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<\/p>\n\u201cWatch your feet, Bryn,\u201d Sayma murmured as they started up the sloping corridor. \u201cThere are pressure plates everywhere and the floor is really uneven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it smells funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brynjolf stopped and sniffed the air. \u201cHmm. I see what you mean. It smells like there\u2019s something alive. Plants, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayma nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s what it is. It\u2019s musty, and that\u2019s really strange given that we\u2019re in a desert. Maybe there\u2019s been water seeping in from inside the mountains or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hallway where the two of them had shared a moment had two openings in its left-hand wall. Each of them led to a descending ramp, and each was blocked by the familiar-looking row of metal bars. Sayma had sighed, looking at those; she\u2019d had enough of wandering through mazes for one lifetime if not more, but there was no help for it.<\/p>\n
The entirety of this tomb thus far was built like the rooms containing the pull chains in Al Shedim. Large, square stone tiles covered both the floors and the walls, which leaned toward each other at the top like a pyramid. Unlike those in Al Shedim, though, the floors were buckled and wavy; and Sayma found her boots catching on raised areas as she crept along the hallway. It would be entirely too easy to lose balance and land on one of the deadly pressure plates by mistake.<\/p>\n
The first set of rooms they came to had piles of sand inside and cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.\u00a0 She frowned, puzzled; for there were no obvious openings to the outside and yet somehow the sand had infiltrated the space. She was about to continue when a creaking sound from around the next corner stopped her.\u00a0 She pulled out her bow, fitted an arrow to it, and edged around into the opening.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another of the blackened spectral warriors floated just before her. It wore a red Alik\u2019r-style head cover and carried both a scimitar and a shield, and its eyes glowed a malevolent red.\u00a0 It turned and fixed its gaze on her and for just a fraction of a moment they stared at each other.\u00a0 Brynjolf shouted and rushed forward; but Sayma released her arrow just before he got between her and the specter. \u00a0It staggered backward and Brynjolf\u2019s sword finished it off.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t do that, Bryn!\u201d she grumbled as the creature dissolved into a black puddle on the floor. \u201cYou almost stepped in front of the arrow. After all this I don\u2019t want to end up shooting you myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry.\u201d\u00a0 He gave her a lopsided grin. \u201cI should know better. You don\u2019t need to be worrying about me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The specter had been guarding a large collection of pottery and vessels of bronze-colored metal, arranged on long, low tables. Sayma eyed one particular pot, thinking about the unremarkable urn that currently held Vitus Perdeti\u2019s ashes. He\u2019d look good in that pot. It\u2019s got flair, like he had.<\/em> Once this is all over I\u2019m coming back for that thing.<\/em> That thought was oddly comforting. What wasn\u2019t comforting \u2013 the thing that made her uneasy about the space – was the sand. There were at least three more sizeable piles of it in the middle of the room, and she couldn\u2019t see how it had gotten inside.<\/p>\n As they moved toward the room\u2019s far side, what Sayma had assumed was one of the narrow candle niches she\u2019d seen in other places came to life.\u00a0 At least half a dozen small spiders dropped out of the niche onto the floor and skittered toward her; and as she and Brynjolf began to kill those, more emerged from the niche on the opposite side of the doorway.\u00a0 The spiders weren\u2019t hard to stop, but there were a lot of them, and they moved quickly.\u00a0 They were busy for several minutes clearing the room.<\/p>\n \u201cThat explains a lot,\u201d she said after she\u2019d sliced the last spider. \u201cThere\u2019s no way you could fit five or six spiders that size in a candle niche.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey must connect to the outside somehow,\u201d Brynjolf murmured. \u201cThe sandstorms blow sand inside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, and moisture too. No wonder it\u2019s falling apart and smells funny.\u201d\u00a0 She walked to the far side of the room to find a pull bar mounted into the wall.\u00a0 \u201cWell here\u2019s our first set of bars to drop.\u00a0 I wonder which.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s go see.\u201d<\/p>\n The handle had dropped the bars at the far end of the entry hall.\u00a0 Beyond the row of metal indentations the hall sloped downward, around a corner, then downward again, doubling back on itself in a series of descending ramps. At the bottom was a pair of pressure plates nearly covered in sand.\u00a0 Sayma pointed at them as she hopped over the first, and Brynjolf nodded.<\/p>\n There was a confusing warren of interconnected hallways and dead-end alcoves beyond the pressure plates. They poked their heads into every space, looking for an exit, or a pull chain, or something significant. More of the small spiders poured from wall niches; and while Sayma wasn\u2019t concerned about them, she did worry that the unavoidable noise of their battles might be alerting something larger and more deadly. \u00a0Eventually they found an opening that led to yet another descending ramp with paired pressure plates at the bottom.<\/p>\n The next room was divided into two areas with metal grating held by pillars shaped like fat, inverted pyramids. The ceiling just past the entryway was partially collapsed and hanging down, and that was clearly one of the openings through which sand and spiders had come. But there wasn\u2019t time to puzzle out the purpose of this cage at the base of the building, for a pair of spectral Alik\u2019r emerged from it and attacked.<\/p>\n Brynjolf took on one of the warriors while she battled the other.\u00a0 Neither of them was especially hard to subdue, but the addition of a fresh wave of spiders made the next few minutes much more difficult than they should have been.\u00a0 On top of that, the ceiling on the far side of this room was even more collapsed, with roots dangling down from above and a strong odor of decaying vegetation hanging in the air.\u00a0 Sayma kept running into the roots and spider webs, and reflexively wiping them away from her face, throwing herself off-balance and making the process of fighting the spiders more difficult than it needed to be. Finally, though, she was able to work her way through the rubble and around to the far side of the grate, where another pull handle was mounted into the side of a round pillar.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d just as soon not linger down here,\u201d Brynjolf said. \u201cI don\u2019t like the looks of this ceiling and after all this work I\u2019d be angry to get buried alive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMe too,\u201d she said, giving the handle a tug and a turn. \u201cAll it would take would be one little shake of the mountain to bring it down. Now then. Let\u2019s get out of here and see what we\u2019ve opened.\u201d<\/p>\n The bars back at the first descending hallway had dropped out of sight. Sayma and Brynjolf made their way carefully down the ramp. At the base of it was another room with crumbling ceilings, piles of sand and rubble on the floor, and a spectral warrior on patrol. Sayma was able to creep up behind the creature and dispatch it with a single sweeping slash of her Daedric blade.<\/p>\n \u201cWell done, lass,\u201d Brynjolf murmured. \u201cLike an assassin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, if the boot fits\u2026\u201d She smirked. \u201cI\u2019m glad to know I haven\u2019t completely lost my touch.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s strange to think of you doing that sort of work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cReally? Is it so much more different than, say, taking out the bandits I needed to kill to get to Gulum-Ei?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it is. The biggest difference is knowing you\u2019re going to kill beforehand instead of having to make that decision in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose you\u2019re right.\u201d He sighed. \u201cI wonder how much of the Guild\u2019s rule is just us wanting to feel better about it. It does seem that we end up doing a lot of killing in spite of trying not to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tricky for those of us who do both, like me and\u2026\u201d she trailed off, not wanting to bring up a painful subject.<\/p>\n \u201cAndante. Yes.\u201d He slipped her a look. \u201cInteresting that the two of you have that in common.\u201d<\/p>\n It is interesting. I wonder what it says about Bryn that he was drawn to violent types. <\/em>She thought once more of the flare of anger he\u2019d shown out by the fire, when he\u2019d told her a bit about his father. Maybe that\u2019s why he is so insistent on the Guild\u2019s rule. We\u2019re all violent, and he\u2019s determined to keep it under wraps if he can.<\/em><\/p>\n She watched him as he moved about the room, checking the contents of each vessel, and tried to imagine his broad back sprouting massive wings, his fingers ending in long, deadly claws. She couldn\u2019t suppress a shudder. That was his violence. That\u2019s why he wanted it. He didn\u2019t have to make excuses, as a vampire. He had to kill things to stay alive.<\/em><\/p>\n So what does that say about me, that I just kill things?<\/em><\/p>\n She shook her head and stepped over the black puddle on the floor in front of her. Beyond the specter\u2019s remains was a pedestal holding a single book.\u00a0 Sayma picked it up and scanned its contents.<\/p>\n \u201cSadraaka. That\u2019s who is in here, just as we thought. She wanted to be Archmage. If I\u2019m reading it correctly she was behind the assassination of Gauldur by manipulating his three sons. And the last paragraph says that whoever \u2018passes the threshold\u2019 will \u2018receive her wrath.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI guess that includes all the people who tried to build that town outside.\u00a0 Cursed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd maybe beyond that. Maybe that\u2019s why the forest out there is dead, too. The curse spread.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows? Let\u2019s go see if we can find her and put an end to it.\u201d<\/p>\n A doorway to the right led through another corridor and to yet another descending ramp.\u00a0 They entered the room beyond that ramp and jumped as metal bars rose behind them from what had looked like a simple pile of dirt, trapping them inside.\u00a0 This space had cages on either side, in which there were several skeletons each. There was nothing else of note here, though, except for the iron doors set into the familiar carved stone of a barrow, at the end of a short hallway on the other side of the room.<\/p>\n \u201cNordic barrow?\u201d Brynjolf said, coming up to stand just behind Sayma as she approached the doors.<\/p>\n \u201cYes and that\u2019s very strange. Regardless, that\u2019s what we\u2019ve got. We must be well into the mountain now.\u201d<\/p>\n She pushed the doors open and moved forward into a large, dark, carved stone chamber much like so many others she\u2019d seen back in Skyrim. The great, primitive heads of the ancient dragon cult towered over the space on either side.\u00a0 Against the wall opposite them a huge stylized face gazed down, overlooking the lone coffin resting atop a raised platform.<\/p>\n \u201cSadraaka?\u201d Sayma asked, pointing ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t think who else it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n They had crossed only half the space to the coffin when it burst open and the draugr rose from within.\u00a0 Sayma took aim and fired a single arrow at her before Brynjolf rushed ahead, shouting something about pain.<\/p>\n Bryn, I\u2019m going to strangle you. Don\u2019t get in the way like that! \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n She stepped left, and then right, trying to get another shot lined up; but Brynjolf was too fast, and too strong.\u00a0 He took only a few moments to slice through the draugr, as if she was nothing at all; and she fell, truly dead at last.<\/p>\n Sayma walked slowly toward the coffin, where Brynjolf was sheathing his sword with a sheepish look on his face.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, lass. I\u2019ve gotten so used to fighting out on the road that I don\u2019t even think any more. I just run in.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bad habit.\u201d<\/p>\n In spite of her annoyance, Sayma couldn\u2019t help but chuckle at him.\u00a0 \u201cAt least she\u2019s down.\u00a0 Now to see whether it cleared the curse. If we can get out of here, that is. Check around and see if you can find a door. Or a lever or something to raise those bars back in the other room.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded and moved back toward the entrance of the cavern, checking along the sides of the space. Sayma did the same, focusing on the back of the cavern and the area beneath the gigantic face. There was a chest on the floor there; she took the valuables from it and then turned back toward the coffin and grinned. A handle mounted in the base of the coffin had been placed in such a way that nobody would ever have seen it without getting past Sadraaka first. She grinned and pulled it.<\/p>\n \u201cFound it, Bryn,\u201d she called to him. \u201cI think we\u2019re clear now.\u201d<\/p>\n It took them a few minutes to make their way back to the entrance of the tomb and outside.\u00a0 It was full day outside, the light making her squint for a moment; but a sandstorm still swirled around the city, giving the light an odd yellowish cast. Sayma moved back down through the plaza and descended the stairs she had only seen in the dark before, and gasped as she emerged into the town itself.<\/p>\n Eight spectral warriors surrounded an open gazebo like the one she had revealed with magic, back in the ancient Alik\u2019r temple. Sayma started to draw her sword, but the ghosts didn\u2019t move; they knelt in a posture of supplication, each facing what appeared to be a book suspended over the open basin in the gazebo.\u00a0 She walked slowly toward them, and none of them paid her the least attention.<\/p>\n The book hovering in mid-air was marked with the Daedric letter \u201cO\u201d on its cover. Sayma reached for it; but as her fingers made contact it disintegrated, as if it was made of pure energy, parts of it flying away as it dissipated.<\/p>\n \u201cOh!\u201d she cried, pulling her hand back in surprise.\u00a0 A moment later she realized that the ghosts had vanished along with the book. She swiveled back to scan the surrounding village and saw that the sandstorm had stopped; sun was streaming down into places that probably hadn\u2019t seen it for some time.\u00a0 Brynjolf approached from behind her.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did it,\u201d he said. \u201cI can feel it.\u201d He looked around and a slow smile broke across his face. \u201cThey\u2019re finally at rest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019re right,\u201d Sayma agreed. He\u2019s thinking of Dynjyl. I know he is. We need to put him to rest as well. \u00a0<\/em>\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful.\u201d\u00a0 She walked slowly around the gazebo, admiring its beautiful tile work, and turned to look back up at the elegant exterior of the ancient tomb.\u00a0 \u201cWhat a shame that they had to be so angry for so long. And had to frighten me so badly.\u201d She took a deep breath and stretched her arms out behind her back. \u201cWell then. Now it\u2019s time to find that Cowl. Let\u2019s get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are we going?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really know.\u201d<\/p>\n They made their way back through the now-peaceful abandoned town.\u00a0 Sayma couldn\u2019t help but feel bittersweet about it. It was a beautiful place, and it might have been every bit as full of life as Ben Erai if not for the vengeful spirit of Sadraaka.<\/p>\n It\u2019s always people overreaching, wanting more power, that cause the problems. Always. Sometimes it\u2019s a person like Ulfric. Sometimes it\u2019s a person like\u2026 me, and multiple people pay the price. I wonder why we can\u2019t just be content with what we have. <\/em><\/p>\n They emerged through the great stone walls to see clearly what had been obscured in the nighttime sandstorm before: just down the hill, directly in front of them, was a delicious-looking oasis, its pool reflecting the sun in lazy ripples.\u00a0 Sayma was suddenly aware of her body.\u00a0 She\u2019d been crying, and sweating, and buried in sand and bones and draugr and spider webs for what felt like forever, and she felt sticky and disgusting.\u00a0 She turned to grin at Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cCome with me, Red.\u00a0 We\u2019re getting clean before we do a single thing more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSayma\u2026\u201d he protested.<\/p>\n \u201cBrynjolf,\u201d she replied, grabbing his hand.\u00a0 \u201cLook, I am certain that I smell, under this armor. You\u2019ve been fighting at least as hard as I have. I won\u2019t accuse you of smelling bad, but\u2026 \u00a0It\u2019s not as if we\u2019ve never seen each other bathe before. I\u2019m getting clean and so are you. No arguments.\u201d\u00a0 She started pulling him down the hill; and after a few reluctant trudges in that direction he laughed and started forward.<\/p>\n \u201cAlright. You win. It\u2019ll feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n It was awkward at first, shedding the armor knowing full well that he was at the other end of the pool, possibly watching her do so.\u00a0 As soon as she was out of it, though, and splashing the tepid water over her body, all thoughts of being self-conscious ceased, washed away by the delight of feeling cool and clean again.\u00a0 She used sand to scrub her skin, and dunked her head into the deepest part of the water, reveling at the opportunity to massage her scalp clean; and she laughed as she came up for air and heard Brynjolf humming and splashing as he washed himself as well.\u00a0 She snuck a glance toward him and admired. In the bright sunlight his pale skin looked even lighter, the definition of his back muscles even clearer, and she found herself wishing she dared to approach him.<\/p>\n No. He only kissed me because I was upset, and because I started it. He\u2019s been with Andante all this time. He doesn\u2019t want me. He just wanted to comfort me. I\u2019m certain of it.\u00a0 And I wouldn\u2019t even know how to ask.<\/em><\/p>\n She sighed, and pulled herself back out of the water to begin dressing again.<\/p>\n This armor needs scrubbing, too.\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to be clean and now I have to put on dirty clothing.\u00a0 Oh well. At least it\u2019s a little bit of a\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Come to me. Now. Come here<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n She dropped the piece of armor she\u2019d been holding; it splashed into the pool as she cried out in surprise.\u00a0 Brynjolf whirled.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n His eyes scanned her, and then his gaze rose to meet hers, his eyes wide. Sayma found herself looking at something she\u2019d never seen before and had never expected to see in her lifetime.<\/p>\n Brynjolf was blushing.<\/p>\n He might have tried to deny it, but he would have failed. Brynjolf was a pale, pale man and the red of his cheeks at that moment stood out like a beacon.<\/p>\n She was, too. She was certain of it; she could feel the color rising to her face as she looked at the man who had been her husband standing nude in an oasis. A part of her mind couldn\u2019t help but appreciate the fact that he was still in every bit as good condition as he\u2019d ever been.\u00a0 Another part of her mind hoped wildly that she still looked as good as she once had, after having had a child, standing as she was in an equally unclothed state.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026 heard him again,\u201d she managed to squeak. \u201cMore definite, this time. Louder. He said \u2018Come to me, now. Come here.\u2019 I was startled, that\u2019s all.\u201d\u00a0 She covered her embarrassment by leaning over to retrieve the armor from the water. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m going to be soggy for awhile.\u00a0 Well, it was pretty dirty anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t look back up at Brynjolf, but rather began squeezing the water through her clothing and putting herself back into it.\u00a0 After a few moments she heard him chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry about that, lass. I wasn\u2019t meaning to\u2026 well\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n It finally struck her how ludicrous the situation actually was, and she started to laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s ok, Red. It\u2019s awkward, but it\u2019s not as though we\u2019ve never seen each other before.\u201d\u00a0 She started pulling on her boots and dared to slip a glance at him; he\u2019d already put on his leathers and was strapping the heavy bandolier back around his body.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re, um, still looking good for an old man.\u201d<\/p>\n He snorted. \u201cOld man. Shor\u2019s bones. After all the time you and Andante spent trying to convince me that I wasn\u2019t old, now I have you and Dynny telling me that I am.\u00a0 I can\u2019t win.\u201d\u00a0 But he raised his head and smiled at her, his hair dripping down over his armor; and his green eyes sparkled in a way that told her he was pleased to have had the compliment anyway.\u00a0 \u201cSo where is this voice coming from? Have you got any sense of it?\u201d<\/p>\n She finished strapping on her weapons and her pack and stood to look around.\u00a0 Where are you? I\u2019ll come to you but I don\u2019t know where to go.<\/em><\/p>\n Here.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This time there was a direction to the voice she heard, and she turned and pointed toward it.<\/p>\n \u201cSouth and west. I think\u2026 I think it\u2019s near that outpost we found, where the two guards from Ben Erai were camping.\u00a0 Somewhere in that area.\u201d They had passed by the encampment not long after leaving Ben Erai, stopping to speak to the guards and being greeted only with grunts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll take us some time to get there from here.\u00a0 We\u2019d best get going.\u201d He peered up at the sky.\u00a0 \u201cI have a feeling about this. Look at how hazy it is over to the west. We should be broiling but it\u2019s not as bad as all that. I think we\u2019re in for another sandstorm.\u201d<\/p>\n She squinted and shaded her eyes, and looked west. It was faint, but she could see what Brynjolf had been referring to; a line of brown near the limits of her vision that rose higher against the horizon with each moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI see it.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get going, then.\u201d\u00a0 She climbed up the hill past the oasis and turned to take one last look at the city walls behind them.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget this place. I thought I\u2019d lost him forever. Instead, I ended up helping him put dozens of people to rest. I wonder if this is what Dardeh felt like when he lifted the mists out of Sovngarde. <\/em>She stopped for a moment and shook her head.\u00a0 Ridiculous. He saved the world. I just helped \u2026 settle a little bit of it.<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf was watching her, quietly, when she turned back toward the southwest. She gazed at his calm green eyes and smiled, then broke into the trot that covered ground without exhausting her.<\/p>\n He still has beautiful eyes.<\/em><\/p>\n They ran in silence, exchanging only glances as they went and stopping only a few moments now and then for sips of water. They skirted the edge of the mountains, and passed through the gap between those and Al Shedim.\u00a0 It was eerily quiet, neither dune rippers nor wolves interrupting their passage; but with each passing moment the sky grew darker and the breeze a bit stronger. By the time they topped the crest of a dune and saw the lamps and campfire of the outpost, there was no denying it: they were in the midst of another sandstorm.<\/p>\n Brynjolf pulled his hood up over his head and stood closer to her.<\/p>\n \u201cSo here we are. Now what? Where are we going?\u201d<\/p>\n She threw the long scarf of her hood up in front of her face and looked around.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 I had such a strong feeling that it was this area, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Here.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The voice was stronger, louder in her mind, and to the southeast.\u00a0 She turned and peered in that direction, through the blowing sand, and saw the bulk of a stony hill in the mid-distance.\u00a0 She pointed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere. I think.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gone around that hill from most sides already but we must have missed something.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded and started in that direction.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s get going, then. Maybe we can get out of this sand.\u201d<\/p>\n They fought their way through the storm to the base of the hill, and then around the edges of it.\u00a0 Sayma couldn\u2019t tell what direction she was facing any longer, because just as it had been approaching Sadraaka\u2019s lost city it had turned dark as night and the air was full of sand, and the howling of the wind stripped all sounds but it from the world.\u00a0 Suddenly, just in front of her, the ground dropped away into a trench. She stumbled down into it, unable to save herself from falling face-first into the sand; and when she reached the bottom and regained her balance, spitting sand out of her mouth, she turned to see Brynjolf rushing down the slope after her with his sword drawn.<\/p>\n \u201cLook out, lass!\u201d he yelled.\u00a0 She rolled to the left barely in time to avoid the snapping teeth of a wolf.\u00a0 It was the same color as the surrounding sand, and the air, and if not for Brynjolf\u2019s warning she would have been mauled. He barreled down the dune and into it, and a moment later it was dead.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you alright?\u201d he asked, stepping up beside her.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. Thanks, Bryn. I can\u2019t believe I actually fell down<\/em>. I feel like an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEasy to lose your bearings right now.\u00a0 Look, there\u2019s a path into the rock here.\u201d\u00a0 He pointed behind her, and she swiveled to see a post with a tattered, mustard-yellow banner whipping about in the storm.\u00a0 \u201cWatch your feet. It looks pretty steep over here. But I think we should head down this way. It might be where we\u2019re supposed to go and even if it isn\u2019t, maybe we can get out of the wind for a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded, drew her sword, and dropped over the edge of some exposed boulders, deeper into the gully.\u00a0 Sayma edged her way forward, slowly, checking each step before she shifted her weight onto it. What had seemed to be just a trench in the sand became a ravine, a crevice leading inward through the solid rock of the hill. The deeper they went, the less fiercely the wind blasted them; and it almost seemed as though the oppressive darkness was lifting.<\/p>\n A flicker of movement up ahead of them caught Sayma\u2019s attention. It was light \u2013 glowing light, much as they had seen in the cursed town. She stopped, pointed down the crevice, and turned to Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you see that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAye.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnother one of the cursed Alik\u2019r?\u201d<\/p>\n He stared down the length of the passage before them, frowning. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel right. That curse was confined, in a small area.\u00a0 Once we removed it all of them disappeared. This is something else. Be on your guard.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma nodded, drew her swords, and continued carefully through the meanders at the bottom of the gully.\u00a0 The closer they got to the light, the more clearly she could see that it was in fact a specter: a powerfully-built man, from the looks of it.\u00a0 She circled around a large, dead tree into the open and gasped in surprise.<\/p>\n Here, in the bottom of the center of the mountain but open to the sky, was a small house built in the same style as those of Ben Erai. The stucco was gone in places, no doubt eroded by sandstorms and ages, but the home itself stood solid and strong. She could see stairs leading up to a rooftop terrace.\u00a0 And on the front stoop was a long, low bench, on which sat the specter of a large man in barbarian armor, a style that bared his chest and arms to the sky.\u00a0 He raised his head and stared at her, seeming to pay no attention to Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have come at last,\u201d he said; and Sayma gasped.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s you!\u201d<\/p>\n It was the voice she\u2019d been hearing in her head for so long; a voice both like and unlike her father\u2019s voice and her brother Dardeh\u2019s voice. Deep, resonant, with a hint of hidden power, and, now that she was hearing it in person, full and rich.<\/p>\n \u201cI am Jine af-Avik, of Stros M\u2019Kai.\u00a0 And you are Dagnell at-Dadarh. Daughter of my son. It is time for you to finish it.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma\u2019s hand dropped, and the point of her sword sank into the sands.<\/p>\n \u201cWatch your feet, Bryn,\u201d Sayma murmured as they started up the sloping corridor. \u201cThere are pressure plates everywhere and the floor is really uneven.\u201d \u201cAlright.\u201d \u201cAnd it smells funny.\u201d Brynjolf stopped and sniffed the air. \u201cHmm. I see what you mean. It smells like there\u2019s something alive. Plants, or\u2026\u201d Sayma nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s what it is. … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/4-1-21-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Sayma Sendu<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"