Not Alone (A Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

     After sliding down an incline of maybe ten feet, I hit solid rock and stood up, brushing snow off my armor, then dodged out of the way as Aetra came sliding down behind me. 

     Forgoing my favorite one handed Daedric sword and firebolt combo, I instead called a firebolt to both hands.  This would work nearly as well as a torch and I could use it to fight with at a moment’s notice.

     She got up and looked around.  “Cheery,” she commented.

     “Isn’t it?”  Obviously total sarcasm, of course.  The flickering fire did nothing to warm the atmosphere of the place.  To my surprise it was a fairly large cavern that went on past the reach of the light.  There were one or two skeletons in here, but they had to be at least a few years old.  Nothing was living in the top sections of the cave, anyway. 

     I say ‘top sections’ because most of Skyrim’s caves are far larger than they seem.  Most run into another location entirely or go down for miles, and all have dangerous creatures of some sort in them. 

     “So what kind of animal are we looking for?”  She kicked a bone into a dark corner, looking around uneasily.

     “You’ll know it when you see it.” 

     “I’d prefer to know what it is before then, if you don’t mind,” she said sarcastically.  “That would make it easier to kill.”

     “We aren’t here to kill it.  We’re here to talk to it.”  I watched the surprise flit across her face.

     “Well then I hope it isn’t a bear or a troll.  That might not end well.” 

     “I’m not thick enough to try reasoning with a troll, don’t worry.”  I headed forward, taking short careful steps on account of the ice.  How would Aetra fare on the slippery surface?

     Apparently fairly well, although I should have expected that.  Thieves need to have good balance and be light on their feet, and both qualities helped tremendously on the treacherous ice.  She followed after me just as carefully, avoiding little slopes.  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

     I decided not to turn around and glare at her, instead taking out my displeasure by turning my look on a bare rock in front of me. 

     “What’s that?”  Aetra moved over the edge of the cavern toward a kind of alcove in the rock. 

     I joined her and we looked down what look like some sort of shaft.  It went down for several feet in the flickering firelight, but beyond that there was nothing but blackness.  I put one hand over it and aimed a firebolt into the crack.  It went down, down, down, until the tiny dot of light completely disappeared.  “That must go a few miles down at least.”

     “Well, there’s no way we’re getting down that way.”  Aetra leaned carefully over the edge to look down better. 

     “Obviously not.  Let’s see where this cavern leads.”

     The cavern, it turned out, led to another cavern, which had a set of stairs that led to another cavern.  The stairs in themselves didn’t surprise me.  This might have been a mine or something at one time.  No, it was the carvings on the stairs that surprised me.  I crouched down to examine them more closely, running my hands over the cut stone and watching as the fire spells I still had melted the ice on them and sent little rivulets of water trickling away.  They were decidedly Dwemer, but as far as I knew there was no Dwemer ruin for miles around.