Saya's footsteps echoed off the wet sewer floor in an uneven rhythm. It was cleaner than she expected, but of course the smell of remains and excrement that permeated the web of tunnels left some things to be desired. Serana put on her scarf to try and dampen the stink at least somewhat, though her mileage was questionable. The sharp senses she boasted now felt like a liability, distracting her so much that she briefly contemplated walking with her eyes closed.

Saya didn't have such luxury. Her eyes were always peeled as she paused at every turn, every intersection, watching for any aura of life that could be hiding around the corner. Nothing, every time. Or almost every time, at least - sometimes she'd spot the occasional rat or uncomfortably sized insect munching on a bloated corpse, rotted and overgrown with fungi. Other times, she'd get a ping somewhere above her - far above, wandering the halls and streets of the city whose underbelly they explored right now.

Did the Falmer consider it beneath themselves to swim in their own sewage? Perhaps their elven pride was preserved better than their looks. Or maybe it was just more convenient to use the proper exits than to crawl through pipes.

"Do you see any way out?" Serana eventually asked. Impatience definitely showed in her voice, however well she tried to hide it. "That is what we're looking for, correct?"

Saya paused. "Well, I'm no sewer rat or civil architect, so I was hoping we'd run into a manhole. From there we'd end up on the streets… or something. I'm kind of making it up as we go, if you haven't noticed."

"Manholes…" Serana parroted. She didn't really like the way the word sounded. "And if we don't find any?"

She shrugged. "Back the way we came, I guess." A quiet whine came from behind. Saya cracked a smile despite herself. "Well, look. If we don't find a manhole, we can always try our luck with one of the pipes - but if we do, then chances are we'll come crawling out of someone's shitter."

The whine became a frustrated groan. "Oh, what a wonderful mental image."

"You're the one who asked!" Saya snickered. Then, once silence fell, she returned to searching for an exit. Truth be told, she wasn't particularly confident in her ability to go back out the way they came even if they had to. But she held out hope it wouldn't come to that either way.

It was very fortunate, then, that they came upon a single brass ladder which led them upwards. The manhole cover opened with a jarring noise of stone scraping against stone and Saya poked her head out, glancing around the dark room before giving the girl below the clear to come up with her. The chamber they found themselves in wasn't particularly large or impressive in any way. Cracked metallic frames hovered from the walls, producing the occasional spark. Tables were overturned, chairs broken, and live wires hung from the ceiling.

The most unique thing about the room was a massive metal container, perhaps a reservoir, which stood in the center of the chamber. Dozens of pipes sprouted from both its top and bottom, presumably feeding into or out of the container. A number of metallic frames not unlike those on the walls lay on the floor, snapped off their supports and dented from excess force. If Saya had to hazard a guess, this had to be some sort of maintenance station, though the function has long since been rendered impossible to fulfill.

"Are we alone?" Serana asked. Saya whispered a word under her breath, one the vampire had heard quite a few times since entering Blackreach, and scanned her surroundings with vacant eyes, as if looking past the walls rather than at them. But unlike before, she seemed to… struggle, squinting as though she couldn't quite focus on what she was seeing. "Is something the matter?"

Saya's expression grew increasingly more displeased until she closed her eyes and shook her head. "There's a lot of… noise. Everything is lighting up, I can't…" She grunted, rubbing her temple. There it was again, the pin-prickling ache ringing in her ears and chipping away at her skull. It came and went in waves, like a tide, but this time the waves were crashing much more violently. "It- sorry," she paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't see much of anything outside. If we go quietly, then maybe we can-"

Serana never heard the end of the sentence. The barely-audible hum that had been lurking by the edge of her hearing made itself known. She had practically forgotten it was even there until that low, droning noise suddenly spiked in both pitch and volume, distorted into an ear-piercing screech that drowned out all thought and sensation. The vampire winced, putting both hands over her ears in a fruitless attempt to muffle it, to silence it, to make it stop.

And then it did. A mere few milliseconds after starting, the noise faded out with the same swiftness with which it first started. Serana lifted her head, still cringing from discomfort. "Blazes, it gets worse every time. I'm sorry, you were saying?"

The question had barely left her lips when she saw Saya collapse before her eyes and fall to her arms and knees. The Dragonborn broke into a horrible cough and dark red splattered onto the floor, a distinctly familiar scent tickling the vampire's nose. Serana paid it no mind and rushed to her companion's side, asking questions that Saya could barely hear through all the ringing in her ears.

"I'm fine, I'm-" she gagged, turning away sharply before she finally broke out vomiting. There was too much red there for comfort. Saya breathed heavily, struggling to raise her head. Blood was dribbling from her nose and her eyes were burning with a dull ache. "...give me a hand here, would you?"

Serana nodded quickly and offered the Dragonborn her hand. She took it and stood up on wobbly legs, leaning on Serana for support. "Slow down, we are in no hurry," Serana said softly while leading her somewhere she could sit down.

Saya shook her head. It felt like the insides of her skull turned to mush, sloshing around with every little movement. "Yeah, yeah, I know." She turned to the side and blew her nose, wiping the red streaks off her face with her cloak. "I feel like this," she pointed at her head, "has been getting worse the deeper we've gone. Whatever is causing this shit has to be here, somewhere…"

A brief moment of silence passed. "We need to leave quickly then," Serana said, crossing her arms. Saya gave her a bemused look. "You said it yourself, did you not? The Scroll is the only thing we need from here. If this place is causing you this much pain, then we'd best be on our way sooner rather than later."

It took a moment for Saya to process her words. When she did, she smiled slightly. There was something about… No, concentrate. "Well, if we followed Septimus' directions alright then I'd wager we have found this… 'city that sleeps'. And just beyond that should be something called Tower Mzark." She scanned the room with a brief look and then nodded towards the door. "Over there. Can you take a peek outside and see where we are?"

Serana nodded and stepped away for a moment. The door was predictably unlocked and only took a small push to open. Without leaving the room, Serana took a long, attentive look at her surroundings and then closed the door behind her, returning to Saya's side.

"We made it just past the walls, right at the edge of a big plaza. There is a large building right in front of us with a massive gate. I believe it's a keep of some kind."

Saya nodded. That tracks so far. "Any Falmer?"

"Only a few, though some of them with chaurus. They were doing rounds in front of the entrance to the building, I think."

"Guards?" Serana shrugged. "Probably guards. What about the tower? Did you see it?"

She nodded. "I did. The keep has multiple thin spires that rise from it to the cave ceiling." Probably elevators, Saya thought. "But there's one more, in the center. It doesn't quite reach as high, but it's much bigger and it has a dome. Oh, and also- do you remember the 'sun' we saw on the way here?" The Dragonborn gave an affirmative hum. "It is floating right above that tower."

"Lovely," she said, the word dripping with sarcasm so thick she could choke on it. Or maybe that was the blood, still. "Definitely sounds like our mark, then." She grunted and stood up, only to immediately stumble forward from the dizziness still rocking her head. Thankfully, Serana quickly caught her by the arm this time. Saya released a heavy sigh. "...forget you saw this, please."

There was a pause before Serana's reply came, and one could practically hear the teasing grin in her voice. "Only if you let me lead the way as promised. Remember?"

The Dragonborn glanced at her and chuckled, shaking her head. "I hoped you'd forget that part."

Serana smiled knowingly and slid under the Dragonborn's arm, supporting her with her shoulder. "I know. That's why I didn't."

Yeah, I concede, this is most definitely a keep. I thought Septimus would be exaggerating, but then Serana said it, and then I saw it myself. B'vek, why were the Dwemer so addicted to being dramatic?

At least getting inside was easy enough. The Falmer have little love for doors, so everything they could realistically break or snap off has been broken or snapped off. We did have to watch out for a couple of patrols, but nothing too dangerous. Really interesting to look at, though: the ones we saw before usually had weapons made of insect shells, kind of like the chitinous stuff back home. These ones, they're carrying straight up metal. Did they loot an armory? Hell, are they making these on their own? Now that's a scary thought.

This place is very surreal to walk through, if I'm honest. It's like a city within a city. I expected it to be similar to Alftand on some level, but there's barely any resemblance, like it was built by completely different people. It very well might've been, considering that hub we saw on the way down from the ruins. What was this city, really? A trading center? We saw a cathedral back up the way we came, so maybe a religious site of some kind? A university town?

I'm starting to get a vague idea of the structure of this place. It kind of reminds me of the way mom described Vivec city and its cantons - the entire keep is like one giant pyramid shape separated into levels. This lowest level seems like the residential area, but there aren't many Falmer here at all. Maybe they've all huddled up somewhere higher?

I feel actual pain having to leave all these rooms behind. I would've loved to take a look at all the things inside, but Serana is practically dragging me off behind her. Not that she doesn't have a point with the headaches - if it's gotten bad enough that I'm losing blood, then I can't really afford to stay here much longer. We definitely should come back here later though.

For the time being, we're just going from corridor to corridor and I'm sketching out a little map for myself. So far we've passed what I think looks like a foundry of some sort? Now that I think about it, we haven't seen a single functioning automaton inside the actual city, it's all debris and spare parts. But these… they looked like people. Or like they were parts to be attached to people. Prosthetics? What were the Dwemer doing here that was so dangerous they'd need spare limbs?

Saya's journal fell to the floor with a light thud. She blinked in confusion, as if struggling to process what she was seeing. A few seconds later, she bent down and picked it up. Her narrowed eyes were fixed on the page. It felt like the words she had just written were becoming jumbled and messy. She closed the journal with a frustrated sigh. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Serana looking at her curiously.

"Was there another wave? I did not hear anything."

Saya shook her head. "No, just… not feeling too hot right now, that's all." She gave the vampire a small reassuring smile and put the journal away. "Reckon we're getting close?"

Serana shrugged. "We haven't had many turns and corners, and the building didn't seem too spacious from the outside. I don't think we've much left to go." Serana moved next to the Dragonborn. "Do you need to rest?"

"I'm fine, I'm-" the words were interrupted as Saya stumbled forward, tripping seemingly over nothing. Serana quickly moved to catch her, and she did her best to regain her footing. "...I insist that I am fine."

Serana raised a skeptical eyebrow. "...so you say." They exchanged a moment of silent eye contact before she let go of Saya and they stepped into the next room.

Perhaps 'room' would be a bad word - it was a massive, spacious chamber. One could vaguely recognize it as some manner of security post, or perhaps a bureaucracy checkpoint. Now, though, there was little left to remind people of the hall's original purpose. A horrid smell emanated from seemingly every surface, and blood coated the floor in multiple dried layers. Many shelves and closets filled the interior, the kind you would see filled with papers at some fancy office. Instead, they now lay packed with what could only be described as 'all things valuable' - edible fungus, raw meat, furs, large pieces of scrap metal and stone, insect shells… Whatever this room used to be, the Falmer used it for storage.

Two things immediately caught Saya's eye. The first was a door directly ahead, a tall contraption of metallic rings and shapes. In the center was a familiar mechanism - one that required her attunement sphere to open.

The other thing was a person.

As soon as they entered the chamber, the hunched individual turned around. It was a Nord man of perhaps thirty odd years of age, though the hunger had definitely taken its toll on his appearance. His back was irreversibly bent, a side effect of crawling on all fours more often than not, and pale, wrinkled skin stretched across his thin arms and legs. The man wore little more than rags and carried no weapon, seemingly caught in the middle of trying to steal something edible from the storeroom.

"H-Hello?" Serana said, trying to keep her voice quiet and friendly. The Nord blinked, visibly bewildered and perhaps even terrified. His eyes darted between the two of them as he slowly backed away. Serana glanced back at Saya, at a loss what to do, and Saya just gave her an equally confused shrug. She cleared her throat and tried again: "I'm Serana. What is your name? How did you end up here?"

"ENVARRAI!" He suddenly screeched, backing away. "SHANTHA! ENVARRAI, ENVARRAI!" He grabbed some kind of piece of scrap metal bent out of shape and threw it at them, scuttering backwards as he did.

"Wait, we aren't-" Serana stopped as Saya grabbed her shoulder and passed her by. With a flick of the hand, another piece of metal floated off the shelf beside him and struck him in the head, knocking him to the floor.

"He's calling for help, shut him up, quickly!" She hissed and ran up to the door, free hand already searching for the attunement sphere and quickly putting it in its slot.

Serana looked back and forth between the Dragonborn and the injured man. He seemed stunned, at least for the moment, but so was she. He was… a person, wasn't he? Why couldn't he understand them? Couldn't they help him? How long has he been here for? All the questions rushing through her mind left her motionless, staring like a spooked doe at the Nord before her. He grunted, shaking off the ache rattling his skull and looked back at her. For a moment, it almost looked like he felt remorse, confusion. Hurt, even.

The next moment, his face twisted into an enraged scowl and he lunged at her, running on his hands and feet like a beast. Before she knew what was going on, he had already pinned her to the floor, growling and roaring in her face. Serana wanted to scream but didn't have the breath to do it, fear gripping her. The knife. She just needed to grab the knife on her belt. The knife, quickly, grab the knife-

The man released a pathetic yowl of pain as Saya plunged her sword into his side before kicking him off. Serana watched the Dragonborn step around her and then stab him once again, this time resulting in a bloody gurgle before the blade was pushed deeper in, finally silencing him for good. It took the vampire a moment to register the hand that was being offered to her. Then she hurriedly stood up with the Dragonborn's help.

"So, I take it I'm leading from here?" Saya asked, raising an amused eyebrow. Serana rolled her eyes, though not without a slight smile. Before they could go back to exchanging jokes, though, they both looked towards a side corridor, from where a distinct sound of footsteps was echoing. Saya glanced back towards the door, which had just finished opening. "Looks like company. C'mon."

They exchanged no more words as they ran behind the door, Saya grabbing the sphere off the floor on the way. Then, just as a horde of Falmer came rushing in with their insectoid beasts of burden, she placed it into a crevice on the wall and watched as the clicking mechanisms raised the door once again, locking them inside just as the first screeching guard wound up a javelin to throw at them. Their eyes lingered for a while longer on the door, the dull impacts of enraged creatures trying to burst in followed by muffled screams reaching their ears. Finally, the sphere popped out with a click.

Saya took it and turned around. They found themselves in a long, surprisingly well-lit tunnel. Thin windows of glass-like material broke up the walls, revealing a lush courtyard below. They walked in silence through the suspended corridor, gaze locked on the door ahead of them, identical to the one behind. For the third time, the attunement sphere entered its port and spun, unlocking the entrance like a puzzle box.

The first thing that struck them both as odd was the silence.

The hum that had permeated their minds' periphery had lifted. Saya involuntarily drew a sharp breath as the dull ache in her mind was suddenly lifted, granting her a sort of clarity she didn't know she wanted. It was like stepping into water, neither warm nor cold, but just cool enough to feel, to wake up from a sleep one didn't even realize was weighing down their eyelids. Saya and Serana exchanged a glance. It couldn't have been their imagination. Together, they stepped through.

What unfolded before them was a large library. It felt underwhelming to call it so - it was a brilliant tower of golden metal and snow-white marble, stretching far above and below. Where one would expect to see bookshelves they would instead see metal walls, inscriptions in a language few recognized anymore glowing pale blue when looked upon. Specters walked back and forth, humanoid figures of iridescent blue that shifted as they walked, blurred silhouettes speaking mute words and floating back and forth around the library, reading, listening, watching, learning.

The two of them walked past a metal railing and stepped onto a platform of smooth brass, its center an azure crystal that glimmered with magical energy. Before either of them had the time to say a thing, the platform beneath them slowly began to float upwards, following some invisible current that carried them to the chamber above. As they flew, they watched the figures around them slowly meld together, like echoes distorting the further they leave their point of origin. These were not people, Saya realized, but only approximations. The memories of the tower itself, lingering in the magic like the warmth of a touch long gone.

It was another minute or two before they reached the top. They stepped off the elevator onto a glass platform that showed the library below, making it look much bigger than it truly was. Or perhaps, it really was that big, and they simply haven't had the time to explore it all yet. Serana lifted her eyes and saw a staircase before her, circling around the room counterclockwise. Saya looked before her and saw one that was just the same yet opposite, a clockwise motion leading upward, to the chamber above. Another silent glance was exchanged, and they stepped forward.

The pair soon found themselves on the topmost level. The domed ceiling curved into a perfect semisphere, filtering in the warm orange light of the artificial sun above. Only at the center of the ceiling was a peculiar crystalline sphere, dark blue and green melding together in an impenetrable shell that permitted no light to pass through. Below, the chamber was strangely… empty. A number of chairs and small desks stood featureless before a circular space before them, like a round table with no center. Opposite of the tables, the pathway the pair walked continued into a stone podium with metallic pedestals rising out of it.

The two reached it at the same time, standing beside each other as they inspected their surroundings. On Serana's side, she saw a circular pedestal waiting for a spherical opening to be filled. On Saya's side - just the same, but opposite: an angular pedestal awaiting a cubic shape to be inserted. The Dragonborn slung the pack off her shoulders and found the other object Septimus had given her - a lexicon, as he called it - and placed it within with a small click. Then, she handed the attunement sphere to Serana, who slotted it in with a similar sound.

Immediately, the room shifted. Gears so large they rumbled within the walls began to move, and multiple layers of material blocked out the ceiling above - metal, crystal, glass, crystal, metal again. The sphere at the top of the chamber slowly unfolded, not unlike a flower. Each circular petal then affixed itself to the ceiling, fitting perfectly into slots that were fashioned just for this singular purpose, and slid outward across the dome in some inexorable pattern.

Then, the display before them lit up. Rings, dots, ovals, and other shapes surrounding a single bright light in the center. Serana looked at Saya, as if asking for permission, and hesitantly pressed a finger to the light. That same instant, the sole object remaining where the sphere once was - a vaguely egg-shaped but perfectly symmetrical case of the same crystalline material - opened along the countless invisible seams that ran along its facets.

Blinding white light streaked from within, hitting the petals and refracting from them. That same instant, the lexicon beside Saya opened up, levitating slightly above the pedestal as the central component spun back and forth. "So that's what he meant by 'inscribing' it…" Saya muttered, and then turned to her companion. "Any ideas on what to do from here?"

Serana was looking at the panel before her. "I'm not entirely sure, but… I think these look familiar, somehow." Saya stepped closer, looking around her shoulder. The light in the center now seemed to flow along the ridges, flowing into the other points and making them light up as well.

"It looks… like stars, doesn't it?" Saya asked, turning to the vampire.

Recognition flashed in Serana's eyes. "No…" She moved closer, leaning forward. "No, not stars… planets. This is a model of the Mundus! Here, look-" she pointed to the outermost shape, "-that's Akatosh. And this one here, that's Julianos- ah, but…"

"What's wrong?"

"Something doesn't add up," she said. "There's not enough planets. Dibella and- I think Zenithar?" Her brows furrowed and she rubbed her chin. "It's a model, definitely, but it doesn't seem… complete, and only some of the components are highlighted."

"I think I have an idea why." Serana looked up as the Dragonborn tapped her shoulder and pointed up.

There, she saw the rays that hit the receptacles - some, though far from all. And as they continued spinning around, following their orbits, the points on the display continued lighting up and blacking out, flickering on and off as the light in the center came and went. Serana watched this pattern in starry-eyed amazement, the lights flickering in her eyes. "It's… wow."

"If I had to hazard a guess, our Scroll is in there." She pointed over at the object emitting the light. There were precious few things she could think of that were that bright, and the case on Serana's back released quite a similar shimmer. "Now the question is, how do we get it out?"

Serana's gaze moved back and forth between the display and the celestiodrome before her. At once, the flash in her eyes combined wonder and excitement, an expression of utter focus and rapid thought on her face. "Mother dedicated a lot of time towards studying the passage of magic between the planes. She believed that by attuning to it and learning to sense the flow of energies, she could tap into them and learn all kinds of things. Perhaps even traverse the planes, or converse with spirits from beyond the Mundus. This thing, it's doing just that!" She turned towards Saya, unable to contain the sheer energy in her voice as she spoke. "It's trying to read the Elder Scroll by attuning itself to the magic flowing from it! This entire room is just one big machine made to detect those patterns and mimic them!"

By the time Serana finished, the Dragonborn was standing in front of her with a knowing smile. "So, you have a few ideas on the subject, I take it?"

The vampire stumbled over her own rant, coming to a screeching halt as she realized she had just been babbling non-stop, possibly complete nonsense. She swallowed a lump in her throat, suddenly very sheepish. "Y-Yes, a few," she said, much quieter than before.

Saya chuckled, wondering where all that confidence from just a moment ago had disappeared. She stepped over towards the panel before turning to face Serana and nodding for her to come over invitingly. "Then it's all yours. Anything I can help with?"

Serana blinked a few times as she processed the words. The next second, she grinned and ran over to her side, her embarrassment forgotten just as quickly as it came.

It has been… I won't even pretend to know how long it has been. Everything here is so oddly still and calm, sometimes I forget I can even move.

So, first fun thing that's happened - about half of my notebook is pretty much gone. After some period of trial and error, Serana has decided it's too much of a pain in the ass to try and keep everything in her head. Not in those words of course, I think I'll die before I hear her curse. Point is, she asked if she could have something to write things down and I let her use my spare journal, the one I use for miscellaneous notes. Few minutes later, I come back to see half of the pages ripped out and folded and shuffled around like puzzle pieces on the floor, and every time she presses a button she moves some of them around.

I do not know enough to interfere, nor do I want to. She seems to be having her moment there, and I doubt she needs distractions right now.

I decided to go down and explore the tower a bit. It is indeed a library down here, though I'm not entirely clear how to read anything. Any writing is, predictably, in Dwemeris, and inside every case are just rows upon rows of lexicons. The Dwemer really did just keep everything inside those, didn't they? I'm not touching the fucking things, that's for sure. I just got a moment of rest from my headache, and the last thing I am looking for now is for a new one.

Oh, I think Serana is calling me.

"Did you figure it out?" The Dragonborn asked while putting away the journal. Serana appeared to be hard at work, completely hidden behind the screens and pedestals.

Only when she heard Saya's voice did she poke her head out. "I did!" She looked a bit disheveled to say the least, but a big happy grin was plastered all over her face. Saya felt a hint of relief in the back of her mind. "If all of my charting is correct, then I simply need to complete the sequence of motions. I would not want you to miss it when it happened."

Saya chuckled. "Alright, alright. You've got my undivided attention, o lady magister." She walked over to one of the chairs and grabbed one to sit on, crossing her legs and watching the spectacle unfold.

"Right." Serana stood up and straightened her back before walking up to the panel. She looked at it in tense silence for a few moments, glancing back at her notes a couple times before finally steeling herself and nodding to nobody in particular.

Then, she finally lifted her hand and pressed the first key. Slowly, the room began to spin - or at least it seemed that way for a moment, until Saya realized it was actually the ceiling that was spinning. The panels comprising the dome above began to move as Serana's hands drifted across the pedestals, spinning like a kaleidoscope into a hectic pattern that seemed oddly familiar for the Dragonborn.

The second key clicked into place. The movements changed their axis, spinning in place and adjusting their rotation and bend. It felt unnatural, watching the machinery move that way. The lenses danced like eyes within sockets, and Saya felt oddly watched.

The third key, and the petals joined the dance. The floating shapes, crystalline mirror-spheres, mimicries of celestial bodies dancing far, far away, all before their eyes. Saya glanced at Serana. Her companion was completely focused on the work before her, her expression projecting a sense of concentration and responsibility. Perhaps even confidence, which was a good look on her. At least, so Saya thought.

And then came the fourth click.

At once, the rays of light shot outward from the central shape, bouncing around the room and hitting each and every lens. Every position was carefully calculated and calibrated to perfection, reflections catching the entirety of the light emitted and redirecting it elsewhere. The lexicon was spinning uncontrollably in its pedestal, glowing such a bright blue that it bordered on white. The dark crystals drank this light until they, too, began to shine, each prismatic petal lighting up with magic of all colors. It was a geometric mess of angles, of sharp lines that fed into one another and into the central hub.

The light bent.

A quiet hiss came from the sphere at the center, and it felt as though everything in the room had gone still. The lexicon froze in position. Serana looked over at Saya, who had all but jumped out of her seat. Her eyes then drifted down to the panel. The entire model before her was completely lit up, and the central button was flickering invitingly. She pressed it.

The light bent. The rays were forming into a pattern.

The orbits of each lens settled in place, unregulated and unguided by anyone but themselves. They spun around their central axis, and themselves, and each other. And then, they bloomed like a crystalline flower, their polychromatic petals lifting upward, to the ceiling, until only the flower's radiant core remained shining at the center like a miniature star. No more did its light refract from anywhere and yet it seemed omnipresent. Slowly, it descended towards the floor, tilting sideways until the crystalline case opened.

The light bent. The rays were forming into a pattern. The pattern was an eight-spoked wheel, and they stood at its center.

Saya moved closer, or perhaps she didn't move at all. She felt as though she was no longer standing but floating in place, held up yet held down at the same time. The air felt like water around her, flowing and coursing past and into her and away from everything at all. She breathed in, and she felt like she was breathing through liquid silk.

She took a step forward, and she moved a thousand steps back. The light that once blinded her seemed now like a pinpoint, infinitesimal yet so incomprehensibly massive. She lifted her hand and saw another move after it, radiant, aflame. She lifted her other hand and saw another move before it, black, hollowed. She took a step back, and she moved eight thousand steps forward.

The light shimmered, flowing forth, and Saya found herself in a space of a myriad colors, of limitless visions and smells and scents and sounds and billions of other senses she could feel but could not explain or describe. The shape that was burnt into her retina spun against its own afterimages, and she felt herself spin with them. A push that took her sideways at all angles, or perhaps forward in a direction she couldn't quite understand yet. Crashing into each other, the wheels burst into petals of light. Each one glimmered with mirror-shards of her own image. And she found that, in that moment, she wanted nothing of it, yet all of it at once.

She reached forward to the star in the center. The light bent, and the wheels arranged themselves one atop another, a cylinder of perfect symmetry. A case of white gold, a purple gem shimmering in its front side. Two handles stuck out the sides, too small one moment and too large the next, but settling in her hand perfectly as soon as she felt them through her gloves. Her eyes drifted downward, and she saw a canvas of pure white, familiar shapes drawn upon the fragrance-

Wait. A warning.

Septimus' words echoed inside her mind. As if shaken out of a daydream, Saya came to her senses and quickly shut her eyes. Her hands grasped the handles of the Elder Scroll and rolled its tapestry into the case, a quiet metallic sound announcing when the Scroll was fully closed. Only then did Saya dare look at anything again.

The light vanished. She now stood in the center of the room, the Elder Scroll softly glowing in her arms.

I'm still not entirely sure where I am, when I am. What I saw… it's a blur, I'm struggling to recall anything specific. Serana told me I look like I just saw a ghost. I can't really say that she's wrong. I might just pass out.

After some consideration, I definitely will pass out. We took the elevator to base level and considered camping right there, in the hallway, but Serana noticed that the tower still goes quite far down below the library. We'll go down there, I think. Maybe there's a bit more solid floor to actually settle in, I don't like all these floating platforms. They feel solid enough under my feet, but when I'm sleeping? Not taking the chances.

The hum is back now that we're down here, but it's a lot softer. Hopefully, no headaches. And I think I know what the source is for once - this whole place we're sitting in seems like a massive storehouse. There's racks and shelves full of those glowing blue crystals we found in Blackreach. Some are pounded into dust, but most are just kept in ore form. Was this a refinery of some kind?

Might be worth investigating. Tomorrow. For now, I need to lie down. Got myself a shiny Elder Scroll to hug in my sleep, maybe this time I won't wake up with a migraine.

Turdas, the 25th? of Evening Star, 4E201

The Dwemer spheres were an ingenious piece of engineering: powerful, fast, and possessing capabilities both ranged and melee. There were few improvements that could be made to something created to be a weapon. That said, no weapon on its own was superior to an experienced combatant, a person who could not just swing but to think. That was, perhaps, the one flaw in the Dwemer machinery - after a while, they became predictable.

Saya dodged the first swing by ducking under it. The second came right after, its timing so precisely calibrated that she barely had to think about it. The sphere stuttered, its chain of movements interrupted just long enough for her to keep her momentum going and land a powerful kick to its head. The steel sabaton impacted the robot with a resounding clang, sending it rolling back long enough for Saya to jam her hand under its torso and send a pulse of fire magic straight upwards. Not a full second later she heard the gem within cracking, and the automaton went still.

"Still no Falmer, huh?" Saya asked when she turned around. Serana had just pinned a particularly feisty metal spider to the floor with a well-timed ice spike. "Think we're going to run into any?"

"I would hope not." The vampire shuddered, rubbing the side of her neck where she was previously shot a few days ago. "We will be running into them on our way out, won't we? I appreciate the break."

Saya chuckled. "Wouldn't want to get bored of the things that are trying to kill you." She spared the automaton on the floor another amused glance and kicked it away, making it roll off into some corner.

The journey through the deeper levels of Tower Mzark was curious, if mostly uneventful. The storage continued downward for multiple floors - like a pyramid, each one wider than the last. They all contained a wide variety of objects and materials alongside the blue crystals from before: metals both strong and precious, gemstones of various kinds, even chunks of rock that vaguely resembled massive soul gems. Naturally, Saya treated herself to some items here and there, in spite of Serana's judgemental looks.

Then again, the vampire did help herself to a few things as well, at her companion's encouragement.

It was the fourth floor that finally broke the mold. Serana and Saya stepped onto an elevator to ride down to it, which itself was a subtle hint - though it still could not prepare them for the absolutely massive factory they saw before their eyes. Most of it stood still, covered in dust and soot, but the scale alone was something to respect. Mentally, the Dragonborn drew three points where the Dwemer could've easily separated this thing into multiple floors, yet they chose not to. It did not appear as though the location was meant for people to visit at all.

Serana stuck close to Saya out of necessity as they navigated the foundry. Though her curiosity drew her to examine all the half-finished crafts, the unmoving conveyor belts and metal arms stopped in the middle of putting together yet another nondescript mechanical worker, she would prefer not getting lost. And getting lost was a very real possibility among all the intersecting pipes, labyrinthine production lines, and massive - though thankfully inactive - robots.

Well, mostly inactive.

"Wait." Serana bumped into the Dragonborn in front of her. With an almost panicked speed, Saya pushed the vampire behind herself and crouched. Confused, Serana mimicked her motions and waited. Then, she heard the distant sound of heavy footsteps slowly growing closer and closer.

A few seconds later, she saw their source. The Dwemer automaton that appeared from behind the corner was positively colossal, a towering humanoid figure that rivaled the giant from earlier in its height. A sense of unease washed over Saya when she realized this was not a centurion, but something different. Its entire form was much more bulky, the disproportionately tiny head barely protruding from its massive square shoulders. The arms were as thick as logs, metal plating covered with engravings that faintly glowed blue. One of them looked like it had a proper hand, though the bent fingers almost looked like a club. The other arm, meanwhile, appeared to be hollow, almost like a cannon with no cannonball to go with it.

The hulking construct stopped when it reached an intersection, and Saya held her breath just in case. Its torso spun around its waist, scanning the area around itself, and then the machine garbled something unintelligible in its artificial voice before continuing along its original course. The pair sat still for almost a full minute before they felt safe enough to come back out. They walked a bit faster, now.

The tension from the encounter never really left Saya's body, not until the object she saw on their way down in the elevator came into sight. It looked almost like a gazebo, however bizarre the location was. A simple, rather small structure, nowhere near enough for the massive automaton from before to pass through. Only then did the Dragonborn allow herself a sigh of relief and slowly slid down to the floor, sitting with her back against the wall.

"Another headache?" Saya looked to her right, where Serana stood with a sympathetic smile. She shook her head, returning the smile.

"Gods, no. Just… need a quick breather," she laughed and reached up to her forehead. Is it getting warmer down here? "What about you?"

Serana blinked. "M-Me? What about me?"

"Are you feeling alright? Because I'm sweating bullets over here, I figured you wouldn't be a fan of the heat given… you know."

"Ah." Serana stood up, thinking for a moment before responding. "Now that you have pointed it out, it does feel rather warm here. Perhaps one of the steam pipes might be leaking? Although it's not exactly humid…"

Saya watched her deliberate for a few moments before she glanced around her surroundings. The gazebo was rather empty, aside from a peculiarly-shaped object in the middle. It appeared to be another sculpture of some kind - yet another cosmic model if she had to guess, judging by the shape. It looked like a single golden sphere with a multitude of rings orbiting it, similar spheres attached to it. She quickly counted them… Yep. Eight, as expected.

The Dragonborn stood up with a grunt and stretched. Sleeping bag or no, she was getting rather sore from sleeping on stone. She approached the sculpture, eyes affixed to the pedestal right below it. It was an unassuming little thing, mostly featureless except for a small opening at the top. It looked circular, though slightly uneven in a way that jostled her memory…

In a flash of realization, she threw down her pack onto the floor and began picking through the different items therein. "Um- is everything alright…?" Serana asked nervously as she watched her toss all kinds of things onto the floor with barely any care. Then Saya all but bolted to her feet when she fished out the two items she had been single-mindedly thinking of: two shards of Aetherium, stuck together with a magical force that made it all but impossible to disconnect them, and a journal with a red cover.

"Holy shit." The words fell from Saya's lips as a nervous half-laugh. "I think I just figured out where we are."

Serana cocked her head in confusion and the Dragonborn showed her the journal in her hands, pointing towards a particular spot on the page. She looked closely and saw a heavily downscaled map of Skyrim, however expertly sketched, with multiple marks on it. The one Saya was pointing at was number 3, a little ways away from Windhelm, annotated in a neat handwriting: "No name, no identifying information, but page after page of cross-references and ruined diagrams. Other settlements have records of Aetherium coming to and from here. Is this an entrance to some deeper mine? Or maybe the Forge itself? Whatever it is, it's worth investigating later."

"This thing, it's Aetherium!" Serana looked up and saw Saya pull out something she took from the storeroom earlier - a large chunk of light blue crystal, identical to the large outcroppings they saw back in Blackreach. In her other hand was an incomplete round sigil, faintly glowing with magic. Even at a glance, she could tell it's the same material. "This here is a key, a key to the Aetherium Forge - the place Katria was looking for! We're only missing the last part of the crest, if we can find that, then…" She turned to the vampire, smile faltering at her confused expression.

Serana politely waited for the Dragonborn to pause. "If I may… Who is Katria?"

A moment of silence hung in the air. Then, Saya's face grew slightly more pink as she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Right, so this happened about three weeks ago…"

I had to sit down and double check all my maps. I kind of understood that Blackreach is massive, but this is just… holy shit. We've crossed like a quarter of the province! Granted, it's taken a lot more time, but considering there's no infrastructure down here and taking all the hazards into account, that should be a given.

I guess Lydia was right when she said this thing ran under all of Skyrim. I wish she could've seen all this.

From the markers on Katria's map, there should be an elevator somewhere nearby to take us out of here. Somewhere in the city, I'd wager. I wonder what it was called. Probably something barely-pronounceable again, as Dwemer are wont to do. We'll make our way back into the main tower and have some lunch, and then we'll get to searching. With all the horrid smells down in the sewers and the city itself, I've been barely eating. Serana's flask is already slowly coming to a close. She's still against draining any Falmer, though. Again, can't blame her.

And the headaches are back. The exact bloody moment we step out of the tower, too. It almost feels worse after being perfectly fine for… however long. Fuck, I miss the sun. I really hope I have the time to make it to Whiterun, still. Maybe I won't sleep through the holidays this time.

Saya grunted, rubbing her temple as another sharp pang reverberated in her nerves. By her estimate, it took them some twenty minutes to get out of the city. As far as she was concerned, that was twenty minutes too many. "Are we there yet?" She hissed, ripping out Stormblade from the corpse of a still-twitching Falmer. They were unlucky enough to run into a small group of them on the way to the exterior, but it was precious little trouble to take care of them.

Serana raised her head. She could distinctly see a tall stone tower stretching from the cave ceiling and meet the city a little ways from where they were, though the entrance itself was concealed by a wall. "Just a little farther, if we follow the path."

"Hm." Saya ripped the cloth off the Falmer's chest and gave her sword a cursory wipe before sheathing it again. "Anyone to keep us company on the way?"

The vampire's eyes narrowed, giving the area around them a more thorough scan. The area they were in was, for all intents and purposes, a massive backyard. It might've been a park once, but the few signs that remain of such a past are the metal benches overgrown with glowing fungus and a path of mossy stone. "I can certainly see a few stragglers, but I don't think they are anything to worry about," she concluded after a moment. "We could try to sneak up on them."

When she heard no reply, Serana turned around to look at her companion. She was staring off into the distance, curiously inspecting something. The vampire followed her gaze and saw that it was aimed at the artificial sun, which continued to slowly spin around its axis.

"Saya?" Serana called out. The Dragonborn immediately turned to her, her chain of thoughts interrupted. "Is something the matter?"

"Hm?" Saya appeared to be confused, blinking slowly as she processed what Serana had just said. Then, when her mind caught up: "Ah, sorry. I just thought I heard something and got distracted. You were saying?"

Serana nodded her head over to the Falmer she pointed out earlier. "I said that we could try a sneak attack to take care of the stragglers ahead of us. Shall we?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure-" Saya nodded enthusiastically and took a step forward to catch up. Not a second passed before she stopped in her place and whipped around, staring at the Dwemer Sun again. "Okay, I can't have imagined that one. You heard it too, right?" She glanced at Serana, who shrugged.

"I didn't hear anything."

"Weird. I could've sworn that there was…" Saya's brows furrowed. "What the hell?"

As both of them looked up at the sun once more, they saw the rings spinning around it tick, almost like clockwork. It followed an even rhythm, perfect in its tempo, calibrated to account for even the smallest deviation. However, that was a long, long time ago. Few could expect their inventions to outlast them, and none remained now who could maintain a thing of such size, age, and function. And so the pair knew it wasn't just their eyes playing tricks on them when one of the rings orbiting the sun had begun to stutter.

She blinked. That didn't look right. It was definitely stuttering, like a poorly-oiled gear refusing to change positions properly. The symbols' movements grew jerky and slow, like they were skipping positions. This continued on and on, growing more noticeable in comparison with the smoothly-spinning outer rings, until eventually the troublesome string of glyphs stopped altogether for just a millisecond.

Serana did not have the time to pose a question when her ears were stabbed by a high pitched explosion of noise, like a string snapping off an instrument in the middle of a performance. She recognized the sound - she'd heard it multiple times, ever since they entered Alftand. As soon as she could open her eyes, they snapped over to where Saya once stood, now collapsed on her knees and covering both of her ears. As soon as the noise ended, she ran over to the Dragonborn, calling out her name.

"Saya!" She knelt down next to her, grasping her shoulder. "Are you alright? I think they heard us, we need to-"

Saya placed a hand on hers and gently moved it away before spitting on the ground. The saliva definitely had some red mixed in. "Goddamnit…" She cursed, chuckling to herself as she stood up on wobbly feet. She rubbed her eyes, ignoring the ache that still lingered at the sides of her head, and focused her vision on the sun. She couldn't help but smile wryly when she saw the rings spinning in perfect unison once again. "This whole time, it's been just this stupid thing?"

Serana frowned, backing away slightly. "...Saya?" She called out, her voice slightly wavering as the Dragonborn's hands curled into fists. Her expression was mixed, frustration blending with an odd sense of grim satisfaction at finally discovering the source of her torment. There were footsteps behind them and Serana glanced around, noticing the Falmer approaching curiously. "Saya, please, we need to go."

"I know," she hissed, and Serana backed away instinctually. Saya's face softened briefly before she looked back at the Dwemer Sun. "We'll go in a moment, I just… want to return the favor."

Serana did not have the time to ask as the Dragonborn drew a long, deep breath. A moment later, an irrationally zealous Unrelenting Force left Saya's lips and came crashing right into the Dwemer Sun. Its impact produced a loud metallic noise that cascaded across the cavern walls, and for once Saya did not feel affected by it. It was no longer a high pitched screech but an entire spectrum of sound, soft as a whisper and earth-shatteringly loud.

Saya and Serana felt themselves being physically pushed back by the rebound that rolled across all surfaces. For but an instant, Saya's vision had gone askew. She saw the cavern light up, invert, stretch for unimaginable distances and compress into a single point. She felt herself pulled towards it despite moving away, yet trying to step forward availed her nothing but directionless motion. Saya couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu, her mind recalling the moment they finally released the Elder Scroll from its container and how time itself seemed to stretch and curve around them, orbiting the one object that seemed to be at the center of it all.

And then, the fabric tore in a bright flash.

Both Saya and Serana found themselves exactly where they were again, almost hyper-lucid after the surreal experience. They blinked and exhaled in almost complete unison, brains racing to try and regain some semblance of awareness. Blackreach. Stone road. Weapon in hand. Falmer corpses. Bloodied grass. Glowing moss. Massive mushrooms. Ruined benches. Dragon.

Dragon?

Saya nearly jumped when her mind registered the massive creature some ten, fifteen meters away from her. It was unmistakably a dragon, larger than any she'd previously seen aside from Alduin himself. The thick copper-red scales gave off a metallic sheen, morphing into thick black spines that ran in three rows down the back of its neck and body. The monstrous head was unmistakably and almost stereotypically draconic, with two pairs of black horns that vaguely looked like a crown complemented by two curved tusks protruding from the sides of its lower jaw.

"[Who dares…?]" The dragon muttered in confusion, lifting its head. The entire underside of its body was the same purplish black as its horns and spikes. The dragon yawned, a similarly black tongue visible behind its teeth. "[What is the meaning of this? What is this place?]" The irritation was audible in its voice as the beast inspected its surroundings with a pair of bright, almost toxic yellow eyes.

Saya immediately moved closer to Serana, standing in front of her. "I-Is that…?" Serana's voice was trembling with shock and fear. A dragon. A live dragon, and one that seemed less than pleased with its circumstances.

"Exactly what it looks like, yeah," Saya whispered back, not taking her eyes off the colossal beast before her for even a moment. She briefly contemplated attacking it now, while it was still dazed, but quickly discarded the idea. If the sneak attack failed, Serana would be in the direct line of fire, or worse yet - they both get flung off the platform and plummet to their deaths.

"Sh-Should we run?" Serana asked. Evidently, her thought process was rather different from her companion, who was searching through her pack on feeling alone. "The elevator is right over there, m-maybe we could make it…"

"Or we get caught inside and end up in an oven," Saya chuckled. Judging by the vampire's silence, the joke didn't land. She cleared her throat and passed Serana a small object - a metallic mask of some sort. Serana looked at the Dragonborn, confused, and saw that she was already putting on a similar mask, though noticeably more ornate. "I'll try to distract it. If you have any trump cards up your sleeve, now's a good time-"

"[YOU!]" The dragon suddenly called out, rising to its feet and arching its neck to look down at the two of them. Something the dragons liked to do, Saya noticed. "[Serve you at the Devourer's temple? Explain yourselves at once!]"

Saya stiffened slightly where she stood at the booming voice and took a breath to calm herself. Then she nudged Serana, whispering: "I'll buy you some time." Then she stepped forward, clearing her throat. "[Countless apologies, my lord. I am here at your service.]"

Serana's eyes widened slightly as she listened to the conversation in a tongue she did not recognize. It was almost mesmerizing to watch, but she quickly shook out of it. She looked at her surroundings, searching for anything that could help. She first thought of the cliff, but discarded the thought when she remembered the creature could still fly. Then she considered luring the Falmer over to try and help, but that would likely just create a bigger skirmish. And besides, looking back at them now - the Falmer that were back there before now seemed to have scurried away and hidden somewhere. An atronach, then?

In the meantime, the conversation with the dragon was starting to slow as it came more and more to its senses. The dragon squinted, taking a closer look at Saya. "[Your mask, I recognize it. Are you an acolyte of Golkromaar?]" Its mouth twisted into a displeased scowl. "[I should have known that merely maiming that worm was too light a punishment. The insolent fool, my teeth to his neck.]"

Saya grew slightly nervous at being expected so attentively, swallowing a lump in her throat. Golkromaar… was that the stone-scaled dragon she killed? "[Please, my lord. There is no need for such hostility. I'm sure that given some time, we can figure out what-]"

"['Time'? Do not presume to speak of time to me, slave!]" The dragon growled, rising to a standing position. It turned its head elsewhere and its nostrils twitched, as if trying to sniff something out. "[Something is amiss. I can feel it in the bones of the earth, how they shudder here. Time does not flow as it should, it is constricted, restrained. And it stretches towards you.]" It turned back towards Saya, its pupils narrowing. "[What have you done?]"

Saya stammered, running out of responses. It was getting suspicious. She needed to come up with something, and quickly. "[We have done nothing-]"

"[Liar.]" The dragon hissed. "[There is a stench upon you that irritates me.]" Suddenly, its eyes jumped to Serana - or more specifically, to the object faintly shimmering on her back. Then, he spotted another such shape on Saya, though draped in cloth it was. "[You… You carry the Kelle. What manner of blasphemy were you attempting? Not acolytes- impostors! I should strip the flesh from your bones for this alone!]"

"ALRIGHT, PLAN B, PLAN B!" Saya shouted before gathering a clump of liquid flame within her hand and hurling it at the dragon. It quickly recoiled, the lava sticking to its scales and charring them even blacker than they already were.

The dragon roared, less so from pain and more from indignation. "[Upon my name as Vul-Thur-Yol, you insects shall not leave this place alive!]" With those words, the dragon drew a deep breath right as Saya was charging towards him. The words "KREN, QETH, GOL" erupted from its maw like a thunderclap, each one causing the earth beneath their feet to tremble and quake. Saya stopped in her tracks, struggling to keep her footing while Serana nearly fell over altogether.

The dragon spread its wings, the same sickly yellow as its eyes yet with a black flame-like pattern spreading from the edges. Vulthuryol leapt into the air and took off right above their heads. Saya watched it take a slow turn, steadily gaining altitude with each flap of its wings before it circled around, seemingly diving straight towards them. "Shit shit shit shit-" she cursed, scrambling to look for cover and watching Serana struggle to stand up. Should she try to absorb it with the Atronach power? Would that be worth risking it?

Then in a flash of recollection, she remembered the mask on her face. Tracing her fingers on it, she activated the enchantment slumbering within and watched as stoneflesh began to grow around her armor. She dashed to her companion and stood before her, both hands put forward as she attempted to recall Tolfdir's lessons. She could see the dragon fast approaching and closed her eyes, pouring all the magicka she could into a protective ward. Please work, please work, please work-

Serana's eyes opened just in time to see the dragon's jaws release a ball of pure black flame heading straight towards them. The next moment, it crashed into Saya's ward and shattered it on impact. The fireball exploded, and Saya's armored frame crashed into Serana, knocking them both to the ground and sending the Dragonborn rolling. Her rock armor was scorched to a crisp, turning to dust and peeling off at the first contact with the stone road below.

Vulthuryol's lips stretched into a crooked smile as the dragon admired its handiwork. Serana watched it fly over them to the other side of the wall. Its claws sank almost effortlessly into the solid stone, perching upon it as it inspected the prey before itself. "[Curious. I sense one of my brethren nearby, yet there are none in sight. Very curious…]" Vulthuryol chuckled. "[No mere mortals, are you? Perhaps this meal of mine shall be more filling than expected.]"

Serana's eyes darted down to Saya, who lay on the floor groaning from the pain. She was conscious, though struggling to get up and coughing profusely, a hand pressed to her aching chest. Vulthuryol spread its wings, drawing breath and preparing for another attack. Every alarm inside Serana's mind was already ringing as she searched for a way to defend. There was no cover, nothing to hide behind, no way to get her out of the way in time. She couldn't retaliate. Unless…

Her gaze drifted to the bodies of the Falmer that ambushed them. Her lips stiffened, mouth thinning into a line. An involuntary twitch ran through her hands, muscle memory honed by years of training. She tried to fight the aversion bubbling up in her chest and rising to her throat. Whispers tickled at the back of her mind, speaking in a voice she would've rather forgotten. You can solve this. One wave of the hand, and all of this can be over. But you have to want it. You already do, you just don't realize it. Embrace it.

"Ved," the dragon inhaled and Serana's hesitation vanished. Her irises flashed crimson, magic blackening the veins under her pale skin around the eyes and hands. She reached out towards the nearest corpse, a motionless Falmer a stone's throw away. The vampire's hand curled into a fist and she pulled it back. Blood burst outwards from the corpse's wounds, following her motion before stopping in mid-air. "TOOR, NAAK!"

As the words fell from the dragon's tongue, they became tongues of black flame that poured from its throat. Vulthuryol took flight again, breath leaving his lungs and showering the entire courtyard in fire that seemed to devour light itself, leaving nothing but its own quivering shadows in its wake. It was then that Serana spread her arms apart, and the liquid crimson that floated before her stretched into a nigh-transparent bubble that shielded them both.

Saya watched as the mass of darkness covered them, Serana's blood shield bubbling and boiling from the heat yet immediately regenerating even the slightest openings. The vampire herself was completely concentrated on maintaining the barrier, her own magicka coursing through it in rippling motions, catching incoming waves of damage and deflecting them harmlessly into the ground around them. She continued to hold it until she was sure the attack was over, at which point she waved her hands to dismiss it, the bubble bursting around them and repelling any nearby flame away.

"Nice trick." Serana turned around at the words coming from behind. Saya was standing right beside her, Stormblade in hand.

Serana nodded. "Thank you."

The two of them watched for a moment as Vulthuryol landed on the inner wall near the city. The dragon seemed to be distracted for a moment as Falmer were gathering on both sides of the gates, hurling spears and shooting arrows at the gargantuan beast. "Think you have something to bring it down to earth?" Saya asked, nudging the vampire lightly.

Serana glanced back at her. It was slightly jarring that the Dragonborn simply bounced back like that, completely ignoring the change in her appearance. Or perhaps, she just hadn't noticed yet. "I believe so," she responded, looking back at the dragon before her.

"Good." Saya stepped forward, weapon at the ready. "Then it's your move. After that, I'll finish this thing off." She drew a deep breath, the heat palpable in the air around them as the vegetation continued smoldering in pitch-black smoke, and then shouted: "VUL-THUR-YOL!"

Immediately, the dragon ceased its flame-spewing rampage and turned around, eyes locking onto the redheaded elf behind him. "[Wretched creature, that name is not for your rotted tongue! You will wish you had died while I gave you the chance!]" The beast growled and spread its wings once more. Saya gauged the distance, walking a couple steps closer for good measure. When the dragon finally took flight, its gaze was completely fixed on the Dragonborn.

That way, it didn't notice Serana take the flask from her belt and uncork it. She swirled around what little blood still remained. Less than she'd like, but it would have to do. Serana tilted the bottle over, spilling its contents into her palm. Then she dropped the flask and drew two fingers across her wrist, pulling a thin, near-invisible line of blood from her palm, almost like a bowstring. She watched and waited, paying close attention to the way the dragon moved its wings, looking for the right moment to strike…

And then she released the string.

The shot found its target in the blink of an eye, a projectile so tiny it couldn't even be called a bullet but a particle, accelerated so much that it looked like a razor-thin beam shot from her hand right into the dragon's chest. Vulthuryol visibly shook from the impact, wings flapping off-rhythm as the massive beast came down to the ground with a loud crash. Saya watched the body tumbling down, equally careful in approaching it and trying not to get hit by it. When the approach finally looked relatively safe, she took a running start and drew breath for one last Shout:

"Krii."

She leapt up onto its head, running up the side of its jaw like a ramp before sinking Stormblade's edge at the base of its skull. She continued running, creating one long cut along the side of the dragon's neck before violently ripping the sword out as she jumped off when she reached its torso. For a fraction of an instant, it felt like everything stopped. Then a cold pulse washed over the dragon's body and the shallow cut suddenly opened wide, ripping outward into a bleeding gash through which one could clearly see its windpipe. Vulthuryol gurgled something incoherent as its yellow eye moved to look at Saya, open wide in shock and pain. Then its gaze became glassy, and she knew that it was dead.

"Is it over?" Serana asked. Saya looked up at her. Her eyes were once again that lightly iridescent, unremarkable brown, and the veins had vanished beneath her skin as normal. She was carrying the empty flask in her hands.

"As over as can be." Saya nodded. She could already feel that light pull in her chest beckoning her to split the soul from its carcass. "Anything you want from this?" She tapped the massive head for emphasis.

Serana gave the dragon a long, loaded look. However, before she could really say anything, she noticed the Falmer gathered at the gates slowly moving in to see where the dragon had gone. "...perhaps another time," she said and pointed over at their 'guests'.

Saya turned around. "Ah. Just a moment, then." Saya cleared her throat and closed her eyes. Serana watched the flesh of the dragon rapidly dissolve into a large mass of light. String by little string, it unraveled from the dragon's bones and gradually flowed into Saya's body, raising a light breeze around her in the process. Just a few seconds later, nothing was left of the once-massive creature but a near-sterile skeleton.

When Saya came to, an almost nostalgic feeling of relaxation and serenity weighing her down, body and mind, though not in an entirely uncomfortable fashion. Her half-closed eyes drifted over to the Falmer who now stood still, alarmed by something they couldn't see but felt happen in their very bones.

"Leave," she said, and a low rumble followed her voice as she spoke. The Falmer did not need a second incentive - whether they understood the language or not, they turned around and scurried back from whence they came. Saya watched them leave lazily before turning back to Serana with a smile. "And that takes care of that. Shall we go?"

The vampire stared at her stupidly for a long few seconds, and then she laughed. That's all she has to say after such a display? Why wasn't she surprised? The Dragonborn passed her by, an almost childish spring in her step, and beckoned the vampire after her.

"Come on, aren't you coming?" She grinned impishly. "Or do you want to wait for the elevator to come back down after I leave?"

That seemed to shake Serana out of her thoughts. "H-Hey, that's not fair!"

"Oh yeah? Race you there," she teased, and took off from the dragon skeleton in a half-hearted sprint, though still glancing back to make sure Serana followed her. Serana stood there for a few moments, laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

And well, it would be rude to turn down such a gracious invitation, wouldn't it?