Into the Frying Pan

Teldryn turned just in time to duck a sword aimed straight at his head. He hit the undead guardian with flames. Ceirin was moving in fast from behind, two sweeps of his blades and the draugr tumbled to the ground and stayed there, ancient cloth wrappings singed and smoking.

The spellsword lowered his hands and let out a breath.

"It looks like there are restless dead about." He prodded the corpse with the toe of his boot to be sure.

"There must be more or the East Empire Company would've cleared them out when the miners broke in here originally." The altmer mused, looking down the tunnel.

Teldryn nodded. "I suggest we proceed with caution." He gestured for the altmer to lead ahead.

They continued deeper into the tomb, following a winding tunnel that led them past an abandoned alchemy lab and up a short flight of rubble strewn stairs and straight into a circular room surrounded entirely by draugr.

Ceirin held out a hand to stop Teldryn from entering. They hadn't awakened yet. Crouched in the dubious shelter of the doorway, the two held a hushed conference heavy with hand gestures before working out that Ceirin should use his bow to shoot as many as possible while Teldryn got ready to summon an atronach as their backup.

He watched as his employer set up, holding the arrows loosely in his hand as he drew and aimed for the closest of the draugr. He let the arrow fly. A neat shot through the throat. He took a breath but no alarm had been raised. The second shot took the next one. After the third one, the rest started to rise.

Teldryn drew his sword and sent his atronach into the room. Ceirin switched to his own blades and followed. The circular room rang with the sound of ebony against steel. The atronach kept a pair confused and out of the fight. Teldryn dispatched one and kicked away another. Ceirin had pressed forward and was about to engage what seemed to be the lead draugr when an immense noise filled the room and Teldryn was thrown backwards into the wall.

He shook himself and scrambled to pick up the sword he'd dropped. Ceirin yelled to him in warning and he threw himself into a roll, sensing a blade sweep close to his leg. He came up to his feet and thrust out blindly, stabbing the attacking draugr high in the chest. He pulled his blade back and brought it around in an arc, taking its head off just above the shoulders.

Ceirin had downed the last one. Teldryn let the atronach fade back to its own realm, its services no longer needed. His employer approached him and turned him to check the back of his helmet.

"Are you alright? I heard it when you hit." He ran his hands over the back of the helmet, checking for damage.

"I'm fine. It'll take more than a draugr to…Hey, what're you..?" Teldryn was aware now that his neck felt tight like maybe he'd pulled something and his head did feel a bit sore. But not enough to be worth mentioning. He wasn't about to give up now that this little adventure had gotten good over a few bumps and bruises.

"Teldryn, this is cracked." Ceirin had started picking at a spot with his fingernail. The sound from inside the helmet raised the hair on the back of Teldryn's neck.

"Come on, off with it. I need to check to make sure this didn't go through."

Reluctantly, Teldryn undid the helmet's clasps and slowly pulled it up and away from his face, yanking the goggles and cloth down to hang around his throat. He ran a hand through his hair, which had no doubt been flattened, and blinked owlishly in the cool tomb air as his eyes adjusted.

He flinched and forced himself to stand still while long altmer fingers turned him and probed the bruise that was already forming near the back of his head.

"Its fine, boss. Really." He turned the helmet in his hands to frown in dismay at the cracked material.

"Possibly a mild concussion." Ceirin dug through his pack for a moment and tossed him a small healing potion.

Teldryn downed the potion, more to appease his employer than because his head hurt, while Ceirin investigated a locked chest in a corner. He tucked the damaged helmet away in his own pack, hoping Glover would be able to repair it.

Four broken picks and several colorfully muttered curses later and the chest was open. Some more small pocketable riches, which they split, and a large leather covered shield neither of them wanted to carry.

They proceeded through the door on the far side and down the hallway, which led them to a trap.

Lightning arced and jolted between two soul gems. The floor and walls were black with searing. The two mer looked at one another.

"Ideas?" Teldryn didn't like the odds of just barreling through it.

But when he turned to look, his employer had jogged back to the room they had just left. He returned with the shield in hand.

"It's made of wood." He grinned at Teldryn's questioning look. "Dry wood."

Using the shield as cover, he was able to disarm both gems. He tossed it aside after and they continued around a bend and down a long flight of stairs to a level flooded with agonizingly cold ground water. The space it opened out onto was narrow and high with a water fall pouring in at the far end.

Some exploring of the upper levels led them to a room with a locked gate. Ceirin found the lever on the other side but all that turned out to be inside was a circular chamber with a book of magic on a pedestal.

"Ice spike. You want it?" Ceirin held the book out to him.

"Hey...Boss?" A thought had occurred to Teldryn as he took the book to sell later. He already knew the spell. "I haven't noticed you using any spells. You haven't got anything against magic, do you?"

It made more sense to have hired him to handle that if the altmer had a problem with it. The taller mer didn't answer right away and when Teldryn looked back up at him, he was surprised to see an almost guilty expression on his face.

"Ah...You won't see me use it. Nothing against it, it's just that, uh…I um, I can't." He had flushed in embarrassment, suddenly looking around the room everywhere but at Teldryn.

"You can't?" The spellsword couldn't fathom not being able to use magic." Aren't altmer supposed to be…?"

Ceirin sighed heavily. "Yes. I know. I've heard it all before. I know a lot of spells. I just can't cast them. I, um, I don't have enough magicka. " He chewed his lip as he admitted the last part in a rush.

"You don't…? Not even a flame spell?" Teldryn couldn't even begin to imagine.

"Sorry. Not unless you want me to be dizzy, exhausted, and useless for the rest of the day." Ceirin had crossed his arms over his chest and looked troubled.

Teldryn let it drop after that. They headed together up a ramp and across a walkway that lead them…back across the waterfall where they had entered?

"Not that I'm an expert, but the few Nord tombs I've been in before weren't so..? Teldryn trailed off, waving a hand out to indicate all of it.

"Circuitous?" Ceirin offered. "Switch backed?"

Teldryn hmmed in agreement, nodding.

"No, you're right. There is usually an outer series of rooms and then a main chamber and that's it." Ceirin stopped, looking back the way they had come with a frown.

"Problem?" Teldryn's eyebrows rose, creasing the tattoos around his eyes.

Ceirin blew out a long breath in thought and then explained. "They built it like this on purpose. Whoever is buried at the end of this must have been seriously important. Or powerful."

"Important sounds good. But how do you figure that?"

"They didn't want anything getting in…or out." Ceirin shrugged and continued forward.

"….getting out…?" Teldryn thought again of the draugr, shook his head, and followed along behind.

The hallway wound up to a dead end with a closet that held little interest other than a chest. They opted to explore the side passage instead of head back. Cold wind rushed through the narrow chasm as they pushed ahead. Ceirin came to a stop so abruptly that Teldryn walked right into him.

Both mer stood and simply stared out into the vast chamber that opened past the ledge before them, a natural volcanic stone cavern that echoed with the roar of water.

Twin waterfalls framed an immense unnatural door made of some dark material at the far end. Ceirin saw a path down and along the side and started down, turning to hang by his fingers before dropping to the next lower ledge until he could edge his way carefully along the side above the rushing black torrent of water below.

Teldryn followed, refusing to let his knees give out at the fear of falling and concentrated on placing his feet where Ceirin had. They crossed behind one of the falls, the cold spray refreshing on their faces, and came out on the central platform in front of the door.

Several bodies lay about the steps in dark stains of old blood. A burned out lantern… and some papers…a book and an odd looking sword…?

"This is it." Ceirin had already lifted the book and was scanning its contents. "This is Gratian Caerellius"

"We found proof." He sounded almost awed.

The door turned out to be magical and since neither mer could open it straight away, they opted to take a break.

They sat on what Ceirin referred to as the 'front porch' and ate; food and water going a long way to restoring their mood.

Between the journal and the sword, they were eventually able to figure out the door. However, when the doors opened the first chamber they stepped into ended in a blade trap.

"Oh, you have got to kidding me." Teldryn was ready for fresh air and daylight again.

"Just walk." Ceirin was headed straight into the trap.

"What?!" Teldryn demanded.

"…Or, wait there." Ceirin bowed and turned and…walked right through three sets of swinging blades like they weren't even there. When he got to the end he threw a lever and the whole thing stopped.

Teldryn waited a moment to collect himself before ducking and weaving through and around the locked blades.

The door beyond that opened onto a short hallway at the end of which they could see another large chamber filled with water. At the far end a figure seemed to drift about in front of an enormous carved wall. Although it could have been a trick of the light. Teldryn couldn't tell if it was a draugr or not.

Ceirin hunkered down in the doorway and motioned for Teldryn to join him.

"Have you ever fought a Dragon Priest?" His question wouldn't have alarmed Teldryn except that he hadn't heard the title before now and his employer was looking a bit pale.

"No, but I take it you have." Teldryn kept his eye on the room before them.

The altmer nodded and took a steadying breath. "Remember when I said they didn't want anything powerful to get out?"

Teldryn nodded.

"That would be why. Dragon Priests are some of the most powerful mages ever to exist."

"The water is going to complicate things. My flame atronach can't cross it." Teldryn took another look into the room ahead. "No cover either."

"Send the atronach in anyway. We can spilt up and head down either side of the water. While the atronach is taking hits, we hit back with everything we've got." Ceirin dug in his pack and pressed several healing potions into Teldryn's hands.

They both took steadying breathes. Ceirin looked at him intensely. "Ready?"

He nodded.

They both surged up and out into the room, Teldryn casting the atronach just ahead.