Chapter LXXIX – The Haunted Barrow

"Well, what do you know, completely plundered..."

Bishop grumbled as they made their way towards the third chamber of the ruins. There was nothing inside besides dust and cobwebs. Not even a ghost…

"There might still be a Wall here…" Aeyrin shrugged, leading them further on encouragingly.

"You think someone can take those from you? You know… like if some other Dragonborn from before came and… umm… sucked up the Word… would you still be able to see it?" Bishop pondered after a while. It wouldn't surprise him if even a potential Wall would be depleted in this place.

"I… I don't know… I guess not… right? I mean… it's… words… I can still read them after someone else does…" she gave him an uncomfortable look. That didn't seem possible… hopefully.

"Yeah, but the glowing and the drumming stops when you read it, right? Like with the old fossils? You said they made the glowing symbols too to teach you the Words. And then they disappeared. How would you even know what to read if the glowing was gone? And I doubt just 'reading' works. You read the dragon language in that book of yours too and nothing comes of it."

He did make some good points. But it was unnerving to think about. Did he really have to make her self-conscious about that too?

"Well… weren't the Walls made for the Dragonborn? I assumed they… used them in the first place. Maybe the Walls make the Words reappear? Why else would they be in these dungeons?" she cringed. Yeah… that made sense… Hopefully she was right.

But this only made her think about just how little she still knew.

She hoped Delphine's search for the lore master would bear fruit soon. He sounded like someone who could actually finally help with her lack of knowledge.

Maybe they should have helped her get him out of the Ratway…

But then again, the idea of getting entangled with Mercer's favors again was definitely not tempting.

Besides, Bishop gave her good instructions.

She'd be fine…

They continued onwards when finally, they noticed more ectoplasm on the ground. There really were ghosts.

"You know… we don't have an enchanted weapon…" Bishop stopped suddenly, looking over the glowing goo on the ground.

"R-right… I just thought…" Aeyrin bit her lip nervously, trailing off.

"You thought we could talk to the ghosts, right?" he smirked at her, folding his arms across his chest. This idea suddenly felt too shortsighted.

"Well… yeah… do you want to leave?" she asked uncertainly. She talked to ghosts a lot in the temple, but they didn't know what they were getting into here. It was probably the safer bet. But maybe they didn't need an enchanted weapon. She could still Shout…

"And come back to the inn with our tails between our legs? Yeah right… not like we're helpless…" Bishop scoffed, brandishing his shortsword in the close quarters of the narrow hallway they were traversing. It would be useless against a ghost, but maybe some draugr would pop out at them. Better safe than sorry.

Aeyrin nodded, gripping her mace firmly in her hand.

They continued towards an intersection, heading to the left. When they reached another small chamber a sudden uneasy feeling struck them.

Before they managed to look around the room, a loud raspy shriek startled them.

"Intruders! This is my barrow!"

A bright glowing translucent man lunged at them. His voice was oddly… alive. There was a distinctive lack of the echo which graced the voices of all the ghosts they have encountered before.

In panic, Aeyrin swung her mace towards the assailant with a yell. Not that it would help… it was a ghost.

But shockingly, the weapon made contact.

The sound of crackling bones resounded through the chamber as a spray of blood splashed over them.

The ghost slumped to the ground, his body slowly and gradually taking form and color before their eyes.

"What the fuck?" Bishop stared at the now very solid corpse. It was a Dunmer, dressed in robes. The soles of his boots were covered with sticky ectoplasm.

"That… that was no ghost…" Aeyrin breathed out, the shock at the man's presence slowly subsiding.

They stated to look around the room, wary of another pretend ghost lunging at them from the shadows as they looked behind every shelf and into every urn, just to be safe. There was a surprisingly vast stock of little bowls filled with ectoplasm on one of the shelves. There were also some rather prominently displayed unlabeled potions, swirling with blue and violet fluid.

"Look! Another one of those… claw… thingies!" Aeyrin retrieved the strange claw from a dusty chest as Bishop rifled through a small book he found on the stone table. The claw was beautiful – the stone palm was decorated in black carvings, just like any ancient Nordic style, but the talons seemed to be made from pure cut sapphire. The golden one they helped retrieve so long ago was rather impressive looking, but this was something else… the gems glittered mesmerizingly even in the murky dungeon.

"Looks like the elf was looking for it at first, but didn't want to be beaten to the punch. He made a potion to make himself look like a ghost to scare off villagers from this place," Bishop muttered, still peering into the small book, turning the pages. "Staying here seems to have made him go nuts… he found the claw but didn't remember what he wanted it for…" he chuckled slightly. What an idiotic way to die…

"That's awful… If he didn't attack, we could have helped him…" she sighed, looking over the Dunmer's corpse, his face mangled from the heavy blow of her mace.

"Yeah, well, he did attack. And now we have that," Bishop smirked, pointing at the claw. It did look like a promising eventuality of hidden loot further in.

They stashed the odd unfamiliar potions that the elf made, heading onward.

"Moth… Owl… Wolf"

Aeyrin looked over the claw while Bishop moved the rings of the puzzle door around according to her instructions.

Karnwyr has been growling right by the door, leaning towards the ground, ready to pounce. It was a good sign – it meant that something was behind it. And if there were ancient undead roaming around, there were also some of their treasures inside.

Aeyrin handed Bishop the claw once he was done and he inserted it into the slot, stashing it immediately and readying his bow. He moved back behind her swiftly to let her charge in first.

She was planning on finally practicing…

"YOL!"

The draugr in front of her lit up in flames, shambling to the ground. The large chamber in front of them was now blessedly empty, with only the sound of dissipating flames and snapping bones echoing through their surroundings.

"Damn… leave some for me, ladyship. Can't let you have all the fun," Bishop smirked at her, ruffling her hair as he passed by her to scour the chamber for traps.

"You get plenty as it is… you don't even let me charge them half of the time, shooting everything before I can get there…" she laughed at him and headed eagerly towards a tempting looking chest. Finally they might find something useful… or valuable.

True to their suspicions, the further chambers really held some long forgotten treasures.

Well, not anymore.

At least the people in Ivarstead wouldn't have to live with the fear of draugr and ghosts right next to their village any longer.

They continued through the dungeon, the ambiance certainly more lively… or… well… more undeadly than before with all the draugr around. The loot was definitely worthwhile though. They had plenty to eventually be able to even afford some new equipment. Perhaps even to have their weapons enchanted. The near-ghost encounter was a bit of a wakeup call.

They continued through the ruins in relative ease, filled with vigor and adrenaline from the conquered battles and good finds.

They were nearing the final chambers, they could already tell.

They've been through enough of these ancient barrows to know the signs. The battles became more difficult and the traps more numerous.

Eventually, they reached a very narrow suspended ledge near the ceiling of large chamber. There was a way to walk down at the end of the ledge, but below them in the chamber a large group of skeletons huddled together idly.

The undead didn't notice them yet and Bishop's eyes fell on the large glistening puddle right below them, playing with swirling colors. There was a broken oil lamp above the skeletons – the fluid must have poured down.

If they could get down undetected, Aeyrin could set them all aflame and snuff them out like it was nothing.

Bishop gave her a confident smirk, bow at the ready just in case, while he snuck across the high ledge. He looked at the undead below. They didn't suspect a thing. Aeyrin followed him as quietly as she could manage, doing rather well, considering her heavy armor and her… unsubtleness. Karnwyr stayed a little way behind, ready to charge if they got detected.

Bishop was halfway over the ledge already. Aeyrin was really surprisingly quiet while sneaking. She was never good at this shit – especially with her armor constantly clanking over the underchain. It was a bit… suspicious that there was no sound to be heard behind his back.

He should check on her…

Aeyrin's eyebrows shot upwards when he turned around a bit to look at her for some unknown reason…

Then she noticed it.

There was a large log fastened to the ceiling, suddenly moving. A sound echoed through the cavern, as if a stone or a tile was shifting.

The heavy log was heading straight towards Bishop.

"WULD!"

All Bishop could process was the sudden heavy impact.

He noticed her widened eyes, his foot slowly lowering along with a stony tile.

Shit! Did he really miss a trap?!

Then there was the Shout and after that only dull throbbing pain all over his body.

He managed to open his eyes, his body splayed on hers as she lay on the ground.

Fuck, that was quite a fall… she must have toppled them together all the way to the ground, throwing them away from the trap's trajectory.

He heard the shuffling of bones just as she tried to sit up shakily, pulling him along with her while his weight still pinned her down. She ended up only managing to support herself a little on her elbows, still mostly lying on the ground. A loud groan escaped her lips when she her arms shook with effort, holding both of their forms up a bit.

She was reacting so fast. His body was still throbbing in shock and pain from the impact.

But the sound made it all too clear. The skeletons have noticed them.

Aeyrin's vision cleared after the flurry of the events, steadying on the shambling undead approaching them.

They weren't close enough for melee range but they started to shuffle towards the two of them and several of them pulled out bows.

Dammit, what now?!

Her eyes fell on the glistening ground close to where they were still lying. They couldn't fight. They couldn't even get off of each other fast enough, their bodies entangled, battered and bruised.

There was no other way.

She could do it.

She knew she could do it.

Just like in the courtyard of High Hrothgar, there was this certainty, this confidence.

There was a feeling of ease and the awareness of this strange… synergy between her and her powers.

She was in control.

Her hand snapped from below her body painfully, her other arm shaking violently while trying to hold them both up. She pushed him down onto herself, shoving him towards her shoulder roughly and holding his head down in the crook of it.

"YOL!"

Bishop's eyes went wide, the heat pooling sweat on his back, making it cling stickily to his clothes.

She was right there, aiming at their entangled bodies. The Shout hit him… he was sure of it, it was the obvious trajectory…

But… he knew that she would never risk it… she would never endanger him with her powers.

There was no pain aside from the echoes of the impact. The sound of quickly spreading crackling flames and clattering of bones filled his ears almost instantly.

His head rose uncertainly, the dull pain in his entire body finally easing a bit after the initial impact reaction subsided. His eyes met hers with palpable shock in them.

He turned his head slightly, the corner of his eye catching the carnage and wild flames only a stone's throw away from their splayed bodies.

"Are you alright?! I didn't hit you, right? I knew I wouldn't! I know it was… risky… but I… knew… I knew I wouldn't hurt you!" her hand flew back to his face forcing him to look back at her, her eyes half panicky and half… proud and confident.

He straightened himself a bit, straddling her legs to keep his weight from her torso and allowing her to sit up to face him.

His lips captured hers almost instinctively, his hands shot up to cup her face, ignoring the pain from the impact and the tightening leather from the nearby heat.

"That was… fucking amazing!" he chuckled after he left her lips, his breath tickling her face with how close he still was. "You were fucking amazing!"

She giggled at him before they shared one more deep heated kiss, the relief and excitement washing over them.

They disentangled from each other slowly, with effort, their entire bodies aching from their fall. Karnwyr ran over to them with a worried bark once the flames started to dissipate with no kindling in sight, but Bishop only laughed heartily at him, ruffling his fur amicably.

They sat on the ground, still a bit dumbfounded, shuffling around in their packs for healing potions to numb the pain in their bruised bodies.

"I can't fucking believe you pulled that off… that was so… amazing…" he smirked, still repeating the same word, shaking his head. Not that he didn't know how capable she was, but managing to control the Shout so precisely, especially right after that fall…

"You on the other hand…" Aeyrin laughed at him teasingly, giving him a mock admonishing look.

"It was your damn fault! You're… distracting…" he gave her a wry smile. If he wasn't so worried about how quiet she was, he wouldn't have turned around and he would have noticed that trap. Then again, he did feel kind of guilty for underestimating her so much. But part of their tactic was always knowing the other's shortcomings. He needed to count on her inability to sneak around, just like she counted on the fact that if he got surrounded by enemies, he'd be fucked.

"Please don't tell me you missed a trap because you were ogling me…" she snickered at him, downing the potion and getting herself up from the ground. It didn't look like anything was broken – her armor must have broken a lot of the fall… and a lot of Bishop's weight landing on her. She was likely mostly just sore and bruised.

He pondered for a while, getting himself up alongside her. It felt like some smaller bones in his hand were broken – the dull pain was numbed but still present at the back of his mind and a strange tingling and pressure was under the skin of his hand. His little finger wouldn't move. Other than that… he was surprisingly preserved. She must have broken a lot of his fall. He would have felt sorry for crushing her… but he was still stunned by the whole feat, and this only made it more impressive.

Especially after he only checked on her because he doubted her competence at that point.

He wondered if he should mention why he turned around, but he suddenly felt so guilty for it.

"Yeah well… not my fault that you can pull off even the tin prison you walk around in," he smirked instead, hugging her over her shoulder and planting a kiss at the top of her head.

"Ready to end this?"

"I can hear it! Let's go! We need to hurry!"

Aeyrin exclaimed the second she heard the faint drumming in her ear.

"Right. You know the drill," he nodded determinedly, bow ready in hand as he notched an arrow immediately. At least none of the fingers he needed for aiming were unusable.

They stormed the room.

There were two draugr archers at sides, aiming at them immediately. A large sarcophagus was at the back of the room, right in front of the Wall. It was likely that a powerful draugr was inside, he needed to make sure it stayed away from her.

He took care of the archers easily while she ran towards the Wall in a hurry.

She darted around the sarcophagus, vaguely registering the telltale snap of the stony lid. The draugr was awake, but it didn't matter now. Bishop had her back and she just needed to get to the Wall.

She stopped in front of it, peering at the words.

KAAN

Bishop aimed at the creature.

It was vaguely familiar – he felt like they've seen it before but he couldn't place it.

It was a draugr but it… floated through air, a metal mask on its face and purple rags all over its skeleton.

He shot an arrow straight at its skull, getting the thing's attention. It hit the mask, but clanked to the ground with no damage done whatsoever.

Fuck he hated shooting the bony shits – when its skull was protected, there was not much space to maneuver. Well… maybe the spine would do it…

He took aim but suddenly that thing's hand lit up with flames, a large fiery orb hurling at him at great speed a second later.

He tumbled to the ground, the flames grazing his leg. The leather of his boot sizzled against his calf, sticking to it unpleasantly.

Fuck… now he would need to fix the boots…

His leg kind of burned, but he collected himself up from the ground promptly. The potion was still in his system – it would pass soon enough.

Karnwyr looked ready to charge, growling next to him, but Bishop threw him a warning look. Just because the wolf killed one powerful mage, didn't mean he would get the chance every time. The creature would target him without a doubt. Bishop needed to keep its attention on himself until Aeyrin recovered – she would help get it down right after.

He hit an arrow right into its spine. Great!

Or not…

That thing didn't even flinch. What the fuck was that?

Another arrow swished into the spine, but still, no effect.

He growled in frustration, notching another arrow when he noticed its hands light up with flames again.

"KRII!"

The loud Shout staggered it, an ominous red glow enveloping its body.

They still had no idea what the Shout actually did, but it seemed effective for some reason.

His next arrow flew into its head again, this time, the mask shattered into a million pieces, the arrow pierced its head all the way through, making the creature topple down in one fell swoop.

Finally!

He rushed towards her, limping slightly with his burned leg and a little unsettled by how useless he actually was today whenever they got into a rough situation.

"So… what'd you get?" he grinned at her as she pulled out her book on dragon language, searching for the new Word.

"Hmm… it means…. Kyne…" she frowned at the translation. Kyne? As in Kynareth? What was that supposed to mean?

"Please don't tell me you'll be summoning Aedra now…" Bishop gave her a lopsided smirk, moving some distance away so that she could try it out.

She was surprisingly nervous… most of the Shouts had some… more or less clear intent behind the translation. This… she couldn't even imagine what it was supposed to mean.

Oh! Maybe she'd sprout flowers from the stony ground! That would be so pretty! And she could make everything so beautiful…

Damn, she sounded like a child… that was probably not how the ancient Dragonborn spent their time…

When Bishop and Karnwyr were a reasonably safe distance away, she turned away from them, making sure they were not in the potential trajectory, and braced herself.

"KAAN!"

Nothing?

She looked around in confusion.

Nothing was happening. Not even the flowers, much to her great disappointment.

Wait, what was that?

Her eyes went wide and she rushed over to them, looking over Karnwyr worriedly.

A soft green light enveloped him, just like the red glow around the draugr mage.

Oh Gods! What has she done?!

They both knelt down by the wolf in panic, examining him frantically.

"Karnwyr? Karnwyr, I'm so sorry! What's happening?" her hands were shaking in shock, the light still enveloping the wolf while he tilted his head for a while as if confused.

A second later, his maw opened wide, making them both flinch and throw him wary looks.

He yawned…

The wolf lay himself on the stony ground, his maw hiding under his paws, his eyes closing slowly.

"Oh no! What's happening?! Karnwyr!" Aeyrin yelled out, feeling herself at the verge of tears. What in Oblivion has she done to him? Was he slowly dying?

Bishop felt around the wolf's neck and abdomen frantically, his brows creased into a deep worried scowl. After a second though, his brows shot up in surprise.

"He's… asleep…" he said uncertainly, the light green glow slowly fading from the wolf's body.

"Hey, Karnwyr, wake up," Bishop nudged him firmly, making the wolf open his eyes and yawn again. He stood up on his paws, giving them almost a wry smile and waiting for them to move onward, as if nothing happened.

"I… think he's fine…" Bishop looked over him once more as a deep sigh of relief escaped Aeyrin's mouth.

"A-are you sure? I mean… we might just not see the damage…" she realized herself a second later. The relief may have been premature.

"You feeling fine?" he looked at Karnwyr and the wolf barked happily in response, wagging his tail.

"See? Completely fine… Maybe we can try it on a different animal, we'll see what it does better," he placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly as she slowly calmed herself down.

"I hope so… this was… we need to take more precautions…" she sighed sadly. Just as she thought she had things under control, another blow to her confidence was around the corner.

"Please, after what you pulled today… it's obvious you just need to train a bit more. You'll know exactly how to control all the Shouts in a while," he winked at her, eliciting a small smile from her. She hoped he was right… she felt so good after controlling the flames to spare him from them.

And Karnwyr really did look unharmed.

Well… there was nothing to do now than wait for potential consequences. Or finding an opportunity to see what it actually does.

"Now, princess, let's see what other treasures we can scrounge up here."