Spiders. Why Did It Have to Be Spiders?
"What is it with you and exploring old ruins?" Serana wondered aloud as they descended a flight of stone stairs leading further into the barrow. Aeros laughed in response to her question.
"What can I say, I'm a curious fellow by nature," he answered with a grin. "Besides, there's always a sense of excitement at being the first person in centuries to explore old and forgotten ruins."
"There's also almost always a number of unhappy inhabitants that would like nothing more than to try and poke you with sharp objects," Serana snarked back. "Or did you not see the two dead reavers on the ground back in the entryway?"
"Okay, you might have a point," Aeros admitted, before glancing over at Serana. "But don't tell me you don't enjoy exploring and going adventuring too. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so willing to traipse all across Solstheim and Skyrim with me. Besides, I seem to remember you saying how much you wanted get out and explore the world, back when you came looking for me at Fort Dawnguard."
"That was over a year ago!" Serana protested.
"And?" Aeros questioned. "Has anything really changed since then?"
"I-" Serana hesitated, trying to find some way to refute his claim. "That's not the point," she said at last, avoiding eye contact as she looked away with a huff. "We're talking about you here, not me." Aeros grinned at her attempt to change the topic, knowing that he had won this round of banter.
He paused as his foot kicked something. Glancing down, he saw the curled up corpse of a pale, albino spider about the size of his head. He examined it curiously, as it didn't resemble any of the spiders he had encountered back in Skyrim.
"What do you make of this?" he asked Serana, pointing to the spider. She frowned as she examined it.
"I'm not sure," she replied. "It definitely doesn't look like a Frostbite Spider to me. Maybe it's a species local to Solstheim."
Their conversation was interrupted by the quiet sound of something scratching against the stone floor. The sound was barely discernible, but both Aeros and Serana's enhanced hearing picked up on it, causing them to reach for their weapons. To their surprise, instead of a draugr or some other such denizen of the crypt rounding the corner and attacking them, a spider similar to the dead one they had just been examining emerged instead. It's eight beady eyes fixated on them, and it hissed threateningly. Before the strange spider could do anything though, it was pinned to the floor by an ice spike. It thrashed feebly for a few moments, before lying still.
"Well," Aeros said, as they both relaxed, "now we know that there are more of these spiders in this place. And that they're just as unfriendly as the ones back in Skyrim."
Serana sighed. "Well then, let's hurry up and get this over with. Hopefully, there's not too many more of the the things."
Aeros nodded, and they continued onwards, descending a rickety, old, wooden staircase that somehow managed to hold together despite its extreme age. As they descended, both Aeros and Serana noticed the abundance of spiderwebs covering the walls and ceiling, although whether they were from the strange albino spiders or from the common variety, they had no idea.
As they entered the room at the bottom of the staircase, they found it completely covered in giant cobwebs, to the point where it was difficult to see the stonework under it. Aeros also noticed several large pods that almost seemed to glow and pulse, but his attention was focused more on the sound of movement coming from the far side of the room. Sensing his and Serana's presence, from the rubble and tangled cobwebs emerged close to a dozen spiders. All chittering angrily at the intruders.
Aeros laughed as the spiders approached. "Well, this shouldn't be too much trouble-" he started to say, before one of the spiders gathered its many legs under it and launched itself through the air towards his head. "Woah!" he shouted in alarm as he ducked underneath the spider. It landed on the ground behind and spun around, hissing angrily. Aeros promptly impaled it on his sword.
"Okay, so maybe these things have a few tricks that their cousins in Skyrim don't," he admitted, as he eyed the remaining spiders with a new sense of wariness. As if they perceived his words as a challenge, the spiders swarmed towards him and Serana.
"Well?" Serana questioned as she threw her dagger at the nearest spider, spearing it through the head. "Any suggestions on how to get rid of a swarm of jumping spiders?" She froze another one solid, before stomping on it and shattering it into pieces.
Aeros cut another spider out of the air. He started to shrug, before stopping as an idea suddenly occurred to him. He grinned as he drew on his magicka, flames gathering in the palm of his free hand. "How about killing them with fire?" he suggested, as he proceeded to torch the spiders gathered in front of him.
He had only killed a handful of them when the nearest pod suddenly burst open, and another spider emerged. This one though, was larger than normal, and glowed a steady orange. To make matters worse, it was wreathed in a cloak of flames. Aeros and Serana both stared at it.
"Any suggestions on how to deal with a spider that's already on fire?" Serana asked.
"Um…kill it with frost?" he suggested weakly. Serana smirked.
"With pleasure!" she said, as she sent a pair of ice spikes hurtling towards the flame cloaked spider. The unfortunate arachnid did not even have a chance, as it was impaled simultaneously by both of Serana's spells.
"Just how many of these damned spiders are there?" Serana questioned irritably as they finished off yet another controlled bandit and another handful of flame-cloaked spiders. So far, they had encountered several more variations of the albino spiders as they pushed further into the barrow, from flame and frost cloaked ones, to ones that would leap at them and explode in an explosion of fire or frost. The most unsettling ones however, were the ones they had found controlling the bodies of bandits and reavers. The brigands had been wrapped in glowing strands of web, with the spiders gripping tightly to the back of their necks, and moved about jerkily. While he normally did not care for bandits and their ilk, Aeros showed these possessed bandits a small amount of mercy, and granted them as quick of a death as he could, making sure to crush each and every single spider after its host was killed.
Aeros chuckled in amusement at Serana's complaint. "Don't tell me you're afraid of spiders?" he teased. Serana scoffed.
"Please," she said dismissively. "I've dealt with plenty of spiders before, including the giant Frostbites back home. I just don't appreciate having something the size of my head leaping through the air at me and exploding, or trying to turn me into a mindless zombie."
Aeros took a moment to respond, as he forced open the metal doors leading further into the ruins, to the barrow's sanctum. "You have a point," he admitted, once he had finally gotten the doors open. "But it looks like we've just about reached the barrow's inner sanctum, so I doubt there's very many spiders left. Maybe we'll even find out where they all came from."
The two of them took a short break in the small room that lay on the other side of the doors, taking the time to eat the simple lunch that some of the Skaal had prepared for them before they left the village, while they stared curiously at the bodies of two draugr lying on the ground in front of the next set of doors, wondering what had killed them. Once they had both finished, Aeros got to his feet and lifted the wooden bar that was blocking the doors. He pushed on them, and to his surprise, they swung open easily.
As they walked through the doorway, they came to a stop several feet into the room as they surveyed their surroundings. Before them stretched a vast chamber, split in half by a wide chasm spanned only by a simple wooden bridge and a few fallen stone pillars. Most disturbing of all though, was the presence of several freshly-lit braziers and torches around the room.
"Something's not right here," Serana murmured. "Be careful. I think we may be in for some trouble." The words had barely left her mouth before an arrow whizzed past them, striking the far wall of the chamber. As they both reached for their weapons, ten or so spider-controlled bandits emerged from the shadows or from behind piles of rubble, while close to two dozen spiders emerged from the chasm in the center of the room, climbing up over the edge.
"Sometimes I hate it when you're right," Aeros sighed, as the bandits began to charge towards them.
As the bandits drew close, the nearest one collapsed to the ground, limbs spasming, as he was struck by a bolt of lightning. "Trust me, you're not the only one," Serana said wearily as she set her sights on her next foe. Aeros allowed himself a small chuckle before he charged forward, throwing himself into the oncoming wave of enemies.
As they fought, Aeros noticed a Dunmer sorceress standing in the back of the group of enemies that seemed to be directing both the bandits and the spiders. Her shouted orders were intermingled with sporadic burst of insane laughter.
"Kill them both!" she shrieked. "We mustn't allow anyone to interfere with my research! Not when I'm so close to finding the source. Isn't that right, brother dear?" she asked the empty air next to her.
"You had to pick the ruins filled with spiders and mind-controlled bandits and a crazy woman?" Serana yelled in exasperation as she set off a fire rune, engulfing a handful of spiders in flames. "You couldn't pick the one filled with murderous draugr or a pack of rieklings instead?"
"All right, I'm sorry!" Aeros yelled back as he beheaded a bandit. "Next time I get the urge to go explore a dangerous or life-threatening old cave or set of ruins, I'll be sure to check and make sure it's not filled with exploding spiders. Besides, the crazy dark elf isn't all that bad!"
"These two's incessant chatter is annoying," the female Dunmer growled to herself. "Did you send them to try and stop me, Servos? First you, and now them, all insisting that I'm insane. I'll show you insane!" From hidden pockets in her robes, she pulled out two jumping flame spiders. "I won't let you steal my discovery!" she shrieked, cackling as she threw them directly at Aeros.
Aeros attempted to twist out of the way, but was forced to block a sudden attack by a mind-controlled orc that was trying to ceave him in two with a nasty-looking battleaxe. Left with no other option, he made a split-second decision.
"FUS!" he shouted, using the force of his Thu'um to send the spiders flying away from him. They crashed against two of the bandits' heads, exploding on impact. Aeros winced as the now headless corpses collapsed to the ground.
"All right, the crazy dark elf lady is much worse than I originally thought," he admitted, somewhat shaken by how close that had been. "And a lot crazier. I don't suppose you could take care of her? I'm a bit preoccupied here." He sidestepped as two of the bandits tried to run him through.
"With pleasure," Serana replied. Drawing upon one of her innate powers as a vampire, she disappeared from view. As she vanished, all of the spiders and bandits that she had been fighting turned their attention towards Aeros.
"Of course," Aeros grumbled good-naturedly. "She goes to deal with a single sorceress, and I get stuck dealing with the rest of the murderous spiders and bandits. Oh well, at least the crazy Dunmer isn't throwing any more exploding spiders."
As he cut down yet another bandit, he heard a strangled gurgle coming from the direction of the Dunmer. Glancing up, he saw her clutching feebly at her chest, where the tip of an elven dagger protruded. Serana appeared behind her, holding the hilt of the dagger. She pulled the blade free, and the Dunmer woman collapsed, the life quickly leaving her body.
Deciding that he was tired of having to fend off attacks from all directions, Aeros decided to finally put the new Thu'um he had learned in Benkongerike to use.
"VEN!" he shouted, and a small cyclone of wind sprung into being around him, the fierce winds throwing all of the remaining spiders and bandits in all directions away from him. Several of the spiders were torn up by the gale-force winds, while the surviving spiders and bandits crashed against the walls or heavy piles of rubble with sickening thuds. They did not stir.
"I'm glad that's over," Serana said as she rejoined him. Aeros nodded in agreement.
"Hopefully, that's the last of them," he said, returning his swords to their sheaths. Noticing a small journal lying next to the dark elf woman's body, he picked it up and read through it curiously. The last few pages were nothing but gibberish, but he was able to learn that the dark elf's name had been Merilar Rendas, and that she and her brother had been conducting experiments on the albino spiders in these ruins.
"Well, at least now we know where the spiders came from," he said as he handed Serana the journal. She snorted dismissively as she read through its contents.
Finding nothing further of interest on the side of the room they were currently on, the two of them decided to use the wooden bridge to cross over to the other side and see if they could find anything of interest.
They had just began to examine the other half of the room when Aeros suddenly cocked his head, as he heard the faint but steady sound of chanting. Drawn by the noise, he led Serana up the flight of steps at the far side of the room. Tearing down the thick layers of cobweb, they found an iron door hidden on the other side.
Opening the door, the two of them followed the pathway on the other side, eventually emerging into yet another chamber. At the far end of the room sat a Word Wall, steadily thrumming with power. But as they neared the black, stone wall, there was a loud cracking sound as the lid of the stone sarcophagus in front of the wall was sent sailing, followed by an unearthly shriek, as a Dragon Priest floated into the air, glaring balefully at the two intruders.
"Okay, new rule," Serana said as they scrambled out out of the way of the priest's spell, a blast of extremely cold frost engulfing the spot where they had been standing. "You're no longer allowed to choose which ruins we explore."
"What? Why?" Aeros asked in surprise as he ducked underneath a wave of energy from a High Seeker that had just appeared. He lashed out with his blades, causing the Daedra to shriek in pain.
"Because every time you do, something always winds up trying to kill us!" Serana replied as she broke through the Dragon Priest's ward with a bolt of lightning. She quickly followed up with a barrage of ice spikes. The undead priest staggered backwards as multiple spikes sunk into its chest.
"That's not entirely fair," he protested as he ran the Seeker through. With one last unearthly shriek, it vanished, pulled back into Apocrypha. "You know as well as I do that even if I wasn't constantly exploring, someone or something would still inevitably try to kill me. At least with old ruins like these, we know that something is out to get us."
"You have a point," Serana admitted, "unfortunately. Fine, you still get to choose some of the places we explore; I get to decide half of them though.
"Deal," Aeros said with a grin as he brought up a ward to block a stream of frost magic. "Now, how about we deal with this annoying bastard?" Serana nodded with a smirk.
"FUS RO DAH!" Aeros shouted, sending the undead Dragon Priest staggering back several feet under the force of his Thu'um. Before it could recover, both Aeros and Serana lunged forward. The dragonbone blades and elven dagger sunk in all the way to the hilt. The Dragon Priest shuddered, and let loose a strangled cry, before its body disintegrated into ash, leaving behind only the tarnished remnants of its armor and a mask.
While they caught their breath, Aeros took a moment to examine the Word Wall, feeling the power of the word inscribed on its surface flow into him. Once they had both recovered enough, they returned to the main chamber of the sanctum. From there, they found another passageway that appeared to have seen more recent use than the one they had originally come from.
The passageway connected to a rough-hewn cave covered in spiderwebs. Fortunately, it seemed that the spiders that had made the chamber their home had been among those present during their fight with the bandits and dark elf. One thing that did stand out however, was the large iron cage that stood in one corner of the cave. Inside, was a strange machine, along with the starved body of another dark elf, bearing a close resemblance to the one they had fought earlier, Merilar.
Unlocking the cage with the key they had retrieved, Aeros read the Dunmer's journal, as well as his notes detailing the use of the "Imbuing Chamber," the strange contraption sitting on the workbench. However, after their experience in the barrow, neither he nor Serana had any urge to experiment with the device, let alone create more spiders with it.
Deciding that they had done enough dungeon delving for one day, they managed to find a ladder and trapdoor leading to the surface. Emerging in a small, ramshackle hut, they had to squint their eyes against the bright sunlight. After so long in the dust-filled rooms and passageways of the barrow, the warmth of the sun and the faint breeze felt refreshing.
"Aeros?" Serana said quietly.
"Hm?"
"If you ever try to create more of those spiders, I will make sure to personally feed you to one of Gunmar's trolls."
Aeros's laughter rang out across the snowy slopes of Solstheim, joined shortly after by Serana's.
Author's Notes: This chapter was by request of jsun25, who wanted to see Aeros and Serana's exploration of White Ridge Barrow, so I hope it lives up to their expectations. As for everyone else, I hope you enjoyed the chapter as well, and feel free to send me any requests you might have.
Dragon Language:
Fus Ro Dah = Force Balance Push (Unrelenting Force Shout)
Ven = Wind (First word of the Cyclone Shout)