Disclaimer: I own nothing except Kalina
Kalina walked through the doors that led from Alftand to Blackreach wondering how a ruin could be within a ruin. She stopped just on the other side of the doors, silver eyes wide in astonishment at what she could see just from that area.
"Are you going to let me see what this Blackreach is all about or are we going to stand here?" Marcurio grumbled from behind her.
"Marcurio, this place...it's gorgeous. And huge!" Kalina said breathlessly.
Pushing his way past her the mage gave his fellow Imperial an exasperated look before he turned to see what she found so fascinating, and had to admit it was an amazing view. "It's...like a whole underground ruin of a city or something...I've never heard of anything like it, much less seen."
The two companions just stared dumbfounded as they took in the scene before them with the light that seemed to be coming from what looked gigantic mushrooms. As they moved closer to the edge of the platform their eyes took in the ruins of many Dwemer buildings.
"Please tell me we are not going to spend a lot of time down here," pleaded Marcurio. "As interesting as this place is I would really like to get back to civilization."
Kalina stared at the view before her for a while longer wishing she could indeed stay longer, unfortunately she hadn't planned on coming upon such a ruin and even before she thought of exploring Blackreach more she would need to resupply.
Sighing with regret the brunette shook her head, "No we aren't. Much as I would love to I didn't plan on coming upon something such as this." This place put the Ayleid Ruins back home in Cyrodiil to shame, and those had been something to see. Looking over the edge all she could think of was the valuables that must be hidden in this massive ruin. While Alftand and many other ruins like it clearly had previous explorers Blackreach appeared to be untouched for the Divines knew how many years. A slight smile tipped the corners of her lips upwards. Next time she came Kalina knew that she would have to drag Brynjolf out of Riften to come with her. The amount of loot the two of them could carry out of this place would help the Guild just as much as getting the major holds back as Guild towns.
While Kalina was lost in thought and awe over the dwarven city Marcurio was eyeing the contraption of what looked like a bow sitting on the ledge. His gaze followed the path it would take and saw that it was directly facing the nearest building with a dwarven sphere in front the door, seemingly guarding it. Yanking the lever to activate the weapon he jumped when it slammed into the construct destroying it, and probably alerting any other constructs or Falmer within hearing distance. The mage's fellow Imperial whirled and smacked him on the arm.
"Are you trying to get hordes of the damned things down on us?" she demanded.
They both paused to listen, barely daring to breathe. When it became obvious that nothing was coming for them Kalina scowled at her companion. "Luck. Well lets see if your luck holds and hopefully that building will serve well enough as a safe house for us."
Grabbing her bow and nocking an arrow Kalina motioned for Marcurio to follow her. Together the two Imperials creeped down the steps and turned towards the nearest building, the one the sphere had been guarding. Warily the rogue sniffed the air trying to scent for the oil of any constructs or the foul scent of the Falmer, unfortunately the whole area seemed to reek of Falmer which meant that they could be anywhere and everywhere.
As soon as they reached the building Kalina sheathed her bow and placed the arrow back in her quiver, drawing her sword instead. If there was anything in there her bow wouldn't do much good. She glanced behind her at Marcurio who had his destruction spells at the ready and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Unless you feel like frying me along with whatever may be in there I would suggest using your dagger," she said dryly.
Flushing the destruction wizard snuffed out the spells that he had called to his hands and pulled out his dagger. Kalina nodded her approval and held up three fingers, putting one down at a time. As soon as the third and final finger fell the two companions burst into the building weapons at the ready, only to find it abandoned. Glancing at each other they sheathed their respective weapons and took a closer look at the room they found themselves in.
Kalina frowned hearing a chiming noise that sounded vaguely familiar. "Do you hear that chiming, Marcurio?"
The mage glanced around the small room eyes searching for the source of the sound. "It sounds almost like a Nirnroot." His searching gaze landed on a pot on the other side of the room containing what looked like a red version of the aforementioned plant.
Kalina following seeing her friend's frown followed his line of sight until she saw the strange colored plant as well, "Those things are usually green...I collected enough of the damned things Ingun Blackbriar to know. Maybe it has something to do with Blackreach itself?"
Marcurio shook his head, puzzled, "I don't know. Check the skeleton, see if there is a journal or something that will explain it, until then I would suggest not touching it as we don't know if it's poisonous or not."
"Aren't we the bossy one now?" teased the rogue as she knelt next to the skeleton. Upon closer inspection she noticed one of it's hands seemed to be clutching a journal. Gently untangling the finger bones from journal Kalina flipped it open to the first page. A gasp escaped her lips at the notation of the owner. Sinderion. It couldn't be...and yet...could it? The same Sinderion that Champion of Cyrodiil had helped? Kalina could remember reading notes in the Champion's journal of how frustrating it had been to try and collect the samples of Nirnroot Sinderion needed for his potions. By the Divines how small a world was Nirn?
At Marcurio's questioning glance the Imperial rogue quickly composed herself. "It's Sinderion, I'm just in a bit of a shock because I met a colleague of his here in Skyrim and she had told me she never knew what happened to him. I guess now I can let her know." Flipping through the journal the first passages caught her eye, Sinderion mentioned the Champion, not by name but any who knew the Savior of Bruma and her history would know immediately who he was talking about. Skimming past those passages Kalina lighted upon the explanation for the odd colored Nirnroot. "Apparently an explorer brought the Crimson Nirnroot to Sinderion and told him he had found in it Blackreach. The explorer gave Sinderion a map and a key to get here." Kalina shook her head sadly, "Sinderion wanted to collect 30 Crimson Nirnroot for his experiment but he didn't realize what he was getting into."
"How could he not? Everyone in Skyrim knows of the Falmer that lie in the depths of Dwemer ruins," was Marcurio's astonished reply.
"Because he came from Cyrodiil...from Skingrad. We don't have anything like the Falmer in Cyrodiil, you know that, Marcurio. He mentioned that someone else did the collecting of the regular Nirnroot for him, and he was an Altmer. They are generally proficient in magic as a rule so why would he think this Blackreach would be such a problem?" She sighed regretfully for the long dead Altmer alchemist. "Either way we can use his lab as a place to rest for now and catch our breath. If you want you can take the bed, if you can call it that," she wrinkled her nose at the stone slab that was used for a bed, "and I'll keep watch."
"Are you sure? You had that trek to Winterhold and you didn't rest before we set out."
"I don't need much sleep, trust me. Go ahead and rest, you need it more than I do." Kalina smiled gently, "Remember I'm used to running from one end of Skyrim to the other constantly, therefore I'm used to staying up for quite some time."
Marcurio eyed her frowning but took his fellow Imperial's suggestion. He removed the dwarven armor that they had found and laid down on the stone bed while Kalina went about looting the ill-fated Altmer's lab. There was enough ingredients for Marcurio to mix into potions when he awakened. Spying a set of leather boots with a shimmer of enchantment around them Kalina grabbed them and put them in her pack, hopefully they would reach the Tower of Mzark quickly because she fast running out of room in her packs. After grabbing everything she deemed useful Kalina settled down on the floor setting her bow and quiver of arrows in front of her. In doing so the rogue noticed that the destruction wizard's breathing had evened out and deepened. A glance towards her companion confirmed that he was fast asleep. A look of envy crossed Kalina's face for a brief moment. Envy because of the mage's ability to fall deeply asleep, although her inability to do such was of her own doing.
With one last glance at the remains of Sinderion Kalina settled herself against the wall closing her eyes and letting her body relax. Giving a deep sigh the brunette's thoughts turned to Riften and to Brynjolf. Things were coming to a head very fast with Alduin, so fast that if she wasn't careful the whole world would know she was the Dragonborn before Bryn knew and that would be very bad. Bryn had put his trust into her and if he found out who and what she was before Kalina told him herself any chance of anything with him would vanish in an instant. However she was scared if she did tell him that the same thing would happen which was why she kept avoiding it, and if she was truthful with herself being the Dragonborn wasn't the only issue. There was her being the Harbinger of the Companions, Thane of Whiterun, a werewolf, as well as her heritage and past from Cyrodiil. Any one of those things would get her into hot water with the red headed Nord much less all of them.
Running a hand through her hair restlessly Kalina very privately acknowledged a part of her was also scared to pieces that she would not survive her battle against Alduin. Nothing in the prophecy said the Dragonborn had to survive the final battle. Her emotions were running cold and hot and when it came to thoughts of Brynjolf the Imperial knew that she cared deeply for him, and wanted to explore what was there, yet if she didn't survive where would that leave the Nord?
Groaning Kalina opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. Well all those issues would have to be addressed at a later time, after herself and Marcurio had made it through Blackreach and back to civilization. Thinking about them now would mean her attention would be divided when it needed to be solely on her current task as both her and her fellow Imperial's lives depended on it.
Figuring at least a couple hours had passed since Marcurio had laid down Kalina stood calling his name softly to wake him but not startle him so badly he started throwing fireballs, she'd seen him do it before. "Marcurio. Marcurio, wake up." The mage stirred some before settling back into sleep. Sighing at her fellow Imperial Kalina called his name again, this time with a bit more force. "Marcurio. Marcurio if you ever want to make it back to Riften to enjoy all that gold I gave you when I hired you need to wake up."
Crossing her arms Kalina watched impatiently as Marcurio slowly sat up while pinning her with a glare, "That was barely a couple hours worth of sleep."
"And? I'm sure you're recharged by now. I don't know about you but I would prefer to be done with this quickly and get back to civilization. Now come on and get up," with that Kalina picked up her quiver slinging it across her back again before picking up her bow.
"Don't you need sleep?" Marcurio questioned as he went about putting the Dwarven armor back on.
She shook her head, "I'll be fine, Marcurio. I told you I don't need much sleep. The couple hours you slept were enough for me to relax. I've had enough of Dwemer ruins to last me a life time, I just want to finish this and go home."
As she grabbied up her packs and settled them on her shoulders Kalina motioned to the alchemy bench, "Any chance you can mix up some extra potions with the ingredients there before we leave?"
"Of course, it will only take me a few moments." True to his word Marcurio had the potions done quickly.
Kalina handed Marcurio his packs after they divided up the potions between them. With one last look around Sinderion's lab and silent prayer for the years dead alchemist the rogue led the way out. "You know we'll face Falmer, a few constructs and Talos knows what else. This is your last chance to turn back, if you want, Marcurio."
The destruction wizard glanced at his fellow Imperial, "Not likely to happen, Kalina. I'm as determined as you to see this through."
"Alright, let's go."
Readying an arrow in her bow with Marcurio calling fire and lightning to his hands behind her, Kalina led the way deeper into Blackreach.
By the time the two Imperials reached the Tower neither felt like they had rested at all. Blackreach for all it's beauty was just as dangerous, if not more so, than the regular Dwemer ruins. Everywhere the two companions turned there were charus, falmer, constructs and at one point even another centurion. Kalina had gotten blasted by that one's steam breath and at the end of the battle was never more thankful for the quickness of healing potions. Neither of them had escaped the denizens of Blackreach without some kind of injury. Kalina was thankful the end seemed to be in sight as the two of them were running low on magicka and health potions both.
"Reminder to self," Kalina muttered, "next time I decide to come here I need to bring lots and lots of potions."
"You're planning on coming back her?" Marcurio questioned incredulously.
"Of course. I want to find those Crimson Nirnroots and can you imagine the loot around this place?"
"You're crazy!"
The rogue laughed as she pushed open the door to the Tower. "Never said I wasn't. I'm a thief by trade and the Dragonborn by blood. I steal things and fight dragons for a living basically. What is sane about that?"
"Very true," commented Marcurio as he followed his companion into the Tower.
Kalina eyed the lever taking a deep breath. Let's hope that this journey of mine for the Elder Scroll is almost over. Reaching out she pulled the lever and braced herself as the lift started and moved upwards into the Tower of Mzark.
As soon as the lift ceased moving Kalina opened the gate to the Tower sniffing the air and listening intently for any signs of constructs, Falmer, or anything of the like. The air was clean of all smells and she relaxed for the first time in hours.
"All clear?" questioned Marcurio when he saw her relax. Over the day and a half or more that the two Imperials had spent in the ruins he had stopped questioning her abilities to smell and hear things he could not.
"As far as I can tell. No falmer, and I don't hear the normal sounds of constructs. I suppose that's something of a relief."
The two companions moved further into the Tower and the first thing both of them saw was the abandoned camp site in the middle of the room, complete with a burned out campfire, bedroll, and knapsack. Frowning over the factor she hadn't smelled it Kalina approached the campfire and knelt down to feel the ashes. "Cold. This fire burned out quite some time ago. For all we know it could have been years ago that it did."
"None of the explorers made it this far, right?"
"Of course not, we found all their bodies, Sulla was killed in front of our eyes and Umana left the ruins by way of the previously locked gate. However I wouldn't be surprised if we weren't the first to find this city."
Brushing the ash off her hands Kalina stood her eyes searching the room. "Grab anything you see of value, Marcurio, and than join me in the next room." Realizing how she sounded the rogue glanced at her fellow Imperial giving a small smile of apology, "Please."
"Anxious?" he questioned.
"Yes. I just, I don't know, Marcurio. I've been gone from Riften for about a month or so now between jobs and now this." Her silvery eyes flicked towards the other room, "I guess seeing the bodies of those explorers, knowing we were just a little too late to save them, that they died for one man's greed, makes me angry and yet at the same time makes me want to return to Riften."
"Kalina, are you saying in all the years you've been a thief that you have never killed anyone for greed?" There was doubt in the destruction mage's voice.
"Never! I was never a part of the guild in Cyrodiil but I knew members and the despite the fact that it was a group of thieves there were rules. The first rule was to never ever kill on a job, the same is true here in Skyrim. Thieves are just that, Marcurio, thieves. We steal things but as a general rule we do not commit murder." Kalina sighed and ran a hand roughly through her dark hair. "Sulla might as well have killed his companions himself, because he wanted all the fame and glory the man chose to ignore the warning signs and then in the end he ended up with nothing, not even his own life. A thief, a true thief, would never do such a thing."
Marcurio gave a slightly embarrassed grin, "Sorry, looks like I touched a nerve."
Kalina blushed somewhat, "I'm sorry, too. Didn't mean to lecture. Anyways I am going to go take a look in the next room. Join me when you've grabbed everything of value, ok?" At her companion's nod the brunette moved into the next room.
A first glance around the room revealed nothing other than the fact the room was very big and in the middle there was what looked like a huge machine, something that was not uncommon in dwemer ruins. A second glance had the rogue's eyes looking upwards at what appeared to be another part of the machine with huge greenish lenses within it. This machine must be what she needed to activate in order to retrieve the Elder Scroll.
Moving further into the room Kalina spotted a podium that was on an upper level, and directly below said podium was a skeleton. Presumably this was the poor soul who had made the camp in the other room. Kalina made her way over to the skeleton in hopes that the whoever the poor thing had been had left a journal to help her puzzle out the great machine. Luck apparently was with her as the Imperial rogue spotted the late adventurer's journal.
"Kalina?" Marcurio called out as he ascended up the path from the other room. From where he was the mage wasn't able to see her and this place was affecting her more so than some of the other ruins the two of them had explored. It would be out of character for her to run off leaving him to fend for himself but then he knew she was feeling off kilter thanks to the deaths of the explorers.
"Over here, Marcurio," Kalina called absently to her companion while she read the journal, despite the author proclaiming it to be otherwise.
"Another journal?" he questioned amused.
"Yes, but this one gives me hints on how to solve this Dwemer puzzle." Pulling out the blank lexicon that the mad mage in the sea of ghosts had given her Kalina looked up at the podium above. "I think I know what to do."
Marcurio watched as his companion walked up the slope to the pillars that activated the great Dwemer machine. It almost seemed as if Kalina had changed somehow. Throughout the whole of this experience he had never doubted for an instant that she was a rogue, yet now there was something else there as well, more of a warrior aspect. Intellectually the mage knew that a person was either one or the other, never both. Yet his fellow Imperial seemed more of a warrior than a rogue in this instant and Marcurio wondered if he was seeing not just Kalina the rogue from Cyrodiil but Kalina the Dragonborn.
Placing the Lexicon in the holder Kalina watched as two of the pillars unshielded revealing buttons and the ceiling above opened to shine light upon the room. "I have to say the Dwemer did make some beautiful things, even if they themselves were bastards," she commented as her and Marcurio took in the view of the room with the ceiling open. Turning her attention back to the pillars Kalina pressed the button on the tallest pillar watching as the fixtures seemed to swing wider. It took her a few frustrating moments and a bit of swearing thrown in before the Dragonborn figured out to work the machine and get the rest of the buttons open. It wasn't long before Kalina managed to figure out the other buttons on the last two pillars.
She watched as the lenses on the machine swung wide revealing a container that dropped down towards the floor. For a brief moment the rogue felt a spurt of fear that somehow someone or something had already gotten the scroll and this would all have been for nothing. Almost instantly that fear dissapated as the container opened to reveal the Elder Scroll.
"I can't believe it," Marcurio breathed astonished. "I'm actually looking at an Elder Scroll. The only ones who ever usually get any where near a Scroll are the Moth Priests in Cyrodiil."
Kalina made her way down the ramp after grabbing the now Runed Lexicon and walked over to the scroll hesitantly reaching out and pulling it from it's container. "The only person I know of other than the high nobility or Moth Priests that got this close to a Scroll was the Grey Fox back in the Third Era," her voice contained more than a little awe.
"So what now?"
"Now? Now we go back to Riften. I think I will finally have enough money to buy Honeyside and this Scroll will be put under lock and key."
"Aren't you going to read it?"
Kalina shook her head, "Reading the Scrolls causes blindness. Usually temporary but sometimes permanent. I can't risk that now. I will be risking it as it is when I use it at the Time Wound." She looked around and spotted the exit. "Are you ready to get back to civilization?" the rogue teased her fellow Imperial.
"You have no idea!" was the fervent reply.
"Then let's go home, friend. I'm eager to be back in Riften."
"And eager to see a certain Nord?" teased Marcurio as the two companions exited the ruins.
Kalina breathed in the cold crisp air and instantly shivered in it as well. However for all the factor it was cold she was more than relieved to be out of the ruins. "I don't know what you mean."
"Of course," Marcurio smiled and than sighed looking around. "It's good to be outside again. So back to Riften?"
"Yes!" Back to Riften and the stubborn Nord.
A/N: And finally we come to the end of Blackreach and Alftand. Which is a very very good thing as I was starting to get burnt out on it. Ack never a good thing. So as always please read and review! Thank you so much for all the favorites and followers. I appreciate each and every single one, it's what helps me keep writing knowing people are interested in my story.