Chapter 15 – All Hallows
"We'll stay up here," Captain Pasqual said. "Extra line of defence – just in case"
"Alright" Staada replied. "See you on the other side"
Staada, Halisman and Ariel began to descend the stairway onto the rope bridge, with Assurrani still watching out for threats and bringing up the rear.
By this point, Camri and Latta had reached the far end of the rope bridge and had begun descending the winding spiral staircase that was cut into the rock of the enormous cavern. Camri noticed a wide hole in the cavern wall near its ceiling – was there another way out of the cave?
The spiral staircase ended on a wide viewing platform that gave Camri and Latta their first view of the base of the remarkable tower – what would have been its summit were it the right way up. The tower ended in a cone-shaped point, attached to the top of which was an iron mounting which held the Mantella in place, similar to the plinths used to contain Varla and Welkynd stones in Ayleid ruins.
The Mantella itself was an incredible sight – a gemstone about the size of the human head, a lurid azure colour, which radiated with similar-coloured light, and had a powerful aura of unmistakable evil around it. Even from the viewing platform, the pair could see that a section had been cut from the Mantella – the gemstone used to create the Necromancer's Amulet.
The only access to the Mantella seemed to be a precarious stone bridge that led across the yawning chasm to the top of the cylindrical section of the tower – there seemed to be no way to actually get to the stone itself…
As Camri and Latta marvelled at the sight of the stone, the others joined them on the viewing platform. Assurrani, Halisman and Staada gazed reverently at the stone, but Ariel was glancing nervously around the cave.
"What is it, Ariel?" Camri asked.
"A lot of life around. There are many living things above us – too spread out to be the Battlemages. And there seems to be people inside the tower"
"I knew we weren't getting out of this without a fight" Assurrani remarked.
"Alright, we don't have much time," Camri said with sudden authority. "Give me some cover. I'm going for it"
Camri then handed a bottle of potion to Ariel – the strongest intelligence- and magicka-fortifying potion he had ever created.
"Catch me if I fall"
With Ariel following him, Camri then began gingerly crossing the stone bridge. He stopped halfway.
"Staada, you'd better come over here too," he called back to the viewing platform. "You need to escape as soon as you can"
The Golden Saint nodded and followed the other two onto the narrow bridge – it was barely a foot wide, with no guardrails, nothing to stop a single misplaced foot sending one plunging down into the bottomless abyss.
Camri reached the end of the bridge, which widened out, then forked and joined to the tower in two places, leaving a large gap in the centre of the bridge. Then, it suddenly made sense to Camri as he saw a series of handholds cut into the side of the tower. Above the handholds was a carving depicting nine elongated diamonds – Varla Stone-like shapes, the third of which from the left was inlaid with a sapphire, along with another Daedric inscription, which Ariel quickly translated.
"The Third Stone of Ada-Mantia. The way to the Stone matches the path to White Gold and High Royalty," Ariel read. "What does High Royalty mean?"
"It's what 'Chim-el Adabal' translates from Ayleid to Cyrodillic into – the Stone of High Royalty," Camri explained. "I've never seen it referred to by that name before though. This is some serious shit, ladies"
"Don't I know it" Ariel remarked as Camri clambered onto the handholds. Ariel swallowed every drop of the potion Camri had given her – she was going to need it.
Camri descended the handholds quickly, noticing that they continued onto the conical peak of the tower. He couldn't help feeling that at any moment one would reveal itself to be some sort of trap that would plunge him into the bottomless pit…
Camri reached the last of the handholds, about a yard away from the Mantella's mounting.
"Ariel, you're going to have to catch me," Camri said as he saw the mounting. In order to hold it in place, the Mantella was clamped into place by a mechanical iron clasp, the release lever of which was set into the stone next to the mounting. If one wanted the Mantella, one would have to release the clasp with one hand whilst grabbing the Mantella with the other – leaving no hands free to hold oneself in position.
Taking a deep breath, Camri clambered onto the mounting and grabbed the mounting securely with his right hand, reaching up with his left hand and flicking the clasp with his index finger.
Camri Everlight fell.
But after falling for a few yards, something incredible happened, as he suddenly stopped, hovering in mid-air, before he began to seemingly levitate back up to the bridge.
As Camri's feet touched solid ground, Ariel's spell wore off. Camri breathed a sigh of relief, holding up the Mantella for the other two to behold.
No sooner had he landed, however, than things began to happen.
The entire conical top section of the tower simply detached and fell off, plummeting into the bottomless cave. At the same moment, a hidden doorway in the tower's flank, just above the handholds, sprung open.
Then, the bridge suddenly folded on some unseen hinge at its walkway end, collapsing into a shadowy recess, leaving only the fork-shaped section attached to the tower. This meant that Camri, Staada and Ariel were stranded on the tower, this mysterious doorway the only way out.
To make matters worse, the group then heard Captain Pasqual calling down from the chamber above the cavern.
"Hostiles! Lots of them!"
Camri's blood ran cold.
"They're in the tower too," Ariel said suddenly. "But there's another way…"
Ariel indicated the handholds. Had the top section of the tower been concealing a hidden escape route?
"Get out of here!" Camri called to Latta, Assurrani and Halisman. "We'll see you back in Whiterun!"
"I hope you're right about this, Ariel" Staada said, nervously eyeing the handrungs.
Camri glanced a knowing gaze at Staada – Ariel was never wrong.
"There's two paths through the tower," Ariel explained. "A spiral staircase, and a laddered shaft that leads up its centre. The two routes don't meet until you get to the top of the tower, or the bottom…"
"Ariel, give me the lecture on architecture later," Camri said, stowing the Mantella in his backpack and clambering onto the handholds. "Follow me!"
--
Assurrani watched the three tiny figures, dwarfed against the might of the tower, clambering around to its base, one eye constantly fixed on the mysterious opening that they had avoided…
"We can't hold them!" Pasqual shouted from upstairs. "You've got company!"
"Go, you two" Assurrani said to Latta and Halisman. "I've got you covered"
A necromancer raced down from the stairwell at the top of the cavern and onto the bridge, but with a spectacular hyperbolic shot Assurrani nailed them in the side of the head, killing them instantly. Latta and Halisman bolted for the walkway that led back up to the bridge. Quickly reloading, the Dunmer fired across the cavern, taking down a zombie as it emerged from the opening in the side of the tower.
"Hurry up, you three!" Assurrani shouted. A necromancer appeared on the rope bridge at the top of the chamber and spotted Staada as she climbed onto the underhanging section of the tower, the most hazardous part of the climb, and cast a fireball, only for Assurrani to once again neutralise it with his incredible marksmanship skills. At that moment, four necromancers filed out of the doorway in the side of the tower… just as it slammed shut behind them.
They were cutting off all of the escape routes…
Camri had reached the centre of the tower first, finding that the handholds led onto a ladder that vaulted up a wide shaft running all the way up the height of the tower. Climbing rapidly, after about ten yards of ascent he found a small button located in a square recess. Guessing correctly that it would seal the route behind them, Camri waited until Ariel and Staada had climbed into the shaft and pressed it – sure enough, a stone hatch slid into place, covering the base of the shaft.
"Watch above us, Ariel," Camri said as he resumed the climb. "If there's anyone else in this shaft we're in trouble"
Latta and Halisman fought their way across the rope bridge; fighting off skeletons and armoured necromancers, making quick headway, before they saw something that made their blood run cold. A necromancer, standing at the end of the rope bridge, holding a summoned dagger to the ropes, with a look of true evil etched on his face…
Suddenly, the necromancer was thrown forwards by a colossal bolt of lightning, sent flailing, dead, down into the abyss. At the end of the bridge, his ebony armour covered in blood and scorch marks, was Captain Pasqual.
"Get off the bridge!" Pasqual called to them. The pair bolted for the end of the bridge and reached the safety of the stairwell leading out to the large circular chamber above the cave. They had just made it off the bridge when a necromancer raced down the stairwell and hurled a fireball at them – Pasqual and Latta both leapt to the ground to avoid the fireball, which sailed over them and slammed into the rope bridge, igniting it in an instant. After a few seconds, the ropes gave way and the burning bridge fell. The only way out of the cavern.
--
Assurrani had been fighting off the four necromancers assembled on the edge of the tower when he had seen the bridge burn. He had just skilfully neutralised a bolt of magic with his bow. As he watched in horror as the bridge fell into the chasm, he noticed that the necromancers were doing the same. They were trapped too – sitting ducks on the tiny platform.
They did this to me, Assurrani thought as he reloaded his bow and fired, scoring a headshot and hitting one of the necromancers, killing them instantly. They'll pay for leaving me to die in this Godforsaken place.
Assurrani fired again, hitting another of the doomed necromancers, leaving only two. But as he reloaded, something happened that made Falas Assurrani feel an emotion he had never experienced when about to kill someone. Doubt.
The two necromancers were both Bretons, one male and one female, and both quite young. The female took the male's hand and squeezed it tightly.
What if that was you? Assurrani thought to himself. What if it was you, Camri and Ariel being mercilessly picked off one by one?
Assurrani lowered his bow and placed it on the ground. They were in the same situation as him – trapped in this cave for the rest of their lives.
Then, one of the necromancers called to him.
"Press that button!"
Assurrani looked around. In the chaos, he had not noticed a small recession concealing a square button opening in the floor of the walkway. Assurrani punched the button with his fist, and the bridge that had once led to the centre of the cavern, to the base of the tower, re-emerged from its recess.
Who in Oblivion designed this place? Assurrani thought to himself.
As soon as the bridge snapped into place, the door in the tower's side re-opened, allowing the necromancers – and Assurrani – to escape.
"Stay well ahead of me or I might change my mind about sparing your lives" Assurrani called to the necromancers as he stepped cautiously onto the bridge, keeping his bow trained on the Breton couple at all times.
--
Latta watched all this from the walkway, whilst Halisman and Pasqual had returned upstairs to rejoin the battle – her shock at seeing Assurrani stranded in the cave had given way to surprise, then relief as she had seen him make his escape after sparing the lives of two necromancers.
She had also just seen an assassin have serious doubts about his profession.
Camri, Staada and Ariel could see a tiny speck of daylight above them, a ring of light encircling a circular manhole cover. They had reached the top of the shaft.
"It comes out on top of the circular room, then leads back in through another trapdoor," Ariel said with dismay. "We're not out of this yet"
But then, Camri reached for a rung and his fingers clasped around a hidden trigger stone. Camri braced himself, dreading whatever trap he had just triggered, when a square doorway opened in the tower wall opposite him, looking out over the cavern. Camri realised exactly where they were – at the top of the cavern – and he could see a series of hand-rungs leading across the ceiling of the supercavern to the opening in its wall that he had spotted earlier. Camri ushered the other two up into the doorway, which led onto a small lip of stone reaching out over the cavern, giving them enough room to all stand.
"This is where you get off, Staada," Camri said, handing the Mantella to the Golden Saint.
As this happened, Ariel noticed a carving above the doorway, the same carving of nine diamonds that had been at the base of the tower. Only this time, none were inlaid.
"What are these nine diamonds?" Ariel asked. "I've seen this carving before, but not in this temple"
"In a dream?" Camri asked.
"No, in the catacombs beneath White Gold Tower, remember? When the Mages' Guild hired us to take out that den of vampires?"
Camri remembered the quest – it had paid very well – but could not recall the carving, however he had no doubt in what Ariel was telling him. Thoughts of the Nine Divines and the nine-pointed Chim-el Adabal, which had been referenced in the carving at the base of the tower, flashed through his mind.
Staada took Camri's backpack, containing the Mantella, and placed it over her own back.
"I'm pretty sure this cave leads to the river," Camri said, using his excellent sense of direction. "It must run under this temple because we heard that Battlemage fall into a fast-flowing body of water. Use this potion if you have to go underwater at any point… Are you sure you can do this, Staada?"
"It's not just Tamriel at stake here, Camri, it's my people too," Staada said poignantly. "I see little choice in the matter"
Staada embraced Camri, who kissed her gently on the lips. "Don't let us down, Commander"
Staada then did the same to Ariel, and then climbed out onto the handrungs, making quick progress across the cavern, until she reached the tunnel and disappeared into it.
"Now we worry about ourselves," Camri said to Ariel as he began climbing the shaft again. Soon, he reached the trapdoor at the top of the shaft and, propping himself up with his legs, used both arms to heave it free and allow sunlight to flood into the shaft. Camri climbed out onto the roof of the temple then helped Ariel up.
"Something doesn't feel right" Ariel said quietly, almost to herself.
"I know what you mean," Camri said. "I get the feeling we should probably return the Mantella to its resting place as soon as possible. That might be difficult, considering that its mounting has just fallen into a bottomless abyss"