25th of First Seed 4E203
They continued through the ruin, crouched and silent, taking out any Falmer that got in their way while sneaking past those they could manage to avoid. Karliah and Brynjolf were sure to plunder through any available chest and continued remarking on what a good haul this was going to be, but Kaiya could not bring herself to care about the spoils. There was nothing she wanted to keep to remind her of this day.
The bear traps littered throughout the paths between cavernous rooms infested with Falmer initially made Kaiya sad at the thought that Mercer would want to hurt her that way, but after avoiding the upteenth trap, she was just annoyed.
"Sweet Sithis, Mercer! How many godsdamned bear traps did you bring with you?" she cried in a forced whisper. Brynjolf chuckled at her anger from somewhere behind her as he watched her deactivate yet another iron snare.
It suddenly seemed silly to be worked up over traps when they felt the actual ground beneath them start to quake in one of the vast open spaces in the ruin. They each grabbed for each other, trying to brace themselves against the rumbling and falling rocks and pillars that crashed around them in the ruin. Karliah mumbled a cursed "Mercer" under her breath, but that's all that was said. Kaiya found herself a bit surprised that Mercer could have been even remotely responsible for a quake that size inside such a powerful and ancient ruin. Maybe this skeleton key really was as powerful as Karliah claimed it to be.
They fought their way through and around all of the fallen stone architecture, making quick work of the few Falmer that had been residing nearby. The crumbled ruins soon morphed into a different room, the walls lined with the same dwarven metal slats that had adorned the balcony area earlier. A lone torch fallen on the ground bounced its light off the golden metalwork, creating an eerie aura in the room with its large, dancing shadows. A lone, dead Falmer lay nearby, evidence pointing towards a slit throat as its cause of death.
"A chest!" Brynjolf excitedly exclaimed as he rushed as quickly as he could while remaining quiet into a smaller room off to the side. Kaiya had to give it to the thief, he knew how to spot the loot. Golden, dwarven metal lined the walls of this smaller room as well with golden, dwarven shelves taking up most of the space around the large chest. There was another torch which added more chilling shadows, although it seemed a bit out of place. Why a torch on a shelf? It's not like a Falmer dropped it there.
Then Kaiya saw the reason. Scratched in Mercer's familiar scrawl on the metal partitions lining the walls was a message: "One step ahead." He even signed his name behind it just in case there was any doubt that it was him that tagged the wall with this message. Kaiya scoffed when she saw it, her anger rising to fill the empty pit seeing his handwriting created in her stomach.
"Seriously Mercer?" she taunted, pointing out the message to her fellow thieves. "I like how he signed his name to it, as if anyone else would've taken the time to scratch that out. Who else did he think we would assume responsible? The Falmer?" she scoffed again, shaking her head. She realized she was probably focusing on the wrong detail in all of this but it was a lot easier to be aggravated with him and make fun of his threats and dares than it was to ruminate on them on any deeper level. That would be too much for now. That could be future Kaiya's problem to break down all of that.
"He's teasing us," Karliah stated as she poked at the torch resting on the shelf. "See? He even left this torch to make sure we'd see it."
"Aye, I thought the same thing" Brynjolf agreed, joining the other two thieves as they stood staring at the wall. "But he's going to be more than one step ahead if we don't keep moving."
With a few nods of agreement, the trio continued on. Kaiya took one last look over her shoulder at the message from their former Guildmaster before facing forward, committing to not looking back any more. It wasn't doing her any good. It rarely did.
After traversing through a few more bear traps, they found themselves in yet another vast, open stone space. This room was populated by quite a few Falmer, as evidenced not only by their huts littered throughout the space but the overwhelming Falmer stench that hit the three thieves square in their faces as they entered the room.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to forget how horrible that smells," Brynjolf whispered as his eyes watered from the pungent stench. "I hope our armor doesn't smell like that after we're done here."
"Wash your damn armor, Bryn" Kaiya jokingly whispered in retort. Karliah snapped her head around at the whispering from her companions, eyes wide in warning. Her meaning was clear: shut up. As they looked around the room, they soon understood her trepidation.
A giant, metal dwarven centurion stood proudly in the center of the area. It was immobile but it didn't take a dwarven scholar to tell them it was just in hibernation. In a silent conversation with only their eyes, the three thieves agreed that stealth would better suit them in this predicament as opposed to brawn. Fighting their way through a Falmer den with the addition of a dwarven construct was not the best way to be in best fighting shape by the time they reached Mercer.
Slowly and silently, they crept through the vast, stone space. Every sound in the room seemed to echo around the walls, bouncing off the metal. The echo combined with the astute hearing of the denizens of the area did not make for the best environment for sneaking but if these three thieves were good at anything, it was remaining silent and unseen. Kaiya found herself momentarily grateful she was with the two of them instead of some of the clumsy followers she had accompanying her in the past. She laughed a bit to herself at the thought of Farkas working his way through this room unheard.
Before they knew it, they were through the room and opening a door into an area that smelled even worse than the one before. "This must be where they kept all the Falmer," Karliah mused aloud, no doubt reasoning with the assault the stench was doing to her senses.
"Kept?" Kaiya asked quizzically. "They weren't pets, Karliah. These would be slave quarters. Because the Falmer were once regular ol' mer, just like you. Much like the Argonians, actually now that we're talking about it."
"Watch it, Kai" Brynjolf warned, no doubt sensing where Kaiya was headed with her current train of thought.
"It's okay, Brynjolf" Karliah spoke soothingly. "She doesn't really mean anything by it. I know she's not blaming the entire slave trade of Argonians on me."
"Riiiight," Kaiya drawled out, only slightly joking. "I'm just sayin', it's a little weird when the only one in here to be of a race that's owned slaves is talking about other slaves as if they're pets." When Brynjolf's eyes cut towards her, she threw up her hands in surrender. "Just an observation!"
They did not get the chance to continue their debate on the Argonian slave trade however, as their conversation perked the ears of the waiting Falmer below. A fight was now on their hands, whether they wanted one or not. Kaiya jumped ahead to take the lead, feeling slightly guilty and even more responsible for being the one that initiated the fight by her incessant need to argue. Removing both of her blades from their scabbards, she became a flurry of movement at the bottom of the ramp they found themselves on, single handedly making quick work of the two Falmer that had been alerted with their squabble. Feeling as though her penance had been served, Kaiya turned around to face her companions with a half smile hidden underneath her black leather armor. "That one was my fault" she admitted without much remorse, "but it's over now so let's forget about it."
"It's not over if you don't stop talking, Kaiya!" Karliah whispered tersely, her annoyance clear in her tone. "Let's get moving and everyone be quiet!"
Kaiya gave a nod in agreeance and they moved on, getting deeper into the slave pens and more enveloped in the horrible stench that permeated the air. The stench was no longer just Falmer, but the strange, almost rotting smell that accompanied the chaurus. This was definitely the less glamorous side of dungeon and ruin diving that most didn't encounter and most adventurers didn't discuss.
When Kaiya became convinced that this was all just a cruel trap by Mercer who had led them into a literal unending abyss of Falmer dens until they just gave up and went home, they finally reached the golden door at the end of the tunnel. Through the door, the sound of rushing water and metal on stone could be heard clearly, which stood in stark contrast to the virtual silence they had been surrounded by in the Falmer dens for the past several hours. It was clear this was it, the end of the line.
The three Nightingales grouped together, evaluating their potions and healing any small scrapes or bruises they had received along the way. They were exhausted, but their adrenaline was beginning to make up the difference with every erratic beat of their hearts.
"This is it," Karliah stated the obvious, no doubt ensuring that everyone was aware this could be where they died.
"Classic Karliah," Kaiya joked with a small smile, "really putting the laughter in slaughter."
Karliah ignored her taunt, graciously understanding that her quips were a nervous reaction. All three of the thieves eyed each other nervously, and finally Kaiya's ability to make a joke finally came through.
"So should we all put our hands in the middle or something? I feel like we should have planned a handshake for this moment."
Brynjolf chuckled lightly, appreciating the gesture while Karliah felt her face morph into a small smile. It wasn't much, but it was better than the dread she had been feeling up until then. Instead of making up a cheer on the spot, they embraced into a huddle. No words were shared, but none were needed. They all knew what was waiting for them behind that door.
With a deep breath to settle her nerves, Kaiya pressed open the giant golden doors and took her first step into the sanctuary for her final showdown with Mercer Frey.
