Scattered

For the past ten minutes or so they had walked in silence, but Runa could not decide whether or not it was one of those awkward ones. She was well aware of her tendency to fill those with her blathering, but it wasn't out of fear of awkwardness as much as fear of boredom.

Here, though, she simply felt that they could not afford to let their guards down. Not a single hostile had assaulted them, where in most ruins you could hardly walk two steps before those fuckers harangued you. If anything, this was worse! Knowing that they were out there but refused to show themselves. Biding their time, as if playing with you. The optimistic part of her, which she rarely bothered to lend an ear to, had even suggested that perhaps this one was dysfunctional. That whatever it was that animated the automatons had been broken over time. This to Runa illustrated pretty perfectly why she never listened to that part of her.

Wishful thinking, it bore repeating, was not the Runa way.

The passageway seemed to go on forever, taking a turn to the left and then right, but always another turn right ahead. It didn't make their trek any faster that they now had to evade those brazen potential-trapdoors, traipsing around them on the slim slivers of stone on their edges. They could have simply jumped over them, of course, but had decided that this might make too much of a racket.

Ariela seemed to be absorbed in her thoughts. It was difficult to say with the woman when she was worried and when simply mulling something out in her head. Runa was hesitant to say anything, to try and strike up a conversation, not only because they were trying to be silent but because she didn't want to distract Ariela in case she was thinking about something important.

Or, just perhaps, Runa felt awkward because there was a chance that the girl was actually worrying about Erik. She didn't want to bring it up. Well, she did, but the problem was she didn't know what to say. Being honest, it wasn't really her expertise. After all, what did she know, she had never been in love.

Was that some sort of a defect in a person? No, she decided. It was just a matter of chance. She'd always been quite the expert in lovin', just not the love-sorta lovin' was all. Perhaps if there was the right person . . . But who was ever the right person? Who could she have tolerated for long enough to have a relationship with? And most of all, who would have tolerated her? Plus, settling down? Never sleeping with other people? Getting married?

No, that just ain't the Runa—

"Is there something on your mind?"

Runa looked at Ariela, feeling as though snapped out of a daydream. "Huh? No, no. Why?"

"I don't know," Ariela said. "You just seemed . . . I don't know. Troubled."

Runa grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "What? Me worry?" She hissed dismissingly. "Never."

Ariela smiled. "You don't have to pretend around me, you know."

Runa raised her brows. "Who says—"

"Runa, please."

"Alright," Runa conceded. "Maybe I ain't quite as unflappable as I present myself. It takes a keen eye to see that."

"Does it?" Ariela said. "I wonder. Or do people just never bother to say anything because you'd just deny it?"

"I wouldn't—," Runa started, then closed her mouth. Snorted. "You almost got me there."

Ariela grinned wide. It really was nice to see that.

"You should smile more."

"I should be around you more," Ariela replied.

Runa gave her a look. One of her well-rehearsed leers, in fact.

The girl blushed. "Ah, I, obviously, didn't mean it that way . . ."

Runa grinned. "Got you!"

"Don't think," Ariela said, still red faced, shaking her head. "I've forgotten your kiss."

"Oh, that," Runa said. "Guess I should say sorry about that."

"Oh, no. It's ok. I mean . . . As far as first kisses go, it could have been worse."

Runa blinked. Now she really did feel guilty. "Oh. I didn't realize . . ."

Ariela smirked. "Got you!"

They laughed. Then both covered their mouths and cast about. Nothing.

"To return to your original question," Runa said, as they carried on, "I'm alright. And in fact I was thinking if there was maybe something on your mind."

"Always. But now particularly . . . This place. I don't know. Like, it's got me . . . bewitched."

"Yeah well. The first time can be quite unsettling." Runa shrugged, casting a distasteful look about. "But you get used to the weirdness. Then you get tired of it." Then you never wanna see it again.

"I don't think it's just that. It's . . . I don't know."

Runa snorted. "Well it's doing something, alright. Don't believe I've heard you say, 'I don't know' so many times before."

Ariela cocked her a little smile. "You're implying it's making me sound dumb?"

"Well," Runa said. "I didn't wanna say it, but . . ."

Ariela snorted. They passed yet another brass square, sidling along the walls.

"I get it," Runa said. Then abruptly closed her mouth. She'd spoken without thinking. She had almost said something about Erik.

"You get what?"

"You, uh . . . Y'know, this whole place." She waved around as if that somehow made her words mean something. "For, ah, you know, a scholar. It's a big deal."

"Believe it or not," Ariela said. "I find it really hard thinking like a scholar right now."

Runa arched one brow. I wonder what's messing with your mind . . .

"I can't explain it," Ariela said. "I almost feel . . . almost feel like the place wants me to put away the analytical, thinking part of myself."

I know of another region that tends to do that.

"What?"

"What?" Runa replied.

"You were smirking."

Oh, goddammit! "Ah, nothing. Sorry. Old mind keeps slipping. I was—"

"Trying to listen?" Ariela said with a smile. "You said that once before."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"That's alright. That's in fact exactly what I mean. Do you feel it too? Somehow . . . scattered?"

Girl, always! Runa shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe?"

"It doesn't make any sense, I'll admit. Could also be the tiredness and stress doing it. And . . . this."

"And . . . ?"

"What do you mean?"

Ah, to the Void with coyness. "You and Erik?"

Ariela blushed again.

"Ah, see, I knew it! What is it about him that makes girls swoon."

Ariela frowned. "Girls?"

Runa waved a hand. "Don't worry, none that should give you any trouble. The ditzy types, usually."

"I see."

"In fact, I was wondering what you see in him, a clever lass like you."

"He's not dumb!"

"Didn't say that." They passed another square, and for second Runa almost lost her footing and fell on it. "Just, not exactly the scholarly type."

"Have you seen the scholarly types?"

Runa snorted. "Guess you might have a point there. Although, I'm pretty sure I bedded one once. Not a bad experience, either." On second thought, maybe he had been a priest? Though he certainly hadn't acted like one.

She smiled at the memory. Sam, she thought his name'd been. Quite the hazy night they'd spent together, filled with drink and skooma. A real good-time fella that one. Not much to look at, honestly, but a regular demon in the sack! And hung like one too.

"I like intelligence," Ariela said. "But I also like some . . . brawn."

"I hear ya," Runa said. "This how you always felt? Or have you discovered it here?"

"I'm not sure. Guess I've always felt it. You have to admit that Nords are pretty manly."

"Sure are. Even the women."

"I didn't mean—"

"Did I say it was a bad thing? Why should only men get to be manly anyway? Do they have some special right to it? Maybe we shouldn't even call it manly. Maybe we should call it . . ."

"Nordly?"

Runa snorted. "That's a good one. Coming from a Cyrodiilian milk-drinker no less."

Ariela laughed. "Can't drink milk, actually. It gives me gas."

"Farting. That's nordly! And." Runa belched. "Belching too."

Ariela laughed again. "Stop. The Dwemer spirits will be offended."

Runa blew out derisive air. "Bet those gopher bastards farted up a storm! Just imagine the stench in their caves." She waved an illustrating hand over her face. "Just take a look at one of the stone carvings of their mugs and tell me that's not the face of someone who just broke wind and is trying to look as if it was the next guy over!"

Ariela giggled. "Stop!"

"Oh, man!" Runa sighed. "If only I got to hear that sound more."

"Honestly," Ariela said, "I could use a laugh a bit more often."

"Then wait till you see Erik without his pants."

Ariela made a face. "Runa!"

"Just saying," Runa chuckled.

After a hesitant pause, Ariela said, "You were just . . . kidding right?"

"Ariela!" Runa cried. "Naughty."

Ariela laughed into her hand. "You're the one who made me think of . . . it."

"His cock," Runa said.

"Well . . . yes." Another pause. "So, is it . . .?"

Runa scowled. "I ain't peeked! You're just gonna have to find out all about that your very own self!"

We could be doing it right now! Ariadne thought, incensed.

Strange how little time it had taken her. Going from thinking of Erik as an insufferable oaf to suddenly wanting to get along with him, to flirting and then getting annoyed with him again and thus back to oaf. Then some more flirting and subsequently feeling dismissed, then oaf once more, then feeling as though she could crush him like bug under her heel to . . . well, to this—sulking after him and staring at his beefy butt, like a bitch in heat whose master had walked out on her.

And if that latter part seemed somehow inappropriate . . Fuck it!

Bottom line was it was very unfair. She had been the one to take the first step, where clearly the man was too timid to do so, even though it was obvious that he wanted it too. And when she finally did, did all the work for both of them, how does he respond? By blowing her off and covertly mocking her!

She stared daggers at his back. What is wrong with you! I could see the desire in your eyes. Why not give in and take what's on offer? It makes no sense!

Yes, yes, yes. She still remembered. Ariela was smitten with him and blah, blah, blah. But so what? After all, it wasn't as if Ariadne was looking to string an amulet of Mara around his neck. Far as she was concerned, the runt could have him. After she was done with him. Insofar as anything's left.

Ariela would never even need to know.

So, was that such an unreasonable thing to expect: a nice little quickie here in this ancient tomb or whatever it was, no questions asked, no need to complicate things. It would hardly need to take long. The way she'd been stewing all day, she would most likely be done in minute. Provided he was decently equipped, and judging by the rest of him there were good grounds for supposing that—

Listen to yourself!

Ariadne sighed. Yes, she was getting carried away. Problem was, if she just kept mulling it over, her mind would just keep running away with her—farther and farther and without discernable end.

She needed resolution. To get there, there was no other way than to suck it up and talk to Erik.

"Listen," Ariadne cried after him, perhaps a bit more petulant than she'd intended.

Erik stopped, cocking his head. "What? You heard something?"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "No, dummy. Listen to me." She caught up with him.

He looked more curious then offended. "What is it now?"

Might as well cut to the chase. "So, you've got something going on with the scholar?"

"Uh," Erik said.

Ariadne smiled. He actually blushed. Like Ariela always did. "Yeah, don't bother to deny it. I know these things."

"Ok. Well, so what if I do?"

"Oh, I don't know. Only that at the same time you've been flirting with me."

"I haven't!"

"Aha. And what was that just now? 'Does that turn you on?' " She was reasonably satisfied with her dullard-impersonation.

"I said excite you!"

"That changes it somehow?"

"Well . . ." He waved a hand at her, like at a pesky fly. "Only because you provoked me."

"Only because you've been stripping me with your eyes."

"I certainly have not!"

"You're doing it right now."

"I'm not!"

"Are too."

Erik scowled. "What are you, a child?"

Ariadne scowled back.

"What am I saying, of course you are. Are you even the age of consent?"

"Bet you'd like to know!"

He tossed his hand in the air. "You're ridiculous."

"It—" Ariadne stopped herself. What was she going to say, takes one to know one?

This wasn't going at all like she'd planned. Her damned temperament, once it flared all reason went flying out the window.

Taking a calming breath, she pinched the bridge of her nose, one conciliatory hand in the air. "Alright, alright. Look. I'm—" She gritted her teeth. Say it! "Sorry." When their eyes met again there was surprise in his. "Yes, sorry is in my vocabulary believe it or not."

"I didn't . . ."

"Never mind. I actually just wanted to say . . . well." Ah, why is it so difficult! "I was out of line. I was just . . ." Horny. "Bothered."

"Aye," Erik breathed out. "I hear ya. Tell you the truth, I feel it too."

Oh? Ariadne raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. Something about this place. Like, it gets to you somehow."

Oh. "Oh."

"So you feel it as well?"

There had been so many things getting to her that Ariadne couldn't say either way. She shrugged. "I guess?"

"Yeah, I, uh . . ." Erik rubbed at his neck. "I'm sorry too, now that I think of it."

"Well, you should be."

He frowned

Ariadne replied with a little smile. "A joke."

"Ah," Erik returned the smile, awkwardly. "Right."

"Look . . ." Once again, Ariadne started speaking before she even knew what she was going to say. "I don't want to come between you and Ariela." Huh? Honestly, it came completely out of the blue for her too. But it felt . . . Damn it! It felt right.

"Oh," Erik said. "I . . . uh."

"It's ok. You don't need to say anything. Better not, actually. In fact, best we never mention this again."

Before he had a chance to make this any more awkward, Ariadne swept past him and took the lead. "Alright, let's keep going. This damned corridor has to end somewhere."

Erik followed, feeling awkward. He had the distinct feeling of being played with. And yet, nothing about Ariadne bespoke any sort of guile. When she'd said that thing about him and Ariela, it had likely been the most earnest he'd seen her so far.

But this girl . . . sheesh, was she all over the place! Made him feel all tense being around her, not knowing what mood she was going to be in the next moment.

Or was it embarrassment that was making him tense? Embarrassment over the fact that apparently his feelings about Ariela were so blatantly obvious! Gods, is that why Ariadne did it? To test me? Is she now going to be telling Ariela that I was this close to trying to kiss her? Probably more than that, to be honest!

Suddenly he was mortified. He had been acting very badly. No, like an utter cad! Ariela deserved much better. He had seen plenty of adulterers and cheaters and liars in his time and had grown up despising them and everything they stood for. But now it turned out that Erik was just as bad!

But no. He wasn't as bad! He had held back. He had resisted the urge. He had done nothing wrong. It would be completely unfair if he ended up getting punished for something he had not even done! If Ariadne planned to say something about this to Ariela, he had to know. He would confront her. But when?

No better time than now!

"Ariadne!" Erik cursed inside. His voice had been a croak. A guilty croak.

She spun around.

The world went dark.

"Bottom line," Runa said. "What works for men in general will work on Erik as well. Straightforward is your best bet. Don't keep him guessing."

"So I should just . . . tell him how I feel?"

Runa smiled. "It's pretty simple, really. Funny, ain't it?"

Of course that option had come to Ariela's mind before. It had just smacked of . . . too simple. But then she ought to know, the simplest explanation was usually the best one. A scholarly dictum she had always felt compelled to argue but had yet to find a good argument against.

"Maybe I'll try that."

"But?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Your frown did that for ya. Something wrong?"

"It's just . . ." Ariela sighed. "Do you think I'm a bit young for him?"

Runa snorted. "Not if you ask him. Do you know men?"

"I understand." Ariela smiled. "I guess I mean . . ."

"Is he too old for you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, basically."

"No one can answer that one for you, I'm afraid. Personally, I've been with men of all ages. The oldest, I believe, had just turned two-hundred. Elves, y'see."

"Right."

Runa shrugged. "But then those have all just been sex, so I don't know what difference age might make in the long run. All I can say . . ." She shrugged again. "Eh, men are pretty much all the same. Some sprier than others, true enough, but then there is something to be said for experience too." She gave a dirty grin. "And the innocence of youth for that matter."

"Please don't look at me like that."

Runa snorted. "Well, at least I don't think the vagaries of age have yet begun to plague Erik, so you don't need to worry on that account."

"It wasn't really—"

"And Shor knows he ain't the most mature type either, so I bet most of the time you'll be the one who feels like the old one."

Ariela knew that feeling. At times, she felt as though she had eons over most of her peers. Made her feel even lonelier, to be sure. I suppose, more than anything, it would be nice not to feel that way.

"Have you ever . . . you know?"

"Nope. I don't know."

"Been . . . in love?"

Runa shook her head. "Nope to that too."

"Never?"

"Not that I can think of. It's not so simple, you see. My way of life. Settling down ain't so easy to do when you're constantly getting into danger."

"Or in bed."

She grinned. "Or that. Tell you the truth, I'm not sure I've witnessed a single attempted romance in my circles that didn't end in tears. Or blood. Or both."

Ariela shook her head. Not so much at Runa but at the life she led. To her, an existence like that was so hard to even imagine. It was a wonder she got along with Runa so well, given how completely different their experience of life and the world had been.

"Don't you ever get lonely?" she asked.

"Me? Nah! If anything, I have to deal with people too much. Can't even have a drink at an inn without someone butting in for company. Though I don't mind."

"You know what I mean."

"Aye," Runa said. "I do. And I won't lie to you that it has come to mind once or twice. What it would be like, to really enjoy someone's company. To want to spend time with them for long periods of time, exclusively. I'm sure it's nice when you can get it."

"Yeah," said Ariela. "I would think so."

Runa shrugged. "But like anything, it comes with a price. So . . . I dunno. Maybe I'll try it one day. But do I get lonely?" She shrugged again. "Not really. Do you?"

Ariela sighed. "All the time."

"Aww." Runa laid a hand on her shoulder. "Well, let's change that, then."

Ariela smiled. "Sure. That sounds good."

"Don't it?" Runa grinned.

They kept talking, while the hallway just kept going on and on. A turn here and there but no discernable end. At some point it almost seemed as if they'd passed the same part twice. But of course that was impossible.

But while they were talking, Ariela didn't mind. She was glad to have this time with Runa. In fact, on some level she almost hoped it wouldn't end.

However, after maybe fifteen minutes more, a turn revealed another door waiting at the end of the last stretch of hallway.

"Finally!" Runa said.

"Yeah," Ariela said, feeling a touch of melancholy. She almost felt she was leaving something behind her for good. Something more than just this near interminable passage.

Before Ariadne could say anything, a noise made her double down with her hands clapped on her ears. It was the strangest sound she had ever heard, a sort of blend of high screech and low rumble, but in a way that only let you hear one of them at once. And while it most assuredly assaulted the ears, it attacked the body as well. In fact, it almost felt like it was coming from inside of her!

She was starting to feel like she was going to be sick, when the noise suddenly stopped. Altogether, it couldn't have lasted for more than a few seconds, but even that had been too much!

Feeling unsteady, she removed her hands from her ears and blinked into the pitch-black hallway.

The noise stayed gone.

"What was that!" she cried. "Where did the lights go?"

There was no reply.

"Erik?"

Silence.

"Not funny, Erik! Say—" The lights came back. "—something."

She was looking at an empty hallway.

"Ariadne!" Erik cried. The nauseating sound had just stopped and the lights suddenly came back on.

There was no sign of her.

What in the Void is happening? "Ariadne! This is hardly the time for playing pranks!" No way she could have gotten anywhere in that time. The present stretch of hallway carried on for many paces ahead. She wasn't that fast!

Erik started to panic, scanning the walls and ceiling where Ariadne had been. He ran over to the spot he thought she'd been standing on and inspected the floor. "Ariadne, can you hear me!" No sign of any sort of trapdoor. But who knew, the dwarves had been a crafty bunch. "Ariadne! Ariadne are you—"

He started at a sudden rumble to his right, hands going for his blade.

Cracks were appearing where a sheer wall had been, and a section of it pulled back. Unsheathing his blade, he approached it carefully. "Ariadne?"

The smell of dry stone wafted out from the opening, but there was no sound. Only darkness.

Or . . . did he hear the faint echo of steps?

Erik swallowed, hands sweating on the grip of his sword. Setting his jaw, he prepared.

"Erik?"

The man was simply gone. At first Ariadne assumed he must have been playing with her, but quickly rejected that thought. Not like him at all, she was fairly sure. Then she suspected that the same had happened again as had to her, but then the floor was sheer and contained no possible trapdoors as far as she could see.

But there were precious few rational explanations. Invisibility spell? She didn't know if he knew any magic but somehow very much doubted it. So what, then? Save for the missing oaf, everything was just as it—

Ariadne frowned. On second thought, behind where Erik had been standing the hallway turned right. She could have sworn that right had been where they'd turned coming here . . .

What about . . . ? She spun around and her mouth fell open. Just a couple dozen paces and the hallway ended in a dead-end. She knew that had not been there just a minute ago!

"What in the name of Sithis' pendulous balls is going on here?" she muttered.

She realized she should have probably been afraid, or at least nervous. But she felt . . . excited? Then, as she turned to face the hallway with the wrong-way turn, an incantation silently on her lips, she felt angry.

Good angry. Making her lips curl in a fierce grin.

"I'll show who you're fucking with."

And she started toward the turn.

This door required nothing more than a push to open. Well, it would have, but seemed that there was something in the way to keep it from opening more than a little bit.

Before Ariela had the wits to warn the woman of the precarious nature of such a choice, Runa had proceeded to give the door a hefty kick. Ariela winched at the pronounced noise of what sounded like timber clattering on the other side.

"Well," Runa said, shrugging with her blades out. "Since we've announced ourselves." She slunk in, yelling, "Hello? It's me, Runa! Anyone here looking to kill me?"

Her hands over her mouth—though out of dread or out of trying not to grin at Runa's foolhardy ways, even she could not decide—Ariela followed.

If the previous room had contained next to nothing, this one was positively jumbled. Myriad pipes snaking across the ceiling, below and on top of each other, with puffs of steam hissing out of vents at steady intervals. Ceiling lights of different description, some hanging high and some low but each of a decidedly intricate design, as though some sort of bronze-sculpturers' guild had used the place as their art exhibition. The large space was laid out in tiers connected by stairs, the nearest ones leading down from where they were standing with the opposite side rising a couple tiers higher. Shelves and tables—bronze, naturally—were scattered about haphazardly as though the inhabitants had had too many and had not known what to do with them. Various objects lay on them, which at least at first glance looked like little more than scrap metal.

"Well," Runa said. "This looks familiar."

"Wow," said Ariela, looking around. There was so much detail in the sculpturing and the myriad mysterious brazen inlays and valves and vents and whatnot that it was impossible to take it all in at once. That someone would have built something like this!

"Oh, right," said Runa. "Your first time."

"Yeah!" Ariela breathed out. "It's amazing."

Runa shrugged. "I guess."

"To think," Ariela said, kneeling down to touch a wanton piece of pipe left lying on the floor, feeling the metalwork. It looked like brass but was actually some special, unknown alloy created by ancient Dwemer tonal architects. "That we still can't make anything like that. And these have been here for thousands of years!"

It really didn't seem to make much sense. Surely someone would have figured out how to reproduce this technology? Or was it simply that no one could see the potential value? Seemed absurd to even suppose so.

But I guess they were just so far ahead of us.

"I won't deny," said Runa, "that that's a mighty impressive piece of refuse. But perhaps exercise a little caution? That is, maybe don't touch anything before we've figured out if there's hostiles about."

Reluctantly, Ariela agreed. Sure, far as Dwemer ruins went there was plenty of scholarship already, but the prospect that this place might have contained something yet unearthed . . . the thought made her dizzy. Yet she was afraid that she was hardly the scholar qualified for such research, and currently it seemed that the excavation was run by bandits. Would whatever this place hid end up in the wrong hands? The thought was depressing to say the least.

And another thing: so far she had yet to see any Ayleid influence. She was familiar with the ruins in Cyrodiil, or at least those few safe to visit without security, so she would recognize the style without difficulty. This, this all seemed thoroughly Dwemer.

"Wits about you, now," Runa said as they slowly descended the first flight of stairs. As if sensing Ariela's distracted mind.

She's got a point. I can ruminate on scholarly minutiae later.

They reached the bottom and then started up the other side. The top of the uppermost tier was dominated by a hulking monolith of a stone pillar right in the middle, and to their left there seemed to be an opening behind it. Runa nodded toward the opening and they made their way there.

Passing the pillar, Ariela admired the carefully crafted ornaments on its surface. The Dwarves had a dour reputation, but then it was clear that they put a lot of attention on aesthetics; so could they really have been as bleak as was generally thought?

Without thinking, Ariela reached out her hand.

"Don't," Runa grated out of the corner of her mouth, "touch."

Ariela didn't, but glowered. "I don't see the harm," she said.

Runa snorted. "Famous last words."

Fair enough.

Behind the pillar was an open doorway leading to another hall, more spacious this one. Had the appearance of a big storage, the wall to the left dominated by tall metal shelves all the way to the end, where another doorway waited, this one shuttered by double doors. The wall on the right was bare, with shallow niches at steady intervals.

Runa breathed out. "Well. More of nothing."

Then, right as they'd taken their first steps, nothing became something.

The door ahead burst open, and out rolled a pair of metallic monstrosities with a long blades

for right arm. Ariela knew her sketches of Dwemer automatons. These were called Spheres.

"Stand back!" Runa barked, dropping into battle stance.

Heart suddenly racing, Ariela shied into the nearest depression on the right wall, instinctively trying to dig herself as deep as she could, as if that would have helped anything if these things wanted to get to her.

Runa rushed to meet them.

Something in Ariadne's determination faltered as she rounded the corner. Right away the passage branched out in two directions. This forking passage seemed to be far narrower. To her left it turned right immediately, and to her right it carried on a bit longer before appearing to take off in two different directions again.

She narrowed her eyes. Unable to put a finger on it, this whole thing seemed eerily familiar.

Looking right, then left, and right again, she hesitated. Far as she could see, there was no way forward except one of these.

No sweat, she'd just pick one and if it was a dead end, she'd just turn back. There was no trick to it.

Right?

Ariadne shook her head and let out a long breath. "Right."

Before she got any more second thoughts or her feet got any colder, she elected to turn left. At least there was one less choice that way.

Screaming, Runa Fair-Shield launched herself at the enemy. Like Calisto's throwaway goons earlier, the Spheres left just enough of a gap between them for her to slip through. The only difference was that these were highly capable machines and would waste no opportunity to deal precision blows of deathly steel at her.

Yet, she knew from experience, even they could be fooled.

She rushed them with her right blade wound back and the left one pointing ahead. Some five heartbeats before she would crash into them, she did a quick S-shaped diversion. The machines' trajectories followed her movements slavishly, as their only instinct was to make contact with the target. This made them run into each other just a little, not enough to unsettle them but probably . . . do something.

Right before them, then, she dashed hard to the left and set one foot on the lowest shelf of the metal rack. She pushed hard and flung herself high enough to fly over the leftmost Sphere, swatting down in a large arc with both blades as she sailed over.

The thing ducked!

She had not planned her move as far as the landing part, so the final moments before impact with the floor she had to improvise. She did so poorly, as she landed awkwardly on one foot which then proceeded to give out from underneath her. She caught the floor with her shoulder and rolled over it, quickly coming back on her feet.

One of the Spheres had already spun around and was coming for her, whereas the other one . . . damn it! It was going straight for Ariela.

"Ariela!" Runa screamed, although a good part of her wind had been knocked out.

Gritting her teeth, she saw no better alternative than running to meet the attack.

Peering over the edge of the depression, Ariela had been watching with fascination and horror. How fearlessly the Nord had flung herself at this unnatural enemy so obviously superior in strength and speed to almost any mortal. And what grace these things were moving with, such precision and purpose, for something that should have by all reckoning been dead. The mix of animation and obvious lack of soul was . . . horrible. Yet there was unexplainable elegance and beauty to them. As beautiful as violence and death could ever be.

Once again she was in awe of the Dwemer. No mortal should have been able to create such things. Was that ultimately what caused their disappearance? Dead, or . . . deified? Watching this, either seemed as likely.

Then Runa did that incredible thing that she did, and suddenly there was a whole other reason for awe. As precisely and elegantly as these machines did move, there was yet something to the nature of mortal beings that simply could not be replicated by even the finest technologies. The unpredictability and the acumen of improvisation, the way of embracing chaos to their own needs, this was a quality wholly absent in these artificial creations. And Runa, for one, was a force of nature unto herself. This reminded Ariela of the first time she'd met the woman, watching her fight a giant Orc bandit. It was as if—

Horror then shoved the fascination clear out of her mind, all thought with it. After Runa had flown over the other Sphere, it immediately swung around to follow—with incredibly fast reflexes. But the other Sphere neither turned nor slowed down. It made its way directly at Ariela!

An ephemeral notion of running for the door did flash across her mind, but the overwhelming terror that suddenly seized her made any notion of running unimaginable. She closed her eyes and sank deep into the recess. Well, as deep as she could, which wasn't, in fact, deep at all. And although she knew at that moment what a desperate and futile effort it was, she found that the reasonable part of her had little play in this. Everything she had just noted about the machines, the precision and single-minded purpose, the overall deathliness, very soon she was going to experience it all firsthand. There was no way for Runa to get to the rescue before that.

Erik's face came to her mind. Suddenly she felt less afraid, and more . . . just grieved. Yes, I know we barely know each other. The sad thing is, we never got the chance to—

Ariela shrieked. But it wasn't pain over getting stabbed to death. It was surprise and confusion, as the wall behind her, her only sliver of safety in what she took to be her last moments on Nirn, gave out on her.

Goddamn it! Runa had no visual of the scholar, only the Sphere rushing forward to end the girl. She was still in that recess, and could go nowhere. And Runa had no time to get to her.

"Sorry, lass," she muttered. Then, transmuting that budding grief into hatred, she struck murderously at the Sphere already coming back for her.

Discarding all notion of self-preservation or tactical finesse, she let her blades fly in an attempt to hack the metal bastard to pieces. But it was quick, even quicker than the ones she'd fought before. She swung from the right and the thing veered left, and back right again to avoid her left blow. She jabbed straight ahead, and it bent back on its hip joints. Another jab, from low, and it rolled to the right.

Runa hissed. It was almost as if the thing could think!

And the second her fierce onslaught made her falter, the thing struck back. She only barely avoided the brutal stab of the arm-long blade by pivoting to her right, but this almost made her lose her balance. As the Sphere then followed with a wide slash at her belly, she thew herself back. This time she fell. And as she did, she heard a noise from behind her. Metallic rolling. The other Sphere.

Runa fell on her ass, but in spite of the jarring and painful impact could not let herself rest for a second. So pretty much right as she hit, she rolled over her right elbow and dug her boots into the floor to push herself upright, throwing herself at the other Sphere. Right in front of its slashing blade. Not enough time to react, she could do nothing. She screamed as the blade cut through her.

The doorway which had suddenly appeared was dark. Erik carefully peered in. Stairs leading into the gloom, with a low vaulted ceiling of time-worn red brick. The musty smell of cellar. A stark contrast to the place so far.

"Hello?" he called.

It was like yelling into a barrel. A faint broken echo on the stonework. Other than that, there was no sound.

Or . . . it was still hard to say if it was his imagination, or the faint hissing in his ears, but he could swear there was something . . .

Like quick little steps in the distance.

Erik felt a chill dancing down his spine. He swallowed, gripping his pommel with sweaty hands.

The job of a warrior was beating his fear.

He started down the stairs.

The Dwarven Sphere's blade went clean through Runa.

Through her.

She stood there blinking, her mouth hanging open. The Sphere struck again, at her face. She could not stop from blinking. But there was no pain. No nothing.

Was this what death was like?

She looked down, half-expecting to see her own dead body coiled beneath ghostly feet.

No, nothing still. Or, not anything out of the ordinary. Her own body, in one piece.

Then the moment of stupefaction passed. "You're kidding me . . ."

She turned to see the other Sphere behind her, in turn swatting at her. Blade sailing right though. "I'll be fucked . . ." She reached a hand to touch the Sphere. Without any feeling, the hand went through the thing. She could still see it inside the machine. The thing wavered like a mirage at her touch. Or . . . not-touch.

"Illusions," Runa said. "Illusions! Can you belie—"

Remembering the scholar, Runa spun. "Ariela?" There was no sign of the girl. No sound.

The Spheres were still there . . . or weren't still there, swatting away. "Won't you guys quit it!" Runa waved an irate hand at the one in front of her. And it disappeared.

Runa ran to where she'd left her. "Ariela!"

At the depression, she shook her head. Nothing. Where in the world had she gone?

As if to make sure, Runa pressed her hand into the depression, against the wall. Just a solid brick wall. She ran over to the door. "Ariela?"

No reply.

Ariela sat on the ground with her heart trying to pound out of her chest, breathing in heaves. Trying to understand what had just happened. She could faintly feel the pains all over her but could not presently pay them any mind. She would yet have to.

She peered up at the steep ramp beside her. The one she had rolled down, to end up here on the tile floor some twenty feet below. Up there was the stone wall which had somehow given out behind her! There was no sign of such an occurrence now; the wall stood as solid as it ever had.

"What in the name of . . ."

Then she remembered Runa and those metal horrors the woman had been fighting. She had a flash of her getting hacked to ribbons by them. They were so quick, so efficient. As deadly as the woman could be, Ariela had a very real fear for her.

Animated by her worry, Ariela clambered up, wincing at the pain on her . . . everywhere. She painstakingly stalked up the smooth marble ramp, nearly losing her footing a dozen times and rolling right back down.

But she finally made it back and felt the wall. Solid as solid came.

She pressed her mouth against it and yelled.

Her heart racing with worry and anger, Runa came back to the room from where the Dwarven mirage had now vanished. No sight of Ariela back where they'd come from either. Which made no sense, how could a person just vanish without—

"Runa?"

Runa scowled. That was her! "Ariela? Ariela!" She cast about, at a loss. Did the girl somehow jump dimensions?

"Runa, I'm here!" came the faint cry. "Thank gods you're okay!"

My words exactly. "Where, girl, where?"

"Here, where I was, beside the wall! Somehow I ended up on this side."

Runa went to press her head on the wall. "Here?"

"Yes! Can you . . . is there, like, a lever?"

She looked and there wasn't. "No nothing!"

"Damn." Ariela pressed her head against the cold brick, smelling the age-old dusty stone. She then tried the wall one more time, pushing against it with all her might, which, admittedly, wasn't much. No nothing.

"Look," she called. "I don't think there's a way through this. I think . . ." she looked down, where a small, dim space opened out into two separate corridors, each as dark and uninviting as the other. "I think we'll need to find another way." If she took the one on the left and Runa continued past the storage, they would at least be heading the same way. "There's a way forward here. If you carry on to where we were going . . . we might converge." It honestly felt like little more than wishful thinking.

"Fuck." It seemed like a long shot, but then Runa hardly had a better idea herself. "Alright!" She called. "But be careful!" Little good that would do if there should be hostiles back there. Of course, so far the only attack had come from non-existent foes, so maybe—

Better stop right there, she decided. Hope's for dopes.

Runa pressed her hand against the stone, as close to touching her friend as it went. "See you real soon, kid, y'hear?" She patted the wall. "Good luck," she muttered. "May the gods be with you . . . or so help the bastards."

Setting her jaw, she then carried on forward.

Ariela felt a little sting in her eyes as she stood there, with a little smile and her hand pressed against the stone. She hadn't had many friends in her life. But she could not have a better friend than she did in Runa. Hardly mattered that they hadn't known each other for very long. In Runa, Ariela knew she had someone she could truly rely on. How fortunate she was!

She gently brushed the stone, causing some ancient mortar to patter to the floor. "You be careful too," she whispered.

Then she took a deep breath and turned to face that uninviting way below. Steeling herself. And started carefully descending the ramp.