FUS
"My Jarl, a dragon has destroyed Helgen," Emily began, "It flew down from the mountains behind the town and just laid waste to the entire town. We fled through the Keep and down to Riverwood with the help of a few others. One of them, an Imperial soldier, his uncle lives in Riverwood and it was his uncle to asked us to bring word to you."
"So, those rumours we heard, they were true," the Jarl said gravely, "Is the beast still at Helgen?" Emily shook her head.
"No, my Jarl," she replied, "It flew North past the nearby mountains."
"Then it's well you came to me," said the Jarl. He turned to his steward, a balding man in fine blue robes, "So, do you still say we trust in our walls, Proventus? Against a dragon?" Before the man could reply the Dunmeri warrior stepped forward.
"My lord, we should send troops to Riverwood at once," she said, "It's in the most immediate danger." The Jarl nodded at this remark. But now was the steward's turn to reply and he now looked distinctly flustered as he addressed the Jarl.
"But my Jarl, we cannot afford to do that," he protested, "The Jarl of Falkreath could see that as a provocation and assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him. We should not-." But now the Jarl's patience was wearing thin.
"Enough," he snapped and the steward immediately fell into silence. "I will not sit idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people." He then turned back to the Dunmer, his anger already beginning to ebb away once more as he addressed her.
"Irileth," he said, "I want you to send a detachment to Riverwood at once. And have a message sent to Rorikstead, the men will need to know what to expect should the dragon venture that far to the west."
"Yes, my Jarl," said Irileth with a short bow before leaving the Jarl's side.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties," said the steward with the kind of meekness that comes from being recently rebuked.
"That would be best," said the Jarl before turning back to Serana and Emily.
"Well done, by your actions, Riverwood and its people may now rest easily," he said, "You have done Whiterun a service. I am hoping you would both be willing to lend me your services a little longer." Emily and Serana looked at one another as he continued.
"My court wizard, Farengar, has been studying dragons for some time now," he explained, "Recently he told me he had need of a certain ancient dragon artefact of some kind but I haven't the men to send out in search of it with this war going on. Perhaps you would be willing to search for it? Now that dragons truly have returned, the matter is more urgent than ever."
"What do you think, Sera?" Emily asked although she already felt fairly sure of the vampiress' answer. Just as she had anticipated the vampiress nodded. Emily turned back to the Jarl.
"We'll do it," she said. The Jarl got to his feet and, bidding them to follow, led them to a small adjoining room. Much of the room was given over to a large desk on which stood a plethora of instruments, most of which Emily could only guess at their function. There were several crystals revolving slowly above a small dais, stacks of spell tomes, sheaves of notes covered in a messy scrawl and a series of intricately carved silver crucibles, containers, winding tubules and a set of scales. In one corner stood an enchanting table and alongside that was an alchemy lab, a large beaker bubbling away over the small boiler. Standing over the desk was a wiry man with bright searching eyes, pouring over the notes with his hands planted on the wooden surface of the desk. He wore the flowing blue robes common among the court wizards and his expression was one of utmost concentration. He did not even look up when the Jarl and the two vampiresses entered his chamber and looked ready to shoo them away with an impatient wave of his hand until the Jarl spoke and told him of the two adventurers willing to fetch the artefact he sought. At his words he looked up sharply and in an instant took in every detail of their countenance.
"Well, you seem capable enough," he said, "I have been researching dragons for some time now. Perhaps the Jarl has told you already. Fascinating creatures, straight out of legend. To study a living specimen would truly be a life changing experience. But alas, I have little time or scope for adventure so this artefact will have to do."
"And exactly what artefact would that be?" Emily asked once the man had ceased speaking.
"Yes, yes, of course," he said, snapping out of his philosophical reverie. He sifted through a stack of papers until he found what he was looking for. Emily and Serana crossed over to the desk as he set the cracked and faded paper down on the polished wooden surface, sliding it towards them. On it was a roughly sketched drawing of a stone slab covered in criss-crossed lines and star-like symbols on one side and a sharp runic script on the other.
"This is the dragonstone," Farengar said with an almost reverent air, "An ancient stone tablet said to contain a map of ancient dragon burial sites. You see these markings here, this is a map of Skyrim and these small symbols represent the burial mounds."
"And where exactly is this dragonstone?" Serana asked.
"My sources tell me it is interred in Bleakfalls Barrow, a Nordic tomb not far from Riverwood," Farengar answered, "A treasure of this significance is most likely interred in the main chamber."
"I think I saw the tops of its arches from the road on the way down here," said Emily, "It looked pretty inaccessible. We'd better ask in at Riverwood, they'll be able to tell us how to get there I'm sure."
"With it right on their doorstep, I'd hope so," Serana added.
They bid the court wizard farewell and Emily followed Serana back to the main hall.
"Think we'd make it there if we set out now?" she asked.
"Probably," Serana replied, "We could at least get back to Riverwood and get the information we need anyway."
The journey back to Riverwood, as Serana had predicted, did not take them long and it was just after two in the morning when they walked back in through the village gates. The streets were deserted and the windows in all the houses bar one were dark. It was this one light in this one house that drew Emily's attention. Then the door of that same house suddenly swung open and a woman came out, carrying a shovel. On the shovel were several shards of broken glass which the woman had evidently been sweeping up. She emptied the shards into a barrel by the road and turned back towards the open door as someone inside spoke.
"We have to do something, Lucan," she shot back, "If we don't, every time you acquire some pretty bauble you'll be their first port of call."
"You are not going to that old tomb, Camilla, and that's my final word on the matter," came the response. The woman stalked back into the house, slamming the door behind her and Emily glanced to Serana.
"I think it's safe to say where we'll be asking for information," she said.
Emily knocked several times upon the wooden door whereupon the voices, which had resumed their backward and forward protestations once the door had closed, ceased. The same woman they had just seen answered the door. Her expression was one of exasperation and beyond her Emily could see that the room behind her was in a state of disarray. Barrels had been overturned, their contents littering the floor. Two earthenware jugs lay shattered, drawers had been pulled out and several cupboards lay open. One of the windows had been broken and several shards of glass still littered the floor. A man stood behind the counter, dressed in merchants clothes and he was eyeing them quietly.
"What do you want?" asked the woman.
"We're looking for information," Emily replied, "On Bleakfalls Barrow."
"That's you and I both then," said the woman, leaning on the door.
"What happened here?" Serana asked.
"Bandits," the woman said coldly, "We woke to the sound of breaking glass. By the time we'd got down here they'd gone. Curiously only one thing is missing: my brother's golden claw. As soon as I'm done clearing up I'm going to go after them."
"No, you are not," the man spoke up. Presumably this was her brother. He strode out from behind the counter and over to where the woman stood. "I told you, I am not letting you go out to that barrow."
"That won't be necessary," Serana said calmly, "We are headed for Bleakfalls Barrow. If you can point out the best way to reach it we'll recover this claw for you." A look of triumph crossed the man's face at these words.
"There, you see," he said to the woman, "We'll let these strangers go to the Barrow and retrieve the claw so you aren't going anywhere." The woman huffed a sigh.
"Fine," she said, "Have it your way, Lucan. But I will show them the best route." Then before her brother could object, she strode past them and out into the street.
She led them down the main street and out of Riverwood to the stone bridge.
"There's a game path leading up into the mountains there," she said, pointing to a dirt track lying just beyond the bridge, "Follow that until you see an abandoned sentry post. From there head North around the mountain. That will take you to Bleakfalls Barrow."
"Thank you," Emily replied, "We'll return when we have the claw." The woman nodded.
"I should get back to my brother before he starts thinking I've decided to join you," she said, "Wish I could at that. I'm sure I could show those bandits a thing or two."
"Are all Nords this willing to walk straight into the jaws of death?" Emily asked once she had gone. Serana laughed.
"What?" Emily asked.
"She was a Breton, Em, couldn't you tell?" the vampiress replied.
"I could not tell a Nord from a Breton anymore than I could tell a German from a Frenchman before hearing him speak," Emily replied, "How could you tell?"
"I listened to her speak," Serana replied simply with perhaps the faintest trace of smugness.
"Oh," said Emily sheepishly. With that they left the cobblestones behind and began their journey up into the mountains. The air grew colder the higher they climbed and a brisk wind gambolled about them. The vegetation quickly became sparse until all they saw sprouting from between the rocks were snowberry shrubs and scraggy dead-looking bushes. The rocks were cracked from years of water seeping in and freezing solid. They skittered under Emily's boots as she climbed up over a boulder.
"It's been a while since we were in a Nordic ruin," she said as she turned back and helped Serana up over the rocks.
"Can't say I've missed them," Serana replied, "Still, it's an adventure."
Then, out of the flurries of snow that swirled about them, Emily saw a light. It was small and faint, made hazy by the drifting whirling flakes. Then a silhouette slowly came into view, dark against the sky.
"That must be the abandoned outpost," said Serana.
"Although it doesn't look that abandoned to me," Emily answered, "Think we can get past it without arousing suspicion?"
Serana replied with a confident smile that told her all she needed to know. They knew it was a very slim chance that the claw was held there for Serana had a certain amount of knowledge on the security measures placed on Nordic barrows and she felt sure this claw was needed to breach one of them.
Despite the blizzard one man stood outside the outpost, dressed in furs, his arms tightly folded to keep out the cold. His heavy brow and jutting tusks told him to be an Orc. On spotting him Emily slunk behind a rock and Serana followed. She looked around for an alternate route. The rockface behind them was steep but she felt she could climb it. They knew they would be exposed if they were spotted during the climb but one thing Emily had learnt of Orcs was their general preference for heavy weaponry and she hoped, as she climbed, that this Orc was not the exception to the role.
But either the blizzard obscured them or the Orc was too frozen to care for two blurred shapes scaling the rocks, for they reached the top unmolested. They found themselves back on a well-trodden path and far in the hazy distance they could make out the towering arches and hawked headed turrets of the barrow. It sat on a large stone plateau reachable by several frosty flights of stairs. As they drew near to the bottom of the steps Emily saw three figures patrolling the walkway above. Emily slipped her bow from her shoulder and nocked an arrow, aiming at the first. She saw Serana do the same, aiming for a second. Emily's arrow struck the heart of the first and he fell while Serana's embedded itself in the bandit's shoulder and she swore under her breath as he called out to the third. The one she had struck drew a dagger, casting aside his bow that was now useless to him, turning on them. The third, a Khajiit, drew back his lips in a hissing snarl as he charged them, spear raised. They rounded on the Khajiit first, switching bows for blades as he closed with them. The spear jabbed at them, forcing them to dance about the tip and the bandit grinned wickedly, his ears flat against his skull. But then Serana leapt to one side and gripped the metal spear in both hands, lightning coursing from her palms and up the spear to its wielder who screamed in agony. He tried to wrench himself free but the electric current robbed him of control of his fingers that remained locked about the shaft. Then he slumped, falling backwards as Emily closed with the dagger wielder. But his injuries made him slow and soon he fell too.
Emily stooped to clean her blade in the fresh snow and then they climbed the cracked stone steps to the barrow, leaving the dead bandits in their wake.
The doors of the barrow were vast arched affairs wrought from iron, meeting in a pointed apex high above their heads. This part of the barrow was covered by a weathered stone roof. Emily and Serana put their shoulders to the door and heaved. To their surprise it swung open and they stepped inside, closing it behind them. The room in which they found themselves was vast and strewn with rubble. Snow lay in small piles beneath the numerous holes in the roof. Her boot caught on something and she looked down, recoiling at what she saw. The body of a bandit was sprawled across the floor, surrounded by skeevers. Across the room a fire was burning and in the firelight Emily saw two bandits deep in conversation. They were discussing a third member of their band who had run ahead with the claw. At these words Emily tightened her grip on her blade. Serana looked from one to the other before taking her bow and shooting the female, an archer. Her companion, wielding a warhammer, turned and stared into the gloom from which the arrow came.
"Who's there?" he bellowed. A second arrow answered him and he tumbled back over the wooden chest that stood in the corner. Emily took out a lockpick and after a few minutes managed to open the chest, pulling out a pouchful of coin, a glittering sapphire and a scroll emblazoned with the alteration insignia on a small golden seal. She stowed the items in her pack and they continued on, following a stone tunnel that sloped downward. Traces of webbing hung from the ceiling and caught in their hair as they passed through. Emily shuddered as the delicate strands drifted across her face and she reached up to brush them aside. Ahead of them the tunnel veered off to the left. Thick roots had broken through on the far wall and crawled their way up, puncturing through the stone with that quiet unyielding strength that plants have as they push aside all before them to grow. In front of the wall were three stone altars upon which stood several ceramic burial urns. Emily held the ball of magelight aloft as they left the firelight of the bandit camp behind.
Through wide winding stone tunnels they delved, past iron shelving which contained more of the unassuming ceramic caskets, past tunnels which had been blocked by falling rock and reclaimed by creepers and trailing vines and past candles and braziers likely lit by the bandits. Past a section of the tunnel which had come to almost complete ruin, with large boulders littering the floor and creepers sneaking over every surface, was a room. Pacing two and fro at its heart was a bandit. Emily made to nock an arrow but Serana stayed her hand and bade her to watch. The bandit seemed to be mumbling to himself as he paced, regarding the space in front of him carefully. Then, seemingly making up his mind, he strode over to the lever affixed to the ground before him and pulled it. The effect was instantaneous as the air about him was filled with darts, tiny slivers of wood dipped in poison. The poison took effect immediately and he collapsed with a low moan, his lit torch rolling across the ground.
Once the hail of darts had ceased Emily and Serana crept into the room. Emily saw, to her left, that set into the wall were three iron pedestals. Each depicted a different animal embossed in silver onto the iron. Serana, meanwhile, was examining the wall above the locked iron gate. She tapped Emily lightly on the shoulder and gestured to the two stone faces in whose mouths were more symbols identical to those on the pillars. In the centre was a section of crumbling stone.
"Three pedestals, but only two symbols," Emily mused, looking around, "Where's the thir one?" Then her gaze fell upon a pile of rubble lying in the centre below the symbols. Poking out from the top was a section of carved stone and she hurried over to it, hefting rocks and handfuls of earth to one side. Serana joined her and between them they unearthed a third symbol. This one bore the likeness of a snake, its coiling body writhing down the wrought iron.
"Snake, snake, whale," said Serana quietly, pointing to each symbol in turn, "We need to change the pedestals so they match." Emily nodded and hurried back to the pedestals. She saw, when she reached them, that they were set onto rotating disks which, when pushed, would swing around, displaying a different symbol. As she set to work on the first, Serana heaved at the second. Once the third had been changed they headed back over and pulled the lever. To Emily's relief the iron gate slid up to allow them passage. Ahead of them there was a stone dais with a chest lying in one corner and a stone table stacked with burial urns in the other. The chest was unlocked and Emily pushed it open, pulling out a small pouchful of coins and handing them to Serana. They then turned their attention to the winding stairs that led down from the other corner of the room. The wood creaked horribly under their boots and Emily feared that at any moment it might give way. As she reached the bottom she listened.
"You hear that?" she asked of Serana, "There's someone up ahead." Then her ears caught another sound and she flattened back against the wall. It was a horrible scratching squeaking sound and she felt for her dagger. Then she saw it, lurking in the shadows under the stone table that stood in the centre of the adjoining room. Beady black eyes watched her, shining green in the dark and its bald tail twitched back and forth. Then it ran at them and Emily was dismayed to see two others scuttle after it. She let out a yelp as the first bit into her ankle and she kicked out at it, knocking it back against the wall. It leapt again and this time its sharp teeth closed on her wrist. The next second it was ripped from her arm as Serana sent a heavy blow at it and it rolled to the floor, squeaking savagely as the second lunged. But Emily was ready this time and brought her blade up to meet it. Blood gushed over her hand as the twitching beast scrabbled at the blade before going limp.
"Look out," cried Serana and Emily ducked as a shard of ice whizzed past, striking the second Skeever where it fell to the ground, inert. The third squeaked savagely before turning tail and diving back into the shadows. Still clutching her bleeding wrist, Emily muttered the words of the necromantic healing incantations and ceased only when the puncture marks vanished from her skin. She shook her hand experimentally a few times and when it no longer complained they continued onward. Then they heard the voice again. It was a man and he was crying out in desperation but seemed hesitant to raise his voice much above a feeble cry.
"Is that you Harknir? Bjorn?" he cried, "Soling?" He was pleading now. "I know I ran ahead with the claw but I need help. Please, it might come back."
Upon turning a corner and seeing the swathes of web stretched across the doorway she gulped and had an uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach as she realised just what this man feared might come back. "I bloody hate spiders," she muttered under her breath as she began to tackle the webbing with her blade. After a time she managed to cut through the numerous layers of sticky webbing and they emerged on the far side. They found themselves in a large room. Grisly sticky forms lay in the corners, all that remained of the spider's previous meals. The stench was foul, the smell of fetid meat. At the far end of the room was the source of the cries. A man, a Dunmer, was trussed up in the doorway, held in place by more of the thick webbing. As Emily watched she saw the man's head tilt upwards as much as his web prison would allow and his face contort with fear as a strangulated cry escaped him.
Then they saw it, dropping from the ceiling by a length of web. It rivalled in size even the ones they had seen in Darkfall or in the Castle Undercroft. It raised its pedipalps threateningly, clicking its mandibles, the noise of which echoed across the room. Emily pulled her bow from her back while Serana readied a lightning spell on her palm. The first bolt caught the spider full in the face and it screeched, a horrible grating sound as the electricity coursed over it. Emily's arrow was the next to strike it. Together they faced it down and all the while the Dunmer cried out frantically, twisting this way and that in his bindings. At last, a bolt struck the spider from beneath as it reared up on its four hindmost legs. It shuddered violently as the lightning struck its soft underbelly. Then it sprawled out, lifeless on the stone floor. Emily stepped back, dagger raised in case it should move again. When it didn't they turned their attention to the Dunmer.
"Are you alright?" Emily asked.
"Alright, do I look as though I'm alright?" gasped the Dunmer, "Get me down." Emily made to move but Serana stayed her hand.
"Where's the claw?" she asked.
"The claw?" repeated the Dunmer, "Yes, the claw. I know how it works. The claw, the markings, the door in the hall of stories. I know how they all fit together. Cut me down and I'll show you."
"Alright," said Emily, "But you'd better turn the claw over to us once we do."
"Of course, of course, just cut me down," the Dunmer said quickly. Emily nodded and began to work away at the bindings.
"It's coming loose, I can feel it," said the Dunmer with a measure of relief.
But as he dropped to the ground he rolled to one side and Serana saw the glint of metal in his hand. Evidently as he stood trussed up he had somehow wormed his hand to his scabbard and drawn a small iron blade from its scabbard. Serana quickly pushed Emily to one side before rounding on the Dunmer. The blade lashed out, nicking a cut along her cheek and her eyes flashed dangerously as she grasped him about the throat, lifting him from the floor and slamming him back against the doorway. As he collided with the stone his breath went out of his lungs with a whoosh and he fell to gasping as his blade clattered to the floor.
"Bad move," Serana said, her voice tinged with anger. She ignored the blood oozing from the cut on her cheek and instead focused on the Dunmer squirming her grasp. "Emily, get the claw." Emily hurried forward and reached into the pack around the Dunmer's waist. She pulled out an ornately forged claw of gold and it glinted in what little light there was in the old tomb. Serana glanced to Emily and seemed to be asking her what she should do next. Emily stooped and picked up the dagger from the floor and she saw the Dunmer wince, struggling in Serana's grasp.
"Let him go, Sera," she said, "But we'll be keeping this." She pointed to the dagger. "There's nothing between you and the door so you can escape unharmed. If you leave now, we'll let you live." Serana let the Dunmer go and he dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. He looked from one to the other, scowling beneath his black eyebrows. But he shrank back and then, after a moment, took to his heels and ran back the way they had come.
"Talk about ungrateful," said Emily as she watched the retreating figure disappear out through the door.
"What do you expect from bandits," Serana replied.
"Here, let me have a look at that," said Emily, gesturing towards the cut.
"It's alright," Serana replied, "Save your magicka. We might need it."
Past a small antechamber, which looked to be an area for preparing the dead, the passageway opened out into a vast chamber. Lining the walls were alcoves, each large enough to accommodate the bodies which lay in many of them. Some had been reduced to little more than skeletons while others had decaying flesh covering their mouldering bones. Some lay in armour, others in sacking. The room was lit by several fires burning in eagle shaped iron braziers affixed high on the walls. She heard Serana draw her dagger and she followed suit. Back on Earth this would have looked positively ridiculous but here in Skyrim the dead weren't nearly so peaceful. A horrible gurgling growl confirmed this and she looked over at one of the alcoves where one of the dead was stirring. Two more growls joined the first as the draugr climbed out of their mouldering alcoves to face them. Emily grabbed Serana's hand and set off at a run across the chamber. They converged on them and Serana felt the air whoosh as a greatsword swung close behind. The dead gave chase, shambling after them as they dodged between the pillars. Then Serana felt something move under her boot and there was a metallic screech and she looked back over her shoulder in time to see a spiked metal gate swing across the path behind them with terrifying speed, catching the three draugr and sending them crashing back across the room where they moved no more.
"Phew, that was a close one," said Emily as she slumped back against the wall, looking back the way they had come. Serana leant against the wall next to her.
Emily let out a yell as something cold and grimy clasped her wrist and she looked down, staring into the icy blue eyes of a newly awakened draugr. She lashed out with her dagger, catching the undead man in the throat. But where a mortal would have collapsed the draugr just grunted, pulling her towards him as his other hand reached for his war axe. Serana hurried forward, ceasing Emily around her waist and pulling her from the draugr's cold grasp. It lunged again, blue eyes burning but this time it was met by Serana's dagger which pierced it between the eyes and blue light faded as it crumpled to the floor.
"Thanks Sera," Emily gasped.
"I seem to be making a habit of saving your behind tonight," Serana replied with a half-smile as she offered Emily her hand. Emily took it and they headed down a flight of stairs which brought them to another section of the catacombs. Here they were met with another obstacle. A narrow corridor stretched ahead and from grooves in its sides swung heavy metal blades.
"Damn," said Emily, "Maybe there's some way around it?" she asked hopefully. But a brief look around soon dashed this hope. She looked carefully at the blades. They seemed to swing in a pattern of sorts, alternating. She shook her head. No, running through was entirely out of the question. She crouched down and noted that the blades swung a good two feet off the ground.
"There'd better not be any draugr on the far side," she muttered to herself as she began to push herself along. She didn't dare so much as look up as she shuffled along and the sound of the blades sweeping to and fro above her head sent shivers running through her. Only when she felt firelight flickering across her did she look up and she saw, hanging from the wall next to her, a pull chain. She reached out for it, pulling it as she got to her feet. At this the blades ceased their swinging and withdrew back into the walls. Serana hurried through the corridor and caught up to her.
"Guess we're even now," she smiled as she passed her, "Well, almost." Emily chuckled to herself as she ran after her. Past the catacombs the vast chambers gave way to cramped stone tunnels where more alcoves stood. In some the draugr lay while others stood in recesses in the walls, hands clasped across their chest. They slunk past them, not wishing to draw any more from their eternal rest and at last came to an area where parts of the barrow had collapse and Nordic carvings mingled with the natural rock that made up the cavern they now found themselves in. A shallow stream gushed through the heart of the cavern from the falls tumbling down the mossy rock and into a tunnel barred by an iron portcullis. Emily spotted a pull chain much like the one she had used to stop the swinging blades and pulled on it. The metal grated as it rose and they passed through.
Here the ruins gave way entirely to the natural cavern, lit by glowing mushrooms and a cold wind blew in from somewhere further along. They followed the stream along until the path veered off to their right and they followed it. The air was clammy and Emily shifted uneasily as they rounded the next bend. Ahead of them moonlight shone steadily down through a hole in the roof and a draugr paced restlessly two and fro, carrying a heavy iron battle-axe. Emily reached for her bow and nocked an arrow. The air whistled and the draugr fell backwards, falling still. They hurried onward, snow crunching underfoot as they passed beneath the hole in the ceiling.
"I wonder how much longer before we reach the main chamber," said Emily.
"We'll need to get past this hall of stories first," Serana replied.
"Any idea what he meant by that?" Emily asked.
"Its where the ancient Nords recorded the history of those buried here," Serana replied, "Through stone carvings. You'll know it when you see it."
The natural stone tunnel brought them to a stone chamber. Three archways led into it, one of which was overgrown by thick dry creepers. Emily could see a brazier burning just beyond and in the firelight she saw a heavy wooden door. They hurried across the room and heaved the door open. On the far side was an iron statue of four eagle heads spreading out in different directions, a fire burning at its heart.
"We must be getting close," said Serana when she saw the statue. Emily nodded but said nothing as they continued on down the stone tunnels.
"Dammit," muttered Serana as they rounded the corner and were met by another swinging blade trap. Beyond it the room opened out into a vast chamber hung with hanging lamps.
"I don't like the looks of this," said Serana as Emily began once more to worm her way under the blades. Emily didn't reply, keeping her head to the ground and her mind off the blades swinging inches above her. As she reached the far side a horrible sound met her ears. It was a metallic bang followed by a gurgling growl as a draugr climbed out of an iron sarcophagus that lay close by on a raised stone dais. Emily hurriedly scrambled to her feet, drawing her dagger as she faced down the undead horror before her. It was holding an ancient Nordic greatsword which it raised above its head. Emily dodged to one side as it came crashing down, clanging against the stonework as it sent up a wave of sparks. She brought up her hand, conjuring lightning upon her palm and sending it arcing towards the draugr. It caught it in its grizzled old face and rippled across it as it roared with anger. Its movements became jerky as it was turned into some sort of grotesque marionette by the current. Emily seized her chance and lunged for the pull chain by the wall. The moment the blades ceased their swinging Serana hurried through, conjuring a vampiric drain spell on her palm as she ran. It caught the draugr in the chest and it convulsed, twisting and turning as it felt its ancient energies leaving it. At last it fell with a drawn out rattling moan and fell still.
"Let's hope that's the last of them," said Serana, sheathing her dagger, "Come on." They hurried on through the chamber and climbed the stone stairs that led to the upper walkway. They followed it around to an arching stone bridge. Swaying above it were two oil lamps and the floor beneath it was thick with it. They crossed carefully and followed the stone tunnel that lay beyond which brought them to a heavy wooden door. They pushed it open and beheld the wide stone tunnel that lay beyond. Dust floated in the air, making it appear hazy and as Emily conjured a ball of magelight on her palm the light fell across numerous stone carvings.
"This is it, isn't it?" she asked of Serana, "The Hall of Stories."
"This is it," Serana replied, "You'd better get out that claw." Emily reached into her pack and pulled out the Golden claw. She studied it carefully as they walked along, Serana pausing to study the engravings.
"Here lies the Nordic hero, Hjorigg the Forceful," she said as she placed a hand on the stone, "Master of the Thu'um and Keeper of the Dragonstone. May the secrets of the dragon's final resting places be buried with him where none may disturb, still until the cold day where black wings come unfurled."
"What do you reckon is meant by that?" Emily asked.
"That they likely won't care for us taking it," she replied, "And that this Hjorigg the Forceful is likely guarding it."
"Brilliant," Emily said with a hint of sarcasm, "Oh well, let's see about getting past this door." She turned to the stone door which stood at the far end of the tunnel. Three concentric iron circles surrounded a central circular raised piece with an indentation in the shape of a claw at its heart. On the three concentric circles were symbols bearing the likeness of a bear, an owl and a moth. Emily turned the claw over in her hands and her eyes fell upon identical symbols lying on the palm of the claw.
"How weird," she said as she held it up to the light, "Doesn't it defeat the purpose of securing the place if they put the symbols on the key?" Serana shrugged her shoulders.
"From what I've read there's a bit of a debate about that," she replied, "Something about keeping the unliving inside rather than keeping intruders out. What's the combination?"
"Umm, owl, moth, bear," she replied. Serana pushed down on each of the stone circles in turn. When this was done there would be a click and the iron circle would slide round to reveal the next symbol. At last, when all symbols were aligned Emily pushed the claw into the indentation and turned it to the right. With a satisfying click the circles on the door began to move, aligning so all were showing the owl symbol before, with a deep grating sound, it slid down into a hollow in the floor.
Beyond lay a flight of stone steps that led up into a vast natural cavern reinforced here and there with Nordic stone pillars. At the far end, bathed in eerie blue moonlight, was a stone dais. They crept through the caverns, keeping an eye on the shadowy corners for any draugr that may be lurking but all was still. Only once did they recoil as a swarm of bats flew down from the ceiling when disturbed by the magelight, shrieking and screeching. They crossed an earthen bridge and as they climbed the stone steps a faint sound came to Emily's ears. It was at once familiar but at first she could not tell from where. It was the sound of chanting and as if on their own accord her legs continued up the stone steps and across the dais to the far wall. The chanting grew louder until it was all she could hear.
"Emily?" Serana called after but Emily could no longer hear her. The chanting filled her head as she reached the wall and she put out a hand to a single glowing word. Then a brisk wind blew past her, ruffling her hair and a single word echoed in her head.
FUS
A loud bang brought her back to her senses as Serana reached her and they both turned to stare at the iron sarcophagus where a draugr in a horned iron helm was climbing out, carrying in one hand an ancient Nord sword and in the other, a shield. His lips parted as he rose to his feet.
FUS-RO-DAH
The cavern echoed with the Thu'um as both Serana and Emily were thrown back against the wall. The draugr wasted no time in running at them, blade held before him. Emily drew her dagger, readying a lightning spell on her palm. Serana followed suit and they converged upon the draugr. Again and again the mighty power of the Thu'um broke from his lips, forcing them back. They dropped back down the steps, swapping blades for spells, raining down lightning and drain spells from their palms. One by one the spells crashed into him, striking his chest and head, rippling over his armour and skimming past him in great arcs. Yet still onward he came. Serana dodged as the sword came crashing down once more and she seized the opportunity blast him full in the face with a bolt of lightning. Emily then leapt at him from behind, taking her dagger and plunging it into the back of his neck. He writhed back, almost knocking her to the ground and she scrambled to one side before running back at him, this time aiming for his face.
The dagger wedged itself in between his eyes and the light in his eyes faded and dimmed as he slumped slowly to the earth where he lay unmoving. Emily stepped back from the body and hurried over to Serana.
"You alright?" she asked.
"Yeah," Serana replied, "That…was more of a battle than I was expecting. The ancient Nords knew how to fight, I'll give them that."
They hurried back up the steps to the open sarcophagus. In the bottom lay a five-sided stone slab. On one side was a map of Skyrim marked with star-like symbols as Farengar's sketch had described and on the other side were a series of claw-like runes like those on the word wall behin them.
"What happened back there?" Serana asked as she opened up a nearby treasure chest, "Before that draugr emerged. You went into some kind of trance. Has anything like that happened before?" Emily racked her brains for a response.
"Yes," she said at last, "Do you remember right after I freed you from Dimhollow Crypt we came to a room that had a wall just like this one?" She gestured over her shoulder to the stone wall. "Do you know anything about them?"
"Not really," Serana replied as she lifted out a soul gem, a sum of gold and a gold amethyst ring. She pocketed the ring and put the gold and the soul gem into her pack. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Hmm, 'fraid we might not be able to do that for a little while," said Emily as she looked at her watch, "The sun will be up in another hour or so. We'd best find somewhere a little more undercover." She glanced up at the ceiling where, through the hole in the cavern roof, the light was growing paler.
They left the dais and, after some searching around, they found a set of stairs that led to a stone tunnel. Here the way was seemingly blocked but Emily soon found a handle mechanism that, when pulled, caused a stone slab in the wall to rise up, allowing them passage. Ahead was a small chamber just large enough to make camp in. They rested their backs against a stone altar on which a skull surrounded by rotting flowers rested. Emily spread her cloak out on the floor and they made ready to rest for the day. Serana took a book from her pack and began to read. Emily curled up next to her, reading from over her shoulder. After a time she lay down and she dimly heard Serana do the same as sleep overcame her.