She didn't see what happened next, but she heard it. There was a snapping noise from away on the right, then a crack, and then the sound was drowned out by the crash of falling metal like someone had knocked over an armory. She shot a panicked look at Mercer, whose eyes were just as wide. The crashing went on for two long seconds, followed by one last bang.
Then nothing.
But Issana wasn't stupid. That tripwire had been set here for a reason. One, two, three, four growls came out of the darkness.
Mercer grabbed her by the shoulder. "Corner!" He started dragging her towards the left, away from three of the growls. They didn't get far. The candlelight flickered against a wall, into which were carved horizontal niches where linen-wrapped bodies rested.
At least these looked actually dead.
The first draugr shambled out of the darkness. Mercer swung without giving it a chance to close the distance but the sword rang loudly off the creature's upheld shield. Mercer's eyes went wide with panic as the draugr's own sword came down on him. He twisted and it hit the wall instead with a flash of sparks. The rusty blade snapped off at the hilt.
Issana shrank back into the corner. She should help, she knew it, but if she did then the only thing she'd accomplish would be her own death.
But when the second draugr appeared beside her, she didn't have a choice. Its joints creaked, its breath rasped through broken teeth and one eye still hung from withered muscle in its skull. It swung. Issana shoved herself away from the wall and the axe clanged off the stone. She raised her sword and caught the next blow awkwardly; pain shot through her wrist and her weapon dropped. The draugr loomed over her, axe raised, and she kicked out with all her might. Her foot caught the monster in its sunken gut.
"Run!" Mercer bellowed. "RUN!"
He dove through the oncoming draugr and Issana leaped after him, narrowly avoiding a sword thrust that would have gone right through her. Mercer took off down the passage, sprinting in the dark with the hungry snarls of the draugr echoing just behind them. Issana overtook him without noticing and almost immediately had to vault a mound of rubble that had dropped out of the ceiling.
She barely had time to thrust her hands out to protect her as she slammed into a wall. Mercer collided with her and she heard him cry out in pain. She shoved him off, ignoring the pain that lanced through her arms, and whipped around. The snarls of the draugr, mixed in with the unsteady thud of their shambling run, were getting closer.
It was definitely more than four now.
Mercer's gaze snapped around. "Dead end!"
Issana held her lantern high, panic making her movements jerky, and she realized that a pile of broken stone to her left was actually all that remained of a former passage. She glanced up. There was a dark gap near the ceiling, just big enough for someone to squeeze through. "Mercer!"
Mercer threw his sword through the hole and scrambled up the rubble. The snarls were getting nearer. Issana gave her lamp a quick glance and hurled it back down the passage. The candle lasted just long enough to collide with a shambling figure no more than ten feet away.
"Mercer, move!"
He was halfway through the hole when she shoved him. His legs disappeared into the darkness just as Issana sprang up the debris after him. She reached through the space, grabbed onto the first solid thing she could, and pulled.
White-hot pain slashed across her leg and she cried out and tumbled into the passage on the other side. She hit the ground hard and immediately rolled onto her back, clutching her leg. Mercer seized her by the shirt and dragged her backwards along the ground, away from the collapse. Her eyes were clenched shut against the pain and she hardly noticed the bumps and scrapes as she was dragged, but she could feel warm blood oozing over her hand.
She cried out as Mercer pulled her over a stair. Then another. Pain lanced through her as her back collided with the stone each time. "Merc-" she started, but her voice turned into a grunt as she tipped down a third stair. "Mercer! Stop!"
Mercer released her. "I think we're safe for now. I don't hear them."
Issana rotated on the steps as best she could, wincing at the pain. "You son of a bitch. Jump through first and leave me?" She pressed her hand against the wound in her leg. It was long, but not too deep.
Definitely bleeding a lot, though.
"I didn't stop to think," Mercer replied. "I'm not sorry."
"Of course not. So now you're just going to drag me down the stairs, is that it?"
Mercer grunted in disgust and knelt down below her. "Shut up. There could be more of them." He drew a knife, reached up and cut a long piece of fabric from her clothes. Issana felt her breath hiss out with pain as Mercer wound it tightly around the wound.
Issana tested her leg gingerly once he'd finished. It hurt, but it was bearable. I'll get it seen too properly when we're out of here.
"Where's your light?" Mercer demanded.
"I dropped it."
Mercer swore. "Stay close, then."
Issana tested her leg again. It twinged painfully, like someone was holding onto her skin and twisting with metal pincers. I can handle it. She took a few steps and caught herself against the wall as she stumbled.
Mercer gave an exasperated grunt and stepped up beside her. "Hold on to me."
"I've got it."
"No, you don't." He reached for her arm. She jerked it away.
"I said, I've got it." Issana clenched her teeth and took a few more steps, adjusting her balance each time. She didn't fall.
"We must be getting near the central crypt," said Mercer. "Karliah will be in the treasure chamber just behind it."
"Know that for a fact, do you?" grunted Issana.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure. She'll have left all manner of surprises for us in the crypt."
"Perfect."
The passage was long and straight. Mercer led the way with his lamp held out in front and Issana followed just behind. Her whole body was starting to hurt in one way or another. Her leg stung, her arms throbbed from hitting the wall, and her back ached from something that she didn't even remember.
She stopped.
Mercer turned around. "What?"
"Do you hear that?"
Mercer frowned and listened intently. "No."
Issana frowned. The sound was gone. But she could have sworn she'd heard a voice - or several - murmur something out of the darkness.
Mercer turned slowly back towards the passage and started moving once more
There it was again, like voices, breathing out whispered words in the dark. Issana touched Mercer on the shoulder. He glared at her.
Doh...
"Listen!"
Vah...
Mercer looked confused. "I don't hear-"
KIIN
Issana jumped. "You must have heard that."
"Heard what?"
Issana looked around. The voice was gone again. "But..."
"Let me check your wound."
"I'm fine."
"Clearly not." Mercer pushed her roughly onto the floor and held his lamp to the bandage. Blood was seeping through, dying the fabric red. Issana winced as he loosened the wrapping to examine the cut. "It looks fine," he said as he bound it up again. "Though I don't envy the fight with lockjaw you'll have after that rusty blade." He pulled her upright, ignoring her hiss of pain. "But you're hearing things. Ignore it."
They proceeded down the passage. Issana couldn't hear the whispers. Maybe Mercer was right and she was hearing things after all-
Doh...
Damn it.
Vah...
No.
Kiin...
Not listening.
It was getting louder. Mercer stopped her with one hand and said nothing, just pointed ahead. The hallway ended and opened into nothing but darkness.
He beckoned her forwards and stepped into the room. With his sword, he pointed to the right and set off in that direction. Issana followed.
He stopped so suddenly Issana almost knocked into him. He lifted his foot with exaggerated caution and put it down just ahead. The tripwire hardly cast a shadow in the candlelight. Issana stepped over it too.
Mercer turned left. Issana couldn't see where they were going, but she guessed by Mercer's actions that they were going around some large structure in the centre of the chamber.
Dovahkiin.
Dovahkiin.
DOVAHKIIN.
Issana jumped as the last whisper roared like a wind through the chamber. Mercer whirled on her. Enough! he mouthed at her.
Issana didn't respond. The whispers had become constant now, and although she could still make out that word, it quickly being drowned out by what might as well have been a whole room full of people murmuring to one another. She stared at Mercer, a look of fear on her face. What am I hearing?
Mercer turned around without a word, then immediately held out an arm to stop her. He lowered the light to illuminate a place on the floor where the dust had not been disturbed. Keeping the light low, he crept to the right until he reached the edge of the room. The candle glinted off something metal, and when Issana looked closer she saw a massive iron grate suspended from the wall, covered with spikes almost as long as her forearm.
No, not suspended. On a post, so it could rotate.
Issana made the connection at once. Trigger the trap and the grate would swing out.
Dovahkiin.
Issana looked to the right. The voices were coming from there, she knew it. She paused and rubbed her eyes for a second. Was that some sort of blue light? No, it was gone.
Am I delirious?
Mercer grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her forwards.
The whispers were getting faster.
Mercer turned left.
Dovahkiin-dovahkiin-dovahkiin
Blue light flared to the right with a crack like fire. Issana's hand shot up to shield her eyes as some unseen force wrenched her towards it. Through her fingers she could see symbols carved into the wall, ancient runes burning with blue moonlight, and she couldn't stop herself. She stumbled forwards. Her outstretched hand pressed against the runes.
Thunder exploded around her. There was light, red light, blazing as brightly as if she'd been hurled into a furnace. She could hear the roar of the flames, could feel the heat, could smell the smoke.
Lightning shattered the sky into pieces. White lines flashed across black clouds in every direction.
But not in front of her. There the lightning was hidden, masked behind an immense dark shape. Great, bat-like wings were stretched wide, a serpentine neck rose high, and from its jaws leapt a stream of flame so high that its brightness hid the lightning.
And then it was gone. There was silence and utter darkness.
Mercer grabbed her and heaved her upright, and it was only then that Issana realized she'd fallen down. She felt blood on her arm and saw in Mercer's lamplight a pile of destroyed urns, broken into pieces and spilling ash across the floor. Mercer was yelling something but she couldn't understand him.
A force like thunder caught her in the chest and hurled her backwards. She hit the ground and tumbled until her back hit the rune-carved wall with Mercer sprawled beside her. He shoved himself upright, blood oozing from his forehead.
Issana could hear the draugr now, a hungry snarl from off in the darkness. And it was laughing. There was real cruelty in the noise. Mercer pointed left and tore off to the right. Issana saw his light charge towards the growling, saw it glint off metal in the darkness, and saw the monster.
It was tall, even taller than the others. Seven feet at least, and its already massive stature was furthered by the twin horns sprouting upwards from its black helmet, and protecting its mummified body was a heavy chestplate. Mercer dodged sideways as the thing swung its sword down on him with both hands, and in one quick movement drove his sword underneath the draugr's armor.
The draugr paused, regarding Mercer with a slow stare. Mercer remained frozen.
"Fus... RO DAH!"
The voice rippled like thunder. Mercer went flying. His lantern hit the wall and broke; Issana heard his body hit stone with a thump. The candle from his lamp rolled feebly about on the floor, far from the draugr and leaving the creature invisible.
But she could hear it. Its armor clanked and snarls tore from its throat as it charged towards her from the darkness. Issana ran. She took off to the left, back the way they'd come, trying to get as much space between-
"FUS RO DAH!"
The force of the magic caught Issana's shoulder and whipped her around so hard she hit the ground. She felt blood on her face and she crawled, trying to get up but dazed from the impact. The draugr's hungry sounds were getting nearer and nearer-
It was on her in an instant. She rolled just in time and the sword clanged off the floor. The draugr snarled. She rose, trying to stand, and took the thing's armored boot right in the face. Her head snapped back and she fell onto her elbows.
Right onto the dust-covered trigger.
"FUS-"
The spiked grate swung like a hammer. Issana hit the floor, feeling the air shriek as it slammed past overhead. The draugr took it full on, the spikes punching through its armor and slamming it into the wall with a bone-shattering crunch.
Issana lay there for a few long seconds. Her hands were trembling and her breath was coming in short, sharp gasps. No noise came from the draugr.
Mercer appeared at her side a moment later, the candle held in his right hand. His sword was sheathed and his left arm looked limp.
"Are you wounded?" he said.
"Not badly." She looked at his arm. "You?"
Mercer nodded. "We'd better get a move on. No knowing how many draugr this thing woke up. I want to deal with Karliah and get out of here."
Issana eyed him skeptically. "Are you sure you can handle her?"
"She's a thief, not a fighter. I'll be fine. Get up."
Issana rose. Mercer led the way, limping at first but quickly regaining his stride, towards the central structure that Issana couldn't see. In the flickering candlelight she saw a rickety wooden ramp that went up into the gloom. Mercer stepped onto it.
The ramp led onto the top of a raised platform about twenty feet high, where a sarcophagus lay smashed open.
"How long was I out for?" said Issana.
Mercer turned to face her. "Yes, about that... You want to tell me what in Oblivion that was? You were just-blank! For ten seconds! And then you fell onto the urns-"
"I don't know."
"What?"
"I... I saw things, heard things, and then it was over. It's gone now."
Mercer stared at her.
"Mercer, what do you want me to say? I don't know. Just let it go."
Mercer's eyes narrowed. "You'd better be more careful in the future."
There was a narrow stone bridge crossing from the platform to an opening in the far wall. They crossed quickly. The hall on the other side was short, only twenty feet from end to end, and it led to a door.
And what a door it was. It had to be a door, but it didn't look like any door Issana had ever seen. It was circular, formed of some dark stone and shaped in three concentric rings. Each ring was adorned with an image of some animal, and at the centre of the rings was a round plate with three holes.
Issana looked it over in the candlelight. "You want me to pick that?"
"No," said Mercer. "You wouldn't be able to. Fortunately," he added, reaching into his shirt and lifting out a necklace, "we don't have to."
Issana caught sight of some sort of talisman attached to the necklace but Mercer seemed to be deliberately hiding it from view. He examined the door. "Karliah is on the other side of this door. Follow my lead, understand? No - and I mean no - mistakes. Got it?"
Issana nodded and tried to peer around him at the thing in his hand. He blocked her view and glared at her. "Do you mind?"
"What is that?"
"A tool. For locks like this."
"Can I see it?"
"No."
Issana rolled her eyes and stepped back. She started pacing back and forth in the dim light. This is it. Karliah's on the other side of that door. She looked over at Mercer as his hands drifted over the strange stonework. You'd better be up for this, Mercer. If you've picked the wrong fight, I'm leaving.
"Yes!" Mercer jumped up as the rings of the door began to rotate. The grinding sound of stone on stone made Issana's teeth clench. Mercer pressed himself to one wall, pulled Issana up beside him and blew out the candle.
The grinding stopped with a thump, and there was silence for about a second. Issana looked towards Mercer but couldn't see him in the dark. The door began to grind again and light flooded into the hallway as the whole thing just sank into the floor. The smell of firewood washed over them. "She's here," Mercer said softly. He edged towards the door. "Stay behind me. I'll go in first and-"
Issana cried out in surprise as Mercer seized her by the shoulder and threw her bodily through the doorway.
A bow snapped.
An arrow hissed.
The cry died on her lips. She stared down, eyes unfocused, at the shaft growing from her middle.
What...
She swayed, and the floor rushed up to meet her.