Various Tales from The Elder Scrolls (AU)

Draconecropolis (Pt. 3) (End)

"Here lies she whom dragons called queen, and men called goddess. Silmirnil the Shining, bride of the World-Eater, Alduin the Black. By the blade of a cunning mortal was she slain. No trespass must disturb her in slumber eternal…"

"You're waxing poetic," you observed, as your companion stared in amazement.

"Isn't it incredible? This is her! We've found her!" he exclaimed, almost breathlessly, "This is the great dragon Silmirnil! Even now her light blooms forth from the very grave in which her body rests!"

You wanted to share in the enthusiasm, you'd come here to see Draconecropolis with Gheryn, you'd been eager to see the tombs of the ancient dragons, but something was off, very off. You could feel it.
Suddenly a shrieking wail filled the tomb, chilling both of you to the bone. Gheryn nearly dropped his journals and you drew your sword from its sheath at lightning speed.

"What was that!?" you hissed.

"I don't know," he said, shakily, "but whatever it was, it didn't sound good, not at all!"

Another scream echoed through the halls, this time more wails and shrieks answered it, your heart began to race. Gheryn shoved all his journals in his pack and prepared his spells, moving close beside you. Scraping and scratching came next, whatever was crying out from within the dark mausoleum was coming for you.

"Come on!" you grabbed Gheryn by the arm, "We have to get out of here!"

The two of you fled the way you'd come. Stumbling back into the tomb of Wahaamdov, you found the previously still corpses were now stirring. Their dried bodies cracked as they dragged themselves to their feet. Alarmed, you climbed the wall, hoisting Gheryn up with a strength you didn't even know you had.

"We're going to have to head upward, there's no way we'll make it back to the entrance in time," you told him, tying your rope to the both of you, "You're going to have to climb."

"Wh-What?" his heart nearly failed him, "But I can't-- I-I won't make it!"

"It's the only way, come on!" you shouted, "Follow me! They'll find a way up if we don't get going and fast!"

The two of you climbed where you still had a foothold, the undead below you were slowly finding ways to follow you up. You both made your way to a narrow ledge that ran along the wall, just under another floor. The ledge was barely enough to walk across, let alone quickly. Gheryn stuck as close as he could to you, his balance threatening to fail him several times.

You climbed up to the next floor, your companion doing his best to follow you, when suddenly the snap of a bowstring was heard. Gheryn cried out in pain, losing his footing as an arrow stuck in his shoulder. You were yanked back suddenly, your feet slipping out from underneath you as you were nearly dragged over the edge. You grabbed onto the ledge, gripping it with all your might as the stone cut into your skin.
You looked down and saw Gheryn struggling to grab onto something, another arrow just barely missing him.

"I can't hold on!" you shouted, clawing at the stone as you started slipping back again.

The both of you were nearing your inevitable death, dangling over a horde that was firing arrows towards you. The fall itself would be deadly, and in any case, there was no hope of surviving it.

"I've got you!" Gheryn shouted, casting a spell of strength on you.

Instantly you were strong enough to pull yourself back onto the ledge, dragging the wounded Gheryn up with you. He was nearly crying out of fright and you couldn't catch your breath. But there was no time to waste now, the dead were marching up the stairwells. You grabbed him and raced towards stairs that led upward, up and up the dizzying flights.
Finally the two of you burst into the open air, gasping for breath as you crawled out onto the roof of the temple and into the night.

"We're out," Gheryn gasped, yanking the arrow from his shoulder and using a restoration spell, "At last!"

You didn't have the energy to answer, you just laid down on the roof and tried to catch your breath. Gheryn cast restoration on you and thanked you for saving his life, though declaring his fear of heights had now simply worsened.
The two of you journeyed back up the steep slope and out of the chasm that housed Draconecropolis as the sun rose on the horizon. The mausoleums had again reverted to their eerie silence as the dawn broke.

You and Gheryn gazed down at the ancient city of the dead, still marvelling at its beauty, but now aware of the horrors that laid within, glad to have escaped with your lives.

"Perhaps Silmirnil is best left completely undisturbed," Gheryn said softly as the two of you walked away together, "perhaps Draconecropolis itself is."

The sound of your footsteps thumped softly on the crest of the cliff as the morning sun warmed your faces.

"Curiosity may be our doom someday, my friend," you replied, casting an arm over Gheryn's shoulders, "but this we can avoid."

"Indeed we can," he chuckled, "we shall leave the ancient dragons to their rest."

"Good," you nodded, "there are plenty of other places for us to explore anyway."

So the two of you made distance from Draconecropolis, perhaps you would see the ancient burial site once again, perhaps not, but the unsettling loveliness of the place would forever live within your minds, along with all the secrets it held within its haunted mausoleums.
And the restless dead that there lay prostrate before their forgotten gods.

~ The End ~