The Midden was a dark place. Elsera was almost assured it was haunted, and expected some gruesome phantom to appear out of nowhere at any moment and rip the flesh from her body, or some other means of killing her in a horrifying manner. Uncovering its location was not particularly difficult; Tolfdir, the Master Wizard, had been quite free in telling her how to reach it. He also mentioned someone called the Augur of Dunlain, and said that he and Runael were friends. Mention of the late Arch-Mage had prompted her to inform the Master Wizard of her demise.
The College was without an Arch-Mage. There were no other candidates readily available. Tolfdir said he'd keep the matter quiet for the time being, lest mentioning it cause the rest of the College to suddenly deteriorate, as each mage within the walls vied for the now-vacant position.
Elsera almost hadn't descended into the Midden. She saw little point to visiting the Augur, or investigating the mysterious place. She had no idea whatsoever what any of it would have to do with the bandits, or whatever Larian Ravell was up to.
She pushed the thoughts from her mind. Even thinking of the name 'Larian' made the Dunmer's blood boil. She would murder the so-called 'bandit queen' herself, and avenge Runael... no matter what it took. She had sounded hopeful in the Palace of the Kings, thought the Midden a good idea... but now that she was here, she doubted it quite fiercely.
She pushed on, though, and before long, found herself standing before a door that looked as if it had been visited sporadically over the years. She reached out to open it.
"You'll find few answers here, only more questions." The voice was male and reached her ears before her hand even touched the door. She grit her teeth and moved her hand closer, touched the door, and tried to force it open. It didn't budge, much to her confusion. "Still you persist... enter, then." The door swung open of its own accord, nearly yanking Elsera to the floor with the motion; she released the handle before it could pull her off-balance. She stepped into the room and looked around for the speaker.
No one was inside. There was only a strange pit that glowed blue before her.
"I warned her, you know." The voice reached her ears again, and was louder; as it spoke, the glow intensified. The Dunmer stared in disbelief. Was this the Augur of Dunlain? "I told her that one of you four would die before this fool's errand for a haughty king was done. She, who had always placed great value in my warnings in the past, ignored this one. You know how that ended."
"You told her someone was going to die. The three of us were close to her," she said defensively. "Of course she ignored it; what else could she have done?"
"Ignored him. Then, she would still be alive, and the haughty king would be making progress regardless; you've met the knight who reluctantly helps him." It took her a moment to realize the Augur as referring to Neria when he mentioned the 'knight'. "All the Arch-Mage did was accelerate her own demise, and for nothing but to further the plot ahead."
"Explain. Now," Elsera growled. She had never heard anyone in the College speak of Runael in such a manner... with a condescending, 'I was right, I'm always right' sort of tone.
"Had she remained at the College, the attack would have failed, and access to the ruin would have been halted altogether. Instead, her involvement with all of this enabled the attack to succeed, and have set the wheels into inexorable motion. Now, there is no delaying it, only stopping it... or failing that."
The Dunmer's hands slammed hard on the edge of the pit. Her crimson eyes flashed dangerously in the blue glow.
"Your anger is misguided. Don't forget I tried to warn her off this path, and she ignored me." His words, arrogant though they sounded to her, rang true. She heaved an irritated sigh and stood up straight once more, hands lifting from the pit's edge.
"What is this... plot?"
"Two who were never direct rivals in the past have become such. For years, they endeavored to humiliate the other, but they always failed. One sees no sense in continuing the feud, and instead strives for a loftier goal; the other senses this, and aims to thwart the first."
"Be more specific, dammit!" she snarled. "Now is not the time to be vague!" To her surprise, he chuckled at her words. "What's so-"
"You are quite like the late Arch-Mage, you know," he said calmly. "Perhaps that is why she took you under her wing, intent on making you as great as - if not greater than - herself. In you, I see a part of her lives on."
The words took her aback, silenced her frustrated outburst and had an inexplicably calming effect on her thoughts. She'd never been likened to Runael before, by anyone.
"The bandit queen serves the first, though she knows not his true intentions. She presumes to be the leader, but it is the champion who pulls the strings. The very same champion that assaulted the College stole away the key, and thus enabled this doom-filled plot to be set in motion."
"Specifics," the Dunmer growled.
"Perhaps I was wrong. The Arch-Mage was not quite so insistent." Elsera's hands smacked the edge of the pit again. "In any event, you would not believe me if I gave specifics. The powers involved in the plot are beyond this realm, but seek to enter forcibly - despite sacrifices made two hundred and ten years ago."
Two hundred and ten years ago. Elsera knew exactly what had transpired then.
"The Oblivion Crisis," she whispered.
"Two more warnings I give you, greatest hope for the College." The blue light began to dim. "The first is to be relayed."
"Let me hear it, then."
"An old enemy approaches from the west. A blind king cannot halt their advance until they are near enough to be heard... and by then, it is too late."
"...Ulfric?" she inquired. "He's not blind-"
"In the grand scheme of things, you are wrong with that assessment." She scowled at the tone of self-assuredness he took.
"And the second warning?"
"Your greatest enemy will be your greatest ally in the coming days. Rein in your anger, or you condemn your realm to darkness." The glow flickered now.
"I am not sparing that bitch," Elsera snapped.
"The Arch-Mage ignored my warning, too," he said. The light faded altogether. "Where is she now?" With those final words, Elsera felt the presence fade. She knew better than to snap at the Augur in agitation, knowing it to be more likely that she was snapping at no one in particular. She didn't like the voice that she presumed to be the Augur of Dunlain. She hoped this would be the last time she'd ever visit him.
Even so, as she left, much of what he said resonated with her. He had mentioned powers 'beyond this realm, but seek to enter forcibly - despite sacrifices made two hundred and ten years ago'. There could be only one answer to such a carefully worded phrase.
Elsera's pace quickened. She had to get word of all she'd heard to Ulfric immediately, and share what she believed was to come: one of the Daedric Princes was trying to force their way into Tamriel, and was using Larian Ravell to reach that goal.
Getting past Ulfric's guards had been, as Ulfric said it would be, impossible. Nothing Adalla said would get them past; no amount of coin from Mia worked, no words from Neria. Ultimately, they were forced to use the scroll Ulfric had written and handed off to them, permitting them entry into the Dwemer ruin; the second it had been read, the guards, quite annoyed at the methods the trio had tried to use, allowed them to proceed into the ruin.
For Neria, the ruin was like stepping into another world altogether. Everything looked extraordinary, and none of it seemed to have a place in Skyrim. To her, everything looked out-of-place. Fortunately for her, Mia and Adalla had seen Dwemer ruins before, and thus they knew what belonged and what didn't. Everything they saw as they ventured through the ruin was nothing peculiar to them. Even when Neria felt a wire snap against her boot and was pulled aside by Mia, only to watch a vicious-looking claw swing through the air where she'd just been standing and slam into the wall, was not unfamiliar to Mia or Adalla.
Neria had heard of the Falmer in stories, spoken of as legends mostly, excluding the one work the court wizard of Markarth, Calcelmo, had published six years ago. His was a work of non-fiction, describing in great detail the twisted creatures. She had hoped to never encounter one in her life. To encounter what Mia called a hive of them, then, was mortifying, and Neria as infinitely grateful she was not alone in this; she was almost certain she'd have been killed if she was alone.
Or captured, she amended once they discovered something that looked like a prison complex. Tall walls of a chitinous material towered over their heads; Neria's fingers slid effortlessly over the walls, and she presumed it was impossible to climb them. There were strange, claw-like gates that refused to budge for her, but Mia had apparently solved the mystery of opening them, for they posed no challenge whatsoever to her own attempts. Inside the 'cells' were the corpses of many humans, some mer, and a couple Khajiit and Argonians. Judging from how they were dressed, Neria presumed they were bandits; judging from the wounds upon their body, they were likely tortured by their captors. Judging from the deep cuts at their throats and the small blades nearby, they had all killed themselves.
There was one, however, who was not dead. It was a female Redguard who shifted when they began to move away from her 'cell', and Neria felt Mia's hand clap over her mouth before she could scream in horror. It took her a moment to realize it was not one of the walking dead; this Redguard was still alive.
"Who are you?" the Redguard asked quietly. "How did you get past the Falmer?"
"I'm Mia," Mia answered, "and we killed 'em all... or least, the ones what all got in our way."
"There's nothing further ahead," the Redguard whispered, as if worried raising her voice too much would draw the wrath of a hundred furious Falmer. "Just their torture devices, and..." She shuddered. "A-and their chaurus pens... where they f-feed those of us who died or are dying t-to those..."
Mia sighed and opened the gate. The Redguard stared at her in disbelief.
"Can ya fight?"
"Give me a weapon, and yes." Neria could see the faint glimmer of hope in the Redguard's eyes. Mia complied with the request and pulled a steel dagger out of her pack - one of the many weapons they'd found in the other cells. She didn't hand it right to the Redguard, though.
"Who are you, then? Yer dressed like a bandit. It's 'cause of bandits that we're here, see; they dug out this Dwemer ruin for a reason."
The Redguard looked horrified, and shrank back a bit. That told Mia, Adalla and Neria all they needed to know.
"Wait!" the Redguard pleaded, seeing Mia draw her bow and pull an ebony arrow back. "I-I... y-yes, I'm a bandit... Nadine's my name. L-look, I... please don't kill me. I-I'll go straight, I swear... please just give me a chance-"
"Unless ya know somethin', yer of no use t'anyone."
To everyone's surprise, Neria's hand gripped the shaft of the arrow and forced Mia's aimed shot downward. She did not release the arrow. Even Neria was surprised; these bandits were under Larian's influence, and the fewer of them there were, the weaker her sister's hold on Skyrim was. So why was she protecting this bandit?
"What do you know?" Neria asked quietly. "Tell us everything you know about this ruin, why it was dug out, and what Larian's up to." Nadine's brows raised in surprise at the mention of Larian, but she didn't inquire.
"A-all I know is that Larian and Derrick wanted the ruin dug out because of something that's in it," the Redguard began quickly. "I-I listened in one day, heard Larian and Derrick talking about 'magical energies'. I... I could have sworn I heard them mention 'Vile', too, but-"
Mia's eyes flashed, and Adalla, who had been standing guard, almost dropped her blade.
"Say that again," Mia hissed.
"Th-they... mentioned 'Vile'?" Nadine looked very fearful for her life, and Neria's grip on the arrow tightened; she feared Mia would release the bowstring and shoot Nadine if she didn't. She was not disappointed; Mia's fingers released the bowstring, and it twanged audibly against Neria's gauntlet, but the arrow remained in place.
"As in Clavicus Vile?" Adalla whispered.
"I-I... y-yes. Yes, I heard 'Clavicus' after a time," Nadine murmured. "But... but wait, isn't he one of-"
"The Daedric Princes," Adalla said with a nod. "He's one I've... I've worked with in the past... and because of that, he has a grudge." Neria and Nadine were both surprised to hear this. "Last I knew... he was trying to invade Tamriel. Mia and I stopped him before he could succeed, but-"
"H-hold on," Nadine said quickly. "D-doesn't that statue in the Imperial City prevent...?"
"One would think, but..." Adalla looked troubled, and was hesitant to continue speaking, as well. "...Vile did get into Apocrypha once... there's no telling what secrets he learned... and if he's up to something now, it can't be good..."
"We gotta get this information back t'Ulfric," Mia said firmly. "If Vile's plannin' t'invade Tamriel, we're gonna need an army t'scour Skyrim for Larian and what's-his-face..." She glanced at Nadine.
"Derrick. Larian didn't like him, or trust him much. He gave me a bad feeling, as well... like he had some other motive." The Redguard looked at Neria. "Take me with you. I-I'll tell Ulfric everything I know. I-if everything Larian's doing is for the purpose of getting a Daedric Prince into Tamriel, I-I want nothing to do with it. I'd rather die than help her reach that goal."
"No," Mia said stiffly. "Ya can stay here and rot for all ya done so far." Before she could say anything further, though, Neria had snatched the steel dagger Mia had dropped and extended it to Nadine. "What the fuck do ya think yer-"
"She may know more," Neria interrupted. She locked eyes with Nadine, who took the dagger with shaking hands. "I'll keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't turn traitor on us, and we'll turn her in the moment we reach Ulfric. We'll bind her once we're out of the ruin."
"I-I won't run, or hurt you," Nadine began slowly, "b-but if you think it's best, then... then I won't argue it."
Mia and Adalla exchanged concerned glances. When Mia looked back at Neria, her gaze was hard.
"If she does anythin' funny, I'm killin' ya both," she growled. "We ain't got time t'waste bein' merciful t'bandits or those what sympathize with 'em." With that, she turned away and stalked out of the prison area; Adalla caught up to her moments later.
"Th-thank you," Nadine said softly. She looked as if she was contemplating embracing Neria, but extended her hand toward her instead. "You... you know Larian. M-mentioning her name wasn't just..."
"Larian's my older sister," Neria said solemnly. "To hear she's involved in all of this... it breaks my heart, knowing she's..." She took Nadine's hand and gave it a shake.
"There... there was something else... I overheard..." Nadine paused briefly. "It... sounded like Larian didn't know why she was doing what was being asked of her... she kept asking Derrick to explain. It seemed like he knew full well what they were working toward, though... because he kept telling her she didn't need to worry about it."
Hearing that her sister was probably oblivious brought equal parts relief and horror to Neria. Her sister wasn't devoted to bringing Vile into Tamriel, then... but at the same time, she was in well over her head.
"W-we should get going," Nadine said after a time. "Th-they're about to lose us."
"Right." She gestured for the Redguard to move ahead of her. "Stay in front of me. I trust you more than Mia and Adalla do, but I don't trust you enough."
"Not surprising," Nadine chuckled weakly. "I'll give you no reason to distrust me, though... promise."
A.N. - Nadine's got a loyalty to Larian - and she's not going to wrong her friend's younger sister. Even though she probably deserves it for trusting a bandit she just met. For weird reasons. (I contemplated Mia shooting Nadine in the head before Neria could grab the arrow, then strut around going 'whatcha gonna do, eh? whatcha gonna do, eh?', but decided against it because then they'd draw all the living Falmer's attention... and that's game over, even for Mia.
Ah, the Augur. Long and short, I like the Augur's character as established in my story (albeit he seems to be something of an oracle, no?), though that's not a knock on Bethesda's oracle- I mean Augur. (*cough*) I also like Elsera, so writing their exchange was pretty fun. I contemplated throwing in a bit of violence, but really, how would that end against a disembodied voice/spirit? Not well for Elsera, I can guess that. (It makes me wonder if the Augur's actually capable of fighting with spells... hmm...)
Also, in case anyone's curious, yes, I am going to be releasing the rest of Eventide, to chapters at a time, on a daily basis now that it's finished. Why? Because why not? The suspense is killing even ME, and I WROTE the damn story!
-Spiritslayer
