Beneath the Surface VI

Once inside the main chamber, I look around and find M'rissi and Inigo still quietly talking at the bar.

"Hey you two, what's going? Why so quiet?" I ask them, curious as to what's been going on.

"Ah, Fluffy... She... Um... She..." M'rissi looks at me nervously, her eyes darting around as if she's not sure where to look.

"M'rissi is just feeling unwell, right? So, she was wanting to switch to her bow and stay to the rear as we fight, before we head back home, my friend." Inigo says, speaking up making M'rissi relax slightly.

"Whew... Yes, Fluffy, that one is right. She is feeling unwell, and would like to stay and guard the rear." M'rissi says with a noticable sigh of relief.

"Of course, why would that be an issue? Do you want to stay behind for this one? We're just looking for a couple people in the Warren's." I ask them both with a confused look on my face before I look at M'rissi with concern.

"No, no! She is fine to go! Just looking forward to resting back at home." M'rissi quickly assures me before taking my hand and leading me towards the Warren's, leaving Inigo to trail behind us.

"Wait for me! I thought I was supposed to take the lead?" Inigo shouts before catching up and letting us get into our exploratory position.

I take the lead, standing to the front with my sword and a flame spell at the ready, while letting Inigo stand a step behind me on my left with his shield and sword at the ready to block any unexpected attack. With M'rissi several feet behind us, her bow at the ready as she focuses her attention on our surroundings and watches over me and Inigo.

It takes us several minutes of trapsing through the lowest depths of Riften before we begin to hear heated shouting and the crackle of several spells and shouts of pain from up ahead.

"Quick, that could be Esburn!" I order to Inigo and M'rissi as I rush further down the tunnel, finding seven Thalmor soldiers, two of which are mages, currently torching one of the Warren's residents, the old chef, Knjakr, I think was his name.

"Where is he old man, you wretch!?" One of the Altmer orders as he continues to torch the old chef.

"AAAAAHHH! I don't know!" Knjakr screams as his flesh begins to char.

"Damn Elves! I came here to get away, but you always haunt me every night! Just die already!" Another man in rags shouts as he lunges at an unprepared mage who had crossed the threshhold to his squatter hole.

The man seems to be only equipped with an imperial officer's helmet and the dagger he uses to drive into the exposed throat of the mage.

"There's anoth- Guk!' One of the warriors starts to call out before an arrow finds itself embedded in the opening of his helmet, taking down the second of our seven adversaries.

I charge forward at the three warriors in the lower portion of the sewer chamber, sliding between the middle and rightmost warriors as I drag my ebony blade across the rightmost's lightly armored armpit and throw a torrent of flame into the middle warrior's face.

Letting Inigo, shield bash the leftmost warrior against the wall before bringing his blade down on the distracted middle warrior who was to focused on stabbing me in the back.

M'rissi continues pelting the remaining mage and warrior with arrows, forcing them to take cover on the upper walkway of the chamber, occasionaly the mage sends a firebolt in her direction but she is able to deftly dodge them before sending another arrow towards the mage.

Meanwhile the man in rags leaps from the dead mage and charges at the disoriented warrior Inigo had knocked against the wall, quickly pinning him by knocking away the elf's shield and driving his dagger into the elf's helmet, killing him on the spot as Inigo focuses on the middle warrior with his sword and shield while I pop back up behind the rightmost warrior driving my blade beneath the elf's back plate and shoving him forward with a torrent of flame from my free hand.

With my opponent dealt with, I launch myself up the nearby ramp to begin dealing with the last two Thalmor.

Diving below another arrow from the last warrior as I send an ice spike at the mage who was taking cover at the lip of the walkway before poping up beside him to knock him over the edge with the pommel of my sword before turning my attention to the last warrior.

"FUS!!!" I shout at the warrior, making him loose his arrow before drawing back all the way, allowing me to close the distance to smack his bow to the side.

I can hear Inigo and M'rissi dealing with the last two Thalmor as I drag my blade across the warrior I faced neck, seperating his head from his shoulders and ending the battle.

With a moment to breath I begin stripping the Thalmor of their valubles as I hear Inigo talking to the ragged man who had helped us in the fight.

"Greetings, friend, your assitance was very welcome in this fight. Are you well? Are you in need of healing?" Inigo questions the man who I can see is uneasy out of the corner of my eye as M'rissi watches the exchange from the side.

"I-I am fine... I can still wield a blade after all... Thank you, though... But... I'd just like to forget their faces." The man says as he pulls his dagger from the elf's face as he removes the helmet revealing the face of an old Imperial Soldier, marked with scars and war wounds both visible and not.

Obviously a veteran of the Great War, I'm somewhat reminded of the old soldiers who would become homeless after getting PTSD from what they saw at war, and I could feel my heart start to go out to him.

"Well, my name is Inigo, and I am very thankful for your aid, my friend. Could I have your name? Perhaps I could give you a warm meal as thanks?" Inigo asks the man as I finish up looting the bodies before looking up at the armored door I know Esburn is taking cover behind, trying hard not to make a sound.

(Author's Note: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay, still recovering from the "Mucking" as we have come to call the LARP I went to. Ironically, despite everything I had a blast and I can't wait to go again next year and I hope to meet some of your there if I'm lucky. Hope you enjoy the chapter.)