Cayn P.O.V

…x.X.x…

It took us almost an hour to find the entrance to the Midden. It hadn't been included on Mirabelle's tour of the College, and Briani insisted that we didn't reveal our plans to anyone.

"You heard what Ancano was saying to the Monk." She said. "I'd rather not have him- or anyone else- questioning us." There was a flicker of fear in her dark eyes, but I didn't argue. Whether that was her true motivation or not, it would be better not to have anyone suspicious.

After frustratingly long search, we found an old trapdoor outside in the main courtyard. It was nestled against the half-wall that guarded against accidental falls over the edge into the sea, protected from the snow by the arched covering over the walkway. Briani knelt down, putting a slender hand on the handle.

"I… I guess this is it." She muttered, more to herself than to me. She pulled on the door and it swung open with surprising ease, the worn wood creaking ever so slightly. I looked into the opening and saw an icy passage, snow crusting the stone walls. Briani hesitated slightly, and I dropped down ahead of her. The passage was dim, but there was a single torch on the wall. I stepped forward into the gloom, alert for any nastiness. I heard the soft plop of Briani hitting the floor, and she pattered quietly behind me while we crept cautiously through the tunnel.

We had barely gone a hundred paces when we came to a larger room, leading down into a pit of sorts. There was also a small staircase leading upwards to the side. I leaned out over the pit, and saw that it was almost completely ice, the passage leading from it brightly lit as if the sun was shining right through the frozen walls.

"Which way now?" I asked, my voice echoing eerily off the high stone walls. She glanced up at the dark stairway, but stepped toward the pit.

"I would think we want to go farther in." She said uncertainly. "I say we go this way."

There were no stairs down, so we had to drop the distance into the pit. I skidded on the slippery ice, nearly falling over the edge onto the hard floor below. I regained my balance with a yelp, grabbing onto the wall. Briani hopped in after me, landing lightly on the balls of her feet.

"Watch out." She said, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "It's slippery."

I glared at her, unable to keep the smirk off my face. "Thanks. I hadn't noticed."

We climbed down the stairs curling around the wall, and were startled by a lone draugr leaping out at us from a corner. I whipped a firebolt at it even as its mouth opened to roar at us, striking it in the neck. It flew backwards and it the wall with a sickening crack.

"Tolfdir wasn't kidding when he said this isn't the nicest place." Briani said, eyes wide, while I approached it and struck it in the head to ensure it wouldn't come back. "We'll definitely need to be more careful."

I nodded agreement, and we continued again in silence. A dark tunnel lead from one side of the pit, and we turned down it, walking until we came upon a heavy oak door. It opened into a musty room filled with low stone arches. I heard a familiar hissing noise and ducked down, pulling Briani down with me.

"Frostbite spiders." I hissed, readying a flame spell in my hand. "Be careful they don't poison you, or you won't be walking for at least an hour." I peeked around the corner, and saw the spider and two skeletons wandering idly in the room. I leaned out, making sure to target the spider. My fireball struck it square in the face, and it collapsed with a shriek. Briani leapt out around me, sending two shock spell into the skeletons. Their life force dissipated, sending the bones clattering to the ground. I grimaced in disgust. "I hate skeletons. Disgusting creatures."

The room had no obvious exits, so we investigated to see if there were any secrets to be found. Briani called me from the other end of the room. When I got back to her she was standing in front of the smoldering ashes of what I assumed used to be a wall of spider silk.

"They hid the exit." She explained. "Nuisances."

We stepped through and continued, interrupted only by two more skeletons in another chamber. We navigated confusing twists and turns, trying to delve deeper into the Midden. The only interesting thing we came upon was a strange circular room. In the center was a strange metal gauntlet, with a glowing daedric 'o' on it.

"Ahhh…." I eyed the blood staining the ground around the gauntlet. "Something doesn't feel right here. The daedra are not to be messed with; we should continue."

We skirted the artifact, taking care not to disturb anything. Past the room, icy stone passages continued, only the occasional skeleton making itself known. Several bright ice caverns pocked the underground system, and we stopped to rest in several of them, downing stamina and health potions.

We traipsed on until we came upon another heavy door. However, this time it wouldn't budge. I pulled with all my might, but the door seemed almost supernaturally solid.

"Your perseverance will only lead you to disappointment."

The ghostly voice made me jump. It surrounded us and I shivered, feeling as if it was winding around me, the sound reminding me of metal on stone.

"Hello?" Briani called. No answer.

I frowned, tugging on the door again. I was about to consider breaking out the lockpicks Brynjolf had given me when the voice spoke again.

"Still you persist? Very well, you may enter."

The door practically flew open, and I just about went tumbling with it. The room behind it was small, dominated by a large pool of blue light similar to the focus points around the College. I studied it briefly before deciding it wasn't particularly interesting. I was about to turn to Briani and see if we should go another way when a blinding light filled the room. A massive orb of glowing blue magic, so bright I had to turn away for a moment. I choked at the sight.

Briani blinked, shielding her eyes with hands. She squinted past her fingers into the light. "Are… are you the Augur of Dunlain?"

The voice echoed around us once more, this time acutely focused from the ball of light. "I am that which you have been seeking." The voice suddenly became annoyed. "Your efforts are in vain. It has already begun. But those who have sent you have not told you what they seek. What you seek."

I joined Briani in squinting at the being I now assumed to be the Augur. "And what exactly are we seeking?"

"You seek that which all who wield magic seek. Knowledge. You shall find this: Knowledge will corrupt. It will destroy. It will consume. You seek shelter in knowledge. You will not find it. The Thalmor sought the same thing, and it will lead to his end as it has so many others."

I gaped. Thalmor? Did he mean Ancano had been down here? "We aren't the first ones to come see you?"

"No." The Augur said simply. "Though you may be the last. The one who calls himself Ancano has sought my knowledge as well, thought very different questions. You path differs from most. You are being guided, pushed towards something." The ghostly voice somehow took on a warmer tone. "It is a good path, one untraveled by many. It is a path that can save your College. I will tell you what you need to know to follow it further."

There was only one question in my mine. "What do we need?"

"You, and those aiding you, wish to know more about the Eye of Magnus. You wish to avoid the disaster of which you are not yet aware. To see through Magnus' eye without being blinded, you need his staff." He spoke slightly more quickly now. "Events spiral quickly towards the inevitable center. You must take this knowledge to your Arch-Mage."

The light dimmed before I could ask more. It dissipated, leaving the room once more in darkness. I shot an uneasy glance at Briani.

"We should hurry back." I said hoarsely. This was not good news at all. Not only was disaster inevitable, but Ancano was lurking around too. Briani's eyes held something akin to fear, but I didn't dare ask her about it.

In fact, if I hadn't been so preoccupied with the new information what happened next may not have befallen me. We exited the room, and, upon noticing a icy tunnel cutting into the wall, decided to use it as a short cut.

I didn't realize at first. I heard the shifting of ice, and assumed an snow bank had slid off under its own weight. The hiss should have alerted me, but I wasn't paying enough attention. The ice wraith slithered along the wall, and leapt at me at the same time Briani's shout tore through the cavern. I jumped back, whipping out a flame spell, but the wraith was much faster than the spiders and skeletons. It whirled through the air, hissing and spitting at us. I reached down for my sword, convinced that it would be easier to strike at the creature, when it took its opportunity. It flew forward, it's icy claws and teeth grasping for me. I swung my sword haphazardly with a gasp, feeling it connect with the tail end of the wraith. It shrieked in pain and anger, and I felt an icy pain explode across my shoulder and arm.

I swung the blade again, this time connecting with the wraiths head. It burst into frozen shards, scattering across the floor. My arm was burning, pain pumping through my body in a way that instantly told me something was wrong. I reached feebly into my pack, looking for a cure poison potion.

Nothing.

The room was spinning, and I could feel a cold pressure in my head. I don't remember falling, but somehow my legs must have buckled because suddenly I was on the floor, the freezing ground pressed against the back of my head. I heard Briani's voice, but it seemed faraway.

"Cayn! Cayn, please look at me! I don't have any potions, we need to get you back now." She sounded insistent, panic lacing her words. "Cayn, please." The more time passed, the more desperate her voice became.

I felt the ground sliding beneath me. Briani was much too small to carry me. She must be dragging me, I thought groggily to myself. I heard her yelling for me to stay awake, to keep my eyes open.

I tried. I did. But the blackness was a comforting blanket, numbing the pain in my body. I pushed against it, but just as I heard shouting, and someone calling for help, the wave descended and I floated away into unconsciousness.

…x.X.x…

Am I dead?

I felt heavy. Everything was cold, and my body ached everywhere. I tried to lift my arm, but the ache became an angry throbbing. I decided that my first mission would be to open my eyes.

No.

Light shone into my eyes, and I squinted away from it, wondering foggily for a moment if I was back in the room with the Augur. But my vision adjusted quickly, and I saw that I was lying in bed in a small room. The walls and ceiling were stone, and a eerie blue light lit up the space. I was back in the College. I tried to prop myself up against the headboard but the sudden pain in my arm caused me to sink back onto the bed with a sharp gasp.

"Don't move! You'll open up your arm again." Briani's voice. I felt gentle hands on my arm, pulling bandages away, and felt a cold substance being smeared on the wound. I turned my head with some effort, still lightheaded. Briani was rewrapping my arm.

"Sorry. I couldn't heal it with the poison in your system, and by the time we got back here it was too late for a potion." She smiled, but exhaustion lined her face. "It'll only be a few more hours before all the poison is gone and we can heal your arm. You'll have a scar, but it shouldn't be that bad. How do you feel?"

I groaned. "Like I got clubbed in the head and flew halfway around Skyrim."

She chuckled. "That's ice wraith venom for you. I should have known there would be some down there." She looked down at her hands. "I talked to Mirabelle about the staff the Augur mentioned."

"Yeah?"

"Some 'Synod' researchers were here asking about it." She shook her head. "Mirabelle didn't know anything about it, but she said that they were headed to a dwemer ruin after some sort of lead. Mzulft? There is some sort of observatory there or something."

I sighed. "We have to go track them down?"

There was a pained expression on her face. "You don't have to go. I'll understand if you don't want to."

This time I did sit up, indignation sketching itself across my features. "Why in the world would I not want to go?"

"Well," Briani said, her voice taking on an apologetic tone. "We need to leave as soon as possible. Which means not only will you not get a chance to recover, but we'll be trekking up a snowy mountain south of Windhelm. It's not exactly my idea of a good time. If you want you can stay, maybe research the Eye and the staff. It's a dwemer ruin, for Talos' sake. Not exactly a good place to rest your arm."

I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up my throat. "Did I ever tell you about my trip through Blackreach?"

She looked at me quizzically. "No."

I described the massive ruin to her. The sprawling underground tunnels, and the mesmerizing main chamber, big enough to hold an ancient town bigger than Solitude. She stared at me.

"Oh." Her voice was quiet, her eyes wide. "I guess this is nothing then."

"Not if it's your first dwemer ruin." I said hastily. "If we're leaving tomorrow then you need to get some sleep. You look exhausted."

She yawned, proving my point. "Good idea." She mumbled. "I guess I'll see you later. I'll tell Colette to look at your arm later. 'Night"

"'Night."

After she left I dropped back into sleep, enjoying the relief it gave my tired body. The next time I woke Colette was shaking me softly, and I felt the noticeable absence of pain.

"Hey." She said. "I'm going to heal your arm now."

"Don't see why you needed to wake me up for that." I groaned.

She chuckled. "Thanks for finally getting Briani to go to sleep. She refused to leave until you woke up."

"What?" I gaped at her, unable to keep the surprise off my face. "Why not?"

Colette shrugged. "Maybe she was beating herself up over it? Either way, you should count yourself lucky. She saved your life."

"Yeah." My voice was hoarse. I leaned back while Colette healed my arm. After she left I sat swiveling my arm, thinking on what she had said.

It seemed so small, but I couldn't help but be affected by it. The exhaustion in her eyes was obvious now. But why? One thing kept returning to my mind, but I refused to think about. It couldn't be possible.

But I dared to hope.

…x.X.x…

Dawww

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Will they survive the challenges of Mzulft? Will they ever consider their feelings?

Probably, but you'll have to read to find out :P Please R+R!

~ElderSkie