Chapter 14

[Item: Healing Salve]

[Description: A soothing cream to be a applied to various wounds. While it's magical properties allow it to effectively tend to even the worst injuries, it is too slow acting to be of any use in battle or stop fatal wounds from taking a life on its own.]

[Item: Potion of Cure Poison]

[Description: An all purpose potion capable of curing and negating poison for a short period of time.]

Within his room at Silver-Blood Inn, Athias laid the recently purchased curatives on the table as he picked and chose what equipment to bring along.

He kept both his elven blades sheathed on either side of his waist. He wasn't confident in his ability to actually channel a spell through them but if this venture into Nchuand-Zel pitted them against automatons. A plain steel sword wasn't going to cut it. A majority of the vials across his bandolier were minor magicka and stamina potions, only one a health potion. With his spells it wasn't so vital that he carried them. His pack was on his back, holding all the usual essentials; food, camping kit, a lantern and torch. That sort of thing.

Now he just had one last thing to do and they'd be ready.

Picking up the minor health potion, the bottled salve, and potion of Cure Poison, Athias left his room, knocking on the door across the hall.

Auri called him in, her room identical to his own. Both of them had even gone out of their way to cushion their respective beds with furs among other things.

He was all for new experiences but what were these people thinking calling stone slabs beds? Just because your city used dwemer ruins as a base didn't mean you had to live like them. You know what, that wasn't even fair. The Dwemer disappeared so long ago that whatever material they used as a mattress probably rotted away. The people here were just weird.

"Ready?" Auri asked, testing the string of her bow. Quiver full of bone arrows and pack on her back, she looked prepared to face anything.

"Almost."

He held the glass vials out to her along with the salve. Auri frowned.

"I know you don't want to use these things and I'm not asking you to." Athias spoke up before she got a chance to. He had tried to purchase ones that didn't use plant parts but the local apothecaries didn't bother keeping track of such details once that potion was made. All that mattered was the strength and effectiveness of the potions after all. These things were as likely to be made from plants as they were to be created from dead animals. Auri wasn't willing to take that chance. "Just hold on to them. That won't be problem will it?"

"What's the point in having them if they won't be used?" Auri said defensively, eyes narrowed.

"My peace of mind. I learnt healing hands so you wouldn't have to use these things but who knows what'll happen in those ruins. If we get separated I'd prefer if you had a way to take care of your injuries." He explained. "Just think of it as me being selfish. I'll owe you one."

Auri stared up at him, silent and resolved in her stance.

In this world, where higher beings actively played a role in the affairs of mortals, upholding religious obligations and duties made a lot of sense. Even so, Athias couldn't comprehend having so much loyalty in any deity that he willingly gave up hopes and dreams to abide by whatever arbitrary tenets they decided to restrict his life with.

His life was his, simple as that.

"You're asking a lot." Auri said.

"I know." Athias said, the words genuine. He might not understand her deep loyalty to some distant being, but he did respect her. If she wanted to suffer a slow unnecessary death to uphold what she believed that was Auri's choice; just as his life was his, her life was her own. He could only hope his spells were enough to prevent that. Until he learned alchemy, it was all he could rely on to support Auri.

Seconds dragged on, moving at a snail's pace as they stared at one another. This wasn't something he was willing to back down on.

Athias wanted her to have a choice if the worse came to pass. Whatever choice she made, he'd deal with it.

Auri began to falter, wavering will signified by the deepening of her frown. An exasperated sigh broke the silence between them.

"Fine, Fine, I'll hold on to them, but only because I'm feeling generous." Auri said as she laid her bow down on the table. She stored the unwanted curatives in her bag and after one last check, decided she was ready to go. "You're lucky I like you."

Athias smirked. "You do, do you?"

"For now, but don't let it go to your head. That proud look on your face is making you look constipated." Auri shot back with a playful grin as she joined him in the doorway. "Now, let's go meet that woman we're suppose to protect."

They headed out to the main room and were quickly stopped.

"Ready to go?" The breton, her high ponytail messier than usual, greeted them. She had her bag and satchel ready, a lantern and bed roll attached to the former.

'You're excited." Auri commented in amusement.

"Aren't you? We're going into a newly discovered dwemer ruin that hasn't been raided by bandits or adventurers yet. Who knows what we'll find." The woman said with a giddy smile, quickly spinning to leave. Apparently she was so excited she didn't care to avoid Auri.

"Hold on." Athias said, stopping her brisk walk to the inn's exit. He didn't care to learn the woman's name before, but he should at least know what to call her now that they were going to be risking life and limb together. "I'm Athias, this is Auri."

"Huh? Oh, I guess we never really introduced ourselves." The breton returned, gloved hand extended to him. "I'm Remiel." She did the same to Auri after a quick shake, though her reservations finally showed itself. "So…if I die in there you aren't going to-"

"Maybe, maybe not." Auri took the offered hand with a sharp toothed grin. It was the same thing she did to him when they first met.

"That was a joke. She has a weird sense of humor." Athias tried to lessen Remiel's worries. "Besides, you're paying us to protect you. We're either getting out together or dying together."

"Happy to hear it." Not fully convinced but seemingly too eager to make a big deal about it, she resumed her near run to the inn's exit.

Led by Remiel they took off to Understone Keep.

===================

"Oh, it's you." Calcelmo set down the book he'd been reading through, greeting Athias with an amicable nod. The elderly elf's research area looked the same though a few more pieces of dwarven scrap was strewn about. "Interested in acquiring another spell tome?"

"Actually-" Remiel took the reins of the conversation. "We're here to handle those spiders you mentioned."

"What?"

"You heard me old man. My bodyguards and I are going to handle your spider problem. In exchange, I want a look at the ruins."

Regaining his composure Calcelmo sized up the trio. He stroked his graying beard a few times, noting their weapons, the potions across Athias's chest, and their survival equipment.

"Persistent, aren't you?" Calcelmo said as he rose up from his wooden chair, focus back on Remiel. "Very well, who am I to stand in the way of such earnest curiosity. Handle the infestation and I will allow you all access to the excavation site as well as my dwemer museum. How does that sound?"

"Perfect." Remiel agreed. She snatched the key Calcelmo produced and bounded off across the stone bridge that connected the excavation site to the rest of the keep. By the time Auri and Athias caught up to her, she had the giant metal doors unlocked and was struggling to push one open.

"I'll take the lead." Athias said as he pushed open the door with minimal effort and unsheathed one of his elven swords. Remiel didn't look as excited about that but she hovered near Auri as they crossed over to the other side, the door shutting behind them.

They stood in a large room, the glowing crystals embedded in the dwarven chandeliers above providing a green tinted light. There were stone stairways on either side of the room, the doors they would've led to blocked by rubble and collapsed pillars.

As the group moved across cracked stone, they loosened up somewhat.

The place was rather safe, excluding the threat of dust inhalation. Not a web in sight.

"I actually read up quite a bit on Nchuand-Zel before coming to Skyrim." Remiel said as she walked around the tall entranceway, examining the more intact pieces of fallen stone. "I hope the two of you don't mind if I talk about my research as we go."

"I'd like to hear about it." Auri said, doing her own analyzing of the room. "I've heard others call this a dwemer ruin but some call it dwarven? Did more than one race live down here?"

"No, they're one and the same. Dwemer is the proper term but the Empire took to calling them Dwarfs due to their fabled friendship with giants." Remiel explained.

"I see. And what happened to them? Did a war wipe them out?"

"Of course not. Have you never heard of the Dwemer and their disappearance?"

"News of the outside world rarely reached my tribe. I've never heard anyone speak of these Dwemer until recently."

"You're in luck then, there's plenty I can tell you and I do so love talking about them."

Athias absent-mindedly listened to Remiel replace Auri's ignorance with a plethora of information. The Dwemer's status as a predominantly underground society, the logic based beliefs they followed, their advanced technology, and their sudden disappearance almost 4000 years go. A refresher that aligned with everything he knew about them.

For all the advanced technology they had Athias didn't remember seeing anything akin to a shower in the game. He'd gotten use to bathing in rivers and oversized wooden buckets but there'd be no complaints from him if it turned out the Dwemer created something akin to the bathrooms in his previous life. Maybe he could try to repurpose their technology to create one himself? He'd have plenty of time to tinker with their contraptions over the course of his adventure.

Though, he might not need the Dwemer.

Assuming he honed his skills in alteration he could very well use magic to create a shower on his own. He didn't know the intricacies of the technology that surrounded his previous life but it shouldn't be impossible to create primitive but functional versions of things people here could only imagine.

Alteration was all about changing the world.

Athias stopped on the opposite end of the entranceway. Rubble blocked the stairway ahead but there was an opening to his left. So narrow that only one person could pass through at a time and held up by wooden beams of questionable integrity, the dirty stone opening was hastily made.

Auri and Remiel were still looking around, talking about the Dwemer.

Athias took a breath and his still magicka heeded his command, flowing outward and mingling with the natural magicka always flowing through the world.

Nearly two months ago he'd been completely blind to it but after practicing his spellwork his awareness had been boosted. Magicka always hung in the air, needed by every mage yet unimpressionable by nature; it was like the beat of a heart, vital for continued survival, but paid almost no attention unless the situation called for it.

Dispersing magicka into the world was vital for many illusionary spells since they relied on manipulating the perception of others. Experienced mages were said to be able to faintly sense specific things around them with the skill, but he couldn't begin to differentiate all that made up the endless energy.

A ball, black at the center and a shimmering white at its edges, appeared in his hand and he crushed it. It made no sound but it's effects surfed the magicka he'd spread around him.

Athias stalked forward into the narrow opening, sword handy.

To him, his careful steps still made noise as it landed on crumbled rock, dirt crunching beneath each step. To others he might as well have been standing still. He'd gone out in the dark of night to test out the spell, Muffle, once or twice. More than a few patrolling guards had been ready to cut him down when he strode past, surprised by his appearance.

He was certain it worked as intended.

The narrow tunnel opened up to something of a cave. A natural one by the looks of it. Despite the pickaxes and other equipment laid across boxes there were no pillars or any sort of structural support thrown up.

Not unless you counted the thick covering of white webs on the walls.

Athias grimaced, careful not to go beyond the tunnel as he examined the cave. He could just barely make out humanoid shapes along the walls while some hung from the ceiling, all motionless beneath the webs that ensnared them. The excavation crew maybe?

There were dozens and dozens of small spiders skittering over the webs. He could see a pathway further in where the bigger ones likely awaited new prey.

He had an idea, one that could make short work of all of them.

Athias returned to the previous room.

"-and Nchuand-Zel, itself roughly translates to something along the lines of Radiant City. I hope it lives up to the name." Remiel said to Auri, the two of them having moved closer to the center of the room.

"You're a few thousand years too late. I'd be surprised if anything we find isn't covered in dust." Athias said, waving for them to join him. "Looks like the excavation team tried to dig around the doorway and broke into a spider nest. I don't think any of them are alive."

"That's unfortunate. Did they at least find another way deeper into the ruins?" Remiel sped past the mention of deaths quickly. "I'd rather not waste time digging through rubble."

"Maybe. I didn't go very far." Athias said with a shrug. "We'll need to handle the spiders first."

"Right, of course. I trust that my reliable bodyguards have a plan?"

"That depends, what spells do you know?"

"Oh, me?" Remiel's eyes widened in slight surprise. "Well, I know a basic healing spell and I can use wards, but they aren't very strong. I dabbled a little in electromancy too but mostly for my experiments on automatons; I don't think those spells can actually kill anything."

"Good enough. Auri and I are going to move ahead. Be ready to block the tunnel with a ward." Athias ordered

Auri raised brow, arms crossed. "You're planning on using those flames of yours aren't you?"

"A lot of them."

===================

Athias raised a palm.

Auri nocked an arrow.

A flame appeared over his palm, the sound drawing the attention of nearby spiders, their many eyes flicking in the duo's direction. Before the creatures could move Auri let the arrow fly and it passed through the flame, the fur wrapped around it set aflame. The speedy arrow, made of bone, snapped when it hit the cave wall, purpose served. That split moment of contact was all it took for the hungry flames to jump from fur to web.

The room erupted in an orange blaze.

The flames spread with frightening speed, its roar accompanied by the screeches of the creatures within. Small spiders died quickly, fueling the spread. Some managed to drop off the walls and scurry their way over only to be roasted by a gout of flames from Athias's hands.

Bigger ones began to pour into burning room from further in. One, as big as any man or mer, stopped on the burning wall, its spiked mouth opening as it rose up. Athias abandoned his spell, he and Auri backing up and narrowly avoiding a spray of dark green liquid. He sprayed another bit of flames at the tunnel's exit and manipulated it into the shape of a wall, fleeing back behind Remiel who clumsily threw up a clear shield of energy.

The bigger spiders were far too large to follow while the few smaller ones durable enough to make it past the flames died long before they reached Remiel. Flame coated spit shot towards them from the room but slid harmlessly down the sturdy ward.

"Should I really be the one doing this when I'm paying you two?" Remiel said slowly, focused chewed up by the concentration needed for her ward.

"We leave together or we die together." Athias said back. He was having a far better time than her keeping up his wall of flames, but it was proving far more difficult to exert control at a distance.

"Fair enough." Remiel said through a grunt as another concentrated spit of poison hit it. "I really hope I don't get any of that in my hair."

They held that tunnel for a long time. At some point he had to cancel his wall of flames and take over for Remiel who's ward began to flicker.

Once thick black smoke began to build against the shield and the screeches fell silent he finally released the ward. The heat and smoke blew past forcing him to screw his eyes shut.

"Hehe, your face is covered in soot." Auri said through a giggle while he wiped his face.

"Haha, how mature." Athias said with a dry laugh. He turned his attention to Remiel. She had sat down on the floor behind them, messaging her head even now. "You feeling alright back there?"

"Yep, definitely, maybe." She said. She abruptly jumped to her feet, lightly smacking the sides of her face. "I'm in a dwemer ruin! I'm better than fine. I'm great!"

Good to see morale wouldn't be a problem.

After letting his magicka regenerate to its maximum, Athias led them forward, an icy frost building above his palm.

Cryomancy came to him just as easily as pyromancy despite being opposites. He allowed his magicka to flow as quickly as possible without much thought when using flames, but with cryomancy he did the opposite, maintaining a meticulously curated magicka flow to produce the desired results.

Quick sprays of frostbite did away with any flames in their way as they traversed deeper into the natural cavern, it's walls burnt and web free. The corpses he'd seen before were now ash, so decayed they'd hadn't been able to survive the flames.

"There it is!" Remiel cheered as they came around a corner of scorched rocks, where a staircase that led up to dwemer door waited them. An isolated wall of webs blocked it off.

Remiel dashed towards the door, passing right under a hole full of webs.

[Giant Frostbite Spider]

[Le-]

Athias jumped through the windows, tackling Remiel. They tumbled, his back slamming into the base of the stone stairway.

A spider, far bigger than any of the ones they'd seen before, crashed into the ground having dropped itself from the hole above. The dust around it slowly cleared, revealing many eyes and a mouth dripping green liquid.

Here he was hoping they'd wiped the nest out in one fell swoop.

The spider reared its head back.

Both he and the panicked Remiel in his lap threw up a ward. One of them shattered like glass as a spit of poison punctured it. The second held against the slowed projectile, cracking but leaving it to pool through the crevices of the stony ground.

Arrows drew an angered screech from the creature and it turned, swinging a hairy leg around. Auri slid beneath the appendage, another arrow fired right into an eye.

Athias didn't waste the chance, Remiel set aside and a stream of flames shot from a hand as he rose to his feet, sword freed from sheath.

With its attention torn between the both of them, staying one step ahead of it was an easy task; flames, arrows, and slashes rained upon it in equal measure.

But cornering a wild animal was never a good idea.

The creature gave up all attempts to catch the elusive Auri and slammed its front legs on Athias. He avoided both but the impact shook away his sense of balance.

An opening the spider took full advantage of.

It's head lunged forward, mouth parted to take a bite out of him. Athias stabbed, the shaky thrust of his sword just barely missing the mouth. Careless of the pain, the spider's poison leaking mouth drew closer, his blade driven deeper to no effect.

The beast stopped.

「Alert: Numerous skills advanced」

「One-handed: 30 -> 31 Block: 23 ->24 Restoration: 28 ->29 」

"Ha! Did you see that! I told you I'm pretty good with a da-oh no!"

Having slid between the creature's many legs and stabbed into the head from its underside, Remiel's celebratory bragging was brought to end by the creature's limp body collapsing onto her.

"Can't….breath." She struggle out, hands reached out to him. "Help...please."

As disgusting as it was to have its hairs brush against him Athias had little issue hefting up the spider's remains, careful to avoid the poison leaking from it.

"That was brave." Auri complimented Remiel as she helped pull the woman out and to her feet.

"Well, we're going to live together or die together right? I should help out where I can." Remiel said with a laugh. She quickly retrieved her dagger, shaking off the blood that stained it for but a moment, before rushing right up those stairs as if that hadn't almost gotten her killed.

"She's a bit of a flighty one." Athias said as he pulled his own blade free with a twist and a yank. He turned to find Auri giving him a incredulous stare. "What?" She held the stare before shaking her head with a smile.

"That old bastard!" A curse from Remiel came from above.

====================

I liked this chapter. Hope you did too. Totally toss me a stone or three if you did.

Some advice to anyone who tries writing; don't try to put all your editing in one day using the logic that fixing words are easier than writing up an entire chapter. I either ended getting distracted by my story itself and forgetting that I was checking for mistakes or hyper focused, deep staring at the screen for over an hour. Gave myself a whole ass headache; not fun.

Still, I got editing done for every chapter, just need to go back and do a little more than I'll be satisfied.

Y'all already know what I'm about to say; follow me on patreon if you want to read ahead or just want to help me turn this to a fulltime thing. Plan on creating a collection called Scrap for my discarded drafts and ideas that I've put on hold. All members, including free will have access to it so look out for that. I might use polls to gauge interest in those fledging ideas to see what you guys want me to put time into.

patreon. com/TheExpGarden