Curiosity killed the cat

6th of Frostfall, 4E 205. Morndas

Harry looked over at the other students. They didn't like him much. Well Onmund wasn't so bad especially not after he'd found out that Harry had been raised by the Dragonborn. The other two weren't too happy with the fact that Harry was far younger then them but somehow seemed to know far more. They had taken to calling him a teacher's pet. Not that the raven cared really. He was there to learn.

Drevis Neloren their teacher in Illusions had just left for the day. He had been muttering to himself as he walked away when Tolfdir came walking in to the lecture hall. "Gather to me will you," he called out. He waited until all his students had joined him. "I believe that you are ready for some practical study," he said. "The College has taken on a fascinating excavation of the ruins of Saarthal nearby. It is an excellent learning opportunity. I suggest we travel there first thing tomorrow morning. We shall all meet after sunrise and leave for the ruins." He looked at each one of them. "I will see you tomorrow morning," he said. "Don't be late."

Harry closed the book he had been reading and walked out after the old Nord. He headed over to the Hall of Attainment and into his room. Going to Saarthal sounded interesting. He wondered if any of the other students had ever explored a Nordic tomb before. 'Not that it maters. Hopefully there will be enough people around that they won't get hurt,' he thought. He grabbed his backpack and his notebook. He made sure that he had some of Ra'shall's potions with him. He didn't need all that much stuff with him.

Once he was finished packing, he walked over to his armour. He needed to make sure that it was in top shape. 'I need to fill up on food just in case as well,' he thought. He would probably head over to the local store for that. He didn't mind supporting the local economy. He wasn't even sure where the College got their food from.

After he was sure he'd be alright the following day, he spent the rest of the day deep in his research into alternative enchanting. The stones that Ra'shall had found for him lay beside him on the bed. He didn't mind sitting in bed when he studied. He knew he was missing something. It was right there in front of him, but he couldn't put his finger on the problem.

…

7th of Frostfall, 4E 205. Tirdas

Harry fastened the last strap on his armour. He grabbed his hair and tired it up in a low ponytail to get it out of his face. He didn't have a helmet with his armour. He'd foregone one in favour of a half mask that covered the left side of his face. He tied it in place. He'd enchanted it himself to help him from going exhausted when he used his magic. He had forged it with Katla's help. It had been a fun thing to do as she fixed his armour to fit; it had gotten a bit small. He'd grown quite a lot the past year.

He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He'd eaten and he had a decent amount of food with him. 'Well, I'll be fine at least,' he thought. He nodded in Tolfdir direction as he got outside. "Do you mind if I go ahead?" he asked the old Nord. "I can find my way there just fine."

Tolfdir looked at him with a pensive expression for a moment. "Oh, well I can't see any harm in allowing you to go on ahead," he said. "There are two other researchers over there already. You need to talk to Arniel Gane. He will tell you what you can help him with." He pulled a key out of a pocket. "You will need this I have another one," he said. "Be careful."

"I will," Harry said. "Thank you Master Tolfdir." He accepted the key. "I'll be there when you get there," he said. He turned around and walked out of the College building. His hand filled with purple light. A shimmering shape showed up next to him. "Come on Ven. Let's find our way to Saarthal," he said softly.

They made their way through town quickly. They met a frost troll half way to the ruins, but Harry calmed it down so he could pass. He didn't really care how the others handled the beast as long as he didn't have to kill it.

Saarthal was located in what looked like an old mining area. Harry guessed that the College had dug the area out. It had him wondering if they were entering the tomb in the middle of the dungeon. It was always interesting to try to figure out just how much of the old tombs that weren't accessible anymore. He walked up to the thick iron door and pulled the key he'd been given out of a small pouch he had by his belt. He unlocked the door walked inside and locked it behind himself.

Ven had followed him in. She was looking around in the darkness. 'That's black,' Harry thought. He conjured a ball of light that could hang over his shoulder before he started making his way down into the crypt. It looked a lot like other ruins he had been down into. Then again they were all built during the same time period.

Green eyes moved over the walls. He remembered Arniel from back when he'd last stayed in the College so he could find him using Clairvoyance. He concentrated on what he remembered of the man before activating the spell. It didn't take him long to get to the man. "Excuse me sir," he said as he reached the man. He was bent over a table examining something or another.

Arniel turned around. "What are you doing here?" he asked confused.

"Tolfdir is coming here with the first stage students in a while. I went on ahead. He told me to come find you and ask if you needed help with anything," Harry said.

"Ah, yes of course," Arniel said. "Eh, you could search through the room over there," he waved to his left, "Gather any enchanted items you can find, but be careful. Don't make a mess in there."

"I won't sir," Harry said. He moved over to the rooms he had been instructed to search. He found a couple of rings. He placed them down in the pouch by his belt. He could hand them over to Arniel once he was done.

'Now this is strange,' he thought as he reached a carved mural. He reached out and ran a finger along one of the golden lines on the mural. There was magic flowing though the stone. 'There is a drag here,' he thought. He searched though the area for any kind of trap but couldn't find anything that would be dangerous to him. There was a set of bars that might lock him up in the room, but that was it.

Green eyes closed so Harry could focus on the magic running through the mural. He stood there for who knows how long. 'Oh, fuck this,' he though and grabbed the amulet that was placed centred in the mural.

Grinch!

The bars rose from the ground.

"What the hell you turnip, what were you thinking?"

Harry turned around. There was a woman standing just on his side the bars. The raven grimaced. "I'm sorry. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings after I came to the conclusion that there weren't any dangers around," he said.

"Bloody first yearers," she muttered. She folded her arms over her chest. "Well are you going to get us out of this mess, or do the little firstie need help," she said.

Harry gave her a look worthy of Katla. "Really, Miss," he said. "I'm no little child who doesn't know what he his doing," he said. He held the amulet in his hand as fire gathered in his palm. He sent it off towards the mural. Crack! "There we go," he said. "This isn't my first Nordic tomb."

A deep sigh. "I… I'm sorry," the woman said. "My classmates were morons, and I've run into the people that are a part of the first stage class. They aren't all that bright. I know that doesn't mean that all of you are dumb."

Harry shook his head. "I guess I can't blame you for thinking that I'm not that bright," he said. "I've witnessed more explosions and exhaustion the past two weeks than I have ever been though myself." He looked down the dark corridor he had opened up. "So are you going to join me going down there? Those bars don't look like they are going to move," he said.

"Yeah, it beats staying here," she said. "We've got no clue how long we might be down there though."

Harry shrugged. "I have food with me," he said. "We shouldn't meet anything down there we can't handle." He looked down at the necklace in his hand. 'Maybe I should keep this,' he thought. He placed a hand against the cold cave tunnel wall. He didn't actually care if the woman came with him or not. It was up to her. He was going though.

He found an old torch stuck to the wall. He reached out and lit it. There were several more of them, and he lit them as he moved on. He found a room. He threw a ball of light up in the ceiling so it would light the room up. There were several sarcophaguses standing in against the walls. A small desk stood in the middle of the room.

"Well this is interesting."

Harry turned around. "We are either going to be attacked by draugr or one of these is a door," he said. "What the…" he hissed clutching his head.

"Something wrong?" the woman said.

"Someone is trying to get into my head," the raven hissed. He felt a hand land on his shoulder. A rush of magic flowed over him.

"Use it," the woman said. "Push it out."

The air around them started shimmering blue.

Fire spread over Harry's hands. Next to him he could see how the woman conjured a dagger.

A man showed up in front of them. "Hold … mages and listen well…" he said.

Harry looked over at the Bosmer next to him. Her eyes were narrowed, but she had relaxed her stance. He guessed he didn't mind listening to the man. The fire in his palms died.

"Know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgment has not been passed as you had no way of knowing," the strange man said. "Judgment will be passed on your actions to come, and how you deal will the events ahead. This warning is passed to you because the Psijic Order believes in you."

"I somehow doubt your Order can pass judgement on me," Harry said. He folded his arms over his chest. It wasn't that he was over confident. He just didn't think that whatever force had sent him to Nirn would allow for him to be dealt with by some strange Order. Killed by bandits or undead, sure – but not some strange Order. "My destiny lies far away from this place," he said.

The man's eyes narrowed. Then he noticed the scroll that the young mage carried with him. "World traveller," he mumbled. He looked over at the woman. Could they have made a mistake? "Unless you help with the events to come disaster is ensured," he said.

"Fine," Harry said irritably. Why did things like these always have to happen? He always managed to end up in the thick mess of things. He would deal with it because no one else would. It really did irritate him though especially when he had other things he wanted to do.

"Take great care and know that the Order is watching," the man said before he disappeared.

"Great," Harry said. "Could I not be involved in world changing events for once." He walked up to one of the sarcophaguses. "Wake up moron!" he called.

At first his companion thought he must have gone nuts, but then she heard a cracking noise just before the tombs opened up. She watched as the raven-haired teen grabbed onto the draugr closest to him and burned the undead to a crisp. He pulled his sword from his belt and walked over to the next gray skinned monster. Its head fell off in one quick sweep. Then an ice shard was sent across the room at the last draugr.

"Impressive," she said. It was obvious to her that he'd fought undead before.

"Thank you," Harry said. He cleaned his sword off before placing it back in its scabbard.

"I'm Rhavaniel by the way," the Bosmer said.

"Harry," the raven responded. He walked through the centre sarcophagus. A dark tunnel led down to a set of thick bars. He placed a hand on an old lever. "Laas yah paal nir," he whispered. He turned towards Rhavaniel. "There are probably draugr in the coffins in there," he said. "Get ready." He saw her hands glow purple for a second before she held a bow in her hands. The lever was pulled and the bars opened.

Harry moved into the room and cast a ball of light up in the ceiling. He pulled his sword from his belt and moved up to one of the closed coffins. He heard how arrows flew in to the room behind him. 'At least she's helping this time around,' he thought. He wasn't sure what to think about the elf.

As the last draugr fell, Harry scanned the room for anything strange. There was another set of bars and two chains he could probably pull to open them up. The floor in the middle of the room looked to be an intricate pattern of metal bars. He sent a ball of light through them. A deep pit lay beyond the bars. "I guess we shouldn't walk on those," he muttered.

"It doesn't look like there is anything here," Rhavaniel said. "We might as well move on."

The raven pointed over at the chain on one side of the door onwards. "Pull that," he said. He grabbed the chain on his side and pulled it. Grinch! The bars moved aside. "We might want to eat before we move on," he said. "We'll just move those darn things out of the way. I don't really want to look at them while I'm eating."

Rhavaniel shrugged. She didn't really care. Though, food sounded like a good idea. "I guess we can do that," she said. She grabbed onto one of the undead and pulled the body out of the way. Once they had cleared the space in front of the door, Harry sat down and placed his backpack on the ground. He started pulling packages out of the backpack together with a set of sticks. He guessed that spits would be the easiest way to cook the food.

Wisely enough he had settled for horker meat and venison. He added apple and garlic to the spits for flavour. He added leeks to the spits as well. He wasn't going to bother with potatoes for this meal. He placed a hand down against the floor and focused on heat. Flames danced around his hand warming the stone beneath his fingers. He looked up as the elf sat down in front of him. "Take one," he said as he motioned to the two spits lying on a sheet of wax paper.

Rhavaniel grabbed a spit and held it out over the heated stone. She watched as the young man in front of her grabbed his own spit and held it out next to hers. She guessed he might be the young mage that the teachers had been talking about lately. She hadn't really been listening to them. Her own research was more important than some prodigy. Though, maybe the young man wasn't a genius. He might just have more experience than most. She turned her spit again. He was more prepared than she had been, or rather he hadn't dumped his pack of necessities after arriving at the excavation site. She had packed more than enough stuff. She just hadn't thought she'd actually need it.

…

Once they had eaten, they set out again. Draugr blocked their path as they made it deeper into the tomb. They weren't all that difficult to deal with though. Harry and Rhavaniel were both pretty good at fighting.

"Puzzle," Harry said as he looked around. "These are usually far too easy. I don't understand why they even bothered. The key is almost always in the same room as the lock." He rolled his eyes as he saw the symbol of an eagle behind a pillar showing a whale. He turned the pillar around.

Rhavaniel had moved up ahead. She had seen her fair share of foolish puzzles even if she wasn't too familiar with the Nordic ones. She picked up on what the raven was doing as soon as he'd started turning the pillar around. She wasn't blind after all.

They pulled the lever that opened the bars blocking their path. A dark corridor led them into a big open room. "Wait," Harry said. "I think there is something in there."

Rhavaniel stopped. "If it is an undead I can't detect it," she whispered.

Harry nodded. "I can," he said. "Laas yah paal nir." A red glow appeared up on a ledge in the room.

"That is dragon-tongue, isn't it?" Rhavaniel asked.

"Yes," Harry nodded as he pulled his bow from it place on his backpack. "There is a draugr up there," he said. He'll detect me once I start shooting him. "I don't know how many arrows I'll get in on him before he reaches me," he said.

"I can sneak up to the side and get at him from behind if he gets to close to you," Rhavaniel said. "Team work." She conjured a dagger and snuck into the room.

Harry raised his bow. A green tipped arrow rested against the ebony of his gauntlet. Katla had made sure that his gauntlets were built for arrow usage. He let go of the nocking point. He could hear how the draugr hissed, "Zu'u fen ofaal hi - I will get you."

'I don't think so,' the raven thought. He placed a new arrow on the bowstring. His shout had worn off, but he could hear the undead shuffling around up there. Then the steps were getting closer.

"Fus ro dah."

"Shit," Harry cursed as he was pushed back. He dropped the arrow. It clattered over the floor. He got his bearings back and looked up. His hand went to his sword as the draugr stopped dead in its tracks. A glowing bluish knife blade tore through the undead's neck.

"There," Rhavaniel said as the body fell to the ground.

"Thanks," Harry said. He sent a ball of light up in the ceiling. It lit the whole room up in a soft white glow. Carvings filled the walls, but he had no interest in them. He guessed that the other mages might be interested though. 'The only way they'll get down here is if we find another way down. Or maybe the bars would disappear or they could remove them,' he thought. He made his way up a ramp. "Are we going to just move forward now, or do you want to study this place?" he asked the Bosmer.

"I'll come back later when I have my tools with me," Rhavaniel said. She couldn't get any proper work done without them anyway so why stick around.

"We'll go on then," Harry said. He wanted to find out why the strange guy earlier had warned them.

As they wandered on, they found another puzzle. "I hate things like this," Rhavaniel muttered as the pillar in front of her moved. She looked over at Harry. He had shifted another pillar which had moved hers as well.

"So we have to figure out which pillars move the other pillars," the raven said.

"And match them up," Rhavaniel said.

"It shouldn't take us that long," Harry said.

It didn't. They opened the closed gate up, and continued down. They held a glowing light each.

"I can feel something ahead," Rhavaniel said.

Harry nodded slowly. He could feel it too. He wasn't sure he liked it. It became harder to breathe as they ventured lower. The raven could feel the magic pulsing through the air. He pulled his sword from his belt. Something did not feel right.

"That is not right," Rhavaniel said. Her fists closed.

A big orb made from some sort of unknown material floated in the middle of a flow of jade coloured magic. The light from the field played over the walls. Patterns ran over the orb. It almost looked like it could be taken apart. At least the orb itself did not feel menacing. It was powerful beyond anything either of the two mages had ever encountered before, but it wasn't going to hurt them.

"I don't know about bringing this to the College's attention," Harry said.

Rhavaniel nodded slowly. "Of course the Order whatsamawhosit said it doesn't matter if we tell them. It is our actions after that that matters," she said. She started walking down towards the orb. "Draugr," she called up.

Harry ran down the ramp after her. She was blocking the undead's axe with a frozen spear. The raven reached them and slashed his blade across the man's back. A strange glow flared over the draugr's back. "Something is preventing us from harming him," Harry said.

Rhavaniel turned away from the undead for a moment. Her violet eyes scanned the room. "Wait," she said, "hit him again." She saw a fluctuation from the magic field around the orb at the same time as she heard the clash of the sword hitting the magic shield protection the draugr. Her eyes narrowed. "The magic around the orb is protecting him," she called out. "I'm going to see if I can't disrupt that somehow."

"Sure you do that. I'll keep this moron busy," Harry called. He backed of from the draugr. "Fus ro dah hond," he shouted pushing the undead man away from him. He ducked out of the way as the axe came sailing through the air. He reached out and grabbed it before yanking it out if the man's hand. "Zu'u fen kus daar - I will take this," he said. He saw how lightning leaped towards the magic surrounding the strange orb from the Bosmer's outstretched hand. "Argh, work you stupid thing," she called frustrated.

Harry felt how the magic changed and moved forward. His blade cut through the tough sinew of the gray skinned man's chest. He placed a hand over his mouth and nose. 'Fuck that stinks,' he thought as the undead's intestines came pouring out of its stomach. Intestines never smelled good but undead ones were disgusting. He did his best to keep his own stomach in check. He backed off from the corpse. "That is just disgusting," he said. He walked away from it and over to the orb. Reaching out, he placed his hand against the cool surface of the orb. It wasn't giving off magic anymore.

"Well isn't this interesting."

Harry turned around. Rhavaniel stood over the corpse with a note in one hand and a necklace in the other. He walked over to her. "You aren't bothered by the smell?" he asked her. She looked up him. "What are you talking about?" she asked and the raven snorted. "I guess that answers my question," he said. "What doest it say?" He was handed the note.

'Be bound here, Jyrik, murderer, betrayer

Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord.

May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever

And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward.'

He looked at the necklace. It looked like a piece of an amulet. "I wonder what this means?" he said.

"It could be interesting to look into," Rhavaniel said. "Not that I really have the time for it right now. I have more important things to do." She looked over at the orb. "We should get out of here and tell Arniel," she said.

"Or Tolfdir," Harry said. "He'll be up there now as well."

The Bosmer nodded. "That might be wise," she agreed. "So do we go back the way we came?" she asked. "The bars are probably still up there."

Harry shook his head. "No, there is a door just past the orb. It might lead to another way out," he said. It was pretty common in old Nordic ruins after all – and caves and whatever else you could find in Skyrim. Most places had a fast way out. He pushed the door open and conjured a ball of light.

Down an earthy corridor and past a turn they went.

Rhavaniel walked up in front as they reached a dragon shrine. "These are just fascinating," she said. "Made by the Dragon Priests."

Harry walked up next to her. He looked at the lines before him. "Noble Nord remember this word of the Hoar Father. Even best steel may bend and break, but flesh of true men is unyielding," he read as he took his backpack off so he could write it down.

Violet eyes studied the young mage as he started copying the text on the wall down. "You can translate that?" she asked disbelievingly.

Harry looked up from his notebook. "Yes, yes I can," he answered. "I have several of these texts written down."

"You know dragon-tongue?"

"Mhhm," Harry looked back down at the book. "I've gotten way better at translating these over the years though. Not that my old translations were faulty. It just took me longer to do them," he said. "I love finding these." He pointed left. "The path out is that way. "We should probably let the others know that we're still alive. I just need to add the last word," he said.

Rhavaniel rolled her eyes. She could understand being possessive over personal research though. She walked over to the next door and opened it. She could see light past the shadow of some bars. Light appeared in her palm, and she watched as it left her hand. On the left hand wall there was a lever. She reached out and grabbed the handle before pulling it out and twisted it counter clockwise.

The bars moved out of the way.

"Well that is convenient," Harry said. "All we need to do is build a ramp up here." He walked up to the edge and sat down before dropping down on the wooden floorboards that had been built so that the mages could go deeper into the tomb. All they would need to do was add to the existing structure. He heard the Bosmer joining him. They headed deeper into the complex.

"Ah, there you are," Tolfdir said. "Arniel told me that you disappeared. At least it was the both of you. Did you find anything interesting?"

"Well there is an orb down below. It is about 5' 8" or so in diameter. It's made out of some kind of strange stone. The only other place I have seen anything like it, is in Dwemer ruins. But the orb definitely isn't Dwemer made," Rhavaniel said.

"And it is filled with magic," Harry said. "The Psijic Order took an interest in our little adventure here. Their representative told us that we have unleashed a chain of events that cannot be stopped. I guess that it is related to the orb somehow."

"The Psijic Order but they haven't been heard from in over a hundred years," Tolfdir said. "If the Order has an interest in the item you found underground then it must be something very special."

"Most likely," Harry said. "The fastest way there would be to build a ramp up to the secondary way out from the inner chamber."

Tolfdir nodded. "There is plenty of lumber outside," he said. "We had to build our way down here after all. Arniel will be your best bet at how that should be done. He knows more about building than I do."

"That won't be a problem," Harry said. "I'll look into what we have, and then I can deal with it. If I can help build a house then building some wooden pallets won't be that hard."

"If you say so young mage," Tolfdir said. He watched the young man as the teen disappeared up the path out of the excavation.

Harry rummaged around amongst the tools that were gathered outside the excavation. He had found pretty much everything he needed. 'I'll start building tomorrow. Hopefully Arniel will help me,' he thought. It would be much easier to get everything done on two.

…

The next coming few days were spent building. They made ramps up to the secondary exit and from the cave with the dragon shrine up to the main chamber. Tolfdir had been amazed by the big magical sphere. He'd studied it for hours before he'd pulled himself out of it and asked Harry to contact the Arch-Mage. Aren needed to know what they had found.

To be honest Harry was glad to be leaving. The orb gave him a bad feeling. It wasn't the sphere itself but rather there was something connected to it or – he wasn't sure. It made him uncomfortable though.