If Volund had been forced to pick a single word to describe Saarthal, it would be "mess." The ruins here were much more, well, ruined than many other ancient Nordic sites he had seen. Broken stone, rotted or burned wood, and smashed ceramics seemed to be the order of the day. Rickety walkways, clearly built recently, provided the only way to get around much of the area. Volund gritted his teeth each time he set foot on one. The Mages of Winterhold were many things, but carpenters they were not.
Volund had been listening to a kindly and only slightly senile old mage by the name of Tolfdir explain the history of Saarthal. The Dragonborn knew the history already from the legends, but Tolfdir had a way of making it sound much more academic – and boring. Lydia poked him, and he realized he had been paying more attention to the walkways than to Tolfdir's rambling, and failed to answer a question the mage had asked.
"O-of course, yes, that sounds…" he trailed off. Tolfdir smiled vaguely at him.
"My thane means that we are very much ready to begin. Thank you, Tolfdir," Lydia finished for him. The old man smiled and used a still-functioning lever to raise a metal gate, gesturing for them to proceed once it had screeched to a halt.
Beyond it, Volund saw the dragon language writing he had been called in to translate. He was mildly disappointed when none of the words seemed to call out to him with power as "Fus" had. He shook off the thought, however, and proceeded to translate the wordy message. Lydia, half listening, wandered around the room, inspecting various things as he talked.
"Noble Nord, traveler here, know that you have found Saarthal. Though its eye was clouded by a night of tears, redress has been made and security found. The eye of Saarthal is now upon you. Beware, and tamper not with…"
Volund was cut off by two shrieks. The first was of metal bars grinding shrilly into place across an opening nearby. The second was from Lydia, now trapped inside a small alcove behind those bars.
"Lydia! What happened?"
Lydia's hand trembled as she turned it toward him, revealing a large amulet. Her voice shook as she finally spoke.
"My thane, I… I didn't mean to move it, I touched it and it came off the wall and the bars shut and now I'm trapped…" Her voice trailed off as she panted rapidly for breath, eyes darting around her makeshift cell.
Tolfdir was a study in contrast to her rising hysterics. He stepped over the bars and spoke in a voice just as calm as when he was giving his mind-numbing lectures.
"My dear, may I see that amulet?" She managed to hold it up to show him the face of it. There were no words or any other instructions, but he seemed to see something in it which satisfied him. With a small smile, he said, "Why don't you try putting it on?"
Lydia, still taking rapid, shallow breaths, managed to convince her shaking hands to slip the amulet around her neck. Immediately, a section of wall behind her began to glow and pulse. She stared at it, dumbfounded.
"Remarkable! There appears to be some sort of resonance between you and the wall. I wonder what effect a spell might have upon it?" Tolfdir urged.
"I can't… I'm not a mage…" Lydia stammered, until Volund stepped up to the bars, reached through, and grabbed her hand.
"You can do this, Lydia. Just remember the campfire. Calm down, focus, and just start with a fire spell on the wall. It will be ok."
Whether his voice had soothed her or she was simply too obedient to disobey him even in a panic, Volund didn't know, but Lydia did squeeze her eyes tightly shut, take a few deeper breaths, and then project a small stream of fire toward the wall. As soon as it hit, the wall crumbled, revealing a passageway behind it. At the same instant, the bars across the hallway retracted, freeing Lydia. She bolted outside of what had been her cell, then dropped to her knees with her eyes shut.
Volund walked to her, knelt beside her, and put what he hoped to be a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away from him. Frowning, he drew back. In a few moments, she rose, shook herself, and appeared ready to move on. She wouldn't meet his eye.
"I'm ready, my thane. I'm sorry."
"It's fine, Lydia. If you need time…"
"No! I'm ready," she said firmly, then mumbled, "my thane," apologetically.
Disturbed by her unusual behavior, Volund nevertheless let the subject drop for the moment. He was going to finish reading the inscription, but noticed that Tolfdir seemed to have forgotten all about it. He was actually starting down the new tunnel, muttering to himself about how remarkable something or other was.
"Something tells me he's going to need some help in there," Volund said. "I'd better follow, but if you…"
Again, Lydia interrupted him. "I'm ready," was all she said, then strode ahead of her thane, through her temporary cell and into the tunnel beyond, with chin thrust high in front of her.
And we're back in business once more! I've been suffering massive writer's block lately, but some direction (and some free time) finally came to me, so we'll go with it! I hope to have several more chapters ready this week.