"It's not really much to look at, is it?" Driem said.

No, it wasn't. It was a hole in the ground at best.

After her tussle through Saarthal, Kiir had been expecting something similar for the tomb of some revered hero. Instead, it looked more the the opening to a mine.

"Are you sure this is it?" Kiir asked.

"Positive."

Kiir dismounted and wandered up to the edge of the opening. A spiral set of stairs led down to a door at the base. She frowned. "You think there'll be draugr?"

"No doubt," Romanda replied. She joined Kiir at the edge. "Not a fan?"

"Not at all." Kiir shivered. At least we're finally getting this damn thing. She started down the steps. "Will the horses be alright out here?"

"They have water and food. They will be fine." Nie'mar fell into step behind Kiir.

The door to the tomb was ornate and, thankfully, not locked.

Kiir pushed it open with relative ease and relished the warmth of the inside of the dungeon. She eyed the lit torches on the wall. "Was someone already here?"

"Bandits, maybe," Driem answered.

The fire didn't seem to be magical in any way, at least as far as Kiir could tell. She waved her hand around them and the flames flickered.

"Well don't put them out," Romanda chided. She picked one of the up from its place on the wall. "We can use them."

Kiir backed away and nodded. The room they were in was large, held up by crumbling pillars. I hope this thing isn't planning on collapsing. No one else seemed to be worried, so Kiir kept her mouth shut.

This tomb was far more streamlined than Saarthal had been. There were fewer halls to get lost in and fewer large rooms to inspect. The whole place seemed to be pointing its guests in one, singular direction.

Kiir would have found the place far more charming if she wasn't eyeing the sarcophagi that lined the walls. There were a number of draugr bodies strewn across the floor - ones that Kiir made the active choice to stay as far away from as possible. "Are they-"

"Dead," Driem said. She kicked one, then crouched and turned it over. "Not long death, either."

"I'm pretty sure draugr are, by their very nature, dead," Romanda laughed.

Driem huffed. "Yeah, yeah. Re-dead then. These guys were moving when they came out of their coffins. Now they're not."

"So someone was here," Kiir said. There were at least four dead draugr just in the hallway. Kiir could see a few more open caskets further down. But who would even know about this place?

"We should assume that they are here for the same thing we are. Treasure at least, if not the horn specifically." Nie'mar said. "I cannot see anyone fighting their way this deep through the tomb for anything else."

Kiir nodded. But who else would want the Horn?

As if hearing her thoughts, Romanda spoke aloud. "I didn't think the Horn was that popular."

"The Greybeards wanted to keep it out of the hands of people who might misuse it," Kiir said. "Maybe I'm a little late to the party."

Nie'mar hummed. "Only one way to find out."

The walls were tinted a mild green from the moist air that hung throughout the old Nordic burial ground. The few halls or rooms dotting the central halls were filled with Urns and more coffins. How many people lived her in its prime? She found herself wondering.

"Hey, come on, this way," Romanda called from ahead.

Kiir hardly noticed she was lingering. She jogged ahead, catching up to where the group was positioned in front of a large metal door.

"Here, look-" Nie'mar pointed. "Hand prints."

Kiir leaned in. Nie'mar was right - they were as clear as day, having rubbed away at the metal of the aging door.

"Looks like they found a key, too," Kiir added.

Romanda sighed. "Great. The way this is going the Horn will be gone by the time we get there."

"Not necessarily," Kiir said. There was no guarantee someone made it all the way through the tomb. Saarthal had been full of traps and she was sure Ustengrav must have some too. "They could be dead further in."

"Well, let's hope they are," Driem said. She pushed forward on the doors.

Kiir pulled her robes closer to herself, stuffing her hands under her arms. The tomb grew colder the further they descended.

"Hey Kiir, look at this!" Romanda called from below.

Kiir grinned.

They had made it to an old banquet hall of sorts and Romanda was sitting lazily in what must've been a throne. "How to I look?" she asked.

"Smug and up to no good."

"Perfect."

"I did not think I would have to be telling you to quit horsing around, Romanda," Nie'mar chided from the bottom of the steps. "Come on, let us keep moving."

Suddenly, Driem's voice echoed from above. "Uh, guys? You might want to come see this."

Kiir's brow raised. Did she find the Horn?

Romanda had already started up the steps and down another bridge above the throne room, coming up from behind Driem and Nie'mar.

Kiir was hot on her heels and, when they all stopped, she turned her gaze upwards. "Wow."

This looked nothing like Saarthal. The hallway led into a room that was hardly even a room. It was a... ravine? Cavern? Giant hole? The floor extended only a few more feet before it dropped off to a pool below. There were a number of paths and bridges that connected different parts of the cavern to each other, all illuminated by beams of light filtering from fissures somewhere up above. There were trees and grass and a waterfall... Kiir could barely believe all of this was underground!

"This is amazing," Romanda said. She started to wander forward.

Nie'mar grabbed at her shirt collar, pulling her back. "Be careful! Who knows what kind of traps are laid out here."

Romanda scoffed. "Relax, don't you think we'd see them? That's daylight, Nie."

"Whoever's in here with us might have left traps of their own too," Driem said. She leaned out to look over the edge.

Nie'mar nodded, "And ruin spells can be subtle."

Nie'mar headed the group and took the path that lead them straight down to the ground floor, choosing her steps very carefully once they reached the grassy bottom..

Kiir caught glimpses of the insides of the other rooms as she followed, most of them having caved in long ago. She had to resist the urge to wander.

Nie'mar pushed forward, and Kiir was sad to see them heading back into the tomb, leaving behind the grass cavern.

I had hoped the Horn would just be at the bottom, Kiir thought. She shrugged - things hadn't ever been that easy.

More dead draugr and various already-triggered traps greeted them as they divulged further inward. Kiir was surprised Nie'mar was able to keep her bearings - many of the rooms and hallways looked the same to her.

Kiir was examining a particularly nasty looking barbed gate tied back and kept from swinging into the walkway by a sturdy chain, when Nie'mar suddenly called them to a halt.

"Hold up!"

Kiir snapped her head up.

Nie'mar stood before a hallway, no different to Kiir's eyes than the many others they'd already gone through, hand raised. "We might have a problem."

Kiir drew closer.

The hallway didn't change. It was longer, perhaps, and full of draugr bodies, but nothing about it seemed to warrant Nie'mar's attention.

"What?" Kiir asked.

"The bodies," Driem said. She wandered up close to the hallway. "They're burnt. Almost look fried."

Nie'mar nodded. "And there are pressure plates on the floor. They probably trigger some kind of flame trap."

Kiir was silently thankful she wasn't here alone. Now that she knew what to look for, she could see the raised plates plain as day. She'd probably have triggered the trap. "So the draugr burnt themselves."

Driem shook her head. "No, draugr aren't heavy enough to activate the plates. Nords designed them that way so the draugr didn't trigger all the traps and leave the tombs open to raiding. Our friend did this."

"So how did they get through?" Kiir continued. The only bodies she saw were draugr. "How do we get through?"

There was a beat of silence.

"Maybe there's a lever?" Romanda offered. "To shut it off."

Nie'mar shook her head. "Of course. I doubt it would be on this side of the hallway though."

"Because then what's the point of it in the first place," Kiir finished. "Do you think our... friend turned it off? Maybe it's still disabled?"

Romanda shrugged. She turned around and glanced over the room they were in. "That's possible. We haven't seen any working traps yet. Maybe they were in a hurry." She drew her war hammer and leaned away from the plate as she applied force. The entire hallway erupted into flames.

"No such luck then."

Kiir stared at the hallway. There had to be a way through!

Wuld. Na.

A flash of wind burst through the room.

Kiir startled, turning around.

Nie'mar had her attention on the hallway.

Kiir followed her gaze. Again the hallway was filled with flame. She heard another Wuld.

Driem flew out from the hallway, landing clean on her feet. She was frantically swatting at the parts of her hair that had caught on fire.

"You know a shout?" Kiir blurted.

Driem didn't reply immediately, still preoccupied with her hair. "Part of one."

"Looks like that didn't work," Romanda chuckled. She reached over to put out a small flame still burning in Driem's hair.

"No, because those plates also trigger a gate at the end." Driem groaned. "I couldn't get far enough."

"How in the world do you know a shout?" Nie'mar asked. Her eyes were wide.

Driem shrugged. "Little birdie."

"You'll have to introduce us," Romanda said. She turned from Driem to face the hallway again. "But unfortunately, your little birdie didn't give us enough to get out of here."

Nie'mar turned to Kiir. "Do you know that shout?"

Kiir nodded. It had been the one that tossed her off the mountain. "I do. Whirlwind Sprint."

Driem suddenly looked very interested, "Do you know the whole thing?"

Kiir nodded.

"So," Driem gestured to the hallway, "take a crack at it."

"It lit you on fire," Kiir replied.

"You know all three words."

"Yeah, I-"

"I almost made it. If two got me that close, three will definitely toss you to the other side."

"But you said there was a gate-"

"Only after I landed on the plates. If you skip on over them you'll be fine."

Kiir stared down the hallway. "Right." She moved to position herself at the front of the hallway, about twenty feet back. She raised her hands and cast an Ebonyhide spell.

Romanda raised an eyebrow. "Not taking any chances, huh?"

"Not if I don't have to," Kiir replied. Taking in a breath, Kiir tried to focus on the end of the hallway.

Wuld. Na. Kest.

Kiir felt her feet lift from the ground. The hallway flew past her and suddenly, she was on the other side.

Her landing was less than graceful. Her foot struck awkwardly on the uneven ground and Kiir stumbled, scraping her elbows on the floor.

"You did it!" Driem called. "Good job! Now find the lever!"

That's the plan. Kiir picked herself up from the floor and brushed herself off. She turned around. There didn't seem to be a lever in sight. "If there's not a lever?"

"There is always a lever!" Nie'mar replied. "Check some of the alcoves! Nordic ruins usually have them there!"

There were few of those in this room. Kiir moved a little further down the hall to her left. "Found it!" The lever was old and rusted, but Kiir finally managed to pull it where she heard a click. "You guys should be good!"

Romanda was the first through. "So. How do you think ourfriend got through?"

"Without a shout, you mean?" Nie'mar asked.

"Maybe they didn't," Driem offered, "Maybe this was where they had to turn around."

"No. Look there," Romanda pointed at another disabled trap, a battering ram style log that had been cut from the ceiling and laid across the hall floor, "They must've gone through here too."

"Then maybe they know the shout as well."

Kiir didn't like the sound of that. She had assumed that shouts were a rarity. Just her and the Greybeards. She turned to Driem. "How many shouts do you know?"

"Just that one. And only two words of it."

Kiir hummed. "I didn't think anyone else could shout."

"Well," Nie'mar said, "There is Ulfric I suppose. I had not thought about it before."

Driem shook her head. "Anyone can shout, technically. It's just really hard, and takes a long ass time to learn them."

"Farkas tried to learn to shout once," Romanda said. She laughed. "He got bored after a minute or two."

Nie'mar smiled. "That sounds like him."

Kiir ran her hand along the walls as she and the others carried on. How many others know shouts? She'd been so sure the Horn would be safe because hardly anyone could use it. But now it seemed the Horn was in far more danger than Kiir had first realized.

Her heart sped up a little. Kiir wasn't sure she'd be able to face the Greybeards if she failed. They'd asked her for a simple task and she couldn't even complete that.

"We're almost there."

Kiir startled. She looked up to see that she had entered a wide hallway. Lit torches had the whole place glowing orange. At the end, a metal gate stood with a frame ornately decorated with Nordic runes.

This had to be the place.

Nie'mar moved down the hall and pulled the chain beside the gate. It squealed as it ascended upwards.

Kiir had heard the sounds of trickling water earlier and now realized what it was from.

A single, thin path cut through the center of the room, with small pools of water on either side. The pools were each fed by trickles of water coming from the walls. Pillars ran alongside the path, these in much better condition than the ones at the entrance. It smelled like mold, but Kiir was too excited to mind.

At the far end of the room, she could see steps that led up to an altar.

Kiir squinted.

Someone was already there.

Is that-

Driem had already reached for one of the bows on her back. "Looks like we caught up with our friend."

The person had heard the gate open and turned suddenly towards them. Then, they bolted.

"Shit," Romanda hissed.

Driem and Nie'mar both fired arrows at the retreating figure, but they were too far away to hit their fleeing mark.

Kiir raced forward. There was no way she was losing the Horn. Not after all this! She struggled to keep her footing on the slick path between the pools.

"Kiir!" Nie'mar shouted.

She heard a splash and a curse as Nie'mar slipped on the rocks.

The altar was empty. There was a single hand coming up from the sarcophagus, curled like it had been holding something.

Something like the Horn.

"They took it!" Kiir shouted. She darted around the altar and started towards the door the thief had gone through.

"Kiir, wait!"

I have to get it back! Frustration bubbled to the surface and Kiir wanted to scream. I did not come all this way to-

Then, the wall exploded.

And... fin! Another season down!

Thank you to everyone who had faved, followed, reviewed, or just kept reading! It is absolutely appreciated!

There will be another break here between seasons and, with the holiday season fast approaching, Season 3 will likely be up at the start of the new year.

So Happy Holidays to everyone and see you in 2018!

~Illusion Mod