Athias huffed and puffed, jumping over and side stepping the fallen bodies of dead Falmer, heavy stone chest in his hands as he sprinted down the dimly lit halls of Nchuand-Zel. A bolt flew over his shoulder while another grazed his cheek, the metal tip slicing open skin despite Oakflesh's effects.

Good thing he learned Blur.

Automatons chased after him.

The spiders were hot on his tail, one clanking along the pipes and the other on the ceiling, its many legs leaving subtle cracks on the aged stone.

The spheres rolled around and over the dead falmer, too slow to keep pace with the spiders but making up for that with the crossbows that made up their left arms. If it weren’t for Blur, the illusionary spell projecting whirling versions of himself all fighting for the same spot, those things would’ve hit him dead on by now.

The centurion ran behind them. It’s hefty steps shook the ground and turned corpses to a bloody paste. From time to time a large burst of steam would leave its back and it sped up, but those bursts of speed never lasted long, enabling it to keep up with the pursuit.

Everything was going according to plan.

Athias stumbled around a corner, a pair of bolts cutting through the air and hitting the ground. The spider on the pipe leaped off the pipe, one of its legs clicking as it turned to a blade. He spun around, smacking it away with the chest, and kept running, picking back up to his full speed.

The door at the end of the hallway, the one the three of them had first come through, was left wide open by Auri and Remiel before this chase began. Falmer were already blocking it, in search of intruders.

The shaking ground and whirls of the automatons drew their attention in an instant, arrows unleashed into the hall as the doors began to close.

The Falmer really were smarter than their appearances suggested.

The volley wasn’t aimed at him, Muffle in full effect. Their arrows hit the centurion in the back. Brittle, they snapped against its metal frame, utterly useless.

Athias chucked the chest through the door and into one of the growling Falmer, forcing it to the ground. He slipped through the closing doors and jumped, looking back to see one of the spiders leap at one of the other Falmer, turning its face into a bloody mess.

He hit the water, sinking beneath the cold dark liquid.

Arrows followed.

One hit his back and snapped, unable to pierce the protection of his spell.

One hit his ribs.

Two to his shoulder.

Athias’ teeth grinded together, fresh hot pain flooding his right shoulder. Maybe Oakflesh would’ve been able to defend against the entire barrage if it was the only thing he was focused on, but Muffle was still going, and while he canceled Blur the moment he hit the water, keeping the trio of spells working as long as he did had consequences.

[Alert: Poison detected]

[Advice: Nullify the poison as soon as possible]

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

[Alert: Oxygen levels plummeting]

[Advice: Seek oxygen immediately]

[Alert: Excessive magicka use detected]

[Effect: Mentally Burdened -> Mentally Strained]

[Advice: Minimize magicka use and rest.]

Despite the windows’ warnings Athias held still, falling to the dirty stone of the luckily shallow pool. A few more arrows, slowed by the water, followed but failed to hit.

Then they stopped.

He pushed himself off the floor and broke the water’s surface just in time for a loud slam to fill the chamber. Several Falmer crashed into the chamber’s walls and fell into the water alongside him, dead or dying. The centurion, standing tall in the face of arrows and blades, had smashed the doors right open, the spheres rolling past its lumbering figure to cut and shoot down panicking Falmer.

His vision blurred, everything doubling as his health lowered at a slow but constant pace.

No time to waste admiring an idea turned reality.

With the Falmer preoccupied, Athias canceled all his spells, his near empty magicka bar beginning to regenerate at a horribly slow rate, and swam towards some rocks, pulling himself out of the water.

He was right below the balcony they had deemed a dead-end. Auri and Remiel were on top of it.

“Are you alright?” One of them whispered. He honestly couldn’t tell which. Between his now ringing ears, the stomps of the centurion above, and the Falmer’s war cries, he wasn’t making out much of anything.

“Just fine, come on.” Athias called back, his arms open.

Auri jumped and despite his blurred sight he managed to catch her, setting her beside him. Remiel followed, though this time he dropped to a knee, severely weakened.

“Dibella's tits!” Remiel cursed as he set her down. He was pretty sure that was a curse anyways. “Uh, I mean you’re totally fine. It’s not like you have two arrows sticking out of your shoulder or anything. On a totally unrelated note, can you feel your right arm?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a little less feeling.” Athias muttered, only half joking as he rolled his shoulder. It felt like the damn thing was burning and that burn spreading down his arm, but he still had over half his health so there was still time.

Together, they made their way into the doorway but refrained from opening it just yet.

Auri got to work immediately, a hand on his shoulder while she attempted to wrangle the arrow from it without snapping the head. Remiel was on standby, a ward spell ready just in case the fighting above them ending sooner than expected. Based off the whirl of machines and dead Falmer being sent crashing into walls, it didn’t look like that’d be the case.

“Most people wouldn’t say they’re fine in your condition.” Auri said.

“No point in complaining if I’m still breathing.” Athias said through a wince, the first arrow torn from his shoulder. The second followed soon thereafter. Auri placed her hands over the wounds and applied as much pressure as she could.

Athias pulled a magicka potion from his bandolier, uncorked it, and placed it between his teeth, downing the cool substance while casting a spell. His magicka encompassed his shoulder, almost squeezing around it. The poison’s burn receded, forced into a single spot and compressed out of existence. He switched spells without missing a beat, the familiar warmth of a healing spell falling over his shoulder then the bruises left behind by snapped arrows. Both spells took longer than expected to accomplish their results, draining his magicka almost as fast as the potion replenished it, but the results were well worth the effort.

His vision was cleared, wounds healed, and his hearing back to normal.

A successful plan if you asked him.

“Don’t get any of that blood in your mouth or any open cuts.” Athias said as Auri removed her hands.

“This isn’t my first time dealing with poison.” Auri assured him, unbothered by all the fresh blood on her hands. “How do you feel?”

“I can still fight but don’t expect me to be throwing around anymore magic.” Athias said. Other than a slight headache and a sort of spiritual chokehold on his magicka, he was untouched. Spells had gone from readily available tools that could bail him out of anything to a rare commodity. Best to save it for healing and nothing else. “Let’s hope this leads to the control room.”

Getting to see one the Dwemer’s automatons first hand was cool. Using them against the Falmer? Awesome. But at this point he’s beginning to wonder just how long they’ve been down here.

He really hated the Falmer and their poison too.

“I'm sure it will.” Remiel said, switch to the door pulled. “We’ve gotten this far. Nothing is going to stop us now.”

She just jinxed them didn’t she?