Chapter 30

Stone crumbled, puffing away into small clouds of dust as they fell. Athias backed away and admired his handywork.

A tunnel, rough and bumpy, but free of any sharp rocks and big enough for him to squeeze through, led around the metal gate, the treasures secured behind the tonal lock now within reach. The massive wall stood tall and the roof stable, no rocks coming down upon them. Things looked stable enough.

"Send Scrap in first." Athias said.

"Why?" Remiel asked.

"Maybe a trap will trigger if any motion is detected inside without the wall's lock being solved." He doubted it but there was no need to risk one of them if they had an automaton willing to follow their orders. Scrap going in wasn't a catch all solution though. If there was some kind of sensor that could tell the difference between people and machinery, a trap could still go off once one of them crawled through the crude tunnel.

Dwemer ruins would be trial and error for a long while.

"That's my precious automaton you're telling me to risk, you know." Remiel said. "But you're right. I can always repair him. Head on in, boy" Scrap whirled, crawling up the wall and through the tunnel. He dropped out of it and stood tall, looking at them from the other side of the gate.

"I guess I'm next." Athias volunteered himself, slinging off his bag and tossing it through the tunnel. He crawled after it, the cold uncomfortable stone a minor inconvenience compared to what awaited them inside. He fell through the other side and rolled to his feet, hand at his sword.

Dead air. An eerie quiet. His thumping heart.

Still no trap and no sign of any patrolling automatons.

"We're clear so far." Athias said as he took his bag, offered up to him by one of Scrap's legs. "Who's next?"

Katria, tired of silently observing, pounced on the opportunity to get past the wall. She followed his lead, though disappeared down the distant hall long before Remiel or Auri joined them. He made no move to stop her, simply warning her to be careful.

It was a wonder she matched their pace for as long as she did.

Once the rest of them were through, they followed after Katria, Remiel moving as impatiently as that woman had. The paths from the two gates converged into a single hall leading into a stone storage room that, while small, held a considerable number of treasures.

Two tall Dwemer metal shelves stocked full of ready to use ingots, crucial automaton parts, and soul gems. Two different chests were on the stone table behind the dark pedestal Katria stood in front of.

"What-What is this?" Katria muttered, mostly speaking to herself as she lifted up a light blue object off the pedestal. A shard of aetherium and one piece of the key needed to access the Aetherium Forge. He was sure she'd figure all that out in a few moments; what caught Athias's attention was the helmet beside the pedestal.

[Item: Aetherium Helm]

[Description: Forged by the artificers of Arkngthamz, this helmet contains small amounts of Aetherium. The rare material's unique properties prevent any enchantments from being woven into it but the helm is capable of providing its owner with powerful boons when worn.]

[Owner: N/A]

At first glance it only appeared to be a slightly bulkier version of Dwemer helmets he'd seen around, completely skirting beneath Katria's and Remiel's attention as they examined the blue shard. It was a dust free bronze and had a ridge running atop the center that grew in size towards the front.

He lifted it up and the differences grew.

It felt empty.

Dwemer metal usefully felt resistant, all projecting sturdy walls that would resist any magicka that came into contact with it. This helmet felt…open for lack of a better term. Not quite hungry or susceptible to magicka's influence but waiting on it nonetheless. Holding this thing was like looking at a puzzle with its final piece in hand.

Who could resist completing it?

Athias moved his magicka. The helmet accepted it, that empty space slowly filling up.

A quarter.

It took an entire quarter of his magicka before the helmet suddenly vanished from his hands. A different weight settled within, adjacent to his magicka.

「Alert: Soul-bound Equipment Detected」

「Advice: You have willingly bound a piece of equipment to your soul. Should it recognize you as its owner, such equipment will act according to your will.」

Soul-bound? That was a troubling term to run into. The way the windows framed it left far too much wiggle room in his opinion.

Luckily, all it took was a thought and the spiritual weight vanished and retook a physical form around his head. Being able to summon armor like this at will would be invaluable. And if he had an entire suit of it? He'd be ready for combat whenever and wherever.

"Hmmm, that's a good look on you, but it looks kind of heavy." Auri said, coming up to his side and looking up at him. He immediately noticed that he couldn't see the color of her hair or eyes. Or the color of anything for that matter. The entire room had brightened to such a degree that the darkness wouldn't be an issue if the glowing lights around them suddenly gave out, but in exchange, the entire world was drained of color. "The glowing lens are a nice touch too. Did you use some kind of spell on it?"

Glowing lens? The helmet was obviously providing him with night vision but was that it?

"Not exactly." Athias said absent mindedly, allowing the helmet to vanish, the process already second nature. It felt nearly identical to using his magicka. The world retook its normal color, no longer painfully bright. He'd check his status window the first chance he got.

For now, he focused on Remiel and Katria.

"If this is only part of the whole, how many pieces are there?" Remiel asked, journal out as took down a drawing of the shard.

"There should be three more pieces. One for each of the four cities that worked on the forge." Katria shared, lost in her excitement. The distant vibe she oozed their trip had completely vanished as she held up the small blue object. "If I'm right, when brought together the four shards should form a key made of pure aetherium. The key to The Aetherium Forge."

"Is that what you came here for?" Athias asked.

"No but it is a step in the right direction. Once I track down all the shards and find the forge I'll-" Katria stopped short, getting ahold of herself. A not-so-subtle glance was cast around them as she looked up from the shard. Surrounded by three strangers with something that valuable in her hands in the depths of some long-forgotten ruin? That's a tale as old as a time.

Lucky for her, he was no traitor. Besides, as interested as he was in armor and weapons made of aetherium, killing or robbing her would go against why he did all this in the first place.

With the first shard in her possession, would she manage to collect all the others, find the forge, and prove to the world her apprentice profited off of her hard work? Would she end up dead somewhere along the way? Just how far would she be able to go now that her unfortunate end had been avoided?

"Sounds valuable. I assume you're taking it?" Athias asked.

"Hold on Athias, that's-"

"Look at her eyes, Remiel. That shard is the only thing she's here for." He said, locking gazes with Katria. "She's the one that led us here. If the shard is what she wants, then it's hers to take. There's plenty of other treasure in here for the taking."

Remiel recoiled as if someone smacked her. "That is a piece of the key to The Aetherium Forge. The forge said to create items imbued with extreme power. The forge an entire civil war was fought over. No treasure in here is going to compare to that." She explained. "And you're just going to pass up the chance to take it? To discover the lost forge ourselves? Where's your adventurer's spirit?"

"If you think you can convince her to hand it over, go ahead." Athias said. He gave Katria a nod and focused on the chests around them.

Remiel groaned. "If I said please, would you give that to us?"

"No." Katria said, bits of relief evident in her voice. She was still on edge, a hand near her weapon, but wasn't about to snap at any moment.

Now that they had what they were in search of, it was time for the real question.

How in Oblivion were they getting out of here?

x-X-x

Flames propelled Athias through flooded corridors.

Not actual flames, but the spell. The cool water ensured that the magical flames never fully formed, the water around his hands bubbling, but the force of the attempt saw him cutting through the liquid. Arkngthamz was massive, but without the threat of automatons and knowledge of what paths led where its distance could be covered in a few spell propelled minutes.

That's what he hoped.

He had stripped himself of all but his armor and sword -equipment left with the others- then put his do or die plan into action. Drowning wasn't the way he wanted to go, but starvation wasn't an appealing end either.

Athias smiled as he sped past doors and floating debris. If flying felt anything like this, consider him jealous of any animal with wings. Using his magic he could go in whatever direction he wanted, gravity no longer a factor under these conditions. It was so freeing that he could almost forget a single breath meant a watery grave.

He descended down one final flight of stairs and did away with his spells, hands held forward as he closed in on the ruin's entrance. He didn't bother heading for the doors; pulling those things open with the weight of who knows how much water against them wouldn't be possible for him. He crashed against the stone above the doorway, palms spread wide across the structure.

He flooded it with every bit of magicka at his disposal.

Cracks spread and the water did the rest.

The entrance crumbled apart and waves of water threw him out into the cold dark air of the night, well beyond the stone stairway that led up to Arkngthamz. Gravity gave a cruel welcome, a loud snap carried off into the darkness as his shoulder hit the ground. He tumbled, a bitter metallic taste filling his mouth. He continued to bite down on his lip until he finally came to a stop, his head a dizzy mess.

Thrilling as that was, he wasn't so sure he wanted a repeat anytime soon.

Athias took deep breaths as he stood, left arm clutched. Something was broken. A few things probably pushed out of place.

All fixable with magic.

He watched water gush out of the ruins, the crumbled entrance and fallen door sent over the edge as well. The others would be able stroll out without a care in the world once all that drained out.

Too bad for them. They missed out on some fun.

Athias focused his regenerating magicka to his broken arm, a scream nearly torn free of him as he fell to a knee, biting into his entire lower lip.

Cryomancy burned him in a way he would never forget. Feeling his bones right themselves and regrow correctly was a close second in terms of pain. The shards that broke off didn't vanish. They were pushed out of the way, cutting into muscles which then healed, pushing the shards further to the surface. It was a merciless cycle. He was left breathless by the time they cut free of his skin and fell to the ground.

Sometimes he wished magic was more magical.

x-X-x

Athias sneezed into his arm.

He didn't feel so eager to be on the road for once, basking in the warm air of Arkngthamz. Instead of fumbling through the darkness and facing the elements, after meeting up they turned one of the communal rooms of the ruin into a temporary campsite. Auri and Remiel had turned in for the night, sleeping on fur covered stone beds. That left him and Katria on watch, the latter having spent most of her time fending off Remiel rabid requests for the shard of aetherium.

He was honestly a little surprised she hadn't decided to cut and run.

"You know, I never intended to share what I knew with any of you." Katria suddenly said. He looked up from his electromancy tome. She was a bit laxer than before, sitting on one of the stone beds like him instead of taking up a distant spot beside the door. "Not many people would pass up something so valuable."

"Most people wouldn't step foot in a Dwemer ruin to begin with." Athias said.

"True enough. I'm sure each of us have our own reasons for risking life and limb in this place." Katria clutched the shard she hadn't stop admiring close to her. "This is too important for me to give up. It's the only way I can take back what's mine." She dragged her eyes back to him. "You know what I mean, don't you?" That wasn't a question. "I'm sure you at least suspect who I am. So why help me if you don't intend to take this shard for yourself?"

Athias gave a noncommittal shrug. "Curiosity."

That was the closest thing to the truth she'd get from.

"Curiosity?" She chuckled, smiling bitterly. "If only that snake had been more like all of you, we'd have found the forge by now." She released a deep sigh. "I have no intention of taking up Remiel's offer to travel with all of you, but if you are willing, I would like to send you letters on my progress. No one else knows what I'm up to, so if I end up dead in some ruin, I want…I need someone to finish what I started."

"I'm not so sure a courier would be able to track us down."

Katria laughed. "Adventure in Skyrim long enough and you'll learn better than to underestimate the couriers of this land. I've been found in the wild by them more than once. They've earned the title Kyne's breeze."

"If you're so sure, I don't see why not." Athias said. He'd be disappointed if her death truly came to pass, but he wouldn't hesitate to swoop in to find the forge himself.

"Thank you." Katria said. He returned to his reading. "By the way, what happened to that helmet that was behind the wall? It looked different from any Dwemer armor I've seen."

So she didn't completely share in Remiel's tunnel vision.

"Since we're sharing secrets…" With a thought the helmet appeared over his head, the world brightening. Despite it's weight the helmet wasn't as stuffy as expected, his breathing unimpeded.

"That glow-" Katria raised the shard, her eyes jumping between him and it. "-I think it's aetherium." She stared in slack jawed awe. As soon as that initial amazement wore off, she approached, firing off questions and examining the piece of armor. He gave vague, unsure answers. After being betrayed herself, he was certain Katria wasn't the sort to do something underhanded to get her hands on this thing, but he wasn't going to tell her everything he knew.

With any luck, it would encourage her to keep in contact with them, if only to try and understand the thing.

At the top of his vision, Athias noticed his magicka bar appear. Was it draining?

x-X-x

One of the first questions where I had to ask myself did I want to undermine the convenience and power of magic by throwing in action or some big fight. Obviously I chose not to and personally, I think I made the right choice. Even it was a bit more anti-climatic then I first expected I like the way this turned out.

Been trying to find ways to improve my writing and optimize my workflow now that I have so much less time. If you're fan of fantasy and want to write I suggest taking a listen to the lectures that Brandon Sanderson has on youtube. Really helping a beginner like me look at writing in a way I hadn't before; it fun to be strictly creative but like any form of art having more technical knowledge in things like plot structure will only help. Gottta know the rules to break them as he said in the lecture.

P.S. 40 hour works weeks for a job you don't care for or flat out hate is a total scam. Having two days, sometimes less, to pursue your hobbies is complete BS. Just thought I'd include this here for people who didn't see my little rant in my star wars story. Don't overwork yourself for some company or let your time with them stop you from pursuing your interests and dreams, people.

Follow me on patreon if you want advance chapters or want to help me turn writing into a full-time thing. The Garden has something for all, even free members. Those free drafts are things that may or may not be turned into stories in the future so if you ever want a look into what's next, take a look there.

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