Chapter 21
Dustman's Cairn Part 2
A/N: Back again guys, sorry that it has taken me so long, like I have said, December isn't exactly my best month so I took some time out and now I am back and I am ready to write again. Oh and by the way for this chapter I am not doing the entire quest, more of the end of it with the word wall and such because that isn't the most important part for this story.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Elder Scrolls series.
Karliah's POV
I sigh as I wipe a bead of sweat away from my forehead as we head deeper into the ruin. It feels like we have been walking for an age. We are walking slowly through the ruin as Draugr seem to be crawling out of the walls to stop us. It means there is little time to think over everything that has happened, with me, my family and Aela. My ears prick up as I hear the soft footfalls of Aela behind me and if I couldn't hear her I can feel her, I cannot describe it but I just know she is there. My wolf rubs against the surface and a growl rumbles out my chest as I crouch down and grab the full quiver off a now dead Draugr and attach it to me as I loosely notch an arrow, ready for the next one to appear. Agitation gnaws at my gut as I think back to the tent. I can feel Aela want and need to progress further in our relationship but… I don't know whether I can, I was raised with no Nord customs but I don't know if I can defy Aela's tradition, no matter mine and her needs. It doesn't help that I am not sure if I can even go that far, even if it has been so long since the attack at my parents' house. Parents, my heart twinges. I just don't understand why they never told me.
Maybe they were afraid of me leaving to go to Skyrim, they were right there but maybe if I had been given the choice instead of being forced to flee, maybe it could have been different for me and I could have been more prepared for everything I would feel when meeting Aela. Maybe then I would have still entered the Companions but just because I wanted to but because I wanted to prove to my parents we could live in safety within city walls and make them proud. A tear clogs my sight and I wipe it away with the back of my hand. I guess all that doesn't matter now, I am the Dragonborn and I have a job to do, no matter what. My sliver scar prickles slightly at the thought and my eyes lock on the door in front of us and my gaze flickers to Farkas as he moves beside me and he nods. I turn to Aela and she has an arrow notched ready as her arm flexes slightly and she smiles at me before her eyes go hard like gems and her gaze focuses on the door.
"Here we go" I mutter under my breath as I push the door open and it creaks from the lack of use in what is probably hundreds of years. As the door reveals a walk way lined with coffins which leads up to some stone slabs, each one higher than the next before stopping at an altar which has a rectangular stand on its which can only be the pieces of Wuuthrad. My eyes are drawn behind it to the huge wall and I can hear some echoing in my ear and I shake my head but it doesn't disappear. I frown as we enter the room slowly waiting for an attack which never comes as we make our way up the stone slabs and the voices get louder and it becomes clear they are chanting something, something I just can't quiet catch,
"Can you hear that?" I whisper to Farkas and he frowns and shakes his head before turning his gaze back to the altar. We get closer and closer to the altar and the chant is so loud I can barely hear Aela speaking to me, I shake my head and I hold my hand up to halt Aela's speech as I walk closer to the wall and that's when I see it, a glowing set of words, drawing me in and the light around me seems to dim around them. I have to get closer to them
Go closer; there is power in front of you, grab, read and use,
My wolf chants and before I know it I am within reaching distance when a hand on my shoulder tries to turn me around but I manage to shake them off as the word's bright blue glow burns and brands itself in my mind and two tendrils of the same stuff that comes of the dragons souls as it arches into me, ensnare me and it goes dark around the words and somehow I manage to stay calm as it holds me in place and then it lightens and all I can see is those words around me as it burns into my very soul. And I blink as I push away from the wall and I stumble back into the altar. My mind feels like it has been exploded into tiny pieces. I blink rapidly and before I even have time to fully register what just happened a Draugr's blade comes down in front of me and I grab the dagger in my boot and I pierce it through the Draugr's head and it collapses. I turn to face the altar and I see Farkas fighting off the other Draugr on one side and Aela doing the same on the other.
I snatch up the piece of Wuuthrad and I as I go to place it in my pack my wolf forces me to look up and my wolf growls as more Draugr seem to appear, I holster my bow as it is no use in this room unless I get to the back of the hall but my gut tightens as the hall seems to fill with more and more Draugr and there are only three of us. We need to get out of here fast; my wolf yanks me down just in time as an arrow soars overhead. By the Gods, I need to focus! I frown as I shake my head as the words are like a hot branding iron into my mind and they are all I can focus on. I shake my head before tearing round the corner and I stab the first Draugr that gets close enough to me as I start to hack my way towards Aela. A snarl vibrates from my chest as my wolf simmers close to the surface and I grit and bare my teeth as Draugr begin to peel off from the load surrounding Aela and circle me. The Draugr surprise me, I expected them to slow moving, shambling corpses but they are fast and strong despite their dissolving forms. One Draugr lurches its way forward and I dodge and I spin right behind it as it passes me and I stab it in the back of the skull and it crumbles to the ground without a sound, as the blue light drains from its eyes.
"There are too many of them!" Farkas shouts, I refuse to believe that, we can do this and that's when I feel it, rising in my throat, my free hand goes to my throat as I feel it burning and I begin to cough, it feels like my throat is on fire, by Talos! What is this?! I stagger backwards as the Draugr form a tighter circle round me and I still hold my weapon up. But the words burn brighter in my eyes and that's when I can feel the words solidifying and I chop at the air to keep the Draugr away,
"Back away Aela and Farkas!" I manage to choke out past the Thu'um building in my throat and I turn to Farkas and he is beside me near as I stagger closer to the altar and I begin to sweat as the Thu'um is like an inferno building inside of me. My eyes dart around for Aela and I catch a flash of crimson hair to my right and I take a deep breath and that when I cannot hold it in anymore and it erupts out me,
"YOL!" I yell and fire streams from my mouth in a blaze as it coats the Draugr around us and the temperature in the room sky rockets as they catch alight, my wolf brushes against the surface as the Draugr begin to drop like flies and Farkas lets out a roar as he charges through the now crumbling ash piles as few Draugr remain and more than enough for us to deal with I smile as the words begin to fade into memory as the rooms temperature slowly begins to drop back down to normal as the remains of the fire slowly disappear. I charge into the group of Draugr and I clash blades with one and before it can overpower me my wolf rises and I push the away and I spin round just in time to parry a blow before pulling away and my blade goes through its stomach as it falls to the ground with a groan, and I take a deep breath as adrenaline pulses through my system and that's when my eyes catch a blade about to come down on Aela and my heart freezes.
"Aela! Look out!" I shout but not before the blade slices into her forearm, thank the gods their blades aren't as sharp as ours, anger begins to pump into my blood, Aela hisses and turns to face the Draugr as she twists around with her sword wielding arm coming round and she takes the Draugr's head off as it body drops making the blade slice further into her arm and before I know it my legs are moving towards her, as she drop down onto one knee to remove the blade. I duck and swerve under blades and fallen bodies I sheathe my sword and I pull out my dagger and as I spin around a blade and stab the shocked Draugr in the eye and I let loose a snarl as anger and adrenaline burns through my limbs. I have to reach Aela; I have to keep her safe. I get closer and I can hear her remove the blade from her arm as it slides over bone and my wolf growl which vibrates through my chest as I get within touching distance and I bare my teeth at the Draugr as I jump at the closest sending my dagger through its throat as it collapses as I fall into a forward roll and I stab the Draugr in front of me. And that's when I smell it, the smell of her blood wafts over to me and my gut tightens, she is losing a lot of blood in a short amount of time, I grab the ankle of another Draugr as I yank it out from underneath it and it sends it sprawling next to me and I plunge my dagger into its chest. I can hear Aela gritting her teeth as I see her in the corner of my eye switch blade hands as it hangs almost uselessly at her side, my face twits in anger at her wound and I turn back to face her as she ducks under a blow that was aimed right for her head. I run towards her as she ducks again as the blood begins to drip down from her fingers and hits the floor. The Draugr seem to have entered some kind of frenzy as the sight of her blood and more attack her at once as their attention on Farkas and I seem to disappear.
No! They will try to kill her! Take her away from us! A snarl bursts from my lips as my wolf speaks the truth, I know it and I cannot seem to reach her fast enough, as I bend down and grab the other dagger from my boot as I watch a Draugr's blade come close to Aela and I throw the bade with all my might as it's the Draugr with enough force to make its forehead concave with a crunch as it goes flying backwards knocking other the few remain Draugr. I look to Farkas and his eyes are calm as he continues to slash through the Draugr as the die under his blade, I would have marvelled at his skill if it were not for Aela's life being in danger.
"FUS!" I scream out causing the Draugr to stagger giving me enough to time close in on Aela but one does not stagger and this Draugr stands in my way as it opens its broken maw and releases the same shout and I stagger and I close my eyes as it picks up the dust around me. I open them to see its sword coming down on me and I manage to lift my dagger in time to stop it but it is only a tiny weapon compared to his and it back lashes into my face slicing through the skin on my forehead causing a wave of icy pain as his sword is only meter away from my face. I hiss as the frost enchantment burns into my brain and I feel myself going numb. I look up into the Draugr's face and it smiles crookedly pulling all the rotting tissue of its cheek with it. My arms begin to shake under the force my blade is under and I take a deep breath as I lean back onto my heels allowing us to go off balance before jumping back with my dagger poised to slice. The Draugr's eyes go wide and stumbles and my dagger comes down and through its helmet and into its rotting skull, I pull my knife out and I look up to see Aela swaying dangerously, my gut tightens. I need to treat her wounds now before it gets even worse. I begin to run towards her, trying to shake out the numbness in my arms and that's when I see it, a Draugr grabs Aela and she is too tired to turn around and she gasps as the blade goes through her and the black blade glistens with her blood on the other side. My gut cramps painfully as my emotions explode.
NO! It isn't happening, I try to take a deep breath but the air seems to be gone and my legs tremble as she hangs there suspended on the blade,
"AELA NO!" I scream as my wolf howls inside of me, I won't lose her here, I won't ever lose her. I refuse to .My silver orbs meet the rapidly darkening green orbs of Aela as a slight trail of blood escapes her mouth and that was my trigger to start me moving, I will save her, I will not lose her here to these undead creatures, she is mine. I let loose a roar as my wolf colours my vocal chords, I grasp the handle of my dagger tighter and I through it with all of my might and it hits the Draugr in the chest, it stumbles before turning to me and he drops his sword and with it; Aela, and I charge at it as my vision fades blue-black and I can hear my bones snapping and reforming as my nails fall out and claws extend and I leap onto the Draugr, ripping out its withered heart as my anger pumps hot around my body.
How dare this thing touch her and try and take her from me?! I crush the heart in my palm before dropping it and I turn around to see the hall is littered with dead corpses, my heart slowly begins to break at the thought that Aela could be one of these fallen. No! I shake my head as my eyes begin to fill with tears as my insides twist inside out as I turn frantically to find Aela form until I lock onto a piece of crimson hair and that's when I see Aela fallen on the floor.
And she isn't moving.
It feels like the ground has swallowed me up and that I am not even here anymore, I rush over and I shake her shoulder gently,
"Aela? Can you hear me?" I say as my voice trembles slightly and Farkas crouches down next to us and my wolf whimpers as she tries to contact Aela but we aren't getting a response. I feel almost numb with the amount of emotions circulating through me and I can barely concentrate on one of them as my gut begins to tighten,
"Farkas, I need you to help me take off the armour surrounding the wound. I will not lose her now" I manage to say as my voice break towards the end as I try to blink away the tears but one falls from my eye and it falls on Aela's cheek and her eyes flutter and I let out a sigh as I try to calm the tirade of emotions within me as I cup her warm cheeks and her dark orbs meet mine,
"I will not lose you, hold on please Aela, please" I beg her as I kiss her forehead and her eyes close as Farkas undoes the straps and reveals the wound and there is only a trickle of blood coming out of it but that's not the worst of it as my eyes drift over the wound and my gut drops. The sword was enchanted as little frost veins are spreading across her. A wave of nausea goes through me and I look to Farkas and he has worry in his eyes and I grit my teeth. I can do this, I can save her.
"Farkas you need to pull the sword out, I will hold her as you pull it out" I manage to say and he stands quickly and I hug Aela to me and I can feel her eyelashes fluttering on my neck and I take a deep breath as I try to ignore the smell of her blood and tighten my hold on her upper back and I can feel her shifting her arms around me and she hisses as the wound on her arm presses against me,
"This is going to hurt isn't it?" Aela's voice comes out so soft I barely hear it but it makes my heart seize up. I have a chance to save her and I will, my heart is beating so fast and its bleeding so much, tears fall down my face and I clear my throat before Farkas appears in my eye line and I nod at him,
"Yes, but then I can save you, I will save you so don't you dare give up on me Huntress" I manage to choke out before my voice breaks at the end, she lifts her head slightly and I can feel her lips on my neck. It's a silent promise to not give up no matter what. I sigh as I close my eyes as Farkas yanks the blade out and Aela goes rigid and her nails dig into me, slicing through my armour and into my flesh. I wince slightly but nothing with ever make me forgot the scream that Aela made as it chills me to the core and I hold her tighter as I can feel tears on my neck and my heart twists with her pain, by the Gods, I never want to have to cause that much pain to her, I just want to comfort her. I hear the blade drop on the floor as it rings out and I can feel more blood pour from the wound and I lay her back down and rip the Magika poultices from my belt and I down the contents as I grimace at the bitter taste.
I will save her no matter what,
"Farkas stand guard, I cannot save her with you looming over me" I say calmly and he gets out wordlessly and I can feel the Cairn shake slightly and I frown but I have to keep working if I am going to save her in time. I rub my hands together as I slowly pull away the block that holds all of my Magika and I force heat to stream down into my hands and I place it over the frost tendrils as they melt away under the flames I am placing over her skin. I can hear her teeth chattering due to the lingering enchantment as it could freeze her from the inside out, I won't let that happen. As I move up her toned stomach Aela moans painfully and her body shifts away slightly, I grab her with one hand and I pull her back to me as I thaw out the wound,
"I know it hurts Aela but you have to stay still, it won't be for much longer" I put all of my concentration into rooting out the cold and when I can find none. I look back up to Aela's face and I stroke her cheek,
"Hold on for me baby" I murmur to her and the heat evaporates from my hands and I flex them as the healing warmth filters through to my fingertips and I let out a sigh as I let it fill me and I place my hands on either side of the wound and she let out another moan,
"Shush, it's okay, I will stop the pain" I say when I hear rushed footsteps down the corridor, I look up in alarm, who the hell could that be? My eyes flicker to Farkas and his face is set in stone and it makes my gut twist into two,
"The Silver Hand has found us" he says and I turn back to the almost lifeless form of Aela and I turn back to Farkas as I begin to heal the wound, layer by layer.
"This kind of healing takes time Farkas; I cannot fix it in a couple of minutes!" I exclaim as I can feel the pressure mounting and I begin to sweat as I heal her insides first and the blood trickling from her mouth stops.
"Well let's hope the door holds, even if it is only for a little while. Do as much as you can and then we will have to find a way out" I grit my teeth as I pour more magic into my hands as I start to seal up the layer above her insides and then I hear the knocking on the door which turns to slamming. Sweat begins to fall off my face and onto the area around the wound; I am trying to reconnect everything to the other when they begin to break through the door,
"Karliah, we have to move!" Farkas yells and I don't turn to him as I finish connecting the life line from her heart to the rest of her body and I let out a little sigh, she can stay alive like this if we need to get away now, I move my hands away from her back wound and I look around before some linen cloth catches my eye,
"Farkas, grab that Linen cloth!" I shout and I look up in time to grab it as I quickly dress the wound before dropping it as the cut on her arm is bleeding heavily again and Aela is looking paler by the second. No, no! I have to do this now or we will lose her! I concentrate as I clasp my hands over the wound and I pour magic through my hands and I quickly repair the tissues in her arm and that's when I hear it,
"Look there! Companions! Kill the werewolves!" Someone in the Silver Hand shouts and I look up and they have only just broken through a section of the door. Farkas grabs my hand and I look up at him,
"We have to get out of here now!" he yells and I nod and I throw my pack over my shoulder, and Farkas goes to carry Aela when I stop him by placing my hand on his arm and his soft brow eyes look into my silver orbs.
"Let me carry her, if we are caught then we will both die together," I say as I grab the pieces of Wuuthrad from my pocket and force the piece of Wuuthrad into his hand and he looks at it "Take the piece of Wuuthrad, maybe then this trip won't have been in vain" I say and he grasps my forearm and I stare deep into his brown eyes and I am nearly drowning in the depth of them.
"It has been an honour Shield-Sister and an even greater honour to meet you Dragonborn" he says and I smiles as my wolf raises her hackles as my sliver scar prickles as she can sense the weapons they carry, I pick up Aela and she hangs limply in my arms and I go to reply to Farkas when the door blasts open with something that can only be magic based and its blast takes a few of the support beams with them and the entire chamber begins to shake.
Fuck, by the Gods no, not a cave in. I look back at Farkas and I see the exit behind him,
"Go that way! If we survive we will see you at Jorrvaskr Shield- Brother" I say and he nods and sprints towards it as the ceiling begins to collapse and I stumble towards the altar with Aela in my arms and she moans as she opens an eye and its dark orb stare into my eyes and she places her good arm around my neck and her touch sends a spark of hope through me, he can make it out of here I know we can, I look frantically around us when I see a small switch hanging on the wall and I manage to grab it as a part of the ceiling comes crashing down on where we were once stood, I gulp as more sweat pours down my face as my arms begin to ache a little. My wolf rubs against the surface and I let her shift my muscles and twists them into the powerful limbs and desperation gnaws at my gut as the door doesn't open and I stumble closer to it and I can see it is one of those two way doors. I smile as Hope fills my gut as I pull the chain out from the wall as I turn to see the Sliver Hand advancing towards us I let the chain go as I see an archer aiming at us and I push the door and it swivels round but not before the archer's arrow lands into my shoulder and I let out a snarl as my wolf lets out a growl and the door closes behind me and I can hear the Silver Hand banging on the door and I take a deep breath as we escaped the cave in. I look down at Aela, she has gone a near deathly white and the bandage on her arm is dripping with blood, no. Please no! My wolf rears close to the surface, she can get us out of here and somewhere safe faster than me. I put Aela down and I let the Change overtake me and it is faster than all my other Changes and it doesn't hurt at all, even she knows that we have to get out of here as fast as possible, I scoop up Aela as I look down at her in my blue-black vision and she even looks near death here. Any hope I had vanishes as I look at her.
Don't think like that, you are powerful and strong, you can save her.
Then suddenly I can feel dust trickling from above, I look up and I can see a crack in the cavern ceiling, shit. It just never stops. I shift Aela into the crook of one of my arms and I rip the arrow from my shoulder, I have to get us out of here and fast. I place Aela on my back a I look for something to tie her hands together with,
"I can hold on" Aela says and I am so shocked I almost forget to reply. I forget how strong she is, she is stronger than me and stronger than anyone else I have ever met. I love her so much, I cannot lose her. I feel her legs lock slightly around my waist and her hand holds onto my mane as her head rests into it. And I take off in a sprint as the cavern ceiling collapses and I do not stop once we are outside I keep running and running until I know I can keep her safe.
Not long afterwards…
I pant as I stop at the lake and I sit as I rest my aching legs, this is the place to do it, and then I feel Aela slide from my back and she falls to the ground I turn around and I face her and I shift back with a quick burst of pain and I am breathing hard as I look at her and she has gone grey. I pick up her good wrists and I can still feel her pulse, slow and faint but there. I have a chance, I sit back and I summon all the magic in me and I unwrap the poorly made bandages and toss them aside and I finish healing her, I have to, no matter how tired I am I have to do this.
I have to make sure she survives; she has to because I love her and I cannot live without her.
A few hours later…
Aela's POV
I let out a groan as my body feels battered and I crack open an eyelid and I frown. I thought we were in Dustman's Cairn? I look out and I can hear the lake as I am in a tent. How, by the Gods, did I get here? I go to sit up when a hot pain blazes through my torso and I grimace as I sit back down. I sigh as I place one hand on my face and I can feel pain in my forearm and I look at it and it has been bandaged, what happened? Where is Karliah? Farkas? Karliah, she was so distant in the Cairn, it was odd and I didn't like it, she was so quiet and I couldn't tell what was going on in her head, even Farkas was shooting me strange glances. My wolf lets out a soft growl. I have to sit up and that's when I smell a fire and cooking meat, I take a deep breath,
"Karliah? Farkas?" I say and it comes out croaky and I clear my throat when a tangled mass of black hair comes through the flap and I lock onto the persons eyes and it is Karliah, and she smiles softly and I can see tears in her eyes.
"Hey there" My cheeks grow warm as I look down at myself and I notice I am not wearing my armour, what happened to that? Karliah's hand on my cheek makes me look up in surprise and she is smiling as a tear runs down on her face and I wipe away the tear and she brings our foreheads together and I smile as I begin to relax,
"Hi" I say and she throws her arms around me and my eyes go wide and she hugs me tightly,
"You are okay, you're here" her voice trembles and I hold her as I frown, I think back to how I got here, then I remember, the Draugr, the Silver Hand, the Cave In and… and nearly dying. My eyes go wide, and I hold her tight to me. She almost lost me, but she saved me. My wolf rubs affectionately against her wolf.
"I am here Lia, I am not going anywhere" I say and I can feel her trembling and I pull her into the tent and I we fall back and I hiss as my stomach flares up with pain and her hand runs down to the bandage,
"I couldn't heal you fully, I thought it wouldn't be enough, everything was so uncertain and I was so tired, I just couldn't keep the magic flowing long enough and I thought I had lost you" she says and her voice almost breaks in the end of the sentence and that's when the sobs rack her small body and she hold me to her and I can hear her breathing me in and my heart warms and breaks at the same time. I almost died and it must have torn her apart knowing that she could have saved me. I lift her head to make our eyes meet and her silver orbs smoulder into mine,
"It was enough though and I am right here" I say and she presses her lips on mine in a long searing kiss sending the electrical shocks through me as I feel her hands cup my face as her thumb brushes over my cheek sending little pinpricks of electricity through me and to my heart, she fought to keep me here and I could not love her more than I do right now for that very reason.
A/N: Happy New Year's Eve! Well thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought so please review and I am so again for taking so long with this chapter but I had to fill it with feels