23
Tilly.
Öenthir cast her Mage Light spell. As soon as the doors automatically closed behind them, the darkness of the Barrows had closed in. What the light revealed was a small chamber with various sized and shaped urns lining the walls, some broken, others laying on their sides, ash tipping from within.
There was a strange warmth, inside the Barrow, and the air smelled and tasted stagnant and dry. The walls and floor were crude and featureless. The large stone flags of the floor were of varying sizes, cut to roughly square and rectangular shapes, fitting together loose with packed soil between the gaps.
A stone staircase forged its way downwards, the centre of each step bevelled by centuries of passing feet. Whether those feet had been of the living or of the dead, Tilly could make no guess, but the outside had shown few signs of human activity.
They found several old, dry torches dropped into a corner, tucked behind a large, bulbous burial urn and both she and Itagaki took one each, struggling to get them lit. Revna needed both hands for her battle axe and Öenthir would need both hands for her spellcasting, so they declined a torch.
She didn't like holding only one of her daggers, but they didn't want to strain Öenthir's magicka reserves too early. She could have expanded her light, but the larger the light, the longer she maintained it, the more magicka she would use and the closer she would come to tiring herself out.
"I suppose we should go downwards, then?" She offered, her voice taut and tense.
"Aye." Even Revna sounded strained as her deep voice echoed down the stairs and into the depths of the Barrow.
With the party having two torches burning, Öenthir took the opportunity to send her Mage Light orb wafting ahead, down the stairs. They saw it bob and weave and then level out some twenty feet down and, as they followed the light, they saw the first proper chamber of the Barrow.
This was a long room, not much wider than the stairs they had descended, but they found the first evidence of the Barrow's purpose. Three rows of alcoves were on each side of the chamber, about two dozen, in total, each containing shrouded remains.
Tilly couldn't believe herself, but she had no urge to collect any of the piles of coins and pieces of jewellery that could see within the alcoves. Offerings to the dead and the belongings that had adorned these once living, vibrant people. She wanted to get out of this dark, oppressive place.
"There are two exits. Which way, sister?" Itagaki, with a hushed whisper, made a questioning look towards Revna.
As Itagaki had done in the tomb of Onzngknd, and Öenthir before her in Gwinilden's tomb, Revna pulled out their last remaining Gem of Unison and held it up to each of the archways before her. The now familiar pulsing glow began in the Gem as soon as the Khajiit pointed towards the right hand side.
"To the right, then." She returned the Gem to a pouch attached to her belt and renewed her grip on the shaft of her battle axe, edging towards the archway.
Tilly couldn't put her finger on why, but this place seemed far worse than the other two tombs. It was possible it was the setting, or it could be it was because the chambers and passageways, here, were tighter, more constricted, but there was an intense feeling of foreboding washing over her at every step. The sense of malice they had felt outside magnified within these walls and every step they took felt like they were walking blind to their own doom.
She had to stop for a second, putting her dagger away so that she could wipe her palms on her battered noble's jacket, the jacket that she had stolen so long ago. She couldn't remember a time when she had been so nervous that her palms had sweated this much. She wiped her hand again, staring at it, before pulling out her dagger again.
"You feel it too?" Öenthir, her face darkened by shadows, stood beside her. "Like there's some force, some will that is pushing us back, or, maybe, like we're being enveloped in some creature's hate?"
"Well, I probably wouldn't put it quite like that." She rubbed her forehead with the sleeve of her coat. "But there's definitely something coming. Something bad."
Revna, that soft-hearted fool of a Khajiit, looked back at Tilly and Öenthir. It was like she could sense their trepidation and she smiled warm and comforting, the light from Itagaki's torch casting a broken shadow of their friend against the wall.
"Don't linger. We don't want the dead to feel your warmth and want a taste of it." Dark humour aside, the cat had a point. They needed to keep moving. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get to a tavern and drink and joke about how easy this was."
Tilly affirmed her grip on her dagger and the shaft of the torch. Looking at Öenthir, she saw that she, also, had forced her features into a more determined expression and together they followed Itagaki and Revna into the next corridor.
ii. Itagaki.
This felt different to the other tombs. She could feel it with every step. The corridor opened up into a chamber and they found themselves on a mezzanine platform that followed the path of the walls with a rough wooden walkway that led down to the chamber floor.
Several sarcophagi were leant against the walls, or fallen to the floor, some tilted at odd angles. There were more of the ceremonial urns, too. Most made from pottery, some from clay and others even made from metal. In the centre of the chamber, an altar held offerings for the dead. Rotted food, weapons of many varieties and jewellery and ancient coins.
She looked over at Tilly when she saw the bounty of riches upon the altar, but the dark elf surprised her by paying little, if any, attention to the gold and silver and precious stones. It was possible the dark elf had put aside her pilfering ways, or, most like, she too felt the insidious weight of the tomb and had better things to worry about?
She saw another archway to the right and edged her way towards it. Every so often, she would see Revna hold up the Gem of Unison, to check they were going the right way. The gem pulsing with its dim, blue light as it sensed the right direction.
"Does anyone else suddenly feel cold?" Öenthir breathed out and watched her breath condense into a tiny cloud before her eyes.
"Be aware!" Itagaki spun around, searching the shadows, eyeing the sarcophagi, and herded Tilly and Öenthir between her and Revna.
They found themselves greeted, then, by the sound of stone grating on stone. Slow, intermittent at first, and then growing louder as two of the cover stones on the sarcophagi began moving aside.
There was a hollow in the central altar and she placed her torch within it, taking a double-handed grip on her long sword as she saw the cover stones pushed aside, hitting the floor of the chamber with a deafening thud that rebounded from the walls. Dust, thrown into the air by the crashing stones, lingered in a cloud as two tall creatures stepped from within.
They were tall, made to appear even taller with the horned helmets they wore. Dried, parchment-like skin still attached to bony faces. Ragged, rusted armour held on by worn leather straps and bits of rotted cloth beneath it were all the creatures wore, but the weapons they held still appeared to have keen edges. Draugr.
The draugr opened their mouths and, without vocal chords or air from desiccated lungs, managed to make some form of guttural sound. Dim flashes of light winked where eyes would once have gazed from and strips of dried flesh, that may once have been muscles, tensed as they marched forward, weapons held for attack.
"Hit them hard!" Revna yelled as she tore across the chamber floor, her double-headed battle axe swinging towards the nearest draugr.
Itagaki followed Revna's lead, launching herself at the other draugr, but the dead warriors were ready for them both. With a speed neither Itagaki or Revna expected, both draugr blocked the initial attacks and made counter-moves immediately. Itagaki was almost unable to parry the blow from the two-handed sword in the dead warrior's hand.
She tried stepping aside, but the greatsword whistled through the air, missing her arm by less than an inch. Blocked, she tried shoulder-barging the creature, but it slipped aside and she barrelled forward, almost losing her balance and only managing to bring her sword in front of her head to stop the greatsword from cleaving her skull in at the last second.
A second blow towards her head rattled her sword arm as she blocked it. The draugr were relentless, quick and strong in an unnatural, impossible way. She chanced a look over towards Revna, but the big Khajiit was having no more luck than she was, pushed backwards against the wall, the draugr she was fighting advancing.
Tilly appeared from somewhere, slicing the back of the draugr's leg, but it made no difference. There was nothing there to cut that would slow it down. Without a thought, the dead warrior swatted Tilly aside, sending her sprawling into the altar. But it was a lucky hit, too, as an arrow sailed through the air right where Tilly's head had been.
"Archer! Somebody take that thing!" In the tumult, no-one had noticed a third sarcophagus opening. The archer held a creaking, ancient bow. Dry and with little suppleness to it, but still able to fire arrows in this tight space.
Itagaki couldn't handle both the archer and the draugr before her. It continued its assault, driving her back with repeated blows coming from all directions and it was she could do to keep blocking and parrying and moving backwards. She couldn't see an opening.
Then there came the sound of something. A tinkling sound, like hundreds of diamonds falling into a jar. The sound seemed to circle around getting louder and louder and a brilliant purple light filled the room. Then the light seemed to fly, screaming to the other side of the chamber and something hit the archer. The light, or the thing giving off the light, struck the archer dead centre of its chest and exploded, sending purple shards splintering apart, shredding the archer to pieces.
Even the other draugr paused at the sudden second demise of their comrade and that was all the opening that Itagaki needed. Her sword flashed beneath the paused strike of the draugr, cutting through the thigh bones of both its legs. Before it had even begun to fall, she had slipped behind it and brought her sword down in a mighty swipe, crashing through the bones in its shoulder, down, through its ribcage, leaving the creature in several pieces on the floor.
Revna had also used the distraction, launching a kick into the chest of her opponent, sending it clattering backwards and giving her space to swing her axe in a great arc and separating the draugr into two halves, which fell, almost pathetic, to the sides.
Itagaki collapsed to her knees, leaning heavy upon her sword. She tried to catch her breath. That had been far more difficult than she had expected. When she could, she looked around. Revna was also breathing heavy, hunched over, her hands on her knees. Tilly wasn't too worse for wear, apart from a bruise to her face, but it was Öenthir that caused her concern.
Sat on the ground, her back to the altar, she seemed to be gasping for air and looked more tired than Itagaki had ever seen her.
"What in Oblivion was that?" Tilly was on the other side of the altar from Öenthir and couldn't see the nature of Itagaki's concern.
"I think that was one of Wen's new spells." Revna had moved to kneel beside Öenthir, trying to loosen the Bosmer's coat to allow her to breathe.
Itagaki was at Öenthir's side almost as fast as Revna. She found herself grabbed by the Bosmer, her hand clutching Itagaki's arm. Fighting for each breath, the wood elf gulped and stared into her eyes. She seemed to take comfort in the closeness of her friends and, slow and tortuous, her breathing began to slow and come more regular until she was finally breathing once again.
And then she laughed. A full, hearty belly laugh that echoed around the chamber.
iii. Öenthir.
She had had sex before, and that felt good. She had, it was obvious, cast spells before, and that felt really good. She had never felt anything like this before. It was like the biggest orgasm she'd ever had multiplied over and over. She felt amazing!
One hand found its way between her legs and she clamped her thighs together as tight as she could. Her other hand covered her mouth trying to stifle the laughter that she could feel still waiting to erupt again. Her chest rose and fell as if she had been running for miles and she stared at the floor, oblivious to anything and everything around her.
"Wen?" It was Revna's voice that brought her out of her reverie and she snatched her hand from between her legs with a speed borne of embarrassment.
Blushing, guilty, she jumped to her feet, her legs shaking, and brushed down her coat, in dramatic fashion, as if the dirt upon it was the most important thing in the world at that moment. When her legs stopped shaking, her hands pushed stray hairs out of her face and she gave an imperious look towards her Khajiiti friend.
"We should move on." Her voice was wobbling. She could hear it and she coughed once before continuing. "Which way?"
"Öenthir, friend, what was that?" Itagaki placed a hand on Öenthir's arm and tried to look into her eyes, but she avoided the gaze. "You looked like you were about to die. Are you going to be able to continue?"
"I'm fine." Her voice cracked again and she straightened her back, defiant. "I'm fine. That spell was a little more powerful than I expected. Crystal Shards. One of my new ones."
"It looked like it did more than nearly kill you. I've seen people make faces like that before." Tilly winked at Revna. "Trust me. Are you going to be able to cast any more spells?"
"My old ones, yes." She looked around and saw her staff on the floor, reaching down to pick it up. "I don't think I have the strength to cast the new ones again for a while. Maybe the Rune Prison, but not that one."
They all stared at her with a mixture of concern and Tilly grinned at her embarrassment. She knew they had all seen her reaction when she had started being able to breathe again and that only made her blush even more. Unlike Tilly, however, Revna and Itagaki seemed more concerned about her health than her inappropriate reaction.
"Alright, then. We shall keep moving." Checking the edge of her sword, Itagaki moved towards the next archway. "Wen, rest. Only use your spells if you need to. Tilly, keep an eye on Öenthir."
"Oh, I'll keep an eye on the mucky bugger, alright." The dark elf was still grinning and she moved in closer to whisper. "I never knew mages had it so good. Maybe I'll join the Mages Guild myself."
Of course Tilly would be the one to keep mentioning it. The others were more diplomatic, even though they couldn't have missed the sexual, charged reaction she had experienced.
She reignited her Mage Light spell and followed Itagaki and Revna as they moved with caution on through the Barrow. Casting such a simple spell felt like such a disappointment now. The Crystal Shards spell was on a completely different level. It was no wonder that the Mages Guild frowned upon such dark magicks. Apart from the intense thrill of casting the spell, she now had a deep need to do it again.
She had felt it, to a lesser degree, when she had cast the Rune Prison spell. These dark magick spells had a seductive edge to them. She wanted more. The Mages Guild would, she felt certain, not allow her to explore these kinds of spells, if she was ever able to return to the Guild, that is. The Guild was the weakest school of magick, the Nord mage, Dirgan, had said and now she could well believe it.
Thinking of that gruff old mage reminded her that he had offered to sponsor her with the College of Winterhold. She considered, when this was all over, she would take him up on the offer? One thing she knew for certain was that she wanted, no, needed to find more spells. She needed to feel, again, like she had felt with that spell. She needed that power.
"Be careful on the stairs." Itagaki had begun descending a staircase they had encountered and Öenthir realised she hadn't been paying attention.
She also noticed that she had begun powering up the Crystal Shards spell and then dismissing it. As far as she could tell, she'd done it several times since leaving the chamber. Summoning the magicka and then dismissing it before the spell was cast. Over and over.
Tilly, the sordid grin gone from her face, was watching her. The dark elf reached out and clasped her hand, giving it a squeeze and she found herself thankful. The seductive nature of the dark magick spells threatened to become addictive. She could see that even now after only casting two of the spells once each. She would have to watch that. The last thing she needed was to become addicted to spellcasting. She had seen it happen to others and it never ended well, often with the addict having to give up magick all together.
But it wouldn't stop her seeking out more power. She had had a taste, now, and it wasn't near enough.
"I think we've reached the tomb." Revna stood before a strange looking wall, examining it.
The wall had several circles that seemed engraved in the rock in a concentric pattern, but, when Öenthir made a closer inspection, she saw that it wasn't an engraving, the were separate circles. Each of the circles, which got smaller the closer to the centre they came, had several symbols engraved around their edges. She could see pictograms of birds, snakes, sea creatures, wolves heads engraved on the circles and, in the centre of the circles, a golden, disembodied claw seemed attached into four holes.
"It's a door." She ran a hand over the symbols. "These are elements of a puzzle. The Gem of Unison won't open this. We'll have to use our minds, for once."
"Well, that's Revna buggered, then." Tilly yelped as Revna punched her arm.
This was what she needed. Something complicated to take her mind off the itch in the back of her head. The one telling her that the Crystal Shards spell could knock a hole through the door. The one telling her that if she only read the Portal spellbook once more, she could use that to pass the door. That little voice telling her to use magick, any magick, and everything will be as it was should be.
She ignored that itch, that voice, but the worst thing was, she didn't want to.
iv. Revna.
She didn't know what she could do here apart from watch the stairs in case of further draugr attacks. The doorway with the circles was something for the thinkers on the team to work out and she felt next to useless at that kind of thing.
She looked over her shoulder at her three companions, discussing their options regarding the door. They had, for certain, come a long way from the disparate group they had been at the beginning of this journey.
Tilly had begun the task as a mere thief that had wandered into the wrong situation. Emotionally stunted, taking everything as a joke. She was still able to find humour in everything, but it had become clear that she did, indeed, have emotions, even if they still weren't able to feel those emotions through the binding. And she had finally become Revna's friend. She was still unlikely to show it, but they all knew it.
Itagaki had been the stoic warrior that was all about fulfilling her duty. A duty that had been thrust upon her, but one she had taken as a matter of honour. Her relationship with Tilly had had its ups-and-downs, but she had shown a vulnerable side that would have been unthinkable at the beginning. She was also a great warrior. Strong and a good leader. Revna felt honoured to fight at her side.
Öenthir had changed the most. Almost timid to begin with. Aloof and prone to look down her nose at anything that didn't reach her impossible high standards, she had transformed into a good natured, kind woman. And powerful. Or, at least, becoming powerful. In years to come, she could very well give the greatest of Tamriel's mages a run for their money.
She liked them all and she was glad to have found herself thrown into this quest with them. She couldn't imagine not being around these people any more. They were the closest thing to family that she had had since she had lost her mothers. They had all, even Tilly, accepted her for who she was, not expecting her to be a Khajiit, but treating her like a person. She couldn't even begin to say how much she appreciated that.
"Revna, is there anything in Nord culture that could give us an idea about these symbols?" Öenthir had been through her satchel and scanned several books, but she hadn't found anything to relate to the door.
"Nothing that I can think of." She tried to recall anything that could help. "Maybe Corhan would know something, but we'd have to find a way out to ask him."
"Which brings us back to this Divines damned door." Itagaki was rarely given to desperation, but the tone of her voice betrayed more than a little frustration.
"Well, there must be something!" The Bosmer was becoming short-tempered now, too. "Each of the circles move. There are the same symbols on each circle. We must have to align them in the right sequence to open the door, but there are too many combinations to just try every one! Is there anything on the walls? Anything at all."
"And what about this golden claw? Do you think it's really gold, or just painted." Tilly had already begun to reach for the thing before anybody could stop her.
"Don't!" Öenthir screeched, reaching out to grab Tilly, but she was too late, the claw was already in the dark elf's hand.
Everyone stopped, silence falling in the small room as each of them waited to see if something terrible was about to happen. The seconds ticked by as they all looked around, seeing if some trap had activated, or if more draugr had become alerted. After a little while, and with nothing happening, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Öenthir snatched the golden claw from Tilly's hand.
"That was stupid, even for you!" Chided, Tilly backed away from Öenthir, holding her hands up in contrition.
As she watched all this, Revna thought she caught something strange about the claw. She couldn't be certain, but, by the flickering torch light, she thought she saw the shadowed bumps on the bottom of the object. Leaving her position at the stairs, she moved to Öenthir and lifted her hand holding the claw.
There were symbols carved into the underside.
"Perhaps it wasn't such a stupid thing to do, after all." Revna looked at Tilly who had turned her look of guilt to a look so smug it was likely the others would want to punch her. It made Revna smile.
Öenthir, however, had other things on her mind. She held up the claw towards the door, floating her Mage Light behind her shoulder to see better. Then she began to turn the outer circle until the symbol of an eagle was at the top. She turned the second circle until the sea creature lined up with the eagle and the final circle turned until the snake was in line.
Nothing happened.
The mage creased her forehead in frustration, her hand resting on her hip as she tapped her foot on the floor.
"Does the centre of the circles turn? Maybe you should put the claw back?" Öenthir's head snapped around to Tilly and she aimed a dark scowl at the Dunmer. "It's just an idea."
Regardless of her anger at Tilly, Öenthir returned the claw to the holes in the centre. Still nothing happened. She took one more angry look at Tilly and then turned the claw.
There was a heavy click and the sound of rumbling. Dust fell from around the door, the walls of the small room and from the ceiling. And then the door began to move. Slow, at first, stone grinding upon stone, and then faster, the door rolled to the side.
Soon, the door completely disappeared into the wall, leaving a circular entrance into the chamber beyond. The chamber was dark and, before Öenthir could send her Mage Light through the doorway, flames erupted in braziers along both sides of the chamber beyond.
"It would seem we are, once again, expected." Itagaki had dropped her torch and unsheathed her companion sword, arming both her hands.
Revna gripped her battle axe tight and stepped into the next room.