabbed the mages shoulders and stared deep into the almost fevered eyes of the Bosmer.
"We will come back. I promise you." The words were calm, relaxing, but they only seemed to work a little. Öenthir almost hopped from foot to foot, frowning, looking at all the bookshelves. Itagaki gave the mage a gentle shake. "I promise."
"We promise." Now the cat was even joining in, her hand on the mage's arm. "There's a dead Ayleid mage waiting to be spoken to. Isn't that just as exciting?"
Öenthir appeared to be in several minds and Tilly could almost see her brain working through all the options. Tilly could almost understand what she was going through. What if they had found a room full of gold? Tilly doubted the others would have been able to drag her away, at least, not without her pockets and every other receptacle filled with gold.
"Oh, for Oblivion's sake! Just pick the bloody girl up and carry her!" Tilly may almost understand her, but she was hardly going to baby her along. "I want to get this over and done with, as soon as possible, not stand here treating her like a delicate egg!"
"Wen, we can't be too far from the last chamber. Let's just finish this, yes?" Itagaki, and everyone else, ignored Tilly. The mage blinked several times and then slumped her shoulders.
"Alright. Alright." She sighed and took one last look at the rows and rows of shelves before setting her face in determination. "You're right. The final chamber shouldn't be far now."
Tilly threw her arms up in desperation and started walking to the other end of the library where she could see yet another intricate metal door. She didn't wait for the others.
The door, once again, didn't have any lock that she could see and she looked to both sides to find the stone switch that would open it. Soon, the others caught up and Tilly pressed the large stone button.
The lock clicked and the familiar tinkling sound preceded the door opening wide.