-A quick note before this chapter begins, in typing it I came to discover the sheer length at how it was compared to my usual length that after much thought I decided to break it into two parts. On the plus side I should be able to get both chapters uploaded pretty much one after the other.

Anyway, on with this current chapter! -

Lydia could feel the very blood in her body freeze, yet she still sprung to action. She hastily reached to her side and drew forth her sword. Her hand gripped the hilt and she pointed its tip forward in a deliberate threatening display.

"Whoa! Stay back, ghost! Come no further!" she called out. Beside her she could hear the sound of metal scraping on leather. Siffre must also be drawing forth her own great sword as well. She didn't glance to see, of course; her eyes remained glued on the supernatural sight before her.

She allowed herself to actually study this... thing, before the two of them. It stood at about her own height, but for the most part was an unrefined form of a humanoid. A head, torso, arms, and legs could just barely be identified from looking at this thing. Aside from the foggy, undetailed portrayal of body parts, two other features confirmed it being a spirit. For one thing, this creature had a subtle glow to it! The immediate space around its own body was lightly illuminated with a gentle teal glow in the dark of this tomb. And secondly, this ghost was absolutely transparent. In fact, it was due to its very glow that Lydia could literally see right through its body!

This was in fact a ghost; undeniably and quite possibly the first Lydia had ever seen! Stories from her youth suddenly flowed back to the forefront of her mind of spirits spoken of only in tales and legends. The blood in her body felt ever cooler as she kept her eyes trained on the ghost.

And then it spoke again.

"I... mean you no harm."

Its voice was hoarse, scratchy, but also silent. Almost as silent as, well, the grave. The way it continued to stand in place almost a reflection of its 'demeanor'. The ghost moved not a single arm or leg as it remained completely motionless. In fact, from the distance between the two of them, Lydia was almost certain she hadn't even seen its mouth move when it spoke!

Lydia then processed exactly what she had just heard the ghost say: it meant them no harm? Likely story. Here she and her thane were standing in the ruins of some ancient tomb with know knows how many souls that likely perished here before, and some actual soul appearing before them with reassurances of... peace? Impossible, it had to be!

"What... what are you?"

Siffre could be heard almost as silently spoken as the ghost's. Unless Lydia was hearing things, the Dragonborn sounded... fearful? With a quick glance out of the corner of her eye she could see Siffre had drawn her great sword and was pointing it straight at the spirit as well. It seemed clear to Lydia that this spirit's presence put Siffre on alert too.

"I am a spirit... From an age long past... Bound to this place."

The words filling the air were soft spoken. Barely heard above a whisper. All the while the movements of the ghost were minimal to not even moving at all. It continued to stand in place, staring at the two women even as words could be heard coming from it.

"From... the past...?" Lydia said, allowing a small hint of curiosity to slip into her tone. The did not nod nor shake its head; it continued to remain still. Still as, well, death.

"My name in life... is lost..." it continued, "I am called... Lo."

This... ghost. It introduced itself? It has a name? Or, it at least 'had' a name that it remembered having at one point? Lydia's brow furrowed as her eyes narrowed on the spectral form. While her alertness and protective instincts remained, they were slowly giving way to... mild curiosity.

Her own blade in her hand began to droop ever so slightly from pointing straight at the ghost's form. She kept it up however, her defense maintained in the face of this possible threat before the two of them.

"What... is this place?" Siffre could be heard speaking. Looking at her once again her own great sword was still held in both hands and towards this ghost, this 'Lo'. Like Lydia however, it seemed Siffre deemed to slightly droop the tip of her blade ever so slightly. It seemed this spirit's presence kept her on edge just as much as it was doing with herself.

Despite the unspoken threat through their display of held weapons, the ghost remained seemingly unfazed. It held its stance while looking in the two women's' general direction.

Then, to Lydia's almost complete surprise, the ghost began to move! It was slowly but surely turning its head towards... towards the open doors. It appeared to be looking inside the darkened space of whatever lie through these massive stone doors. Lo's voice could be heard again,

"You stand in the tomb of Hevnoraak... the Dragon Priest," it spoke again while keeping its gaze fixed towards the room.

"A dragon... priest?" Siffre said, "What's that?"

"In life... their order ruled this land... They served their dragon masters, enslaving mortals," Lo continued. It's voice spoke with its consistent tone of barely a whisper, "They would surely do so again in death... as liches. The return of the dragons... is upon us, and so too... the return of the Dragon Priests."

"You know about the dragons returning...?" Siffre said. The tone in her voice subtly shifted to mild surprise of her own. In fact, Lydia could even see the image of surprise about Siffre's face. Could it be... she was curious too? As in actually buying into what was being said to them?

"My thane..." she spoke with the intent of drawing her attention. Siffre in turn glanced to her side to return her look.

"Lydia, think about it," she said, "How could this... spirit, already have known about the return of the dragons? And in a place like this...?" Lydia's lips pursed at this somewhat sound reasoning presented before them. She nevertheless held her tongue, an unspoken agreement that Siffre took as a sign to continue to hear out the ghost.

"You said these dragon priests... they enslaved mortals back then?" Siffre said, "Well... if they're dead, how could they come back at all?"

"Hevnoraak foretold his own death... and his own resurrection," Lo spoke in his deathly soft tone, "He drained his magic-infused blood from his body into vessels before death... awaiting the day it would be rejoined with him... In new life." The image of the ghost remained completely still, yet Lydia just managed to see the tiniest of movement in the form of the head tilting slightly, "If reunited with his blood... he would surely rule this land again."

Lydia listened to word after word being spoken from the spirit's mouth. This 'ghost's' mouth? Gods, even the very idea was still unbelievable to fathom. Never mind the fact that a ghost was standing here before them, but that it was relaying this... this absolute tall tale to the two of them! This nonsense about 'dragon priests' and 'blood-draining'; how she wished she had the excuse of being fuzz-headed on ale from hearing all this!

"So then... what is it that you're asking?"

And just like that, Siffre just had to pose that question. Lydia's gaze shot to her side to level a look at Siffre again. Surely... surely she wasn't actually... This, it was madness!

"There is... a way. His blood must be found and... disposed of," Lo softly spoke. It's head shifted ever so slightly again, as if regarding the two women along with a brilliant idea in mind, "You. You must find his blood. His minions safeguarded it in this tomb... Find it, quickly, and bring it... They are beyond my own reach. I would guide you."

"Siffre! A word, please?" Lydia harshly and swiftly cut in. Her outstretched hand brought around to Siffre's side and led the two of them facing slightly away from the ghost to speak in private. Or, as privately as could be in the presence of an actual specter.

"Lydia, I know what you're going to say," Siffre said, "And, you did say you'd be willing to listen to... situations like this, didn't you?"

"But, my thane... Surely there has to be a difference? A line even?" she insisted while unconsciously bobbing her head to indicate the direction of the spirit in question, "It's a spirit! A ghost!"

"Is there really? Lydia... Is there really any difference of one thing needing help than another?" Siffre pressed, "Now look, seeing that ghost at first was... unnerving, I admit. But... what really do we have to lose from helping it-?"

"No, Siffre, the better question is what do we have to 'gain' from helping it?" Siffre's eyes widened, the surprise written clearly upon her face.

"Lydia... what are you saying?" the Dragonborn asked.

"I'm saying, there is so much about this we still don't know," Lydia continued, "Dragon priests? How are we even certain such things as those exist? And why is this... ghost, asking two complete strangers to do something for it? Why would it need help from us?" She paused her mini-rant protested above whispering to take a breath before allowing herself to continue, "And again... How exactly does it help the two of us if we do what it's asking...?"

With each word leveled from the housecarl's mouth, Siffre's own mouth pursed in response. Lydia could almost see it in her thane's eyes, she was conceding to her points. Her features scrunched a couple of times in the span of a few seconds; she must have really been deep in thought.

As Lydia watched her thane carefully, she briefly turned away to glance back at the spirit again. Lo continued to stand in place, eerily unmoving even now.

"You, ghost. What you're asking of us..." she spoke with a hint of an edge to her voice as she addressed the spirit, "Why can you not do it yourself? Why ask us to do it?" The spirit remained still even as it spoke again.

"My spirit is cursed to... observe, from afar. I cannot leave this place... Hevnoraak is- was cunning, in his... manipulations."

"And, this dragon priest. This... 'Hevnoraak'," Siffre spoke up this time, "He's really as powerful and... dangerous, as you claim?" For the second time since the initial encounter, Lo actually displayed the barest of movement in the form of a single nod.

"So then, hold on," Lydia spoke up again, "Why don't we just... 'not' do this?"

"Lydia-"

"I'm serious; you said this dragon priest was dead, right?" the housecarl continued to press the ghost, "So then... if we don't do anything, he can't wake up or come back, right?" She quickly turned her head back in Siffre's direction, "You have to know I'm right on that at least, right?"

"I... um..." Siffre struggled to counter the claim.

"Hevnoraak will return. He has... ensured it," Lo replied itself, "This way... this way will ensure his power remains... nil."

"The same power he- er, you claim he used to 'rule over mortals' years ago?" Siffre added. Lo nodded once again, its head barely showing movements. The Dragonborn turned once again towards the housecarl, "Lydia..."

Lydia once again found herself at a loss. So steadfast was she on her own reluctance to take part in this mad scheme, while Siffre on the other hand was seemingly so... accepting to do the opposite. The irony of a once-criminal with a more altruistic heart was not lost on her.

As a housecarl sworn to defend her thane, from any sort of threat, something- no, nearly everything about this entire situation put her on edge. Her protective instincts were screaming at her that something felt wrong here. In an ancient tomb with an actual ghost that was opening telling the two of them about some ancient 'evil' that they had to offer their own assistance in preventing from returning? How could Siffre not feel this whole thing was as wrong as she did?

Looking into the eyes of her thane once more, they too were looking back into her own. Those eyes, their light blue still somehow seen with the reduced light in this place. They were looking back at her with their own weight of emotions, such as desperation and pleading. She could tell that Siffre was also steadfast in her... desire, to carry out this task. Helping out a ghost- gods, that had to be some kind of a joke the Divines themselves found amusement with.

But in addition, Lydia could see something else in her eyes: determination. She was... determined, to not only want to do this, but seemed determined to actually see it through to the end. Maybe... was that what Lydia was so hung up on? That they couldn't do this? That something would happen to them?

'Divines' sake, she encouraged me to jump across a river! she suddenly reminded herself. Memories went back to not too long ago when the Dragonborn encouraged her to leap across the Karth River atop the flat rock after having done so herself.

'I put faith and trust in her then... and it wasn't misplaced.'

"Lydia?"

Lydia shook her head of her mental pondering and brought herself back to reality. From the tone in Siffre's voice the Dragonborn must have been calling for her attention a number of times. She took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I just know I'm gonna regret this..." she said, "But... Siffre. If you're absolutely certain of this, absolutely certain you can do this completely, then... I'm with you." Siffre's eyes widened for a moment.

"Really? You will?" she said, "Thank you, Lydia! I... I know everything about this feels dangerous, believe me. But... I do feel this is the right thing to do."

"Yeah yeah, I understand. Let's just do this before I have a sudden change of regret," Lydia said. She let a slight sarcastic edge into her voice in an attempt to make levity. To her credit, she could see the corners of Siffre's mouth tug ever so slightly in a smile. She must have been mildly amused by that as well.

Looking back towards Lo however, her stern visage returned to her face. She pointed the tip of her sword once in its direction.

"Alright, gho- er, 'Lo'. We'll do it." With that she proceeded to sheath her blade again, a deliberate display of conceding.

"Mmmm... Good. Very good, mortals..." Lo replied in its quiet tone. There was the tiniest hint of gratitude in its voice, just barely noticed through its whispers. Lydia's initial unease still persisted in spite of this gratitude she could detect.

Then, movement came from Lo once again. The women watched as it actually took a whole step backwards, a gesture to bid them to walk forward. Not only that, but it actually raised its right arm outwards in the direction of the cracked doors as well. As grandiose an invitation to a tomb as could be, especially considering 'who', or rather 'what', was inviting them in the first place.

Then, just like that, the image of Lo suddenly began to fade. It's gentle glow of translucent light began to dim as its image slowly vanished. The spirit was gone, as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the two women alone once again.

"Looks like... we're being invited?" Siffre noted.

"That's not creepy at all either," Lydia remarked. Her grip on her sword hilt tightened, "Just... let's stick close together in there."

"Right."

Siffre gripped her own great sword in her two hands. The two women slowly and cautiously advanced towards the crack in the two massive doors. At least there wouldn't be any trouble of attempting to move these doors in order to enter. Although Lydia couldn't tell if that in itself was a good thing, or a bad thing.

The two slipped through the doors to find themselves... in darkness?

Lydia's eyes squinted at everything she could see. Or rather, what all she couldn't see. A vast expanse of open space lay before her. Her and Siffre's footsteps beneath them produced the faintest echoes. While she couldn't see exactly how large this area was, it had to have been massive. Could this be some grand chamber?

"Drgh, it's too dark in here..." she said with a groan, "How are we even supposed to navigate-"

"I... can help."

Lydia's blood chilled yet again at the familiar whisper of Lo's voice. Her head shot around in different directions, but the spirit was nowhere in their immediate area. All that could be heard was just its voice, speaking to them from seemingly all directions at once. The thought of something being everywhere at the same, observing Lydia and Siffre from seemingly afar... it was unnerving to say the least.

Then, in an instant, something happened. The darkness that was surrounding them mere moments ago instantly became dispelled. Lydia's eyes instantly fell upon the new light sources that sprang up, and she could see exactly what had happened.

Previously unseen due to the darkness were a number of stone braziers at different sections of this large room. While they must have been unlit at first, somehow they were now sporting fires that provided adequate illumination. That ghost had just... helped them? By somehow igniting fire braziers to allow them to see?

Lydia wasn't certain if she was grateful, or further creeped out by this whole thing.

"Did... Lo just... How did these braziers...?" Siffre could be heard saying. She looked all around this now chamber the two could now see they were standing in, "Whoa... what is this place?"

With the light now granting them vision they sorely lacked, the two women were free to gaze upon this room. Just as the previous echoes implied, it was a massive chamber with a number of stone pillars reaching up towards a heightened ceiling above them. The lighting in this room showed them that while the stonework was clearly old and aged, there was still a sort of sturdiness about it.

Directly before the two women lay a rise of the ground in the form of steps; a centralized platform that led upwards towards... a coffin?

Lydia squinted her eyes as she gazed upon this strange coffin. It sat at the center of this risen platform while flanked on four corners by strange statues. These statues all bore a crude likeness to that of dragons' heads, all looking down upon the sarcophagus before them.

"A coffin..." Siffre said, "I'm guessing that's where... Hev- Hevora, er- the 'Dragon Priest' is buried?"

Lydia took a couple of very cautious steps towards the coffin in front of them, stopping just before it. The top was entirely flat and smooth, with only the faintest lines to show where the lid itself was. Just like the stonework of the chamber itself around them, the coffin appeared weathered but sturdy in its composition. Lydia dare not take any further steps closer to this coffin, and in fact stepped back closer to Siffre.

"That would probably be my guess," she said, "I'm not going any closer to this thing, if any of what the ghost said was true."

"Lo."

"What?" Lydia looked at Siffre. In that same moment she realized what she meant by that seemingly random syllable, "Oh, right- 'Lo'".

The two women made their way around the space allowed by the coffin's raised platform. They were then able to see what exactly was on the other side: another raised platform with what looked like another brazier. This one was not lit however, but upon careful inspection they could see that it in fact wasn't a brazier at all. It was some kind of bowl, circular cut and hollow inside. There was nothing inside of it, save for layers of dust and dirt.

"Well... where are we even supposed to go?" Lydia spoke aloud so that Siffre could hear her. Before the Dragonborn could respond, another voice responded for them.

"This way..."

Lo's voice cut through the silence, sending another shiver down Lydia's spine. Her gaze darted all around for the source of the voice to no avail. There was literally no way she would ever be used to that!

Eventually her gaze settled upon something behind her. In the wall behind her a wide section had been cut out with a set of stairs leading downwards. Faint hints of light could be seen coming from this new path illuminated off of its walls.

"Even further down below? Great..." Lydia said to herself. A quick glance to her side showed that Siffre was right with her. The women slowly made their way towards and down the declining steps.

While there was light shining in this smaller hallway, it was also much smaller in intensity. Lydia could see that this light was in fact shining from a couple of actual candles off in the nearby corners that marked the end of this short hallway.

'Braziers are one thing, but how did that Lo managed to light actual candles too?' she thought to herself.

The hallway before them stretched a short distance in a small, narrow tunnel. This tiny cramped space, combined with that stagnant, foul smell in the air only added to the feeling of claustrophobia. Lydia was not one to prefer small, tight spaces herself, and being in this sort of place wasn't doing her any favors.

Thankfully the hallway didn't end at its short length either. Another passageway led the two women directly to their right. There they could see another small room, decently lit from another burning brazier located within. A room bearing the shape of a half-circle with a number of Nordic bas-reliefs in weathered states decorated its walls.

That wasn't the only thing to be found within however.

Siffre and Lydia quickly caught sight of something on the ground in front of them. The two were brought to an immediate halt as they gazed down near their own feet.

Something indeed lay sprawled out across the weathered, decrepit ground before them. Something large, and vaguely humanoid in shape. In fact, it was rather alarming just how many human characteristics this thing bore. And the smell! By the Gods, a rather rank and foul smell came from this... body.

"What... in the nine Holds?" Lydia breathed as she looked down.

Upon further study of this body, she also noticed the attire it was dressed in. As it was laying down she could only see the barest of metallic looking straps that ran over this thing's shoulders and over to connect to a sturdy piece of metal wrapped around its upper body. The crude and weathered piece of armor seemed to cover only the top half of its upper torso, exposing the dessicated skin of its lower back and belly.

"So it's true... looks like it," Siffre said. Lydia turned up to look at her.

"What's true? What is this thing?" she asked.

"They're called draugr," Siffre explained, "I'd seen them before... in Bleak Falls Barrow. I didn't know what they were at the time, but I learned well after."

"A... draugr?" Lydia said before glancing back down at the body. Even now it remained still as death; an apt description for the body itself too, "Could this be... the remains of someone from the past?"

"Could be, I don't know," Siffre shrugged, "I'm just glad this one's actually dead, and not moving..."

"Wait, what?!" Lydia's head snapped back up again, "My thane, what do you mean by that?"

"The draugr at Bleak Falls Barrow... they walked around and moved." There was a subtle shift in movement, almost unnoticed by Lydia at first glance. She could tell it must have been a shudder; she could hardly blame her though.

"Well, we'd best stick closer together," she said. Tearing her gaze away from the motionless body, she looked all around this half-circle shaped room the two now stood in. Along the curve of the wall a couple of old, weathered stone tables stood. The 'benches' placed around them were equally aged and barely holding their shape. The only thing to be seen atop these tables were some old dusty scraps of loose cloth, and... a piece of parchment?

"Wait... Lydia, look," Siffre said. Lydia turned to where the Dragonborn indicated. This piece was a weathered and old as the other pieces of cloth on the table. However, it also stood out as having something scratched upon it. Words?

"Is that... writing?" she asked. Siffre carefully picked up the parchment and held it before them. She squinted her eyes and inspected it closer.

"'Powerful is master Hevnoraak... yet he craves more,'" she read, "'He desires a way to regain his... dominion-' no, 'dominance, beyond death itself... Such a method implies necromancy, but he will find a way. He will not be conquered, even by death.'" She flipped the parchment over only to find it blank on that side.

"Could that have been written by him?" Lydia asked.

"I don't think so; I think this was someone else talking about him," Siffre replied. She set the parchment down on the table again before glancing about once more, "I don't see anything else in this room."

"Yeah, me neither," Lydia concurred, "Guess these 'blood vessels' would be found somewhere else..."

"Further and deeper within..." Siffre said softly.

The two women deftly made their way around the definite corpse before them to reach the other side of the room. Now before them lay two open passageways leading in two different directions. The left path led down a small set of steps towards another hallway within, while the right side led down a similar set of steps towards another closed door.

"Two different paths," Lydia said, "Which way should we take first?"

"Hm..." Siffre said, "Let's... take the right one first."

With that the two made their way into the small passage and down the steps. The hallway itself felt rather small and cramped, not allowing the two to walk side by side each other. The light from the adjoining room barely stretched into this hallway, yet it didn't ease Lydia's anxiety. The tight space, barely adequate light, the rank smell in this place; practically everything here felt wrong.

Lydia was the first to reach the door. The lack of any sort of knobs seemed to indicate the door was meant to be pushed forward to open. With her sword still in hand she pressed the length of her forearm against one side... only to be met with immediate resistance in the form of a small thump.

"Huh?" her eyes narrowed in confusion. She pressed against the door again and again, with the same results.

"Guess we're not going this way after all," she said to Siffre with a shrug.

"It won't open?" the Dragonborn asked.

"No. It felt like there was... something blocking it, from the other side," Lydia explained.

"Oh... The other way it is, then..."

Siffre and Lydia backtracked up the small set of steps and immediately turned to their right. The small set of steps led down into a short hallway into another open section. The first thing the women could see were old wooden boards running up and down from the ceiling to the ground before them. These boards almost seem to act as a partition from the way something could be seen through their cracks.

Another room lay on the other side, longer, deeper, and eerily lit from nearby braziers. The floor was actually a few feet below the current level the two of them stood upon, akin to an upper level of sorts. At the far end of this floor lay an ancient looking stone table, and two sets of stone thrones flanking both sides. As if to add to a macabre display, more bodies of draugr could be seen: two sitting slumped in the stone thrones, and one sprawled out atop the table.

Lydia tore her gaze from the display below to look up, where her breath almost immediately caught in her throat.

She caught sight of something she was not expecting to see at all, which was saying a lot considering this sort of place she stood in. The familiar, ghostly form of Lo stood at the very edge of a ledge overlooking the floor beneath them. As before, it did not move much or any of its body at all. It continued to stand in place, a haunting visage of death under a gentle glow.

"Look, Siffre! It's that ghost, Lo, again!" she pointed out, "Hey! You there! Are we going the right way?"

No sound could be heard from Lo. In fact, not only did it not reply in any way to Lydia's call, but it actually appeared to slowly spin in place. It's back, or at least what passed for its back as a spirit, now faced the two women as it slowly began to... walk away?

Lydia and Siffre's eyes narrowed at the display. Did it not see them? Did it not even hear them? Soon after it turned to 'walk away', it's misty form began to fade away until it was gone. It left just as quickly as it had appeared.

"What is with that ghost?" Lydia said while unable to keep an edge of irritation out of her voice.

"That was... creepy, Lo just standing there..." Siffre admitted. She craned her head to the left to see that the partition between them actually held a large space meant for a walkway that extended out and in front. With the Dragonborn leading the way the two women carefully made their way out and down this crude walkway and onto the lower floor.

"Whoa! Watch out, Siffre!" Lydia instinctively reached out for Siffre's shoulder. The latter was momentarily surprised by this action, until she saw exactly why. A large metallic grate could be seen in the dead center of the floor before them. It didn't quite extend to cover the entirety of the floor, but one wrong step could easily had them fall through its cracks, or worse.

"Oh! Thanks Lydia... I didn't even see that..." she said.

"Yeah, of course," Lydia replied. She carefully eased her head over to peer down through these cracks as best she could. The only thing Lydia could see was the shadows of these metal bars cast deep down. There was no telling how far or deep this pit reached down from first glance.

"Let's be careful and watch our steps from now on," she said.

"Right," Siffre nodded. The two women then deftly made their way around the metal grate, making definitely sure to avoid even stepping anywhere close to it. With the plentiful space all around they were able to avoid it completely.

Towards the front of the room the women could see everything a little clearer. A twin set of large braziers were burning brightly and gave this space some much needed light for the two women. They could see the outcropping up above where Lo's ghost was seen mere moments ago, the ruined table with the draugr sprawled atop it, and the flanking stone thrones with the two draugr sitting in slumped positions. One other thing they could see however was a number of primitive stone benches lining the space between all that and the grate behind them.

"Are these... benches?" Siffre spoke softly, "Why would... what was done here?"

"I don't know... Speeches, or sermons maybe?" Lydia said with a shake of her head.

Siffre's eyes focused in on the stone table. The desiccated corpse lay there, but also... something else could be seen on its side closest to them. A thin piece of parchment with words scribbled atop it.

Siffre took a cautious step towards the table.

"Siffre..." Lydia spoke instinctively.

Almost seemingly from the sound of Lydia's soft voice, Siffre's attention was brought up to the body's head. It's 'face' stared straight up, literally eyeless and skin pulled taut across the front. In that moment, her lips pursed instinctively as she attempted to reign in her momentary disgust. She nevertheless reached a hand out and quickly snatched the parchment towards her and quickly retreated backwards.

She rejoined Lydia and held the item before the both of them.

"It's more writing?" Siffre said before squinting her eyes, "'Hevnoraak's control is unquestionable, but even it had its limits. Before it extended only to his thralls in life... But no more. After years of research... his control over his thralls is reasserted even in death. They now serve his will as loyal sentinels, even as draugr, for there is no one other than master Hevnoraak.'"

"Gods, someone sounds full of themselves," Lydia remarked with every word Siffre spoke from the parchment, "And such big talk for someone who's supposed to be dead."

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling too..." Siffre said before flipping the parchment over to inspect the other side. She then placed it back on the stone table next to the draugr body sprawled atop it. Glimpses of it reminded her of the context of the note itself, "Wait... draugr were under control?"

"I guess not..." Lydia said as she glanced at the body before them, "That body there looks as stiff as, well, death. How could it possibly-"

Whatever Lydia meant to say was quickly cut off. In that moment, a sound reached her ears. It wasn't the sound of Lo speaking either; this was something else entirely.

Her entire body spun in the general direction she'd heard the sound coming from. In that moment she could hear Siffre doing the same thing, except opposite from herself. In fact, there were actually 'two' sets of sounds filling the air! Its quite possible that the two of them were catching wind of both of them happening at the exact same time!

Before Lydia she could see the stone table off to the right side of the stone table, as well as the slumped over body that sat upon it. However, in direct contrast to the stiff, lifeless body on the table in front of them, this one... began to move! The draugr that was once sitting slumped in the chair was very slowly beginning to stand up on its own two feet!

"By... the gods!" Lydia breathed, "Siffre-"

"I know!" Siffre said.

The draugr in front of Lydia slowly began to turn its head in her direction. It was then that Lydia could see it: upon its taut, dessicated face were two orbs glowing light blue. Some sort of supernatural force was guiding this undead body and having it face her now! It was only now that the housecarl became aware of what exactly that sound was she was hearing: growling. This dead yet now moving draugr was growling from its lipless mouth!

The undead body then suddenly began to reach down at its side and swiftly pull forth a long, dark gray colored object. The sword it now held in its hands was rusted with age to complement the surrounding environment, yet it still retained its shape.

The sight of a sword now in its hands quickly spurred Lydia to action. She gripped her own sword in her hand and even pounded its hilt against the base of her shield a couple times.

As if deliberately answering her challenging call, the draugr then began to lumber over towards her. Or rather, shamble would be a better description for the way this thing was moving. It practically dragged its feet across the stone floor beneath them, while also knowing enough to walk around the benches that were situated between the two of them.

Lydia broke away from her spot to re-position herself around the back of the benches as well. Here she would meet the draugr head on even as it continued to shamble ever closer to her.

Growling sounds once again could be heard from its mouth upon finally reaching her even as it began to raise its sword-wielding arm. Lydia was ready for it however with a raised shield to block. The metal collided with the metal of her shield, sending sounds of metallic clanks reverberating through the space of this room. The waves of the impact were also felt through Lydia's arms as well, and her face betrayed a look of surprise.

'What strength! It hit my shield with the same force a bandit would've hit it with!' she thought to herself, 'But... how?! This thing is supposed to be dead! How could it maintain such strength?'

She quickly recomposed herself and prepared to counterattack. Or, at least she would have, had the draugr not decided to make another move itself. The undead creature had raised its sword arm over its shoulder again; almost as if it was putting its whole weight into an overhead slash. In that moment, Lydia saw her chance to make her move.

Right when the draugr brought its arm down, Lydia quickly held her shield before her, but jumped to the side. As a result she felt the impact of the sword against her shield, if not as greatly as before. But more importantly the draugr now found itself stumbing forward towards where Lydia had just been standing.

In addition, right in front of the metal grate.

This was not an accident to Lydia either; her quick thinking had worked!

"Nice! Now to just-!"

With another mouthful of growls the draugr attempted to slash at her again. This time Lydia simply bashed the sword strike away with her shield, leaving the undead body completely open in an apparent daze. Seizing this moment, Lydia quickly raised her foot up and kicked as hard as she could. In her mind flashed a memory of not too long ago involving the highwayman on the side of the road. He had done this very thing to her, now she would be doing the same to this draugr. Her foot planted firmly against the body and 'kicked' it backwards.

The effect was immediate. The moment the draugr set foot upon the metal bars of the grate, they instantly gave away. The undead body was left to tumble backwards down into this crude trap, growls filling the air.

Then suddenly, all sounds from the draugr were silenced completely, along with an accompanying crunching sound. This unexpected sound caused Lydia to recoil in response. At the same time she was left momentarily puzzled from what exact had just happened.

Carefully she took a step forward to peer just over the edge of the now broken grate. Looking down, she could see exactly why. The draugr lay motionless a few feet down at the bottom of this apparent pit, a number of thick wooden spikes penetrating upward! The draugr was dead, or at the very least was back to 'being' dead as it should have been!

"Hyah!"

A new yet familiar sound filling the air grabbed her attention. Lydia turned back around to see Siffre still contending with the other draugr. By now though the undead creature had somehow been downed to one knee while the Nord woman had brought her raised great-sword down hard. The steel of the weapon easily carved through the dessicated body with ease, sending the draugr falling backwards. The crude weapon of a war axe it held clattered to the ground. As with her own foe, the draugr did not rise again, remaining still and lifeless.

"Lyd-!" Siffre spun around to meet her, "Oh, good. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good..." The Dragonborn moved out from the middle of the benches arrangement to rejoin the housecarl.

"So... the draugr actually do move... That's just great too," she said.

"I'll say...! The dead walk these halls, both spirits and these draugr, likely both mean to kill us..." As Lydia listed off, her eyes drifted back up to meet Siffre's. The eyes looking back at her were filled with concern, a little bit of fear, but also... Determination. That familiar sense of determination that she'd come to recognize in her thane over the time that they've spent together.

"... And, we're planning to press on, aren't we?"

"Of course," Siffre said with a shrug as she glanced around at the draugr that she herself had just slain, "I mean, it would surely take more than some old, dusty bonemen to stop us, wouldn't it?"

"Heh, you know, sometimes I actually can't tell if you're being brave, foolhardy, or both," Lydia said. For as much as she meant her point to be taken somewhat seriously, at the same time she couldn't help a small smile to tug at the corners of her lips as she spoke. Siffre must have noticed this subtle smile herself and gave a small chuckle of her own.

Lydia then glanced back up at the small outcropping above the stone table and throne. The same outcropping where the two of them had caught sight of Lo's figure just... standing there. It was there at one point, but then it decided to vanish?

"Seriously though, you saw the ghost there too, didn't you?" she said. Siffre glanced up at the outcropping, "Couldn't it have told us if something like this were going to happen?"

"Maybe... Lo didn't know?" Siffre shrugged. She appeared to relent with a sigh, "I don't know either. Maybe... Let's see if we see him again."

"Really wouldn't surprise me if it did know more than it was letting on..." Lydia commented. Nevertheless, she shook her head and looked back around the room again. From looking behind her at the now open grate-turned-trapdoor, she looked to the right to find... another open hallway.

"Whoa, Lydia. That grating there... what happened?" Siffre pointed out. The housecarl's momentary confusion was quickly dispelled when she realized that Siffre must've had her own back turned while she'd been combating the other draugr.

"Oh, well, looks like we were right to avoid it," Lydia explained, "Damn thing gave in quickly as soon as that draugr fell atop it."

"Huh, that was lucky... for us, anyway."

Siffre then glanced to the left, towards the same hallway that Lydia had seen, "Looks like that's the only way to go..."

"Right. Let's be on, and keep our eyes open..."

Side by side the two women proceeded through the somewhat small hallway entry. Just as before the hallway itself was somewhat small, and the lighting from the nearby lit candles somehow accented just how small it really felt. Before them lay two individual doors: one on the right and closest to them, and one on the left at the very end of the hallway.

Lydia placed the side of her arm against the right side door and pushed into-

"Huh?"

Instead of pushing through at all, Lydia was met with the door itself refusing to budge. She pushed on it once more, then twice more, each time putting more of her weight into pushing the door through. No matter how many shoves she attempted, the door remained closed. Why wasn't it opening?

"Locked?" Siffre asked. Lydia glanced up and down at the very edges of the door even as she shoved again.

"Urgh-! Yeah... Might be... locked... and not stuck-!" Lydia grunted in between shoving attempts. After a few more tries, she eventually abandoned her efforts. She stepped away from the door, giving the side of her arm a momentary rest from being shoved as well, "Well... guess we're not supposed to go in there?"

"Then that just leaves that door..." Siffre pointed out. The remaining door at the end of the hallway awaited the two women. They approached this one and in contrast to before, Lydia instead placed the edge of her fist against it and gently pushed in.

This time, the door actually gave away! A heavy creaking sound filled the cramped space as the door opened inward. Siffre made sure to hold her great sword with the tip facing inward, ready to keep the two of them covered from whatever might surprise them inside. The creaking door silenced, and the two looked in to find...

One quick sniff and Lydia's nose instantly scrunched.

"Ugh! What the..." she said as her nostrils were assailed by the smell of... something, "That smell! Do you smell that?!"

"Yeah, I do...!" Siffre replied as she took to holding her nose into the crook her elbow as well. Her facial features were scrunched up likely from disgust as well, "Is that... some kind of gas?"

"Gas?" What..."

It was then that Lydia could see it. With the aid of the light from nearby torches on the wall, as well as some glowing pots overhead, on the floor lay a slick substance. The light reflected off of it produced a rather light purple and even ultraviolet color display. There was no way such a liquid could be water, and judging from the distasteful smell in the air, it was clear to see what this substance was.

"Siffre... this stuff, on the floor?" she pointed out. The Dragonborn looked down at the floor before them. She sniffed the air one more time while instinctively scrunching up again.

"Ugh, smells like oil..." she said. With a shake of her head she looked back at the new passageway stretched out before them. A moderately sized hallway that immediately angled to the right, with a strange black statue directly in front of them.

Siffre then proceeded to walk inside this hallway. As Lydia caught sight of her thane moving first, her eyes drifted back to the ground where she would be walking-

In an instant, her open right hand quickly shot out and blocked Siffre from walking any further. Lydia's own eyes were widened upon catching sight of something else on the ground.

"Ah! L-Lydia! What are you-?!" A burst of soft vibrations filled the air from Siffre's own surprise.

"My thane, look..."

Lydia redirected Siffre's attention to the floor again, this time to the very space right before them. There, covered by this oily substance as the rest of the floor, a circular pad was cut out into the floor. Or perhaps 'cut out' was not quite the adequte description, as it seemed to bulge out from the natural flatness of the floor itself. It's as if this 'pad' was made to be stepped on...

"Oh... a pressure plate..." Siffre said, "Thanks Lydia, for catching that."

"Yeah sure," Lydia nodded while also lowering her arm again. It was a small and fleeting moment, but the housecarl felt a burst of pride in having certainly done something in line with preserving the safety of her thane. Of course there was no way to tell exactly what might've happened if that pressure plate was touched, but one could take a healthy guess from seeing those fire-filled jugs hanging over the oil-slicked floor.

"I don't know what that plate does... and I'd rather not find out," Siffre said. With that she began to angle herself to walk closer to the edges of the surrounding walls and well away from the pressure plate, "Come on, we can walk around it..."

"I'm right behind you," Lydia said, "And let's keep our eyes peeled for any other plates in there..."

The two women deftly made their way through the hallway's entrance, taking extreme care to avoid even stepping remotely close to the pressure plate. Eventually they were completely clear and free to proceed further. Lydia followed her own advice and kept an eye to the ground to watch for any more concealed pressure plates. Each step they took produced sticky sound along with their footsteps, the oil proving to be somewhat viscous between the two's boots.

Upon the path making its sharp right turn, another plate could be seen. This one was positioned directly beneath one of thse strange fire-filled pots that was hanging precariously overhead. Even just looking up at one of these ancient archaic potteries in this scenario sent shivers along her spine. One wrong step, and the both of them could end up roasted alive...

"Watch it, another plate..." Siffre pointed out. She must have seen the same plate that Lydia had seen. Just as before, she inched herself along the side of the wall to steer as far away from stepping on the plate as she could. Thank the gods this hallway provided just enough room for space to maneuver around them.

Just as before Lydia followed Siffre's lead and maneuvered herself around the second pressure plate as well. However, upon passing this one, the two women came to a halt.

"What is that...? A window?"

Lydia's question might've felt strange, even as she herself voiced it. However, there was little else this 'hole in the wall' could be described as. In fact, just on the other side of this 'window', a couple of candles could be seen burning, likely from some little ledge on the inside.

"Is this... somewhere we need to be?" Siffre asked while trying to peer inside herself.

"I... don't think so," Lydia shook her head. Looking through herself she couldn't see anything of note either than the burning candles themselves, "No sign of any of those, what, 'blood vessels' here..." Turning her attention back out again she looked all around their immediate position, frowning upon what she saw, "Siffre... Where do we go now?"

"Huh?" Siffre looked in the same directions as Lydia did. They did in fact reach the end of this small hallway only to find... dead ends? The path angled both to the left and the right with both meeting walls at their respective ends.

"Seriously? Did we actually take a wrong turn somewhere back there?" Lydia groaned, her frustration starting to build up, "I knew this was a mistake to do this in the first place-"

"Lydia, wait..." Siffre suddenly spoke up. The housecarl glanced up at her thane, whose own gaze was directed somewhere else. She was looking towards the left side direction of this 'dead end' at the wall, and a small lit brazier on the edge of the wall.

"Siffre?" Lydia spoke. She watched intently as the Dragonborn deftly made her way across the oil-slicked ground to the very edge. She then began to reach her hand out towards something; it was only at this moment that Lydia realized what she was doing.

"Wait!" Her sudden call halted Siffre's arm's advance from moving further. It must have surprised her too as well from how she seemed to tense up, "Er, sorry. But my thane, what are you doing?"

"You see this too, don't you?" Siffre now deliberately pointed with a finger to what it was she meant to grab. Lydia could already see it: a circular panel on the wall with a smaller handle-like object inside of it. The panel and handle were both gray in color to help contrast against the drab color of the surrounding stonework.

"Yes, I see it," Lydia clarified, "But my question is 'why'?" Siffre's eyes narrowed in momentary confusion.

"Why? Well... why not?" Siffre said, "This was obviously meant to be pulled, wasn't it?"

"Have you forgotten about the pressure panels we narrowly had to avoid stepping on in this hallway alone?" Lydia's hand sweeping behind her indicated, "What makes you think 'that' would be any safer?"

"Yes, pressure plates I could understand..." Siffre conceded, "But Lydia, think about it- if those panels on the ground were obvious traps, maybe even linked to these flame-pots above us..." Her pointing hand indicated to the flame-pots in question, still hanging precariously over the oil-slicked ground the two of them stood upon, "Then what would the actual chances something like 'this' would trigger that same trap...?" For as much as Lydia wanted to refute that logic, yet again Siffre did make a point.

"Curse it..." she mumbled to herself before moving. She moved just as deftly as Siffre did, making triple sure to watch what it was she stepped upon. She could feel the oil stick to the bottom of her boots as she advanced closer to Siffre herself. Once she was close enough she hugged the wall behind her before looking towards her thane, "If you're gonna pull that handle, then let's just get it over with already..."

Siffre gave Lydia a quick look, but otherwise gave no verbal response. She instead turned back to reaching for the handle on the wall. Her fingers closed around it and she pulled outward slowly.

At that moment during watching, Lydia decided to clench her eyes shut. Her senses were turned back to the familiar feeling of being surrounded by the oil and its vapors. Whatever was to happen next, she'd rather not watch.

'Here we go...' she thought to herself. Metal rubbing on stone could be heard, yet Lydia's eyes remained clenched shut. The inevitable fate of roasting alive in fire was certain to come, she just knew it.

'I hope being burned alive is quick at least-'

"Whoa!"

The new sound that reached her ears wasn't the sound of roaring flames, nor was the smell of fire and smoke filling her eyes and nose. Instead, Lydia heard the voice of Siffre. She sounded... surprised?

Very slowly she opened her eyes. What she was met with was movement, but not by Siffre herself. Instead, as she opened her eyes wider, she witnessed the wall itself... moving? The sound that was filling her ears at this time as rock rubbing against rock, followed by a section of the wall itself sinking down into the floor!

Siffre glanced back at Lydia.

"How about that? A secret- Oh! Look!"

Lydia shot around towards to where Siffre pointed, her own hand gripping the hilt of her sword tighter. She once again did not witness any sort of fire breaking out, nor even draugr approaching them. Instead, she witnessed at the other end of this short two-way hallway another section of wall opening up in a similar manner to this one!

"Gods...!" Lydia let out a shaky breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding. In fact, in this moment she was both aware of the shakiness in her breath as well as just how fast her heart had been beating. Upon seeing no danger, or at least nothing immediate, her grip on her sword hilt loosened slightly.

"Two different passages opened up when I pulled this lever..." Siffre said, "So... which way should we go first?" Lydia's eyes unconsciously drifted up to the passageway directly in front of the two of them. The path curved sharply upward before appearing the level out at the top, but beyond that she could see no further.

"Well, might as well go there first," she indicated to the aforementioned passage.

"Alright then..." Siffre held her own sword at the read and proceeded into this new hallway, Lydia following close behind. Just as the latter predicted the hallway curved up in a very sharp incline before leveling out with the hallway's end. Before they knew it the two women found themselves standing in a new location completely.

This new room was a somewhat smaller room compared to the other locations. Two different sarcophagi lined the walls opposite each other, and one other posed at the far end of the room opposite of the two women. The smell of flammable oil had completely given way to a different smell entirely. While the air itself was still rank with signs of the crypt the two stood in there was also the scent of... snow?

"There's a draft here," Lydia pointed out. Next to the sarcophagus on the far end, a ray of natural light could be seen pouring in at a horizontal angle. Wind could also be heard howling from the outside world while also letting a small amount of snow pile in from a hole in the wall on the right.

Aside from the sarcophagi and the hole in the wall, the latter a testament to this crypt's obviously failing structural integrity, nothing else in this room stood out. The two women slowly advanced further into the whole of this area to investigate further. Nothing but piles of debris, shattered pieces of pottery, and overgrown roots somehow reaching into the depths of this place. That is, except for one pedestal at the far end holding a rather curious object.

"Lydia..." Siffre whispered. She indicated to the object on said pedestal and gently motioned to follow. Lydia followed closely behind Siffre as she walked closer, her own eyes remaining fixed on the sarcophagus that stood vertically to the wall itself. How ancient people were able to build sarcophagi that stood 'straight up' and seemingly built into the very walls was beyond her.

The two women came to a stop in front of the pedestal, where the object upon it could be seen clearer. At first glance it appeared to be an olive-colored vase, until upon closer inspection something could just barely be seen inside. It was unmoving, whatever the substance inside was, but it was clear it was some kind of liquid. The additional aid of the light from from the hole in the wall just opposite it showed that the liquid appeared dark in color.

"What do you think? A vessel of blood if I ever saw it..." Siffre said.

A bottle of blood; how strange a phrase to conceive, much less something to say aloud. Perhaps that ghost Lo was telling some truth there? This bottle really containing the life fluid of some powerful 'dragon priest'? Of course there was only one sure way to determine if there was in fact blood inside this thing, but Lydia was in no hurry to volunteer.

"Strange..." she noted, "We saw that apparently draugr are walking these halls, even coming to life; probably being controlled. You'd think there would be some guarding something like 'this'," she indicated to the vassal on the pedestal.

"Looks like we should count ourselves fortunate," Siffre said. She then proceeded to reach up to grip the bottleneck of the vessel and lift it up.

A few seconds after the vessel left the pedestal, the sound of stone scraping on stone could be heard. Lydia tensed up from this sudden sound then focused in on what exactly she'd heard. The square top of the pedestal suddenly had slid up a few centimeters. Almost as if the vassal itself was... weighing it down...

"Siffre..." Lydia spoke lowly as she turned to her thane, "What... did that just... do?" Siffre returned her look of her own. There was genuine surprise, confusion, even fear in her eyes as she looked back at her. Before anymore words could be spoken, a new sound filled the air.

The sound of something snapping could be heard, followed by a resounding crash. Both women practically jumped back away from what was happening right before them. The sarcophagus that stood posed on the far end of the wall had moved! Or rather the apparent lid that lay atop it and covered its front had in fact broken off and fallen to the stone ground. With the lid having broken off, Siffre and Lydia were left to look inside this coffin's contents.

Another draugr was seen, and in fact was wasting no time from uncovering its crossed arms from its chest. Growls could be heard from its mouth as it proceeded to slowly step a foot out from the coffin and onto the ground before it.

There was a stark difference in this draugr as opposed to the previous ones the two women had encountered. This one appeared to be dressed in a number of what looked like armor pieces, including a horned helmet. The armor of course sported bits of rust here and there but nevertheless appeared solid and sturdy. As with the other two draugr however, this one's sockets held two glowing blue orbs instead of eyes.

Both of these glowing orbs staring straight at the two warriors.

"Damn, not again!" Lydia said. She gripped the hilt of her sword tighter and held her shield in front of her. The draugr slowly, almost deliberately, reached behind its own back to pull forth its own weapon: a long, clearly weathered great-sword, similar in length to Siffre's own blade.

"Oh no... I... I just- and that," Siffre could be heard stammering, causing Lydia to glance to her side. The Dragonborn's eyes were darting back and forth to the vassal in her hand and to the draugr. No, she had to have been looking at the pedestal it came from. She then turned to glance at the housecarl, "Lydia! I-I didn't know that would-!"

"Not now, Siffre!" Lydia harshly declared. The edge in her tone seemed to break Siffre from her momentary panic. She shook her head and refocused her attention on the peril that literally stood before them.

The armored draugr continued to stand in place, even with a great-sword held in both its hands and staring at the two women. The sounds of growling still could be heard coming from its rotted, desiccated mouth. Then, the growling ceased, followed by the draugr releasing one of its hands from the sword's hilt.

"Fo..."

The draugr's back arched at the same time a new sound was heard from its mouth. The sound almost confused Lydia at first, that is until she vaguely recalled that similar sound before. It almost sounded like...

Lydia's eyes widened.

"Siffre!"

"Lydia!"

"Krah-DIIN!"

In a flash, Lydia's world once again became a flash of white and cold. She barely had enough time to raise her shield before a burst of cold air practically crashed into her! Her face was thankfully protected by her shield, but exposed skin on her arms were subjected to the coldest cold she'd ever felt! Her mind was instantly reminded of a couple days ago helping Illia in slaying her mother, when that witch had hit her with that burst of cold as well. Somehow though, this one felt even colder!

"Drgh!" she groaned.

The wave of cold persisted for a couple seconds before she could feel the force lessen. Tentatively she lowered her shield just enough to peer over its edge. The armored draugr remained standing in place with a wave of ice and frost in a cone-like formation coating the ground before it.

"Siffre?"

She glanced to her side. The Dragonborn was thankfully still standing, albeit with a coating of frost upon the left side of her armor as well. She appeared to move slowly in an attempt to reorient herself. Despite her calling her name, her head didn't turn to acknowledge her.

"You alright?" Lydia called out to her again. This time Siffre glanced to her side towards her.

"Y-yeah," she said.

"That thing, that draugr," Lydia said, "It just... it Shouted! Just like you do!"

"Yeah, I know...!" Siffre replied, rather hastily. For some reason, her response earned her a look from Lydia. There wasn't just dismissiveness in that reply, but also... something else. The draugr had just Shouted, yet Siffre didn't seem as shocked as she was?

Why wasn't she?

Lydia harshly shook her head, both to shake off the cold and to dispel these thoughts for the moment. There'd be time for talk later; for now, there was a Shouting draugr to contend with!

The draugr had returned its open hand to the hilt of its sword so that it now gripped it with both hands. It then proceeded to shamble closer to the two women. Before either it or even Lydia could advance upon each other, yet another sound filled the small space of this room.

"Fo... KRAH!"

A burst of cold once again filled the air and space around her. This time, the familiar accompanying voice told her that Siffre had returned a Shout of her own. Another burst of cold air, yet this one felt just shy of the intensity of what Lydia and her had just been in the path of themselves.

The draugr meanwhile took the full force of this Shout. Aside from the noticeable effect of ice and frost gathering on both its armor, weapon, and even desiccated skin, its movement slowed down ever so slightly as well. Even the groans that could be heard from its mouth sounded coupled with pain, or perhaps it was more like annoyance.

"Dir volaan...!" the draugr growled this time. Lydia had no idea what that meant, nor did she care.

She resumed her charge towards the draugr, her shield raised up and ready to block the incoming downward swing of its great-sword. The large weapon crashed upon her shield with a resounding thud, once again sending shockwaves up Lydia's arm. In spite of the momentary pain she held her stance and even pushed the sword off and away from her person. The draugr's blade was in fact pushed back, but the undead creature was already swinging it to its side.

Metal clashed against metal as its blade met Siffre's, who had just rushed in herself. Both her hands gripped against the hilt of her weapon. Pulling them both back they struck at each other again three more times. It was apparent though that both of their movements were slightly slowed due to their exposure to the respective waves of cold.

One more time Siffre caught the draugr's blade in a deadlock. With a grit of her teeth she put strength into her arms to force the two blades down and to the side. Slowly but surely, the blades angled ever so slightly lower.

Suddenly, the draugr summoned a quick burst of strength of its own and pushed outward. Siffre found herself stumbling back and barely managing to hold her stance on her back foot. The undead creature wasted no time in turning its attention to Lydia. It brought its blade up in a diagonal slashing motion towards her, eager to catch her in the breastplate.

Lydia instead opted to jump back to avoid the blade likely cleaving through both her armor and her own body. While she was able to clear the deadly yet ancient blade, the very tip of it did manage to scratch against the front of her armor, leaving a long scratch diagonally along its length.

The housecarl grunted in surprise rather than any pain. She didn't feel any injury from that sudden attack, and looking down there wasn't any drop of blood on her body to suggest that either. She looked back up at the draugr with eyes narrowed and gritted teeth barred.

"Sovngarde saraan-"

Before the draugr could attempt to strike again Siffre's form came out from the side and rammed her shoulder into the undead body. The draugr groaned as its attack was interrupted and it stumbled back a couple steps itself. Its head turned to the side so that its glowing orbs for eyes looked elsewhere; Lydia saw her chance.

She quickly lunged forward and thrust her sword forward, stabbing straight into the draugr's chest. A plate of ancient armor lay in her intended path, so she adjusted ever so slightly to aim slightly above it. The tip of the sword pierced into desiccated flesh with a squelch, something Lydia was somehow able to 'feel' through the weapon through vibrations. The draugr meanwhile made something that Lydia could only guess resembled grunting sounds.

Despite the draugr still standing from the ordinarily fatal strike, the housecarl quickly followed up. She pulled her blade out from the undead chest by spinning her own body in place. She essentially spun in place to bring her blade around and slash hard into the whole of the draugr's body.

Just as before her blade made contact with the walking corpse. She could feel the tip slash straight through the flesh and even strike against the ancient metal of the armor. As she herself came to a stop from her stationary spin she witnessed the draugr fall to the ground to a heap. The large sword it once held in its hands clattered to the ground.

The two women kept their eyes trained on the now unmoving undead body for a handful of seconds. Their sounds of audible huffing from the obvious exertion were the only sounds to fill the air. Confident that the dead body remained unmoving this time, Lydia allowed herself to untense and relax.

"And... stay dead," she said.

"Thanks, Lydia. Good work in finishing it off," Siffre said beside her. Lydia turned her head to regard her thane and her words.

"Of course," she said. Now that her mind was not preoccupied with immediate battle, she recalled what had happened earlier, "Alright, if we're finally given a moment to breathe..." She glanced down to the dead body on the ground and pointed a finger towards it, "That draugr, it actually Shouted. Did you... did you know it could do that?"

"No! Well, er, yes, but- wait, I-I mean...!" Siffre found herself stammering. The look on her face showed clear confusion and even panic, which only served to confuse Lydia as well.

"I... I'd seen it happen before..." she spoke softer and composed this time, "Remember I'd mentioned Bleak Falls Barrow?"

"That place again?" Lydia said. Despite never having explored it herself, her mind conjured the image of a setting very similar to the crypt the two of them stood in now, "You're saying there were Shouting draugr there too?"

"Not all of them, thankfully... but, one did," Siffre explained, "I... I actually didn't know what it was doing at the time. But, looking back... it makes so much more sense..."

Lydia looked back down at the draugr body the two of them just fought. Now that it wasn't trying to kill them, she was able to study it a little closer. As with the previous draugr the desiccated skin on its body was pulled taut across very visible bones beneath. This one stood out however with its rather unique apparel it was dressed in. It was sporting boots, gauntlets, an armored cuirass that for the most part covered its upper body, and a strange helmet with two long horns atop it akin to some modern-day animal, like a ram. There was some some reassurance in looking down at this thing and not seeing those glowing blue orbs staring back at them; not only was it an indirect way of confirming it was actually dead this time, but they were really creepy on their own.

"Siffre..." she suddenly found herself asking, "Do you think... this draugr might've been... a Dragonborn too?" Her question actually earned her a look from the Dragonborn standing beside her. A look of surprise and almost genuine curiosity graced her features as she looked back and forth between her and the draugr on the ground.

"A Dragonborn? Um... I don't know..." she said, "But wait- Ulfric Stormcloak did say that any Nord could learn the Voice, given enough time. Maybe... this thing had as well, when it was alive."

"And somehow was able to Shout even as a corpse like this..." Lydia said with a shake of her head, "Yeah, I suggest we be a little more careful from here on. Let's get out of this room already."

"Right."

Siffre turned in place to walk a couple feet to the side, Lydia watching on curiously. She watched the Dragonborn reach the side wall of this room and pick something up off of the floor. She held the vessel in her hand, turning and twisting her hand to inspect its various sides.

"Unbroken... good," she could be heard saying to herself. She then turned back in Lydia's direction while holding the vassal before her as well.

"That's really it, is it? A bottle of blood?" Lydia said.

"Had to set it down there to not risk breaking," Siffre indicated to the previous spot, "And yeah... looks like it."

"Doesn't look like a lot in there..." Lydia found herself saying as she scrutinized the vessel. It was true, the object in question appeared no bigger than that of an ordinary health potion, the likes of which she'd seen Arcadia have in her inventory. An amount of this much likely would have the liquid amount of only a third of a human in it... Lydia's eyes narrowed as she realized something in that same moment. Her eyes met Siffre's again, "We've got more to find, don't we?"

"That's... what I was thinking. No way this could all of it..." Siffre shrugged her shoulders. She placed her sword into one hand to allow her other hand to hold the vessel. Reaching to her side she slipped it into her side pack. The narrow neck of the vessel stuck out from the leather pack, preventing it from closing completely.

She looked back up at Lydia with a shrug of her shoulders, "I guess we're off to find more."

Lydia nodded and proceeded to walk back to the room's entrance, Siffre right along side her. The two women now made their way down the sharp incline they had once ascended in this very narrow passageway. The foul scent of oil pervaded their nostrils once more as they entered the previous room.

"Looks like this other room is the next place to go," Lydia pointed towards the open pathway now directly in front of them. It was the opposite path that had opened up from when Siffre had pulled the lever earlier and revealed them to the two.

"Yeah- oh, wait!" Lydia started but quickly stopped. Her abruptness quickly drew the attention of Siffre next to her, "Watch out, there's another pressure plate there, see it?"

"Huh?" Siffre looked down to where Lydia pointed. Sure enough, another pad could just barely be seen jutting up from the oil-slicked floor, just in front of the entrance to the opposite passageway, "Oh, good looking out again, Lydia."

Dual oil-slicked footsteps echoed through the space once more as the two women made their way across. Both of them kept their eyes carefully peeled to the pressure plate that Lydia had pointed out. Stepping around it was also easy enough, and the two of them found themselves entering through yet another tight passageway.

Unlike the previous one however, this one stayed relatively level with the floor. The two made a sharp left turn and entered another hallway. The space itself was darkened once more, yet they could just barely make out a mass of what appeared to be roots and vines littering the floor before them. One of the walls on the right side even appeared to be caved in with dirt and debris blocking whatever may have lie beyond. That passage not being an option, the two proceeded forward.

The hallway took them down a small, gradual decline once again before they found themselves at another left turn. This corner was marked with a large statue of some being's face, but clearly worn, weathered, and barely holding together on the ground in front of them.

Siffre and Lydia stepped around the corner to find themselves out of the narrow hallway and into another room.

The first thing the two could see were sets of tables on opposite sides of another half-circle shaped room. There were benches lining them, or at least what passed for benches here. Some were barely holding their shape to resemble benches, while others had clearly withered away into nothing but debris and dust. As Lydia walked closer into the room, looking at the top of these tables she could see round, thin objects. Only a couple of them held their round shape with rest being shattered.

"Plates?" she said, "This is some kind of dining hall?"

"This is supposed to be a crypt though, isn't it?" Siffre said as she inspected the opposing table herself, "What kind of crypt has places for... eating?" The implication was enough, and Lydia had to resist the urge to gag from the very unpleasant thought that almost conjured in her mind.

"Ugh... Never mind; don't wanna know," she conceded.

"Is that a bridge?" Siffre pointed out.

Turning to where the other woman indicated, Lydia could see it. What looked like a stone archway connected this section of the room across to another part. The only form of light came from a burning brazier high above the archway itself; the light wasn't terribly bright, but it gave just enough illumination so as to prevent total darkness.

Lydia led the way as she approached the foot of the archway. On either side sat an array of ancient pottery, miraculously holding their shape despite their age. Her eyes scanned the top of the walkway, intent to discover more 'hidden' pressure pads. The ground appeared level for the most part however; no pads to risk stepping on as far as she could see.

She took one tentative step across, followed by another, and another. Each step taken filled her with as much dread as reassurance. Nothing was happening, yet at least.

"Come on, my thane. It seems safe enough..." she gently called back behind her. She could hear the sound of footsteps behind her without her even need to look behind her. In no time at all she reached the other side of the archway.

"Alright, made it," Siffre said after rejoining Lydia at her side. The two women looked at what lie directly in front of them, "Another door."

The two slowly approached the ancient, iron double door. Lydia placed a hand on one of them and gave a gentle press. It was indeed locked, as she was met with resistance just as before. Unlike before however, there was actually the slightest bit of give with both of the doors. Whatever served as the lock for this door, it seemed just barely holding together.

"It's locked, but... not very strong," Lydia said. An idea formed in her mind, "Here- stand back a bit."

"Huh?" Siffre said, but nonetheless took a step back.

Lydia took a single step back as well, prepared herself, then dashed forward with a raised foot to stomp as hard as she could. There was a loud groaning sound of metal grinding against metal, but somehow the doors remained locked. But Lydia could see it: that kick she'd given had weakened the lock mechanism of the doors even more than before. It may not have broken on the first try, but one more kick oughta do it!

She brought her foot down then kicked it forward again. This time a loud crash filled the air as the two doors were busted apart.

"Lydia! Nice job...!" Siffre said. The housecarl turned to regard her compliment with a nod.

The two women slowly took steps to enter into the room and behold what all lay before them. The light from the brazier outside barely reached into this room, yet it remained as pitch black as night. Lydia and Siffre were just barely able to make out details of what could be seen inside: shelves against the side walls with little more than gathered dust, more broken down tables, a single iron chair behind one of them in the center of the room.

And the slumped draugr body while dead was beginning to stir with a growl.

"There's another one-!" Lydia called out.

Wasting little time she quickly rushed forward with her sword drawn and held at the ready. As the draugr was still in the process of raising itself from the chair, Lydia was already on it and driving her sword straight through its torso through its shoulder. Its sounds of growls were swiftly silenced as it slumped itself forward once more.

"Nice job, again," Siffre complimented her. Lydia withdrew her sword from the now unmoving dead body.

"Thanks. I wasn't about to let us get surprised again," she said. She gave a deliberate survey around the room to identify anything within the darkness. While she was lucky to have seen the draugr itself in this room, nothing else was standing out in this place as far as she could see.

"I don't think there's any vessel... Oh wait," Siffre could be heard saying, prompting Lydia to glance to her form in the darkness.

"Did you find one?" she said. Siffre could be seen standing in front of a table, the one that the draugr was originally seated at before. She was reaching for something on the table top, but it wasn't any vassal they were after.

"More writing, but..." Siffre said as she held this parchment in hand, "I can't read it in here."

"Let's take it outside, there's light out there."

The two women exited the room again and just outside the doorway. The light from the brazier gave them just enough illumination to read the words on this weathered parchment.

"Let's see... 'The rule of the dragons is shaken... traitors in our very midst, and the foolish mortals believing their rightful masters can be overthrown...'" she read, "'Perhaps twilight is indeed falling upon the... Order of the Dragon Cult. But as in all things: with death comes rebirth.'"

"They thought it was 'shaken'?" Lydia said, "I wonder what happened back then...?"

"Wait a minute... Lydia, we found this note in front of that draugr back there? You know, how it was just sitting at that table?"

"Yeah?" Lydia said. Her eyes narrowed as she began to almost see where Siffre was going with that notion, "What, you're thinking that draugr, or, whoever it was before... 'It' was the one that was writing these notes?"

"I mean, it seems likely..."

Lydia glanced back into the dark of the room they had just emerged from. The draugr she had easily dispatched, it hardly seemed much of a challenge at all, especially to that stronger one they had fought earlier. Perhaps in life it had to have been some kind of scribe, leaving the hard fighting to the other stronger ones? There was honestly no way to tell for sure with the ancient hierarchies of a bygone age.

"Well, guess we've found out who's been writing these notes at least," she said with a shrug. Siffre looked back down at the note still in her hand. With a shake of her head she dropped it to the floor.

Lydia surveyed this immediate area the two of them now stood in. It was largely the same as the other side of that chasm the two of them had came from, however this one was missing any sort of weathered furniture. Aside from ancient pottery that was somehow still holding together, there was no indication of where the next place to go was.

Just then, her eyes came to rest upon something. A section of the wooden wall through where they had come from was missing, along with a stone walkway that lead... down?

"Siffre... there," she pointed out. The Dragonborn turned to where Lydia pointed to.

"That goes... down? And, into that chasm we'd crossed over?"

"I don't like this either..." Lydia said before shaking her head, "Let's stick close together."

She lead the way towards the open section where the passage could barely be seen. This passage that led down was actually a set of wooden boards connected to each other that acted as a man-made staircase. The light from the brazier above barely gave the faintest illumination to show that these boards were also not the most healthy looking. More than a couple of them showed signs of rot here and there.

Lydia slowly placed foot after foot upon the more sturdy looking sections. With each step creak after creak filled the air, along with an uncomfortable pressure she could feel her weight apply upon them. Thankfully though the boards continued to hold together.

Eventually Lydia made it to the lower level, closely followed by Siffre. The two women found themselves standing at the base floor in this 'chasm'. Up above the burning light could hardly give any image of their own shadows from how faint it was. As such, the two women were truly in a darker section of this larger room.

A light gasp filled the room, but it was not Lydia who made it. The housecarl was quickly put on alert to the sound of the Dragonborn's apparent surprise and turned to regard her.

"Siffre? What is it...?" she silently but urgently said.

"Look, there..." Siffre pointed out. Her expression was more pointed and concerned, rather than surprised and terrified as her gasp had suggested. Lydia looked to where she pointed... She nearly gasped herself.

There, on the wall, was a skeleton. But it wasn't simply a skeleton that surprised the two women. No, it was the fact that this skeleton appeared to be chained to the wall with an iron armbinder! Such an imprisonment method was usually reserved for, well, 'live' prisoners too...

As Lydia's gaze drifted along the wall away from the skeleton, she unfortunately witnessed another skeleton in a similar pose. Followed by another, and another.

"Gods, what is-"

The two women reached the end of the chasm's pathway that ended at the wall, where two large sections were seen. One end held an abundance of even more skeletons bound in armbinders up against sections of the wall. However, the other side held completely different devices.

There, on an elevated section of the ground, torture devices and restraints were found! A large rack with bindings at each corner, a massive cage that could easily fit one or two people inside of it, and a large table with all manner of frightening-looking torture implements. Granted most of these tools were in a similar state of rust and disrepair they were still just barely able to be identified as to what they were likely used for.

Only adding to this horrid scene were the numerous skeletons that were seen restrained in these torture devices. Lydia could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rising from just looking at all this!

"Torture..." Siffre breathed, "That dragon priest... That note before said 'research' was being done... I think this is what..."

"Disgusting. Monstrous is what this is..." Lydia picked up one of the ruined torture tools to quickly examine before tossing it aside, "And these poor souls... I'm just glad they don't have to suffer anymore."

"Yeah, I just hope- Oh, there."

Siffre pointed to the wall at the end. Another small hallway leading to another door could be seen through the darkness.

Lydia glanced around the immediate room. Amidst the torture implements and its unfortunate victims, the only other place of note was what appeared to be another hallway. However, regardless of where this hallway might've led to, it was in fact caved in with heavy debris. With their options narrowed this other hallway and door appeared to be their only viable one.

"What we're looking for better be through here or I swear..." Lydia mumbled aloud to herself. She nevertheless cautiously entered the hallway and approached the door. With Siffre right next to her the two women placed a hand on each side of the double doors and pushed their way through.

Once more the two women were met with the sight of a dark, rather cramped hallway. In addition copious dust filled the air which only proceeded to irritate their noses and eyes further. There was also little light to illuminate this hallway, as the brazier from the previous room hardly stretched far enough inward. Lydia was thus only vaguely aware of the fact that this passageway did in fact slope downward due to steps she could feel before her. Well, in addition to one other reason.

At the apparent bottom of this sloped hallway, Lo again stood.

-One other thing, I was reminded in a recent review for this story that there were in fact other farms surrounding Whiterun, and that Rorikstead wasn't actually 'the' only source of produce the city relies on! I'm so embarrassed I can't believe I forgot about those farms, much less even provide a mention of them in the previous chapter! Suffice to say, they are in fact still there and serve as Whiterun's food supply even in light of recent events!

Stay tuned like right now because the next chapter is soon to follow! Review, favorite, and keep on reading! -