Chapter LXIX – Bones and Ashes

"Was that really necessary?!"

Bishop called out as he sharply turned around on his heel after the loud tell-tale sound of moving metal. The priests of Arkay had apparently decided that it was for the best to lock the two adventurers inside the catacombs. If they made it through, they would emerge down by the docks with the help of the key they had been given. It wasn't really a comfortable feeling to be locked inside this place though.

Elisif had made this sound so… trivial. As if there wasn't even any need for concern over some raised dead. But the priests certainly seemed frightened. And weren't they supposed to be alright with dead things? Maybe it was the 'undead' part that was so concerning to them.

But in either case, this was likely not some strange magical anomaly in the middle of Solitude. Something must have raised those dead.

And since the priests could definitely not hear Bishop's annoyed call over the thick metal door, there was not much to do but to turn around again and head inside the catacombs.

"So, my bet's on an insane necromancer," Bishop mused as they began walking forth, weaving through the very narrow cavernous corridors, all prepared with empty alcoves, waiting for coffins or embalmed corpses. It looked like the areas near the temple entrance were left empty – people have likely filled the graves from bottom up. That was likely lucky for the priests – otherwise they might have gotten attacked by the undead very quickly.

"How would they get inside?" Aeyrin scrunched up her nose. The priests were guarding the temple entrance and nobody else had the key to the docks exit.

"Lockpicks? I doubt that the Hall of the Dead has the best security," Bishop chuckled. He did have a point. It was probably not that hard to get inside. And it was a bit comforting to think about. If they needed to run back to the temple, Bishop could probably just unlock the door himself. Not that they ever needed to actually run from the undead before, but still, it was concerning for that option to be taken away.

"I think I've had enough insane necromancers for a lifetime," Aeyrin sighed. She didn't really relish having to deal with another one of those after Calixto. Then again, what else could it be? She should have probably expected this when Elisif had mentioned the undead.

"It'll be fine, love," Bishop gave her a comforting smile. "Probably just some stupid kid playing mage and trying out spells. We're just gonna quickly hack some corpses and then we can go enjoy our new… mansion, I guess. Or a palace."

Aeyrin giggled in response. The curiosity about the house definitely still hadn't waned.

"Whatever it is," Bishop's expression got more morose, "we need to be careful around the new housecarl. We can't talk about anything important."

"I know," she nodded somberly. "Doesn't really feel like we're getting anything even near to a home, does it?"

Bishop's nod was more absentminded than anything else. He didn't actually mind all this – the suspect housecarls, nor the fact that the houses felt more like they belonged to someone else. First of all, he would rather never sleep on an actual bed again than actually plan to 'live' in Solitude with all the nobles and paladins around. But more importantly, it was making him a bit happy that Aeyrin didn't really consider these places 'home' either. It only meant that the one that he actually wanted to have with her would be all the more special.

The conversation died out soon after as faint sounds were beginning to echo through corridors. It seemed like, soon, they would finally meet some of the shambling denizens of the catacombs.

It was quickly apparent that there would be more than one enemy in the chamber up ahead, based on the strange grunts and groans of the undead and the numerous footsteps. Bishop and Aeyrin only nodded at each other, already familiar with their usual tactics, before Aeyrin stepped to the forefront and gripped her mace firmly. She didn't take her shield off her back though and, instead, she readied her empty hand. She could cast her spells instantly that way while Bishop had her back with his bow. They were all alone for this fight, as much as Karnwyr would enjoy the distraction, the priests would probably not really like them dragging a wolf with them through the temple. They usually didn't take him anywhere inside, aside from the thane houses. People didn't really take kindly to dogs being inside public places, let alone a wolf.

Aeyrin continued forth with Bishop at her back before she reached the next chamber. It didn't even take a second before the group of five skeletons noticed her bright armor, reflecting the nearby torches. She was ready for them though. A bright beam of light shot from her free hand in an instant and it hit the closest skeleton straight in the ribcage. Bishop's arrow swished right by her flank, but she did not get much time to assess the rest of the scene as one of the remaining skeletons steadily approached.

The battle was brief and a bit hectic in the tight quarters, but they managed to dispose of the skeletons without much hassle, especially after Bishop decided that using his bow in this place wasn't exactly ideal. The corridors ahead looked like they would remain narrow in any case. And just how large these catacombs could even be inside that cliff?

They quickly looked around the small chamber before they shared a brief look, nodding at each other. But before they could move on from the empty chamber with only skeleton bones scattered on the ground, something interrupted them.

"Good."

A voice echoed through the chamber, female, high-pitched and very jarring. It seemed to seep through their bones.

A strange voice out of nowhere meant nothing 'good'. They'd seen enough in Markarth. This wasn't another Daedric Prince, was it? It couldn't be! Someone would have noticed by now – the undead had been rising for a month.

Then again… nobody noticed in Markarth either.

Bishop and Aeyrin only managed to share a disturbed look before the voice continued again: "I need more, more for my army. No new flesh in weeks."

'New flesh'? The voice must have meant the guards who had been sent to investigate and never returned. But wasn't all this happening only for those few weeks? That… thing made it sound like it was longer.

"The fuck is this?" Bishop growled under his breath. This no longer seemed like the work of some novice necromancer.

"You think it's another one of them?" Aeyrin whispered back. She subconsciously tried to grip something on her breastplate, only to come up empty. Her amulet of Stendarr was hidden under her armor, but she still found it oddly instinctive to try to grab it. Could this really be another Daedric Prince? Maybe it was something else. That thing in Labyrinthian talked to them like this too! That was a somewhat disturbingly comforting thought.

"Your flesh feels familiar," the voice hissed suddenly, but while they waited with bated breaths for it to continue, it remained silent afterwards.

It was disturbing on a lot of levels. They already knew that nothing good could come from a disembodied voice, echoing through an ancient dungeon, but the mere mention of them being 'familiar' to it was even more concerning.

Aeyrin instinctively looked back towards the corridor that they had just emerged from. Retreat was not exactly an option that she relished right then. They weren't wounded, or at the end of their strengths. But after that house in Markarth, she could not help but think about it. If it was something similar, wouldn't it be better to inform Elisif and wait for the Vigilants to arrive and investigate? But would the priests even let them out? They seemed adamant about locking them in and never opening the door again. And what about Tullius and that conscription of his then? This was the best and quickest way to prevent him from doing something stupid.

"Come on," Bishop's voice interrupted her from her dilemma. "Probably another insane draugr in a place like this." He didn't seem any less disturbed than her, but he must have come to a similar conclusion. Retreating right now felt really… discouraging. They would just be running with tails between their legs because of a voice. And they would have to find another way to deal with Tullius's insanity. After they would have to explain to Elisif that they got scared by a voice.

Yeah, that was not going to happen.

They both shared a determined look, if somewhat weakly so, before they headed out into the next corridor.

They would find out what this thing was soon enough.

…

The further down they descended, the worse it got.

There were more and more undead awaiting them there. Neither Bishop nor Aeyrin had any idea how long it took, or how it could be achieved to actually raise a corpse permanently such as this, but it didn't seem like something a necromancer could do in a month. Not to mention that some of the corpses rose right after they were slain, enveloped by magical blue light as if someone had just animated them. Whatever they were dealing with was definitely a powerful mage to be able to do things like this without even being present in the room. It looked like it wasn't kidding about the 'army'. They have even encountered a small number of re-animated recently dead Solitude guards.

The voice had been quiet the entire time. It was probably more unnerving than if it would have been speaking constantly. They still had no idea what they were dealing with.

Bishop and Aeyrin were starting to get tired after the battles – it was much more than they had expected. But they carried on until they reached a strange small chamber.

It was circular and quite cramped, separated from the corridors leading back and further only by rusty metal cage doors. But the most prominent feature of this room was definitely the ground. It was covered by a very shallow amount of water and countless scattered bones, skulls and rusty old weapons.

It was quite a disturbing sight and, more than anything, it begged the question: what was this room used for? Why were these 'people' not buried properly like the rest of the 'inhabitants' of the catacombs?

There was nothing in that room to see, but the two of them still slowed their steps. With disturbed frowns, they walked inside slowly, stepping at the crunching brittle bones underneath. The sounds echoed through the small chamber as they took a few steps forward, only accentuating the unsettling atmosphere.

Their involuntary lingering there, however, soon proved to have been a mistake. Before they slowly crossed the small chamber, a clank of rusty metal reverberated through the area with jarring loudness. They didn't even manage to realize what was happening before both the gates slammed shut, sealing them inside the room.

Aeyrin and Bishop both snapped to attention instantly. This was all disturbingly familiar – the closed doors, the mysterious voice. It all reminded them more and more of their encounter in Markarth. Without hesitation, Bishop practically jumped towards the gate leading further into the catacombs, kneeling down in the water to inspect the lock. He had a very bad feeling about this. Back in Markarth, the door wasn't even locked and it wouldn't budge so that they could escape. But he still had to try. He fished around in one of his belt pouches to locate his lockpicks quickly.

"Bishop!"

Aeyrin's panicked cry was his only warning before something moved under his feet. The next second was wreaked only with confusion. His sight got blinded by blue light all around him and his stance wavered instantly as the ground started to move underneath. No, not the ground. The bones. Bishop didn't manage to keep his balance in the chaos and, a second later, he found himself on his back in the shallow water, staring as numerous skeletons began quickly forming in front of his eyes.

He frantically pawed at the sword sheathed on his belt, but the skeletons were already focused on him, raising their own weapons. Bishop didn't have time to get back up on his feet. He just managed to unsheathe his sword fast enough to block a blow from one of the skeletons' axe, but another was already towering right above him with its greatsword ready to strike.

Flames enveloped the skeleton, just before it could bring the weapon down on Bishop. Aeyrin's mace smashed into its ribcage with force, cracking the bone and making the skeleton crumble to the ground right after. There was no time for respite though. They were everywhere, filling the small chamber. There was barely enough room to move.

Everything happened so fast. Only a second later, Aeyrin felt a powerful, dull impact on her back, sending painful vibrations through her body. She let out a shocked yelp, but she didn't even manage to turn around. Something else was immediately hooked around her calf, yanking. The close quarters were not doing her any favors in combat. She was so disoriented. The strong yank on her leg only furthered this state and she wasn't able to withstand it. She tumbled into the filthy water, right next to Bishop, face first.

There was a brief moment when she tried to get her bearings, sputtering the water that she had accidentally inhaled in her fall. She could only hear the sound of bones cracking and scattering across the stone room. Bishop must have killed one of the skeletons. But she knew that there were more. She hadn't managed to kill many of them. And what was more disturbing, she caught the familiar blue light again out of the corner of her eye.

This required a much more drastic action.

She could barely see with her eyes blurry from the water and the involuntary tears from her coughing and sputtering, but she could still make out Bishop's form by her side. He still didn't manage to get himself up, likely too preoccupied with trying to parry any incoming blows to protect the both of them.

That was fine. It would be easier this way.

Without hesitation, Aeyrin reached out for him and shoved him down, back into the water. Any leverage he had gained by raising his head or torso was gone, but she had a better plan. She quickly flipped over to get herself on her back as well and she only raised her head slightly to get a proper view of the entire chamber, still filled with skeletons.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The scene got painfully chaotic once again. Bones and skulls were flying everywhere in a disorienting display. Several had clanked against her armor and she was pretty sure that she heard Bishop grunt. Maybe he got hit by one.

But when the dust settled, they again found themselves in a familiar scene. A silent room, full of nothing but bones and rusty weapons.

Aeyrin finally had a second to wipe her face off the water and focus on Bishop. He was leaning on his elbow, still down in the water, wiping his own face from it. There was blood on his forehead, but it looked like only a tiny cut. Other than that, he was just thoroughly soaked. Much like her.

"Sorry," she bit her lower lip apologetically. He still looked a bit confused. She didn't mean to make the situation more chaotic, nor soak him to the bone like that, but it could have ended really badly if she hadn't reacted. And he had been pretty soaked already anyway.

Bishop only chuckled in response, but he quickly started to focus on the bones again. Both of them started to watch warily, waiting whether the light would appear once more, raising the dead.

When nothing else happened, they both finally got back up on their feet, dripping with water. Fighting like this would be definitely uncomfortable, but first, they needed to deal with the closed gates.

But before they could even approach it again, a sudden noise interrupted them again. This time, it was the familiar voice. In fact, it let out a rather maniacal laugh.

"I remember now," the shrill voice echoed through the chamber, sending shivers down their spines. "It's you."

Bishop and Aeyrin shared a confused look. They certainly did not recognize the voice at all. They would have remembered something like that. Why did that thing pretend to be so familiar?

"You have foiled everything! My return to glory," the voice practically shrieked. "But I have found my way here. Back to my kingdom. And I will take my rightful place again. And you, your power will serve me well."

Neither of them moved from the spot while that thing spoke. They both clutched their weapons firmly, ready for the skeletons to get animated once more. 'Kingdom'? And they have 'foiled' this thing's plans? What was all that about?

But instead of more skeletons, a different sound echoed through the chamber. The gates suddenly swung wide open, clanking against the stone walls.

"Come. You will soon join my army," the voice only laughed once more before it went silent again.

The two of them shared another uncertain look, but they didn't hesitate very long before they set forth. There was not much else to do, even though they weren't sure what exactly they were facing, besides the army of undead.

Deep in thought, trying to connect the dots, they continued inside the next corridor. But only after they had passed through, a memory sprung into Aeyrin's mind.

"Oh! Those witches! Remember?" she tugged at Bishop's arm to stop him in his strides. It made so much sense now.

"You think this is that… insane dead queen?" Bishop narrowed his eyes.

"We stopped the summoning. But… it still felt like something happened, didn't it?" Aeyrin sighed. She knew that she had a strange feeling back then, even though their job was done. "If there was… something brought back, it might have returned here. I think she's buried here."

Bishop nodded thoughtfully. It definitely sounded like it all fit what the voice had been saying. Did that mean that it was here since back then, since they had foiled the summoning? It would explain why there were so many undead raised permanently. Maybe nobody had noticed until a month ago. Why would they? The priests probably didn't really go into the far depths of the catacombs on a daily basis.

"Well… better than a Daedra," he smirked. Although an undead insane mage was creepy enough on its own.

"That's true," Aeyrin shuddered. Undead, in whatever form, were definitely much less terrifying.

And whatever was left of the Wolf Queen needed to be dealt with.

…

The musty cold of the catacombs did nothing to help them dry up their soaked clothes and armors.

They did have their equipment prepared and preemptively treated with oils for excessive wetness. After all, fighting in deep snow or heavy rain often had the same result. But it was still very uncomfortable to stay in it for so long.

Despite that, they continued further down, fighting every draugr and skeleton that got in their way.

They have been in that place for quite a while already and by their general estimates, they must have been very near to the bottom already. But as they reached another corridor, the air suddenly felt much different. More dry and stifling. There was a strange heat in there.

Bishop and Aeyrin continued further slowly, wary of the change in the air.

Soon, they reached the next chamber and the reason for it became apparent. It was much larger than any other chamber that they'd encountered in this place before. It was usually all narrow corridors filled with graves. It would be a nice respite from those close quarters if they had to actually fight in this chamber, but there was something more striking about the place. There was a hole in one of the walls, with roaring flames inside.

A furnace.

This was a cremation chamber. It was disturbing that the fire inside was burning, but hardly surprising. These catacombs were more than 'alive'. Either the newly awakened inhabitants or Potema's magic must have made sure that the fires were burning.

But why? Ashes were useless to her, weren't they?

There was not much time to ponder on the purpose of the furnace though. Soon enough, the familiar groans of the undead echoed throughout the chamber as several draugr rose from their graves. They had another battle on their hands.

"You have gone far enough in your mortal shells!" the voice echoed through the room again. It was no longer startling. Potema had been seething occasionally whenever they passed another group of her minions unharmed. She was getting increasingly frustrated about losing so many undead already. She kept raising new ones, but while neither Bishop nor Aeyrin understood how necromancy actually worked, they knew that those magical attempts at re-animation on the spot produced only very weak enemies. And sometimes, they even crumbled on their own after a while. It must have been infuriating to Potema to lose those strong warriors that she had likely been raising here for months.

"You will kneel before your queen or you will die here now!" the voice shrieked again.

The draugr swiftly sprang to action while several more scattered bones from the ground began forming more skeletons, enveloped in the familiar blue light.

It was getting exhausting, those endless waves of undead. Potema was determined to throw everything that she had at them and then she seethed about losing her army. She obviously didn't want them reaching the chambers below. There must have been a way to get rid of her permanently there.

With room to maneuver at last, Bishop quickly took his bow in his hands and aimed at one of the draugr.

The draugr moved sharply, but Bishop's arrow still found the target – it hit the creature straight into its collarbone. He was aiming at the neck, but at least the draugr still staggered and dropped its axe onto the ground with a loud clank. At the same time, a burst of light shot from Aeyrin's hand, right at one of the raised skeletons. The creature was enveloped in bright flames instantly and it crumbled to the ground in a mess of scattered bones.

The undead were still a safe distance away as Aeyrin and Bishop stayed back by the furnace. They had plenty of time to thin their numbers and, fortunately, none of the creatures had a bow. Aeyrin's hand lit up once more while Bishop notched another arrow next to her. Potema would soon lose another portion of her hard-won army.

But before they could fell two more enemies, one of the draugr turned to them sharply and opened its mouth.

It was suddenly obvious what was about to happen, but it was too late. Everything happened so quickly.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The barely recognizable words flew out of its mouth with a tidal wave of an invisible force.

Neither of them had any time to react or get out of the way. Aeyrin was shoved back and the only thing she felt was dull pain spreading across her head and back as she collided with the stone wall, hard. Her whole world was spinning, but there was one awful thought that never left her mind through the sudden chaos. She couldn't concentrate on anything else, not on the pain nor on the several enemies on the other side of the chamber, still threatening her life.

Bishop had been right next to her. Right in front of the roaring furnace.

Oh Gods, those flames would kill him fast! She couldn't save him, she couldn't grab him with her own back to the wall and head throbbing with pain. She didn't have enough time.

Time.

"TIID KLO!"

The Shout flew out of her mouth almost on its own. It was instinct, just like all those times before. It had only ever happened when she was in imminent danger, she never thought that her instincts would take over like this when it wasn't her life. But it bought her time.

Her head was still spinning and aching. She was sure that she was bleeding and she could barely move from the impact. But she had to. Even though she gained some time, there wasn't nearly enough of it.

With her vision blurred and her senses disoriented, she staggered to the side to peer into the furnace. Her heart was clenched in constant anxiety. What if she was too late? It was only a second before she Shouted, right? But she couldn't be sure if the impact hadn't confused her perception of time too much.

She looked into the flames, full of nerves. She could recognize Bishop instantly, even though things were still a little blurry and spinning. He was there, trapped mid-fall inside the large furnace. He hadn't fallen all the way down onto the coals yet, but his body was surrounded by flames. She could still feel the heat around. What did that mean? The flames weren't moving, but were they burning anyway? It was so hard to tell and she had no time to test anything. She needed to act right now, just in case. Her throat still tickled from the previous Shout, but it would soon pass. Only one more second before she could act.

"FO!"

It was a very confusing moment for Bishop. He felt himself shoved back by the brutal invisible force and in no time, intense heat surrounded his body. He knew what happened instantly. He fell into the furnace. There was no getting out of this.

But the heat was suddenly gone. He could still feel the air swish around him in his fall, but there was no unbearable scorching heat. In fact, he felt cold. So fucking cold. He didn't remember ever feeling this cold, as if he was utterly enveloped in ice.

That was so fucking disturbing. For a brief moment, he thought that he was just… dead. But he was reassured of the opposite when his back collided harshly with the ground. He landed in something very uncomfortable, like thousands of little pebbles, or more likely coals. Nothing was hot though. Odd. Instead, he felt stifling air all around him. There was a very familiar scent of burnt flesh in the air and as he inhaled, he felt his mouth and nose fill with an insane amount of dust.

No, not dust. Ashes.

He started coughing violently while his whole body shivered in the freezing cold. What the fuck happened?

He could barely manage to open his watery eyes to come face to face with the dark ashen pit that he found himself in, filled with doused coals. Much to his surprise, there were small crystals of frost covering everything, even his own clothes.

It was hard to see through the steam from the coals and the disturbed ash, but he still peered upwards to the opening leading back into the chamber. A familiar, though blurry, head of gold-blonde hair was staring back at him.

Right. Now he was starting to piece it all together a bit more. His teeth were still chattering from the cold and it was hard not to inhale any ash, but at least he was alive.

"Bishop?!"

He wanted to answer her, but he couldn't. Besides, she probably heard the coughing. Or maybe even his teeth chattering. He was pretty sure that the sound echoed all across the room.

Before he could try and compose himself from his state, however, another sound reached him. This time, it was a surprised yelp.

Bishop barely had time to panic about hearing that before a familiar weight landed on him. He was already having trouble breathing in the ash, but the impact really knocked the air from his lung. Aeyrin's heavy armor made it really painful to be the breaker of her falls.

A loud groan left Bishop's lips, but it was soon accompanied by another cough. The ashes got too disturbed again and it was now hard to even see.

"Ow. Gods," Aeyrin groaned as well, but she wasn't spared the unpleasant particles sticking to her throat either. Her whole body ached so much. It was already bad after she had been thrown against the wall by that Shout, but when she was distracted, checking on Bishop, another one of the creatures managed to reach her and smashed its hammer into her back, sending her toppling down.

At least the furnace was now of no danger to them, but Bishop looked all pale and frozen. There were small icy crystals all over his face, hair and armor.

But first, they needed to get up. The longer they stayed lying in the pit, the longer the ashes would keep suffocating them.

Despite the pained cries threatening to spill, Aeyrin kept her mouth firmly shut while she scrambled to get off Bishop's undoubtedly battered body and up on her feet. He himself didn't hesitate to follow suit. As hard as it was to move with the frost covering him, it was better than choking down there constantly. Besides, there were still enemies to deal with up in that chamber.

When they were both finally standing, and a little further away from all the ash gathering towards the ground, Aeyrin took a step towards Bishop and placed her hands on his cheeks. They were still covered with all those tiny crystals, it was obviously an attempt to warm him up. Unfortunately, the cold chainmail covering her hands did not manage to do the job.

"I'm sorry," she said in an audibly raspy voice from all that coughing.

"F'r s-saving me?" Bishop chuckled, but it was hard to talk while his teeth still chattered and body trembled. Fuck, he had completely forgotten how shitty it was to feel cold. Poor Aeyrin. She was freezing constantly. He still didn't get why she was always apologizing for saving his hide today though.

Aeyrin shot him a demure smile. She always felt bad when he got caught in the Shouts, no matter what, but this time it was definitely necessary.

She couldn't deny that it was quite satisfying to see him freezing for once though. It was almost infuriating how resistant he was to Skyrim's elements. When she first came here, she hoped that, in time, she would adjust, but that didn't seem to be happening. She was often jealous of that Nordic constitution. Then again, he was always quick to help her withstand the cold.

"We need to warm you up," she smiled at him.

"D-don't think we have t-time to f-fuck now, princ'ss," Bishop grinned through his chattering teeth.

That was definitely not what she meant just then, but it still elicited a giggle from her. She blushed involuntarily, but soon she remembered where they actually were. And what was awaiting above. At any time, one of those creatures could decide to go after them, jump into the furnace or Shout once more.

"Give me a boost," she nodded at Bishop with determination. The hole leading back into the chamber was way too high for her to reach on her own.

Bishop let out a preemptive groan at the idea of that task. He was already in a lot of pain, but he knew that there were not many other options to get out. With a grunt, he lowered himself a bit and intertwined his fingers to form a step for her. He was definitely not feeling strong or dexterous enough in his state to just pick her up with all her armor on.

Aeyrin stepped on his hands as quickly as she could, ignoring the aches in her body. She didn't want to prolong this process for the sake of the both of them.

When she put her weight on him, Bishop instantly hoisted her up with all the strength he could muster just then. She hadn't expected him to be this fast and she let out a surprised yelp as she was practically thrown out of the furnace with the momentum.

She landed heavily on her back on the stone floor again, but fortunately, the impact wasn't as painful as the previous ones. The force of it was much more manageable.

She wanted to help Bishop get out too, but there was no time. There were still four enemies in the room. It looked like the undead didn't know that the two of them were still alive. Or they didn't care. But once Aeyrin was in their sights, they all charged.

She barely managed to get up on her feet with a loud grunt again before they attacked. She unclasped her mace instantly and swung it against her assailants. Two of them got caught in her blow, enveloped in the flames of her enchantment. The skeleton was dead instantly, and a few seconds later, the draugr fell to the ground too as flames continued to wreak its rotting flesh.

Two more to go.

Bishop stood in the pit, still shivering, while the sounds of battle filled the chamber. At least it was only filled with ashes, not corpses outright. He'd had enough corpse pits for a lifetime.

The crystals on his body were slowly starting to melt, wetting his armor even more than it already had been. But wet clothes were definitely a preferred option to the frost. If only he hadn't been covered head-to-toe with ashes as well. It was all going to be a torture to clean and there definitely wouldn't be any time for it yet with the insane queen on the prowl.

He really hated being stuck somewhere like this when Aeyrin was left to deal with the battle. Not that she couldn't handle it, but it was not as if he could just magically stop worrying about her. He always would. And it was clearly mutual, judging by the fact that she got distracted enough checking on him that she completely ignored the undead in the room.

Fortunately, it didn't take long before the room quieted again. Bishop couldn't help but feel tense for a few seconds, but soon enough, Aeyrin's head peered at him again from the hole.

"Come on, frosty," she giggled at him as she outstretched her hand towards him with a barely subdued grunt. She still felt a little bad over freezing him, but seeing him like that was really satisfying.

Bishop let out a strained chuckle. No wonder that she was enjoying this after all the teasing at her expense whenever she was cold. He grabbed the offered hand firmly and lodged his foot against the stone wall of the furnace. He couldn't wait to get out of that fucking place.

With some effort, Aeyrin managed to pull Bishop out of the pit at last. They were both battered and bruised by now, aching all over while their equipment was now not only soaked, but also covered in a layer of ash. Their hair looked more grey than anything else and their faces bore countless smudges of grime. It was a bit filthier than they were usually used to in any dungeon, but Potema would hardly wait for them to dispose of the dirt.

The Wolf Queen no longer craved to have them in her army at all costs. She just wanted them to stop. Incineration was apparently not out of the question, even if it ruined her chances to raise them as her servants. Their death was more important.

The piercing shriek of frustration that suddenly reverberated through the chamber was telling enough.

…

They were sure that they must have been close.

They had gone through a lot of chambers and corridors already and they were always descending down the cliff. It couldn't have been much further.

But more than that, Potema had been increasingly erratic in her calls. When all was quiet, she laughed, beckoning them to continue and to join and serve her undead army. She goaded them into going further and further down into the catacombs. But when she sent her troops after them in another unsuccessful attempt to kill them, she seethed and cursed endlessly. She really did sound insane.

Yet the further down they went, the less undead they encountered, oddly enough.

They were beginning to suspect that Potema was gathering them for some sort of overwhelming assault.

Re-invigorated by a couple of healing potions, the two of them continued on until finally, Potema had helpfully informed them about the inevitable dangers ahead.

"Yes! Come. At last you will join my denizens. You have delayed my plans considerably for the second time, but you will make up for it in my service."

Aeyrin and Bishop exchanged determined glances as they readied themselves for the worst.

They both entered the next chamber swiftly with one goal in their mind – they had to find Potema. Whatever form she was in now.

Just as expected, the second they entered the next chamber, a significantly larger one than all the previous ones, several sarcophagi along the wall opened and the bones scattered on the ground began rising.

At least they had room to maneuver once more. Bishop quickly notched an arrow and began to pick off the approaching undead while Aeyrin ran a bit forward to make sure that this time, Bishop was completely out of the way.

"YOL TOOR!"

The raised skeletons fell to the ground instantly, but most of the draugr either managed to avoid or actually shake off the flames. Bishop was making good work picking them off though.

But the second the numbers thinned, more of the sarcophagi opened and new enemies emerged. The ground once more became aglow with the familiar blue light as the undead began rising again.

It was obvious that Potema had more surprises left up her sleeve yet. The draugr were more armed, more vicious. Several of them were mages and some could Shout.

The battle was long and exhausting. They knew that there had to be an end to this at some point, but their strength was waning by the minute. They needed a respite. Even the potions' effects were slowly starting to dissipate.

After what felt like at least an hour, they were at the end of their rope. Aeyrin was too exhausted to cast magic anymore and the magical charge on her mace was becoming depleted. Bishop had to switch to his sword once again when the draugr got too close, but he was quickly reminded about Aeyrin's words back in New Gnisis. He did not do well overwhelmed. He had already earned several nasty slashes and bruises.

New enemies were raised periodically and Potema only kept laughing at them maniacally. Occasionally, she taunted them or demanded for them to kneel while sending more of her warriors against them.

As relieved as they had been about the size of the chamber at first, it became much more daunting now. It only meant that there was more space for more dead to rise from their graves and attack them. The room was only filled with grave slots and sarcophagi. Aside from the throne in the middle of the chamber, that is. Bishop always had it in his sights when he was still able to use his bow. He always expected another draugr to be hiding behind it.

It was ridiculous. This was not an ancient city like the usual barrows, was it? These had always been the Solitude catacombs. The fact that there was an actual throne in the middle of a gravesite was disturbing. Who would want to sit on a throne among corpses?

Well… probably Potema would.

She had been a necromancer in her life, hadn't she? And a queen. Maybe she had the throne built in here for herself. Necromancers were always creepy like that.

What was weird was that there was no sign of the Wolf Queen herself, at least as far as they could tell.

She could not be just a disembodied voice, could she? There had to be something that held her power here. How else would she raise those dead at all? Aeyrin had mentioned that Potema was buried here, although that may have been just a guess on her part. It did make sense though. There had to be some remains of hers somewhere.

Bishop decided to act. There was no way that they could last under this assault much longer. They were both hurt and exhausted. Aeyrin even sounded like she was too tired to Shout by now.

He ducked from the next blow by one of the draugr and, instead of fighting on, he prompted to flee. He needed to find Potema's remains. It would probably be some kind of a more prominent sarcophagus, right? But he didn't see anything like that. He had to make sure. He had to get the undead out.

Aeyrin noticed Bishop move along the walls of the chamber swiftly, dodging any incoming enemies as fast as he could. What was he doing? Just as he passed the still closed sarcophagi, their lids fell, letting their 'inhabitants' out.

They already had too much to deal with! Why was he disturbing the graves?!

"Bishop!" she yelled at him, but he didn't seem to listen. She knew that he had to have some sort of plan there, but the battlefield was getting unmanageable. And she couldn't let herself get distracted by him for long.

The undead were surrounding her already and she had to deal with them.

Another Shout from Aeyrin's lips rumbled through the chamber as Bishop ran along the walls. There were just more draugr. None of them even looked like women, let alone a queen. This was ridiculous, how could she do all these things? Where was she hiding?

So far, Bishop had only managed to actually make things worse. This was a mistake. He couldn't find anything to get rid of Potema and her endless summoning.

He wasn't at the end yet. And now he was conflicted about whether he should continue with his tactic. All the sarcophagi looked the same after all. None of them looked particularly… royal.

Before he could decide though, another sound interrupted him.

This time, it was a frightening one. It was a very familiar cry of pain.

"Princess!" Bishop turned sharply to see what was happening. He didn't get to see much. There was a group of undead huddled together, no doubt around Aeyrin. Fuck, he needed to help her!

This was all his fault. He shouldn't have done this. It didn't help anything and he had only left Aeyrin there alone to deal with even more undead. He thought that he could resolve their predicament quicker like that but he had only gotten her hurt.

"Yes! Yes! You will join my army soon!" Potema laughed erratically. Fuck, that sounded bad.

Bishop rushed across the room, ignoring anything in his path. He had to get those undead away from her. Clanks of weapons echoed through the chamber still, so that meant that she was alive. But he still needed to make sure that it would stay that way.

He crossed the room, just as another force Shout left Aeyrin's lips, sending several of the draugr flying up in the air. Fuck, she must have been on the ground. That stupid throne was blocking Bishop's direct path, with countless urns all around it, but he wouldn't let it stop him. There was a stone slab on the back of it that he could easily use as a step.

Bishop stepped on the slab and quickly vaulted over the throne. But just as his feet landed on the actual seat, there was something unexpected under his boot. He stepped on something round and hard and his leg instantly wavered. There was a loud cracking sound as whatever he had stepped on broke and he was left completely out of balance.

He fell, barely able to protect his face with his arms. His leg twisted painfully and the impact vibrated through his whole body. But he had to get up and go help Aeyrin. Now!

"YOL TOOR!"

Another Shout. Bishop was quickly scraping up back to his feet, but the sight that greeted him was not one that he had expected.

Aeyrin was standing in the middle of the room, smashing her mace into one of the draugr. The last one, in fact. There were a few others, shuffling towards her from some distance away, but the large group gathered around her was gone. And so were the many skeletons.

Everything seemed much… calmer now.

Regardless, he needed to get back into the fray already. He grabbed his bow again and aimed at one of the draugr making its way towards Aeyrin.

There were only a few of them now and both Aeyrin and Bishop made short work of them. But nothing else happened. No new graves opened, no new skeletons rose from the ground.

It was so quiet.

Aeyrin's eyes met his and she began limping towards him. Her leg must have been hurt. It must have been why she had screamed before. Instead, he rushed forward to reach her first.

"I'm sorry, sweetness," he let out a sigh when they were finally face to face, alone in the chamber. "I thought I could find her. I shouldn't have," he shook his head at himself in chastisement. "Is it bad?"

"No," Aeyrin gave him a weak smile. "Nothing broken. Just hurts. Stupid hammers."

There was a moment of silence as they both looked around warily again. They were still expecting some final assault, or at least some anger from Potema.

"What happened? It all just… stopped," Aeyrin whispered uncertainly. The reanimated skeletons just crumbled at one point – all of them. There were only the draugr left after that.

Bishop could only shrug. He looked back towards the throne behind him – the last place he saw before everything quieted. What did he even step on?

He walked back towards the throne, studying it, and it took him a while before he noticed something on the ground.

There was a skull there. It was nothing strange, of course, there were skulls everywhere. But this one definitely stood out. For one, it had a circlet on it. That was quite telling. And there was also a big hole in the cranium, as if someone had stepped on it with force.

Well… he kind of did. Did he really kill whatever had remained of Potema by accident?

"I think she's dead," he called out to Aeyrin, presenting the skull to her uncertainly.

Aeyrin craned her neck to signal him that she couldn't really see well and Bishop promptly rushed back to her to show her the skull. There was no need to make her strain her leg before she could heal herself in peace after all.

She examined the skull thoroughly. He was likely right, but it seemed strange that Potema could be gotten rid of just by physically breaking the skull, didn't it? Then again, physical damage was enough to kill any skeleton, snuffing out the magic that held it in its undead state.

Still, it was probably better to really make sure.

"Put it down," she nodded at Bishop. He didn't really question her on it – whatever she wanted to do, it didn't matter. As long as they could finally leave this place.

He placed the skull on the ground among the various scattered bones and stepped back. Aeyrin tried to light up her hand with magic, but nothing happened. She was so tired. She needed just a bit of rest and probably another potion to numb the pain. But her pack was left all the way by the entrance to the chamber.

As sore as her throat felt, she still had one other option.

"KRII!"

She had expected the skull to get enveloped in the familiar red aura, but no such thing happened. The Shout did not affect anything. For a brief moment, she worried that something was wrong with her and her powers, but she realized how foolish that was when Bishop spoke.

"There's nothing there. It's just bone," he sounded just as relieved as she had felt. Still, he stepped forward again and, once more, with as much force as he could muster, he stomped on the skull. The bone shattered even further and he did that again and again until the circlet didn't even have enough bone under it to stay up. Soon, there was nothing left of Potema but few chunks of old bones scattered across the floor and an old crown.

Aeyrin bent down with some effort and picked the piece of jewelry up. "Do you think Elisif would like this?" she smirked. She was sure to be shocked to learn what had been lurking underneath her city. This could serve as a nice symbol of Potema's final death.

"I feel like this was all worth more than that house," Bishop scoffed in response. It was certainly much more than they had expected, but at least they survived.

Now they finally had the time to lick their wounds and get rid of the ash and grime.