20th of Second Seed, 3E 428
I quickly figured out the reason these strange, lizard like creatures were moving like clockwork.
It was because they were clockwork! They weren't even living! Did that mean they were Dwemer? I had no idea.
Julan looked up.
"What the fu -"
I didn't get the chance to hear him continue; the sounds of Julan's yelling was cut off by the vicious sounds of the clockwork creatures advancing towards everyone, all while people screamed and ran. Everyone else who was armed - and that seemed to include mostly guards and High Ordinators - started to fight. I felt my blood run cold.
"What in Mephala's name are those things?" I heard Julan yell.
I had no idea, and I had my doubts that anyone else around me did either. They looked and moved in a manner similar to that of giant insects, ready to attack at any moment.
"Never mind that right now, we have to find the others!" I yelled.
I had my doubts that either Shani or Fin were armed, and even though they both had spells at their disposal, I knew Shani wasn't that skilled at magic. She couldn't rely on it. And just where in Oblivion was Aiden? He didn't have a weapon, I knew that much.
"Come on!" I yelled, and we proceeded to run, or I did until the dress I was wearing stopped me due to how tight in was. I quickly pulled out the dagger I had at my side and carefully cut the sides. Shame I had to ruin it, but oh well. That's what sewing was for, right?
Eventually, we did find the three of them, together. Shani was using a makeshift bow and arrow, while Fin cast a fireball in one of the creature's directions. I saw Aiden trying to cast spells from a distance, until Julan pulled out a sword and threw it in his direction.
"Aiden, catch!"
It was a risky move, but Aiden caught the sword, and started fighting.
I looked towards Julan.
"Does this mean that you are now without a weapon?"
"He needs it more," was Julan's response, and he cast a very powerful shock spell in the direction of one of the creatures, which was advancing towards us with each and every passing second. Julan's spell hit one of the creatures, and it then lay dead on the floor. I thought I saw something leak from the carcass, and then went to inspect it. I half expected there to be blood, but it wasn't.
It was a sticky, gold liquid that dripped from my fingers very slowly.
"What is that?" I heard Julan ask in amazement.
I shook my head.
"I wish I knew," was my answer, just as I gave the metal shell a hard knock.
I had never seen anything like this before in my life. And up to this point, I thought I had seen everything.
Suddenly, I heard a shrill scream, and turned around. Before my eyes there was a sudden gush of blood, and I saw Fin fall to the ground. Her left leg was terribly injured; the skin had torn up to her thigh. Shani turned around quickly, and rushed to her side.
"Get her to the healers!" I heard Aiden yell in Shani's direction. "They're in Godsreach."
Shani didn't even hesitate; she carefully picked up Fin as if it was nothing. At first I was surprised, but then I remembered that Shani had grown up among the Ahemmusa. She had likely lifted heavier than Fin. Everyone else soon started fighting, and more and more people joined in the battle, all while yelling at people not to stand about. Soon, after the battle was over, everything was quiet. What was left of The Plaza was a battle scorched mess, with remnants of stone, metal and blood in the place of what was once a peaceful garden. I started taking a few deep breaths, and then slumped against the edge of the ruined fountain.
I was a mess; my hair, which I had done up several hours ago, now hung limply over my shoulders. My clothing was covered in sweat, specs of metal and...whatever that gold, sticky liquid was.
Shame I had to ruin Mashti's dress, honestly.
"Ulina!"
I looked up to see both Julan and Aiden running towards me with a Royal Guard in tow.
"Are you Ulina Therayn?" The guard asked me.
I nodded. I had little to no energy to respond other than that.
"The Captain of the Guard has requested an audience with you," the guard said.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Delitian?"
"Yes," The guard replied. He then turned on his heel and walked away, leaving me with Julan and Aiden. Julan turned to me, and then held out a hand. I took it and got up.
"I'll go to the Palace," I said. "I'll meet you both at the Healer's."
I then left without another word.
Delitian was waiting for me in the Palace Courtyard, and was the only other person nearby. He looked just as drained as I felt. Maybe he had been in the fighting and I hadn't seen him? As soon as I laid eyes on a minor injury on his arm, I had no doubt this was the case.
"So it's you," he began. "I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. It seems you haven't left Mournhold yet after all."
"I had other matters to attend to," I explained. "What did you want to speak about?"
"This attack," Delitian replied, bluntly. "Obviously, we can't allow attacks such as these to continue, but we need to know more about the source."
Obviously.
"It seems the attacks originated from some Dwemer ruins that have been buried deep beneath Mournhold," he continued. "The Memorial statue has been destroyed, and we're having a passage cleared as we speak. We should have it cleared by morning."
Delitian paused, then continued.
"My reports tell me that the creatures that attacked were at least partially mechanical, so perhaps they were of Dwemer origin."
Probably, but for Dwemer they looked very...odd. They looked nothing like any of the Dwemer I had seen within the last year, and I had spent plenty of time in Dwemer Ruins. I had no idea what to think of it at all.
"Tomorrow, I want you to explore these ruins, find out where these creatures have come from, and report back to me," Delitian stated.
I nodded, and then left, making my way to the Healer's in Godsreach. As soon as I arrived, I heard a scream in the backroom. I went into the room where the screaming was taking place and found out that it was Fin, who was being held down on a table while two older women were treating the leg wound. One of them was using a healing spell, while the other was stitching the wound. Shani was holding Fin's hand as this was occurring, trying to reassure her. Fin didn't seem to notice; she screamed, and occasionally let out unintelligible babble.
I turned to see Julan and Aiden sitting on one of the sofas outside the room, both with grim expressions seemingly painted permanently on their faces, I sighed.
"What did Delitian want?" Julan asked.
"He wants me to investigate the ruins underneath Mournhold," I replied.
Julan scowled. I know just how much he hated Dwemer ruins, so I wasn't going to force him to come with me. But I had a feeling he was going to do it anyway.
"Fin never said she was royalty," I heard Aiden interject darkly.
I sighed again.
"We're not talking about that now," I said firmly. "Fin can tell you herself when she gets better. May as well prepare for tomorrow."
"Yeah," Julan snorted. "Especially if we're going to be traipsing around in Dwemer ruins."
"I thought you never wanted to set foot in another one of those," I muttered.
Julan sighed.
"Well, that was before all this happened," he responded grimly. "It'll be just like old times now."
Both Julan and I knew that it would be nothing like old times.
We sat in the darkness of that room in silence. I thought I heard Aiden mumble a prayer under his breath, but Julan and I merely waited. Eventually, just as the sun began to rise, Shani emerged from the next room, with a sullen expression.
"She's going to be alright," she said, and I smiled.
At least I could rest knowing Fin wasn't going to die.
"Thank the Nine," I heard Aiden say.
I grabbed my armor from my bedroom, and began to get ready. This was the first time I had set foot in a Dwemer ruin since I had left Vvardenfell, and from what I was to expect, this wasn't going to be normal, exactly.
Julan and Aiden were ready and waiting for me outside, and I couldn't help but notice just how quiet everything was. The Great Bazaar would normally be buzzing with life, but today that was not the case. There were High Ordinators and Guards patrolling the area (and I guessed that there were likely more than usual) but other than that, there was barely anyone else in sight. The eerie silence was chilling, and I shuddered.
The three of us together made our way from the Bazaar into Plaza Brindisi Dorom, which had the same atmosphere, only much, much worse. The plaza was still a mess from last night's attack. I stepped over metal and blood until I found the entrance to the ruins underneath. There was an ancient, rickety ladder that could be used to climb down, so I did. Julan and Aiden climbed in after I did, and Julan cast a light spell.
"Careful," I heard Julan say. I had a feeling he was directing it more at Aiden than I. "No one's really been down here in ages. Azura only knows how deadly it could be."
"Single file," I added, and that's how we proceeded.
Soon enough, we left the dark, narrow tunnel behind, and were standing on an old, metal balcony with no railing whatsoever. I turned to Julan and Aiden.
"Be quiet," I warned.
There was a slight buzzing sound from below, and if I was not mistaken, I heard the sounds of a shock spell being cast. I looked down. There were several of those clockwork creatures from last night, along with a few, old Dwemer constructs that I was more than familiar with.
They were fighting back.
"Sheogorath on a Silt Strider," I heard Julan mutter in shock.
"What are they?" I heard Aiden ask under his breath.
"Not Dwemer," was all I said.
Whatever those machines were, I was absolutely certain that they weren't Dwemer. The Dwemer machinations never attacked their own.
"I've never seen anything like this," Julan added.
The Dwemer Centurions swung at the clockwork creatures with their formidable, weaponlike arms. Steam from their valves began to fill the room, as did the sparks from the creatures. I ducked.
"We need to get out," I said. "Before they realize we're here."
We left, and as soon as we emerged from the darkness of the tunnels, I spotted a Royal Guard.
"What did you find?" He demanded. "Was it as we thought? Was it the Dwemer?"
I shook my head grimly.
"No, I'm afraid not," I stated darkly. "I'm afraid I have no idea what this is."
"Never seen anything like it," Julan added.
There was a moment of silence, before the Guard spoke again.
"Well, you had better report back to the captain in any case," was all he said. "He'll be wanting to hear of this.
Julan and Aiden returned to the apartment, while I made the trip back to the Palace Courtyard, where I saw Delitian. He didn't look like his usual self. In fact, he just looked plain agitated. It wasn't a pretty sight, to be perfectly honest with you. In fact, he looked as if he could lash out at any moment.
"Well, have you been able to investigate the disturbance?" Delitian asked.
"I have, actually," I replied. "Those things aren't Dwemer."
Delitian looked momentarily shocked.
"What?"
"I'm fairly certain you heard me," was all I could say.
Delitian didn't say anything, instead choosing to stay silent. I took this as a chance to continue.
"There were Dwemer centurions in the ruins," I explained. "But they were fighting those creatures -"
"Fabricants," Delitian interjected. "The people of Mournhold have taken to calling them Fabricants."
Alright, then. At least it made it easier to explain what they were now.
"Okay, fine, the Fabricants," I continued. "The Centurions were fighting the Fabricants. The Dwemer constructs don't fight with their own, so they can't be Dwemer."
Delitian sighed.
"This situation gets more and more disturbing to me. Your effort has been appreciated, though, Therayn," Delitian stated. "It is a shame recent events prevent you from making the journey home."
I thought I had misheard that. He couldn't possibly be serious.
"What?"
"Due to recent events, the entire city is in lockdown, until we can be certain as to what is transpiring within the City of Mournhold," Delitian said this all solemnly. "We can't know for sure how long this will last."
No, I couldn't help but think. Please, Gods, no...
"I know you wanted badly to return to Vvardenfell. I'm afraid I must apologi -"
But I was no longer listening. I ran in the direction of The Plaza before Delitian could finish. He called after me, but I didn't care. I knew I was likely to get into some kind of trouble for this, as I had just left a high ranking Palace official without really being so much as dismissed, but I also didn't really care about that anymore. I ran as fast as I could until I reached the apartment, and ran into my bedroom, not bothering to so much as lock the door behind me. I slumped down against the wall, and then hugged my knees against my chest.
"Ulina!"
I heard Julan from the other end of the hallway, and then heard him enter our bedroom. I felt tears of frustration fall down my face, and did nothing to stop them.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
I took a deep breath.
"I don't know when we'll get to leave, Julan," I said, my voice cracking with each and every single word. He said nothing. I just watched has his expression went blank.
"The...the city is on lockdown. I'm sorry."
I'm sorry I let you down.