Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XLVIII - In Pursuit of Power

The battle with the Falmer wasn't quite as hopeless as the one in Raldbthar had been, but it was far from easy.

There were a number of the creatures hiding in their strange wall-dwellings as well, enhancing the nest's numbers. The whole chamber was far smaller than the one in the other Dwemer ruins, but that only left them less room to maneuver and more chances to get surrounded.

There was a very shallow lake in the center of the room which Aeyrin was constantly verging on the edges of. The Falmer were trying to lunge at her and make her trip, so that she would lose her footing and fall into the shallow water. It would, at the very least, stagger her for a bit and the Falmer would be free to jump at her and kill her.

They didn't really know about her Shouts yet though. She had decided not to use them unless it was necessary. Who knew if there weren't any more caved-in passages that weren't instantly visible? And they didn't even know what was behind the last door in the central chamber. This was the safer option for now.

Bishop stood behind in the passage leading back into the central room with his bow constantly ready, thinning the Falmers' numbers. As the area was small, however, it didn't take long before he had to switch to his sword instead when a couple of Falmer jumped down from their nearby dwellings and lunged at him.

Darren was standing in the passage along with Bishop, but he didn't really know how to keep a safe distance from the fray. Bishop had to shove him aside several times to prevent one of the Falmer from attacking him.

Just as Bishop plunged his sword into one of the creatures, sending shocks throughout its body, he had to quickly dislodge it to parry against the other one's axe.

He felt something on his back, suddenly, something like a mild slap.

Was that Darren? What the fuck was that idiot doing, disturbing him in battle?

Bishop concentrated on the Falmer in front of him before he managed to dexterously evade its next attack and slash his sword against its neck. The head came right off.

He turned sharply to yell at Darren for the imbecilic disturbance, but instead, he was faced with a strange sight. It wasn't Darren who had slapped his back, it was a Falmer. It just stood there, staring... well... not 'staring'. It was enveloped by a strange green glow and it took a while for Bishop to notice Darren standing some distance away with his hand lit up with the same-colored orb, held at the ready.

Huh... maybe he wasn't as useless as it seemed.

Bishop plunged his sword into the idle Falmer without any more hesitation, letting the monster slide down from his blade to the ground limply, before he gave Darren a curious look.

"A calming spell. You should really learn how to watch your back," Darren scoffed at him.

Funny... he was the one who needed rescuing constantly. Bishop himself had prevented his death a couple of times already in this chamber alone. But at least the mage managed to actually be of use for once.

Without another word, Bishop turned back to check on Aeyrin. She was still surrounded by those beasts, but there were a lot fewer of them now. He could concentrate on thinning the numbers again now that there were no Falmer actively focusing on him and Darren.

He pulled out his bow and started to shoot the Falmer systematically. There were only about five of them left now, it wouldn't take long.

When Bishop downed another one of those creatures, he noticed a strange flame flicker some distance away from the battle. Soon enough, a fire atronach formed from the small flame and it instantly started floating towards the remaining three creatures and Aeyrin.