No cave in this land is without a name. The people here know every feature, they have for centuries. But it's not like anyone checks up on them.
Jeen-Dar's map had a vagueness like a half heard conversation scribbled on a scrap of paper. But he says it cost him nearly 200 gold peices! Zoeigh thought he must be inflating his claim a little. He doesn't even come along! It wasn't the most he'd ever spent on a map, but it was close. Just because that one paid off, her brother Kesril didn't even blink. They've been circling the same patch of snow-packed ground for a whole day and not a whisper, not a hint, not a hole in the ground. Not even a name. No caves are nameless. Zoeigh stamped her foot to that and stirred her cousin Nisravi walking ahead of her.
"I was just thinking that" she said.
"What kind of cave has no name? Have you ever read a map with a cave with no name?" Zoeigh tweaked her voice so it just cut through the howling wind for her brother several paces ahead. Kesril kicked up a tiny cloud of snow and ice but never faltered. Zoeigh hopped ahead so she was walking along side her cousin and dropped her head so her eyes met Nisravi's down cast gaze.
"Are we going to talk about it?" She asked.
"What do you want me to say? Just let him kick himself out. What, are you going to abandon him out here in the wilds?" Nisravi met Zoeigh's frustration.
"Wouldn't that be nice" she muttered.
Nisravi continued "Besides, you really want to stay in that filthy bar? They hated us, they accused Kesril of stealing! Imagine. The great treasure hunter Kesril of Corinth, a common thief!" She derided.
Zoeigh dropped her pace back again. "Well, Khajiit do have that reputation.."
Nisravi laughed "We're Khajiit too, traitor."
As though what they really did was at all distant from thievery.
"Here!" Kesril called down to them from about mid-way up the ridge ahead. He pointed at a break in the tree line, almost completely covered with snow. The space looked like it hadn't been used in months, at least.
They pushed through the packed drift and matted branches to a path. Though 'path' is generous. They had to edge through the dense and heavy branches and bushes to avoid making noise, but it came directly to a clearing. And a cave!
There was a cold, dead rock circle of burned wood, and a light dusting of snow about. Above was a grand snowy tangle of snow covered branches bent and folded into a kind of roof over the clearing. In a shadow near the entrance sat a man.
The trio shrank to blend in with the wood. The man made no motion.
Kesril spoke just above a whisper "Keep your weapons in for the moment, take your potions and we rally inside the.." He looked back at the seated man. "The first safe cover. Stay quiet." That last part he spoke just to Zoeigh.
Kesril thumbed the cork from a small vial of faintly glowing white liquid, drank it and disappeared. Zoeigh and Nisravi watched the entrance, and the man. Nisravi counted to herself the familiar pace that Kesril walks, and in a moment she judged the distance covered and gulped her own vanishing potion. Zoeigh counted softly to herself, watching the door man intently. He hasn't moved. At all. He still sits, knees perfectly bent, hands resting on his thighs. It was a distance but she could swear he never even blinked. She lost count, gods.
She waited another two seconds before swallowing her own potion. Better to not accidentally run in to one of your invisible accomplices. She moved slowly but steadily toward the sitting man. She studied him as she passed. His cheeks looked sunk in and he stared as if deep in thought. He had a burning, intense expression.
She found the door ajar and went through. She closed it softly from the other side, and turned to face within. She found a cold and dark entry hall of bare rock and the odd rope chair and wooden bench. It was no more than 4 paces across and wide enough for 2 people to stand comfortably. She faced a substantial wood and iron door with a deep inscription. Not a familiar language, but it looked like a letter of some kind
Zoeigh whispered into the darkness "Kesril?"
"Yes" came a solitary whisper.
"Did you see the guy-" She began to move forward but Kesril hissed
"Stay where you are until the potion releases. What about the man?" He said
"He looked unnatural" Nisravi offered.
"I don't think I ever saw him blink." Zoeigh said.
"Yes. The man seemed dead." Kesril said flatly.
"What does that mean? Dead. Like Undead? He looks like he was alive yesterday!" Zoeigh said a little too loudly, even she noticed. Kesril's potion wore off at just that moment and revealed his habitual stern look.
"But we fight with undead all the time in these caves." Nisravi countered, but she also couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that lived among them now.
"Those drauger are horrible monsters that have been dead for hundreds of years. That's different." Zoeigh said.
"Not so different. It is magic all the same" Kesril cut through the tension with calculating poise. "Dark and secret magic. This cave has a name young Zoeigh, we just don't know it yet."
Nisravi's potion wore off just then as well. She took her lock picking kit from her belt pouch and made for the door, but Kesril stopped her.
"Zoeigh? Speak."
"You go ahead, I can see you. I'm right behind you." She said.
Nisravi applied her tools to the door but found it came away easily. The door creaked as it opened, the three adventurers watched a deep, black hallway emerge. Even with their acclaimed ability to see in the dark, the three Khajiit could not penetrate the darkness, they could not see where the hallway led.
Kesril crept in first, but Nisravi was right behind. Zoeigh started forward, but the moment the other two crossed the threshold of the door, it slammed shut. Zoeigh ran to the door, the potion wore off just as she slammed into it. She yanked on it with everything she had but it wouldn't budge. She could hear Nisravi pounding on the wood and calling out, but it sounded distant. So much further away than merely the other side of a wooden door. Zoeigh pounded back, but when she did, Nisravi stopped. It was quiet on the other side. Zoeigh pounded again. No response. She was about to pound again, when she heard the entrance door open behind her. There stood the man from the chair! And he flew shrieking across the small room with his rusty long sword high above his head. He swung it keenly for Zoeigh's head.
Zoeigh ducked the blow and rolled away from the sword. In a smooth and practiced motion she removed her knife and buried it in her assailant's knee. The stoutly man crumpled to the side but made no sound. Zoeigh sprinted out of the cave. She cleaned her knife on her sleeve and resheathed it. In the open glade, she pitched forward and ran claws and feet to the tree line. She was there in seconds. She skidded to a stop then twisted sideways to weave through the dense vegetation. She looked back as she pressed into the path, but saw the man, with the ease of grazing buck, walk to his chair and resume his seat. She disappeared into the wood, lost for words and out of her mind with fear.