Chapter 51: Taking Revenge
"Stop!"
Nem saw one hand come from behind him, grasping his wrist before he could move the blade, and felt an arm wrap around his chest, yanking him away from Ganus. He groaned as the person's grip tightened around where Rodran had stabbed him, judging by how much it still hurt, healing wasn't Ganus' strong point.
"We're fine, Nem! You don't need to kill him!" The person latched onto him said. It took him a moment to realize it was Aya.
Nem glanced over his shoulder. Valen and Schimmel were coming through the doorway, both looking a little confused. Aya must have run off ahead of them like she usually did.
"You're all okay?" He asked weakly.
"More or less." Schimmel said, rubbing his arm where Ganus had slashed it earlier. Though there was no visible wound anymore, it still ached.
"Good..." Nem dropped the sword, and would have collapsed onto the ground if Aya still hadn't had a firm grip on him. What little strength he had left after Rodran's torture session now long gone. It took a couple heals spells from Schimmel and a potion Valen had to wake him back up.
"If you're back with us now, we should get moving." Valen said, tossing the empty bottle onto the floor.
"Right..." Nem rubbed his forehead, unsteadily trying to balance himself as Aya released him. He glanced around the room, his vision slightly blurred... probably from blood loss. The fact that his robe was halfway red meant he must have lost more than he thought before Ganus turned up. "Where's... Ganus?" He wondered, just realizing his absence.
"You were half an inch away from killing him, or less. Do you really think he'd want to stick around for you to wake up? I sure wouldn't." Aya said with a grin.
"Right." Nem muttered, still rather dazed. He turned to the crates, his mind drifting to Rodran. "We should get going, then. Raymond's team is probably in by now, we don't want to fall behind." He removed a magicka restoration potion from inside his robe, drinking it.
"You sure you're ready to be walking?" Schimmel asked.
Nem tossed the empty bottle by the one Valen dropped. "No, but this isn't the best place for a nap, either." He said, giving Schimmel and Aya a push toward the door. Valen had already gone through to check for any wandering troops. Once they were through and moving down the hall, Nem took a couple steps back and removed his tattered robe. He mumbled a fire spell, flames appearing on the hem. After throwing it onto the pile of crates, he shut the door and hurried to catch up with the others.
--
Valen led the way deeper into the caverns, Ganus having told him what paths to take. Nem and Schimmel were both skeptical about his directions, since they made so little sense, but Aya didn't seem hesitant in the least. It only took five minutes to find a wide staircase leading downward, but with as many extra passages as they passed, it could have easily been five hours had they not been given a direct route.
It ended at a large, empty room. Empty, that is, except for the Altmer standing at the passage across from them. He grinned, a sphere of electricity gathering in his hand. "You don't look very dead to me, boy." His cold voice echoed in the room.
"Poor Schimmel. Ruby, Ganus, this lunatic... you really do attract all the crazy people, don't you?" Nem asked with a weak laugh.
Schimmel shook his head. "Harnaten, listen..."
"Enough!" Harnaten raised his hand, firing the shockball at Schimmel.
The group scattered needlessly. A second shockball appeared from the side of the room and collided with the first, both of them exploding in the center of the room.
"I said it once before, but maybe it'll stick this time; stop trying to kill my friends." A annoyed voice said as two people emerged from the shadows along the side of the room. "You might not agree with my choices, but they're mine to make. That's the same reason I haven't gone after you about all the unpleasant things you've done, Father."
Harnaten stared blankly at the new arrival. "...Moss?"
"Harnaten... and Mossanon...? What the hell?" Nem muttered. It took him a few moments, but things clicked into place. The incident with the staff at Ald-Ruhn, Schimmel going back after finding out why Harnaten was out for his life and coming back with Moss... why hadn't he seen the connection sooner?
"I thought... he killed you..." Harnaten mumbled, clearly shocked.
"You didn't come back for me to check, did you?" Mossanon said crossly. "I made it back to Ald-Ruhn and was stuck in the Mages' Guild for two days while my legs got better. I expected you to turn up looking for me, but you never did."
"But..."
"And if you couldn't be bothered to check to see if I really was dead, I felt no reason to come back and tell you otherwise. However, since you know Schimmel didn't kill me now, would you just leave him alone?"
Harnaten simply stood there, his mouth hanging open and at a loss for words.
Mossanon took it as a yes. "Good. Miles," he turned to the Breton at his side. "we need you to take us to Jiub's quarters. There are a few things that need to be sorted out before Parven walks in and makes this any more chaotic."
"Right away!" Miles hurried over to the passage where Harnaten was still standing with Mossanon right behind him.
Mossanon slowed to a stop, as if he was going to say something to his Father, but turned to the group that had been watching events unfold. "Would you four stop standing around and move it?! It shouldn't be much further!" He called out, before heading into the passage.
Schimmel ran off without a thought, Valen close behind. Nem was trailing after them, still aching from earlier, and Aya stopped to grab Harnaten by the wrist, leading him along behind everyone else.
--
Unlike the upper floor, the route they took this time was pretty direct. They eventually came to a long hall that ended at a massive set of ornate doors. Miles rushed forward, pushing them open and running through. His voice echoed from the other side, calling out Jiub's name.
The group passed through the doorway, and found themselves in a large room similar to the one they found Harnaten in. There were four doors, two on each side of the room, and the wall directly across was drenched in an orange light coming from a pit that stretched the length of it. Six silhouettes stood along the edge, facing them.
"About time you caught up." A voice came from the other side of the room.
"Give them a break, Ganus. They didn't have an enchantment like yours to get them here faster." Mortifer's familiar voice said.
"This is no time for that. We have more important matters to attend to right now." A woman's voice snapped, it was clearly Rachel.
"Mossanon! Good to see you back. How was your time with Parven? Or at the Mages' Guild?" One of them asked brightly, walking forward. The face of a bald Dunmer with a long scar across his right eye came into focus.
Nem recognized him as the Dunmer he met outside Suran that asked about Trelana. "You...?!"
"You knew he was alive?!" Harnaten shouted, suddenly finding his voice and startling the rest of the group.
"It wasn't that difficult to find out, if you had taken the time to investigate. Or read the reports I had sent to you." The Dunmer said with a shrug. "That's the problem with necromancers, they're always more drawn to death than life. That's probably why you gave him up for dead so quickly, even though you hadn't seen what happened to him."
"Jiub, you-"
"I, on the other hand, would never do such a thing." Jiub said, a serious expression crossing his face. "I saw my sister stabbed and thrown into the sea right before my eyes... yet I never gave up hope that she had somehow survived. A much bleaker situation than a cry of pain from a tomb."
Harnaten turned his gaze to the ground, once again at a loss for words. Two of the other figures moved forward, stopping a couple feet ahead of Jiub. Schimmel took a step forward after seeing their faces, starting to say something, but appeared to be as speechless as Harnaten. Aya and Valen were also obviously trying to find something to say.
Nem didn't have that problem. "If it isn't the traitors." He said coldly, walking toward them and almost knocking Mossanon over as he went.
"Nem, hold on a minute-" Ruby began, moving in front of him.
"I'm not interested in your excuses." He said, raising his hand. There was a flash and Ruby dropped to the floor with a thud. He approached Trelana who, like Jiub, was too surprised by Ruby suddenly hitting the ground to even move before Nem made a grab for her.
