Chapter Seventy Seven

Fragments of metal flew about the room, the centurion not caring how many pieces of its fellow constructs it destroyed. It bellowed steam at the two wizards that had dared invade the halls of its creators. Neloth stood tall, hands forming a gesture as magic radiated from him. A shaft of golden light formed along the path his arms took. After a few seconds, the light dulled changing to form an ornate staff. The Dark Elf caught the weapon before it fell. Flourishing the head of it toward his foe, he let loose a gout of magical flames. The fire was purple and hotter than any natural blaze could hope to be. The fire clung to the metal with a demonic drive to reduce it to slag. “You are foolish to face a Telvanni master!”

Auroth raised his hammer above him with his eyes seeing beyond the room. The water at his feet began to freeze. The frost crept across the floor as if it could see the dwarven construct with eyes of its own. The Altmer locked his gaze at the creature with an uncanny speed. He brought the haft of his weapon down into the water with a slam. A vortex of ice and cold filled the room in an instant.

The automaton began to slow. The steam that had powered its movements chilled, turning to water in its pipes and mechanisms. Auroth ran over the ice with his hammer ready. It struck the creature in the chest, knocking free the dynamo core in one swift blow. “Master Neloth! Behind you!” There was a sphere rolling toward the wizard with a blade ready for battle.

“How quaint…” He turned, lighting the room with a blue flash of shock. His enemy seized for a moment, but soon recovered. By the time it had, Auroth once again brought his hammer into the fray. The machine’s head flew across the room to clater against a pile of rods and levers that had never managed to be assembled. “Well, now that these have been put back in order, why don’t we move on?”

The High Elf was inclined to agree. The more time they spent here, the more likely it was that reinforcements might show up. “Where to next, master?”

The answer was given in the form of a loud rushing of water. The flooding had resumed in earnest after they had taken the last cube from this floor. It poured in from the walkway above, easing in through cracks in the stones faster than Auroth felt comfortable with. Neloth returned his staff to wherever  it had been pulled from. “Come on! We need to swim to the stairs. we can lower the bridge from there.”

The pair clambered unward, finding another pedestal. After a cube was inset, a large bronze bridge fell into place. They ran across, watching the water come after them as if it were living. After a second flight of stairs came an intersection. Neloth turned left, casting some sort of Alteration spell at the gate that lay before them. The metal doors swung free, revealing another control cube. Auroth did not need to be told what to do at this point. He snatched the device and stowed it in this bag without a second glance.

The ruins gave a rumble as the pumps it had been commanding ground to a halt. The water began to climb the stairs they had come from, cackling at the two mer it would soon drown. “I hope you can hold your breath.” Neloth took in a sizable one himself before diving back down the stairwell. Auroth might have questioned this before. However, with the amount of air in this section growing ever lesser in volume, he was forced to concede to the action.

The workshop was now a rolling, turbulent aquarium. The current had picked up some of the smaller bits of dwemer refuse and weaponized them against the magicians. Auroth turned to Neloth, seeing the master wizard pointing at the cube they had left before. He had to be joking…

The altmer began to fight the water as he never had before in his life. The more he kicked against it, the stronger it tried to pull him to the floor. He swam harder, slowly getting closer to the device. His lungs began to ache for air. Scowling at the situation, he grabbed the cube out of little more than spite. He swam for Neloth, seeing the man direct himself toward an opening high on the south wall. There was a short hall, followed by more stairs and, thankfully, breathable air.

His body took greedily the musty atmosphere. After the coughing had subsided he allowed himself a long glare at the Dunmer. “Please tell me this was the last one we needed…”

“Oh yes. Now we need simply return to the main chamber and activate the boilers.” He marched off, not even offering his hand to the suffocated elf.

Auroth rolled his eyes, following dutifully. His armor would need so much work after this.

They found themselves once again in the main hall of the city. Neloth led the way toward the flooded expanse they had seen earlier, pointing to the north. “The last cube is somewhere down there. I hope it will not require more  swimming in this filth.” Auroth could scarcely believe the words.

“You said we had the last cube!”

“The last cube from the workshops.”

Had it been anyone else, Auroth might have killed the man then and there. Instead, he place two of the cubes onto the pedestals, watching the water drain away from the ramps below. He followed Neloth with a remark on his tongue but was silenced by the large ballista bolt that ricocheted between them.

Two Dwarven artillery constructs guarded the door they were moving toward. Neloth growled in annoyance, bringing both hands up to face them. A ring of Daedric characters wrote themselves into the air as he spoke. His voice rang off of the stone walls with a power that made Auroth tremble slightly.

“Servants of Boethiah! I summon thee to fulfil your debt, destroy these toys of those who doubted your master and His siblings!” A blood red portal formed from the circle of text. Three Hunger sprang forth, their mouths dripping with caustic saliva. The beasts caught sight of the dwarven machines, leaning across the divide with unholy agility. Once upon their prey, they began to spray their acidic fluid at the metal automatons. The casings began to dissolve in moments, soon causing a complete failure of the mechanical systems that gave them life. Once their work was done, Neloth produced a large bell from his pack. With authority, he rang the instrument three times. A void opened behind the daedra, pulling them back to Attribution’s Share and to their master’s side. 

“You worship Boethiah?” Auroth asked softly.

“Absolutely not.” Neloth sneered. “I simply like to have a few options for moments when combat is too tedious. Come along! No sense in dawdling.”

The aqueduct was in no better shape than the rest of the city. Crumbled ramps led to and fro, a healthy amount of water hiding untold mysteries below. Neloth pointed ahead. “Up there. That is the pump which should allow us to  get through the door. We will also need to lower those bridges to get to it. I’m not really sure how we can get them down.”

“That’s a first…” Auroth muttered.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing, master Neloth.” The altmer scanned the ramps, seeing one which looked promising. Following its path upward, he could see a set of levers on the landing at the top. He made for the ramp. There was no doubt that in its time, this city had been a marvel to behold. He hopped across a deep puddle in the path. Despite how much water was already in his boot, Auroth didn’t think adding any more was something he cared to do.

The levers had no markings on them whatsoever. He grumbled to himself at the lack of guidance, settling on the right hand lever first. He heard the sound of the mechanism working, but could see no change in the room as a result. He grabbed the center lever next, stopping before he activated it. He had no reason to think it wouldn’t work… But something about it gave the elf pause. He instead pulled the left hand lever. His caution proved just, the action yielding the correct position of the draw bridge. Neloth wasted no time in letting his ‘apprentice’ know that they could move on.

“That’s it! Don’t touch anything else. Quickly now.” The Dunmer ran across the bridge without waiting for his colleague. By the sound of magic and metal that echoed up from below, Auroth guessed that he had run headlong into more of the mechanical guardians. He dropped down, landing with a resounding thud onto the metal bridge. He rushed to help the wizard, sending shards of ice flying through the air. One of the spells struck a spider drone, freezing the construction solid in an instant. Neloth was tangling with another sphere using a combination of purple flames in one hand, and frost touch in the other. The machine growled as its gears and gyros whirred and clicked like something out of a nightmare. Auroth saw the Dark Elf struggling, his balance wavering. Thinking quickly, he cast a frost spell over the wet floor. The water froze into a smooth layer. After a running start, he slid the rest of the way with his hammer ready. He brought the cudgel against the metalic head with a resounding crack and squeal. The guardian fell over, unable to correct its stance before both magicians unleashed their power.

Two hands sent flames, the metal starting to glow in next to no time. The others carried lightning and corrosion. Under the bombardment, the sphere was reduced to a puddle of molten metal. The alloy it had been cast it had actually begun to separate with how hot it became. The wizards lowered their hands, both tired from the exertion.

“Here.” Neloth held out a vial of pearlescent blue potion. Auroth took it gladly, swirling the mixture before opening the bottle. The smell of mountain flower, elves ear, and what he suspected was moon sugar wafted up from the elixir. He tipped it back, feeling the swell of energy course through his body. Neloth too drank from a potion, though he did not use nearly as much of his. “We should rest here for a moment.”

“And here I thought you never needed any rest.” Auroth quipped. “It’s good to see that you have limits after all.”

Neloth leaned against a wall. “Oh yes, I have my limits, as do all on Nirn. The most notable of these is time.” The mage eyed him with what was almost passable for remorse. “I know I am impatient. I also know that I am not the easiest person to work with on any project. I won’t apologize for how I work. I promise you it is not anything you should take personally.  I have lived a long time. The more I see, the less patience I have.”

Auroth nodded. He could agree with Neloth in that way at least. He had lived nowhere near as long as the master, and he knew all too well the feeling of being weary of the world. “There is no doubt that a great many of the problems we all face could be avoided.”

“I’m inclined to disagree. As fine a sentiment as that is, there is no feasible way that I know of to convince the world to cooperate in the manner such a task would require. I do not believe there ever will be someone who could achieve that.” He stood straight. “But we have dawdled long enough. Come, the last cube is just through here.”

It took them no time at all to obtain the last of the cubes. Neloth used one of these to drain the water in the great hall, exposing the boilers that were so important for their work. Auroth carried a cube to each of these in turn. As the devices locked into place, the unholy heat of Dwemer Industry roared into life as though no time had passed. Once the last cube was locked in, the pair returned to the reading room.

Neloth made a bee line for the controls, activating the long dormant machine that held the tome captive. Four beams of light pierced the room from crystals that sat nested in the floor around the glass. Neloth worked on, angling them to shine into a large focal lens above. The rings of metal surrounding the case began to rotate in both directions. Once they locked, the glass slid aside to make way for the podium below. It rose into place with an ear splitting crash. Dust rained from the ceiling. As it approached the book, the particles slowed. They stopped about five feet above the text, making a strange dome. Neloth smiled wickedly.

“There it is. I hope it was worth it. Please…” He motioned for Auroth to take it, “be my guest. You deserve the first look. Besides, it could be very dangerous. These books are known to drive many people insane.”

Auroth picked it up slowly. He immediately felt the urge to throw it away. It made him feel sick, and gave off a power that threatened to overwhelm him. “No…” He stowed it in his bag. “I’ll leave that for Gaeolin. I want nothing from this book.” Neloth considered him, obviously disappointed.

“Very well. Though I would have thought you would want to discover its secrets immediately. No matter, we should take it back to Tel Mithryn. It will be much safer there until your friends arrive.”