20
Revna.
This room was empty, save for the four of them. There were no out of place rock formations, no crates or boxes. Only the ubiquitous rattling pipes, the doors they had entered through and a larger set of doors opposite.
She touched the place on her armour that the arrow had hit, absentminded. It was, indeed, flawless once again, somehow repairing itself having, most likely, saved her life. The barbs on the arrow heads would have torn her flesh to pieces. The bodkin would have pierced deep into her chest. If not for this ancient armour that she had hated wearing from the start. Her own armour, good, strong Nord armour, would have been like paper against those arrows.
Now they gathered before the next set of doors, all of them looking at each other, wary of what they were to see beyond the them.
"I suppose we should get it over with?" Tilly, stood beside her, was fiddling with the pommel of one of her daggers. Nervous, fidgety. "I mean, it couldn't possibly be worse. Right?"
"You had to say it, didn't you?" She looked down at Tilly, a look of confusion crossing the dark elf's face. "Now you've said it, of course it's going to be worse. It's like calling the Prince of Madness' name. Now it has to be worse."
"It will be worse if it is worse. Not because it has been said." Itagaki was holding the Gem of Unison in her hands, turning it over and over with her fingers. She sounded calm, as she usually did, but even she seemed nervous.
"Let's do it then." Öenthir put her hand over Itagaki's, stopping her from fidgeting with the gem. "Together."
Once more, Itagaki held the gem towards the doors before them and the familiar clicks and whirrs and escaping steam came from the doors. Painstaking and slow, they began to open.
Revna, as she was always ready to do, stepped forward, holding her hammer at the ready. She looked through the widening gap of the doors and could already see that the next room was big and not empty. There was movement.
When the doors had opened to their fullest, she could see what had been moving. A metal construct, much like the first one they had seen in the room far back at the beginning of the Dwemer structure. Trundling around on some kind of ball instead of legs, a head that imitated a humanoid face, but with a crest of metal that swept backwards. Its arms did not end in 'hands' like the other, but in something that resembled a crossbow on one arm and a tube, or nozzle on the other.
Revna took no chances. She launched herself forward, swinging her hammer in an overhead arc and bringing it slamming down onto the metal creatures head with a resounding clang. It didn't fall. Its head listed to the side, the crest on its head dented almost double, but the thing still moved, rolling to the side and bringing the crossbow arm to bear on her.
There was a twang as the crossbow fired, flying up past Revna's face and taking a chunk from the tip of her ear. Now the others joined in. Itagaki dancing around the creature, slamming her hammers against its body. Tilly struck a dagger into the gaps of the ball it moved on.
Even without the use of the ball it still managed to stay upright, twisting the top half of its body independent of the bottom half. It brought its other arm around, pointing the nozzle at Itagaki's face, a drip of some kind of liquid falling from the tip.
"Duck!" Tilly couldn't reach Itagaki, but the Redguard heard and reacted. A little too slow.
There was a spark in the end of the nozzle and the a great gout of flame shot out from it, sending fire flying for about twenty feet from the construct. Itagaki had only begun to duck out of the way, but caught a glancing blow from the flames, turning away and screaming, holding her hands to her face, one side of her hair melted to frizzy ball-like strands. If it had been anyone else, their entire head would have been burnt to a crisp.
Revna couldn't take any time to find concern for her friend, so she allowed her fury loose. The anger that always seemed to bubble beneath the surface. Superficial, hidden by her humour, by her kindness, by her naivety. She let the mask fall, revealing the intense anger she kept in check all the time. Finally free.
Her hammer swung, her teeth baring, her eyes widening, her mouth emitting a terrifying howl. She hit the construct, almost toppling it and then again and again. Hammer blows falling upon it like rocks in a landslide. She finally knocked it down, but she didn't stop. She kept swinging, kept dropping heavy blows upon the metal creature until there was nothing left but separated, bent and useless junk, liquid, oil from the flame throwing arm, pooling on the floor like blood and still she rained blows upon it.
It was Tilly that finally stopped her, standing before her, arms raised, face full of concern. She almost tossed the dark elf aside. Almost hit her. But she managed to pull herself back. Managed to catch herself and, when the mists of her fury began to lift, she dropped her hammer and turned towards Itagaki.
She reached the Redguard and fell to her knees beside her friend. Öenthir was cradling Itagaki's head in her lap, her hand glowing with the power of her healing spell.
The injury could have been much worse. As it was, even with Öenthir's magicks, the Redguard was going to have a scar for life. A length of skin, about an inch wide and around three or four inches long, from the corner of her chin, up past her mouth and ending at the side of her eye, had melted and pitted. With Öenthir's greater control of her spells, it had already began to settle. It wouldn't ooze or rot. But she would never look the same.
Revna reached her hand out behind her, to where she knew Tilly would be, and felt the dark elf's hand clasp hers. She squeezed the hand and pulled Tilly forwards and, when the dark elf knelt beside Itagaki, they could all see the shock in the dark elf's face.
ii. Öenthir.
"Take the gem. Finish this." Itagaki held Öenthir's hand and placed the Gem of Unison in her palm. She looked up at Tilly, then. "I will be fine. I just need a moment."
Tilly took Itagaki's head from Öenthir's lap and cradled her in her own, smoothing the Redguard's hair with gentle strokes.
She felt Revna's hand on her shoulder and, rising, she looked into the Khajiit's determined eyes. The anger had diminished, a slight, from her face, but her jaw was set firm. She knew she had lost control and that she needed to be clear headed. So did Öenthir.
Revna led the way, then, walking slow towards the other end of the room where Öenthir could see a partition wall. Not quite reaching the ceiling of the room, or both sides. Separating a section of the room from the rest.
To the left, before the partition, Öenthir caught sight of something and pulled Revna over to investigate.
"What is it?" Revna only glanced at what Öenthir was examining, keeping her eyes moving, watching for any more movement.
"It's another lifting platform." She searched around and found a lever, much like the one in the first building of the complex. This time set into the platform itself. "We don't have to go back the way we came. I'm not sure where it will go, though."
"If we don't have to trek for miles through these corridors, that's a good thing." Revna jerked her head towards the partition. "Let's get this done. I tire of this place."
They approached the partition slow and with care. The silence of the room was weighing heavy upon her now, giving the place a sense of unease. They couldn't even hear the pipes, with their ever hissing steam. No clanks or whirs from gears. Nothing.
Revna placed her back against the partition and glanced around the corner.
"Shor's blood!" The Khajiit pulled back, leaning heavy against the partition. "That's a big one!"
Öenthir needed to see. Edging around Revna, she took her own turn to look around the corner of the wall and almost gasped. It was another Dwemer construct, but this one must have been almost ten feet high. It looked humanoid, in a vague way, with arms and legs, a head that resembled a bearded mer of some kind and a big barrel of a chest. It stood, motionless before an altar that held a crown much like the one the Ayleid skeleton of Gwinilden had worn, but more angular and brutal in its construction.
"How are we going to beat that?" She pulled away from the corner and leant against the partition next to Revna.
"Maybe we don't have to fight it?" Revna looked around the corner again, trying to see more of the area. "The other one just wanted us to return the gem. Right?"
It was worth a try. If they didn't have to fight the giant construct, they could collect the other two and leave by the lifting platform. She looked at the gem in her hand. All this trouble for such an inconspicuous thing. People dying because three mages had thought to end a war by magick. Such fools!
She took a deep breath, closing her hand around the gem, gripping her staff in the other hand, and, in slow, careful steps, walked around the edge of the partition. Revna followed, her hammer ready if battle became required.
She held the gem up in front her as she walked to the front of the construct and the altar. The construct immediately sensed their presence, raising to its full height with a hiss of steam and the sound of pistons and turning gears.
"We return the Gem of Unison to its rightful owner, Onzngknd of the Dwemer." She sounded far more confident than she felt. "We only wish to break the curse and leave. There is no need for violence."
The huge construct bent its head towards her, making her feel even smaller than she actually was. She could feel Revna readying herself to attack beside her. Then a noise appeared to emit from the construct. Like a million different musical notes, minute, short notes, mere fragments of a second in length, played on some strange set of bells, or xylophone. It took her a moment before she realised it was making words from the sounds.
"Intruders detected. Analysing." The head appeared to look at Revna, its head moving up and down. "Khajiit. Female. Elevated vascular system, heart rate, endorphins. Subject prepared to engage in conflict."
The construct swivelled the entire top half of its body towards Revna, raising an arm that ended in something that looked like a double-headed hammer.
"Wait!" Öenthir stepped in front of Revna, fast, holding the Gem of Unison higher. "Read me! Umm ... analyse! Analyse me."
The construct lowered its hammer arm and the head once again appeared to examine her, head moving up and down.
"Mer. Sub-species. Female." The head stopped moving up and down and seemed to focus on Öenthir's hand. "Gem of Unison detected. Return the Gem of Unison! Return the Gem of Unison!"
"That's what I said." She held the gem within sight of the construct's head and edged around, moving closer to the Dwemer crown. "We want to return the Gem of Unison."
The construct turned the top half of its body, following Öenthir's movement towards the crown. She reached the altar and laid her staff against it as she tried to place the gem into the noticeable space for it in the crown. Soon, it clicked into place. The construct immediately straightened up and then lowered itself back into the position it had first held.
"Gem of Unison has been returned." The inhuman 'voice' made from thousands of musical notes, seemed to become less metallic. "You must leave Onzngknd. You have ten minutes in which to comply."
"Is that it?" Revna almost seemed disappointed, although how she expected to fight a construct that size, Öenthir had no idea.
"That's it. Let's get the others and get out of this place!" She didn't waste any time, immediately turning and running back towards Itagaki and Tilly.
The Redguard had already forced Tilly to help her up and to move towards Öenthir and Revna, so they met half way.
"You have done it, my friends." Itagaki's voice still strong, but strained, called out. "We felt the change through the binding. Now all we must do is get past the Falmer, the spiders and miles of corridors."
Öenthir could tell that Itagaki was trying to use humour to lessen their concern. Nevertheless, she was happy to let the Redguard and the dark elf know that they need not retrace their steps, showing them the lifting platform. Revna helped Tilly get Itagaki on to the platform.
"My staff!" Öenthir couldn't believe that she had forgotten it. She only hoped that the construct didn't analyse her as an intruder again. "I'll be right back."
She jumped from the platform and ran towards the partition when she found herself stopped dead in her tracks by the sound of an explosion. Without thinking, after the initial shock wore off, she ran around the partition.
Someone, or something, appeared to have destroyed the giant construct, pieces laying all across the floor, steam rising from the constructs torso. That was not the most shocking thing, though.
There, beside the altar, lifting the crown that held the Gem of Unison was a figure. A familiar figure. Tall, dressed in mage's robes. He turned as she ran around the corner and Öenthir recognised him straight away.
"Loremaster Dukhat?"
iii. Tilly.
She, Itagaki and Revna had all heard the explosion and seen that clueless Bosmer running around the partition wall. She never understood the kind of people that ran towards loud noises. Be it the sounds of cheering, or battle or, in this case, something booming like the biggest thunderstorm she'd ever heard. People always ran towards them.
Sighing, Tilly saw that the wood elf was not the only one running towards the sound. Revna had jumped from the platform straight away, ridiculous Argonian hammer in hand, and Itagaki, despite being in pain was also struggling to stand and head that way. It was all she could do to give Itagaki a shoulder to lean on as they moved to follow their friends.
Rounding the edge of the partition wall, they found themselves confronted by a strange sight. What appeared to be the remains of a metal thing, but one that had been much larger than the others, scattered on the floor. Her friends appeared to be standing there, like idiots, and some tall man in mage's robes appeared to be fiddling with a crown of some kind.
"Who's the old geezer?" Her friends didn't move, or reply, but the old mage turned and saw her and Itagaki.
"Ah. And now the final two. Stand still." The mage waved a hand in their direction, almost as an afterthought.
She couldn't move. She could feel her legs trying to step forward, but something invisible seemed to be holding her in place. Neither her arms or her head could move either. Her eyes were still able to turn and she could see Itagaki struggling to move also.
The mage finally finished what he was doing with the crown, pulling, what Tilly surmised was the Gem of Unison, from it and then tossing the crown aside. He tossed the gem once and then secreted it away within his robes before moving to stand before Öenthir.
"You were supposed to have left." The man, a Breton by the looks of things, clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at Öenthir. Imperious. Judging. "You never were one to do as expected."
"I left my staff." The little Bosmer's voice sounded strained.
"Your staff? You have a staff now?" The Breton mage turned, seeing Öenthir's staff leant against the altar. He strode over and lifted it, giving it a cursory examination. "Not enchanted, but very prettily carved. You think you're ready for a staff, eh? Always with delusions of grandeur, child."
"Why are you doing this?" Tilly couldn't see Öenthir's face, but she sounded as if she was holding back tears. "The Gems of Unison are too powerful to be used. That's why the ancient mages hid them."
"These gems will help put an end to the war, girl. Isn't that a good thing?" The Breton slipped Öenthir's staff into her hand and smiled kindly at her. "My allies and I can stop the fighting, bring final, lasting peace to Tamriel."
"Not with those gems." Itagaki almost grunted with the effort of trying to move. "They are cursed and the power they hold is too great for mortal hands."
"Then we will becomes gods, if we must, but we will stop the war." The Breton turned away and began weaving his hands in the air. Soon, it was as if a rip in the air occurred showing a bright window towards another place. A portal.
"You know we have the other gem, why not take that, too?" Revna hissed at the man.
"Ah. The Khajiit speaks. The fabled 'Scorpion Black' reborn. You have a reputation, you know." The Breton mage turned from the portal and tapped Revna's armour. "There is the story of Scorpion Black and the reality. The reality is that this armour saved his life many times, but failed him when he needed it the most. Do not make the same mistake, eh?"
"Answer her question!" Öenthir's voice was bitter and angry. "Why not take the last gem now?"
"We aren't monsters, girl!" He looked hurt that Öenthir would think so. "A child's life is in the balance! No. You will complete your task and we will take the gem once you have broken the curse. No, we will allow you to complete your journey."
"You sent people after us. They tried to kill us. To kill me." Öenthir's voice was breaking, now.
"You were never meant to be part of this, child. If only you hadn't cast that protection spell." The Breton sighed. "Those sell-swords were to watch you, only. I would have dealt with them myself if your friends had not killed them. We do not tolerate unnecessary death."
"We will stop you!" Itagaki snarled at the man. "Those gems are not for this world. We will find you and your 'allies' and we will stop this madness."
"No. You won't." The Breton turned away and stepped towards his shimmering portal. "The Three Banners War will end. There will be peace and the Three Heads of the Dragon will rule. Nothing any of you can do will stop that."
Walking into the light of the portal, the Breton mage wavered and disappeared. Seconds later all four of them found that they could move once more and Öenthir collapsed in tears, gripping her staff to her chest.
Tilly fidgeted with the pommel of "Grave's Friend", her enchanted dagger that killed with intense pain, knowing that, one day, she would use it on that mage and all his 'allies'.
iv. Itagaki.
The pain had subsided much since Öenthir had used her magick upon her, but there was still a throb and a strange tingling that told her that had suffered a terrible injury. She hesitated, but touched the side of her face that now held a melted, pitted scar. She wasn't one for vanity, but this injury did bother her.
Injuries, for a warrior, were always expected. She had several scars that she had collected over the years, not least of which that scar. The one she gained in failure. This one, though, was different to her. She didn't understand why. Her looks had never interested her before, although she was not completely unaware of her beauty. Or, at least, the beauty she used to have.
After leaving the tomb of Onzngknd, they had managed to retrace their steps overland that they had made underground, finding the first building and their horses faster than expected. They had soon set off back towards the Argonian village of the Red Spine tribe.
Over the next few nights, Öenthir had reapplied her healing spell at night, before they slept, and in the morning after waking, but, apart from that, had remained withdrawn and almost silent the whole time. She had not taken the betrayal by her mentor well. Itagaki imagined it must feel almost as devastating as if a parent had betrayed her and she wished there was something she could do or say that would ease her torment.
As for the other two, Revna had taken to removing the Scorpion Black armour, at night, and staring at it. The words of the Breton mage must have struck a chord in the Khajiit. If it had been Itagaki, herself, that had received the armour and the warning, she would be as concerned as Revna. So far, that armour had proven durable to the extreme, saving Revna from blows that could have, likely would have, killed her or, at the very least, injured her to a point she may never have recovered. But, what if the armour failed, as Dukhat reported it had with its original owner, Scorpion Black? Was it too much of a risk to wear? Or too much of a risk not to?
Tilly was the one that had acted pretty much as normal, except she rarely moved far from Itagaki's side. She wasn't trying to repair their fledgling relationship, which Itagaki appreciated, but neither was she avoiding her, as she had been. Somehow, Itagaki's injury had finally made something click in Tilly's mind. She was acting more empathic than anyone could have imagined, least of all the dark elf herself. Of course, with everything going on, her playful antagonistic friendship with Revna had taken a hit, but that was still there. If a little subdued.
Upon reentering the Red Spine village, the healers that had cared for Tilly so well immediately began to make a fuss over her. They gave her a salve for her injury that they swore would alleviate some of the scarring, but even they said it would never be completely healed.
It was satisfying being back in the Argonian village. Seeing the children that she had taught the spear dance to. Talking to those that had made them feel so welcome before (even if she, herself, had made that welcome a little difficult). Returning to the huts that they had slept in for those two weeks not so long ago. This time, they could not stay, however.
"Absolutely not! We can afford a couple of days for you to rest." At least returning to the Red Spine village had broken Öenthir from her despair.
As soon as they had reentered the village, the Sap Speaker had taken the Bosmer aside. It was as if he knew something was wrong. They had spent over an hour together, beneath the boughs of the Hist tree, and, when Öenthir returned to them, she seemed to have a renewed vigour to her.
"I am perfectly fine." She hand-waved away Öenthir's concern. "Do you think I have never been injured before? I still have some pain, but I am not tired, I am not ill and I am able to travel. No, we must move on and finish this."
"I'm with Itagaki on this one." Revna paused between wolfing down a bowl of the stew she had gained a taste for. "Injuries are no reason to stop doing anything. She can walk, she can fight. That's all a warrior needs."
"Bollocks!" Of course Tilly had to add her two copper's worth to the debate. "You all made me rest, now it's time to make her rest. Why risk it? We have plenty of time left."
"You all seem to be under the impression that this is a discussion. It is not!" She stood up too fast and her head swam. She didn't show it, though. "I am leaving to finish this in the morning. You may all stay here, but if I have to ride all the way to Skyrim alone, I will!"
She sat back down after making her point and they all continued eating in silence for a few minutes. But silence, to Tilly, was only something that required filling.
"So, Khajiiti Nord, what can we expect in this next tomb?" Tilly circled her finger inside her bowl collecting every last drop from within. "Mammoths? Horkers? Maybe some of those big blonde Nord men you like?"
"We will find the dead." Revna appeared reticent in how she spoke, if not in what she said.
"Isn't that what you normally find in a tomb? Dead people?" Whatever the Sap Speaker had said to the Bosmer, it had returned her sense of humour, that was certain.
"In normal tombs, yes." The Khajiit roved her eyes between them. "In Skyrim, the dead people forget to stop moving. Draugr."
"What in Oblivion is 'draw-gur'?" Tilly dropped her bowl on the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"The place we will be going, Deep Frost Barrow. I've never been in, but many of the other children did. Some never came back." It was possible she didn't realise it, but Revna moved a hand to her great sword, Jotnbann. "I don't know if Skyrim is cursed or it's something to do with how the dead are prepared, but they soon begin walking again. Still want to fight. Some Draugr have even left barrows to wander the nearby countryside."
"So, like those skeletons we fought?" Tilly leaned on the table now, more interested than she would like others to believe.
"Those skeletons were mindless puppets. Draugr still retain the skills they had in life. Warriors, mages, Dragonborn and their shouts." Revna was deadly serious. "They will not be as easily felled as those skeletons."
The conversation fell silent after that and they soon all decided to retire for the night. It took a while, but soon tiredness overcame the pain and Itagaki fell asleep. She did not dream of Draugr, nor of Tilly, or her injury, or of any of the things they had experienced.
But she did dream.