6: Not Aliens, AYLEIDS

I walked cautiously down the remainder of the steps and found myself looking at another stairwell. Ayleid ruins are deep underground, but this one was fairly deep even for a normal ruin. As I continued down the stairs I thought about Ayleids. They were a race of Elves that existed during the ages of myth long before the time of the Empire. They are sometimes referred to as Heartland High Elves, but I prefer to say Ayleid. It is more succinct and everyone knows what you’re talking about. The Ayleids disappeared quite a long time ago, although no one is sure about the exact time. Perhaps this ruin I was in was once a capital city, because that would explain its depth.

I pondered over this until my foot pressed down on a wire. I froze, Ayleid ruins were well known for bandits, but even better known for traps. The memory of the ringleader caused me to cautiously remove my foot from the trip wire. I stepped back to a safe distance and broke the trip wire with one of my shortswords. Two large metal balls unhooked from recesses in the passage and swung inwards. They clanged together and then hung harmlessly in the passage, but I still had to step around them.

Another staircase! This ruin was deep! I descended them and came to a split in the passage. I turned to the left because it was less well lit than the passage on the right. The passage opened up into a large room that was dominated by four central columns and a hanging basket filled with glowing stones. An interesting thing about Ayleids is that they didn’t seem to need fire to light up their huge cities. They relied on glowing stones and fountains of pure magicka to illuminate their lives. My studies of Ayleid ruins had never brought me into contact with any of these magicka fountains, but I had seen and used Welkynd stones. Welkynd stones are essentially condensed magic. By concentrating on them you can release their stored magicka and fill yourself to the brim with magicka. I hoped that the bandits had not sold off all of the Welkynd stones in this ruin, because I longed to hold one in my hands once again.

I snapped out of my scholarly trance and focused my eyes on the area around a fire that had obviously been built by the bandits. There was some movement that looked vaguely humanoid, but I needed to get closer to have a better look. I then saw the faint glow of a Welkynd stone! It was perched high on a pedestal in a crevice in the wall, and it hovered up and down slowly. The figure moved up to the base of the wall in which it floated, and drew a bow from its back. I crept closer as the dark shape fired an arrow at the stone. The arrow dislodged the stone and it fell into the waiting hands of the archer. I jumped from the shadows and pulled the mace down towards the archer’s head, but she rolled away and jumped up behind a pillar.

I ducked behind one of the large columns, and brought my Flare spell to the top of my mind. It had served me well on the mudcrabs and rats, but I wondered how much it would do to a person. I peeked out from behind my cover and an arrow whizzed by me. I breathed deep and flung myself out of cover, launching blasts of fire at the pillar that the archer stood behind. She glanced out from behind the pillar to see what I had done, and received a fiery greeting. She screamed and jumped back as I continued to launch Flare after Flare at her. She managed to get off another few arrows before my spells hit true. A single Flare merely singed her clothes, but the five that followed up burned through her fairly quickly.

I picked myself up and turned to see if there was anything else in the room that needed my attention. An arrow caught me in the shoulder and shoved me back. More bandits! Immediately I sent a healing spell into my shoulder and got behind another pillar. I clenched my teeth and removed the arrow. I peeked out from my cover, and was greeted by a whole lot of nothing. I couldn’t see who had shot at me, or really anything. It was just too dark! I fired a Flare into the darkness and caught a glint off of a pair of blood red eyes. A Dunmer. He fired a quick succession of arrows, but I dodged away from the pillar and launched a few more Flares in his direction. I felt a tug at my magicka reserve; I had been casting too much and had nearly depleted my energy. I changed direction and ran towards where the Welkynd stone had fallen. I dove onto it, and gripped it as I concentrated on unlocking its flow of magic.

The sudden flow of magicka made me giggle with glee! I had forgotten what it was like to be rejuvenated in such a way! Welkynd stones are one use only unfortunately, and it crumbled in my fingers. Nevertheless, I turned and blasted fire at the Dunmer. He lasted a few moments, but my onslaught quickly burned through his flammable fur armor.

The two archers had small bags full of coin at their waists, which had somehow managed to remain undamaged. I scooped them into my pack as well as a silver dagger that the Dunmer had been carrying. The female archer had been standing near a fire, and I searched there next. The bandits had stacked their loot in a large pile near the fire. Among it I found: a suit of iron armor that was missing the boots; a fine green-colored robe, which I slipped into; a steel claymore; and a chest partially full of gold and lockpicks. I strapped the armor onto my pack, but left the claymore, it was just too heavy to merit taking it.

My pack was getting heavy, but I lugged it up a flight of stairs that lead into a makeshift office. Obviously the ringleader had slept in here, because there was an actual bed instead of just a bedroll. I gasped as I glanced into the corner of the room. Next to a table that was covered in papers, was the largest pile of Welkynd stones that I had ever seen! I ran over to them and scooped them into my pack. The bandits obviously didn’t know what they had, because the stones were not neatly stacked or organized. Instead, they were simply tossed onto the ground. I couldn’t leave such valuable Ayleid artifacts lying there, so I took them without a second thought.

Welkynd stones are large, about a foot and a half in length. They should be as heavy as a rock, but the magicka in them makes them float slightly, even when they are off their elevating pedestals. Nevertheless, my pack became too heavy for me to carry, so I took some of the heavier items out and placed them at the foot of the bed. I’d be back later to reclaim them after all…