Tirdas, the 23rd of Evening Star, 4E201
Serana woke me up. I don't know if it's the middle of the night or the crack of dawn, but it definitely doesn't feel like a good time to be awake. My head is POUNDING. Ugh, I hope that's not the fever coming back. That's the last thing I need right now.
She said she heard someone calling out for help and didn't want to go alone just in case it was trouble. Which is fair, safety first, but I am still annoyed that I have to pack everything up. I got so warm and cozy too…
The Animonculory didn't stretch for much longer. Many corridors led outside, only a few of them actually constructed with people in mind. Still, their search for the right one was short. Serana's ears were keen, and she led her tired companion without hesitation. One room took the place of another, doorways turning to corridors turning to a large chamber. Saya's eyes opened at last, blinking away the last of her sleepiness.
It was a skirmish. Blood splattered the floor - dark and dried, couldn't have been recent. Broken automata lay on the floor: two spheres, one spider. And for all of that - a single corpse, pelted with bolts in a way most incompatible with life. At least, that's at first glance. Serana led her further, where the splattered blood turned into tracks. Many pairs of footsteps, yet only three of them looked like boots. The rest were simply bare feet, walking in short steps while dragging bloodied smears across the floor. The door to the next chamber was already ajar.
Saya pushed it open and an involuntary gasp fell from her lips. The indoor chamber opened into a tall cylindrical cavern. Like the insides of a misshapen tower, it stretched down for distances that made her head spin. By then, even Saya heard the noise - the pained cry of a man, just barely visible way down. "Is that the one you heard?" Saya asked, turning to her companion.
"Yes, definitely. Though I could have sworn there were more…" Serana rubbed her chin, thinking. "I will keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Let's go." With an affirmative nod from Saya, the two of them stepped off the floor upon which they stood. Looking back at it, it looked less like a floor and more a suspended platform - they all were, in a way. This vertical cavern was positively littered with small towers coming out the solid rock, once interconnected with floating roads which now lay as rubble. Some of the passages looked unmistakably different, with decor unlike one another and shapes that seemed vaguely similar yet somehow distinct. Different clans, perhaps? Could this have been a hub of sorts? Saya couldn't help but wonder where these passages could've led her.
When they reached the platform beneath themselves, they finally saw the source of the noise that interrupted Serana's night. Hiding awkwardly amidst the rubble was a Bosmer man dressed in rags that once might've been a decent pair of clothes. He was covered in dirt and wore no shoes, his toes blackened from the cold and feet covered in bleeding blisters from running way too much and way too quickly. He was crying - not tears of sadness or despair but an ugly, agonized wail of a broken creature that barely sounded human anymore. Serana and Saya exchanged a glance and the latter shrugged, neither of them entirely sure what to do.
"Hey, you. Why're you alone out here?" Saya called out, the cavern echo carrying her words much farther than they had any right to travel. The man before her recoiled at the sound, attempting to flee yet immediately hitting his head on the wall of rubble he'd been leaning against. "Hey, hey, calm down. We're not here to cause trouble-"
"Run," he interrupted. "Quickly, before they find you. If you know what's best for you!" His voice was hoarse from the crying. She couldn't even tell if he was more scared or angry when he spoke. The fact that he lacked eyes and 'stared' at her with two fleshy cavities certainly didn't help.
Saya pushed past the discomfort, taking a breath to steady her voice before she spoke up again. "Slow down. We're alone. Who are you? Where are your people?"
"Gone," he spat, drawing a sharp frustrated breath. Or maybe he was simply in pain. "Those damn things must have been stalking us for days. I know I saw them. It was no accident our guards kept disappearing, but Sulla was just too busy tinkering with those little metal abominations of his." Another sharp breath. A choked sob. "I'm Endrast. You might've heard of me. I was with Sulla, a-and Umana, and Yag, and all the others- we came here together. Y'ffre rot it all, I knew it was a bad idea to come."
Saya frowned, crouching down closer to Endrast. "What did this to you? Falmer?"
"Is that what the blasted things called?" The Bosmer shifted back after hearing her close, but visibly relaxed in posture. He rubbed his forehead in the sore spot, wincing. Probably got a bruise. "Sulla had the bright idea of making camp in the middle of the Animonculory. Those wretched orbs ambushed us, we had to abandon everything just to avoid getting slaughtered. And just when we thought everything was over, one of ours got shot with an arrow. These pale… things crawled out of every little nook and started grabbing us, one by one. Yag fought back to the last, they gutted her halfway down and dropped her to the bottom."
"Where did they take you?" A note of impatience snuck into Saya's voice. She was getting a subtle feeling she really didn't like, tickling at the back of her neck.
"Down. Far, far down." Another dry cough. Saya swallowed uncomfortably. "This ruin goes deeper than anything I've seen before. They are all holed up down there, in some old cathedral or study or whatever in Oblivion it is. They- They tried to sacrifice us. That's when Umana managed to break out and free the rest of us. Everyone scattered wherever they could, but…" He lifted a hand to his face.
Saya lifted a hand, reaching out to him. "...I'm sorry."
Endrast shook his head. "Thank you, for what it's worth." He sighed heavily, and then turned to her - or in her general direction, rather. "You should get out of here. I don't know how I managed to make it this far, but they were right on my heels. I thought they'd find me quicker, but if they haven't - they must be planning something. I'm sure of it. Just be quiet and-"
A brief whistle cut Endrast's speech to an abrupt end. Saya's mind didn't even register what had happened until he broke into a gurgling cough, splattering blood on her armor. She recoiled, seeing the arrow sticking out from the man's throat just as another whistled behind her. She turned around and the projectile harmlessly slid across her armor, leaving nothing but a surface scratch. Now she only had to find the archer-
A quiet gasp from behind pulled a twitch from her ear. Serana stood there, wide-eyed, as the shaft of yet another, almost identical arrow was protruding from the side of her neck.
Saya whipped around and immediately froze at the sight. The vampire lifted a shaky hand towards her neck, feeling the arrow with her fingertips. Then, her eyes slowly rolled into her skull and she stumbled back, plummeting off the platform into the darkness.
Saya did not even notice herself leap after her until she was already in free fall. It was pure reflex, no thought involved in the reaching motion as she tried to grasp onto anything, anything at all. Only when her brain caught up with what she had just done did the panic set in. The cave walls passed her by, the wind cold on her face. Dozens of silhouettes crawled out of their hiding spots. The trap was sprung, and yet the prey refused to die. She didn't hear them growl and click their tongues as they spoke their guttural tongue. Her ears were ringing much too loudly for that.
Ground was fast approaching. Saya gritted her teeth, straining to reach out as far as she could towards the vampire. Unlike the Dragonborn, Serana wasn't moving at all, tumbling down motionlessly and letting gravity take her where it would. Saya had an idea for why that would be the case, but she pushed it aside immediately. That couldn't be it. Not yet. She could still do this, all she had to do was break the fall. But how?
Saya drew a deep breath as soon as the realization struck her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the floor. She would need to time this extremely precisely, or else both of them would be splattered. But if not… Well, what would it hurt to try?
"WULD NAH KEST!"
The moment the words left her lips, Saya felt herself become the breath she exhaled. Weightless, formless, the speed of her fall was no longer a threat but a tool for her to more quickly close the distance between herself and Serana. Fifteen meters. Ten meters. Five. Saya's amorphous form swirled around the motionless vampire, enveloping her in a strong but gentle whirlwind that caught her, slowing down her fall.
Four. Three. Two. One.
As soon as they reached the ground, Saya became corporeal once more and caught Serana into her arms. The Dragonborn was sweating buckets, not sparing a single thought to the stunt she had just pulled off - all her attention was fixed on Serana, whose eyes were still fluttering wide open, if not from pain then from shock. Saya was hyperventilating as she looked at her injury. There was no way something like this could be healed, not with her magical ability. Did she have a potion?
Serana weakly lifted a hand towards her neck. "Push… through…" She whispered. A chill ran down Saya's back. She glanced up, hearing the echoing footsteps above. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. She had no time to think. She had to act.
The Dragonborn managed a shaky nod and carefully placed Serana on the floor. One hand firmly grabbed the arrow, the other - her neck. Saya drew a deep breath to calm her nerves, and pushed. Instantly, Serana's body twitched. Whether it was pain or something even less voluntary, she couldn't tell. She didn't want to know. Saya pulled her dagger off her hip and sawed off the fletching as cleanly as she could while avoiding Serana's grimace. Just a little more, she thought. Just a little more.
Saya closed her eyes not to see the skin stretch against the arrowhead before it finally tore. It was an ugly thing, probably constructed from the carapace of some oversized insect. Jagged, uneven, yet honed to a razor-sharp edge that curved into a serrated hook, designed by its very nature to sink into flesh and tear it at the slightest disturbance. Saya grasped the shaft just below it and pulled, carefully extracting the arrow from the vampire's neck until all that remained was an ugly, bloodied hole that dripped blood like a broken faucet. And then she simply sat there, shaking, watching for even the smallest sign of life.
"Serana?" She called out. No reaction. "Did- Did it work? Serana?"
Her heart skipped a beat when the vampire suddenly drew a sharp breath, a brief convulsion running through every muscle in her body. The vampire's veins blackened with magic of a deep, deep crimson, and her eyes shot open with an arcane flash. Serana sat up, clutching her throat and breathing heavily, and each exhale brought with it a pulse of eldritch darkness cascading outward from her heart. Each beat was an invisible wave, an echo rolling across the capillaries, and Saya watched the flesh knit itself back together before her eyes, muscle regrowing and blood seeping into the skin like water into cloth until not even the faintest sign of injury remained. She turned to the Dragonborn and said: "...Thank you."
The Dragonborn was at a loss for words, staring at Serana stupidly, who stared right back. Saya had known that vampires have a certain regenerative factor, but she didn't think - didn't dare hope - it could work in such a situation, with such an injury. Her breath grew uneven, trembling. There were many things she wanted to say right now.
But they would have to wait for another time. "We need to go. Quickly." Saya was pulled out of her thoughts by Serana, who quickly rose to her feet. Her gaze followed the vampire's - upwards, where the shadows of what must've been dozens of Falmer were preparing to descend upon them. "Saya?"
The Dragonborn swallowed heavily at hearing her own name. "Y-Yeah. Let's go." She nodded, standing up as well. Her eyes darted around their surroundings. Cave. Cave. Stone. Floor. A way up- no. More stone. Ruined tower. Tunnel. Perfect.
"Over here," she said, and before Serana could respond she grabbed her by the arm and broke into a sprint. Only the echoes of blindly shot arrows broke the silence behind them as they snapped against the stone.
I would like to officially declare that we're lost.
Admittedly, I probably shouldn't have run without looking off into completely uncharted territory. But at the same time, I'm not looking to try my chances against a Falmer horde. For better or worse, this section we're in is a lot more… unilateral, I suppose? There are next to no side passages and they mostly loop back around to the main tunnel. We hid in one of the side rooms, probably a storage closet or something judging by the size. Aura Whisper told me we were right to hide in here, because a few minutes later a big group passed just outside. One of them got curious about the room we were in, but thankfully the others called him away before he did anything.
Complacency, the savior of lives.
Alright, I take back what I said about being lost. Once we figured out which way we came from there wasn't really anywhere to go but forward. While we were walking, that ringing sound happened again. Whatever it is, we're getting closer. Hopefully my skull doesn't explode before then.
Serana and I got into a bit of an argument. She wanted to take the front, which I was categorically against. Only one of us is armored here, and I'll give you three guesses as to who that is. Besides, she's much better at range than I am, and while her eyes may be sharp they can't see through walls. With all that in mind, she begrudgingly agreed - on the condition that she gets to take the helm next time we can't go side by side. Hopefully she forgets about that part by the time it's relevant.
'When the Chimer first abandoned the herds and tents of their nomadic ancestors, and built the first Great Houses, we loved the Daedra, and worshipped them as gods. But our brethren, the Dwemer, scorned the Daedra, and mocked our foolish rituals, and preferred instead their gods of Reason and Logic.'
Saya couldn't help but remember the passage she had read so long ago. It felt odd - perhaps a bit out of place, even - to think of religion now of all times. The Dwemer were a people of rationality. Cold and calculated, like the machines they crafted. Whatever they did, they did with reason, and whatever they made, they made with purpose. So far, this rule has remained unbroken. Even if it were guesswork, Saya could imagine a purpose for everything she had found in Alftand. Living quarters, workshops, storage areas, farms, kitchens, bathrooms, hubs and markets.
The chamber the two of them had just found could only be described as a cathedral.
The front facade alone breathed with an atmosphere of cold opulence, a grandeur that radiated self-important vanity. Shapes angular and spherical, too artificial for the brain to register as anything but base geometry. The gate - and it was no door, something of such size could only be called a gate - was already open, scratched and warped by centuries upon centuries of damage. Whatever did this really wanted to get in, and it succeeded. Eventually.
The first thing Saya noticed was that the floor was different inside. It was not the same rough stone, but metal. It was polished once, smooth as silk and shining with the magical lights that illuminated the room. Alas, the lights have long since gone out, only occasionally flickering with a cold, unsettling spark. The floor had lost its shine as well, the mirror surface now muddled with unidentifiable splatter of mud, blood, oil and other fluids, bodily or otherwise. Seats lined the inside of the chamber - pews, metallic and gilded, all and any cushioning decayed many ages ago.
Saya took a step forward and immediately stopped. She turned and saw Serana holding onto her sleeve, pale and still as a marble statue. "Serana? Are you alright?" The Dragonborn asked quietly. Serana shook her head and silently pointed forward. Saya's eyes followed. When her vision focused, she felt a lump in her throat.
Far off, on the opposite side of the cathedral was something for which 'ritual' felt like too inadequate a word. Numerous Falmer were gathered in a circle, chanting words none but they could understand. Before them, on a pedestal, stood another Falmer - female and only barely clothed in overgrown chitinous plates, hands clutching a malformed staff. She spoke to them, moving back and forth as she raved in her guttural tongue, each slam of her staff against the floor producing a roar from the crowd of onlookers.
Behind her was a tall wooden spike upon which an elven woman was brutally impaled. Only the length of her torso and the point of her ears betrayed her Altmer lineage as very little remained of her facial features. Her eyes were plucked, her nose crushed until the bone pushed back into the skull in a vague semblance of the Falmer's own visage. Both arms and legs were amputated and the wounds were seared shut, though it was impossible to know if she were still alive by then. The spike entered through the bottom of her torso and came out right above the left breast, her stomach cut open and her intestines pulled out to wrap them around the spike before coming down towards her neck in a manner reminiscent of a noose.
Serana vomited on the spot. How Saya managed not to, not even she knew.
The shaman's hand lit up with flame, which she lifted up above her. Saya knew they were blind, logically, and yet she couldn't help but imagine them all looking up as one to gaze into it. It was then that the creature's vocalizations exploded in volume, no longer muttering but shrieking at the top of her lungs: "MURHAG VA ENVARRAH, MUHRAG VA SA'ARFAL!"
And the crowd responded, screeching its own cacophony of voices which all spoke the same words: "MURHAG VA SA'ARFAL! MURHAG VA ISKRAMOOR!"
This mantra cascaded across the interior in a rhythmic echo, repeated over and over to the beat of drums - bones striking against metal tables, ringing in the ears. The flame danced down the shaman's hand, snaking across her arm and shoulder. The staff was lifted in the air, and the flame jumped over to its point, illuminating the room like a torch. "MURHAG, MURHAG, MURHAG VA NAU GRAHVULEI!" Like a spear, the staff pierced the heart of the impaled corpse and it caught flame.
A sickening stench of burning flesh filled the chamber as the body burned upon its spike, which caught flame as well. It was then that Saya noticed the dark silhouette looming behind them. A statue, if it could be called that. It was an atrocity of scrap, metal and stone and everything else that could be found in this ruin piled together into one vaguely humanoid object. A caricature of a bearded man with two horns that curved upwards, his mouth opened wide in a bestial warcry and his hands holding an axe that wept metal tears.
Serana watched this completely unblinkingly. Her expression was a frozen mask of disgust, shock, and pure terror that swallowed her mind whole. She might've been there physically, but mentally - she was somewhere else altogether, somewhere much deeper, darker than anything she could behold in the moment.
She snapped back to consciousness the moment she felt Saya grab her shoulders. "Serana," she called out, and the vampire blinked. "I'm gonna need you to listen very closely and do exactly as I say. Alright?"
Serana nodded.
"I am going to do something right now so we can pass safely, but I need your help. I am going to take your hand and I need you to hold on very, very tightly. Can you do that for me?"
Another nod.
"Okay. Here," she said, and offered the vampire a hand. Hesitantly, Serana reached out and grabbed it, standing up off the floor. The two of them turned to look at the sacrifice once again, and then Saya whispered:
"Feim, Zii."
The next moment, it was like Serana's vision became clouded. The already dark room turned darker still, all except the Falmer who shone with an ethereal glow. Her eyes turned to the side and she saw Saya, looking back at her to make sure all was well. Serana had seen ghosts before, she had even summoned a few - but this was the first time she'd seen one so bright. She did not merely glow, she was positively radiant. Her entire ghastly form emanated an ephemeral aura of golden yellow and sky blue and flaming red - so bright that Serana wondered why her eyes didn't hurt.
"They won't see us, but they can still hear. Just follow my lead and don't speak a word. And don't let go. Okay?" She asked, her voice quiet and gentle. Serana nodded a third time, and the Dragonborn gave her a reassuring smile, squeezing her hand and leading her forward, towards the crowd. By reflex, Serana closed her eyes as they approached the creatures, only to realize the two of them had passed right through each and every one, leaving them none the wiser.
Even after they left the Falmer behind, they kept walking. The cathedral stretched onwards still, a corridor that led yet lower into the ruin's depths. Eventually, Become Ethereal had worn off completely, and yet Serana found herself still holding on. Saya didn't protest.
Saya's eyes gleamed with recognition at what she saw. It was the door to an elevator, though there was no actual elevator behind it. Instead, the pair was faced with a large, flat pedestal at the center of which was a circular mechanism, softly humming at a tone only Saya could hear. Two spherical gems were at the mechanism's core, and a third circular indent remained open for an object of similar size. Without delay, Saya produced the attunement sphere from her pack and placed it within.
At once, the hum grew in volume and the mechanism began to spin like a wound spring. The sphere turned back and forth, tuning the noise until it became completely clear, and in that moment Saya heard a quiet click - no longer needed, the sphere was ejected. The floor below them began to rumble, gears turned within the walls. The two of them watched and waited nervously as many minutes later, an elevator had finally appeared before them, and the door swung open of its own volition.
Inside was the corpse of an armored Redguard woman, lying in the middle of the chamber and reaching for the lever that presumably made the elevator move. In the corner sat an armored Imperial man, curled up and babbling incoherently. Serana immediately moved behind Saya at the sight.
The sound of Stormblade being drawn from its sheath pulled his attention. "YOU!" He shrieked and stood up frantically. In his right hand he clutched a soldier's shortsword, pointing it towards Saya with a trembling arm. "First Umana, now you. No. NO! It's MY discovery, MINE! Not the College's, not yours, not anyone else's!"
Saya didn't pay much attention to what he said. Instead she observed him - his panicked stance, his terrified face, the sunken cheeks and dark circles under his eyes. This was a tired man, battered and broken. But perhaps, he could still be of use…
She sheathed her weapon again and lifted both of her hands in the air. "Easy there. We don't mean any harm," she spoke in as soft a voice as she could manage. "Who are you?"
The man didn't change his position, still waving his blade around like a child trying to be threatening. It worked, but not for the reasons he thought. "Sulla. Sulla Trebatius. I came here- we… I came here, I found it! I found it, me, ME, do you hear?! BLACKREACH IS MINE AND MINE ALONE!" He cried and suddenly broke into a mad dash, rushing towards Saya and swinging his chipped blade with wild abandon.
Saya quickly pushed the vampire behind her and took a step forward, dropping into a lower stance. It would be better to immobilize him, not to kill. Irileth's lessons immediately came to mind. She shifted into a lower stance, watching for his movements. They may have had no method to them, but anatomy has its limits. One could not swing left without first swinging right. All she needed to do was find the right moment and…
Sulla's teeth clattered as he received a sharp upward strike to the lower jaw. Stunned, he stumbled backwards but did not fall as Saya grabbed onto his wrist. A quick surge of heat came and his hand spasmed, releasing the weapon from his grasp. Another strike came to his legs. His already-broken balance was swept away from him altogether and he crashed to the floor. Before he knew what was happening, both of his arms were already twisted behind his back and his head was pulled back, forcing him to look at the black-haired vampire with terrified eyes.
"Get your flask out," Saya said sharply, pulling Sulla's hair forcefully, exposing his neck. "I don't think you'll be getting another chance to fill it anytime soon."
After a moment's hesitation, Serana drew her dagger.
Well… I guess that's every member of the expedition accounted for. The leader, Sulla, and his bodyguard, Umana. And that body back at the cathedral was probably Valie, the mage he recruited. B'vek, what a mess. I guess the ones that died to the animunculi were the lucky ones.
Serana did her best with the flask. Kind of difficult to make someone bleed directly into a bottle. But after a while, we managed to fill it up and she drank the rest straight from the body before it went cold. Hopefully that'll last us until the next bandit camp or whatever it is we'll stumble into. All else fails, I guess Falmer are an option…
By the look on her face, not an option she enjoys very much. We'll deal with it when we get there, I guess.
The elevator hummed quietly, a background noise that everyone had long ago tuned out. It has been ten, perhaps fifteen minutes at least since they began the descent. They ran out of small talk by minute five. At some point, Saya started idly searching through her things and procured a few rings she had acquired back at Dimhollow, and handed them over to Serana. The vampire didn't know what to make of it, but appreciated the gift nonetheless. By the end of the ride, Saya was starting to become antsy, pacing back and forth within the elevator, wondering just how far down it would go.
That was about the point where the elevator began to gradually slow and the doors finally opened.
Nordic legends sometimes speak of it, a place deep under the ground. A kingdom beneath the nine kingdoms of Skyrim, resting in eternal darkness. A place where no people wander, inhabited by spirits and ghosts of the past which lurk in the shadows and sometimes crawl outside to haunt the surface-dwelling folk. A place that Lydia mentioned only once, in passing, a place of which Septimus spoke with reverence, and for which Sulla and his people died. Blackreach.
Saya could not call it a cavern in good conscience. It was a space, a void in the earth that stretched as far as the eye could see. An underworld that glimmered with lights at every step yet remained so beautifully, terrifyingly dark. When Saya and Serana stepped out of the elevator, they felt the very air around them become clearer. It didn't feel like they were underground anymore, there was no indoor stillness that permeated so many ruins. The sound of rushing water reached their ears from a distance, guiding their eyes to an otherworldly-looking waterfall that fed into a shimmering river which disappeared behind a stone wall.
The road they walked felt weird under their feet. It was almost too smooth, too comfortable, and much too wide for a person. Patches of azure moss grew on the rocks, and gigantic glowing mushrooms stood as tall as trees above them. Little lights floated all around. Saya squinted - not lights, but insects. Little torchbugs, dragonflies, and other winged arthropods that blurred the vision with their luminescence. And yet, all were dwarfed by a single bright light that shone from the very ceiling of the cavern - a massive orb of flaming-orange, encased in a cage-like vessel, surrounded by glyphs that orbited it as word-strings in a language long lost to time. The microcosm of Dwemeri craftsmanship, as well as their hubris: an artificial sun.
"You know…" Saya started, lightly bumping Serana with her elbow to get her attention. "I have to give credit where credit is due. If there was ever to be a place for an Elder Scroll, this would do nicely."
Serana nodded, a wide smile plastered over her face. "It's so… beautiful. I had no idea something like this existed in Tamriel." They continued walking as they spoke, the vampire looking around with eyes full of wonder. The different lights and swirls painted the scenery, and even the stony surfaces of the cavern were lined with glowing crystals, minerals that practically radiated magicka.
"That makes two of us." Saya shook her head, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She had hoped that the droning in her ears was just the elevator, but it seemed now that the hum she had heard before in Alftand was back and even stronger than before. As if she didn't have enough proverbial headaches already.
She sighed and lifted her head. The wall before them had a large arch, one that most definitely used to be a gateway. The remnants of this gate now lay on the road as chunks of scrap metal, bent out of shape and rent asunder by things Saya didn't particularly want to imagine. That said, the debris beside her gave her a decent enough idea - the massive derailed metal carts, broken automata far larger than anything she saw in the ruin, cylindrical objects that screamed 'weaponry' on some subconscious level she couldn't explain. And if the massive holes in the walls were any indication, it was effective weaponry.
"Saya!" She suddenly whipped around, hearing her name whispered by the vampire. Alarms were ringing in her head already and her hand wrapped around Stormblade's hilt. "Look, quickly!" The whisper came again, and much to her confusion she saw Serana's expression - not one of terror, but of excitement. The vampire was pointing somewhere in the distance, and Saya squinted.
At first, it simply looked like more of the same. Glowing grass, a dark cavern wall with shimmering crystals sticking out. Yet when her vision focused, she saw that it was… moving. A small chunk of the darkness, a pattern of light moving independently of its canvas of shadows. Her brain was struggling to comprehend the way the pattern stretched and compressed, shifting ever so slightly. That is, until the creature lifted its head and she saw that it was a female deer that looked straight at them.
Serana couldn't help but giggle. "Isn't it amazing?"
Saya blinked. Amazing didn't quite cut it. Now that she saw it once, she couldn't unsee it. It really was a deer, but unlike any she had encountered before. Its hide was black and matt, lacking the characteristic oily shine of a healthy animal. Yet what made the doe special was a pattern that looked almost like paint splattered haphazardly upon a flat surface. Glowing dots and lines, spots of irregular shape that emanated a bright glow, an off-white that shifted to blue, green, or purple depending on the angle.
The Dragonborn released an amazed half-laugh. "Yeah… Yeah, it really is."
The animal looked back at them curiously, light dancing in its large black eyes. It seemed as though it was observing them just as they observed it. The deer took a single hesitant step forward.
With a sharp snap, a tripwire broke against its leg. An instant later, a massive bear-trap like contraption snapped shut, impaling the animal from both sides with what looked like a pair of gigantic chaurus mandibles. Both Saya and Serana recoiled from the sudden noise and the deer released a tortured squeal, struggling against the restraints before eventually falling limp and silent. Not five seconds passed before four Falmer suddenly emerged from the dark to inspect their trap. Another second later came their leader, riding upon the back of a massive insect that must've been at least as large as a sabercat.
"Serana…" The Dragonborn immediately put a hand on the vampire's shoulder. She turned sharply, looking at Saya with wild eyes that communicated shock and… indignation, almost. Like she was offended that such a creature would be killed by something like them. Saya gave her shoulder a light squeeze and shook her head. "Let's go. Before they notice us."
Serana's features softened somewhat and she looked back at the Falmer. One of them had taken out a short blade of some kind and pried the trap open, while another was working on a new tripwire. The leader then dismounted and lifted a dagger above his head before stabbing it into the animal, producing another pained gasp from the deer.
Serana closed her eyes. "...Okay," she answered, and turned away to follow Saya along the wide, winding stone road.
So… Blackreach. Magical place, truly. Only thing that could possibly make it better in my book is if it didn't stuff my skull full of kindlepitch and light the fuse. I can't tell if I am going to pass out or never sleep again. Serana keeps catching me because every once in a while I get so dizzy I can barely hear my own thoughts.
The walls we passed… I think they were some kind of outer border. But for who? Other Dwemer? Alftand had direct access to Blackreach, but I can't imagine it's the only city to discover it. Dwemer had no single nation, they organized themselves into independent city-states. I guess it's not impossible that they went to war over Blackreach - the whole place is fucking stuffed with all kinds of things. We keep running into those glowing blue crystals over and over, and I can't shake off the feeling that they look familiar…
I have officially blacked out. I don't know what the hell is making that noise but my brain does not agree with it. Serana damn near shook my head off with how hard she was trying to wake me up.
Gods, I'm tired.
We huddled up in a small outpost of sorts. I don't know what it actually was back in the day, I think it's some kind of road checkpoint, but recently some man named Sinderion was crashing here. Emphasis on "was" - I had to move his withered skeleton outside because it was annoying to step over every time I needed to get to the other side of the room.
From his journal, Sinderion was an alchemist. He dedicated his whole life to researching a specific plant, the nirnroot, and some one hundred and fifty years ago he discovered a new species of it - a crimson nirnroot that is native only to Blackreach. Apparently something about Blackreach itself influences the life that develops in it. Everything from the ground to the water to even plants and animals is completely filled with magical energy. And it's not the kind of ambient magicka you can find anywhere on Nirn, but the kind that permeates places like Ayleid ruins and meteor-iron wells. It's thick, it's potent, and it's unlike anything else naturally found on the Mundus.
He theorized that the crystalline geodes found all over Blackreach might be foci for this energy, since the crimson nirnroot predominantly grew around those. There was even a sample in his lab. I threw it right the fuck out immediately. That's exactly the kind of noise that's been giving me this goddamn migraine, and if I had to listen to it even a second longer I would rather jump off a cliff.
At least Serana could hear it this time. Got a little taste of my misery.
Anyway, weird magicks and migraines aside, this place has pretty much everything we could need. There's a field kitchen of sorts, an alchemy lab, plenty of room for bedrolls, overall I'd say we lucked out. We'll set up here and I'll try to get some sleep in. Tomorrow morning, we'll see where to go next.
At least I think it'll be morning. Hard to tell on the account of being underground for multiple days.
Middas, the 24th? of Evening Star, 4E201
I'd be lying if I said I was sure what day it is, but I did manage to sleep for a couple of hours. Then a headache woke me up and I got a nosebleed. I actually ended up snorting it and had to spit it out. Pretty sure I got some in my throat, still. Eugh.
Serana and I are going to brainstorm some kind of plan of action. As beautiful as this place is, I do want to have a proper night of sleep at some point, and I have a feeling that'll require getting out of here sooner rather than later. Our one singular objective here is the Elder Scroll. Now the good thing is I think I saw that "Tower Mzark" that Septimus mentioned. At the very least, it looked like a massive tower that was taller than the cave ceiling. I couldn't see the base, but I did see walls, and rooftops. Might be a city.
Yeah. A city. Here, underground. Words cannot describe how fucking maddening this place is. It still doesn't feel entirely real. Maybe I'm not entirely awake yet. Or maybe the dizziness is making me lose my grip on reality. One of the two.
So, step one for us will be to find an entrance point into the city. Then, find the Scroll and get out. The Three willing, we'll find another elevator. Maybe it will even bring us somewhere that isn't a murder dungeon full of blind cannibals. After that, probably head off to Whiterun for New Life - assuming I still make it on time - and Sky Haven from there. I can't think of a safer place to store the Elder Scrolls, and maybe Fortunata will have information to share.
Actually speaking of information, I wonder if Illia is back? I haven't had the luck of running into any more cultists, but this Miraak character is still a complete blank. It's been months, I'll take any lead I can get at this point. And besides, since she's in Riften, I can also check in with Isran and see if he's made any progress on finding the moth priest.
So many things to do, so little time…
"Have you ever had any pets?"
Serana looked at the Dragonborn with confusion. "N-No, why do you ask?"
Saya shrugged. "You seem to like animals. I was just curious," she said and promptly fell silent.
Having exhausted all productive conversation topics during breakfast, the pair's journey along the 'main' road had been quiet until now. Thus, the sudden question caught Serana rather off guard, her mind being completely elsewhere at the time. The outer walls they had passed yesterday felt misleading now that they were within their bounds. Life still flourished all over - groves of tall mushrooms obscured the vision and hills of glowing grass stretched around the water. There were many side roads and paths, as well. If Serana squinted, she could make out the ruins of homes that once were here, or the distant campfire of a Falmer hunting party. Whatever it is they burned couldn't have been wood as the flames were a vivid green, and yet she couldn't smell the smoke.
At times, Serana could completely forget they were even in a cave. At those times, Blackreach would kindly remind her with massive ravines that reached down for what seemed like an eternity, or stretching cliffs that led them up or down and around dilapidated towers, ruined homes and abandoned farms. At one point, they even ran into a small cavern that was home to a bear, a beautiful creature that glowed with wild patterns in ways that made it rather difficult to spot in the darkness, let alone kill.
But her favorite part had to have been the flowers. The ephemeral wyrdbloom appeared to shine even brighter than normal, catching not the light of the moons or the sun but instead the otherworldly shimmer of the geodes around it. The starlight daisies down here put their above-ground cousins to shame, each patch reminiscent of a constellation that truly radiated starlight, red and yellow and blue and green and any other color she could imagine. And then the peculiar gleamblossom, a plant she'd only ever seen once before, her mother having procured it from gods-know-where - a beautiful flower that grew only a single violet petal that looked almost like a bell that concealed the glowing cyan stamens within.
Serana knelt down, plucking the flower from its deep purple-colored stem. "I never had pets, though my father's servants used to own guard dogs that showed around the castle frequently. I wasn't allowed near them when I was younger. What became of them now…" She trailed off, her nostalgic smile wavering somewhat. She shook off the thought. "But I did have a garden- or I suppose, my mother and I had one."
Saya stopped, turning to face the vampire. A brief flash of recollection passed through her eyes. "I think I remember you mentioning it before. Valerica, right?" Serana nodded. "Were you two close?"
Serana shifted slightly. It was a subtle change - an averted gaze, a change in posture, a smile weaker than it had been a moment ago. But it did not go unnoticed. "I… Yes, I would say so. Mother and I used to spend a lot of time together in the garden, tending to the plants. She was a wonderful alchemist. Everything I know now, I learned from her."
Saya hummed. "Why the past tense? Did something happen?"
There was a brief silence. Then, Serana nodded. "Yes. The prophecy did." With those words, her expression fell completely and she sighed. "My mother… I never got the sense that she and Father enjoyed each other's company very much. They spent time together, of course, but it never felt… real." Serana glanced at the flower in her hand and let it fall to the ground before she continued walking. "She rarely ever smiled or talked when he was around. And then the prophecy…"
"The one about the sun?" Saya asked, trying not to let her frown show too much.
"He became… obsessed." There was a certain hollowness to the way Serana said those words, almost as though they were not her own. "At first, it only seemed to be the kind of curiosity anyone would show towards an improbable myth. But after a while, everyone saw that his interest far surpassed anything like that. He truly believed the prophecy could be brought into reality." She fell silent for a moment, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath, and spoke again. "Mother opposed him. She saw the prophecy as dangerous, and at first she tried to dissuade him. Then she tried to threaten him, speaking of all the things that could happen to us if there was even a chance it were true. In the closing weeks before I was put to sleep, I think she wanted nothing more than to defy him."
"And what about you?" Serana turned sharply at the question. Then she blinked, confused. Saya shook her head. "You've been talking about your mother and father for a while now, but what about yourself? Did you feel the same way?"
Serana thought hard about that question for a moment. "How I felt…" She paused. Absent-mindedly, her hand drifted to the choker she wore around her neck. "I remember the first time my mother shooed me out of our garden. It was after she had another fight with my father, she stormed out of the room in the middle of dinner. I followed her and asked her what was wrong, and she…" Her hand lowered. "She told me to get out. That she was much too busy. I thought she was angry then, so I left. And yet the next time I heard the same thing. And the time after that. Before long, I wasn't allowed in the garden at all." Serana bowed her head slightly, hair falling in her face. Saya glanced at her, and she could barely see the vampire's downcast eyes glimmering in the shadow. "I… I can hardly recall what it even looks like anymore."
The two walked in silence for a while after that. What could be said after such a reveal, really? Saya was infinitely grateful to her parents that she'd never had to experience such a thing, but at the same time, how could she relate to an experience like that without going through it? How does one who has not experienced such a hardship comfort someone who has without it feeling superficial? The Dragonborn's mind drifted to the campfire, the night in Mzulft. The look on her face when she told her about the creation of vampires. The way she choked up when she remembered her family.
Saya's hand curled into a fist under her cloak. Now was not the time to think about that.
"I had a pet once, when I was younger," she said. The tone of her voice was much more casual than one would expect in such a situation. "It was a bantam guar my mom bought me for my birthday when I was… Hoo shit, how old was I?"
As expected, Serana was almost immediately snapped out of her emotional state and she looked back at the Dragonborn with confusion. "A… bantam guar?"
"Yeah! You know, the small ones! Look kind of like lizard chickens!" Serana blinked silently and Saya's grin wavered. "You… don't know what I mean, do you."
"I- I'm just struggling to picture…" Serana rubbed her neck awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other. "What did you say it was again? A… lizard chicken?"
"Yeah! That's pretty much what they look like. Just imagine a chicken, but if it was a lizard. Or rather, a chicken-shaped lizard. That's basically what they look like."
A brief pause hung in the air.
"...chicken, like the type of meat?"
"...no. Well, I mean, yes- but I meant, you know. The animal?" Another pause. A long, drawn-out pause that grew heavier by the second. "...you don't know what chickens look like."
It was in that moment that Serana was immensely thankful both for the darkness that surrounded them and her own being dead, for gods only know how bright her blush would be otherwise. She quickly turned away, hiding her face in her hands. "You do not know that."
Oh. Oh dear. Saya blinked, her composure quickly crumbling as she babbled: "Serana? Serana please. Tell me you're joking-"
The conversation quickly devolved from there: first into incoherent back-and-forth, then bellowing laughter. Soon enough, neither of them even remembered how the conversation started - or at least, both of them hoped the other side didn't. Neither of them was truly ready to speak or to listen, but that's alright. After all, what use is there to try and force comfort onto someone not comfortable with receiving it? So they talked, talked about nothing. A sweet, warm, comforting nothing that brought them nothing but a momentary break from the darkness that surrounded them.
Though of course, that doesn't mean the darkness ever went away.
"So what animals have you seen, actually?"
"Stop…" Serana groaned, still recovering from her last giggling fit.
"No no! Do tell, I'm curious now," the Dragonborn snickered impishly. "Let's see, definitely seen dogs, right? What about cats?"
"No, never."
"...what, seriously? Huh." Saya scratched her chin, thinking. Then, she snapped her fingers. "Wait, so have you seen lizards before?"
Serana wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, exhaling slowly to calm herself. "Well… I believe I've seen a few small ones in the garden. Mother also had fish swimming in the pond, they were all quite tiny."
"Hmm… snakes?"
Serana shuddered. "Only once. It was some foreign noble's exotic pet, wrapped around his neck. I think I was allowed to touch it but it was just… ugh."
"Not a fan, got it." Saya chuckled, looking off to the side as she wondered what other creatures of the world Serana had missed out on in her long, long life. It was then that, in the corner of her eye, she noticed a metallic glint off in the distance. A familiar shape, but… larger. Much, much larger. "...spider."
"What? Now you're just mocking me, of course I've seen a-"
"Look." Saya placed a hand on Serana's shoulder, interrupting her and pointing somewhere behind them. There, in the distance, was a mechanical spider of a design unlike anything they had seen before. Its construction was much more complex than its lesser kin, split up into proper segments like a real, live arachnid. Long, spindly legs sprouted from an armored body which led into a massive abdomen that appeared to be a machine of its own, steam releasing from the numerous vents on the creature's chassis. Perhaps more curiously, though, it possessed a face - a humanoid one, or as humanoid as a stylized depiction of a Dwemer visage could appear. Its two eyes were glowing gemstones, radiating the same azure energy that filled the crystals all over the ruin.
And when it saw them, it began to move straight towards them, stepping over the outer wall effortlessly before charging forward at unsettlingly high speeds. Saya did not need another moment of thought before she grabbed Serana's arm and began to run off the road. Internally, she cursed herself for being so careless and not paying attention to their surroundings more. It was a miracle it took them this long to get spotted by something to begin with.
Her eyes darted around their surroundings, looking for anything that could help throw the creature off their tracks. Immediately, her mind jumped to the ravines - if they could just lure it over there, then maybe…
A high-pitched artificial screech came from behind them as they made a turn and ran across the bridge. Saya turned to look and instantly wished she hadn't. Her earlier question of what this thing needed such a large abdomen for answered itself as its carapace opened up and tens of smaller mechanical spiders - workers, fighters, and even other types she'd never seen before - began pouring out in waves. "Cover your ears," she quickly told Serana before sending an Unrelenting Force blindly into the horde, hoping to hold it off, if only for a moment.
The path they followed finally bent downwards. On any other occasion, they would be mesmerized as the river they had seen above poured downwards in a majestic glowing waterfall, splashing what looked to be liquid starlight into a vast shimmering lake that sat at the bottom of this valley. But in the moment of panic, they didn't even have the attention to notice the mass of fauna resting down there, multiple dozens of horned animals that vaguely resembled goats drinking from the lake and grazing upon the glowing plant life. The only thing on their mind was escape, and Saya's eyes almost began to shimmer themselves when she saw the familiar sight of a large, thick pipe near the water surface - no doubt, one that led to the sewers of the city above them.
And immediately after, her heart sank as a series of splashes behind them announced the descent of the Dwemer spiders.
"Run!" Saya shouted to the vampire, letting go of her arm and instead drawing her sword. Serana could not spare the thought to argue as one of the animunculi immediately leapt at Saya, its metal limbs bouncing off her armor in an attempt to pierce it. The Dragonborn grabbed it by the leg, violently yanking the creature off herself and stabbing it in the core before reading herself for the next assault.
Inside Serana's mind, it was pure panic. She knew what Saya had said, but she couldn't have asked her to leave her behind. Could she? Serana shook her head. She had to think. Surely there would be something she could use. All they needed was a distraction, something to diver the machines' attention and then they could-
Crrrk.
Slowly, Serana turned around, and whatever thought she still had left was immediately interrupted. Slowly, she turned around, and there she could see it: on the cavern surface farthest away from them, slowly crawling down the wall, was the broodmother automaton. The vampire felt a chill run down her spine, a cold fear as she watched the tiny robots slowly grow more and more fierce in their assault, attacking Saya two, three, four at a time. Without even realizing it, Serana took a terrified step back.
And then she immediately stumbled over something, falling over with a grunt. A dull pain spread through her head. All of a sudden, the sound of battle felt oddly distant, the clinking of metal, the screeching of animals… Animals?
Serana's eyes shot open and she quickly rose to her feet. The animals, they were awake! As the number of animunculi that descended down grew larger and larger, the hircine creatures slowly woke, one by one. It wasn't long before the first spider grew distracted, seeing another thing moving beside itself and immediately branding it as an enemy. The animal released an agonized shriek as metal limbs pierced its hide and tore the flesh, and quickly retorted by striking the robot with its massive horns, bending the metal and sending its assailant flying. And then another, and another, and soon enough nearly the whole herd was awake, screeching and bleating and fleeing and fighting in one big cacophony of sound. It was then that Serana had finally heard a long, low groan come from beside her. She looked down, and suddenly a question she hadn't even asked herself presented an answer.
If this were a herd, then who led it?
The giant whose leg she stumbled over slowly lifted its head. It was a creature that at once invoked a feeling of fear and awe, a humanoid of dark blue skin and stark white hair, faintly glowing with magical essence. Its bearded face was distinctly human yet somehow foreign, its features burly and exaggerated, three bushy white eyebrows covering three glowing azure eyes that slowly opened, not yet entirely awake. Bony spikes symmetrically lined its skull along the top, culminating in two goat-like horns that curled around the giant's pointed ears and pointed downward to its messy beard, tusked teeth protruding from the mouth and preventing it from ever being fully shut.
"Yrohl gar…?" The giant mumbled, spotting Serana just as she rushed to stand before it, shaking his arm.
"Gawakn, mikil!" She shouted in its face. She didn't know if this thing spoke Tamrielic, and she definitely didn't know if it spoke Old Nordic, but if she had to choose one then she knew which was more likely. "Ganasei ugkis! Insaihw - eis disdriusand!" She pointed behind herself. The giant's eyes turned lazily to look, and then quickly shot open as it saw its herd fighting back the invading automata.
"Di gyalzarga…!" The giant rose to its feet, shaking off the remnants of exhaustion that yet clouded its mind. Serana stepped back, now on purpose, so as to give the nearly five meter tall humanoid the space it needed to pick up its massive bone club. "Grahk vahg nool!" It roared and charged in, each one of its heavy footsteps reverberating in the earth as a low rumble.
"What-" Saya barely had time to react as the giant suddenly rushed straight towards her and she dove out of the way just in time to see the club brought down upon the spiders, crushing them flat. She glanced back at Serana with terrified eyes. "WHAT THE FUCK, SERANA?!"
"JUST GO, QUICKLY!" The vampire shouted back.
Saya glanced back at the rampaging giant, grabbing the animunculi with its massive hands and smashing them into the stone or stomping them flat into the floor, and decided not to argue. Within seconds she was already right next to Serana, struggling to catch her breath. "You owe me an explanation later," she grunted.
"It can wait, can't it?"
Saya lifted her eyes to the massive spider. Its head slowly turned to meet her, and the gemstone eyes in its sockets flashed red as it began to crawl again. "Yep, it most certainly can. Go, go go go go-"
The two broke into a mad sprint, Saya's heart pounding in her ears in equal measure from exhaustion and fear. Grass turned to earth, which turned to stone, which turned to a chiseled platform. Right on their heels, Saya could distinctly hear that terrifyingly human-like screech of the spider, but she didn't look. She couldn't. She had no time. All she could think of was running, running, and reaching that gods-forsaken pipe that spelled safety for them both. No matter how much this creature wanted to, it could never follow them.
And so, when her boots finally touched the metal of the sewer surface, she finally allowed herself to look back once more, just in time to see the Dwemer broodmother's leg get grabbed. The next moment, she saw the giant lift the whole thing out of the water and swing it over the top of his head before slamming it down onto the rocky beach with a loud metallic crash. With that sight engrained in her mind, she turned her eye towards the darkness, where Serana was already waiting with a magical light in hand.
And from there, there was nowhere to go but up.