Chapter Three

Arbell smile to herself in self-satisfaction as she watched Lucidius and Jo'Rakha force the dwemer door open. She wasn't surprised that the other two legionnaires mistrusted her, or that most of the group mistrusted her. It was one of the consequences of choosing to study what she did. It wasn't her problem that none of them could see the valuable intricacies of necromancy.

At first she had thought that she would be the only person of controversy in their small group, but now she was just another skilled individual after the appearance of Ladia. Arbell couldn't fathom why everyone seemed so wary of her, however. She was a vampire, sure, but she seemed civil, unlike most of those marauding madmen who preyed on travelers, and they could still claim to be alive.

As Arbell watched Ladia, she found her hand drifting unconsciously to the hilt of her sword. When she caught it, she crossed her arms across her chest, forcing her hands under her armpits. It seemed that even she was not immune to the prejudices and preconceptions of the living, even after her years of working with the dead. She was completely enraptured by the vampire, since she was one of the first creatures that she had ever come across who was not a bloodthirsty monster, and the only one who was not actively trying to kill her. That deserved a great deal of respect.

After getting the door open, Lucidius and Jo'Rakha took a moment to catch their breath, then motioned for everyone to start through the door. "I'd rather get down there as quickly as possible. Who knows what changes nightfall would bring," was Lucidius' explanation.

"I will scout out ahead," Ladia announced as she stepped towards the portal, but the Nord, Valund, lunged forward and caught her arm.

"No you ain't! I was hired as the guide and that is what I will do!" he announced stubbornly. Ladia stepped aside, allowing him to pass, a bemused expression on her face. Arbell detected a slight waver to the Nord's voice. He acted tough, but it wasn't hard to see how afraid he truly was. The poor fool was completely out of his depth.

Arbell wondered at his insistence. It seemed as if he was trying to impress the vampire, even when it was obvious that she and Lucidius were an item. There was every chance he didn't even notice what he was doing.

He stepped through the portal first. Everyone waited in silence for him to call out that it was clear. After nearly five minutes, he did so. Arbell waited until almost everyone had crawled through the hole. Only Muz-Ra, the young, naïve Argonian woman from Winterhold, stood waiting for her.

"Are you coming?" she asked plaintively. Unlike the Nord, this one did not hide her fear. Arbell respected that, because the girl had the courage to follow them, despite it.

"Of course, just letting everyone feel out the area first. I'm here as support, not for the front line."

"But you have that," Muz-Ra said, pointing at Arbell's sword.

Arbell laughed. "Of course I do. I wouldn't be much of a spellsword without my blade, now would I? I simply prefer the use of my magic over the use of my blade. Now, if you would be willing to help me, I need to get this body through that hole." Arbell pointed to one of the fallen bandits. The one she wanted was a large Orc wearing a full set of steel armor and a massive greatsword lying a few feet away. It looked like he had been killed by having his throat cut.

Muz-Ra recoiled at the request. "What? Why do you need that?" She took a step back from Arbell, eyeing her warily. It seemed what little trust she had gained was gone.

"Oh come now, you lived at the College of Winterhold. Surely you know that necromancy is no longer frowned upon. Besides which, the reanimated do not have the dexterity required to crawl through such small openings. So, I need to push him through. I would really appreciate the help."

Muz-Ra remained silent as her gaze flicked from Arbell to the corpse. Arbell shifted her weight and rested her free hand on her hip, her other hand coiled around the polished wood of her staff. It was molded in the shape of a golden dragon's head. Arbell had owned it for years, ever since she had wrested it from the cold dead grasp of a Thalmor spellcaster. The young Argonian finally nodded and moved towards the fallen Orc.

Arbell smiled and slid the staff into a loop of fabric on her back specifically designed to hold it. Together, the two women lifted the heavy bandit and maneuvered him towards the hole. Just as they arrived, Arbell heard Lucidius call for them. "Are you two coming?" His answer was the Orc's corpse tumbling through the hole.

"What the hell is that!" he swore, accompanied by the sound of clattering armor as he jumped back.

"Just some extra protection," Arbell answered as she went to retrieve the Orc's greatsword. While she did that, Muz-Ra clambered through the hole. Arbell tossed the sword after her, then climbed through. On the other side, the rest of the expedition stood in a rough semi-circle, casting disturbing glances at both her and the corpse.

"Oh come now, are all of you really that surprised?" she asked disbelievingly, "It's not like I kept my skills a secret!"

"I was expecting you to be a bit more subtle," Lucidius complained, "rather than flaunt your skills."

"Necromancy is hardly a talent of subtlety. Now you can all start onward. I shall join you momentarily. I just need a moment to work," Arbell said, waving the rest of the group onward.

Lucidius shrugged and started to walk. The others followed suit. The Nord, Valund, was the last to turn away, and Arbell could not say that she liked the look she saw in his features as he did. It wasn't one of fear, or even disgust, but rather one of hunger. For some reason, Arbell felt like the man didn't care about the fact that she was a necromancer, and all he saw was that she was a female other than the vampire.

Pushing the thoughts from her mind, Arbell focused on the corpse at her feet. She concentrated, and felt the magicka begin to course through her body, filling her with its power. She focused the power into her palms, and watched as dark shadows began to form with small wisps of energy weaving about her fingers. When the power reached the point where Arbell felt that she could burst, she released it, directing it towards the fallen corpse. As the magic left her, she felt weaker, but only momentarily as the power recharged itself.

The shadows struck the corpse, and it twitched. Slowly, the Orc shifted as the power took over control of its limbs. It got to its feet, moaning at the strain. The Orc was a fine specimen of his species. He was at least six and a half feet tall, and must have weighed almost two hundred and fifty pounds, all of it muscle. His green skin shone in the dim torchlight of the dwarven ruin, almost reflecting the shine of the bronze door. The zombie knelt over and lifted the greatsword then stood and waited for Arbell to start walking. It would follow her until the spell powering it ran out. At that point it would dissolve into ash, but Arbell had cast a very powerful spell on it: one that should last for several hours.

Arbell smiled as she followed after the rest of the group. She found them a short distance ahead, stopped by a large portal. Jo'Rakha was knelt at the lock mechanism, hard at work to open it.

"We're not even a hundred yards into the damn ruin, and we've already been stopped by a sealed door!" Valund complained, "Please tell me how any of this is going to get better!"

"We're prepared for this, Valund," Lucidius assured the Nord, "Jo'Rakha is among the best at breaking and entering that I have ever met, and he brought a healthy supply of picks along. Besides, the dwemer were only known for sealing the main entrances to their delvings, as well as the containers of their greatest treasures. Most everything else was left open."

"So we won't even get a good chance at loot," the Nord said, obviously disappointed.

"We aren't here for loot," Lucidius shot back angrily, "We have to remain focused on our goal. Only that way will we all make it through in one piece. These ruins are dangerous, and not just because of the passage of time. The dwemer built their traps to last."

Valund grumbled something unflattering in response, which Lucidius wisely chose to ignore. The two men fell silent and watched Jo'Rakha work. Within a few minutes, Arbell heard a soft click from the door.

The Khajiit stood. "Rusted it may have been, but even that is no match for me," he said, smiling as he pocketed his tools.

Lucidius nodded slowly and gestured to Nachael. "Take point, mercenary. I'll follow behind you with Valund and Ladia. Arbell and Jo'Rakha will come in next for support. Muz-Ra, take up the rear. We'll move swiftly and carefully. With luck, we'll reach our goal without any opposition."

The Redguard nodded and drew his sword. The sound of it unsheathing echoed loudly in the passageway. He stepped forward and slowly pushed the door open. He crept forward, moving slowly and watching every corner of the room. All seemed quiet as they advanced, but Arbell heard a skittering sound as they reached the center of the room.

Around the edges of the chamber were tall bronze structures that had rounded tops that contained what seemed to be small spiral doors. These opened and several bronze, skittering forms burst out of the darkness and approached the Redguard. They came at him from several different directions, but he stood his ground, sword lifted and waited for them to approach.

Arbell stood at the ready, her sword in hand, and magic gathered in her staff. She didn't even remember drawing it. As she watched, one of the small creatures launched itself at the Redguard's back. Somehow, Arbell didn't know how, Nachael sensed it coming. He spun and cleaved the thing cleanly in two. Something inside the creature sparked as his sword passed through it, making Arbell think that the things weren't actually alive. Trust the dwemer to have made some sort of machine to protect their delvings.

Nachael spun gracefully in the center of the attacking horde of spidery creatures, quickly and easily dismantling them as they attacked. Lucidius stood behind his shield, using it to ward the spiders off and thrusting at them with his blade. Even Ladia was quickly and efficiently destroying the things, blasting some with flames from her hands and simply tearing others apart with her shortsword.

Valund, on the other hand, was struggling. He already had several lacerations from the spiders, and they were starting to swarm him as he swung wildly with his axe. Arbell sighed and lashed out with her staff, sending a spike of ice clean through one of the spiders. She advanced slowly, holding her staff in front of her and keeping her sword ready to swing.

As she neared the main group, several of the spiders left their attack and focused on her. They skittered forward, only to run into the heavy blade of the Orc zombie following Arbell. It had lunged forward into the mass of spiders and started swinging, destroying several of the things with every swing of its sword. It completely ignored any wounds inflicted on it, simply attacking any of the spiders that came within its reach.

Some of the spiders ignored even the zombie and continued straight ahead, towards Arbell. She readied herself, sending another charge into her staff and bringing her blade forward. Two of the spiders leapt at the same time. Arbell sent an ice spike at one and swung her blade at the other. Before the steel of her sword could impact, Arbell felt something whiz past her ear and imbed itself in a small crystal set into the front of the spider. Instead of lunging at her, it simply fell limp to the ground, an arrow cleanly piercing the crystal.

Arbell threw a glance backwards and saw Jo'Rakha standing, his bow drawn back with another arrow ready to fly. He released, sending the arrow almost straight at Arbell. She dodged reflexively, but the arrow sailed cleanly past her to strike another spider, this one in the process of lunging at Valund. The Khajiit shot a glance at Arbell, as if to say 'we have a job to do, get to it.'

Arbell nodded at him, then turned back to face the fight. A few more shots of ice from her staff, and a few more frantic moments of hand-to-hand combat, and all of the spiders were taken out of commission, the floor was littered with their remains. In the sudden aftermath of the fight, everything was completely silent. Arbell could hear Lucidius panting. He was old to still be fighting, no matter what he said.

Valund groaned and slumped to the floor, clutching at several deep gashes in his flesh. Lucidius shot a glance at the fallen Nord, then turned to where Muz-Ra stood at the back of the group. "Help him if you can," he said simply before turning to see to the rest of the group.

The Argonian shot past Arbell and knelt beside the fallen Nord. She concentrated for a moment, then a soft white light spread from her hands to engulf Valund. Arbell watched as his flesh knit itself together under Muz-Ra's ministrations. It took scarcely two minutes until every last wound was closed. Arbell had to admit, she was impressed. Perhaps the young woman would be worth more than she thought.