It was easy to spot Ragnvald from a distance. The stark black architecture stood out from the rockface and fir trees like a sore thumb. Valleri squinted when she looked at it; bright sunlight reflected off polished blotches of black stone, turning it bright silver. A massive front porch led to the front entrance to the ruin, a looming slab of black behind the tall arches. It was the same foreign architecture Valleri saw previously at Bleakfalls barrow. Long tendrils of overgrown vines and leaves descended down parts of the arches like a curtain. Being the historical scholar she was, Valleri assumed it was built by similar people nearly at the same time in history.

Valleri sighed and brushed away a vine, "Well, at least it's more obvious than Dustman's Cairn. But why in the world would they build a settlement so close to Nordic crypt?" She scowled and looked back to Vilkas and Aicantar. She ran backwards into another vine, tangling her arm up in the process. Exasperatedly, Valleri pulled out her dagger and cut away the green tendrils.

"Ainethach mentioned a mine, so the location was probably just one of convenience," Vilkas muttered from behind her. He looked at Aicantar with piercing glare, "Much like Markarth, huh?"

Valleri could hear Aicantar laugh dryly as he squirmed momentarily. Quickly, the High Elf glanced sideways at the Nord with a sour smile, "At least Markarth has actual guards from keeping whatever's down there at bay. Besides, Calcelmo hasn't had the chance to wake anything up yet. The excavation's been closed down for now."

Valleri breathed out, reaching the next part of the porch, "That's a shame," she stopped at the side of one the porch, and crossed her arms, "What happened?"

Aicantar laughed awkwardly as he ducked underneath more vines, "Giant spiders and the such. Nothing too horrible."

Vilkas finally looked up to Valleri, expression lighter than before. He paused next to Valleri, "As someone who doesn't go galivanting into old ruins mostly for the hell of it, I'm curious as to how often stuff like that happens?"

Valleri looked at him with a smile and shook her head. She knew he was only joking despite the accusatory tone he used. She looked over her shoulder with a smirk, "What sort of stuff do you are you referring to?"

The Nord shrugged with boredom, "Waking up giant centurions, old spirits. That sort of thing."

"I have a hard time believing that you've never done the same," Valleri laughed, walking past Vilkas. He gave her a shrug as he turned to face her and Aicantar. The elf was already nearing the door leading to the interior of Ragnvald.

Aicantar locked eyes with Valleri, shooting Valleri an unsure look. He glanced back to Vilkas with knitted eyebrows. "She's got a point. You Companions have a reputation of running head on into old crypts like this," Aicantar shouted as he gestured upwards to the towering spires that lined the sides of the porch. "You've had to have fought at least one ancient chieftain after startling them awake," Aicantar quieted down and tilted his head with a smirk.

Vilkas sighed and glanced downwards with a shake of his head, "Okay fine. I'll admit that I did, but only once." He met Valleri's eyes with a look of defeat. The Imperial couldn't help but grin to herself.

"Are you going spare us any of the bloody details?"

Vilkas made his way to the black door without making eye contact with either Valleri or Aicantar. Finally, Valleri could hear him whisper, "Not for you two."

She watched him open the heavy door and frowned, "What a killjoy."

Valleri followed Aicantar into the ruin. The woman had to squint when she stepped into the main room; it was almost pitch black in the chamber despite holes in the ceiling letting light in from the outside. Vilkas and Aicantar were already looking around the room, the elf gravitating to a table in the middle with a mummified corpse laid haphazardly on top. She watched the elf grimace with disgust. Vilkas shot him a look of annoyance when he saw the elf start poking at the corpse with spare piece of metal.

Finally, Aicantar looked back at Valleri leaning against a pillar holding up what was left of the roof. "It smells like death in here," he coughed out.

Valleri smirked. She was perfectly used to the smell of rotting corpses and dry dust; it took Valleri a moment to remember that the Dwemer typically didn't leave bodies, "No kidding. Not as bad as burnt up oil though, that's for sure."

"Quiet you two, we're not sure if the dragur are awake or not," Vilkas snapped back, voice carrying loudly through the chamber. Valleri only stared at him through narrowed eyes before striding over past him, Aicantar quickly following her. She glanced back behind her for only a second to see Vilkas scowling lightly.

She led the two of them through another short set of corridors, finally coming upon a chamber much different than the first. The ruin seemed to direct them onto a raised pathway while a set of stairs led to the floor below them. Valleri looked over the edge; two dead dragur were already lying limp on the ground with a few splatters of dried blood around them. Vilkas saw the blood as well and shot a glance at Valleri. Wordlessly she nodded her head in acknowledgment and rushed down the stairs leading to the lower floor.

She kicked one of the dragur with a boot while Vilkas and Aicantar made their way down. "It's like Dustman's Cairn, they're all torn up," Valleri muttered when she turned back.

"Blood's dried up too, I'm assuming it must have been the miners," Vilkas looked back up to Valleri, "This is a lot of blood though."

"Are we looking for a body then?"

"Well, I'd say the search is over," Aicantar muttered to the others. He was following what Valleri could only assume was a trail of blood to the far corner of the room. Valleri attempted to peer over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of the decaying body. Aicantar's pale face was scrunched up with disgust as he looked down at the unfortunate corpse. He muttered under his breath, "What a horrible way to go."

"There were more of them, right?" Valleri asked, unable to pull her eyes away from the dead body.

"Aye. We should probably go further in, make sure there isn't anyone else left." Vilkas started walking back up the stairs to the walk way above. He watched as Valleri and Aicantar followed him up, "Who knows, maybe one of them lived?"

Valleri shot him a doubtful glance, "That's just wishful thinking there."

She walked past the Nord and into the next room. It was raised and closed in much like where they found the dead miner. Behind the haphazardly put together wooden panels, Valleri could see the final part of the chamber below. Valleri began to walk forward when began to hear a grumbling at her side. The woman whipped around, cursing herself internally when she saw the dragur begin to bring his sword down on her. "Fucking hell!" Valleri shouted as she sidestepped, only able to grab the dagger out of small scabbard on her side. Valleri swung around the back and plunged the dagger into the decaying neck. The black great sword fell from the dragur's grasp. Valleri yelled one more time as she unsheathed her sword and drug across the dragur's neck. The shambling corpse dropped to the floor with a thud.

Valleri was still breathing heavily and coughing up dust when Vilkas and Aicantar came rushing in. The elf stared at the scene with dumbfounded confusion while Vilkas only looked at her with a blank stare. This had happened too many times for Vilkas to be surprised any longer.

Instead Vilkas shifted his weight to the other foot and shot her unimpressed look, "Happened again, huh?"

Valleri crouched down and pulled the dagger from the corpse below her. She wiped the dust clean on the lower hem of her cloak and turned to face her friends, "Well, it's not going to be the last time either. Besides one dragur doesn't amount to much." The Imperial smirked as Vilkas approached her, his expression finally softening.

The Nord walked past the wooden paneling and into the lower bowels of the room. Aicantar and Valleri followed suit but stayed on the upper portion of the stairs. Around them was random clutter; old urns and piles of rotting bandages and wrappings littered the floor around them. At the head of the room was a sarcophagus and Valleri walked up to inspect it closer. Two round impressions were left on either side, looking as if there was something missing.

Vilkas came up right behind her, looking down at the sarcophagus, "This doesn't look like it's going to bode well."

Valleri glanced over to him, "You're good with this stuff. Do you know any of the history of this place?"

"Not at all," he whispered as he shook his head. "But I'd gather the people who built this place was trying to keep whatever was buried here exactly where they left him."

"The miners probably knew more than we did."

Vilkas shrugged. He didn't say anything further and looked over to the Altmer fiddling with door at the far left. Aicantar stepped back as he noticed the giant smear of blood covering most of the door. Valleri could see the color left the elf's face again. Aicantar spun on his heel to face the two of them and shouted at a distance, "This might where they went." He paused looking at the rusty smudge left on his hand, "At least I'm assuming it is."

Vilkas exchanged a quick glance with Valleri then sprinted up the stairs to the elf and took a look around the adjoining hall. Valleri leaned against the sarcophagus with folded arms, waiting to see Vilkas' reaction to the discovery. The Nord nodded towards Aicantar and motioned for Valleri to come up to meet them. He took a final glance into the corridor and spoke in a clear, low voice, "Whether or not they knew what was going on here, they seemed to think it was better to keep going."

Valleri furrowed her eyebrows as she came up behind Aicantar, "You'd think they would have just turned back."

Vilkas led his two companions into the hall way, muttering all the while, "Prideful idiots."

The Imperial woman shook her head, "We could say the same about you."

"That's rude," Aicantar whispered.

He bumped into Valleri's back when Vilkas paused at the end of the hallway. There was another flight of rickety, old stairs leading down to a lower level of the ruin. Valleri looked over Vilkas' shoulder to see what made him stop. The Nord had a disappointed scowl on his face and Valleri felt her mood deflate when she saw the shambling dragur.

"Fucking dustmen," Vilkas whispered as he left to head down the stairs, "I should just really start bringing a bow with me. Everything would just be so much easier."

Valleri patted him on the shoulder and watched the unfortunate undead go down with a fluid strike from Vilkas. "Do you know how to use one even?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "Of course I do. Kodlak and Skjor wouldn't have let Farkas and I start taking jobs if we didn't. Also, Aela made a pretty threatening case."

She followed Aicantar down where Vilkas was still standing around. The Altmer shot Vilkas a look of confusion, "Just to be absolutely clear, that's a dragur?"

Vilkas sighed and shook his head, "Well at least you knew the name." He poked the corpse with the tip of his sword, "Why?"

Aicantar shrugged, "I thought they'd be more squelchy, I guess. Not quite so…"

Valleri cut him off, "Dry?"

"Sort of."

The three of them stood in an awkward silence while Valleri looked around the room. Going forward were two more passages leading in the same general direction. "Should we split up?"

She smirked as she watched Vilkas balk in horror. "Fuck no," he sputtered, "That's a recipe for disaster. Especially with you two."

"Thank the gods…"

Vilkas caught onto Aicantar's whisper and turned to face the elf, "are you rethinking coming with us now, elf?"

Valleri could see Aicantar jump at the accusation, eyes bulging for only a moment, "No, not at all. It's just new is all."

Vilkas exchanged a bored glance with Valleri while the Imperial woman glared at him. He shrugged and turned to leave, "Let's go then."

…

Valleri quickly lost track of the twists and turns of the ruin as they made their way closer to whatever was waiting for them at the end. She was sandwiched between Vilkas and Aicantar and the mood was beginning to worsen. Valleri was beginning to fear an all-out fight between the two of them than any ancient dragur they might chance upon. This was a bad sign.

Regardless of the darkening moods of her compatriots, Valleri followed Vilkas into an open chamber. She quickly stepped away, allowing herself to breath for the first in what she felt was forever. She glanced around the room, surprised by the lit torches lining the walls. There was a sarcophagus at the head of the room, placed vertically and evenly against the wall. The lid was laying broken on the floor, revealing that it was lacking a body. In the middle of the room was another raised platform with stairs leading up to it opposite from the sarcophagus. She paused and furrowed her eyebrows. Something wasn't right about the platform.

She pushed past Vilkas and all but ran up the stairs. Valleri heard Vilkas gripe behind her as she stopped just shy of a pedestal dominating the space. The woman stood enthralled as her eyes landed on it. A small ebony carved skull was placed laying on the pedestal, two sapphire eyes stared right through her. The tips of her fingers brushed the top of the skull, feeling the raised patterns on the metal.

Then she felt something sticky. Valleri grimaced as she pulled her hand away to see a reddish-brown slime covering her finger tips. Her face scrunched as the smell of decaying blood filled her nostrils. Valleri stepped backwards as her eyes followed the patches of blood to the other side of pedestal. She gasped and finally noticed the dead body of a miner slumped against the pedestal.

Vilkas called up to her, almost shouting, "Is everything okay up there?"

Valleri hesitated, eyes still glued to the miner n front of her. "I," she paused, "I found one of the miners."

Vilkas glanced over to Aicantar behind them, the elf shrugging in reply. "How bad is it?"

The Imperial woman shook her head, "It's bad. Part of his arm's missing. I think his jaw's hanging off." She grimaced, leaning her head over the side to get the nauseating stench of the carnage out of her mind. She spun to face Vilkas and Aicantar coming up the stairs, "I only fond one of them. Did Ainethach say how many were missing?"

Vilkas stopped next to Valleri, crouching down to inspect the body. He spoke with a grimace, "Not at all." He got up and addressed their friend standing on the steps, "Aicantar, you probably shouldn't come around here."

Valleri watched the Altmer nod. He placed a gloved hand to his nose, "I figured. I can smell it from here. Did you find anything else?"

"Like more bodies?" Valleri's lips curved upward in an uneven smile. She laughed to herself dryly when both Vilkas and Aicantar shook their heads in mock disappointment. "No, but I did chance upon this," she remarked, holding up the miniature skull high enough for Aicantar to see. The elf's eyes went wide with wonder while Valleri shot him a smug look.

Vilkas didn't seem to share their same enthusiasm, "We're all assuming it's for the coffin in the main chamber, right?"

Valleri nodded her head, "That's the idea. It's probably a perfect fit, though we'd have to try it out to be sure." She looked at Vilkas in front of her with confusion. The Nord was no longer focused on her, instead gazing on something on the platform behind her. Aicantar was beginning to look concerned as well. Any previous amazement the elf had felt before was wiped away. Hairs stood up on the back of her neck and Valleri began to frown. Valleri whipped around as an axe came down hard on the edge of her cloak. The skull dropped from her hand as she attempted to undo the clasp around her neck, though before she could, the dragur began to pull another, smaller axe from its belt.

She looked over to Vilkas with wide, desperate eyes. The Nord was beginning to draw his own sword, but it was too late. The dragur was already beginning to swing towards Valleri as the woman tried to tear her cape away from the battle axe. She heard a sudden humming noise and Vilkas nearly stepped backwards off the raised platform. There was a flash of light then the dragur flew across the room like a doll. Vilkas took advantage of his enemy's sudden misfortune and ran over to finish him off. Confused, Valleri turned back to Aicantar; the elf was breathing heavily with an arm outstretched. Small tendrils of purplish white electricity danced along his hand and forearm. He locked eyes with Valleri, giving her quick nod.

"Are you all right?" he muttered, pulling the arm back to his chest.

"I'm fine." Valleri gave a final tug on her cape and heard the fabric tearing. She grimaced when she watched Vilkas come back with a smirk a minute later, "What happened?"

"I found the last miner. The dragur must have went after them when they went for the skull."

"Well, shit." Valleri sighed in frustration, "That was the last one I take it?"

"Probably." He oved past Valleri and Aicantar and back to the lower level of the chamber.

Aicantar grimaced, eyebrows furrowing, "What about the skull? Shouldn't we at least see what they were after?"

Valleri shot Vilkas a tired look, causing the Nord to chuckle to himself. "Aicantar's right. Val, get the skull," Vilkas said in an even, sure tone. He turned to face them with a smirk, "Now let's go."