"Duck!"
Vilkas slipped underneath the arm of the centurion, forcing himself into a roll before jumping back to his feet.
As both of the Companions fought with greatswords, they were excellent teammates against multiple enemies. Back to back, their strikes hardly interfered with the others. However, against a single - if large- foe their styles could conflict and weigh them down if they were not careful, hence their constant communication. Fighting dwarven machinations also increased the difficulty. Aim at the delicate joints or power centers had to be perfect or damage to the blades was a risk.
Against a centurion, dodging was most of the fight, even as Elena attempted to ruin the integrity of the metal with her shouts.
It took time, but they were partners; they knew the dance. So when they stood smiling over the collapsed machine, they laughed. This time, it was Vilkas who pried the core free - a move that would hopefully keep it from coming back and after them.
Elena watched him, as his arms flexed with effort, and pushed down a wave of sentiment. He was her Shield-Brother, that was why she was feeling emotions watching him, and they just fought for their lives. Of course she felt a wave thinking about him. It was just nostalgia, and fear that he might not get out alive to fight again with her.
Mirmulnir gave an undignified snort. "Two things a dragon cannot hide: that they are drunk, and that they are-"
Hush.
"Elena, do that trick again with the light, unless you remember the previous path."
The Dragonborn lifted her hand, and with a slight twist a calm blue path lit up before them.
"I can't believe a Nord learned magic."
"Hey, when a strange cat pulls you off the side of the road, I hope you listen to the wisdom he imparts."
"Why, have you ever seen him again?"
Elena paused on their trek after the last fading specks of blue light. "Now that you mention it, no. To be fair, Ma'iq looked as much like a wanderer as one could look. With all of Tamriel, I'd be more surprised if I saw him a second time."
Vilkas shrugged. "Fair enough."
"Also, question of one adventurer to another, why did with bother with this one?"
The other werewolf chuckled and bounced his pack with the new core sequestered inside. "This will fetch a pretty penny, and relatively speaking it is rather light. Admittedly, if we take down twenty more there will be a problem, but I can carry two. I'll have a lot of armor and weapons to repair after this. Better be sure it's worth it."
Elena lightly punched him before assuring herself of the path again. "We're fetching an Elder Scroll. Of course it's worth it."
They followed the cobblestone path - checking the path every once in a while - for roughly an hour. It was eerily quiet, and slowly the vaguely stale air and paranoia wore away the foreign beauty of Blackreach.
A city started to rise before them - well, one tower with a wall arcing over the path. However, the path briefly branched off to the right. Though Elena's single spell urged them forward, the two paranoid Companions had to pause and debate whether or not they should extend their trek through the hostile "city" for the purposes of making sure they left no enemies at their backs, or if they could assume the monsters would leave well enough alone.
The worry over time won out, and the two continued towards the city.
They crept under the arch, continuing to follow the cobblestones as they pressed forward. It did not reveal a sprawling and abandoned metropolis - just a few more structures. Now, the path wound along following an underground river, and the two Companions eyed a tower visible through the glowing mushrooms.
The bouncing blue light, used with less and less frequency, confirmed their suspicions.
It was quiet as the two slipped over the stone bridge and into the tower. They tightened their gear and readied their swords as a pull of the lever took them up the tower.
Their ride opened up into a simple room with a bedroll and some shelves, which the Companions immediately searched for anything useful.
They stalked forward in the quiet, and opened a door to the strangest contraption.
It took several laps of the room to get a full idea of what was before them.
For lack of a better word, it was a globe, part simple metal, part mystical dwemer machinery. There were emerald circles, or beads, that dipped out from the surface of the sphere, and a stone walkway allowed the two to ascend to a small platform where they could walk on top of the sphere and investigate its intricacies.
"In all my travels, I've never seen anything like this."
"Good thing I brought you with me, then."
From across the top of the strange sphere, Vilkas gave one of his least-lupine smiles yet.
There was a door that they'd investigate later. First, Elena hurried up to the observation platform, of sorts, and the seeming control panel there.
Digging out the cube from her pack, her fingers brushed over Ulfric's axe, causing a stab of guilt.
"Focus!"
Elena fit the box into the stand, and proceeded to button-smash first out of confusion, then out of frustration. Vilkas laughed at the absurdity of it all when the mechanisms over the sphere suddenly jerked, the buttons glowing, and a contraption lowered from the ceiling, presenting them with the Elder Scrolls.
"When I tell the bards about this, I'll have them rewrite this moment with more dignity."
"The Dragonborn is always dignified."
A/N: My goodness my writing style has changed. Hopefully you guys still like it. I have a brand new computer that I've already logged hours on Skyrim in (middle of Dawnguard questline. Whoooo!) so I'm getting the feel back. THANK YOU ALL so much for sticking with me.