Chapter Ten

Keeping their weapons ready, Kila and Jakob made their way to a set of giant black doors, and gingerly pulled on the handles to open them. Inside was not much warmer to Kila's disappointment, mainly because some of the roof had fallen in, and snow blew in along with a frozen breeze. There was a stone pillar in the middle of the room, and behind it was the light from a campfire. As they silently moved closer, they noticed more bandits were sitting around the fire, seemingly unaware that they were there.

A few feet in front of Kila, was a dead bandit, and strapped on his back was an old looking but sturdy wooden bow, and some iron arrows. She bent down and took the bow and arrows off the body, and looked at Jakob, communicating her plan silently with one glance. Jakob nodded, and they crept forward until Kila was sure she could take out the closest bandit. Back at home in Riverwood, occasionally she would help her father hunt for rabbit or deer, and came to be fairly comfortable with a bow. She crouched down low, and set her arrow to the string. It had been a while since she'd hunted, but the ability came back with ease as she pulled the arrow back, and let it fly into the neck of the man sitting next to the fire. He fell instantly, and blood started to pool around him, the other bandit startled and grabbed her bow as well. The bandit stood in the arch leading deeper in Bleak Fall's Barrow, pulling an arrow from her quiver but Kila already had another arrow nocked, and let it go with a small grunt. It struck the bandit in the shoulder, and she fell to her knees. Jakob was already on his way with his sword raised above his head, and killed her quickly and efficiently.

Kila caught up with him, and he looked from the bow in her hand to her face.

"Where'd you learn to use one of those?" he asked with just a hint of curiosity, and immediately could feel herself turn red, a contrast to the cold in the room. "I just help my father hunt in the woods occasionally, killing rabbits and things" she answered. Jakob started to move forward, and turned his head back. "Keep an arrow ready, we might need it."

Kila had never been in a place like this. Most of it was falling apart and caving in, and wild vines covered most of the walls. It was cold and damp, and had a distinct ancient musty smell to it. As they wound their way through the corridors, going deeper into the mountain, their silence lingered on, more out of safety than awkwardness. They both knew that silence always provided the upper hand when attacking, be it a rabbit or a bandit.

Up in the distance, Jakob could see light from a torch, and motioned for Kila to stay low and silent. She obeyed, and they crept forward toward the light going slightly downhill. Kila couldn't get a good shot on him because he was behind a stone platform, so instead she put her bow over her head and pulled out her sword. They sneaked forward, when Kila stepped on a root, and it broke beneath her boot, making a loud crunching noise. Shit. The bandit looked up and turned around, making his way toward the sound with his sword drawn. At their silent tactic now hopeless, Jakob raised his sword above his head and met the bandit in the doorway to the room he was in. Their swords clashed, the bandit almost matching his strength. Kila still stood on the stairs a couple paces back, not wanting to get hit by either one of them. That's when she pulled out her bow again, and waited until Jakob had the bandit in a grapple, both of their swords stuck above their heads, waiting for the other to become weak and give up, the bandits left side exposed to her. This was her chance. She nocked an arrow and squatted down becoming steadier, and aimed for his neck, careful not to hit Jakob. She let the arrow go, and it flew with a whistle, hitting him below the neck just above the clavicle. He suddenly dropped and gasped for air for a few seconds, his sword making a loud clang on the stone floor. The man was dead, Jakob lighting some torches around the room while Kila looked at the stone pillars with pictures of animals on them. Waking up to one, she saw that they could turn with little effort.

"Must be a puzzle" said Jakob from behind her. "And there has to be a solution somewhere…" He started to look around the room, noticing the same pictures on the wall above his head, and the middle one missing.

"The middle one's just there, it's a snake" she said pointing to the crumbled piece on the ground by the grated door. "Snake, snake, whale. Here, help me with these." They turned the pillars to the right order, Jakob offering to pull the lever just in case it was a trap. He pulled the rusted lever, and the grated door in front of them creaked as it slid open. They plundered the chest for some gold and potions, then made their way down a long spiral staircase made out of wood, walking slowly and with caution, both with their swords drawn. Kila heard a squeaking from below her, and just then a giant skeever jumped up and landed on the steps in front of them.

"Ah!" Kila gasped, but Jakob took care of it with one stab as it rolled down the steps.

Jakob snickered a bit and turned to her, "Not a big fan of skeevers, huh?"

Kila frowned in disgust. "Yuck, no. You can take care of those things. I'm not going near those ugly rats." He smiled a bit, happy to be the one to protect her from something so trivial as skeevers.

They made their way through more rooms, Kila on edge from the skeever they found in the stairway, her skin crawling just thinking of them. She was grateful Jakob was there to deal with them. They started to see traces of white fibers on the walls, and Jakob stopped to touch some.

"Spider webs?" Kila questioned. "Great, I love spiders" she said with sarcasm, wanting him to go through the web covered door first. Cutting a hole through the doorway with his sword, a muffled scratching noise came from up above, and the hairs on Kila's neck stood up. Just then, a giant spider dropped from the ceiling and landed on the other side of the room. Kila gasped loudly, and clutched her hand over her heart, and Jakob told her to get out her bow, while he attacked it. She obeyed, knowing she needed to do something instead of just stand there. Jakob was running toward the giant spider, and Kila let an arrow loose, hitting it in the body and making it screech. Jakob saw his moment to strike when it was distracted from the arrow, and slashed at one of its front legs, making its head drop down closer to his level. Just then, he saw an arrow sticking out of one of its eyes, Kila hitting her mark. Jakob stood in front of it, distracted and in pain, and brought his sword down in a clean arc, sinking several inches in to its head. He pulled out his sword, and hit it again to make sure it was dead.

"Ugh, disgusting!" Jakob could hear Kila say from where she was shooting. Something caught Jakob's eye to his left, and he noticed a man wrapped in webs, hanging from the top of the doorway. He looked like a bandit, and Jakob kept his sword out just in case.