Chapter 29

The Cursed Caverns

XxXxXx

4E 201, 20th Hearthfire – Mournhold, Morrowind

"We're going to make use of Mournhold's sewer system." Nevano said as they walked around the east side of Mournhold. "It's not just a simple set of sewer tunnels. The remains of Old Mournhold are down there as well. An entire city built upon the remains of the old. It's a massive cavern complex down there. We're going to have to be careful in our planning or we'll get lost."

Veleth stayed quiet. His gut had been giving him warning pangs ever since Nevano had mentioned the sewers and it had taken him the better part of the journey back to Adrusa to realize it was a mere warning and not something he should be overly worried about. If anything, it would be a challenge and that was something he looked forward to. He had to admit, very privately, that he could see the allure of the life that Nevano led. The wandering around, outside of the strict lifestyle of the military, had given him a sense of freedom he had never realized was possible. It brought about a completely new and different set of challenges that he found highly appealing. While he wasn't keen on facing yet more undead in a dead city under their feet, he was looking forward to the challenge.

"So why are we going around to the east of the city?" Nevusa asked curiously. "Wouldn't going around to the north make more sense?"

"Well, I'd rather not go into Almalexia's temple just yet. The sewer entrance is in the temple itself and if the temple is destroyed or overrun, I don't want us to be trapped." Nevano explained as he poked around on the side of a hill. "Also, I remember the eastern sewer system a bit clearer than the western sewers."

"What about south? Brindisi Dorom?"

"There's no sewer system there." Nevano said. "There IS a Dwemer ruin under it though. Ahh…Bamz-Anschend I think it was called? I sealed it up after I poked around in there. It was incredibly dangerous down there with all the dwemer spider things that would shoot poison darts and it had this…contraption that controlled the weather. No one needed to be going down there. The High Ordinators vowed to make sure it would stay sealed. About the only thing we agreed on. The only entrance and exit was underneath what used to be the statue of Almalexia. Not sure what it was replaced with. But not outside entrance there."

Veleth listened in as they continued to chatter back and forth but made no effort to join in. He didn't think he would have been able to get a word in edgewise even if he wanted to. On the walk back from Darvon's Watch, Nevano and Nevusa had finally gotten over the initial awkwardness of their newfound relationship and had started talking. It had become apparent very quickly that Nevusa had inherited Nevano's love for talk and - much to Veleth's increasing chagrin - they had not stopped the entire walk back. It was an endless stream of chatter over anything and everything they could possibly think of. Nevusa was bright and curious and had ten thousand questions, mostly about Nevano's journey through Vvardenfell on his path to becoming the Nerevarine. Nevano didn't seem to mind and answered all her questions with a few (rather obvious, in Veleth's opinion) embellishments. Veleth had heard most of the stories before through his father though he did find it interesting that the only questions that Nevano refused to answer had to do with his encounter with Dagoth Ur. Thinking back on it, even Jorun didn't know what had happened. He had only seen the aftermath of that terrible fight. That had been something Nevano had kept very private, leading to a storm of rumors and made-up stories that got more and more ridiculous with each telling. Still Nevusa had been undeterred and had simply changed course, picking up another unending stream of questions. Now they were getting close to their destination and Veleth had to admit he was relieved. Maybe now they would shut up.

"Ah, found it!" Nevano said, using Trueflame to burn away the long grass and brush that hid the small entrance. Veleth gave the cave entrance a dubious look. He would barely call it a cave entrance, more like an over glorified hole that he half-expected a nix hound to come charging out of.

"This?" Nevusa apparently agreed with him. "I was expecting something…a bit larger. Maybe a bit grander. Definitely some water coming from it."

Nevano smirked. "No water here. This particular entrance is above the water line. Besides, there's so sewage actively running from Mournhold, or there shouldn't be by all accounts. Don't ask me where it drains off. I have no idea."

"Right. So, what are we waiting for?" Nevusa asked.

"As much as I hate to waste time, we need to get some rest before we go in." Nevano said. "We've walked to and from Darvon's Watch. Once we get into the city, we probably won't get any chance to rest…or in the sewers. Best to be fully rested before we go in. We'll spend the night here and set out in the morning."

"I'll take first watch." Veleth promptly volunteered.

"You sure?"

"Yes." Veleth said. He knew perfectly well he would be lucky to get any sleep at all. Aside from the impending danger of diving into an old sewer, his mind kept turning over the witch's words for both him and Nevano. He was never been the most sound sleeper; he spent more time tossing and turning than actually sleeping, especially if something was bothering him.

Nevusa and Nevano quickly settled down while he stared out into the increasing darkness, chewing on a thumbnail. He never put much stock in magic; it was guess work and trickery at the best of times and unnatural and dangerous at the worst. The ash spawn had been proof enough of that. Still, she had said things about him and Nevano that weren't widely known and that bothered him more than a little. The past was a vengeful animal, the witch had said. The past? What in his past could possible come back and affect him so badly as to…make his heart whole and then shatter it into countless pieces with no hope of every recovering all the pieces? It made no sense. He sighed. As much as he wanted to scoff and shrug the entire thing off as pure nonsense, something in his gut warned him not to, that there was some grain of truth to Glathil's words. That rankled him to no end.

"Vith!" he cursed when he bit too hard on his thumbnail and pierced the flesh beneath. The blood welled up black against his skin in the dark and slowly rolled down his thumb. The resulting dark trail looked less like blood and more like some creature searching for the network of veins close to the surface of the skin on his wrist. With a shiver, Veleth flicked his hand, casting off the blood. He had no time to fret over an old woman's tricks. They were planning on facing real enemies in a real situation. He needed all his focus on that. He spent the next several hours carefully thinking about nothing in particular before finally carefully shaking Nevusa awake to take next watch and rolled over to try to get some sleep. Somehow or another, he managed to convince his body and mind to relax enough to allow sleep to take over.

It was dark; the sky overhead was black with blood red clouds swirling like a cyclone. Lightning showed strangely green against the red clouds. Veleth found he was standing alone in the square in the Military District in Blacklight. The strict buildings glared down at him threateningly. That was strange…he had never before felt threatened by anything in his home city. He started walking through the square, his feet knowing every stone paved into the street. His footsteps echoed unnaturally loud. He had never really experienced the square so empty before. It was unnerving.

Lightning flashed overhead and thunder assaulted his sensitive ears, making him twitch a little. He looked up at the Watch building, eyes instantly picking out the window where his father's office was. The structure was darker than usual, a black shadow slowly extending out from it. With a jolt of dread he ran towards it. Something wasn't right.

He got to the edge of the darkness and something stopped him from going farther, holding him back. He looked down and realized that the shadow was actually a pool of dark liquid. It lapped at the toes of his boots, staining them. He took a small step backwards away from it then looked back up at his father's window.

Blood poured from it like a waterfall.

Screams. Women were screaming, screaming in horror and heartbreak. Screaming in pain both physical and mental. He recognized the voices that were ripped from raw throats but he couldn't move, couldn't go to them, couldn't do anything to help them. He was frozen in place, staring at the geyser of blood that continued to flow.

"The age of heroes is gone." A voice whispered in his ear. He had heard those words before. Who had said them to him? He couldn't remember.

Everything around him began to shatter and crumbled all around him, like a vase that had been thrown against a wall. He could only watch helplessly as everything fell apart piece by piece until he was left standing in a vast landscape of shattered remains. Still the screams continued though they were getting farther away, fleeing towards the Veloth Mountains in the west. Soon they faded into nothing and he was left alone in a terrible silence.

It began to rain, but he quickly discovered that it was raining blood, the red drops streaking over his bare skin. Each drop felt like fire, burning into his soul. He felt sick. He wished one of the wild lightning bolts would just strike him down and free him from this torment.

"The past will come back to haunt you." The voice whispered in his ear again, startling him badly. He had thought it had fled with the screams. "It's a vengeful animal. It does not like to be ignored."

"Enough." He growled. "You aren't real!"

"Why do you continue to rail against the truth?" It hissed. "Why do you continue to fight your pointless war? You know you're going to lose."

"Leave me alone!" Veleth snarled.

"Oh but we are everywhere." The voices were all different. He couldn't recognize any of them though he knew he should. It was maddening. The whispers continued to hiss in his ear. They taunted him and tormented him. He tried to fight them off at first, tried to ignore them or think about something else but they merely spoke more insistently, forcing him to listen. In a last ditch effort to drown out the whispers, he tipped his head back and screamed, trying to get his voice above theirs. He screamed until his throat was raw and a metallic tang hit his tongue. He didn't stop though. He had to beat out the voices and his own voice was the only weapon he had at hand. He couldn't be picky over his choice of weapons now.

"Stubborn child." A smooth female voice interrupted the whispers, chasing them away like a hand waving away wisps of smoke. Her voice effectively silenced him as if she had gagged him. "The fight in you is impressive. I see why Boethia favors you. But now is not the time to discuss favor, though you greatly interest me."

"Who are you?" He asked, coughing a bit as the words caught in his abused throat.

"That does not matter now." The unseen woman said. He couldn't pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be all around him. "Your obstinate mind wouldn't allow you to believe it anyway."

"Then why am I held here?"

"You think I have something to do with this?" She sounded amused, like a mother entertaining a child's nonsense, something Veleth found infuriating. "No. This is the prison your own mind constructed. This is all your doubts and fears manifested. You are the only person holding you here. As I said before, the fight in you is impressive…though you spend just as much time fighting yourself as you do the world around you."

"If this is a prison of my own making then why are you here?" Veleth asked, struggling to get his limbs to obey him again to no avail.

"I have been watching you." She said. "This journey you are on has been foretold long before you were born, long before all the other players in the game were even a thought."

"A prophecy?"

"Not exactly." She said. "There are those who actively avoid prophecies. Past events that occurred have led to your inevitable involvement. You are not the tag-along, you are the second half to this. My champion can't accomplish this endeavor alone. You are needed. Remember that."

"Your champion…"

"Now there is one last thing you must do." She said. "Wake up."

"Wake up!"

He jerked and sat upright, swiping at his arms now that he could move again to get the blood off…the blood that was no longer there. He gasped for air, his eyes slowly adjusting and realizing that the dark of night was giving way to day.

"Whoa, easy there." Nevano's voice came from near his feet. He looked over and saw Nevano watching him with a slightly amused, slightly alarmed look, gingerly holding his foot away. From the scuffmarks on the ground it appeared as if he had been thrashing while in the throes of his dream.

"Sorry about that." He grunted, pulling his foot back.

Nevano let out a small sigh of relief. "One hell of a dream you had. I've been trying to wake you up for the past hour."

"Surprised you didn't hit me with anything"

"I did but even that didn't wake you up." Nevano smirked and held up his badly travel-stained boot. "When even a smelly boot hitting you in the face didn't wake you I thought it would be better to let you finish out the dream. There are some dreams that you can't wake up from."

Veleth frowned. The dream was already fading from his mind, along with all the details. He remembered that the dream was not a good one. He remembered flashes of red, of screaming…but that was all. He couldn't remember anything else about it. His mind had already thrown it away like a piece of trash. Or locked it away like a dangerous criminal. For some reason he strongly suspected the latter.

Nevano tossed him a piece of dried meat. "Eat up. This won't be a fun walk through a cave."

Veleth tore off a mouthful of the tough dried piece of leather. He didn't doubt Nevano's prediction one little bit. His gut was still giving him warning notices but it hadn't increased into anything that was on the verge of giving him anxiety. He hated when it did that. However, despite how bad Nevano was thinking about whatever lived in the cave, he would still rather face that than whatever his dream had been about.

XxXxXx

In stark contrast to the cold wind blowing above ground, it was hot and humid within the tunnels. Centuries of filth from the city above had slewed down into the cavernous depths and collected into fetid pools that had been steadily rotting undisturbed for centuries. The resulting rot released hot gases that had created the perfect hothouse environment. Unfortunately, without the slightest movement of wind, fresh or otherwise, the air was stifling inside the tunnels.

Nevano instantly felt sweat break out on his forehead and down his spine. He pulled off his cloak and shoved it into his pack, leaving his arms exposed to whatever relief he could possible get. He had no idea how Veleth could stand to be in heavy armor at a time like this, especially as sweat soaked as he was rapidly becoming just wearing light armor.

"So, exactly where are we headed?" Veleth asked after they wound their way through the tunnel for a little while. "You never rightly explained that."

"We're headed to what's called the Manor District. It's what's left of Old Mournhold." Nevano said. "We'll see actual structures from the city. There're even a few manors you can still go in. I've gone in those before. We don't have time to do that right now but it's pretty interesting to see."

"And after that?"

"After we go through the manors, it goes down into the sewers themselves." Nevano explained, wracking his memories for the mental map he had memorized long ago. "The actual sewers are tiled canals so you'll know it when you see it. Once we hit those, it's not far to the exit into the Great Bazaar. Once we get into the city…well, I can't rightly say because I have no idea what we'll find. We'll take a look around and come up with a more solid plan then."

"Not a bad idea."

Nevano stopped, his head tilted to the side. He…knew that voice but he normally didn't hear it. Not like this. Not an echo in his ear. Then he realized he could feel Nerevar. That in and of itself wasn't unusual; Nerevar was like an extension of his mind. Thoughts and feelings would flit through as if they were his own thoughts and feelings but it came from a section of his mind that wasn't in his control. However this was different. He could feel him, as a separate identity altogether. The sense of someone else in his mind, that he wasn't alone in his head, sent a shiver down his spine. He wanted to claw at his own brain, to rid himself of the sensation.

"Easy, lad. The barrier between the realm of the living and the dead is very thin here within this barrier. You can hear me almost…" Normally. He almost used the word normal. Almost. They both knew that there was nothing normal about this situation.

"Why is the barrier so thin here?" Nevano wasn't aware he had spoken out loud until both Veleth and Nevusa stopped and stared at him. He held up a hand to stop their unspoken question.

"I don't know but be careful. The last time the barrier between the realms was so thin, Mehrunes Dagon came into this plane." Nerevar said. "There are many spirits around here. Not all are friendly."

Nevano looked up at the other two. "I can hear Nerevar."

"You told me once Nerevar was in your head…" Veleth started to say, very obviously confused.

"Yes but not like this. I can hear him, as if he's a separate person talking to me. Normally when we talk I just know what he's thinking. It's almost like talking to myself." Nevano said. "From what he's saying, the lines between the living and the dead are blurred. If I can feel Nerevar that close, then there's almost no limit to what a ghost or spirit around here can do. If you feel something, let me know. We're approaching Old Mournhold and Azura knows how many spirits have been riled up down there. We might be facing an enemy we can't do much about."

Nevano could see Veleth shudder but didn't comment on it. He felt like shuddering too, especially when he felt Nerevar move in his mind. It was like watching an infant still in the womb move against its mother's skin. He didn't mind that it was Nerevar, the mer already knew everything about him as they shared a soul, but the feeling of a whole separate person squirming around in his skull was disturbing.

"Old Mournhold." Nevusa murmured as they started again down the tunnel. "I've barely heard anything about it until now. What happened that it ended up underground?"

"I only know bits and pieces of its history, even less about how it ended up down here." Nevano said. Then he grinned. "However, I think Bull here knows the whole story. Something tells me he's as much into history as his father is."

Veleth hesitated but Nevano could see he had sparked a flicker of interest. He hadn't been lying when he said that he only knew tiny snippets of information about Old Mournhold but his reasoning behind pushing Veleth into the spotlight was two-fold. Nevusa and Veleth were getting tense, too tense, with the thought of life and death being so close now and if he could get Veleth talking about the history Nevano knew that he knew, it would help take their minds off the imminent threat of the unknown, at least for a little bit.

"It's…a bit of a long story." He started slowly. "It started with the Four-Score War, back at the end of the First Era. The Empire sought to incorporate Morrowind into the Empire but, of course, Morrowind refused to allow that to happen. It started in the year 2840 and lasted all the way to the final year of the First Era, 2920. After eighty years of fighting, the war was finally looking to be over. Vivec and Prince Juilek had come to a peace agreement and were simply waiting to formalize the end of the war when Emperor Reman broke the terms of the peace treaty and assaulted the Black Gate. Prince Juilek, in a rare show of good faith that surprised the Tribunal, ran to meet Vivec personally to say that he had no part in the assault and while his father was recovering from an injury in a unrelated incident, he could act as Emperor and turn the Black Gate back over to the Dunmer and work out a permanent peace treaty to end the war. Unfortunately, before the prince could get the signed treaty back to the Imperial City, he was killed. Meanwhile, a young woman named Turala, the daughter of a Redoran councilor, had been exiled from Mournhold due her affair with the Duke of Mournhold. Well, that in and of itself wasn't such a great crime. However, because she was a maiden of House Redoran and the Duke was of House Indoril and she had gotten pregnant and the Duke abandoned her, it became grounds for exile. She ended up with a coven of witches in High Rock and they took her and her infant daughter in, teaching her the arts of conjuration and mysticism. Along the way, she had met up with a spy by the name of Cassyr Whitley who was, by Vivec's own admission , the worst spy in history. The Dunmer had lost the town of Ald Marak due to his sloppy spy work. He was the laughing stock Tamriel over thanks to Vivec."

"Vivec causing problems yet again." Nevano rolled his eyes.

"Quit breaking up the story." Veleth waved him silent. "Cassyr met with Turala as she returned from a trip to Wayrest with a few of her coven sisters. He had need of the coven of witches to summon a daedra as Sotha Sil had made a truce with the daedric princes to not be summoned until the war was over. However, as they approached the coven, it had been destroyed in their absense, all the witches and Turala's child had been killed. Cassyr saw his opportunity to get even with Vivec and lied. He told Turala that instead of the obvious orc raid, it was the Duke of Mournhold sending assassins after her. So great was her rage that she gathered her remaining sisters and called upon Mehrunes Dagon himself to exact revenge. He gladly came forth, with denizens of his plane of Oblivion, and ruined the city of Mournhold. The only reason the whole city wasn't burned into nothing but cinders was the layer of blood that coated the ruined remains. Almalexia and Sotha Sil arrived, too late to save the city, but they were able to send Dagon back to Oblivion."

"What about the rest of the war?" Nevusa asked with wide eyes.

"Emperor Reman was killed by his own mistress, the sister of a former mistress he had put to death I might add, by a blade to the throat in the name of the Morag Tong. The Potentate, a wily Akavir, took over as ruler of the Empire and he and Vivec completed the terms of peace, thus ending the war. Almalexia set about rebuilding Mournhold, the new on top of the old, and vowed to never leave the city unprotected again."

"Until she disappeared at the end of the third era." Nevusa said.

"Sure, we can go with that." Nevano said. Even two hundred years after the fact, people still had a hard time believing that Almalexia had gone mad and had killed Sotha Sil and tried to kill the Nerevarine. They didn't like to think that Nevano had been forced to kill her, that the ones that Morrowind had depended upon for so many centuries could do something so…mortal as going mad and committing something so heinous as killing her friend and reincarnation of her husband. Nevano winced as Nerevar's anger and grief hit him like a hammer strike. The emotions were not muffled like they normally were. Instead they were practically shouted in his brain, sharp and loud. Quickly he focused on something else. He glanced over at Veleth. "I'm impressed Bull. You are as much a walking history book as Jorun is."

"You know perfectly well my father was supplying me with history books from the moment I could read." Veleth smiled. "Surprised he didn't do that with you too."

"I can't read fast enough for his taste so he settled for telling me tales of history for as long as he had my attention." Nevano said. "Unfortunately, even that was limited. I thought I had finally found a way to shake that annoying calm attitude of his…until he gave me a book called "ABC's for Barbarians". He did it as a joke and he thought he was hilarious. That was when I learned how to set things on fire. He laughed even more. Smug fetcher."

"That…sounds like something my father would do." Veleth sighed.

Finally they dropped down into what looked like a little niche. Whole rough stone walls still pressed in around them, but bits of smooth paved wall with old carvings poked through here and there, giving them the first glimpse into the city that had fallen underground many centuries before. Nevano smiled to himself. The last time he seen these halls they had been thick with Dark Brotherhood assassins, all contracted to kill him. It had been an interesting chase, a silent one, sneaking around the ruins remains of the manors. He had had a merry time playing the deadly game of hide-and-seek, especially when he emerged the victor.

"Look." Nevusa said quietly, running her hand over the relief. "This type of fresco is no longer used. It fell out of style ages ago."

"Welcome to Old Mournhold." Nevano said. "Just around this bend we'll see some of the old manors."

However, as they went further down the tunnel, Nevano started to feel an increasing pressure in his skull, making his stomach churn. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead, making him shiver despite the heat. He felt like he was being suffocated slowly, a noose tightening around his neck bit by bit. He had no idea what was happening. Was there some sort of poisonous gas being released from the pools below? If there was, how come the two younger mer with him seemed unaffected?

Then he saw it - a flash of something materializing out of thin air. It lasted a split second but he knew exactly what it was. Nerevar churned in his head, trying to reassure him, but the feeling of "not alone" only made Nevano that much more uncomfortable.

He staggered up to join the two mer as they stood at the ledge of the tunnel, looking down into a massive cavern. Old manors stood in defiant glory among the wreckage, doing their best to preserve the old grandeur of the city that used to be above ground. They were obviously ancient – round doors with decorative artwork spiraling out from the handles in the center and the body of the manor rounded and squat. Both of the younger mer were captivated by the sight - Nevusa with a bright open curiosity and Veleth with a veiled interest. He smirked a little watching them before pushing at them to climb down. They couldn't spend all day sightseeing.

They reached the bottom of the cavern and Nevano nearly fell to his knees as the pressure in his head increased along with the nausea. A sense of horror and despair was starting to seep into his mind, the feeling that he needed to run, to escape this place. The muscles in his legs began to twitch, as if they were responding to the silent urge to run. None of these emotions were his own but of whatever lived at the bottom of the cavern.

"Stop it." Nevano muttered, pressing the heel of his palm to his forehead. He heard Nevusa say something, or thought he did, but he couldn't make out her words. The emotions were increasing, making his heart pound in his chest in a panic. His fingers were starting to shake. "Enough!"

Suddenly the cavern seemed to come to alive. They were completely surrounded by hundreds of spirits, materialized in and out of sight, each time moving in closer. They were reaching out to the trio of living mer, the expressions on their faces ranging from horror and despair to rage and hate. Some were dressed in the garb of those who lived far back in the first era, while some, Nevano realized in horror, he recognized from his time in Mournhold. Their voices were breathy, like yelling into the wind, but they were loud, too loud for being the voices of the dead. Most were begging for help, begging Nevano to save them from whatever horror had killed them, some were yelling at them to run. More than one wanted to kill him. Those he guessed were probably some Dark Brotherhood agents he had left to rot in this same cavern.

"Nevusa, Veleth…" Nevano ground out from behind clenched teeth, clenching his fists against his temples. "Go left. Run."

The two spooked mer didn't need to be told twice. They bolted, staggering a bit when they went through the spirits. Nevano knew exactly the feeling. Going through a spirit like that was like a shock of ice to the very core of the body. It left a person shaky, like their soul had been rattled from its roost. It was very unpleasant and now they were running through hundreds of spirits; their body and souls were screaming in shock. Nevano ran after them, letting Nerevar lend some unnatural strength to his limbs to get him moving.

They ran through the tunnels, past more ancient stonework and architecture but they didn't stop to appreciate it. They had to leave the swarm of ghosts behind. Fortunately, none saw fit to follow. For some reason they were contained to that room. Slowly the pressure in Nevano's head eased and he could run under his own power. Then Nevusa, who was in front, let out a small shriek as the ground beneath her feet simply ended, dropping down into another cavern. Veleth grabbed her before she could fall. Below them the blackness roiled in a slick oily pool.

"We have to go through that?" Nevusa asked with a wince, still staring down into the abyss below.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news…" Nevano said, gingerly testing out the path down. The wooden ladder had long since rotted away but the rocks made a stable natural staircase. Carefully he slid down, landing at the edge of the black fetid water. Nevano could feel the heat of the pool on his feet through his boots and the smell made his eyes water. Fortunately he was able to skirt around the pool and jump onto the large rock that dammed it up from running into the next cavern.

He sighed as he looked at the next flooded room. He had forgotten that this room was the final cavern before entering the sewers…and the main room to where the sewers emptied. There was no path around this pool. They would have to wade through the dark sludge.

Before he could think too much about it, he jumped in, sinking in up to his chest. He shuddered as the warm thick water seeped under his armor, slowly rolling against his skin. Unseen objects bumped into him, making him flinch and hope that nothing was actually living in this mess. Slowly he began to wade through the pool, holding his breath as the disturbed water burped up pungent gases. Finally, just as Nevano thought he couldn't take much more, his feet felt the ground rise up and a few steps later he was able to stagger out of the pool. He gasped for a lungful of slightly fresher air and shivered in disgust as he felt the slush slide down his skin.

"That…was the most disgusting thing I've ever done." Nevusa said as she sloshed out of the pool. Veleth was quiet but Nevano wished he had a way of immortalizing the look on his face.

They looked up to see an old wooden door, its hinges completely rusted over. Nevano tried the latch. It was unlocked but years of disuse had rusted it shut. No matter how hard Nevano tried, he simply couldn't shove it open. Then Veleth simply shoved him aside.

"Let me." He snarled. One strong kick splintered the old rotted wood. "THAT is how you open a gods damned door!"

"Consider yourself our official door opener from here on out then." Nevano smirked.

The smell hit them first. In stark contrast to the smell of rot in the caverns behind them, this putrid stench was of filth and death that made all three of them cough and gag. Nevano could feel his stomach flip over yet again, very unhappy without the day's events were treating it. Nevano couldn't say he blamed it one bit though he heavily regretting trying to eat breakfast earlier.

"Left." Nevano gagged, pointing down to dark tunnel. "Straight down that way. Look for tiles. In these sewers, tiles indicate the main sewers lines that lead out."

"It's so dark down there."

Nevano pulled out Trueflame and gave the mental command for it to light. Immediately its fiery light pierced the darkness around them with a comforting red light. The rough stone walls around them were illuminated, unfortunately reminding them just how far underground they were. The thought of hundreds of tons of rock and dirt above them was disconcerting.

"Let's go." Nevano said. "It's not far now."

They made their way through the rough tunnels, only running across the occasional pest like rats, which Nevano wouldn't touch, or other small creatures and insects that scurries away from the light and didn't bother them. Finally Trueflame's light illuminated a rusty iron gate.

"Here. The actual sewers are on the other side of this gate." Nevano said in relief. Then he frowned as his memory replayed the last time he had come through here. "That's weird. This door here was never shut. And…it's barred. From this side. There was never a bar on this side. The lock is on the sewer side."

The answer was quickly, horrifically, apparent. The bazaar sewer was filled with skeletons. Most were broken and scattered but a few were still whole, still in the rotting remains of the clothing they had died in, some in the same positions they had died in. They were curled in a fetal position, some huddled together. They seemed to have simply given up and had curled up, waiting to die. One was stretched out in front of the door, one hand reached out as if he had died trying to escape.

"Azura's light…" Nevusa breathed.

"They must be citizens who were trying to escape the night the Argonians invaded." Veleth said. "It's hard to tell if they died from the Argonains, hunger, thirst or if something else entirely killed them."

Nevano didn't say anything. He had been through these sewers enough to know that more than rats and ghosts of the old city resided underground. Several of the ghosts that had assaulted them back in the old manor district had not been of Old Mournhold. In fact, he had seen a woman in a blue dress, trying to warn him of something. That same blue dress, now dirty and rotting but with a distinctive red trim, lay wrapped around a skeleton not a few feet from him. These poor people had not died from the attack on the city above. They had been cornered and systematically slaughtered by something below.

"Get your weapons out." Nevano said evenly, easing Hopesfire out and adding the elegant sword's gentle blue light to Trueflame's. "These people didn't die of hunger. They died to satisfied something else's hunger…and entertainment"

The two younger mer didn't question him. They immediately pulled out their weapons.

"Goblins." Nevano said, distaste creeping into his voice. "I was wondering why we hadn't seen any before now. The tunnels under Godsreach used to be thick with them and their little pets but there's nothing containing them anymore. I'm willing to bet Hopesfire and Trueflame that those nasty creatures deliberately locked these people in here and kept them as cattle. When they had their fill, they let the durzogs in to feed. When those had satisfied their hunger, they left the ones they didn't want to die."

"Durzogs…" Veleth murmured.

"The ugliest thing you'll ever see." Nevano said, straining his eyes to catch the slightest movement in the darkness. "It's the goblin's war hound but they look less like hounds and more like heavily armored lizards with fangs and bad breath. They move way too fast and they go for your throat every time."

"You're certain that there are durzogs still down here?" Nevusa asked.

Nevano didn't answer her. In the dark tunnels, the sound of water dripping echoed impossibly loud but one drip rang discordantly to his sharp ears. Then another drop made his ears twitch, and another. It dawned on him that the noiss he was hearing wasn't water dropping at all – it was claws tapping on tile. Slowly he started to make out shapes moving in the darkness and realized with a sinking feeling that the entire time they had been standing at the gate, a pack of durzogs had been slowly moving in on them, their paws mostly silent save for the clicking of incredibly long sharp claws. Nevano forced himself to keep his breathing steady even as his heart rate rose watching the massive dark shapes. From the way he could hear the barest shift of armor as the other two tensed up, they had seen the movement in the dark and realized they weren't alone anymore either.

Growls began to echo in the tunnels, making the hair on the back of Nevano's neck stand on end. Two points of yellow light lit up in front of him, far closer than he thought they were. Two became four, then six, and then twelve. The growls rose in volume and ferocity, the noise making Nevano's soul shiver. Trueflame and Hopesfire flared brighter. Their fierce light ignited Nevano's own fighting spirit that the growling had attempted to gutter out. Fear was pushed back, replaced by the excitement of the fight, of the rush of adrenaline. He had forgotten how much he had enjoyed the challenge of these beasts.

With a roar, the two closest burning point of light exploded out of the darkness and Nevano found himself staring into a gaping maw of way too many rows of sharp teeth. He didn't even think about what to do, he simply dropped backwards, Trueflame and Hopesfire thrust overhead as the durzog passed overhead. The animal was massive, easily as long as Nevano was tall and covered in thick armored plates…except for on its belly. The sharp blades bounced off the armored plate on the creature's chest then sank deep into the vulnerable belly. Blood rained down on Nevano as the durzog's own momentum effectively gutted itself. It hit the ground behind Nevano and slid into the wall, leaving its organs in a trail behind it from its ruined belly. It didn't move from its resting place.

As if a signal had gone off, the remaining durzogs charged in, baying loudly. Nevano, still flat on his back on the ground, suddenly found himself struggling to hold snapping jaws away from his face. The only thing keeping the long teeth from sinking into his flesh was the butt end of Hopesfire lodged against the durzog's hard palate when the blade had gotten knocked into the ground by the durzog's lunge. Nevano punched the durzog in the eye with his free hand, trying his hardest to distract it, to get it to let it off just enough for him to bring Trueflame to bear, but he kept hitting the heavy ridge that protected the eye. Quickly he pulled his foot up to his hip and scrambled desperately for the knife he kept in his boot. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the hilt he wasted no time in burying the knife deep into the durzog's eye. It yelped and fell backwards, enough for Nevano to whip Trueflame up and open its belly. Then he looked to see how the others were faring.

Nevusa had somehow ended up on top of a durzog, riding like it was a pony from hell, her dagger buried in the back of its armored head, the creature running in frantic circles as it tried to buck her off. Another durzog chased after them, snapping at the impudent mer that refused to let go. Veleth had already split one durzog's head open like a melon and was fending off another.

Nevano pulled out Bonebiter and fired an arrow into the durzog chasing after Nevusa, the magic powered arrow punching through the thick hide of its flank and shattered its hips. The durzog's hind end collapsed but it continued to drag itself using its front legs, though now Nevano had its full attention. He didn't give the animal much time to consider its new target though. He fired another arrow right between its eyes, effectively killing it. Then, purely because he felt like it, sent a third arrow into Veleth's durzog.

"Gods DAMMIT, Nevano!"

Nevano grinned then watched as Nevusa pulled her dagger free from the durzog's head and slammed it back down again, this time cracking through the thick bone and into the soft tissue below. The durzog simply quit running as if its strings had been cut, its limbs twitching uselessly as its brain shut down.

"Fancy." Nevano said, watching as Nevusa leaped nimbly off the failing durzog before it hit the ground.

"I thought that would be worse." She said, brushing herself off.

"Try facing that pack alone." Nevano said with a smirk as her face fell. "To be honest, I don't think there's much more than that. There's no more food down here for them."

"That brings up something I've been wondering." Veleth said.

"What's that?"

"We've seen undead Ordinators, ones who have been dead a very long time, we've seen ghosts, and we've seen skeletons." He said. "But none of them are of Ordinators. These are all citizens. There was no Indoril armor anywhere along these tunnels."

"I guess they're all in the city above." Nevano said. "Though you bring up a good point…why didn't they come through the sewers like we are? Unlike these poor souls here, they could have gotten through that locked gate easily enough."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"We'll find out soon enough. Let's go. The exit is just over here."

They continued on through the sewer, careful not to step on any of the skeletons that lay thick on the ground. When the tunnel dipped down, Nevano knew that they had finally gotten to their destination.

"Well, that explains why no one tried to escape back up into the city." Nevano said, looking at the destroyed wall where the remains of the ladder to the city above lay in a thousand pieces. "I hope nothing is sitting on the sewer grate…hey, Bull, give me a boost."

Nevano held on to every little handhold he could find, shoving his toes into tiny crevices to try to anchor himself as he wrestled the grate open. It was an awkward position, holding on upside down while shoving a heavy grate with one hand. Finally he managed to push it open just enough that, if he dropped his pack onto an unsuspecting Veleth below, he could squeeze though. He shivered a bit as the cool wind hit his overheated sweat-coated skin, the temperature difference almost unbearable. He stayed hunkered down among several large pieces of debris until he was assured the coast was clear. Carefully he levered the grate open the rest of the way and leaned down into the hold to help the others up. Veleth boosted Nevusa up and, after a running start, managed to jump up and grab onto the lip of the hole. Nevano helped pull him through and, once he was certain Veleth was on solid ground, took an actual good look around.

His memory of the Great Bazaar of Mournhold was crystal clear. He remembered the busy lanes, filled with lively people going about their daily shopping, adventurers poking around the armories, mages teleporting in front of the magic shop. Children had run around him, laughing and yelling as they waved their sticks-turned-swords around, girls screaming at the boys to leave their dolls alone and not throw them into trees and the boys somehow getting covered in dirt and mud despite the total lack of mud in the bazaar. He remembered how he had somehow got sucked into playing a part in a play that ended up with him playing decoy for an assassin. He had been well rewarded for his efforts. He could smile now at the memory of him stuttering through lines of a book he had only been given a few minutes to read that, given his level of reading comprehension, he had had no hope of getting through but at the time he had been rather annoyed by the whole situation. Secretly though, he had rather enjoyed the attention of the crowd, the way they applauded him for his, admittedly lacking, acting skills and the praise he had gotten for the way he had dispatched the assassin. He had spent that night happily with several pretty girls who wanted to show their appreciation for those skills.

There was no laughter in the bazaar now. In stark contrast to the sunny, lively memory in his mind, the bazaar was now dead, in every sense of the word. The rows of buildings that had once housed all the shops, places that Nevano had frequented himself, were now mere piles of rubble in front of him. The trees that had once cast highly appreciated shade over the cobbled streets were nothing more than blackened stumps. Interestingly enough, the wall that separated the bazaar and Brindisi Dorum off to his left was still intact. So was the wall between the bazaar and the temple north of them. However, what alarmed him the most was that he could see that the green light that they had seen was swirling up directly over the palace.

"Vith…" Veleth breathed, looking around.

"Yeah…" Nevano said. "I'm not liking that that light is over the palace. What d'you think that means?"

"That whoever did all this took up residence in the palace?" Veleth guessed. "Or maybe it's not a someone after all. Maybe there was something in the palace, an out of control magic or something of the like."

"I don't know if that thought is better or worse." Nevano said, scrunching his nose in distaste at the thought. A person, hopefully living and breathing, being at the heart of all this was easy enough to destroy. Out of control magic was something out of his realm of expertise. "Well, I guess we should take a look around and see if we can't figure out what it is. Let's go…" Nevano trailed off. A slight movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Trueflame and Hopesfire flared up indignantly and he snapped them out, spinning around.

He certainly didn't expect to see a handful of Ordinators sneaking up on them.

"Vith!" he cussed. "We got company!"

Veleth and Nevusa spun around, weapons drawn. For a long moment, things were tense, weapons quivering from the strain of standing on the brink of battle. Just as things were about to erupt into bloodshed, Nevano met the eyes of the Ordinator closest to him through the mask. They were tired and wary, on the verge of complete despair, but what he noticed, most importantly, was that they were not the blank vacant stare of the undead. This mer was alive, alive and breathing with blood pumping through his veins. A spark of understanding went through the Ordinator's eyes as he, too, realized that he was dealing with someone with a beating heart. However, the others hadn't yet realized that they were about to fight an ally. They were settling firmly into their bloodlust. Nevano had a split second to act before a regrettable fight was about to break out. He and his Ordinator counterpart nodded minutely, silently agreeing on their course of action. They moved in the same instant, a perfect mirror of each other's movements.

"Don't!" Nevano jumped in front of Nevusa and Veleth, the flames of his twin swords extinguishing as he crossed them over his chest. "Calm down kids, these ones aren't our enemies!"

"Wait, stop!" The Ordinators threw down his sword, yanked off his helmet and stood back to back with Nevano, holding his arms out to his fellow Ordinators. "These ones aren't dead! They're alive!"

XxXxXx

A/N: School might be the death of me. I got 3 weeks left until I'm free so this might be the last update you get from me until I'm released from the school's evil clutches.