The trio stood on the shore of the moat, staring at the door on the other side. There was still no sign of the Falmer, apart from the grunts and shadows in the crags in the periphery of Valleri's vision. Every few moments she would catch sight of movement and she'd feel even more uneasy. Being able to see glowing eyes in the shadows would have made her feel better, but none existed.

Cyrenial stood behind her and Vilkas with crossed arms. "I refuse to go into that sludge," he insisted.

Valleri shook her, "It's not that bad. This is hardly the most disgusting stuff I've had to swim through."

"What was the worst?" Vilkas asked.

"Imperial City sewers," Valleri said. Vilkas nodded his head, muttering a word or two the Imperial didn't catch. Cyrenial only shook his head in disappointment.

"I never agreed to do any of this though," the Altmer continued.

Valleri spun on her heel to face him, "You didn't have to agree to come in the first place!"

"And miss any valuable information I could get from you?" he paused momentarily, smug grin on his face, "Any other course of action wouldn't be acceptable."

Valleri stopped paying attention to the Altmer and tossed her small pack and cloak to the other side of the moat before doing the same to Vilkas' belongings. Cyrenial reluctantly handed over his own goods so that Valleri could save them from getting too wet.

The Imperial gave Vilkas curt nod before wading into the water. She grimaced as the cold seeped through her clothes and into her boots. Valleri turned around and began to walk backwards into the water in order to face her friends.

"How is it?" Vilkas called out. Cyrenial was now next to him, arms still crossed, but his expression was softer.

Valleri laughed, "It's a bit chilly, but there's nothing in the water. You can see all the way to the bottom." She stood still for a moment before she felt her boot fail to find the bottom. The Imperial fell backwards with a splash. The yells of her friends were still audible under the water. In only a moment, Valleri found the surface again and drew a new breath. "I'm fine!" Valleri shouted, wiping water from her eyes.

"What happened?"

The woman bobbed up and down in the water, looking around. Her eyes found Vilkas and Cyrenial back where she left them. "There was a ledge. Be careful when cross over. It's really sudden!"

Hauling herself up onto dry ground, Valleri began to wring out her clothes and hair. The back of her tunic clung to her neck uncomfortably as she moved. Valleri couldn't do much about it and tried not to cringe. She waited and watched the other two flounder in the water for a few moments. She held out her hand for one of the others to grab onto, only to struggle as she tried to pull up Vilkas. The Nord instinctively shook of the excess water dripping down his armor, reminding the Imperial of a dog. After taking a breath, Valleri helped Cyrenial to dry ground with less effort than she expected.

How could two people who were almost the same height weigh so differently?

Valleri stared at Vilkas momentarily to see if she could find an answer but nothing came to mind. Vilkas didn't seem to notice Valleri staring daggers at him as he picked up his belongings. The Imperial sighed as she went for the next door.

"Shouldn't we wait to dry off first?" Cyrenial said as he stopped Valleri.

The woman looked over her shoulder with a tired expression. "Of course not. We don't have time to waste"

"She's right. Clothes take forever to dry and the Falmer already know we're here," Vilkas added. He strode up behind the two of them with their own packs and took the lead when Valleri held the door open.

Cyrenial shivered as he placed his hands under his arms, "I've never been more uncomfortable in my life."

"Maybe you should have swam nude and kept your clothes dry," Valleri jested. The Altmer didn't say anything but she could hear him grumbling angrily behind her. Putting the disgruntled Altmer out of her mind, she looked into the next, cramped chamber in front of them. A raised walkway revealed another passage at the far end on the ground level.

Vilkas gave her a glance from the side. "Your choice here, Val," he whispered and crossed his arms.

The Imperial woman shook her head slightly as she tilted her head, "I have no particular desire to climb any more stairs and that passage looks pretty closed in."

"Not much of a chance for an ambush you think?" Vilkas questioned. Valleri nodded tiredly as he crossed his arms. "We could always turn back if need be, I guess. Cyrenial?"

The Altmer was still wringing out his robes when he looked back at the Nord. "I told you two before that I don't care what you two do. I'm only here to watch what happens," Cyrenial nearly spat.

Valleri breathed out with exasperation as she turned back to the lower passage, "This way then." The trio entered the darker passage and Valleri had to squint to see anything. Tension seemed to rise as she led her companions further. The next portion of the room was pitch black and Valleri had to hold her arms far out in front of her to feel anything. At the far end, she could feel the cool metal bars of a gate. Valleri clicked her tongue as she realized that Vilkas and Cyrenial could probably see just fine.

"It's blocked off," Valleri muttered. She turned around in an attempt to find anyone in the gloom. "Vilkas?"

There was a silent moment where Valleri was convinced she was alone before the Nord answered. "Yeah, I can see that gate. There's some stairs behind it."

Valleri bit her lip as she spared a moment to think. Looking back from where she came, Valleri could just barely make out the silhouettes of her companions. She tapped Vilkas on the shoulder to let him know she was here and said a few words, "Stay here and wait for me."

Without another second wasted, Valleri ran off back towards the light.

…

Vilkas could just barely see Valleri run off down the passage again. There was no need for him go after her; Vilkas had complete confidence that Valleri would do something risky and stupid. But he was also confident that she would be able to find a way around the locked gate.

He leaned against the stone wall and closed his eyes. There was no point in keeping them open when everything was still dark. Vilkas could hear Cyrenial come closer to him only to sit down on the floor. The Altmer hissed as he accidentally smacked the back of his head against the stone wall.

There was another moment of silence before Cyrenial began to speak. "You just let her go into a ruin by herself?"

Vilkas scowled, "Why wouldn't I? Val knows what she's doing. You know more about her past than I do. You should know more than anyone how qualified she is to run around freely in a place like this."

"Would you say Valleri Alastarim is more qualified than even you?"

Vilkas thought for a moment before answering, "Yeah, I would actually." He cracked open an eye as he glanced down at the Altmer. "Hey, I've got a question for you."

"Of course you do."

"How long have you been trailing Valleri and her family?"

Cyrenial pondered his answer carefully, staring at his hands as he did so. "After your uncalled-for threats earlier, I have a feeling I'll have to answer as honestly as possible. I wonder if Valleri left the two of us alone on purpose?"

"Probably not," Vilkas added, voice monotone. "She doesn't think a lot about what she does when she's on the job. Val's an oddly instinctual person."

Cyrenial chuckled to himself, "I gathered that much. She saw right through my Synod lie the last time I met her. That woman knew I was with the Thalmor the second she saw me, didn't she?"

"Well," Vilkas paused, "She certainly didn't like you at all."

"That's not surprising," Cyrenial laughed, "Even my own colleagues don't enjoy my company!"

Vilkas clicked his tongue, "Are you going to answer my question any time soon or are you going to continue complaining about how lonely you are?"

"I was getting to it," Cyrenial muttered as he waved his hand dismissively at the Nord. "To be honest, I only started inquiring after her very recently. My superiors have been following the Alastarim family for years now. I was only given the task about a year or so ago when Alastaros brought a certain discovery to the attention of the Synod council." Cyrenial paused and looked back up to Vilkas, "How much has Valleri told you about what they found in Sedor?"

Vilkas leaned forward, a tinge of uncertainty in the pit of his stomach. "Only a bit. I try not to pry too much. All I know is that there's some sort of relic hidden in Skyrim and that it's piqued Thalmor interest."

"They are very interested."

"What sort of relic is it?"

Cyrenial breathed out sharply, "It's a key. What that key opens is very powerful and very important. If I can't deliver it to the Thalmor, my life is forfeit."

Vilkas opened his mouth to speak, but was blinded as bright light filled the room. He rushed to the gate, taking hold of the brass bars. Valleri was standing in the middle of the raised floor at the top of the stairs, obviously distracted by something Vilkas couldn't see.

"Valleri!"

The Imperial turned around, wide eyes melting into an expression of relief as she ran down the stairs. She began to fiddle with the door before looking back up to Vilkas and Cyrenial. She smirked, "Sorry that took me so long. I got mixed up with some traps along the way."

Vilkas glanced back at the Altmer next to him, "Can you get this door open?"

The Imperial bit her lip as she breathed out. "Yeah, this is easy," she said, beginning to fiddle with the lock once more. At first Vilkas was convinced he was hearing things, but when he saw Cyrenial narrow his yes and stare up, he was sure of it. At the top of the stairs, a brass orb began to unfold. Before he knew it, Vilkas was watching the strange contraption fire off a cross bow bolt towards the three of them.

The Nord pushed Valleri down out of the way as he dropped to ground. Cyrenial crashed to the floor as well, grunting in mock pain when he landed on his arm. The bolt ricocheted off the stone wall behind them. Valleri began to panic as she continued to work on the lock. The Dwemer sphere maneuvered itself down the stairs with surprising speed, cocking a bladed arm up in an attack position. Vilkas moved out of the way as the sphere brought the blade down. Vilkas couldn't seen anything as sparks flew up into the air. Instead, he could hear Valleri yell followed by clanging sound.

He stepped back again to see that the Dwemer sphere had destroyed the lock and the gate swung open. The Nord pulled his sword from his back and charged the sphere. He smiled as he felt the resistance of the clockwork and wires of the exposed midsection against the blade. As if it were almost weightless, the contraption flew against the side wall and crumpled to the floor.

Cyrenial gave him a shocked glance before looking back at the stairs. Concerned, Vilkas looked over for himself only to see that the Imperial was mostly fine. Valleri was sprawled backwards out on the stairs, eyes wide with adrenaline. She sat upright and rubbed her face with a free hand. Vilkas could see the red stains through the bandages on her arm.

She looked back at him over the hand and let out a long sigh. Her green eyes were filled with disbelief, questioning what just happened.

He walked over and offered to help up with a proffered hand. The Imperial's grip was tighter than usual but her face turned solemn as she followed the Nord up. Vilkas could now see the what had Valleri so distracted. At the far end of the room was a large chest with a centurion standing guard behind it, small Dwemer spheres lined against the walls.

Still clinging to the chest was dead Breton. Vilkas picked up a blood-stained journal and flipped through the pages. There wasn't much written in there, but Vilkas couldn't help but glower at the dead body.

"Anything relevant?" he heard Valleri ask behind him.

The Nord shook his head with disappointment. Tossing the journal at her, he muttered, "Not really. Calcelmo hired some shifty people."

Cyrenial read the journal along with Valleri from over her shoulder. He scowled, "Frankly I'm not surprised." He paused momentarily, "You've been awfully quiet, Imperial."

The neutral look on Valleri's face soured as she slipped the journal next to the one they found in the other set of chambers. "It makes me sick," she muttered. Valleri looked back over to the Breton, a hint of disgust in her expression, "Blatant disrespect for a place like this is what got him killed."

Vilkas narrowed his yes in confusion, "Wait, what?"

The Imperial shook her head as she made her way towards the exit where she came through only a few minutes prior. "It doesn't matter Vilkas. Let's just go; I just want to finish this up," she called out from over her shoulder. Vilkas glanced over to Cyrenial, who only just shrugged. With a sigh the Nord followed her.

She passed the traps expertly as Vilkas and Cyrenial fumbled around spikes and swinging blades. Vilkas could now see why Valleri had taken so long. She mentioned traps being one of the key features of Ayleid ruins never to what scale. Having that past experience helped, but there was no point in taking chances in a place you've never been in before. Valleri knew that.

Valleri was already waiting at the top of the passage, in front of the exit. Her arms were crossed as she yawned. The Nord paused as he took a hold of the door's handle.

"Is something wrong?"

Vilkas shook his head with a frown, "I've just got a feeling there's trouble ahead."

The Imperial pushed past him, "That's never stopped us before." She opened the door and stared out for a moment. Ahead of them was the strange pillar and balcony they'd seen from the ground. Another dead researcher was laying broken in front of them. Towering above them was a steam centurion, blood covering the automaton's lower half.

Vilkas tensed as watched Valleri narrow her eyes. Following her gaze, the Nord saw the small streams of steam rising up from the centurions. The thing was sleeping for now and the last thing they wanted was to wake it.

The Nord's attention turned behind him. He almost couldn't hear the foot falls rushing towards them, but with each passing second Vilkas was surer they'd been followed. Cyrenial turned around when he saw the Nord perk up. His face melted into panic. "We have to go, Valleri," Cyrenial almost yelled.

"Why in oblivion would we?" Valleri retorted, still unaware of the Falmer. "The last thing we want is to fight that thing!" she gestured towards the centurion.

The automaton was beginning to move again and Vilkas could see the tension in Valleri's posture.

Vilkas looked over his shoulder to see a wave of Falmer coming at them from behind. There were too many to count. "There's a door up ahead."

"The Centurion's not going to let us pass and I don't think we stand much of a chance against it."

The Falmer screamed behind them as Vilkas took Valleri by the shoulders. "I'm calling the shots now, Val. We have to go!" he yelled. Valleri didn't react as he looked back at Cyrenial. The elf was starting to fire off a spell as the one of the Falmer started to swing at them. To his side, Vilkas could hear the centurion begin to amble closer to them.

Vilkas snatched the back of Cyrenial's robe as flames seemingly split the group of Falmer. Unexpectedly, the Centurion brought it's hammer down on the ground next to the trio. An unlucky Falmer let out a pained shriek as it fell to the ground. With in moments, the Falmer swarmed the automaton, encircling Vilkas and the others in the chaos.

He didn't think as he ran past the fight, dragging Valleri and Cyrenial with him.

…

Valleri could hear the Falmer bring down the centurion behind her. Their guttural screams and grunts barely masked the clicking and whining coming from the machinery. The large brass door Vilkas led them to flung open, hinges squealing from disuse. Vilkas pushed her and Cyrenial to their knees as he bared the door with stray pieces of furniture.

Within moments, the Nord turned back to stare at her. "When I tell you not hesitate, don't fucking hesitate!" he growled. Vilkas shook his head and started off further into the hall. All was quiet and Valleri was sure he could see well enough into the gloom.

She picked herself up with a grunt. "You know better than I do that getting into a fight with a centurion would mean a death sentence. If that didn't kill us right away, we wouldn't have been able to save ourselves from the Falmer."

"Doesn't fucking matter anymore, Val," he muttered, shaking his head.

Valleri sighed as she waited with her arms crossed. Cyrenial looked back at the door with concern, "What about now however? Will that door hold?"

"An hour or so."

The Altmer shared an exasperated glance with Valleri before following Vilkas. Their surroundings were eerily silent they made their way forward. The path was almost a spitting copy of the other sections of the ruin. Raised platforms and stairs lined the walls, leading to hidden rooms while small pipes and valves littered the first floor. Any signs of Falmer activity were old and dusty, but Valleri could still see the dried blood trail leading to the second floor.

Reluctantly, she followed it. At the top of the stirs was another abandoned journal, this one in much better shape than the others. She flipped through the pages. Her face melted into horror as the journal hit the ground with a thud. She ran into the next room only stopping when she found the researcher's corpse laying so close to the lever he wrote about.

Was it just her or was that scratching and yelling against the door?

"Valleri? What the hell are you doing?"

Vilkas placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. She looked back at him through wide eyes. Shaking her head, Valleri fought to articulate her racing thought. "We need to leave."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

Cyrenial stepped into the light, holding the journal open to the last entry, "This man, Staubin, wanted to reactivate Nchuand-Zel to get rid of the Falmer. The spiders were the only thing keeping them out of the city."

Vilkas turned back in confusion, "Are you kidding?" He paused, removing his hand Valleri's shoulder. Looking around the room, he continued to mutter, "How do we do that? We have to hurry." The Altmer gestured to a lever at the far side of the room. Vilkas didn't waste time trying to get to the lever.

"Stop!" the Imperial yelled as she pushed Vilkas away, blocking the lever as best she could.

"What are you doing?" Vilkas questioned, almost frantic. He didn't move and only stared at Valleri like a mad woman.

"If you pull that lever, you destroy any shred of relevant history left over in this place. All those researchers' work will have been for nothing," Valleri explained, voice shaky.

Vilkas breathed heavily as he continued to stare at his friend. "And what happens if we just let the Falmer run loose? What then?" He paused, "The people of Markarth will be left to dry because you refused to prevent a disaster."

"We can't make that decision, Vilkas! It's not up to us!"

"So what? We're the ones right here right now, not Calcelmo. If it was really up to him, he would have been here."

"Calcelmo only told us to look around, not start a war in his ruin! If I fuck up his excavation site, his life's work, that ruins any credibility I have!" Valleri glare softened into a frown as she refused to move. "Calcelmo will have no reason to help someone who had no respect for his work, let alone their own. Any chance we have of finding the necklace or Alastaros disappears if he won't translate that journal!"

Vilkas didn't say anything for a long few moments. "As a Companion I just can't let innocent people die. That goes against everything I stand for." He moved to push past Valleri, "I'm gonna push that lever whether you want me to or not."

The Imperial woman thrashed against Vilkas in an attempt to stop him, "You made a promise to me, Vilkas! You promised you'd help me find Alastaros!"

The Nord paused momentarily, not bothering to fight against Valleri. He turned towards Cyrenial. The Altmer was smiling smugly, taking in everything Valleri just said. Vilkas' stomach churned with regret. "I'm not breaking that promise. You'll have to find a way to deal with it. Calcelmo will understand."

Vilkas pushed Valleri out of the way and she sunk to the floor. She shut her eyes and flinched when she heard the metallic click behind her. The scratching at the door turned silent in only a few moments as she tried to remind herself to breathe. Calcelmo would never help her now.