An Enchanting Tale

Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Five

"Blackreach," Aicantar whispered in astonishment.

"What's that," S'maath asked.

"Blackreach is a city below Skyrim; a place the dwemer found when digging below the world. They found a way to adjoin their cities. Mzinchaleft, Alftand, Raldbthar, they all connect below Skyrim," Falion explained.

"Then, we are below Skyrim," S'maath asked.

"We can't be," S'maash replied.

"Certainly not," Falion started, "This is similar to Blackreach, though I do not know if it ties into other dwemer cities."

Slowly, they exited the lift and scrutinized the darkness. Someone else casted candle light. A thin mist slightly obscured their vision. Off in the distance, they detected a source of light. They treaded carefully, but the vastness was so dark that all the mages casted candle light in hopes of revealing a path.

"The dwemer lived comfortably in Blackreach using the falmer as their slaves. Once the dwemer left for other worlds, the falmer made it their twisted refuge; the darkness is perfect for their senses," Falion commented. "I have, however, seen a strange orb, a dwemer sun, if you will, crafted by masters, perhaps even Kagrenac himself. I cannot fathom what awe inspiring creations we will see here."

The group had little to say. Magickal light revealed black stone under their feet. It was craggy and rough. Sharp, stone hills lined the area, but only so far as they were able to see. Zolara came to a halt.

"Hold," he intervened. "I fear we may lose our way."

"Where are we going anyway," S'maath asked.

"I do not know," S'maash whispered.

"I'll employ a set of fire runes as we did below Mzulft," Zolara said.

"Excellent idea," S'maash praised.

As they continued walking, S'maash and Zolara recounted their experiences. When the time came, Brelyna also told of when they had gathered the fragment of the Heart of Lorkhan. Zolara left many runes during their conversations; it made for a faintly glowing orange trail of breadcrumbs.

"Do you think there are falmer here," Aicantar asked.

"Difficult to say," Falion admitted. "The snow elves were residents of Skyrim, not Morrowind, but eons have passed. If these underground kingdoms connect then we might come across some...if not, then I shudder to think what we will come across."

An indeterminate amount of time passed, but with no real sense of direction or change in light, it was difficult to tell if they had traveled far or not. Looking behind, they no longer saw the lift, just the orange glows indicating Zolara's runes were effective; he laid down well over two dozen and had since lost count.

Exhausted from the hike, S'maash halted to scan the area. There were four distinct, white glows in the distance.

"What do you think," Brelyna asked S'maash.

"I think we should strive for one of the glows and hope for a clue," he replied.

"Sound thinking," Aicantar said.

"Which one," S'maath asked.

S'maash shook his head. He did not care.

"Falion," the wizard asked.

"The one on our left," Falion replied.

"Good as any, I suppose," Zolara remarked.

They continued for a time, but the glow was so far away they had no choice but to stop, if only briefly, to eat and drink. Questioning his surroundings, Zolara casted a mage light spell. Like candle light, the magickal orb allowed one to see, but did not stay over the caster. Instead, it sailed away until reaching a solid object. There, it was supposed to stick, lighting the way. In Blackreach, it did not stick. It sailed off, vanishing.