The Chamber Of Secrets
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~Q~Q~
"So," Savoss picked up the reins of the conversation, "I believe the Synod are involved in the plot against the college. Their Winter Hold Conclave is just next door to our Consul Office."
"You really think an organization as prestigious as theirs would stoop so low?" Gwendal narrowed his emeralds.
"They're politicians who masquerade as wizards and witches. And with politicians, no low is too low," Tolfdir declared, rubbing his long beard. "We have many resources and secrets they'd be willing to take if they could."
The room glowed with a speckling haze filtering in through the windows. A view of the icy blue hue of the Sea of Ghosts outside. Glaciers and massive icebergs bobbing across the ocean. Giant squids and whales propelling through the lifeblood of Nirn. Floating jellyfish waded through the airways above the sea. Was that Atmora way far off, or Roscrea?
Professor Ealhwine raised a finger. "Enthir Glenn, one of our members was scouting out the underwater room known as the Midden for us. He reported seeing men in extravagant black robes with skull masks swimming in and out of the entrance. The Synod here in the city, their uniforms mirror ours except theirs are black while ours are blue."
"Enthir has also gone missing," Savoss added slowly. "You two could go scope out the Midden and search for him and see if the Synod are hiding any clues to this attacker of ours? – What do you say?"
Stesha glanced downwards then at Gwendal. His friend shrugged, sweat pouring down his face.
"I guess we can help." Stesha blew his nose on a tissue then stood up and stretched. "Where is the Midden located?"
Savoss slid from his throne to the far wall stacked with various potions and began sorting through them. "Behind the college there's a short waterfall. Jump down it and descend into the Sea of Ghosts. A door rests on the ocean floor with a button next to it. Press the button and enter." The serpent handed them each some resist frost and breathing water potions which they tucked away within their bags.
Tolfdir stood from the desk and shoved his chair in. "In the meantime, we shall prepare a funeral for Ilas Tei."
"What secrets is the College guarding that the Synod would want so badly?" Stesha imbibed the knot tangled in his throat.
Stesha and Gwendal sorted their belongings into their knapsacks and headed out, down the stairs and poured out into the hallway as Vaktis the groundskeeper swept away the broken glass from the snake attack. Some engineers were there, transplanting a new frame into the window opening. J'zargo strumming his whiskers as he watched from the corner. – The boys meandered into the dining hall to grab some food before departing on their journey. Stesha hissed as his backpack shifted over one of his whip scars on his back. A hefty group of the college members were congregating in the cafe, it was lunchtime.
The chamber was in pastel and eggshell white. Several round tables cemented into the immaculate floor as the front was a cafeteria where chefs served food and cleaned dishware. Stesha and Gwendal picked up some trays from the back and stacked the roasted chili and bread onto their dishes. They dillydallied over to a table where Andelun, Brelyna, and Onmund sat at, setting the food down on the surface.
They received no greeting.
Stesha chose to ignore them and relished the taste of the hot chili on bread as it plunged over his tastebuds. A spicy warmness unmatched by any other type of delicacy. Brelyna grabbed the bread from Stesha's mouth and put her other hand on the back of his head. She forced Stesha to stay still as she shoved the entire length of the sliced baguette down his throat. Tears welled up in Stesha's eyes and trickled down his face as he choked on the loaf, forcing himself to swallow the load with a shudder.
"Aww, little baby is gonna cry. Why don't you ask that doll you carry to offer you comfort," Andelun taunted as he spooned his own chili.
Stesha's diaphragm spasmed as he quaffed down the wheat, he continued to cry streams of tears. The image of Ilas being crushed beneath the amphiptere's venomous jaws, his mother and father all the way away in High Rock. Him always being alone. Having no goal in life.
"We all stood and fought but you ran off like a coward." Onmund stood from the table. "Come on, guys, let's eat elsewhere."
Gwendal scratched his forehead as Stesha spoored out of the hall, running to his room, crying. He wiped away his tears as he paced through the corridors. Mannikins with mage robes to his sides. He threw his knapsack to the side of his room and fell into Gwendal's bed, bawling his eyes out.
"Why is everyone so mean to me?" More tears threatened to burst behind the dam of his eyes.
Little Stesha ran into his room, tossing his backpack to the side and falling into his bed, weeping. His father walked in, setting his coffee mug down on the nightstand and sitting beside Stesha. He stroked Stesha's back.
"What happened, son?" Courtlend asked.
"The other kids bullied me today at academy," Stesha's words came out in a guttering, hollow warble. "And I lost the piano contest."
The bedroom had plush toys and an open window, a few birds resting on the sill. White porcelain tables to the edges. Stesha rubbed his eyes.
"Remember son, adversity introduces a man to himself. Your uncle, Osmond, always told me that."
Stesha sat up as Gwendal walked into the room, putting down his bag. "Are you alright?"
Stesha blew his nose on a rag and turned it on its other side to wipe the residue of his tears. "Yeah."
"Come on, let's go the Midden and prove them wrong. You're no coward." Gwendal grabbed Stesha's hand and yanked him up.
The two traversed through the school grounds, stepping on the white flagstones of the courtyard and following their way to the back. A few white bushes were back there but not much else. Stained glass windows showcasing the college propre. Stesha and Gwendal stopped at the small waterfall that poured from the back of the building and into the ocean. They each drank their resist frost and water breathing concoctions. Savoring in the rich, milky aftertaste.
"You ready?" Gwendal queried, setting his empty bottles down.
Stesha nodded and tightened his robes around his waist before hopping in. He plunged into the icy, cold depth, slowly sinking to the bottom. Gwendal swum down after him. A gold door rested on the ocean floor. Stesha pressed the button next to it while observing the surrounding seaside. – Giant jellyfish thrust themselves through waters with towering pink kelp plants and coral reefs. Schools of fish swarming around. A few hammerhead sharks in the distance. It was another world down here. Coral forests under light blue waters. Shimmers of light from the sun above.
The hatch opened and they swam in as it shut behind them. Stesha shot down a downward water tunnel at high speeds. It sucked them in. Black walls with grates embedded into them at intervals, algae growing on the bars. It was quite exhilarating, zooming through this massive water tunnel at high speeds. They shot through the bottom and landed in a stygian pool. Stesha swam up and spit water from his mouth, gazing around the sable cavity they were in. Up above them on the roof was the water channel, enchanted as to not flood the secret chamber they were in. The rest of the underbelly was composed of fine, black stone squared in rectangular shape a few cubits wide.
They crawled over to the landing, built of dark tiles, unlike any architecture Stesha had seen. Slick, smooth stone with a glossy sheen to it. Carefully crafted, unmatching any known style.
This is the Midden.
"You have more of those potions for when we go back, right?" Stesha shivered in his drenched robes, water spilling out of them onto the gemstone.
"Yeah." Gwendal rubbed his nose.
The boys removed their uniforms and put them on the side as Gwendal cast heating charms on them to heat them up.
"By Charlamagne, Stesha, I can see your ribs. You need to eat more." Gwendal finished drying their clothes and they began to put them back on.
"I know." Stesha brushed off the comment and strolled on. An ant of all things was crawling on his thumb. He flicked it off.
At the end of the hallway was a black door with words inscribed over a slate embedded in the center.
They were scolded, they were taunted, they were killed. But at the end, will only remain their will. Till you join them or be nil?
"It's some sort of riddle." Stesha blinked fiercely. "What could it be referring to though?"
Gwendal scratched his messy, blond mop. "It seems pretty simple. It's asking us if we'll join them or perish. Whoever them is. To answer it we probably have to join them to gain entry."
Stesha shrugged. "If it's really that simple: yes, we will join them," he echoed into the doorframe. The gate propped open. "Hey, you were right!"
Gwendal did an elaborate bow with exaggerated hand gestures. "Aren't I always?"
They crisscrossed into the paddock, walls made of ice and snow with ancient white totems lodged into them. Stesha's heart stopped at what he saw next…
"Don't worry, it's decommissioned." Gwendal ran his palm across the fine, brass smithing.
A dwarven centurion was inserted into the ground. Unmoving. A brass golem of titanic proportion. Mechanisms and sockets running throughout the robot. Seams separating the different pieces of machinery from each other, and a metal plate guarding its soul-gem of a heart.
"Let's just keep moving." Stesha dragged Gwendal ahead as they curved down the passage.
They came out onto a wooden bridge that emptied into a cavern of glacial make. Rime sealing them in. The only way out was a path way up top, and there was no way to get there unless you could levitate. Beneath them a black pool with sizzling, thick liquid of the same consistency as oobleck. Stesha didn't think jumping into that was a good idea either.
"What now?" Stesha tossed his hands in the air helplessly.
Their questions were answered when a tentacle rose from the black lagoon below and wrapped around them, lifting the both of them up onto the path. Stesha squirmed as he was pressed against his best friend. Quite the uncomfortable feeling.
"Thank you." Gwendal waved and the squid arm waved back as they landed.
They spanned across a room with Dreughs, red beady eyes staring at them. Dreughs were giant, lanky lobster men with sharp claws. Bodies shaped like exoskeletons with skin like armor plating. - Finally, after much promenading, they came upon a cave door with a nordic wall where it seemed some sort of claw was supposed to be inserted. Drawings of various animals circumscribed atop.
"It must be around here somewhere," issued Gwendal, gazing around the white compound.
Stesha saw a hole in the ice wall and pointed to it. The two entered the chute and slid down a windy slide that deposited them into a warm steam room flooded with hot water, glowing plants and tendrils hanging to the side. They swam through and used the ladder on the side to climb out, coming out into a room full of worn rugs and battered crates. Brickwork layering the make, various odds and ends resting inside the casks.
"Someone's been here," Gwendal murmured as they slowly wended through the interface, placing one foot ahead of the other. The rug crinkling beneath their feet.
Stesha and Gwendal came upon a door at the end of the hallway, carefully opening it. It held a Dwarven apparatus. A bat was lurking in the rafters. The dwarven claw they needed sat on the white ledge to the right of them. Stesha placed his hands upon it as the bat lunged from the ceiling and transformed, body parts shifting and lengthening, the skin color remained the same however. A Dunmer man appeared before them.
"Nobody steals from Drevis Neloren and gets away with it!" Drevis lunged at them, baring his teeth.
Stesha and Gwendal dodged him as Gwendal threw several fireballs in his direction. Drevis swiped a claw at them, grazing Gwendal's shoulder. Stesha looked around and ran at the vampire, doing a jumping knee which hit Drevis in the solar plexus and caused the vampire to cough. Gwendal rammed him against the wall while he was disoriented. The bleached blond shot several electric volts at Drevis, but the night fiend evaded them all, draining life from Gwendal.
Gwendal hastily threw up a ward, his magical shield absorbing the vampire's aura. Stesha crunched his fingers, trying to remember the firebolt spell he'd learnt in class. The fire bloomed in his hands and he shot it at the Dark Elf, burning the side of his body as the bloodsucker screamed and hissed.
"You'll pay for that!" Drevis reeled back in pain.
Gwendal lopped a heavy kick across Drevis' jaw. Knocking him to the ground. Stesha grabbed the dwarven claw and opened the hatch at the bottom of the water closet and hopped in. It was another stream of aqua, this one shooting down several waterways. Drevis chased them as they shot across multiple panels, emptying back into the room full of Dreugh. The room was a wide icy chamber within the Midden. The Dreugh attacked Drevis as Stesha and Gwendal escaped past another sewer tunnel into the water stream. They traced their way back through the dungeon again to the nordic puzzle wall.
Gwendal placed the claw in the center and turned it but the door didn't budge. "Hmm."
Stesha took the thing and observed the inscribed animal totems on the claw and compared them to the ones on the wall. He pressed the buttons, matching the animal symbols to the one on the claw, dragon, whale, snake. Then he placed the claw back into the insert and turned again. This time it opened. What they saw next was a vast black chamber with a steeple in the center, surrounded by a mote full of black water. Several serpent shaped effigies cornered in the corners, serving as cornerstones.
They crossed the footbridge leading over the mote, Stesha swearing he could see something in the water, and made their way up the stairs to the steeple. The main room held jail cells with a desk implanted into the wall with windows. A starved Wood Elf with a mohawk lay unconscious in one corner, barely moving, and wearing rags.
Stesha and Gwendal approached the control panel and pressed the release button, opening the door of the inmate. "This must be Enthir," Gwendal noted, approaching the elf.
Gwendal cast a spell on the Wood Elf to wake him up. Stesha took a cup resting on the ledge and went to the nearby dwarven sink, filling it with water and jaunting towards the revived Bosmer. He held up his chin and fed him the water. Enthir sputtered a bit as he gulped down the sustenance, breathing loudly after finishing.
"Thank you," he groaned, rolling over. "Agghh."
"Come on, let's get him out of here and take him to the mead hall for some food." Gwendal pulled the mer up and Stesha put the elf's arms around their shoulders as they headed out of the Midden. Tramping their way back to the entrance, and swimming outside to the low slope where they could walk the sludge mountain and gain admittance back into the city.
The mead hall was almost like an upside-down boathouse, long and stretched. Made of wooden pillars stilted to the sides. Stesha, Gwendal, and Enthir ambled past some rowdy Nords yodeling and drinking mead in large foaming mugs.
"Three beers down and the elf will frown," three Nords sang. "Two on the shelf and one in me belly, don't tell Matild or she'll be jelly! Oh ho, yo ho! The warrior's life for me!"
They entered the bustling hall, full of people and barmaids serving drinks. A fire pit roasting in the center with tables lined on the sides. Bards strummed their stringed instruments and the smell of food rode in on their musical notes, bubbling from the kitchens. Large pots situated in the back. They took a seat in a far corner as a male wench approached them, asking for their order.
"We'll have some roast beef and a sweet roll to split." Gwendal paid the barmaid and he left.
Enthir stood up and danced over to the fire, warming his hands against the flames and shivering intensely. Gwendal cast a few more heating charms on the poor elf and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Do you know where the people who kidnapped you went?" Stesha prompted politely.
Enthir looked up at him with big, maple-brown eyes. "They went to Oceanglow. To the castle basement and the sewers. Check there. At least that's what I overheard them saying."
"Who are they?" Gwendal pressed.
"They wore black robes with skulls on them and skull masks. Besides that, I don't know a thing. It might be the Synod." Enthir shuddered and rubbed his hands against each other.
The food was brought out and they returned to their table, pleasuring in the warmness of the beef stew upon their tongues.
Gwendal chewed on his food, swallowing hard. "So, we go to Oceanglow next?"
"No." Stesha shook his head. "You take Enthir back and attend the funeral. I'll go to Oceanglow alone."
"Are you nuts?" Gwendal ripped off a piece of the cinnamon roll and took a bite.
"It'll only work if one of us goes, two will raise suspicion." Stesha grimaced. "I'll disguise myself, then find out who's behind these attacks."
Or die trying.
~Q~Q~
A/N: Man, this chapter was so hard to write. Please review.