17
Revna.
It had taken another week before Tilly was well enough for them to even consider travelling onwards. She still wasn't completely healed, but she could walk unaided now. She was even able to complete more strenuous tasks, but these tired her sooner and more than they would under normal circumstances. Whether she could fight or not, if the need arose, was a different matter. Revna kept a close eye on her, either way.
"Sanguine's filthy flagon! Why don't you try drinking it for once!" The dark elf pulled a disgusting face as Revna tried to get her to drink her medicine. "It smells like piss and shit boiled together with a rotting skeever carcass and it tastes worse!"
"Nevertheless, it's that stuff that's healed you." Revna leaned over from her horse and tapped the bottom of the bottle held by Tilly. "Drink up."
Tilly made a petulant look towards Revna but drank as ordered. Revna tried to hide her smile as the colour of Tilly's dark skin darkened and she retched after drinking. She'd smelled the concoction once and that had been enough. It was foul, but the Argonians had sworn it would make the Dunmer healthy again.
They had been riding for days towards the second tomb and Revna had been the only one to continue speaking with the dark elf. The others were ignoring her completely. Revna didn't have the heart to ignore anyone, especially after Tilly had finally explained her reasonings.
The dark elf had not gone into details about her dream, only that it had predicted that she would betray them. Revna didn't like hearing that, but she reasoned that anyone that was about to betray someone would be among the biggest fools alive if they told the people they were about to betray. Still, she let Tilly know that she would be keeping an eye on her, to be safe.
"Do you think they'll ever talk to me again?" Tilly nodded towards Itagaki and Öenthir riding a few yards ahead of them.
"No." Revna held her face straight as Tilly's head snapped around.
"Well, thanks for being gentle with me about it." Tilly had descended into even more sarcasm than usual since the incident at the Argonian village. It was, most like, her way of coping, but, to Revna, it meant that she wasn't brooding about it.
"You asked." Reaching down, Revna lifted her water skin and took a drink. "Honestly, I don't know. I've never been in love and I've never been in this situation, so I really don't know."
"You've never been in love? What, ever?" Tilly turned in her saddle to stare at Revna.
"Not ever." It wasn't awkward for Revna to talk about. It was the way it was. "There was one lad, back in the old village, but he was never interested in me, no matter how many times I beat him at wrestling."
"So, wait, does that mean you're a virgin?" It was obvious to Revna that Tilly was about to have a field day with this news.
"Yes." She prepared herself for the expected onslaught of jokes and insults.
"Still a virgin." Tilly murmured to herself and had a serious look upon her face. "I'm sorry. To go through life without ever ... well, I'm sorry."
This was quite unexpected and Revna had no idea how to react. She decided to carry on riding in silence for a while, but, it seemed, Tilly was having none of that. The dark elf leaned over and tapped Revna's arm.
"Well, we're going to have to rectify that, eh." The Dunmer winked at Revna.
"We're really not." Rolling her eyes, Revna continued riding. She was sure she didn't want to know how Tilly wanted to rectify it.
"Soon as we're back in Skyrim, I know this whorehouse that has the best whores in the whole of Tamriel, whatever your tastes." Tilly was warming to the subject now. "I mean, you like big blonde Nord men, eh? Well, the men in this place aren't just big, they're big. If you know what I mean."
"I think it would be impossible for a deaf person to not know what you mean. Put your hands down!" She felt her face flush under her fur, especially as the distance between Tilly's two hands had been astonishing. "I don't want a whore. If I ever sleep with someone, if, it'll be with someone I love."
"Well, I hope you do." Revna caught the unexpected tenderness in Tilly's voice and she caught the dark elf looking forward towards Itagaki. "I really do."
They lapsed into silence after that. Tilly had revealed a side of herself that Revna believed she rarely ever let anyone see. Revna felt strangely privileged to have heard it, if she was honest, and she wondered if the Dunmer was having second thoughts about how she had treated Itagaki. Of course, whether Itagaki ever let the dark elf get close again seemed unlikely at the moment.
As if she instinctively knew she was being thought about, Itagaki turned around in her saddle and looked at Revna at that moment. It was unlikely, even with the binding, that she knew, but it was a strange coincidence.
"It will be getting dark soon. We should find somewhere to camp." Itagaki didn't even glance at Tilly. "We should reach the second tomb tomorrow."
The Redguard turned back around and spoke to Öenthir. Revna sighed. Itagaki's attitude was understandable, but they needed to work as a team when they entered the tomb. If the Dwemer mage, Onzngknd, was anything like other Dwemer, there would be any number of strange, mechanical protectors within the tomb and none of them had ever seen one let alone fought one.
They would need to work together better than they had previously and, to do that, they would have to talk. Revna had sympathy for both Itagaki and Tilly, but they couldn't have chosen a worse time to fall out with each other.
ii. Öenthir.
Now that she had ingrained one of the spells, that the dark elf had 'found' for her, she had begun work on the second one, the Rune Prison. This one was going to be more difficult to learn, she believed, and the third book, the portal spell, would be the most difficult of them all. She had prioritised, as well as she was able, to learn the easiest spell first. That way she would have more to offer to the group in their task.
The Crystal Shard spell had been more difficult than she had imagined, though. Two weeks of reading the spell book over and over had been exhausting and it had only been her anger with Tilly that had finally solidified it in her mind.
She wondered if that was the nature of these darker, Ayleid based spells. Was emotion a key component to them? That was something to keep in mind and, if she got out of this alive, would make a perfect subject for a paper for the Mages Guild.
For now, with her Mage Light hovering over her shoulder, she studied the Rune Prison spell book. It was like a maze for the mind. A more difficult spell she had never tried to learn. Even more exhausting than the Crystal Shard spell, it was like the spell book was absorbing some of her energy every time she opened it, which meant she could only study it in short bursts.
In one of the many rest periods between reading, she watched as Revna sat with the dark elf, chatting away. She hated that and she had no idea how Itagaki felt about it. Of course, if anyone would continue talking to the dark elf, it was Revna. Not because Revna thought that the dark elf was right, or justified in what she did, but because that was Revna. Whether she knew it or not, the Khajiit was a natural mediator.
It was, she admitted to herself, the right thing to do anyway. They had a job to do and they would not be able to accomplish it if the dark elf decided to leave. The binding would not allow her to leave unpunished and Öenthir knew that the headache, that would occur if the dark elf left them, would compromise her spell-casting abilities. She remembered the headache that they had all suffered, back in Riften when she had considered running away herself, and how she found it difficult to concentrate to speak with anyone, let alone focus on the casting of a difficult spell.
She tried to read the spell book again, but she had done too much for the day. The words, sigils and symbols were all blurring into one. Closing the book, she rubbed her eyes and sighed. She was never going to be of much help at this rate. She made her Mage Light move to above the campfire and brightened it a little.
"Not too bright, my friend." Itagaki pointed to their surroundings. The best place they had found for the camp was too open for the Redguard's liking. "We do not know if we are alone."
"Of course. Sorry." She dimmed the Mage Light and lowered it a slight. She wanted to keep using her spells as much and as long as she could maintain them. The practice was doing her use of magicka the world of good. "Do you think we have anything to worry about?"
"I do not know, but it is better to be safe. Is it not?" Itagaki smiled at her. "I think the Red Spines would have told us if there was anything out here, but we should maintain caution, even so."
She was right. The Redguard, ever the strategist, the planner, knew that letting their standards slip, even once, could end up biting them. Black Marsh was a strange land with even stranger creatures wondering around in its watery environs and they still didn't know who had sent those men after them back in Skyrim, or whether they would try again.
That seemed to have happened so long ago now, even though it had only been a few weeks. From standing back watching horses, to letting a troll chase her and her Mage Light, to an Ayleid ghost and to incinerating a vicious Kotu Gava, she had come a long way. And not only in miles (although that was not insignificant, either). But there was much further to go, in distance and in her abilities.
"We should get some rest." Itagaki put more wood onto the fire. "I will take first watch."
Öenthir didn't need telling twice. After reading the Rune Prison spell book, she felt quite tired. She laid down on her bedroll, resting her head on her satchel, and closed her eyes. She tried to listen to the sounds of the animals and insects in their surroundings, but all she could focus upon were the whispers between Revna and the dark elf.
They were talking about a dream that the dark elf had had, but the dark elf would not go into details. Except for one thing. That the dream had been 'right' and 'correct' apart from the presence of something that was not supposed to be there. The words they spoke made her memory itch, but she couldn't quite work out of what their words reminded her.
She couldn't stay awake any longer and the whispers faded from her ears as she drifted away. She did not dream, that night, but her mind continued trying to work out why the dark elf's experience in her dream seemed familiar. It was there, in the back of her mind, if only she could reach it.
iii. Tilly.
She hated it! (She really didn't). Absolutely, thoroughly and completely despised it! (That was hyperbole of the highest order and she knew it).
With the other two completely ostracising her, she had fallen into a 'friendship' with that big, gallumping oaf of a Khajiit! And ... and she admitted to herself, however much she begrudged it, that she actually quite liked the faux Nord Khajiit. Actually liked her quite a lot.
It made her furious that she had to set aside the dislike for Revna, that she had cultivated with such care since that very first day they met in Riften. She was funny, sometimes without even realising it, she was kind and forgiving. Tilly almost felt like throwing up thinking about how 'nice' Revna was. But she was and, in this period where the Khajiit was the only one talking to her, she did appreciate it. A little.
Thinking of the other two was like speaking Sheogorath's name. Say it too often and the mad bastard might appear. And here they were, after a morning sat whispering among themselves Öenthir and Itagaki came towards her and Revna. Tilly sighed and threw the last scrap of bacon, she had been eating, into the fire. Was this more of the bollockings she had come to expect?
"Your dream. What was it about?" The mage had returned to her haughty aloofness around Tilly, looking down her nose at something less than her.
"It was about a bunch of people minding their own bloody business." Tilly laid back against her saddle, crossing her arms, daring the Bosmer to continue. "And they all lived happily ever after."
"Be good, little elf." Revna dipped her head, not wanting to get between this.
"No!" She turned towards Revna, showing Öenthir and Itagaki her back and pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "I'm ignored for days. Looked at like a piece of shit on their boots and now they want to talk about my dreams? I don't think so!"
"It may be important." It was Itagaki that spoke now.
Tilly pursed her lips tight and continued looking at Revna. For her part, the Khajiit raised her eyebrows, or, at least, that part of her forehead that would have eyebrows if she wasn't covered in all that fur. It was a questioning look and Tilly knew exactly what she was implying. If she played this right, if she played along, the frosty reception she was receiving may thaw a little. It couldn't hurt, that was for certain.
"Alright. It was a memory." She turned back around, crossing her arms again. "A pretty painful and personal memory, if you must know and one which I don't want to talk about. Thank you very much."
"Revna?" The mage tried to appeal to the Khajiit.
"I'm staying out of it. I'm on no-one's side here." She held up her hand waving away any responsibility.
"No, you remember I told you about the dream I had? Back in Abah's Landing?" Öenthir crouched beside Revna, her hands on the Khajiit's arm.
"I remember you said it was like a memory. That it disturbed you. Why?" Revna furrowed her brow.
"I didn't tell you what disturbed me about it." The mage looked at Tilly then. "My dream was a memory. A memory of a painful, personal time. Sound familiar?"
"So? A coincidence." She scoffed and turned her head away as if to end the conversation.
"And there was something else. Someone. A presence in the dream that was not there in real life." The mage spoke in very clear, very precise tones, not wanting Tilly to miss what she said and Tilly turned her head back to Öenthir. "A presence that was wrong. Evil. As if it was evaluating me. Testing me. Does that sound familiar?"
"But you couldn't see it, no matter how hard you tried." She had turned back completely and stared at Öenthir. "Always just out of reach. Always there in ..."
"... the corner of your eye." The eyes of Öenthir and Tilly locked together.
"What does this mean?" Tilly felt concerned and confused. "Has anyone else had one of these dreams."
Both Revna and Itagaki shook their heads. Tilly wondered why she and Öenthir had been the only ones to experience this memory/dream thing and the shadowy, sinister presence within them. Was it because they were elves? Was it because the two warriors didn't dream the same way?
"I don't know what this means. I have thoughts, but nothing solid." The wood elf saw the questioning looks from the others. "It might be something to do with the binding. I don't know. Maybe it's Jarl Borgun leaking into our dreams and we just think it's sinister because he's not meant to be there. But maybe it isn't. Maybe it's someone else. Something else."
"Whatever it is, whoever it is, I believe we should keep each other informed if any of us have these dreams." Itagaki looked at them all with intensity, even at Tilly. "Agreed?"
They all nodded their heads and then separated to begin breaking the camp down.
Tilly didn't like the idea of people wandering around in her head. There were too many things in there that she would rather people never find out about. Things that, if spoken aloud, could get her killed. Things that could get others killed. Her mind was not somewhere for anybody to have access to.
This made it even more important that they finish the task they had accepted and to finish it fast. They needed to break the binding before someone got hurt because of it. Especially herself.
iv. Itagaki.
It was not what she was expecting. She doubted any of them had expected this. When one thought of a tomb of someone like Onzngknd, it was, she mused, the idea of a large building. Somewhere that made a proud proclamation of the final resting place of someone of great importance. This was not that.
Set in a flat, desolate area of the Blackwood Borderlands, with nothing but low hills surrounding it, it seemed almost insignificant. There were no trees anywhere near it and no birds appeared to fly within a few hundred yards of it. It was as if nature itself wanted no part of it.
It was a squat building, around fifteen feet in height, including the dull, copper coloured dome. Formed in the shape of a cube, thirty feet to each side, it was a strange amalgam of stone and a strange kind of metal that Itagaki had never encountered before.
Her father, in addition to being a warrior was also an accomplished metal smith. She had spent many an hour with him at his forge (when she wasn't training) and, even though she showed no aptitude for smithing, she had learnt much from him. This metal was not one she had encountered before.
There were pipes, too. Several, thick metal pipes that emerged from the ground and fed into the building and, with those pipes, came the sound of steam passing through them and of metal knocking against metal in a steady, clockwork rhythm.
"There's a door, on the eastern side, but I can't open it." Revna had ridden her horse all the way around the building. "Maybe it's magickal?"
"There's no magicka here." Öenthir had been concentrating towards the building. "Unless it's being hidden. I can't feel anything."
The three of them rode around to the eastern side of the building, dismounted and joined the dark elf at the metal door. She was crouching before it, running her hands across various reliefs and symbols worked into and attached to the door.
"It's some kind of combination lock. I've seen them before. Not as complicated as this, though." The dark elf was murmuring to herself and then she turned and spoke to the others. "But, yes, I can unlock it. You're welcome."
"Be good, little elf!" The dark elf scowled at Revna but didn't fire back one of her usual insults. Instead, she turned back to the door and continued examining it.
"My friend." Itagaki faced Revna. "A word, if I may?"
Revna nodded and they moved a short distance from the others. The Khajiit remained silent, waiting for Itagaki to speak.
"I know this must be difficult for you." She tried to gauge what her friend was thinking, but a Khajiit face was difficult to read if they wanted it to be. "I do not wish to place you in the middle of my, our, quarrel."
"I'm not in the middle of anything." The Khajiit placed a hand on Itagaki's shoulder. "You are all my friends, even Tilly, and I can't just ignore her, no matter what she has done. This thing between you and Tilly, that's between you two. All I can say is that she had a reason. It's a damned stupid reason, but I will tell you this. It was not a selfish one."
"What do you mean?" She glanced towards the dark elf, still labouring with the door lock.
"I've said too much already. It's not my place." Revna looked awkward now. "Let's just say a bad thing done for the right reasons is still a bad thing. You have every right to be angry at her. Just ask yourself why she really did it, eh?"
With that Revna shrugged her shoulders, raising her eyebrows, and turned back to the others, leaving Itagaki wondering what, exactly, the 'right reasons' could be for the games the dark elf had played with her.
Itagaki wasn't a weeping child prone to bawling at every opportunity, but neither was she made from stone, regardless of how much she gave that impression. She wasn't stupid, either. So what, if anything, had she missed? If there was, indeed, a reason that the dark elf had treated her so bad and that it was not a selfish reason, then she needed to find out what it was. For the sake of her sanity, if nothing else.
"Got it!" The dark elf jumped to her feet, throwing her hands in the air in triumph and turned in a slow circle as if she was receiving the adulation of an arena's crowd.
Behind her, the door to the building began to lower into the ground, accompanied by the clicking of ratchets and the sound of steam evacuating somewhere.
Itagaki joined the others staring into the mouth of the doorway and inside the building beyond. It was well lit. That was for certain. Bright, warm light emanated from tubing that was inset into the metal and stone walls. It almost felt like sunlight as it peeked out through the doorway.
As for the rest of it, it was empty.
There was nothing there at all. No tomb, as such. No body. No strange automated protectors. Nothing.
They all, with caution, one-by-one, stepped inside the building. Even upon a closer look, they could not see anything that they would consider a tomb. Around the edges, at several points, they found large, thick gears with teeth that looked like they had not ground together in centuries.
"I think this is a lever. Or a switch." The mage was reaching up towards the piece of metal that she had identified.
"Stop!" Itagaki almost flew across the room and held Öenthir's hand before she could activate the switch. "Not yet."
"We need to make sure we're ready and not get caught surprised by anything." Revna added her caution, then turned to Itagaki. "Hammers."
She nodded. None of them had encountered the mythical Dwemer automated defences before, but, if they were metal as they had heard, hammers would be far more useful than her beloved swords.
Following Revna outside, she went to her horse and removed the two Argonian one-handed hammers that she had spent so much time practicing with. Revna, also, had taken a new, big, two-handed Argonian hammer from her weapons roll. Even Öenthir had exited the building and taken out the beautiful staff that Revna had carved for her. Only the dark elf was without a suitable weapon, but she didn't seem to care.
Once they had secured their horses, they reentered the building, holding their weapons at the ready. Each of them felt nervous, that feeling crashing like an ever moving wave through the binding. Itagaki nodded to Öenthir.
The wood elf mage hesitated and then pulled the lever.