92 At the Forge

[AN]: Sorry, but this is a bit of a short chapter. Just a warning since it was a little rushed this time.

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"Thank you for flying Restored Airlines. We have reached our destination of the Ruins of Bthalft. The weather is perfect for a picnic with friends or delving into hidden ancient dwarven ruins. Remember, any accusations of flying magic to the authorities will be promptly denied and swept under the table with copious bribes. Once again, thank you for choosing Restored Airlines, where speed is our directive and discretion our price."

Rictus had a big smile on his face as his companions got off his flying metal bird. Smith chuckled, Morrigan rolled her eyes, and Moira even clapped at his little speech. Calcelmo just stayed silent as he still floated unconscious. Rictus had decided flying would be the fastest way here and so had loaded everybody up on the Mark 2 of his giant flying metal bird, the Mark one being the one he crashed into a dragon. While flying was illegal, he wasn't worried about any of the people here reporting him.

"I am still surprised you took us flying on that. Don't you know how much trouble you could get in if caught?"

He turned and looked at Morrigan with a smug look.

"Probably as much trouble as a mage who has been researching, building, and enchanting objects made for flight."

This shut up Morrigan quickly as she paled slightly. Rictus couldn't help chuckling at her expression of disbelief. She was just too easy to mess with sometimes. The College really was lacking in any form of counter intelligence so it wasn't too hard to find out about some of the hidden projects going on there. Having a former instructor and key member as a Minion may have helped as well. Moira waved a hand at the unconscious form of Calcelmo.

"When should we wake him up?"

Rictus shrugged as he brought the man closer and channeled a healing spell into him after placing him on the ground. It didn't take long before the old man's eyes shot open and he stood up with a groan. Looking around, he nodded his head.

"Ah. The ruins of Bthalft. How fascinating that the forge could be held here. The significance of such…"

Tuning out the scholar's ramblings, Rictus looked for the entrance of the forge. The large dwarven artwork sitting on a raised platform was a pretty good indicator of where he should look though. It had two hoops surrounding a sphere being pierced by an arrow and it all sat on a large dwarven metal pedestal. If that wasn't enough evidence, the ghostly woman standing right next to it sure was.

As Rictus approached it, he saw where the pedestal had some depression which looked like the aetherium shards would fit perfectly into. Not wasting any more time, he put the pieces in. As each half was connected, the sculpture spun into a new position. After it stopped moving, Rictus stared as he waited for something to happen. The whispered words of the ghost who was looking over his shoulder caused him to jump.

"Try taking them out."

Looking a the ghostly woman, he pulled out the shards which now looked fused into some kind of gear. As soon as he did, the ground started shaking. Rictus backed away as he called out for everyone to stand clear. The shaking intensified as a large tower suddenly shot up from the ground. Everyone stared in surprised at the sudden appearance of the dwarven tower.

Once it stabilized, Calcelmo and the ghost let out shouts of joy as they rushed into the building where only a single lever stood. Seeing they weren't being followed. Calcelmo impatiently motioned for them to follow.

"Hurry up now! Don't just stand there, this is what we all came here for after all."

Rictus, Morrigan, Smith, and Moira all shared a look before shrugging their shoulders and following after the elf and ghost. Once everyone was inside, Calcelmo pulled the lever, and they started descending into the ground. Smith started fidgeting a bit before he spoke.

"Okay…Does anyone else see the ghost standing here with us, or is that just me?"

Seeing no one answering, the ghost was the first to speak up.

"I don't really know who you all are, but the name's Katria. Even though none of you are from that original group I met, I don't really care since you had the crests and seem a lot saner. They were a bit strange and almost banished me the first time we met. I won't bore you with my life story, but I am in need of proof to show the world what I discovered mattered and hope that the lies spouted by my damn apprentice be brought to light."

Calcelmo perked up at the mention of her name.

"I remember a woman named Katria. Quite a bit of my study material in Skyrim came from you after all. I always thought that Taron wasn't bright enough for the things written in the Aetherium Wars. Him using your notes is a much more believable story."

His calm acceptance shook the ghost as she seemed to slightly fade at his words. Rictus thought she would have shed a tear at his words, if she wasn't a ghost of course. They all talked for a bit longer as the elevator was taking a long time. Katria didn't really know what to expect in the ruins which was a bit discouraging.

She had interacted some with the pyromancers who had originally found the aetherium shards though. Unfortunately, she claimed they were all a little touched in the head. Constantly ranting about the power of destruction and how they wished to be found worthy of the great teacher. Rictus had a sinking suspicion on the identity of the great teacher.

The Skilled of Destruction would be capable of creating a cult of pyromaniacs. It only made him question if any of them were true Minions or were just some random followers. He didn't think they would be true Minions since his people had been able to take them out so easily, but he could be mistaken. Hopefully, he was wrong about this and those pyromancers weren't connected to another of the Skilled. The last thing Rictus needed right now was more enemies.

Finally, the lift came to a stop, and everyone exited into a small chamber. Smith looked back up into the darkness they had just come from.

"I wonder how far down we are now."

No one had an answer to that. Before they began any kind of exploration, Rictus gathered them all so they could go over their formation. Since most of their party was spellcasters, Rictus had the distinct honor of going first. He was most likely to survive any surprise attack after all. Moira, Morrigan, Katria, and Calcelmo would be in the center while Smith took the rear. Pretty straightforward. Rictus looked over Smith and was impressed by his equipment.

Smith was decked out in full ebony armor which had blood red streaks outlining its curves and edges. A wicked looking daedric sword and dagger were strapped on his hip. On his back was a masterfully crafted dwarven crossbow with what appeared to be a scope on it. Looking it all over, Rictus couldn't help but question him.

"So, I know you can make amazing weapons and armor, but do you actually know how to use any of them?"

The slight blush indicated the answer before Smith even spoke.

"I am actually pretty decent with the crossbow, and I test every weapon and piece of armor I make."

"On live opponents or mannequins?"

His blush only deepened at that. Rictus really hoped he was decent with the crossbow and didn't cause any additional problems. It really was Rictus's own fault for not checking earlier about it. He only hoped Smith could take care of himself and stay safe. It would really suck if the Smith died during this little expedition. The Restored still had uses for him.

Thankfully, the exploration of the ruins was pretty straightforward. The self-lighting braziers along the path they followed was interesting, but that was about it. After descending even further underground, they reached a massive cavern with a waterfall and stone bridges leading them over the water. A tiny amount of light could be seen trickling down through a hole in the ceiling, just enough to barely illuminate everything. At the end of the set of bridges, was a massive dwarven fort like structure built into the mountain. Calcelmo and Katria were geeking out over everything they saw and the history of the place. Rictus was mildly interested, but he was more focused on their surroundings and any potential enemies lurking in ambush.

Nothing attacked them though. Even after crossing the bridges and walking up the stairs of the ruins, nothing happened. He talked with both Morrigan and Smith privately about their game knowledge for this quest. Rictus didn't really remember it more than the fact it existed, no details though. Morrigan had no idea, but Smith had some recollections of it, probably because it was smithing related. He claimed there wouldn't be any enemies until we found the forge. Then there would be waves of dwarven spiders and spheres before a powerful centurion called the forgemaster appeared. Rictus didn't fully trust the lack of any enemies. This world wasn't a perfect copy of the game so things could be different. So far, he was happy to be wrong though.

At the top of all the stairs, Rictus was surprised to find a still living tree in the middle of the courtyard looking area. 'Huh. Life can find a way even in the darkest of places.' The more immediately concerning detail was the large metal door blocking further entrance into the ruins.

"Door's shut tight. I bet those resonators would open it, though."

Rictus looked at where Katria was pointing. Above and on either side of the door sat two metal contraptions. The resonators were basically metal bars which would spin if the end was hit. Having two meant they needed both to spin and it would open the door. Simple enough really. A twang rang out followed by a curse. Rictus raised an eyebrow as he watched Smith reload his crossbow after missing his shot and mumble something about calibrating it wrong. Ignoring that and hoping Smith's aim would be miraculously better at moving targets, Rictus nodded at Morrigan. The two of them cast simultaneous lightning bolts which struck and spun the resonators. A chime rang out as they reached the top of their spin and the door opened.

Rictus took the lead as he went through the door. They continued down some stairs through a hallway which looked like any other dwarven ruin. Large pipes along the walls belching steam, stone pillars with intricate carvings, and blue green magical lights. The air felt different the further down they went, more stifling. Soon the reached another large golden door. This one didn't have any secret mechanism and opened with a simple push. The room that greeted them was quite unique and explained the rising heat.

A red glow illuminated the massive room. Huge carved pillars held up the ceiling while stone platforms rose along the edge. The middle of the room was what drew everyone's attention though. A grated floor had fiery steam shooting skyward. Beyond the veil of steam, one could make out a huge collaboration of metal pipes and gears all cobbled together in some mechanical marvel. There was even a waterfall of lava pouring from the mouth of a statue down into what Rictus could only assume was part of the forge.

Not waiting for the others, Calcelmo and Katri rushed into the room before they could be stopped.

"The forge…we need to clear this steam so we can take a better look.

The scholar moved up one of the platforms on the side and started turning a wheeled valve. It let out a hissing noise as some of the steam was cleared away. Morrigan had already moved to the other valve and turned it while Rictus, Moira, and Smith took positions right before the wall of steam. The last of the steam abruptly shut off and the room shook. Everyone was on their guard as they waited for the expected enemies to show up.

The shaking gradually stopped. No enemies appeared though. Smith relaxed a bit as he smiled.

"Well, that wasn't bad at all. I can't believe no enemies actually showed up. I was worried for nothing."

They all slowly turned and stared at the man who just looked confused.

"What? Is something wrong?"

Rictus let out a deep sigh as he condescendingly patted Smith's shoulder.

"Your ignorance is amazing. You basically just guaranteed something was going to happen now."

Smith snorted in reply at the superstition as he moved towards the forge.

"Yeah, right. I don't think words can actually jinx a situation like that. Those kinds of things only happen in movies and books by writers who don't know how to properly write a scene. Things like that just don't happen in real life."

Not hearing a reply, he turned around and gave his companions a smug look as they had no rebuttal for his words. Their looks of concern were a little worrying though. Turing, he saw what the problem was.

"…oh balls…"

Out of the burning lava the figure of a mighty centurion slowly stomped towards them. Calcelmo's eyes grew large as he couldn't help but study the massive construct.

"That has to be the largest and most powerful centurion I have ever laid eyes on. I've met archmages who can't compare to the power I feel from this thing…"

Morrigan would normally feel offended, but the sheer power this thing exuded captured her attention more. Rictus did speak out though.

"You should look over there then."

Calcelmo and everyone else pulled their eyes off the centurion and looked to the other side of the forge where Rictus pointed. Calcelmo cleared his throat as he spoke in a subdued voice.

"I stand corrected."

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[AN]: Ooof…a dreaded cliffhanger. I didn't really mean for that to happen, but this chapter came out a little rushed this week and shorter than I liked. So sorry about that. Maybe next week chapter will be a bit longer and better written to make up for it.

Also, pretty obvious who is finally being introduced.