Chapter XC – They Devour
A mind-numbingly piercing shriek made him jerk awake.
There was a lot of movement around him before he could register what was happening, then a large thud.
His eyes snapped open and he jumped out of the bedroll sharply.
Aeyrin was standing above a dead creature, breathing heavily in shock, mace firmly gripped in her hand, stained with blood.
The Falmer on the ground had its face mangled by the blow. Bishop's eyes instinctively turned towards their makeshift trap. It was intact. How the fuck was that possible?!
He rushed towards Aeyrin and looked her over with concern: "What the fuck? How the fuck did this get here?"
"I-I… I don't know…" she stared at the corpse warily, still shaken from the unexpected awakening.
He noticed the blood on her face, but on closer inspection it wasn't hers – it was likely a splatter from the blow. She seemed unharmed. She was shaking though and looked in shock.
She let her mace fall to the ground heavily when there was no hint of further intrusions. Her breathing calmed only very slowly.
He enveloped her in an embrace to help calm her rattled nerves, but he remembered after a while what actually awoke him.
"That shriek… that was you?" his voice suddenly carried a hint of amusement.
"Y-yeah… it was… it was standing right above me. I woke up to see that… that face…" she shivered again, pressing tighter into his embrace.
"Talk about a hardened adventurer…" he chuckled, but his arms were running over hers soothingly, his hand occasionally stroking over her hair in gentle motions.
"Very funny," she punched into his chest lightly. "You know how much those… things freak me out. I can't believe it was right next to us… staring at…r-right… not staring, I guess…"
She was getting more jittery again at the memory, instinctively wiping the spot where she felt that horrible dribble before. She could see the blood on her hand afterwards. Was it from the blow? Or from before? She wasn't sure which alternative to be more disturbed by – the creature standing right above her, drooling or… dripping blood.
"How did it get here? The trap wasn't sprung," Bishop looked around the room in bafflement. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Karnwyr started to sniff around the ground curiously, looking for the source of the disturbance too. He was far enough from their bedroll that the Falmer wouldn't have woken him up before Aeyrin did. That meant that it couldn't have come from anywhere near the doorway where the wolf rested.
"Maybe you should put something on first…" she smiled weakly as Bishop started to scour the room with Karnwyr, unconcerned about the fact that he didn't even have his tunic on.
Coming to terms with the reality that sleeping in the ruins was too dangerous, given the likeliness of countless Falmer deeper in, they got armed and armored again. They were both exhausted, but after what happened, the best thing to do was probably to press on and see what awaited them ahead.
They looked over the room again, unwilling to chance more of those things at their backs when they continued into the cavern.
Eventually they found it.
There was a light blood trail on the ground, leading from where their bedroll was towards one of the corners of the rooms.
They searched through the fallen Dwemer shelf and stone rubble to find a crevice in the walls. It looked like it eventually led into another cavernous entrance.
It was rather small, but Aeyrin could squeeze through – with some difficulty, given her heavy armor.
"Maybe we should just go on. Who knows what's in there…" Bishop scowled when she peeked out from the crevice, signaling that she'll investigate.
"No. I don't want those things at our backs," she shook her head and ignored his further protests, crawling deeper through the crevice. She could handle whatever awaited her there, now that she was ready. The Falmer were so silent – Bishop would usually wake at any disturbance. If even he wouldn't notice it right by them, she knew it was too dangerous to leave these silent lurkers alone, waiting for the opportunity to catch them off guard.
She continued along the cavernous walls, pricking her ears up for any noises echoing against them.
Finally she reached a tiny chamber and the source of the blood was immediately clear to her.
There was a body. A bandit's one without a doubt.
It was… half-eaten.
The face, and stomach were a pulpy mess, one might even doubt that this has once been a person. The limbs were all gone from the body, the evidence of their presence only obvious from the gnawed bones scattered around the chamber.
The bile rose in her throat at the sight.
It never occurred to her that those things actually ate people.
How was this possible that these were once the noble Snow Elves? What horrible thing could have happened to make them into this?
There were no hints of other crevices however. The Falmer must have been hiding in there for quite a while.
She turned on her heel quickly, lest the sight made her too sick. She tried desperately to get the image out of her head.
"You alright?" Bishop asked the second she appeared back in the crevice and slowly started to make her way out.
He looked really nervous – it was heartwarming how worried he got about her.
"Y-yeah… just… a corpse…" she stammered, almost falling out of the crevice when she finally squeezed through.
"Another Falmer?"
"No…" she cringed. "I didn't know they… ate people…"
"I… guess. It makes sense. There's usually not much else but mushrooms where they live. Never actually seen any in the Dwemer ruins, but there's rumors about them occupying their depths. Not a lot of people come back to confirm them though…" he pondered while helping her off the ground.
"So… there might be a whole… nest… I guess?" she gave him a wary look. Those things really creeped her out. Even more than the hagravens. Those mangled faces and eyes overgrown with skin. It was horrifying. It made her wonder if it was possible for any man or mer to turn into that. Bishop told her that hagravens used to be people too and that they got themselves turned into those things voluntarily.
She's never encountered such distorted people before – she only ever fought beasts or undead. Maybe the occasional goblin. Then again, undead used to be people too. But their essence was long gone, moved on to Aetherius. Was the same true for the Falmer? Or was there something left of their former selves?
"Yeah. Then again, at least I can actually shoot those fuckers," Bishop smirked at her confidently and motioned back towards the exit from the chamber.
…
The cavernous entrance was indeed only a passage – it was odd that the Dwemer wouldn't reinforce it into one of their grand hallways, but it actually looked as if it was somehow uncovered by the Falmer, judging from the rubble by its exits.
They didn't really consider that possibility before, but then again, they had no reason to suspect that those things dwelled beneath. The Dwarves must have used another way to reach the rest of the city – there were so many heavily sealed or rubble-buried doors around.
"I wonder if we'll have to go all the way back once we reach the end…" she sighed, remembering just how long they've already been walking through the ruins. The hall behind the passage was blessedly empty – there were only a few remnants of what looked like a large forge room.
"Considering out luck until now, I'd say so," he scoffed, keeping his bow at the ready. The fact that the Falmer didn't wake him rattled him more than he'd like to admit. He was usually so alert about any dangers. But having her body curled up to him, her soft skin on his, made him oddly at ease even in this place. It was dulling his senses.
"I don't know. I'd say we've been really lucky so far. Considering we're both still alive…" she gave him a weak smile and continued towards the only accessible door in the room.
"STOP!"
She jerked away from the door, just as she was about to open it.
"Those would have been the stupidest last words ever…" he dragged her away from that spot rather forcibly. He pointed to the odd hole in the floor right in front of the door.
She had no idea what it was.
Bishop looked around until he finally grabbed a long metal rod from one of the crumbled shelves. He stood some distance from the door and started to use the rod to push it open.
The second the door clicked and started to move, something sprung out from the hole – two metal blades, unfolding and starting to spin wildly.
That would have sliced her legs right off!
She really needed to learn to be more attentive about traps. But they kept uncovering new and new environments with new mechanism – the ancient Nordic ruins, the Dwemer. Things have been simpler in Cyrodiil.
Well… except for the Ayleid ruins… their traps were nasty and unpredictable.
The blades did not stop spinning.
"I guess… we're gonna have to jump over," she cringed a bit. It was doable, but the knowledge of the fact that any misstep would result in a rather gruesome death made her really nervous.
"Looks like it. Be careful," Bishop nodded. As if saying that helped anything…
He held the door open with the rod as she took a few steps back to make a running jump. He could not imagine even moving with all that plate on her, let alone jumping. But she never seemed to have a problem with being agile in those things. Maybe it just took some getting used to.
She sprinted towards the menacing blades and leapt across rather deftly.
She tumbled to the ground gracelessly at the other side, her armor clattering against the ground loudly, but she made it.
She collected herself and held the door open for Bishop. He tossed their packs over to her first and then the wolf followed without any trouble whatsoever. He even seemed to smile at her excitedly when he landed on his feet gracefully – it looked like he enjoyed the added danger.
Just as Bishop started to move back to gain momentum, Karnwyr started to grown quietly, turning towards the corner of the hall behind them.
Something was there.
Something that he could smell – unlike the machines.
"What are you staring at?!" Bishop called out when he noticed both their attentions diverted suddenly.
That was a mistake.
A sickening gurgle echoed through the hall when the creatures heard the voice – an unfamiliar sound for them as opposed to the clanking and hissing of Dwemer machinery.
They emerged from the hallway – four of them. It forced her to let go of the door immediately and ready her mace.
The door slammed shut, leaving him sealed in the chamber.
The blades stopped spinning, retracting back into the hole. Then there was only silence.
Fuck, those walls were thick if he couldn't hear a thing that was happening.
He got the urge to rush to the door, and press his ear to it, but luckily, he instantly realized how stupid of an idea that was – anything could have crashed into the door during the battle, opening it and activating the blades again, killing him instantly.
They'd be fine. She could always Shout if they got into a bad situation.
Although was it a good idea to Shout? Who knew how many more were lurking nearby?
Fuck, he hated being left on the sidelines like this. First those damn spheres and now when he could finally shoot their enemies, he got stuck in this place.
The waiting was so long.
…
The door finally moved, but stopped instantly, leaving only a small crack opened.
What the fuck?
"B-B-Bish, I ne-need you t-t-to open it!" her teeth chattered uncontrollably.
He grabbed the rod instantly, pushing it against the door. The blades sprung up and started to spin in a matter of seconds.
She leaned against it once it was open while she ran her hands over her arms rapidly wherever the armor allowed as if to warm herself up.
"I g-g-got f-f-frozen. T-there was a m-m-mage one," she tried to smile weakly, motioning with her head for him to finally jump.
He made the jump easily, eager to finally get to the other side.
He outstretched his arms towards her instantly to warm her up. He looked over the four Falmer corpses in the meantime – one of them had several visible deep vicious bite marks, the others were crumbled to the ground, the occasional body part misaligned or bashed in.
"W-w-wait… the door. It w-w-won't open f-f-from here," she shook her head at the offer of his embrace, still pressed against the door and shaking uncontrollably. He could still see the patches of frost on her underchain and neck.
He started to drag the corpses towards the corner where the door would close, piling them up so that they provided a barrier against it shutting. They likely had to use the same route back – getting sealed inside Dwemer ruins would not leave them many chances for survival.
She leaned away from the door but still supported it while it closed so that the impact wouldn't just crush through the corpses.
It seemed to hold up, leaving them enough room to open the door on the way back.
No wonder only one Falmer made it back to the previous chambers with this obstruction giving those creatures trouble.
She wondered just how intelligent they still were. They had arms and armor and obviously some of them even knew magic.
They were kind of like the goblins when she thought about it. Only the goblins weren't the mangled remains of some long forgotten race.
Or were they?
Ugh… it was unsettling to think too much about the creatures she was killing.
Bishop finally embraced her. Her armor prevented him from transmitting much body heat, but the shaking was slowly subsiding.
"You two alright otherwise?" he turned his gaze to the wolf a minute later. Karnwyr only gave him an excited bark as he turned back to sniffing around the corpses and then the ground subsequently, searching for the Falmers' trail. He seemed eager to continue now that he could join the fights.
"Y-yeah. Just a few bruises," she nodded. "We should probably try to be quieter… There's definitely more of them," her eyes fell on Karnwyr who nudged his muzzle in between them, ushering them to follow his nose.
…
They stared at the scene in front of them.
They watched from atop a ledge of stone. Below them, down a set long stairs, there was an entire colony of Falmer – dwellings and strange fences as far as the eyes could see.
The creatures were scurrying around everywhere and there were some strange… bug-things in their pens.
"There's no way we won't alert all of them at once…" she whispered as quietly as she could. Picking them off one by one would take forever and in that time, one of those things would surely notice the corpses or hear the arrows, alerting the rest.
"Well… looks like we're going all out, princess," he nodded determinedly. It may have been a bad idea to take on this place, but the further in they got, the more resolute he felt about getting to the end.
They've survived so much of the ruin already.
It was strange what the adrenaline did to him. Usually he was against taking unnecessary risks, but walking back now just seemed so… disappointing.
It felt like clearing this place out would somewhat take the sting of his previous experiences in Dwemer ruins.
"Alright. You gonna stay here? Because I'll probably need to Shout," she looked over the amount of Falmer. Gods knew how many more were hidden in their dwellings! She needed to be sure that Bishop wasn't in the way of her Shouts. Karnwyr's already gotten well synchronized with her – he knew to stay away from her line of sight and he even kept a certain distance at all times if possible. His survival instincts were really impressive, no wonder he was able to keep alive alone for so long in that fighting pit when the bandits captured him.
But Bishop would likely be an obstruction on the front lines – the Falmer-infested area looked too dark for her to see him clearly. She was much more comfortable with knowing where he was.
"Yeah. Go on. I'll pick some off before you two get down."
…
The blood splattered across her face as she smashed her mace across another one's head.
"YOL!"
They were endlessly swarming around her.
They've collectively killed dozens of them already but there were still more out there.
And the bugs… those horrible bugs! They spat something sticky and burning on her constantly. The substance was seeping into the rings of her underchain, sticking to her skin.
She couldn't let up though. No matter how exhausted she was, there must have been an end to them.
Bishop's arm was starting to shake every time he drew his bow.
He must have let out a hundred arrows already. He really wished he was ambidextrous, his right arm was cramping so badly.
There was no end to them.
Fuck, they should have just retreated. This was suicide.
Some of the creatures noticed his presence up on the ledge, but the havoc Aeyrin and Karnwyr wreaked in the middle of their 'village' kept them much more occupied. Besides, they would likely need the place to be a lot more quiet to determine where exactly the arrows were coming from.
He still changed position from time to time, just to make sure some of them didn't get the bright idea to shoot back at him.
He stepped aside again while drawing his bow. A sharp pain coursed through his bicep.
Then he felt it again. Down under his foot.
It reminded him of the same feeling he got in the haunted barrow in Ivarstead.
Only this time she wasn't right beside him to help.
He barely registered what happened. Something crushed into his back, an overwhelming speed and force of a literal ton of metal, sending all his bones shaking.
His body was thrown violently down below, his vision darkening at the impact.
It should have hurt… but he was so numb, he couldn't feel it.
"FUS RO DAH!"
The sound rumbled through the chamber.
His vision was slowly returning, but his head was spinning worse than after those three sujamma bottles.
Were those things flying?
Great… flying Falmer… he knew something was missing in their apocalypse.
One of the creatures crashed into the ledge he was on previously, falling down and not getting up again. The second one seemed to manage to protect itself with its hands during its fall, scrapping up to its feet.
Fuck it was so close to him… and his ragged breathing was so loud.
That thing started to scamper towards him and all he could do was watch.
What was it Aeyrin said about luck?
A sudden loud furious bark diverted the Falmer's attention momentarily as the wolf darted towards his friend's assailant in an instant, charging on it.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the only one of them whose attention the wolf earned.
Aeyrin looked around in a second of respite when she heard the alarmed bark. She knew what it meant – Bishop was in danger.
The Shout cleared the swarm around her, but they were still approaching fast. Some of them, however, seemed to be heading in a different direction – towards the ledge.
This was too much. She was so exhausted and she didn't even see any arrows flying by anymore.
This needed to stop.
Gathering her strength, she raised her shield, turning back towards the ledge. With all the remaining energy she could muster she charged, bashing through the Falmer heading that way.
They caught up quickly.
One of the creatures slashed around with its sword, as if it expected her charge.
She could feel it pressing sharply into the chain on her flank, the metal rings digging into the skin under her tunic painfully, undoubtedly leaving her with a very deep scratch.
She cried out in pain. The rings behind the thin fabric got stuck in between her torn flesh, refusing to dislodge and digging into her skin.
Her knees buckled under her, but in her fall, she noticed Bishop's body only a short distance away.
"FUS RO DAH!"
The Falmer approaching rapidly flew away with the force she let out, but the heave of her body made her scream out in pain right after. The chain still refused to budge from inside the wound. The searing pain was getting worse with each second.
"Aeyrin…" Bishop groaned in effort, trying to get up on his feet. They refused to listen, all he could do was to crawl towards her weakly. At the very least he managed somehow to fasten the bow he was clutching onto his back.
She did the same, and crawled towards him. The brief break in the Falmer assault allowed them to reach each other and they huddled together in effort.
"We… we need to…" Aeyrin gasped out in effort and pain.
He just nodded in response. If they didn't get out from the open field, they wouldn't survive for longer than a few minutes.
"Karnwyr!" she called out to him desperately. The wolf ran towards them hurriedly and she enveloped both Bishop and him in a firm grim, staying on her knees. She hoped it would work.
She thought for a while of going back where they came from, but the idea of getting all the way back, wounded as they were, made her shiver. And without their packs. They were likely still waiting for them up on the ledge.
"WULD!"
The motion tore through their broken bodies, but there was no other way now. At the very least, she managed to move all of them, but it hurt so much more to keep the tight grip on them through the lightning fast movement.
"WULD!"
The Falmer were staggered by the echoing sound ringing all through the large hall. It made them scurry around in panic.
"WULD!"
Finally!
They made it to the stairs leading further in.
The wolf was the first to start running up towards the still unexplored chamber above.
They both crawled after him, broken and exhausted. Every movement caused so much pain.
The Falmer were making their way to them again, carefully scurrying, obviously listening for every breath they let out.
They finally made it up there, getting past the doorway arch separating the chamber, only to stare at the what awaited them in disbelief.
This… was their end.
"What is that…?" she gasped out half-silently, the exasperation and despair palpable in her voice.
An enormous construct towered at the end of the chamber, the sound of steam escaping its extremities, drowning out the noise of the scurrying Falmer behind them.
It was active and it was going to kill them.
Karnwyr barked loudly. He waited for them by an empty circular chamber and signaled for them to get there.
Well… at least there they could hold out for some time like that, trying to get rid of anything attacking through the door instead of getting surrounded like this.
"WULD!"
Finally the chain and fabric dislodged from her flesh with the jerky motion, but the pain hardly stopped. Their potions were far out of reach and any remaining energy had to be spent on trying to survive the waves of Falmer and that giant construct.
They stayed on the ground, half-lying there weakly, watching what was going on around them.
Karnwyr ran towards them into the circular alcove. There was nothing in there save for a lever in the middle. It was likely another trap.
Surprisingly enough, some of the Falmer started attacking the giant Dwemer construct.
Good. Maybe they'll all slaughter each other.
There were plenty more that were still heading towards them, however, their swords drawn menacingly.
"FUS RO – Ahh!"
She Shouted, swallowing the last word, this time involuntarily. Instead she let out another scream of pain, clutching her flank with her arms.
He tried to get a hold of his bow, but the sharp pain shot through him again. If he could only get a minute of rest, to think, to figure out what to do.
He looked over the alcove desperately. There was nothing that could help them. Not a single thing.
Although…
There didn't seem to be any holes or anything that would suggest a trap.
There was nothing to lose – this couldn't go on.
He grabbed the lever firmly, pulling on it without hesitation while trying to ignore the shooting pain in his arm.
It worked! He was right!
Several metal bars shot from the entrance to their hiding place, sealing them in and their enemies out.
The Falmer would get bows or mages, but for now they had a moment. At least a brief moment to gather their strength.
Aeyrin gave Bishop a shocked look – both relief and despair etched on her face. It was helpful, but they still needed to…
Suddenly the ground shook, deep rumble echoing across the alcove's circular wall.
It made both of them stagger, even in their mostly grounded positions. They instinctively enveloped each other in a protective embrace as Karnwyr huddled in with them with a scared whimper.
"W-what's happening?" she stammered, the aches of her body were suddenly the least of her concerns.
"I don't know…" he answered briskly, the fear and shock in his voice palpable. He did not expect a trap this big…
The ground started to rise below them, steadily traveling upwards.
Their gazes were fixed above – there was only darkness, nothing in sight.
And soon all the light was gone as they were sealed in the tunnel, travelling upwards towards their inevitable deaths.
There would be some spikes up there, impaling them, or the trap would simply crush them all into a pulp when it connected with the ceiling.
He felt her hand on his cheek suddenly, her lips capturing his in an insistent desperate kiss. He could feel the tears running down her face.
All that was left unsaid seemed to be hidden the long kiss as their arms clasped each other. Karnwyr nuzzled into them and they enveloped him in their collective embrace.
A loud metallic sounds echoed from above.
Whatever was going to happen to them, was going to happen soon.
