A Silent Thu'um

by JoeL 1zrd

Slaying the dragon outside of Whiterun granted not only the power of the Voice, but also speech to a once-mute as well. Join an unlikely Dragonborn and the dutiful housecarl Lydia as they embark on a quest for the ages.

35. Passing Darkness pt 2

-And here we are, right where the last chapter left off. Unless I'm mistaken, this chapter in particular is to date THE longest chapter within the whole of A Silent Thu'um! Probably as big as a single chapter from Atychiphobia even! -

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"Lo?" Lydia found herself uttering.

While this hallway was devoid of much light Lo's ghostly body somehow produced a soft, gentle glow that gave a small amount of illumination. It wasn't great by any means, but at least Lydia was given some sense of her bearings and surroundings as a result. However the more she was seeing of the ghost's transparent form, the more and more unnerved she was feeling. Everything that was happening so far was putting her off for some reason, such as its constant reappearing in strange places and in strange ways.

"This way..."

Its barely heard whisper reverberated off of the narrow hallway around them. Then just, as quickly as it was seen, Lo proceeded to slowly walk to the right before disappearing completely out of sight.

"W-wait! Is this-"

Siffre's call out to the ghost went unanswered, something that was sadly starting to become expected. She was making a motion towards her side pack, intending to present the vessel before the specter. Instead she and Lydia spared looks at each other, each one trusting that the other could see them in the dark of this place. They then proceeded to make their way downward, trusting only on their sense of where the steps were to be, as well as where they had seen Lo just now.

"Ugh, that ghost!" Lydia groaned, "Why is it being so... elusive?!"

"I... don't get it either. It was talking to us fine before... in that big chamber. So why not-?" Her eyes suddenly widened for a brief moment, an idea having come into her mind, before looking in Lydia's direction again, "Actually... Do you think it was Lo there who... who wrote that note?"

"Huh? What note?" Lydia said, "You mean those papers we've been finding scattered all around here?"

"Well, I was referring to the one given to me in Whiterun..." Siffre clarified, "But actually... Now that you mention it..." Even in the dim light of this setting Lydia could practically see the wheels turning in her thane's head.

"You're thinking... that a ghost of all things, wrote a note? To you? My thane, really!" Lydia had to keep herself from scoffing aloud. This was starting to sound like crazy talk now, "Even if it somehow were that ghost that wrote that note- or, maybe 'any' of these notes for that matter, how could it have known to call for you? By name no less?"

"Well, it- um..." Siffre suddenly found herself at a loss for words at the moment.

"You said this place somehow knew of the dragons returning, but how could it have known about you specifically?" Lydia added.

"Alright, I see your point," Siffre conceded.

This conversation topic only served to sow more confusion in Lydia's mind. Was it not already established that one draugr in that room had written those notes? Now there was consideration that an actual ghost might've been the one to have written them? Never mind how a ghost would be able to write in the first place (much less do other things), but this in turn actually raised a whole lot more questions regarding Lo itself. Especially if half of what was seen on those notes previously were true...

"Still... We could always get confirmation from Lo directly, can't we?"

"Yeah, assuming it'll actually be around if we ever wanna speak with it..." Lydia said as she glanced back down at the end of the passage where Lo was seen. Even now the ghost was not there now, probably having disappeared around the corner.

"Well anyway, we should keep moving. The sooner we're done with this place the better."

"Yeah, I agree..." Siffre said.

The women continued with their slow, cautious descent. Both held their respective weapons in clenched hands, ready to use at a moment's notice. They relied on not only the other, but also on trusting their own foot placement to know exactly where the next step would be that they would walk upon. The walls all around them aided to a small degree if to have something to brush their arms against and give them a scope of this hallway's size.

In no time they reached the bottom of the walkway. Or at least they arrived at where they had seen Lo turn a corner and disappear from them. Another small hallway opened up to them before leading them out and into completely new location.

Siffre and Lydia now stood in another massive chamber. Unlike the previous chamber this one had little in the way of illumination from any sort of brazier anywhere. The only light came from a series of small, lit candles located directly in front of them. It was thanks to the miniscule light provided here that the two women were able to see a small area around it. A small-sized circular platform of ancient stone with a chest positioned in the dead center. The light also reflected something... shining, off of the surrounding ground?

"What is that on the ground?" Lydia's eyes squinted both from the lack of substantial light and to focus in on what she was looking at, "Is that... webs?"

"Um... Lydia?"

The housecarl turned around to where Siffre was looking, and she saw it. Massive round objects made of this similar webbing material. The realization instantly clicked in her mind, and her eyes widened.

"That could only mean... be ready!"

No sooner had she even spoken those words then the sound was heard. Both women could hear it: a strange hissing sound. Completely different from the unnatural guttural growls of the draugr from before: this sound they were actually familiar with. The kind of hissing sound only a creature could create. One very specific creature at that.

Movement could be seen from the inclining stairway that led down from their elevated platform. A creature began to ascend the stairs, eight legs moving its body upwards while scarily making little noise in the way of footsteps. The frostbite spider approached on Lydia's side with more of its body illuminated in the soft glow of the light.

Lydia's hands clamped tighter on her sword and her shield. It was indeed a frostbite spider, though granted this one appeared to be of the smaller variety reaching up to only her knees in height.

'Don't underestimate them: all frostbite spiders are deadly if you give them a chance.' Irileth's prior warning to her many years ago practically engraved in her very being.

As if right on cue, the spider suddenly leaped forward towards her. The small creature somehow managed to leap at least a foot off the ground as it lunged towards its intended victim. Lydia could barely see in this dark space the faint glint of liquid coating the spider's vicious-looking fangs.

The housecarl was ready however. She instinctively held her shield up to cover her front, but also held her boot out to connect with the arachnid before it could get close to her. She felt the impact through her foot, but the spider's advance was abruptly halted. Lydia could hear a small squeal from the creature that she could only discern was of pain. She let down her shield for but a moment to see; the spider appeared dazed as its attack had been momentarily disrupted.

Lydia seized her own moment by quickly raising her foot down to press down hard on the frostbite spider's head. The spider squealed in louder pain from the heavy pressure being placed upon it. But Lydia didn't stop there; she swept her sword arm in an overhead arc to bring the sword tip straight down. With an audible crunch the weapon easily pierced the spider's body. The creature let out another groaning sound before all movement ceased completely.

Lydia held her stance for a handful of seconds before harshly ripping her sword free. Tiny droplets of some fluid flung through the air with some of it landing on the front of her own armor. Meanwhile the once living frostbite spider's body tumbled lifelessly down the stairs from where it crawled up from.

In that same moment Lydia was sure she heard the sound of another body tumbling down stairs. Quickly glancing to her side she felt relief to see that her thane was still standing, having dispatched a frostbite spider herself. The Dragonborn quickly glanced towards her as well.

"Lydia?" she said.

"Yeah, I'm good," Lydia nodded. She turned back to the area directly before them. It was a little harder to see in this place due to the very miniscule light from the small candles between them. She focused her hearing for more squeals, growls, any sorts of sounds to be heard. Upon hearing none for the moment, Lydia untensed herself.

"I don't see anymore..." Siffre said, "But, Lydia... were those spiders?" Her question actually earned her a genuine look of confusion from the housecarl.

"Well, yes. They were-" Before she could say any more, realization instantly hit her: Siffre's not native to this land, so of course she'd likely not heard of them before, "Oh, right, you're not from here. Well, they were 'frostbite spiders'."

"And, are they usually 'that' big?" Siffre asked.

"Sadly yes," Lydia replied, thinking back to times past where she had to dispatch an occasional wandering spider or two outside Whiterun. She glanced back down towards where the slain spider she'd killed lay, "Although we should be thankful that these weren't the bigger ones."

"What? They can get... bigger?"

Lydia's gaze drifted about to the spider webbing that coated most of the walls and the floor before them. In addition to the thick coating of spider's webs, a number of round white 'sacs' could be seen though with massive cracks in their tops.

"Crazy how only a couple of spiders were able to web up a place like this..." she absently said, "Looks like those were the only ones in this area... Let's hope we don't run into anymore."

"Yeah... let's hope," Siffre said.

Lydia kept her eyes carefully peeled to the set of stairs the spider had just ascended from. The very faint light shining from these mere handful of candles nearby was really proving to be troublesome from how difficult it was to see where she was literally walking. She more so had to trust in basic judgement of how stairs were structured to have a better sense of how far to descend. Each step she took was somewhat muffled as well from the sound of webs sticking to the bottoms of her boots.

At long last she reached the lower floor. A glance to her side showed her Siffre had reached the bottom as well, likely from a twin set of steps on the opposite of that outcropping above them. Lydia felt her boot brush up against something, only for her to recall the spider corpse that literally lay dead at her feet. She kicked the body aside and away from her.

"Can barely see a thing..." she grumbled to herself.

"Look, another table," Siffre spoke up. Lydia squinted her eyes and looked forward into the dark space before her. The faint outline of a stone table could in fact be seen, on the other end of this square shaped ground floor and in-between two more sets of ascending stairs.

"Ugh, and another body..." Lydia's nose scrunched at the sight of another ancient body laying atop the stone table before them. In addition to the macabre display of a body on top of a table, yet more spider webs coated the tabletop. This body remained still and lifeless even now, but Lydia wasn't about to tempt fate or anything; she kept a reasonable distance and did not touch it at all. Siffre likewise was keeping her distance as well.

"Hm... nothing there," the Dragonborn shook her head before looking up at the stairs, "And it looks like this is the way out."

Siffre and Lydia chose a set of steps and both cautiously ascended them. In no time they found themselves at the complete opposite end of the room itself. The immediate pathway leading into a narrow hallway was blocked however by a metallic gate lowered.

"Closed?" Lydia said, "Siffre, are you sure this is the way to go...?"

"It... it should be? Shouldn't it? I mean- Oh, wait. Right there."

Lydia observed Siffre point to the wall closest to her. Squinting her own eyes Lydia could just barely see what it was Siffre pointed to: a pull chain.

Slowly and cautiously, Lydia took hold of the chain in her hand and pulled down. The metal of the chain links creaked loudly, the ancient apparatus seeing its first functional use in many years. Almost immediately the gate before the two women raised up with an equally audible creaking.

Through this new open passageway the two women gazed inside to see... darkness. The minuscule light from the candles at the other end of the room proved useless in providing any sort of illumination any further.

"Gods... curse it..." Lydia mumbled to herself, "You know what? That's it; if we're going to go any further, we'll need something..."

"Huh?"

Lydia was already moving, feeling about with the tip of her boot to feel along the ground. Her foot actually came into contact with something below. She quickly sheathed her sword to reach down and confirm what she had hoped to find. An ancient yet weathered vine, bearing a width that her fingers could easily wrap around. She took hold of one end and pulled as hard as she could. Her efforts were rewarded with a dull snapping of something resembling wood structure, and she now held a piece of the vine in hand about the length of her own forearm.

"What are you... doing?" Siffre asked, seemingly genuinely confused.

"I'm making a torch, obviously," Lydia explained. She was already moving back towards and down the steps to the lower floor again. In the faintly illuminated area she looked about for something... something to wrap around the tip to burn. Unfortunately, no sort of cloth strips could be seen anywhere. Nothing but spider webs everywhere...

"Wait a minute, that could burn, couldn't it?" she said to herself. With a shrug and little else to lose, she bent down to coat the tip of the vine stalk in as much webbing as possible. Once it was covered as sufficiently as could be, Lydia glanced back up. Now just for something to burn...

Her answer came in the form of those candles they'd passed earlier. They were small, but fire was fire. Lydia made her way back up the steps and extended her makeshift torch towards one of the burning candles. She watched the tip intently and soon a wider field of light began to grow. Lydia pulled her hand back, her new torch in hand, and glanced back over to where Siffre stood.

"Lydia! Oh, I can see you better now!" she called out.

"Perfect, this should make things a little easier for- whoa!"

The housecarl had proceeded to walk down the steps again and make her way back when she stopped short. Looking back in Siffre's general direction she noticed something; something she hadn't noticed before but now could thanks to this new greater light source in hand.

In this chamber stood a number of blackened statues styled and carved to evoke some kind of ancient creature, maws and all. However, it wasn't the statues themselves that alarmed Lydia: it was what was hanging from these statues' sides: skeletons. Even more skeletons could be seen hanging from ancient manacles imbedded into the statues themselves. While the sight of them shouldn't have unnerved Lydia much now, considering what the two of them had passed on the way here, perhaps it was the way these skeletons were chained that unnerved her. They were in fact hanging by their wrists from the 'heads' of these statues, their legs dangling below with nothing below to rest upon.

Lydia winced at the implication; what a horrible way to go.

"Lydia? What is- oh..."

Siffre had stepped forward, having caught the sound of Lydia's momentary alarm. She had stepped forward and ended up glancing towards what Lydia's torch had illuminated. Both women could see more displays of the grim goings-on that likely occurred in this place.

"More tortured souls..." she said, "This is... ugh."

"Let's just get out of this room already," Lydia urged, "It's giving me the creeps. Or, more creeps."

She made her way back up the steps and rejoined Siffre at her side. Standing before the opened passageway, but now with a brightly burning torch in hand, the two women were able to see clearly where they would be led. Unfortunately, just because they could see clearer, that did not mean what they were seeing was any more pleasant. While the hall immediately turned to the left, there were horizontal sections in the corner that were carved out, with more bodies filling them.

"Oh... I'd forgotten we were in a burial crypt..." Siffre noted, "The bodies we'd seen so far were moving draugr... or tortured souls..."

Lydia's eyes locked with the bodies that could be seen in the slots carved out of the wall. They continued to lay there, thankfully not moving, resting as they were meant to be doing. A part of her felt this was wrong, rifling through a crypt and disturbing the souls of those who were meant to be resting. Raiding a bandit encampment was one thing, but the souls of the living were very different from the souls of the dead...

Until she remembered this Hevnoraak. If what she'd learned thus far was to be believed, it had to have been him that was bringing these draugr to life and trying to kill them, wasn't it? Plus it was likely him that was torturing these souls, or if not him then having cronies of his own to do it for him? Whatever the case may be... maybe it wasn't so bad they were 'fighting' these draugr. If they were supposed to be resting but something was stirring them from slumber, maybe it wouldn't be bad for her and Siffre to 'help' them back to Sovngarde. Gods, what a strange way to phrase that...

"Hey Lydia..." Siffre said, "Do you think after we do this, you know, what Lo's asking us to do... would that help these souls rest? Like, free them?"

"That... that is what I was thinking myself," Lydia admitted, "Assuming that's what's really going on here..."

Thanks to the torchlight the two women had a better sense of direction in this cramped place. The hallway turned at a sharp angle to the left, followed by another sharp turn to the right, and into yet another cramped hallway.

"Oh, another plate- watch it," Siffre pointed out this time. Indeed, Lydia looked down at what her torch's light illuminated and in fact saw a pressure plate. She said nothing but still nodded to her thane.

Both women were easily able to step around the plate on both sides to then make their way through the hallway. As they passed through, Lydia noticed the walls of this hallway bearing strange, thin slots. These slots held within them sharpened points of... they were pendulums! Swinging pendulum blades that surely-

Her head snapped back to the plate the both of them had easily avoided.

"See these blades, in the wall?" Lydia pointed out, her torch-bearing hand held closer to the wall to show, "Probably what that plate there would've activated."

"Whoa... It's... good thing I noticed that then," Siffre said. The women continued through the hallway, paying extra attention to the floor they walked upon and along.

They were quickly met with a couple more sharp turns, both to the right and the left again. In addition to slots in the wall that held ancient bodies a number of ancient pottery sat at the foot of the walls themselves. Some of them were still in solid condition while others were completely smashed and destroyed by debris. In fact, through the right turn into the next sub-section they found a small cave-in of a wall down upon some more pots and bodies that were there.

However, through that room and into the adjoining one they actually caught sight of another light source. A burning brazier in the wall illuminated the space they now stood in even greater. And it was in here they came across another stone table, an ancient body splayed rather ceremoniously atop it, and yet another parchment with scratches upon it.

"Another one," Siffre said as she reached to pick it up. The light from both the wall brazier and Lydia's torch was more than enough to read upon it.

"'Hevnoraak has been laid to rest. He goes willingly, confident in his return... Let the other priests of the order flounder about as fish on dry land; they will pass, while Hevnoraak will return stronger than ever.'"

"Someone willingly putting themselves to death? I don't understand it," Lydia said. As a Nord she was no stranger to laying down one's life for something as glorious battle or even defense of her homeland. It didn't seem like that was the case here with this priest dying in the 'hopes' of one day returning from the grave. This had evil magic written all over it, and Lydia was hardly a mage herself.

Siffre glanced down at the stone table itself and the draugr body already laying atop it, "This... this can't be Hevnoraak, can it?" Attention was drawn back to the body in question. It looked just like the last body they'd seen laid on top of a table, completely unremarkable.

"I don't think so," Lydia shook her head before recalling, "You remember that big chamber we first entered when coming here? There was that one sarcophagus in the center of the room?" Siffre nodded, "With how much these notes have been talking about him, seems more like he'd be getting 'special' treatment than these others."

"Oh yeah... I guess that would make more sense," Siffre shrugged. She placed the parchment back down on the table next to the body. As she did so, her head suddenly perked up before turning back to Lydia, "Wait, Lydia. That note said 'other priests'."

"Other priests? Hmmm... Guess we can only hope there aren't any to be found in this place," Lydia said.

The path turned immediately to their right and down a small set of steps. With no brazier to be seen before them, Lydia's torch provided the only means of light for the two women. They passed through yet another hallway with cramped space, though only for a couple of feet forward.

They emerged from the narrow descending hallway into yet another small, circular room. This room bore sections of the wall cut out and holding bodies within them. While the majority of them were horizontally cut for bodies to lay prone, one larger section was hollowed out to allow for a draugr to seemingly stand in place. This dead body 'stood' with its arms crossed over its chest, its head slumped over, and thankfully remaining as still as-

Growls filled the air once more and movement could be seen. The once not moving dead body of said draugr suddenly began to move! As if just waking up from a momentary slumber, its eye sockets suddenly produced a familiar glow of two light blue orbs before slowly proceeding to step out and onto the ground.

"Whoa-!"

Lydia voiced while already moving. Swiftly but gently setting the torch down on the ground she dashed forward. Her sword arm quickly shot to her side to draw forth her blade and stabbed it straight through into an unarmored spot on the undead body before it had a chance to even react. Her efforts were seemingly rewarded with the sound of what she could only describe as a death groan, followed by the draugr once again slumping its head. In no time at all the draugr's entire body slumped as well, falling back unceremoniously into the hollowed out portion of the wall it was previously standing.

Lydia ripped her blade from the once more dead body and turned her head to the side. In her haste she'd feared she'd left herself open to any other potential dangers that could've flanked her. Fortunately, as the pathway to her left was nothing more than a cave-in, the right side pathway was devoid of anything present that could've attacked her.

Light slowly grew in this room she stood in; Lydia turned to see Siffre rejoining her with the dropped torch in her hand.

"You... you need me to hold the torch?" she asked. The housecarl glanced down at her own hands, both bearing her own weapons of choice.

"I suppose... this does make things difficult," she admitted, "But wait- what about you and that great sword? Don't you need two hands for that?"

"It'll be fine, I'll... I'll manage somehow," Siffre said. With a shrug Lydia handed the torch off to the other woman's outstretched hand. The two then turned their attention to the now only way forward: the right side passage.

Unfortunately, stepping into the next section only revealed to them another mini-section of hollowed out sections of wall. Bodies could be seen in nearly every one of them, as well as numerous burial urns in various states of disrepair. From where they were standing only two more pathways were immediately open to them: one directly in front, and one to their right.

"Hmmm..." Siffre said, "Which way..."

"Let's... The right side. Let's try there first," Lydia said.

The thane and housecarl slowly advanced to their right side, letting the light of the torch illuminate the darkened space. Before them the two could see more sections of the opposing wall hollowed out with bodies lying within. Turning their head to the left they could see another draugr literally standing in place. It's arms remained crossed over its chest, head slumped to the side. However, this one didn't appear in any way to move or wake from its slumber. The torch's light shone upon its desiccated form, allowing Lydia a moment of study she wasn't afforded with the other draugr that were, well, trying to kill them.

Past the sleeping draugr and directly before them, the light shone upon the metallic bars of another lowered gate. To the left of this gate lay another passageway which...

"Wait a minute..." Lydia silently said. Carefully she took a couple of steps down this left-most pathway to investigate.

"What is it?" Siffre silently asked.

"Just as I thought," Lydia said as she pointed to the 'wall' where the sleeping draugr still stood, "This whole thing right here; we just went around it. We're back to where we were before."

"Oh..." Siffre said. She then turned her head towards the lowered gate to the opposite side, "Then... that means this must be the way forward." She then glanced all around the immediate area within the light before finally coming to rest upon the wall beside her, "Here. I bet this chain opens this gate here."

"Into more darkness..." Lydia commented, "Here, let me get that chain. You can light the way with the torch."

Siffre wordlessly nodded and stepped to the side. Lydia rejoined her thane and took hold of the ancient weathered chain. She pulled down on it easily and was met with the sound of ancient primitive machinery in the form of turning gears. The lowered gate opened before the two women, and Siffre slowly advanced in first with the torch in hand.

At first they passed through a short narrow passageway that quickly opened up into another room. The light of the torch dispersed most of the darkness to show it was smaller in size. Natural pillars stood on different ends of the room likely to serve as support, for all the good that still did with how much debris had caved in. Weathered pottery and even sarcophagi could be seen against the walls in various states of disrepair.

Suddenly, the ears of the two were met once again with a familiar sound of growls. Lydia was instantly put on alert; this growling was now instantly recognized from the time she'd spent in this place. There was another draugr here!

The undead body in question stood at the center of the room. It was facing the left, but unfortunately seemed to have heard the sound of the two entering this place. It turned its head to regard them, light blue glowing orbs for eyes meeting them in an unnatural stare.

Lydia hastily positioned herself into battle stance, ready to meet the danger head on, but the draugr was not being idle either.

"Fus..."

"Fus... Ro-DAH!"

The next few seconds came as almost a blur. Lydia heard the familiar sounds of... of Shouting, but she heard them from both Siffre and this draugr! The confined space was quickly filled with the deafening booming and thunderous sound of the Voice! But, who's voice was it that had shouted?

Lydia watched anxiously to see that not only was Siffre still standing, but the draugr itself was literally not standing. In fact, the undead body was flying backwards towards the back end of the room. It quickly met contact with some stone pedestal, its arm twisting back to knock something off of the top of it, before falling down into a crumpled heap on the floor.

The sound of glass shattering then filled the air. Whatever that glass thing was had fallen over and smashed to the ground.

"Wait, what was-?" Siffre could be heard questioning aloud.

"My thane!" Lydia voiced, already moving herself. Swiftly she moved through the room to advance upon the still-prone draugr.

The undead body was struggling at this point to raise itself onto its feet. But Lydia was not about to give it the opportunity. Once she had gotten close enough she quickly pressed her boot down upon its arm, followed by stabbing her sword straight through its back. The draugr let out a guttural grunt followed by more of its growling. The desired effect Lydia had hoped for did not happen: the draugr was still moving despite her attempt to 're-kill' it.

However, Siffre could be seen approaching from the side. There was a lack of light following her movement, and Lydia could see why: she had set the torch down at the entrance and was now wielding her great-sword in both hands. The Dragonborn rushed forward and just as swiftly shot her long blade's tip directly into the back of the draugr's head. A soft crunching sound filled the air as metal easily pierced through the ancient head. All sounds from the undead body were instantly silenced this time; the draugr actually lay still.

A handful of seconds followed from watching the draugr intently for the slightest hint of movement. There was none to be seen, and both women met each other's gaze with a nod of her own. They pulled their blades out from the body. Siffre then turned her head towards the stone pedestal that Lydia had momentarily forgotten about. She'd dropped down to one knee to investigate what exactly had fallen off and smashed to the ground earlier.

"Oh no..." she could be heard saying. Lydia squinted her eyes in the faintly lighted area to see this small smash site. Siffre lifted up a piece of what appeared to be smashed glass, this one in the shape of a bottleneck with drops of dark liquid dripping from it.

"Wait, that looks like..." Lydia said, the realization arriving quickly. Her eyes Siffre's, "I'm sorry, Siffre."

"This was one of the vessels we were supposed to recover..." the Dragonborn said, "And now it's smashed. I smashed it..."

"Come on, it's alright," Lydia tried to reassure her, "I mean... Didn't Lo say this was supposed to be filled with... 'blood' of some dragon priest?" Her hand indicated to the dark puddle of said blood in a small pool dotted with glass shards, "Guess this blood's been 'disposed' of, hasn't it?"

"Well... yeah, I guess so..." Siffre found herself nodding, "But still, this happened because... I Shouted before thinking really. That draugr, it was about to Shout that same Shout that I did. I guess I just... I had to stop it before it could hit us with it."

"You acted quickly," Lydia said, "Siffre... I don't blame you at all. It's not a bad thing to act quickly when things get intense. Many times it could be the difference between life and death."

"I'll need to think just as quickly next time," Siffre said as she rose to her feet again, "Lo told us to recover these vessels for him after all..."

"Well besides, we've already got one of them in our possession now, don't we?" Lydia said while subtly indicating to Siffre's side pack. The Dragonborn glanced down at the pack at her side, her hand lightly brushing against it and the vassal contained within.

"Yeah, we do," she shrugged.

She then turned around to glance about the immediate space they stood within. Now that they were not immediately under attack nor needing to immediately take action against a threat, the women were allowed to study this room. Aside from ancient walls that were threatening to cave-in, little else in this room stood out. The only things to be seen even more sarcophagi, all situated against different walls of the room. Three of them in particular were placed in front of 'holes' cut into one of the walls, as well as... gems?

Siffre walked slowly towards one of these gems, Lydia following after. They could see a pink colored gem seemingly 'hovering' in place atop a cylindrical shaped pedestal, not unlike what the vassal had been placed upon. The light of the torch lay at the entrance of the room, yet its light just barely shone upon these gems to show their pink color.

"What... are these?" Siffre asked.

"Oh, I think these are soul gems," Lydia quickly replied.

"Soul gems?" Siffre said, "What's that?"

"Well, I don't really know what they 'do', but I have heard Farengar speak of them once or twice before," Lydia said, "Supposed to be some kind of tool that mages and wizards use. Damn if I know how though."

"Should we... should we take them?" Siffre asked.

"Um, well..."

The question actually momentarily stumped Lydia. She looked upon the soul gems, the one closest to the both of them specifically. It appeared to just hover in place, not touched or bound by anything; some sort of magic in itself? Why and how were they even here in the first place? More so, would taking them or even touching them lead to something bad happening?

Aside from the pillars the gems hovered over, the pillars themselves were positioned not only before cuts in the wall that served as 'windows', but there also lay three sarcophagi in between them. A strange thought entered Lydia's mind: were these soul gems tied to these sarcophagi somehow?

"I'm gonna... let's see," she finally said. She slowly raised her hand up and inched towards the soul gem, Siffre watching intently. Lydia kept her gaze focused on both the soul gem and also the sarcophagus before it. Mental scenarios played out in her head of something bursting from the ancient coffin upon her taking the gem from its position.

'We'll be ready. We'll be prepared if... if that does happen,' she thought, 'Slowly... carefully...'

Her fingers finally made initial contact with the gem. The soul gem slowly turned in place midair from the contact, but quickly retained its stationary position. Aside from that... nothing else happened. The sarcophagus did not stir, and even touching the gem felt like nothing more than touching an actual gemstone.

Feeling emboldened, Lydia took hold of the soul gem within her fingers before slowly pulling it towards her. The soul gem offered no resistance at all. Lydia and Siffre watched anxiously until the pedestal was completely clear of the gem, and... Nothing happened.

"Huh, I guess it's really safe," Lydia looked down at the soul gem now in her hand. This one was no bigger than her own hand holding it. She then proceeded to reach behind her and slip the soul gem into her side pack.

"Alright then."

The unspoken all clear given, the Dragonborn proceeded to turn around and collect the other two soul gems, one at a time. As if to repeat what Lydia did she was just as deliberate in her actions as well. The two soul gems were collected and added to her own side pouch as well.

Both women also held a stare towards the sarcophagi that the gems were 'positioned' over, a final wave of anxiety from their actions. Even after a handful of seconds however, the coffins remained still as death. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about after all, and that the soul gems really were not connected to them in any way. But if not to the sarcophagi, that did leave the question of what their purpose was in the first place...?

"Alright, I don't think there's anything else in this room..." Siffre said. The Dragonborn returned to the entrance of the room, but first reached back down to take the dropped torch back in her hand.

"Let's get going then," Lydia said.

With the torch lighting the way the two women made their way through the narrow hallway and into the initial 'circular room' they'd initially entered.

"Wait, which way do we..." Lydia said. Everywhere she turned her eyes was met with more bodies, more carved out sections of the wall to hold said bodies. Worst still was nearly everywhere she looked appeared identical; obviously this place was a crypt, but why couldn't there be a better sense of where to go?

"My thane, I'm getting turned around in this damned place," she said, "Where do we go from here?"

"This is confusing me..." Siffre said, "All these hallways... they look the same to me." She took a couple of steps to their immediate right and into the adjoining subsection.

Lydia made sure to keep Siffre within her line of sight as she followed after her. A thought entered her mind that momentarily made her blood chill: what if they never did leave this place? What if they were so lost in this place they they eventually starved? That all strength left them that they wouldn't be able to leave even if they could?

Lydia shook her head to harshly dispel that line of thinking. They were NOT about to be lost in some ancient crypt forever! There was a way out of this place and they were going to reach it!

'That ghost's 'guidance' would really be helpful right about now...' she thought to herself. Strangely, the more she considered that ghost Lo, the more conflicted she felt about it, and this whole situation. Sometimes it was being helpful to them, and other times it felt like it was just leaving them twisting in the wind, metaphorically anyway. And in the end, this all boiled down to helping it with something incredibly vague as 'collecting blood vessels'? There was something strange about this whole thing, but Lydia couldn't pinpoint exactly what.

And that was the part that worried her.

"Wait... Lydia, there."

The housecarl returned to reality and she halted her movement directly beside Siffre.

"What is it?"

"That hallway there..." the Dragonborn indicated to the passageway directly in front of them. In that moment Lydia realized that the two of them hadn't actually advanced that much further from where they were; only about a couple of steps. This hallway before them could be seen immediately turning to the right. A brazier could be seen at its corner with a small flame burning within.

Siffre glanced to her side at Lydia, "Have we gone down that way yet?"

"I honestly have no idea at this point..." Lydia shrugged.

Siffre led the two of them towards the hallway before immediately turning a right. Before them stretched yet another darkened hallway, illuminated only by as far as the light from both the nearby brazier and their own torch could reach. Step after step the women were met with walls on both sides, as if the crypt itself were directing them forward. While this dispelled the previous worry Lydia had about being lost, she was not filled with any more ease in the slightest.

The cramped space of the hallway soon gave way to a much wider passageway. While this one was thankfully a bit wider, there was still not a lot of room to maneuver around in. The light of the torch shone upon both sides as well, revealing a couple things to the two women. Firstly was on the right side wall, where a strange yet familiar trio of holes were cut out to reveal...

"Wait a minute..." Siffre said while leaning her head forward slightly, "Lydia, look! That's the room we were just in!"

Lydia carefully leaned in as well to peer through the closest hole to them. The light of the torch just barely reached inside, yet sure enough the room in question was very much where they had just come from. There lay the draugr, there lay the shattered vessel with its spilled contents, and there was at least one of the strange pillars they'd seen the three soul gems hovering atop.

"Huh, how about that?" she spoke softly. Her eyes were drawn to the pillar yet again, "Wait... Those are where we took those soul gems from. And look how those pillars are positioned; they're almost level with this hole! It's like they could-"

Both women turned right around to the opposing side of their immediate hallway. There, laying upon the ground at the base of their feet, a skeleton lay. This one was not in any sort of captive position as the two had previously seen with others; this one lay sprawled across the ground, as if it had been unceremoniously slain. Looking up it was clear to see why.

The light easily illuminated the wall and rather brutal-looking scorch marks. Moreover there were three sets of scorch marks, all of them evenly spaced from each other, and all of them perfectly lined up with the opposing wall holes.

Siffre and Lydia shared a look with each other once again.

"You don't think..." The Dragonborn gestured subtly to her pack where her soul gems were kept within, "Could... could these things really have... A-are they that dangerous?"

"Well, nothing's happening to us now, not from these gems or from those... pillars," Lydia said before glancing back through the hole, "Maybe... they had to be on top of those things for... something to happen? I have no idea how this works. Let's just be thankful we didn't get burned, or something."

"Yeah..."

Both women took extra care to step around the bones of the skeleton. They walked past the second hole, then the third, and finally arrived at the end of the hallway, only to find yet another sharp left turn before them.

Siffre and Lydia carefully stepped into yet another new room. Unlike the previous rooms this one was rather large; the ceiling above stretched high for quite a distance. A couple of stone pillars with wide bases stood in the center that stretched just as high up. A nearby brazier burned a gentle fire to provide meager light. Unfortunately that was only enough to illuminate the immediate area that showed the two women another sharp left turn.

"Left, right, left, right..." Lydia muttered, "How many turns could this place possibly have...?"

The first step the women took they discovered yet another gentle decline. In fact, the light reaching out now from the torch revealed even more bodies sleeping in cut sections of the wall. Wherever they were being led down now... somehow it felt as though there was even more death to be encountered.

"Lydia, wait."

The housecarl quickly yet gently halted in place at the Dragonborn's words. She turned to her side to regard her partner. The light of the torch showed the other woman was sporting a rather curious look on her face. As if something had gotten her attention.

"Huh? What is it?" Lydia asked.

"Listen... do you hear that?" Instinctively Lydia focused her hearing. Aside from the sound of her own heart beating no other sound met her ears. Indeed the very silence itself felt all the more deafening all around them.

"Um... No? I don't hear anything," Lydia shrugged her shoulders.

"You don't hear that?" Siffre put a hand to her ear as in to focus her hearing towards somewhere. She held this stance for a moment, seemingly in serious concentration, "It sounds like... well, now it kind of sounds like... whispering."

"Whispering?" Instantly shivers were sent down Lydia's body, from the back of her neck, along her spine, and down to her legs. She found her eyes darting all around and coming to rest upon some of the resting bodies in the hollows of the surrounding wall. Could it be these dead would be planning to rise again?

Lydia shook her head of such notions, "Please, my thane, in a place like this that doesn't give me ease."

"I-I swear though, I've heard this from somewhere," Siffre insisted, "In fact, I thought I'd heard it when we first came through that door earlier, but now... I hear it a little louder."

Siffre's claim Lydia found rather... curious. The housecarl even turned to regard her thane and her words. She could see that look of genuine interest about her face. She didn't appear fearful of this in the slightest. In fact, she seemed actually interested in what she was claiming!

'But, it doesn't make sense though. She hears whispers but I don't?' the nagging voice in her head persisted with its logic. If Siffre really was hearing something, like whispers, then why wasn't she herself hearing them at all?'

'Could it be... the ghost? No, that can't be it- that ghost was talking to both of us, so why would it only decide to talk to Siffre? Unless...'

"Lydia, I think..." Siffre's voice broke Lydia from her thoughts, "This is just like out in Eastmarch. You know that place in the tundra that Arngeir pointed out?"

"Yeah, I remember. You said you were finding some word written on a wall," Lydia nodded, that is until she realized that Siffre seemed to have completely changed topics, "Wait, what are you saying?"

"Maybe, you didn't hear it then either. But I did. That wall there, and even that wall in Bleak Falls Barrow, I could 'hear' those words. They were 'calling out' to me! I can hear it now just as I did then." Lydia could only give Siffre a look at the strange reasoning being presented.

"You're saying you 'hear' words? Written on a wall?" she asked, to which Siffre nodded, "That's really what you're hearing right now? Some word?"

"I think it is! In fact, look-"

Siffre quickly reached to her side to retrieve a piece of parchment. Lydia had almost forgotten what it was, until she moved closer to Siffre and inspected it. Under the gentle light of the torch's glow it was the note that had been 'anonymously' delivered to Siffre. After a few seconds the latter's finger pointed to a section upon it.

"See- 'can only be unlocked by the Dragonborn'," her finger hovered over the words as she read before she glanced back to Lydia, "That's gotta be it! I'm hearing Words that a Dragonborn can learn! That's what's got to be here!" Excitement laced Siffre's voice at her apparent revelation, in addition to the subtle vibrations. Even in this grim setting she found herself in Lydia couldn't deny that the other woman's excitement felt almost infectious. There was almost a reason to smile inside of a dark crypt filled with walking dead.

That is, until she recalled an important detail. Something that had been nagging the back of her mind ever since they first began this endeavor.

"But... Siffre. Something still doesn't make sense," she said while pointing her own finger to the note, "Who was it really that wrote this note to you, telling you of something only you could find and unlock in a creepy place like this?" And just like that, the subtle smile on Siffre's lips faded away again. Lydia almost regretted posing that question, but it was a legitimate question, one the both of them could've sorely needed to know by now.

"I... I don't know. I really don't know..."

"I don't know either, it's why this has got me worried..."

"How about... we ask Lo this next time we see him? He's got to know something," Siffre suggested as she proceeded to pocket the strange note again. It all came back to that ghost yet again

"I doubt he would know, but... we'll see. For now how about we keep moving? Maybe get closer to where this 'word' is you're hearing."

"Yeah, right." Siffre nodded.

With the light of the torch leading the way forward, the women resumed their walk through these... catacombs. These catacombs that descended ever so slightly. On both sides around them numerous slots were cut into the wall that housed a body or two. These sleeping bodies and draugr that thankfully were still resting even now. Lydia felt a sudden impulse to tread light-footed, lest any sudden loud footsteps were to wake them.

The passageway they walked soon hung a sharp right, though this was primarily because whatever path would've led forward was completely caved in by debris. Another worry soon started to be felt in Lydia's being: how deep were they going? How much further was there to go? Was there even any guarantee they could get out just as easily? And why hadn't Lo been seen for all this time?

At the very least during when the two women turned down the right side, the ground beneath them did not feel like it was descending downward anymore. Now if only it could stay this way, or better yet they could begin walking upwards again.

Coming across yet another sharp turn to the right, their attention was first brought to the opposing corner. There, another stone table, a plain desiccated body laying atop it, and a piece of parchment placed at the edge, almost as if begging to be read.

Siffre approached the table and picked up the parchment in her free hand. As she held it up to the light of the torch, her eyes narrowed.

"Oh... there's nothing."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Lydia asked. Siffre held the parchment before Lydia to see. Not only was it burnt heavily along all its edges, but ancient smudges and rubbings ruined any and all legibility upon the front.

Siffre simply set the old parchment back down upon the table.

"Maybe it's better we don't know..." she said, "Probably had more talk about that Hev... Hevnori- Hevno-"

"The dragon priest?" Lydia spoke up.

"Yeah, the dragon priest," Siffre nodded before glancing around them and back towards where they came from, "I've seen enough down here of what he's done... I don't need to know more."

"Well then let's get this finished and find more of those blood vessels," Lydia said, "Assuming there are anymore that is..."

The two women turned around towards where the path led them. Thankfully even with the light of the torch in hand, another brazier could be seen burning from a wide central pillar. The room opened up to a much wider space. Another room filled with ancient pottery and holes in the wall containing resting dead.

And two draugr that were not resting.

Momentarily alarmed, Lydia nearly dropped her sword in surprise. There were in fact two draugr at the far end of the room just... walking about. They were there this entire time without either of them having noticed? They paced before a massive cave-in of the wall opposite where the two women themselves stood. There was no urgency or deliberation in their movements; just shambling across the ground. There was nothing to indicate the draugr were just as alarmed to their presence as Lydia was to suddenly see them there.

Then one of the draugr turned its head. Glowing blue orbs in its eye sockets locked to their location and a growl could be heard. This in turn caused its counterpart to turn towards them and growl as well. Any sense that the women were unnoticed by them was quickly dashed.

One after the other they reached down to draw forth ancient blades from their sheathes. Lydia gripped her sword and her shield tighter, preparing to meet the undead creatures head on. However, a hand appeared in front of her.

Lydia glanced to her side to see that Siffre was... stopping her?

"Wait..." she said. Momentary confusion gave way to realization, Lydia relaxed her stance. She watched as Siffre took one step forward and with a quick deep breath spoke again,

"Fo... KRAH!"

A blast of cold burst from Siffre's mouth forward in a cone-shaped arc. Actual ice even coated the ground that the cold breath touched. Even the flames from the brazier up above wavered and flickered despite the distance from the actual cold. The wave of super-cold air rushed forward and completely enveloped the two draugr still advancing. However, their movement was effectively halted from the cold air throwing them off balance. One of the draugr somehow managed to retain its balance, while the other had completely fallen over backwards with a grunt.

Siffre glanced back to Lydia and nodded once. Lydia took the cue and advanced, her target being the prone draugr. Just as she'd done before she quickly placed a boot down upon one of its flailing arms to further immobilize it. She then aimed her sword tip at an unarmored section on its back and stabbed. The blade easily cut through the dead flesh and caused the draugr to let out another grunt. After holding this position for a moment, the draugr's movements ceased altogether.

Lydia then glanced up to witness Siffre already taking care of the other draugr. In contrast the Dragonborn brought down her great sword in a mighty diagonal strike. The larger blade just easily cut through both flesh and even bits of the ancient armor on the creature's front, leaving the draugr to tumble to the ground in a heap. Once more, silence filled the air, while the two women were left standing.

Lydia pulled her blade free from the corpse while Siffre walked back to retrieve the torch she'd set down earlier.

"Your Shouting is... getting pretty good," Lydia found herself complimenting.

"Oh, thanks," Siffre replied, "Maybe... I'm finally getting that 'practice' you told me about before."

"I did-" Lydia said before she quickly cut herself off. It was then that thinking back, she did say that to Siffre, not too long ago in fact! Back when the two of them were on their way towards that location in Eastmarch, she had suggested the idea to her.

"Well, how does using that Voice feel now?"

"I think I'm getting better at using it, and knowing how to use it," Siffre admitted as she regrouped with Lydia, "Feels like... it's coming more naturally for me."

"Well that's good, I'm glad to hear that," Lydia said.

The two women then turned their attention back to the location they now stood within. It was another room clearly reserved for the dead resting within, with the obvious exception of those two draugr that were once walking about. Aside from that, nothing else notable stood out in this place as far as they could see.

They navigated around the central pillars to reach the opposite end of the room. There they came to a stop once again: a lowered metal gate, and a nearby pull-chain on the wall next to them. Siffre slowly approached the gate and held the torch up close, just enough to peer through the bars.

"I don't see anything..." she muttered before glancing back, "Go ahead." Lydia reached over and pulled the chain down. The gate then rose with a dull metallic creaking, opening the new passage before the two women.

A narrow walkway stretched before them with boards serving as partitions on both sides. The light of the torch shone off of the flat of the boards while simultaneously highlighting the darkness beyond the cracks. Aside from the crude walls on both sides, the only direct path lay forward, and towards...

"What... is that?" Lydia said softly. Both her and Siffre's attention was drawn to something at the very end of this walkway. With the torch held before them they slowly and cautiously advanced forward. More and more of the stretch of this stone 'walkway' was revealed before them with each step forward.

Finally, the object of the two womens' interest stood before them, which turned out to be-

"Oh, it's just a statue." A large, looming stone statue stood at the very end of this walkway. It was styled and structured similarly to the ones that had been seen previously during this crypt delve.

"And..." Siffre leaned in closer slightly to peer around and look for something, "Nope, no vessel here either. Just more of these strange... urns."

"I think these were offering urns," Lydia said as she looked upon the orange colored vases herself, "Don't think I'd wanna look inside them though."

The housecarl took a step away and glanced all around her immediate surroundings.

"Well, where are we supposed to go? If we can't go-" She stopped herself as she then caught sight of something, "Wait... Siffre, I think there."

Siffre turned around as well, bringing the torchlight with her. The two women could now see along the board-wall on their right side, one section was actually missing. A hole from this partition, but not any sort of hole caused by apparent cave-ins. Approaching the hole closer, they could see clearly that the stone walkway actually extended out a few inches, an indicator that this was in fact a stepping off point.

This was further proven from a set of wooden steps that formed a makeshift stairway leading downward. Going down, yet again...

"How much further down do we have to go...?" Lydia found herself wondering aloud. Nevertheless, the two made their way, one after the other, down this wooden stairway.

Boots once again touched down upon solid, stone ground. A couple of large braziers burning with fire provided just enough light to give a sense of direction. What they could see however was even more sarcophagi lining the nearby wall. Seems the two of them had entered into yet another burial section of this crypt.

While there were numerous sarcophagi along the walls, they saw that not all of them appeared in pristine condition. This was because that some of them were actually crushed and destroyed from debris of cave-ins. Lydia almost allowed herself to feel sorry for the bodies of those unfortunate to have been crushed. They may have been trying to kill them thus far, but a fate such as that was not something they had asked for themselves. Not destruction of their bodies, nor even enslavement of their minds. The housecarl almost didn't know which was worse.

The two braziers stood on both sides of a large doorway, the only other way forward. Aside from the bits of cave-in debris that littered one side of the threshold, a clear enough path could be seen. There was even another burning brazier at the end of this hallway, though the shadows it cast indicated that it curved immediately to the left. This light also helped in showing the massive infestation of large roots that covered nearly the entirety of the stone floor beneath them.

"These roots," Lydia commented yet again as she navigated over them, "Seriously... are we underground?"

One more turn to the right, and the brazier from the corner could reach no further. Fortunately, with the torch held in hand, Siffre and Lydia could easily see what would've been concealed in shadow. Standing before the two of them was another large, wooden double-door with metallic fittings. The fact that it was closed could've only suggested uncharted territory, both for them but also for anything else that might lie beyond.

Siffre and Lydia looked at each other.

"You ready?" Siffre asked.

"Let's do it," Lydia replied.

With that the they both took a position against different doors. Their arms were placed against the large, flat frames. One more nod to each other, and they pushed. The sound of groaning wood and metal filled the air, but surprisingly both the doors managed to give under the respective pushes. In no time at all Siffre and Lydia pushed through completely and entered a step into the next room.

The first thing Lydia caught sight of were the spiders.

"Whoa-!"

Instincts kicked in and Lydia readied herself in her defensive stance. Her feet were spread apart, her shield held in front, and her sword held back. She could also see Siffre hastily attempting to prepare herself by drawing forth her great-sword despite using only one hand. Her own breath held in her throat and she prepared to... actually... what?

The housecarl permitted herself to actually study the bodies of these spiders. They were in fact Frostbite Spiders, about three of them. However... why weren't they moving? Didn't they notice them?

"What's... going on?" Siffre said.

"Careful..." Lydia softly replied.

A gesture of her head inward, and the two women proceeded to gently make their way into this hallway. Both kept their eyes trained squarely on the spiders, anticipating any sort of movement, sudden or deliberate. With each step taken however, the spiders did not move, they did not stir, they did not even make any sort of idle sounds. They just... sat there, still as death even.

Finally, the women stood directly beside the closest spider, poised next to another stone pedestal. Even now with this distance, the large arachnid did move at all. And in fact thanks to the light of the torch, Lydia began to see exactly why.

Rather than the normal dark orange color that Frostbite Spiders tend to be, these spiders were coated in a strange shade of black. Patches of their bodies were blackened in a way that seemed like they were... burned?

"What happened here?" Lydia said. By now she felt daring enough to place a foot against the body of the spider. Even with this close contact there was still no sign of life. She began to loosen her tension as a result of the no longer apparent danger before them. As she placed her foot back down on the ground, she noticed that she stepped upon another burn mark that seemed to singe the ground itself.

The sound of steel slicing into flesh could be heard. Siffre had stabbed the tip end of her great sword into the body of the spider, only to find there was no response of any kind from the beast. After a few seconds she withdrew her sword from the now definite corpse.

"What is..." she said as she knelt down to the ground. She set her sword down so she could trace her hand across the floor, and upon a set of blackened stains. Lifting her fingers again she found them coated in the black, dry substance. "This is... it's ash. These are burn marks."

"Burns?" Lydia said. She looked along the spider's corpse again. Indeed, viewing it again in this new, metaphorical light, it was clear to see that these spiders had in fact been burned. But what could possibly have burned them in a place like this? There weren't any braziers to be seen in this place at all.

Speaking of 'this place', where exactly where she and Siffre now?

She looked upon the walls all around her. Instead of more ruined walls, the torch's light instead shone upon walls bearing rather interesting details. Various shapes of people, objects, even symbols could be seen, some of them erroded but most of them surprisingly well intact. Lydia's eyes widened in realization.

"Wait... Siffre. I think this is the Hall of Stories!"

Memories filled her head of her younger days when Balgruuf and even Proventus would educate her on aspects of ancient Nord history. Such as how Skyrim used to be ruled by Jarls in much 'harsher' days, or even the ancients that apparently lived in these just as ancient locations now reduced to ruins. Once or twice the 'Hall of Stories' would be mentioned, though she was always told by Avenicci this was more of an expression of the ancient artwork those back then were capable of.

"Huh? The what?" the Dragonborn in turn glanced all around her towards the walls as well, the torch following her movements. Here and there various panels were illuminated to reveal more strange pictures and artistic depictions of strange events.

"I remember Jarl Balgruuf and Proventus telling me about these..." Lydia approached one of these panels while also sheathing her sword. This one depicted a rendition of seemingly a person, arms held at their side, and a halo of- or, was that 'feathered wings'? Whatever it was, it formed a ring around this person's head. On both sides held an array of other 'people' facing this central figure, three on each side.

Lydia shook her head as she gave up trying to make sense of what exactly she was seeing, "Wonder what these all mean...?"

"You mean like... people of the past, the ones that built this place? They made these?" Siffre said.

"That would be my guess..." Lydia said with a shrug. She turned away from the panel before her and towards the end of this hallway. What she found there was almost immediately seen as another panel of abstract art... No, this wasn't just another panel. It was something else entirely.

She advanced closer, vaguely aware that with Siffre holding the torchlight her visibility diminished ever so slightly. There was however just enough light for her to see clear enough what was before her. An entire section was shaded a dark gray color that contrasted from the pale color of the surrounding wall. Deep cuts along this bit of stone stone in the shape of... This wasn't simply another panel- it was a doorway! It had to be!

"Siffre...? I think this has to be the way!" she called out behind her. She squinted her eyes to look closer upon this stone door. It was largely rectangular in shape, but an entire circular section in its center seemed to draw attention. A half-circle, with three rings surrounding a central circle section with a strange three pointed shape. A shape that if Lydia were being honest, it almost resembled a claw of some creature, along with holes at the very tips of its 'fingers'.

In her close inspection Lydia realized the light was still dim for her to see, an indicator that Siffre wasn't close by either. She turned to the side to call out again, until she saw Siffre there. The Dragonborn appeared to be standing back up from kneeling down next to something. Her great-sword was sheathed and she now held in her free hand some... object.

"Siffre...?" Lydia gently called out again. The other woman turned this object over in her hands once, but she still glanced back up to Lydia's call to her.

"Lydia... I think I have an idea of what happened here."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Lydia asked. She glanced down to the nearby corpse of the spider Siffre stood next to, "Wait, you mean the spiders?"

"Yeah..." Siffre's hand indicated between the corpses and the strange statues that were situated at four corners around the stone pedestal in the center of the hall, "I think... these spiders were burned by fire, from these statues. Probably from knocking 'this'," she gestured to the object in her hand, then to the pedestal itself, "off from here..."

Lydia was starting to become puzzled now. Statues that 'breathed' fire? She found herself moving away from the stone door and back towards Siffre, her head tilted in mild confusion.

"I don't understand..." she said. She watched as Siffre took the object in her hand and placed it back upon the pedestal. The moment she released it, a small pad atop it was depressed. It was then that the two women could hear the sounds of some kind of cranking around them. They all could be traced back to each of the four statues around them.

Siffre lifted the object off of the pedestal again, the cranking was heard again. Up, down, up, down; the cranking from the statues came as rhythmically as her own actions.

"Must have burned all the fire out from those statues..." the Dragonborn indicated to the 'head' of one of the statues. Upon further inspection, a small nozzle could be see pointing in a diagonal direction towards the pedestal, and also towards the three spider corpses that lay sprawled out around the center of the hall, "From when one of these spiders knocked this thing off..."

"That thing...?" Lydia's attention was drawn to the object in hand completely. It was gray in color, and somewhat large, almost the complete length of a forearm. It held a single 'peg' on one end, with the other end holding three separate pegs facing opposite on the other end.

"My thane, what even is that?"

Instead of answering the question, Siffre's gaze was strangely drawn towards the stone door at the end of the hall. She stared for mere moments before her eyes seemed to light up once again. That sort of look that suggested familiarity, or at the very least a clear course of action. She continued to remain silent as she then proceeded to make her way towards the door, Lydia following after her.

"My thane?" she said, "Siffre! What are you doing?"

Siffre came to a stop right in front of the stone door and held the object before her.

"Claw... solution... palm of your hands..."

Siffre could be heard speaking softly to herself. Her gaze remained fixed on the door itself, seemingly oblivious to everything else in that moment. Lydia's own gaze was one of pure confusion right now. What was going on with her?

She placed a hand on Siffre's shoulder and shook harshly.

"SIFFRE!"

The rather hard shaking apparently seemed to knock the Dragonborn free of her thoughts. She shook her own head as she came back to reality.

"Lydia... I-I think I know what to do here."

"Do what? What's going on?" Lydia asked again.

"This is the way forward..." the other woman indicated towards the stone door before them, then down at the object she held in her hand, "And this is what will get us through." With the torch held much closer this time, Lydia was allowed to properly inspect the object. She could see it was gray, almost dull silver in color, with those strange pegs on opposing ends. If she were being honest with herself, this thing in some ways resembled... a hand, or even a claw. A claw, made of, what appeared to be... iron?

"So... what exactly is this thing?" Lydia pointed to the claw while looking back at Siffre, then towards the stone door, "And how exactly could such a small thing get us through a door like this?"

"Here, let me show you..."

Siffre turned the claw over in her hand, showing the underside to herself and Lydia. The women could see a set of three circles, one on top of the other, and each one holding a rendition of some kind of animal inside. The bottom one could easily be seen as a wolf, head turned upwards as if it were howling. The middle circle held some kind of bird, a hawk even, in a pose as if it were swooping down and preparing to catch something in its claws. As for the top-most circle, with the spiked wings, long tail, and serpentine-like neck, the image of a dragon was unmistakable.

It was then that Lydia turned her gaze to the stone door again, specifically to the three 'rings' that lay around the central point. At the center of those rings were in circles that bore images of animals as well!

"Wait a minute, those creatures on that claw there... they look just like the ones on this door!" Lydia said. Siffre gave her a knowing nod.

"That's right."

"So, this claw is meant to be 'used' on this door?" Lydia glanced back and forth between the door and the claw, "But then, how is it meant to be done?"

"Well, look closer at this..." Siffre directed her attention back to the claw, and the circled animals, "See how these animals are stacked on top of each other by three? And just like on this door too?"

"Yeah...? I-I still don't get it though," Lydia shrugged.

"Hold this for a second; I'll show you..."

Siffre handed the claw off to Lydia, who took it in her hand. With the claw now being held by Lydia, Siffre studied it once more before turning her attention to the stone door. Lydia watched the Dragonborn as she reached up and... she turned one of the rings! Stone ground upon stone as Siffre pushed up on one of the rings to the right. As she did so, the image of the wolf that was once at the very top gave way to another animal... A dragon!

These rings, they rotate!

Lydia watched frankly in awe as the Dragonborn continued to work, while occasionally glancing back at the claw. One by one the rings were turned in place and a new animal took their place.

Finally, after a few seconds, Siffre stepped back, allowing the two women to behold her change. Looking between both the stone door's symbols and those shown on the claw, the order from top to bottom was now dragon, hawk, and wolf.

"Alright, one more thing."

Siffre took the claw from Lydia's hand once again. She then angled it towards the central point on the door at those three small holes and pressed in. The 'claw-tips' of the item lined up perfectly with the holes; Lydia fully understood now! The Dragonborn twisted the claw a little left and right, for a moment nothing happening.

Then, the middle and lower rings on the door instantly spun in place until their respective 'dragons' were shown. This action surprised Lydia, yet Siffre remained relatively calm. The two women stepped back and watched. Dust began to pour off of the upper edges of the stone door while the sound of stone rubbing against stone could be heard. This sound was very quickly amplified as the stone door began to drastically sink into the ground.

Lydia all the while remained wide-eyed and almost slack-jawed the entire time. There was almost a complete disbelief as to what she had just seen. An ancient piece of architecture easily giving way to something so simple as... a puzzle?

Eventually, she managed to break herself out of her dumbfounded state and glance towards Siffre again. The Dragonborn was returning her look with a rather sheepish look of her own.

"I guess I owe some answers, huh?"

"I'll say!" Lydia nearly exclaimed, "H-How!? How did you know to do all that!?"

"Bleak Falls Barrow," Siffre simply replied. The reminder of that location sobered Lydia's mindset again.

"The Barrow again?"

"There was a door there, just like this one," Siffre indicated to the now opened doorway before them, "That one... it required a claw to open it too. The only difference was... that claw was made of gold."

"What? Gold?" Siffre nodded.

"It was... it was actually the reason I came to Whiterun in the first place," Siffre clarified, "I kept that gold claw with me. Seemed too valuable a thing to just leave behind. It's what I... what I was hoping to sell off for some septims at the time."

Lydia's mind unconsciously drifted back to that point; that point in time seemingly so long ago. That first time when she had met Siffre in Whiterun. So little she knew back then, about anything. She remembered she'd only caught sight of Siffre during when she herself was in Dragonsreach, having been summoned there by Jarl Balgruuf. She didn't remember seeing Siffre carrying any stone (or stone claw she supposed), just the woman herself, as unfamiliar, enigmatic... and silent, as she was.

"I don't remember you having any stone on you during then," Lydia admitted.

"I remember going to Dragonsreach and trying to sell it off to Farengar," Siffre explained, "And then the whole thing with the dragon... I think, that was also when I first met you too." The two women found themselves silent for a moment, each one studying the other one. Despite the setting around them there was a strange sense of calm between them. Seeing the other one in stark contrast to when they first met before, now with different impressions of the other...

It was then that Siffre shook her head. This was quickly followed by her putting a hand to her head, almost as if she had a minor headache. She turned her head to the now open pathway that stretched upwards before them.

"Lydia... the whispers...! I hear them, louder than before!" she spoke. Lydia turned her head to the open pathway as well.

"Where the Word's likely to be..." she said, "Well, let's find what we came here to find!"

The hallway before them was short, but more importantly sharply curved upward through a series of steps. For all her mental complaining earlier Lydia was glad for once to find that they were ascending within this place again. This could only mean they must have hit the bottom and were well on their way to getting back out.

Stepping through one more doorway they held their hands out to shield their bodies from a thin veil of cobwebs. Siffre and Lydia once more stood within an open room. Four pillars stood central in the room with burning braziers positioned at each of their bases. The light from these braziers provided more than enough illumination to observe most that this room had to offer. Lining the walls around them were more cut slots that housed a resting body within, while the very center of this room held a very familiar pedestal with a very familiar object resting atop it.

"Another vessel..." Lydia said softly, "Alright, we have a chance to not accidently break this one-" She trailed off as she glanced to her partner beside her. The Dragonborn was looking forward, in the general direction of the vessel, however... It felt like she was also staring 'past' it. As if something beyond it had captured her attention.

The two women advanced closer to the pedestal, with Lydia coming to a stop directly beside it. Siffre on the other hand continued to walk further and up to a section that was crudely walled off by metallic bars.

"That's it... That's it right there! The whispers are coming from that wall, right there!" Lydia turned to see this wall Siffre was focused on. Sure enough, not too far beyond the metallic bars before them a curved wall could be seen. Despite the apparent excitement in her partner's voice, Lydia herself could not for the life of her hear any such whispers at all.

"But... how do we get past these... bars...?" she continued while looking up and around. An experimental shake of one of them proved fruitless as well.

She then turned back around, eyes meeting with Lydia's, and also noting the vessel that rested upon the pedestal.

"Wait a second..." Lydia said as she noted something. With her fingers she carefully placed them atop the pedestal right next to where the vessel set. Ever so gently she wiggled the top in place. The top moved along with her finger's movements. Just as she suspected, this vessel was fixed upon a pressure plate, like many of them they had come across recently.

"This vessel's on another pressure plate," Lydia spoke aloud.

"So we'd be activating... something, by taking it from there..." Siffre continued. She glanced all around the immediate area as if to catch sight of something, anything that might be seen as a trap. Seeing nothing she shrugged, "Well, I guess we'd at least be ready for... whatever it does?" Lydia's response was to give a hefty sigh of her own.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

The housecarl gently reached up to take the neck of the vessel in her hand. Her grip secured around it yet not nudging it from place as best she could. She would... she'd just take it and dash away. Yeah! If this was a trap, then it'd probably be best not to be standing in place for whatever might happen!

Her eyes met Siffre's again, nods were exchanged, and Lydia moved.

In one motion she dashed away from the pedestal while taking the vessel with her. She was now standing outside the impromptu 'zone' the four central pillars created around the pedestal. Soon after she moved the sound of the depressed pressure plate rising on the pedestal could be heard. Lydia steadied her nerves, waiting for what may happen.

The sound of metal scraping against metal could be heard. This wasn't an unpleasant sort of scraping either. It was the sort of sound from something being retracted back into itself. It almost sounded as if there were multiple metal sounds filling the air at once. Aside from that, Lydia found that nothing harmful was befalling her body in the slightest. No swinging blades, no arrows pin cushioning her body, nothing at all. She was... very much alive still.

"Lydia... Lydia! That did it!"

The housecarl was filled with greater surprise to hear Siffre's voice filling the air. She turned her attention back to reality and looked around again. The Dragonborn was staring back towards the wall that had captured her interest. The same wall that had once been blocked off by metallic bars. The difference being that those bars were now missing! The wheels in Lydia's head turned with this revelation.

"This vessel, sitting on that pressure pad," she indicated to the pedestal, "It was actually keeping those bars in place?"

"It must have been!" Siffre could be seen saying with a smile, "I don't see anything else that thing could've-"

Any further talk was swiftly cut off by another sound filling the air. More groans, more growls.

Lydia spun in place towards one of the walls, the one of the far right side. She could see it: one of the previously resting dead bodies was beginning to rise from within!

"Damn, another draugr waking up!" she announced.

"There too?"

Lydia and Siffre's heads turned around, each one's confused stare meeting the other. Looking past them they could both see a single draugr rising from the respective wall they stood closest to. By now the undead creatures' boots were planted upon the ground and standing up in full. They momentarily stared at nothing, then those familiar light blue orbs in their eye sockets drifted up and to their next potential victims.

Lydia hastily took the vessel and placed it in her own pouch. Now that her hand was freed she quickly reached down to draw her own blade again. She dashed forward to meet the draugr closest to her. The undead warrior by now was drawing forth its own weapon, a single-hand war-axe.

The draugr momentarily surprised Lydia by already slashing at her even as she closed the distance. Her intent was to finish this fight before it even started and dispatch the draugr quickly. As it was however, she was forced to raise her shield to block the incoming strike, metallic clangs filling the air and shockwaves traveling up her arm.

Lydia prepared to lower her shield again, only to raise it back up as the draugr had attempted another downward swing! Not only was this creature's tenacity surprising her, but also the amount of strength she could feel behind each attack! Her arm rattled with how much force she could feel through the swings of this creature! How was it this one felt so much stronger than previously encountered draugr?

Before she could do anything else, Lydia felt her entire world rush all around her. She almost couldn't tell what was going on from how fast it was all happening. Her world was violently brought to a halt however from her back impacting something behind her. Now that she was at a standstill with relative control of her senses again, she began to process what had just happened: she'd caught sight of that very same draugr slamming its entire body weight into her, through her shield, and sending her stumbling backward into the pillar behind her!

Just as quickly and relentlessly, the draugr was practically rushing forward to close the distance between them. As it drew closer to the central light Lydia was afforded a clearer view of this undead warrior. This one differed from the previous draugr before as it was dressed in more pieces of armor covering its body, including a helm with two large horns rising up atop its brow. A draugr dressed in multiple pieces of armor, each one likely reinforced, and possessing strange, unnatural and uncanny strength of its own, Lydia could only surmise this individual was very strong back in its day. Maybe even a warlord?

Lydia quickly bent and curved out of the way to avoid the draugr making a horizontal slash that surely would've taken her head off. She could hear the sound of the war-axe biting into the stone of the pillar, leaving behind a long and deadly looking slash mark in place.

The draugr turned its head to Lydia, but the housecarl herself was already moving. She brought her shield up once again to parry another slash attempt from the draugr. The weapon impacted against the shield, once again sending ripples up Lydia's arm. The ripples were weak however; the attack must not have hit her with full force this time. In addition the draugr let out a momentary grunt from being momentarily imbalanced from the parry.

Seizing her chance Lydia brought her sword down as hard as she could against the draugr's vulnerable right arm. The sword bit down and cut deep into the very joint of the creature's elbow. She could see with momentary satisfaction that her weapon had almost cut the arm off completely; not quite though, the arm simply dangled from the last few desiccated ligaments that still connected it to the body.

The draugr's face met hers, in all its ancient and decrepit 'glory'. It bore no facial expressions, none that could be perceived properly by someone living, but Lydia had to guess that it was feeling unfortunate right about now. Its main fighting arm was most certainly disabled, now a useless appendage whose hand was still somehow gripped tightly around the axe's hilt.

Yet somehow, the draugr was mustering up the will and strength to swing at her again! It was pulling its ruined right arm back in a crude attempt to slash at her!

Lydia didn't even bother using her shield for defense this time. She quickly brought her sword arm down to completely carve through the arm and sever it completely. The appendage fell the the floor and its weapon clattered upon the stone as the hand's grip loosened completely.

The housecarl still wasn't done. Mustering all the strength she had left she brought her sword arm back across to slash as hard as she could against the draugr's upper body. She could feel the tip of her sword bite and slash hard into the ancient flesh and even cut through one of the metallic shoulder straps that kept its front breastplate in place.

The force of her swing brought the draugr down hard at her feet to her side. Its head remained turned up at her and she could see its glowing orbs staring back at her. Within seconds however the orbs slowly faded away, leaving the empty eye sockets of the now surely dead creature.

"Siffre!"

Lydia wasted not a moment more. She quickly rushed around the pillar to where the Dragonborn had been apparently fighting her own foe. There she could see it: Siffre was locked in combat with another draugr as well. This one was dressed similarly to the draugr Lydia herself fought, with armored plates and a horned helmet atop its head. It was also wielding a large ancient great-sword in hand. Metallic clangs filled the air with each strike; Siffre's face of exertion suggested this draugr was giving her just as hard a time as Lydia herself was having.

A downward diagonal slash managed to bring the draugr's weapon down and away from its body, and Siffre quickly followed up with a front kick to its midsection. The draugr growled as it stumbled backwards, right towards Lydia.

The action and its effect were telegraphed with clear intent; the draugr had been pushed away from Siffre and towards Lydia, which the housecarl quickly capitalized on. She quickly dashed forward directly behind the unsuspecting draugr and slashed her blade into its unguarded left knee. The undead creature grunted in surprise as it was forced down to one knee.

Siffre was moving again as she rushed forward as well. As she prepared to meet the vulnerable foe the draugr suddenly attempted to slash back at her with one hand gripping the great-sword. There was momentary surprise at seeing it try to slash with one hand on a weapon clearly requiring two hands.

"Daanik ah dov-!"

Siffre was already moving her left arm out, gauntlet momentarily halting the momentum of the swinging blade. She then cocked her fist back and smacked it as hard as she could against the ancient weapon. The draugr's great-sword clattered to the stone ground, leaving the undead creature completely wide open. Siffre brought her hands to the hilt of her own great-sword, cocked it back to aim straight at the draugr's chest, and plunged forward with a grunt.

Steel of the sword easily cut through ancient flesh in an open section of the front breastplate. The draugr let out one final death rattle before its head slumped to the side, the unnatural light leaving its eye sockets completely.

This foe was downed, but Siffre hastily ripped her sword free and held at the ready. Both her and Lydia snapped their gazes in all directions around them, ready to meet the next foe. To their relief however, no further sounds could be heard, and no further movement could be seen. No more draugr it appeared had woken up in that moment. All was quiet once again in this crypt, with the two Nord women standing once again.

"Thanks for that, Lydia," Siffre said, "That draugr was... It was tougher than any of the others..."

"Yeah, the one I was fighting was strong too," Lydia added. She glanced down at the closest one, specifically its helm, "You see how they were dressed? They wore armor as if they were ready for battle!"

"Maybe they were... warlords, or something. Most leaders of clans have the best armor on them..." Siffre said with a shrug, "None of these others better wake up..." She shook her head and turned to the curved wall, now accessible to them.

"There it is- the Word is written on that wall there...!"

"We've finally found what we came here for...?" Lydia said.

The two of them advanced upon the wall, Siffre leading the way. The wall in question was definitely curved, about in roughly the shape of a half-circle, with a bas-relief of a dragon's head posed at the top. It seemed to look downward upon anyone that stood within its 'embrace', as well as the strange scratches upon it. For Lydia, these were little more than scratches. But for Siffre, they were definitely much more than met the eye.

A series of scratches, taking the strange yet familiar form of symbols. Symbols that structurally seemed to form some kind of sentence. And within this crude sentence, three separate scratches in particular stood out dramatically. The whispers from these words was nearly deafening in Siffre's ears, combined with how they seemed to positively glow the closer she approached them.

She looked at each one of them, one after the other, studying them, committing them to memory. As she studied intently, she... she could feel it. Her mind's eye painting a picture of these scratches. The scratches very slowly reforming, taking shape, becoming clearer to her. Once incoherent lines of the scratches reforming into familiar letters, the letters forming words, the Words becoming known to her. This was the Dragon language, and Siffre was learning three words from this one wall.

"Laas... Yah... Nir..."

The Words exiting her lips came fluently and naturally. She not only spoke these words clearly, but in her mind, she knew of their meaning. She came to know of what exactly it was she was saying. 'Life', 'seek', and 'hunt'.

Then, as gradually as this entire process began, it ended. The whispers from the wall began to fade, and the words in question began to dim. Siffre found herself staring at a wall, and nothing more.

She turned back around to find Lydia, standing and waiting patiently behind her.

"Did you find it? Is it there?" she asked. Siffre nodded.

"I see them here... They're the words that mean 'life', 'seek', and 'hunt'..." Lydia's head tilted at the mention of the latter words.

"So, what, does that mean you will become a hunter of the wilds? Someone that hunts the best game?"

"No, I don't think so," Siffre shook her head, "There's definitely deeper meaning to these words than what they translate to. Arngeir did mention something about unlocking meaning through constant practice..."

"Alright so, you've learned this new Word, right? Or- actually, these 'Words'?" Lydia said, "Guess all that's left is to slay another dragon for the next step, right?"

"Yeah, looks like it," Siffre said with a nod.

"Guess that means we're on our way back to the surface. Finally! I can't wait to be out of this crypt at long last!" Lydia didn't even bother to hide her joy at the prospect. The two of them had been in this crypt for who knows how long; the constant stuffy smell of dust and old bones choking this air was quickly wearing out its welcome with her.

"We still have Lo's task to help with. You know, with finding the blood vessels?" Lydia reminded her. And just like that, Lydia's spirits were lowered from the reminder. There was still the secondary reason the two of them were down here in the first place, and what she'd willingly agreed to help with as well.

"Wait, where is that vessel, the one that was on that pedestal?" Siffre asked.

"I have it, don't worry," Lydia's arm unconsciously drifted to her side pack to lightly pat it, "I managed to keep it safe before those two draugr jumped us."

Siffre reached down to pull forth the vessel she held on her own person. She held it before herself, lightly swishing it in front of her. Lydia reached down and did the same thing, mimicking the same motions as the Dragonborn was doing.

"There were three... but we have two on us..." Siffre said, "What we have here... that's gotta be a decent amount of blood from a body, right?"

"I'd say... yeah, I think so too," Lydia agreed while she scrutinized the vessel. The solid opacity of the outside made it impossible to see the liquid contents clearly, but she could still feel it swirling about all the same. If she were to guess, the amount held in this single vessel was about the same amount as was found in a normal person's leg. Maybe even a leg and a half. Gods, that was such a strange concept to find herself doing: determining amounts of blood held within ancient vessels.

"And like I said before: don't worry about that other one," she added, reminding the other woman of the third vessel she'd accidentally shattered, "If we were to dispose of this stuff, that can't have been the worst thing to happen to it."

"Yeah... I just hope you're right..." Siffre pocketed the vessel in her side pack with Lydia doing the same, "Alright, I've definitely had enough of this place too..."

The two women then stepped away from the curved wall and closer to the central pillars. The Dragonborn moved to pick up the torch she had set within one of the braziers. The torch once again in hand she turned all around to view their surroundings in relative peace.

"Oh, over here."

Siffre drew their attention to a location off to the right side. Another doorway with a lowered metallic gate before them. The two women advanced upon it with Lydia moving towards a pull-chain seen off to the side. It was a strange thing but she was almost starting to get 'used' to this place. Perhaps that wasn't quite right- she could never be used to being down in a dark, creepy crypt such as this for such a long period, but she was starting to get used to the placement of such ancient mechanisms and their likely direct functions. A pull of the chain and her confidence was proven correct: the metallic gate rose up with a groaning of metal.

Lydia followed closely behind Siffre, the torch in the latter's hand providing light in the dark, narrow hallway. The women were forced to be mindful of their steps however as actual steps in this hallway both ascended upwards and also wound to the right and left a couple of times.

Their walk came to a stop upon reaching another large, black double door. Lydia recalled seeing a door like this one not too long ago, one they had to pass through to delve into the deeper depths of this place. They both reached a hand out and pressed against one of the doors to push through. This was followed by yet another sharp left curve down another hallway, when suddenly they were stopped yet again. This time, it was by a door most unfamiliar to them.

It was a wooden door, like most others they had seen in this place so far, yet this one held a large wooden bar laying a cross it. It almost resembled a primitive locking method, or at the very least what they've come to expect for a place like this and the time it must have been made.

"A locked door?" Siffre turned to Lydia, "Maybe to keep something out?"

"Or in..." Lydia replied.

The housecarl stepped forward and placed a hand on the underside of the wooden bar. To her mild surprise the bar itself was not anchored down to anything; it was raised just as easily as it had been lowered. With the wooden bar moved out of the way, the door was free to be opened again. Two door handles meeting at the crack of this double door practically invited someone to pull them open.

"Here, we'll do it together..." Siffre said as she stepped forward. One free hand took hold of one of the handles, while Lydia's own free hand took hold of the other. Glancing at each other they gave rhythmic nods simulating counting, and the doors were pulled open towards them.

The light of the torch shone upon yet another set of ascending steps in a wider hallway leading to another room. However, light from a room up above could be seen almost beckoning the two women forward. They cautiously made their way up the steps until they passed through the threshold into this new room.

"Wait... wait a minute..." Siffre suddenly said. Realization quickly came to her as she studied this room, noting its familiarity. The two of them stood in a room bearing a half-circle shape, a set of ancient pots and urns lining a half-circle shaped altar on their right side, and a table with ruined benches to the left. Laying upon this table was the body of a dead, and thankfully unmoving draugr, with a piece of parchment laid beneath it.

Crossing the room Siffre quickly reached over and skimmed the parchment.

"'Powerful is Master-' Oh, I was right!" she turned to Lydia, "Lydia, this is a room we first entered into at the start, remember?"

"Ugh, no, not really. Most if not all the rooms in this place look the same to me," Lydia said with a groan.

"Just trust me then; follow me..."

Siffre led the way towards a doorway at the opposite end of the room, Lydia following close behind. They crossed through yet another short hallway before another sharp left turn before them, followed immediately by another hallway and a sharp right turn. This however led to a rather deep set of stairs that led upwards, towards a larger light source at the end.

Siffre and Lydia reached the top and stepped back into a room now familiar to the both of them. They stood in the large chamber that stood at the very entrance of this crypt; a place they'd almost forgotten about, much less wondered if they'd ever return here. Perhaps after delving for so long into the crypt's depths it was easy to lose track.

And of course, there was that one large sarcophagus, positioned in the very center of this massive room with the four statues overlooking each corner.

"Right, I think remember now," Lydia said, "We're back to where we started, aren't we?"

"And this time, we've got the vessels with us," Siffre said. Having returned to the room that previously had the better lighting she opted to discard the torch into one of the nearby burning braziers. With her now free hand she retrieved the vessel from her side pack and held it before her. Lydia quickly did the same and pulled forth the one she held on her as well.

"Alright, guess we'll have to tell Lo now?" she said before glancing around. The only beings present in this room however were herself and Siffre; the only living, and corporeal beings too no less.

'Please don't tell me we'll have to 'call' for Lo to appear here...?'

"Um... Lo?" she raised her voice to announce out loud. Her voice carried a soft reverb as it echoed off of the nearby walls around them, "You... you here? We found those vessels! They're right here-"

Lydia stopped short as she suddenly was hit with a sensation. A rather chilling sensation of cold, one that she could feel against her skin. This place was completely void of sufficient holes in the walls to allow drafts, ruling out the possibility of a chilled wind. She did not need to ponder what it was for very long as she remembered this feeling from before as well.

The cold air appeared to flow around and past her as it gathered to a single source. Lydia and Siffre watched as the cold air began to take visible shape in the form of a vaporous form, humanoid and gently glowing. In no time at all, the ghost had reappeared before them.

Lo maintained its visage of deathly still, scarcely moving any part of its body at all. I truly was as unfeeling and lifeless as one's own shadow on the ground.

"You have... yes. The blood of Hevnoraak," it spoke in its whispering tone, "Still preserved. Good." Both women instinctively held their respective vessels in hand as to show it before Lo.

"Lo... I'm sorry," Siffre spoke up, "There was a third one in there, but... I accidentally broke it. I'm sorry; these two were the only ones we could get."

"Hmmm... that is... unfortunate..." the ghost spoke in its usual tone. A tone that somehow projected melancholy as well as a hint of disappointment. In fact, Lydia even managed to catch sight of Lo shaking its head once, a display of this disappointment, "Ah well, this... will have to suffice."

"Alright, so we have these vessels of blood here..." Lydia said, "What should we do with it? Toss it away somewhere?"

"No, there is but one thing to do..."

As a seemingly first display of open and deliberate movement, Lo raised its hand out and towards the risen stone platform next to the two women. They hesitated for but a moment but ultimately walked up the steps to investigate closer. It was the 'bowl', first seen when they had entered into this tomb at the start, completely empty and hollowed out save for the layer of dust that had accumulated within.

"Empty the blood into the sconce..." Lo instructed, "I can... dispose of it, permanently."

"Is this really the only way?" Lydia asked, "There's no other way this can be done?"

"None... Only this," Lo replied. With the distance between them, it was hard to see if Lo was in fact shaking its head as a response to the question, "Hevnoraak will not rise, and my spirit will surely be free."

"You would... be free?" Siffre's eyes momentarily widened in surprise. She glanced at Lydia again, "Lydia... That has to be the reason! Lo's imprisoned, and doing this would free him!"

Lydia found herself at a loss for the right words entirely. So badly she wanted to voice her lingering doubts and reservations to how this whole situation was making her feel. And yet, with the two of them here, now, at what felt like the end of this little side quest, there was also the feeling of just wanting this all over and done with.

'And Siffre already found that Word- er, Words of Power!' she thought to herself, 'Oh, by the Gods...'

"You know what...? You're right," Lydia shrugged. She lifted the vessel in her own hand, holding it before the two of them, "Let's just get this over and done with." Siffre didn't respond vocally, but she did give a small smile and nod in response.

The two women held their respective vessels up and uncorked the ancient corks from each. With dual popping sounds, the vessels were opened, and they then proceeded to pour.

Two streams of very dark liquid, thick and viscous, flowed out into the basin. Gradually the combined fluid began to rise, nearly reaching the very edge. Before they knew it, both women had emptied the entire contents of their respective vessels into the basin with the blood level reaching below the edge.

Both then took a single step back and glanced towards Lo. The ghost remained in place, standing just in front of the central sarcophagus in the room.

"Yes... It is done..."

Slowly and gently it raised its hand toward the basin, as if reaching for it. As it did this, Siffre and Lydia suddenly heard something. A sound of... liquid draining?

Both heads shot back towards the basin and looked within. Sure enough, the blood level was beginning to slowly sink lower and lower. The center of the liquid mass held a miniature swirling to indicate the blood was draining. Why was it draining? And how?

"Wait, what's going on?" Lydia asked even as she watched. Truth be told, what was happening wasn't too different from the disposal method she had in mind of just dumping the liquid out somewhere. But curiously, why did it have to be into this sconce...?

After a few seconds the last of the liquid had drained completely, leaving the basin relatively empty once more. The very bottom revealed some sort of previously unseen plug that had dislodged and allowed for the blood to drain in the first place. Somehow this had gone unseen before the fluid had been poured in; was it as flat as the bottom so as to remain blended in?

Suddenly, rumbles could be felt through the ground. Siffre and Lydia felt them as deep vibrations up through their legs. This was nothing on the level as a local ground-quake in the slightest; both women maintained their balance easily. In fact, this quaking of the ground actually seemed to stem from a single source.

Attention was drawn back to the sarcophagus in the center, and Lo standing just in front of it.

"Lo! We did what you asked!" Siffre said, "What's happening?!" The quaking persisted, and Lo remained strangely silent during this entire event. It was in fact raising its arms out as if basking in something.

"Thank you..." Lo could be heard saying, "...for your obedience!"

The sheer change in Lo's speaking tone came as a genuine shock to the two women. No longer was it speaking in its usual deathly quiet tone. In fact, it didn't even seem like it was speaking louder to be heard above the sound of the rumbling. There was almost a sense of... euphoria, lining its words. Almost as if it were positively ecstatic about what had just happened. Which only served to further confuse the two women.

"What are you-"

Anything further was cut off by what Lo did next. Its vaporous body suddenly began to dissolve, a inverse of how it had appeared before the two women. However, instead of the vapors that comprised its form dissolving and 'scattering' in different directions, the vapors of its form instead seemed to flow... backwards. Straight towards the rumbling sarcophagus. In no time at all, Lo had completely disappeared from view, leaving the ancient coffin before the two women.

Then the sarcophagus exploded.

Siffre and Lydia held their arms up instinctively to shield themselves. Upon seeing that they were not under immediate assault, they lowered their hands to see what had happened. Indeed, the lid of the sarcophagus had suddenly 'popped' off, colliding with the stone ground and shattering into pieces.

Then... something could be seen, from within the coffin. Something began to rise from being contained within. Literally rising, as if defying all gravity and floating in place. Something similarly humanoid in shape, yet something not remotely human at all.

Hovering in midair, the figure held its arms crossed over its chest, then thrust them and its chest outward. This was then accompanied by a massive, almost ear-splitting screech that could be heard. Siffre and Lydia's hands shot to their ears in a vain attempt to shield themselves from the assault on their eardrums.

When at last the screech had ceased, Siffre and Lydia were able to behold what now was seen before them.

"Meye! Zu'u niid gro lingrah!"

Their eyes were widened in pure terror at what they were seeing. This figure, barely resembling a humanoid in shape only, was actually hovering over the ground without even touching it. In fact, transparent waves of apparent energy could be seen pouring off of its body down along its legs; likely what was keeping it aloft. It was dressed in ancient tatters of purple cloths that lightly wrapped around parts of its body, with rather regal-looking armor pieces gracing its arms, shoulders, and chest. While most of its body was concealed in clothing, certain parts like its hands and feet remained exposed. These appendages appeared to be desiccated with skin pulled taut across bones beneath, very similarly to the draugr encountered previously.

Finally, its head. The face of this creature remained concealed, due to it being hidden behind a strange mask. Dark purple in color, almost the same shade as the tatters that coated its body, this mask bore no mouth hole but had two large circles with carved slits that served as eyeholes. Despite no eyes or mouth visible on this thing, the way it looked down upon Siffre and Lydia suggested anything but benevolent intentions.

"No... No...!" Siffre could be heard saying, "It's not... I don't believe it!"

Lydia's gaze snapped between Siffre and the creature, almost in sheer disbelief of what was just happening. Then, she looked towards the basin again. Curiously, the sconce was set at a heightened level on the platform, while the sarcophagus had been set at a level much lower beneath it. Indeed, the blood had been 'drained' downward after having been poured into the sconce. The only direction it could've have gone was... down.

Towards the sarcophagus?!

"This- this isn't right!" Siffre practically exclaimed, abandoning all reservations of speaking softly or controlled, "We were helping Lo, not trying to resurrect you!"

Lydia's mind clicked in that moment. Everything instantly made sense, and every subconscious fear she'd had was confirmed. The blood draining downwards, the coffin rumbling, even Lo disappearing as it- No, that's not right, was it?

There never was a 'Lo' in the first place.

There was only that which was now before them: the dragon priest Hevnoraak!

"Hii fen ahm, AHST DINOK!"

The creature, now clearly to be none other than Hevnoraak, raised its arm up before them. It was only now that the two women realized that it was in fact holding something in this hand. A long staff-like object, roughly the same length as its own height. As it pointed the head of this staff in their direction, they could see the tip begin to spark and crackle more and more aggressively.

"Look out-!"

Both women jumped to their respective sides as the crackling sound of lightning filled the chamber space. Both women swiftly and roughly reached ground level before glancing back at where they were just standing. They could see the shattered remains of the basin and its pedestal along with lingering crackles of electricity marring the edges. Hevnoraak had just shot some bolt of lightning that completely destroyed that basin there, and likely the two of them as well had they remained in place!

"Siffre! We gotta stop that thing! Now!" Lydia found herself exclaiming.

"Yeah, right!" Siffre hastily replied. The Dragonborn regained her footing and drew her great-sword. Lydia did the same and drew forth her own sword. She held her shield in front of her, subconsciously prepared to withstand lightning and whatever foul magicks this priest could throw at them.

Speaking of said priest, it was proceeding to hold up its unarmed hand while gripping it tightly into a fist. Swirls of dark purple energy could be seen coalescing within the very center, the hand itself appearing to shudder and shake in place as well.

"Alok aar!"

The hand burst open with widened fingers as Hevnoraak spoke again. Instantly the magic energy began to break apart and disperse into various directions, each tendril suspiciously sinking down into various piles of stone debris scattered all around. The tendrils soon disappeared, but in their place a strange set of sounds could be heard.

Instantly, hands suddenly burst up from beneath the rubble. Familiarly bony hands that were connected to desiccated bodies. In no time, draugr began to rise up from seemingly everywhere.

The two women watched this unfold, their surprise and shock only amplifying.

"What? More draugr?" Lydia said, "It 'raised' them from the dead?!"

In no time at all the undead warriors quickly pulled themselves free from the rubble. It was only now that these draugr could be seen suspiciously without any weapons on their person. Slowly but surely, all of their heads turned, those glowing blue orbs passing for eyes regarding the two women, and proceeded to shamble over to them.

Lydia mentally took note of their numbers; her fears mounting with every draugr she counted after six...

The first draugr met with her, but the housecarl was ready. She held up her shield to bash the draugr as it tried to grab her. The undead creature was momentarily staggered, then Lydia quickly thrust her sword forward to stab the creature through its midsection. She then ripped her sword free, fully intent on causing as much damage to its body from the retract.

She watched with satisfaction as the draugr fell to the ground with a deathly groan, its upper body barely remaining connected to the lower body. While this one had been vanquished, Lydia turned her attention back up to focus on the others.

Siffre on the other hand was faring just as well against the draugr assailing her. Two of these undead creatures were attempting to grab at her from opposing ends. She quickly brought her great-sword down in a diagonal slash as hard as she could, instantly dropping the draugr on her right side. With her balance shifted, she quickly raised her left foot up to kick the opposing draugr back. The other one having been staggered in place, Siffre quickly thrust the tip of her great-sword through the draugr's belly, completely sheathing it to the hilt. Even with the mortal injury inflicted, the draugr still attempted to grab at Siffre with its bony fingers.

Without thinking Siffre quickly headbutted the other creature with her forehead. She could vaguely feel a small cracking sound from having broken something on the draugr's face. Without stopping there she swiftly pulled the sword free of the draugr's belly with all the strength she could muster. The draugr quickly fell to the ground in two pieces, neither one moving again.

As Siffre turned her attention back to her immediate surroundings, the sound of crackling lightning filled the air again. She had just enough time to bob herself to the right and avoid a lightning strike that had been aimed for her. She could see Hevnoraak still hovering in place and looking down upon them with his staff crackling with shock at its tip.

The image began to burn itself into the forefront of Siffre's mind. This dragon priest, the very one they'd been learning about all this time, all the cruelty and the abominable things he had done, both then and now. And on top of all that, it had pretty much manipulated them into doing the very thing they were hoping not to have happen!

Siffre could feel her anger bubble and build within the core of her being. Vanquishing this man- no, this thing, right here and now, would be doing all the land a massive service!

She took a swift breath through her nose, collected herself as best she could, and breathed,

"Fus... Ro-DAH!"

A wave of forceful air burst from her lips and bore straight towards the hovering dragon priest. Hevnoraak was far too close to be able to move or hover out of the way in time, and so took the full force of the unrelenting push backwards.

Siffre watched as Hevnoraak fly backwards, fully anticipating him to crash hard against the hard stone wall behind him. However, her hopes were mildly dashed as she watched the dragon priest not only fall short of hitting that wall, but also regain its hovering stance just next to the wall.

Seemingly in response, it clenched its open fist and swept it down to its side.

"Thu'um... "Hi los Dovahkiin?"

Those were definitely words Siffre was hearing be spoken, from the dragon priest no less. Of course the only words she discerned from that sentence were 'Thu'um' and 'dovahkiin'. These words suddenly sparked a reminder to Siffre's mind, including the whole reason she had come here in the first place. The letter from the 'friend', and the notion of who might've sent it to her. How naive looking back to think such a thing could've been given to her by... this thing.

Gripping the hilt of her sword in both hands she found herself actually responding,

"I am Dragonborn. And now, I don't care if it was you that wrote me that letter," she practically growled, "You're going to pay! For everything!"

Hevnoraak did not vocalize any sort of response; the only sounds it made sounded vaguely like some throaty... chuckle. It then proceeded to hold its staff forth again, tip glowing and crackling with energy.

Lydia meanwhile was still valiantly holding her own against the draugr. So far she had vanquished two of the undead creatures that attempted to make a grab for her- no, make that three. A well-placed stab to the next draugr's neck instantly ended it before it could get any closer to her.

Ripping her sword free again she hastily prepared to face the next foe. Unfortunately there was no shortage of more draugr to face. No matter how many she downed there seemed to be a constant replenishing of draugr eager to take its place.

The sound of crackling lightning filled the air again, and Lydia suddenly felt a harsh force press upon her shield and shield arm. Completely unprepared to repel this sudden force applied in this manner, she found her shield arm thrown completely off-balance. However, that wasn't the worst of it. All through her left arm Lydia suddenly felt a tingling, jolting feeling coursing through the entirety of her left arm. This effect surprised her and left her stunned, quite literally. Her arm was momentarily paralyzed with tingling pain, completely unable to move it!

Glancing up she managed to see what had just happened. That dragon priest Hevnoraak, it must have shot some of its lightning magic at her shield! The shock must have then traveled through the metal of her shield and through her arm. As painful a sensation as her arm was experiencing, Lydia felt herself somewhat grateful that the lightning had struck where it had. Who knows if she might've been able to take a bolt directly to her body?

Her left arm jerked to the side suddenly. Head snapping to the side, Lydia's eyes widened as she saw one of the unarmed draugr grab at her shield and pull it towards it. The draugr held a surprisingly iron grip on the edges of her shield as it pulled.

"Drgh, let go... of my shield, you-"

Intruding hands could be felt grabbing at her sword-bearing right arm this time. Her gaze shot to the other side to see another draugr grabbing the whole of her arm and pulling it towards it. By some miracle her hand managed a tight grip on the hilt of her sword, though there was no way she could get any sort of decent swing against anything with how it was being pulled.

Lydia's head shot back and forth from left to right, the dire situation growing more and more intense. She was caught in the middle of a strange tug-o-war between two ancient draugr that would not let her arms go! She pulled with her own arms towards her own center as hard as she possibly could, but these draugr were deceptively strong for ancient, decrepit beings. If she didn't regain control of her situation, who knows what would happen?

Hevnoraak had turned its attention back to Siffre, who was charging towards the priest in full. The undead creature aimed the head of its staff towards her, allowing a burst of a concentrated lightning blast to shoot straight towards her.

With her own momentum, Siffre knew there was no way she'd be able to dodge in time. Acting purely instinctually, she didn't even think as she reacted. She raised the blade of her great-sword up, trying as best she could to line the blade up with the 'beam' of lightning as it shot straight towards her.

Lightning instantly coated the length of the long blade, and Siffre herself was effectively halted in place. But it was not due to any force applied upon her from said lightning; rather the lightning itself could be felt all the way through the hilt, through her hands, up her arms, and throughout the rest of her body. The tingling, jolting sensation ran up and down her spine and the backs of her legs. In the midst of the shocks she came to realize what was happening: her sword was acting as a lightning rod, but the electricity was still coursing through her body, threatening to immobilize her as well.

Siffre planted a single foot behind her to anchor herself in place. Now that she had much more stable footing, she focused on maintaining her stance. The shock was tingling and painful, sending uncomfortable prickles up practically every nerve ending in her body. But if she could just somehow get closer to the dragon priest, she could stop him here and now.

Mustering what strength she had, she pressed forward against the unseen 'force' pressing back against her. There wasn't any actual force, just the feeling of fighting against being shocked. Eventually, her planted foot behind her swapped to the front, allowing her to slowly advance. Step by step gradually brought her closer and closer.

Looking up however, there was still a decent distance between her and Hevnoraak. All the while the dragon priest continued to shock her and her sword.

'This isn't good... at this rate, I'll give out before I can get close enough!' she thought to herself desperately, 'I need to stop him from- wait... that's it!'

A plan quickly formed in her mind. She momentarily halted her advance even with Hevnoraak continuing to assault her with the lightning. Slowly but carefully she angled her head around the great-sword's blade. Hevnoraak's lightning continued to shock the sword, but now Siffre had a clearer view of the dragon priest.

With this clear view, Siffre took a quick breath, composed herself as best she could, and exhaled,

"Fo... KRAH!"

A burst of super-cooled frosty air burst from her mouth and rushed forward. The dragon priest had little time to react in any way with it being at point blank range.

Almost instantly, the constant stream of lightning ceased its assault on the Dragonborn. Hevnoraak had been momentarily stunned by the Frost Breath attack, allowing Siffre a moment of desperate reprieve. All over her body continued to tingle with soreness from phantom feelings of lightning still prickling her body.

Looking back up at Hevnoraak, the priest's head had been lowered as if dazed. The wall behind Hevnoraak was coated in a heavy layer of frost and ice, while an 'outline' was formed that remained bare and frost-less. The priest was shaking its head and trying to regain control of its own senses.

"Alright... come on...!"

Siffre powered through the painful feeling in her legs to dash herself forward. Once she swiftly closed the distance between herself and the priest, first she brought her sword up and cut it down with as much strength as she could. The steel sword easily cut through the dragon priest's right arm, severing both it and its held staff from its body.

The staff clattered to the ground and Hevnoraak let out a grunt of pain. But Siffre wasn't done yet. She quickly angled her sword's tip to point straight at the priest's belly... and thrust forward. The sword practically sheathed itself through Hevnoraak's midsection, earning the Dragonborn another shriek of pain.

"Let... me... GO!"

Lydia meanwhile was still trapped under the assaulting hands of her undead assailants. The two draugr were still grabbing and pulling at her from opposing sides. After moments of fruitless struggle, desperation began to set in.

She loosened her grip on her sword, the draugr having grabbed more of it than her own arm. Her right arm was freed, while also causing the draugr to stumble back from its own pulling force. With her now free hand, Lydia brought it across her self and punched the face of the opposite draugr as hard as she could. She felt a satisfying crunch of flesh and bone beneath her fist, coupled with the draugr also losing its grip on her shield too.

Not stopping there Lydia brought her shield-bearing arm around to strike the draugr on her right side with its edge. The shield's edge made hard contact with the draugr's neck, causing a throaty, more guttural sound to burst from its desiccated mouth. It's grip on her sword loosened as well and Lydia's hand shot down to grab the hilt before it could hit the ground.

With her maintained momentum Lydia swung back around to her left side, bringing her sword to bear. The blade's edge cut hard and deep into the draugr on her left side. The undead creature groaned in pain, still dazed from the previous punch to its face. Lydia planted a boot to its midsection and ripped her sword free from its body, letting it fall backwards. The housecarl was once again in control of the situation, but with still plenty of draugr to contend with.

"Siffre-?!" she called out. Glancing over her shoulder her eyes widened at what she was witnessing.

Siffre had upturned her sword and essentially forced Hevnoraak to the ground with her standing over it. On the stone ground a small pool of dark fluid began to grow. The very same color and texture as the blood that she and Lydia had been hunting for this whole time. It really was true; all that blood had really somehow been transferred back 'into' a body. How ironic though that spilling blood in this manner had to have been the better disposal method. The fools that they were, having been manipulated into giving this 'thing' its blood back. The Dragonborn grit her teeth hard.

Hevnoraak for her with its remaining arm, fingertips sparkling and crackling with familiar lightning energy. Before the hand could be permitted to do anything Siffre planted her boot upon it to immobilize it. With her sword in its chest and her boot on its arm, Hevnoraak was well and truly pinned in place. Yet despite its apparent immobilization, it was still very much alive. It continued to thrash and vocalize guttural groans and shrieks. All through that mask that Siffre was afforded a very clear view of.

With pursed lips Siffre lifted the boot of her free left foot, held it over the head of Hevnoraak, and stomped it down with every bit of strength she had. The boot easily crushed and broke the apparent material the mask was made of beneath the weight of her foot, a deep cracking sound filling the space. Stepping on and breaking this mask bore the same feel as breaking a piece of ceramic pottery. What sounds came from Hevnoraak were now muffled and now absolutely sporadic. There was a feel of desperation in its movements from... its mask being cracked and broken?

Before anything else could be done, a MASSIVE booming explosion sound echoed and reverberated all throughout. Siffre found herself being thrown backward with unbelievable force. The Dragonborn skidded onto the ground and rolled backwards, finally coming to a halt face down.

Lydia similarly was thrown backwards, but managed to land on her rear end. As she had been thrown past the draugr, she witnessed something happening to them. Each one of them suddenly spasmed in place, limbs twisting and contorting in strange ways, and then each one suddenly collapsed to the ground in heaps.

Then, just as quickly as the explosion had occurred, all was strangely silent. Aside from ears ringing no other sounds could be heard.

Lydia scanned all around the immediate area, almost in sheer disbelief as to what had just happened. Along with no sounds, no source of movement could be seen anywhere. In fact, it was only just now that she noticed she couldn't see much of anything. The nearby braziers that had once been burning and providing modest illumination had now strangely gone out.

She carefully pulled herself back up onto her feet, hands gripping her sword and shield. What in the world just happened? And... where was Siffre?

Her answer came immediately in the form of her thane nearby. Siffre could just barely be seen in the darkness without the aid of light. She apparently had been thrown to the ground as well and was picking herself back up.

Lydia hastily rushed over to Siffre's side.

"Siffre! My thane..." she said as she helped the other woman back up, "Are you alright?!"

"Lydia?" the Dragonborn said, "Yeah... I'm fine I think."

"By the Gods... what just happened?"

"I think... I think that did it..." Siffre could be heard saying. Her eyes drifted back up towards where she had been thrown from. Following her gaze Lydia could barely make out the form of another crumpled heap on the stone ground. This one was also marked with a small pool of liquid growing beneath it, as well as Siffre's own sword standing straight up from impaling its center.

Siffre then made her way over to the crumpled heap. Looking down for a moment her hands took hold of the sword's hilt and yanked it up and out of the corpse. Lydia slowly made her way over to her again while also looking down at the body. She could barely make out the form of the once moving dragon priest, now sprawled motionless on the ground in a growing pool beneath it. Underneath the now faint visibility of this place she could see numerous individual glimmers against something near the head area. Shards of... a mask?

"And, what exactly did you do?" Lydia asked Siffre directly.

"I stabbed it... but I also destroyed its mask," Siffre explained, "Actually, that was right when I was thrown back... That mask. Could that be what kept it alive...?"

"Strange to be given life from a mask..." Lydia noted.

She turned her head to look all around her, as if noting for the first time this place having lost its light. Indeed, all the braziers that had once been burning with fire were now completely darkened, save for the smallest of burning embers within. Come to think of it, she remembered how the ghost Lo had somehow ignited all these burning braziers in this crypt when they'd first arrived. She'd been thoroughly confused as to how that was even possible at first, but now with them all being extinguished with the death of the dragon priest... Perhaps it wasn't that big of a stretch to believe he had the power to set braziers alight, especially with his power and influence he had both now and back then.

"Hey, Siffre? How about we get out of this place now? Maybe go back to the world of the living?" she casually suggested.

"Yeah, I've had enough of this place too," Siffre nodded, "But, wait... where's the way out of here?"

"Hmmm..." Lydia scanned what she could of the area. The absence of the abundant light from the braziers did not make things easier for either woman. The crypt had nearly returned to its completely dark and dreary state, completely void of all light. However, fortune came in the form of the smallest glimmers of light rays, yellow-orange in color and seen from a distance away. These rays were also seen at the end of a lengthy hallway with a set of large doors cracked open. The barest outline of these doors clicked familiarity on Lydia's mind.

"Oh, it's this way. Remember we had to go through those massive doors at the start?" Lydia said with a point of her hand, "Come on, there's some light there we can follow as well." In the dark of this place Lydia couldn't see if Siffre nodded or even voiced affirmation. Nevertheless she could hear the dual sounds of footsteps from the both of them as they both made their way towards the faint light source.

Reaching the massive doors was easy enough, eventually passing through what passed for the audience room. The very same room they'd first encountered Lo in. Lo... The housecarl had to forcibly remind herself of how there never was a 'Lo' in the first place. How easily they'd been tricked, played like some damn lute even into doing the bidding of some ancient, waiting evil.

"Lydia?" Siffre's voice suddenly spoke up as they walked, "I'm... I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" she asked.

"For this whole thing. For going along with Lo- no, that 'thing' made from that dragon priest..." Siffre elaborated. As they walked she glanced to her side at Lydia. With the two of them approaching the natural light source closer and closer her features became easier to see. Lydia could see the visible hurt and guilt written across her face.

"My thane, I don't blame you for that. Not really," Lydia said, "I mean, we were both fooled by this. I had no idea myself-"

"I should have listened to you," Siffre interrupted, "You were against helping it out from the start, and I... I shouldn't have been so hasty to trust some... spirit." The two women by now crossed through the narrow hallway that connected to the very first room. Siffre's stride was slightly slowed as she walked and talked, "Funny, my want to help people like that almost caused the death of us..."

Lydia then came to a full-stop as she turned to face her thane completely. The two of them had fully stepped into the entry room where the natural light spilled upon them seemingly for the first time in hours. The housecarl focused in on Siffre with a stern yet firm face.

"Siffre. You could not have known, alright?" she pressed, "And I don't blame you or think less of you either. I think I know you well enough by now to know you would not willingly lead us to our early deaths." Silence hung in the air for a handful of moments, allowing the weight of Lydia's words to sink in. The two women regarded each other with various thoughts and feelings running through their heads.

"You're... really not upset about this?" Siffre asked.

"Well, granted I'm a little, shall we say, 'peeved'. But not towards you; just how we were used like that," Lydia clarified, "And besides! That dragon priest is slain anyway. You killed him yourself, and likely saving the land from whatever it might've done if it ever got out of here."

"Yeah, I guess I did..." Siffre admitted. Her lips pursed and her eyes shifted from side to side as if pondering something in her head. Her gaze drifted to the side towards the stone chair that dominated the center of this room, as well as the skeleton that remained seated upon it, "Maybe... From now on, I'll think twice about considering helping 'spirits' or 'undead'."

"Stick to helping out those still alive and breathing? Aye, that sounds like plan."

Lydia clapped a hand on Siffre's shoulder with a smile and nod. To her credit the other woman returned her smile with one of her own as well. The housecarl couldn't help but feel a sense of pride well within her; the Dragonborn may be the one gifted with this Voice, but her consoling her with words of her own carried a sense of accomplishment and victory on its own. Who said Nords used only blades to cover the backs of their comrades?

Turning their attention back to where they stood, the door they'd initially entered through was now directly before them. Both reached up to place a hand on one of the double doors and pushed their way through.

The scent of outside air, the sound of distant insects chirping, and the sight of natural light gracing the eyes. All these things were more than a welcome reunion after all this time. Lydia took a deep breath of air, real Skyrim air, for the first time in a while. How good it was to be back outside for once.

"Hey, Lydia?" Siffre suddenly spoke up, "Thanks. You know, for being here with me."

"Of course, my thane," Lydia glanced to Siffre with a nod, "I am sworn to protect you after all."

"Well, yeah, you are..." Siffre said. Curiously there was a strange look on her face as she replied, "But, that's not what I meant."

"Huh? What did you mean?" Lydia asked out of genuine curiosity.

"I mean like... Thanks, for being here, by my side this whole time..." Siffre said, "Sometimes, it really does feel like... like it's more than just 'thane' and 'housecarl' with us. You're a good friend to me, a really good friend..." Her eyes locked with Lydia's as she smiled, "I really am glad to have someone like you with me..."

The words being spoken by the Dragonborn; Lydia actually found herself at a loss. Siffre really found her company that valuable? It's true the extent of their relationship had simply started out as thane and housecarl, and... perhaps Lydia was growing quite comfortable in the company of the other woman as well. Maybe it was just as big a surprise to hear these feelings vocalized not from her own mouth...

Her thane- no, Siffre, she really was a good friend to her too. She liked being around her as well.

"Yeah... I... I think I feel the same way," Lydia remarked, "You're a good friend too. And we do work really well together."

Simultaneously both women averted their heads from each other. In Lydia's case to hide a flushing of cheeks that nearly snuck up on her. What was that? Was she embarrassed? What was there to be embarrassed about? Just saying that someone she was with was a good friend to her? A really good friend at that? Surely that's all that was... So, what was the reason for sudden embarrassment? ... Was that even what that was?

Gods, was Lydia Volrune of all people getting flustered?!

"You-er... you alright there?" Lydia hastily tried to change the subject within her mind. In that moment she'd caught sight of Siffre averting her gaze as well.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine... Nothing wrong at all," Siffre replied. She shook her head and took a deep breath of air herself, apparently composing herself. Only her side profile could be seen from this angle, but Lydia could see well enough. The expressions gracing her features... If she didn't know any better, Siffre almost appeared bashful?

Wordlessly the Dragonborn proceeded to walk out and towards the exterior steps, Lydia following after her.

'Gods, this is all so crazy right now...' she thought to herself, 'Why did I suddenly act strange before Siffre? Why did it seem like she was acting strange before me? Maybe... No, I should probably change the subject somehow...'

"Alright, so... Siffre," Lydia spoke up, "Where should we go now?" The two women completely descended down the steps and back onto solid, natural ground.

"Well... I guess we could-"

Whatever words Siffre meant to say were swiftly cut off. The women's attention was diverted to a sound; a sound that filled the air, and was also quite familiar to the both of them.

The sound of flapping wings, and an echoing roar across the skies.

---

-Would you believe that inspiration for this 'arc' came from Mortal Kombat Deception's Konquest mode of all things? That and also the Gulveig sidequest from God of War 2018? I think it came out pretty well in this chapter's execution! Also, in keeping with a similar change I'd done in a previous chapter, imagine this Word wall instead hold the words 'Werid Hevnoraak, suleykaar ko laas ahrk zeim wo dreh yah inhus wah nir ulse', which translates to 'Praise Hevnoraak, powerful in life and beyond, who did seek mastery to hunt forever.' It helps to accomodate for the fact that Siffre is in fact learning three Words upon this one wall instead of a single one.

Do all the usual stuff, and keep on reading! -