{Authors notes: Hey all- Thanks to everyone who has stopped by to check out this little story and/or left reviews! There's been over 100 of you all together and that's awesome! It really does help motivate me to keep writing.}

And Add to the Fire

Teldryn spent the entire battle trying not to die. It was by far his worst fight since declining suicide by bandit years ago back in Skyrim. He had never heard of Dragon Priests before, but he would never forget the title afterwards.

The creature drifted, quick and calm, over the water and to all ends of the chamber, blasting them with the most intense spells as they rushed from the cover of the doorway.

The atronach hardly lasted before it crumbled under an onslaught of magical energy.

Teldryn and Ceirin slogged and flailed about in the bitter water, half drowned, and fought with the brutal desperation of mer about to die.

Finally, by some miracle, they managed to wear the creature down just as they ran out of healing potions and it slumped to the ground in a heap of moldered robes and corpse dust.

Teldryn sank down where he was, half in the water and half out, to catch his breath.

Ceirin, however, staggered over to get a closer look at the curve of wall where jagged symbols were etched floor to ceiling, one end to the other.

Once he focused on it, Teldryn realized there was a deep thrum of magical energy coming from it, but no sooner had Ceirin gotten close, than it vanished. Too exhausted to be curious, Teldryn stayed where he was until Ceirin came back and offered him a hand up.

They took the priest's staff which was now drained, emptied the chest, picked up their packs, and headed out through the only remaining corridor. They stopped momentarily to stash an old and nightmarish looking book into Ceirin's pack to try and sell later.

Teldryn flat out refused to touch it.

Something about it felt wrong. The room it was in looked different and he thought he heard a low growling noise even though they were alone.

Ceirin didn't disagree about the nature of the book, but he pointed out that it was magical, old, possibly rare, and should therefore be worth a lot to the right buyer.

Teldryn kept the 'hearing things' part to himself. After how Ceirin had fussed over him hitting his head earlier, the last thing he needed was for the altmer to think his skull had been cracked to the point of affecting his reason.

"Shall we?" Ceirin gestured to the exit up the stairs.

"Lead on." Teldryn nodded, ready to be out of this place.

The long spiral staircase had their already fatigued legs aching, but it was the sound of voices as they approached the top had them stopping.

Ceirin listened for a moment, cocking his head at Teldryn as if to ask what was going on.

Teldryn shrugged. He had long since lost track of where they might be. Other than knowing they were miles off from the mines where they had entered. He had no idea who else might be wherever it was that they were.

They drew their blades and moved around the partition.

Teldryn realized a second before Ceirin did that they should have been more careful.

Reavers.

They fought through four of them as they pushed forward. Furniture was knocked over, curses and screams of dying men echoed off the walls. Exhaustion made them sloppy and only the element of surprise kept them from being outnumbered while they ran for the door.

Daylight seemed overwhelming after the long dark of subterranean tombs lit only by scant torch light. Blinking against watering eyes despite the overcast sky, they headed out onto a series of narrow high bridges that connected the several towers which overlooked the sea.

The architecture was defensive and so was their response as a cry of alarm went up from the lookouts. In moments, the whole host of Reavers inhabiting the ruins was after them.

They got as far as the second bridge out over the surging tide, ducking low to avoid arrows the whole way, before a group came up from the second tower and cut them off.

"Can you swim?" Ceirin asked as they flinched away from more incoming arrow strikes before he turned and fired back.

"What?!" Teldryn flung fire at a Reaver who dared to get too close. He ignored the spinning sensation that warned him he had pushed his magicka reserves enough for one day.

"Can you swim?" He repeated.

"Yes! Why?" Teldryn wondered what in Oblivion swimming had to do with anything.

"It might be relevant." Ceirin muttered.

He grabbed Teldryn by the collar and with a powerful shove of his long altmer legs, sent them both over the edge and plummeting toward the surf below.

They washed up on a quiet strand of beach just west of the town. Two miles or so of relatively easy walking if one liked overgrown black sand beaches and the occasional netch.

Teldryn coughed out brackish seawater until he could take a breath without it catching in his chest.

He dragged himself up and checked on Ceirin who was slumped over on a large piece of driftwood, shivering.

They needed to get moving, to get indoors, or the chill would finish them.

"You fetcher! Are you trying to get us killed?!" Teldryn picked a wad of seaweed out of his hair with a snarl and flung it down to land with a dull splat onto the sand.

"You're welcome." The sarcastic response came as a rough whisper, Ceirin's throat stripped raw from the salt water.

He reached for Ceirin's arm to haul him up and get moving but stopped short when he realized that the liquid dripping onto the sand wasn't water.

Or at least, wasn't all water.

"You're bleeding."

"Lucky hit. Just as we went over the railing" Ceirin still sounded hoarse but somewhat stronger which Teldryn took to be a good sign. The arrow had torn loose when they'd hit the water.

Everything in their packs was drenched or washed away altogether. Teldryn pulled the cloth off from around his neck, wrung it out, and packed it against his employer's shoulder as best he could.

He had never claimed to be a healer. Served him right for that crazy stunt, anyway.

They got moving and started the long walk back to town in the failing light. It was dark by the time they came around the point and began heading east, the warm glow of Raven Rock's lanterns guiding their steps.

"What is that?" Ceirin was looking off towards the old standing stone out on the point where a small group had gathered in the torch light.

"I don't know. Can it wait until tomorrow?" Teldryn fought back a yawn and gestured for Ceirin to keep walking.

It was late when they staggered back into town. They parted ways, with Ceirin heading off to get his shoulder treated, and Teldryn to get them food and beds.

It wasn't until later that they found out that they had been gone for the better part of two days.