Chapter Sixteen
An exhausting expedition throughout the confusing ruins of Nchuand-Zel ultimately ended in respite. Consumption of food and water left the trio in better spirits. Afterwards, they proceeded through the control room. Apart from endless machinery, and dwemer spiders, there wasn’t much else. Eventually, they found themselves on an overlook just outside the control room. They had essentially gone full circle and back to a section of Nchuand-Zel mid way up from the water. S’maash gave a shrug in desperation.
“We’re chasing our tails, here,” Brelyna commented.
Zolara chuckled, gripped his tail, and shook it about. Then, he pointed firmly at it and chastised it for running circles. S’maash shook his head in dismay.
S’maash grumbled, “Hermaeus Mora said we had to go beyond the end, but if it’s a circle where would that be?”
Zolara spit over the edge. His trickle of saliva fell several feet before echoing against the water. Concentric rings ebbed away from the droplet.
“Maybe, the end is below us,” the argonian suggested.
Brelyna and S’maash locked eyes. “That’s brilliant,” she said.
“Well, glad to have you back on my side,” Zolara remarked.
“Looks like it’s up to you, argonian,” S’maash said.
Zolara looked about in mock confusion. “What’s up to me?”
“Go underwater and see if there’s a sunken passage,” S’maash stated.
Zolara groaned.
“It’s the only option,” Brelyna said.
“Only option,” Zolara asked, accusingly. “You, the College’s instructor of alteration, do not possess a water breathing spell? And you, enchanter, you don’t have an amulet you enchanted?”
“No, Sir,” S’maash answered, dryly.
“I do have a water breathing spell, but they wear off. It will be simpler for you to take your time and search. What are you worried about, anyway,” Brelyna asked.
“Nothing…I’ll do it,” Zolara gave in.
Minutes later, they worked their way past the control room and the armory. Upon reaching the bottommost area, Zolara stripped nude again. He cracked his neck then hopped in, vanishing immediately; he scarcely broke the water’s smooth surface. Ocassionally, the elves briefly saw his green tail poke out. It quickly receded. Then, there was nothing. The water resumed its lifeless lack of motion.
“You think he’ll be alright,” S’maash asked.
“He’s quite capable, at least in class. Why the antics is beyond me.”
For a while longer, they continued conversations. Discussing what had transpired during their time apart was the most congenial topic. Brelyna had focused on teaching, but was glad to hear all about S’maash’s errands for Farengar. Zolara’s head sticking out of the water interrupted their conversation.
“Hey!” he called out.
“Yes,” S’maash stood as he asked.
“I might have found something, but I can’t move the rubble out of the way on my own.”
“Right. I’ll cast water breathing on us,” Brelyna said to S’maash.
“We’ll provide assistance in a moment,” S’maash told Zolara.
Once ready, the elves joined the argonian. Beneath the water’s surface was a fallen, stone pillar. Zolara led them beyond it.
There was a hallway beneath the sunken rubble. At the end of the hallway was more rubble. Zolara pointed to it. While it was difficult to see underwater, as not much light reached so far down, the debris did appear to be blocking a passage. Working in unison, the three were able to remove large rocks, thus opening the hallway for passage.
As they proceeded, the elves grew concerned with the possibility of their spell wearing off, but they soon began swimming above a noticeable incline. Less than a minute later, they poked their heads through the water and into a darkened area. S’maash casted candle light, revealing dwemer stonework. Nchuand-Zel had more stories to tell than even Aicantar knew.
“I suppose it makes sense,” S’maash said while putting on his wet clothes.
“What does,” Zolara asked.
“Well, there must be other hidden chambers. The falmer are obviously coming from somewhere”
“Fair point,” Brelyna said as she finished dressing.
The hallway led to a juncture, a crossroads under Nchuand-Zel, and S’maash bore left. Their steps echoed loudly—except S’maash’s—in the unexplored portion of the ruin. No machinery was seen along the way.
A faint light appeared in the distance. Slowly, the team approached. As they drew closer, it became evident the source was a dwemer, gas lamp. The light shone into the hall from a room beyond.
Inside the room were stone beds arranged in a circular fashion; the lamp hung above in the center of the beds. Each bed had a chest at the foot. Zolara rubbed clawed hands together. To his dismay, most were locked, but he was not unprepared.
“You can pick these,” S’maash asked.
“Of course! Oh,” Zolara said while breaking a pick almost immediately. “Well, this one appears to have a master level lock installed. No matter. I shall approach the next one.”
He managed to pick three chests, and two were not locked. The contents revealed pieces of dwarven equipment. They decided to arm themselves; Brelyna took a dwarven dagger of scorching, Zolara took a dwarven sword of arching, and S’maash took a dwarven bow of dismay. He also found a handful of arrows. Their new equipment added magickal damage in the capacity of fire, shock, and fear.
Various other rings and necklaces were in the mix as well. Dwemer coins, brightly colored potions, reagents, and some books also lined the chests. The wizard was surprised to see books in the original dwemer script. While he wasn’t able make sense of them, he figured Aicantar might be interested.
“Won’t you put some clothes on,” Brelyna finally asked.
Zolara shrugged in resignation. “Looks like this trip was worth it,” he cheered before dressing.
“Not until I find this fragment of the Heart of Lorkhan,” S’maash retorted.
Brelyna placed a hand on his shoulder. Since there wasn’t anything else there, they backtracked to the crossroads, and that time, S’maash continued straight to a hall that ended rather abruptly, as it had caved in, thus leaving only the one, unexplored path. Once they returned to it, S’maash recasted candle light, and off they went down a long, undulating corridor.
An extensive journey with no end in sight ensued. A break in dwemer architecture gave way to natural, brown rock. The ruin’s corridors were little more than an excavation site. Zolara stopped.
“Chaurus egg sacs?” the argonian was surprised. S’maash walked back to his position. Magickal light revealed the truth. There were slime covered, white, speckled eggs. “That means chaurus.”
“That means more falmer. I think you were right, S’maash; they must be coming from here,” Brelyna said.
“We must be extremely cautious. If this is where they reside, we’re in for a serious battle,” S’maash stated.
They were in agreement. I hope this stupid light spell doesn’t give us away, but I’d hate to step on a trap. He slowed his pace considerably in an effort to listen for a sign of movement. Moments later, he saw more and more, egg sacs. A scuttling sound echoed in the distance.
Suddenly, his spell vanished. He waited a moment, listening to the airy breath of the cavern. The momentary pause allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness. There was some light further ahead, but it seemed to be around a corner. He moved forwards.
“S’maash,” Brelyna whispered.
“Yes?”
“Did you move?”
It had slipped his mind that his boots were enchanted. “Yes, sneak forwards. I see light.”
Zolara had no problem. While it was unbeknownst to the others, his sneaking skills were impressive. His parents, who were born in Black Marsh, had taught him well. Brelyna was the only one to make noise, albeit little. Shortly there after, they all met at a rocky wall tha
t curved off to the left. Across the way, were glowing mushrooms; the gray, light producing reagents grew from countless crags.
S’maash looked at his comrades. Once eye contact was established, he pointed to the right. Caged chaurus were scurrying about their modest, living quarters. The large insects appeared formidable with their armored scutes and malevolent mandibles, yet the blackened bars of thei cages kept them at bay. The big bugs scuttled about on several legs, their dark carapace reflecting the glow of mushrooms.
A falmer was spotted in the distance. The wizard wondered how effective sneaking truly was. Falmer smelled their prey, after all. Muffled steps were not enough to sneak by undetected, but the elf had an idea.
“Stay here,” he whispered. Excruciatingly slow, he moved to retrieve glowing mushrooms and returned with a handful. “We rub them on our bodies to mask our scent.”
The three did so before continuing. S’maash’s idea did well to hide their presence. Further along, they found themselves on a rocky overhang. Below them was an ominous sight, a circle of falmer dancing around a strange object. The only light shone from a monumental, glowing mushroom on the far end of the cavern above them.
A sudden pang of excitement chilled the elf. He knew full well it was the fragment of Lorkhan’s Heart the falmer were worshipping. He also knew there was no easy way to get it.
“Ideas,” he asked.
“Suppose we build this large, stone badger,” Zolara whispered.
The elves gave him a death glare. The argonian quieted as he raised his hands in surrender.
“Zolara, from how far can you summon an atronach,” S’maash asked.
“Quite,” he replied.
The elf reasoned that if the falmer ran off to battle an atronach, he had an opportunity snatch the object and return before detection. He peered down. It was evident a drop down from his position was easy, but the return route took him far to his right. He believed that an atronach conjured to the far left side of the room below was the best option.
Zolara stretched out his arms. He then gave S’maash a nod. Soon as Zolara started the summons, S’maash dropped the moderate distance. A flame atronach appeared at the same time S’maash’s feet hit he ground. The sudden appearance of an enemy sparked the predicted reaction.
Outraged falmer attacked the creature on scent. Unfortunately, the atronach was unfit to handle so many assailants. The crashing of chitinous weapons defeated the flaming harlot in little time. S’maash stopped dead in his tracks, in a crouched position, and with his eyes widened in fear. Zolara had the sense to summon another atronach before the falmer had the chance to wonder what was happening.
The second summons, and subsequent battle, provided the elf enough time to grab a large chunk of something like obsidian. He didn’t care to question its authenticity. Instead, he ran far to his right in a roundabout fashion to get close to the cave wall. Just before reaching the carved stairs, he heard and felt something peculiar. All falmer ears turned to him. He had snagged a trip wire, causing a large claw to swing in his direction; a near miss, but the falmer were on to him.
“Oh my,” Zolara said.
“Do something,” Brelyna yelled.
“I am, woman!”
He summoned yet another atronach to stand between the falmer and S’maash, who was in full run with a stone the size of an orc’s fist. The fiery dancer created enough of a diversion for the wizard to reach his friends.
“Time to run,” he yelled as he went on by.
They did not delay. All three dashed through the cave and into the dark hallway. A natural fear of running in the dark slowed them, so Brelyna took the initiative to cast candle light. Her overcharged version provided a little more light and lasted quite a bit longer than S’maash’s, yet it danced above them, chasing their pace. With the pathway clear before them, they made it all the way back to the water.
“Hurry, cast your spell!” S’maash ordered.
Brelyna complied while hearing the distinct sound of argonian weight diving into water. The elves followed suit once water breathing was casted. S’maash managed to jam the stone into his robe, freeing his arms for a better swim. After emerging into Nchuand-Zel, he had an insight.
“Quick! Back underwater, we’ll block the passage,” he shouted.
Beneath the rippling waters, they forced some larger stones into the gaps. With the passage blocked, they surfaced once more, if exhausted.
“By the Nine! That was some run,” Zolara cheered.
“There is something wrong with you, argonian,” Brelyna said in disbelief.
“I can’t believe I did it, we did it,” S’maash added.
None of them cared to find out if the falmer were successfully blocked, so they made their return through Nchuand-Zel. Elated and commenting on their success, they continued into Understone Keep without even stopping for breath. Upon entering Aicantar’s chamber of study, they found it deserted. Evidently, they had been in Nchuand-Zel for hours. It was night and most everyone had gone to bed.
“The Silver-Blood Inn then,” Zolara suggested.
“Good idea,” Brelyna said.
“I could use some mead,” S’maash added.
“Mead, mead, mead…would it kill you to get some beer now and again? Stupid bees and their stupid honey,” Zolara grumbled.
“I’ll buy,” Brelyna added in resignation.
“I love mead,” Zolara said.