Roland collected himself as best he could, regaining his senses in what seemed like an eternity. He blinked, his vision still hazy. He had to move. He needed to move. He felt for his sword, but he couldn't find it. The webbing that had gripped him has slid off his sword and gauntlet. Briefly, he tried to yank out the sword from the webbing, but he didn't have the time.

He noticed that the Dark Elf was busy gloating, chittering to Iseldis in her wicked voice that carried like a foul smell. Roland gave a quiet growl, growing not only tired physically but emotionally. He had never felt such an urge to end something else's life before. If he could take her out, he knew that the world would be better for it, and more importantly, Iseldis could be saved. Roland surged to his feet.

Savagely, quickly, Roland rushed at the witch. So busy was she in her monologue of torture that she didn't notice until he was already on top of her. Her spider-like legs gave her an advantage, and so he attacked her humanoid body. "You think humans are frail?" he asked her as his muscled arms wrapped around her neck, squeezing the air out of it. "By Eruvar, I will break you like a twig!" He roared and squeezed tighter, his biceps bulging as she began to thrash.

It was clear she was not used to being out of control of a situation, her eyes were wild and her arachnid legs kicked and tapped upon the stone. Roland was almost hopeful that this was going to work. That he would emerge the hero, and that all would turn out well. But as she thrashed, she raised her hands and a shadow substance appeared in her hands like a dagger. With desperate strength, she stabbed his arm and he cried out, feeling the hideous shadow inside him for but a second. He let go, hitting the ground.

The Dark Elf, her windpipe now free, hacked and coughed. If Roland didn't know any better, he would have thought she was embarrassed at being so helpless, even for a moment. "You wretched maggot!" she seethed, her horrible gaze falling upon him and black lightning crackling at her finger tips. The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was a thousand thousand shards of shadow piercing his body.
@Luminosity

Iseldis thought she'd be dead by now, helpless on the ground where she'd fallen, felled by the witch's dark magic, but Roland had diverted the elf's attention. Perhaps together they'd have stood a chance, but they'd been forced to fight alone, and individually they were too weak. From her back, Iseldis lifted her head to see Roland trying to strangle the witch from behind. She tried to get up, but it was no use. Her head fell back to the soft dirt. She had to get up. One breath, then another, and another, until she was nearing the strength to stand. Not enough to endure more than a single hit, she knew, but enough she might be able to make a difference.

Groaning softly, she rolled onto her side, pushing a hand into the dirt and slowly finding her way onto her feet. There was a ringing in her ears, one she soon realized was the sound of the witch's magic overwhelming Roland, and she turned to see a torrent of it washing over him. Gritting her teeth, Iseldis charged and lowered her shoulder into the dark elf's body, with just enough force to disrupt her.

That was as far as her plan went, though, and it was a poor one. The witch staggered a step sideways, but she had lost her temper by now, frustrated with the effort required to deal with the pair of humans. She lashed out with a backhanded strike that caught Iseldis across the brow, and then one of the lower spider legs stabbed out, and she had no defense against it. The thin weapon pierced into her midsection, doubling Iseldis over as blood began to run over the leg, onto her robe, and drip into the dirt.

She gasped for breath and then fell, collapsing onto her back once more, grasping weakly at the leg and writhing as the elf stood over her, fuming. "This is only the beginning, human," she said. Iseldis only lasted another second before the pain was too much, and the darkness took her.

...

She woke with a start, her heart pounding and breath coming rapidly in and out. Once again she'd expected death, only to find herself very much alive. Iseldis was disoriented, though, seeing only darkness around her and unable to determine where she was. She couldn't move her arms, which were trapped at her sides, nor her legs, as both were seemingly bound by some thick material that covered her up to her neck.

It took a few seconds of her head pounding to realize that she was upside down, hanging from the ceiling perhaps. The dry material constricting her... webbing, perhaps, though not quite the same kind that had snared her during their flight. She remembered the wounds she'd suffered, particularly the one that should've been fatal, and while she couldn't confirm they were gone, she felt intact, whole. Iseldis was still far too drained to cast more magic any time soon, but the witch had kept her alive. She didn't know if that was something to be thankful for.

More than that, she felt another body wrapped tightly against hers, back to back, a larger one with broader shoulders. There was no way to confirm in the total darkness, but...

"Roland?" she asked, at a whisper at first. "Roland, wake up. Roland, is that you? Wake up!"

Pain filled every nerve and orifice on his body as the lightning engulfed him. He felt as if he was being literally unmade, before he lost all thought and time and fell into an abyss of darkness. He didn't know how long he would be out, or that he was even still alive until he heard a familiar voice in the distance. A voice he had grown to associate as a friend, and it was pleasant even in distress. But the urgency jolted him almost as powerfully as the dark lightning.

He groaned, his body stirring behind Iseldis. "What?" he asked tiredly, trying to regain his faculties and his mind. The barest shake of the webbing that bound them followed as Iseldis continued to speak, and it helped to jostle him awake. "Iseldis? What happened?" Briefly he tried to move his arms, and when they wouldn't budge, he increased the pressure and the webbing bulged, but didn't break. In fact, he felt even if he was at full strength, it wouldn't break.

"Damn," he breathed, and after a moment he hung his head. All of the past few days filled his mind, seeing everything she and he had tried to do to escape this lunatic. He didn't know why the Dark Elf wanted them dead other than petty vengeance on the surface world, and granted if he could kill her, he would have. But that was just it. He had tried. He suddenly felt as Iseldis did however long ago it was in the cavern.

He had failed.

"I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry..." he said. Even as the words escaped his lips, he realized that they weren't helpful. But he couldn't help it. He didn't think they could escape the situation they were in. He only prayed to his Gods for a quick death, which judging by their still being alive, was not likely.

He needed to make sure his companion escaped at least. "Iseldis," he whispered. His hands were bound behind his back, and he dearly hoped hers were as well. This might work. Even in the dark of the lone, gods forsaken cavern they were in, he could still feel the dagger hidden behind his back. "There's a blade at the base of my back. A small one...grab for it. Grab for it and free yourself. You need to run back to the surface. You're quicker than I am, and the witch is likely too tired of dealing with us to chase after you again. Just cut yourself free and warn the city. They need to be told of this Dark Elf's existence."
@Luminosity

Iseldis was not lucky enough to have her hands pinned behind her back; they were stuck at her sides, but with enough effort, she was able to start wriggling them towards Roland. "Don't be an idiot," she chastised, but not too harshly. "We've a better chance of escaping together. We have one little knife between the two of us, and I can't cast more than a candlelight right now. This isn't the time for sacrificing ourselves."

They needed to get their bearings before making any kind of a plan, but Iseldis wasn't about to leave him behind. They shored up each other's weaknesses to a degree, but besides that she didn't want to think about facing this place alone. Whatever this place was.

"We'll warn them together, we just need to... wait." She heard footsteps approaching, two sets of them somewhere beyond the walls of the room they were in. Heavy and obvious. Then they passed by and grew quieter. "We're probably under guard," she whispered, finally reaching the knife and getting it free. "It smells like death here, must be draugr near. The only way we get out of this is together."

She sawed through the webbing constricting her steadily, and once one of her arms was free the process sped up. Carefully, Iseldis curled up and worked to free her legs and feet, wary not to cut them both down at once, which would no doubt create a racket. She grabbed the web-rope suspending them from the ceiling once her feet were loose, turned herself upright, and then quietly dropped to the floor.

"Watch your eyes," she warned, before lighting up a tiny ball of magical light in her palm. In the perfect darkness even a minuscule light could hurt when looked at directly. They were clearly still underground, judging by the cold earth floor and hard rock walls, a room with no windows and only a single metal door, underneath which the barest bit of light filtered through. Iseldis crouched down by it, listening, and she heard the soft creaking of old bones, the deathly rattle of draugr standing guard. Two of them, if she had to guess.

Her light also illuminated the state she was in, her once white robes dirtied and bloodied down the front, a tear still remaining over her midsection where she'd been stabbed. Iseldis poked two fingers through, but she felt only smooth skin beneath. Something had healed her very effectively on the way here. She pushed it from her mind. Better not to linger on it.

With half the webbing gone, Roland would be easily able to free his arms. She handed him his knife back. "Careful cutting yourself down," she whispered, "we're under guard by draugr just outside."
@POOHEAD189

"Got it," he breathed, grabbing for the knife gingerly before he felt the familiar hilt in his palm. Gripping it, he began to saw the webbing slowly. He was still far weaker than he was used to, but the lack of consciousness had given him a modicum of rest. He cut through his bonds relatively quickly, freeing his arms first, and then one leg at a time. Meanwhile, Iseldis had already fallen and landed nimbly on her feet.

Roland envied her agility. He wasn't brutish or slow, but he couldn't do many of the things she could accomplish. With one last cut, he tumbled to the earth. Quickly he reached out with a strong hand and caught the ground, letting his feet fall past him to cuff the earth. It was slightly audible, but after a few moments of waiting, no draugr were incoming. He breathed easier. He got off his butt, only to bump into Iseldis who had risen to her feet at just the same time.

"Sorry," they both breathed, and after a moment they placed a hand on one another's arms to make sure they didn't run into each other again, and they moved to the door simultaneously. Roland whispered to her. "There's two Draugr out there right? Can you destroy one with your powers while I use the dagger?" He knew she had abilities he didn't, but he still felt it was unfair that he was the one to use the knife even though it logically was very fair.

It was time to use one of his skills though, and creeping forward, they made it to the metal door. He brushed his hands along it gently, and lightly kicked the dirt beneath them at the bottom of the door. Based on the solidness of the structure and the dirt, it wasn't liable to make a lot of noise when they opened it, which was his main concern. Now all they needed to do was do it. "I'm ready when you are." He said to her. "I go right and you go left?"
@Luminosity

Iseldis expected to need to pry the lock on the door open, but she found it unlocked. She kept a pick tucked away in her braid for situations like this, but as of yet she didn't need it. Perhaps the witch didn't expect them to wake, or to be able to free themselves from their bonds. Either way it felt like a lucky break, one they sorely needed.

"Sounds like a plan," she answered. "We can do this." The words were more for herself than anything. She couldn't linger long on the thought of what she'd been caught in, or terror would creep in. At least she didn't have to go through it alone. With a twist of her fingers, Iseldis pulled the small ball of light she'd conjured into her hands, and reshaped into a little blade, smaller even than what Roland had to work with. She was draining reserves only just returning by casting, but there wasn't any choice.

They pushed the door open together; it swung to the left, giving Iseldis an obstacle to get around between her and the draugr. The hall outside was narrow, cold, and dark, but distant torchlight and the glow of her knife proved just enough. Iseldis darted around the door, lunging where she expected the draugr to be, but for a dead thing it had quick reactions. Her right arm was snared in its grasp, stopping the blade of light short of its throat, and then its other hand was suddenly grasping Iseldis's neck.

She was caught off guard, and unable to stop it from slamming her sideways into the hard rock wall. Dull pain rippled along her left side, her arm, her ribs, her hip. The hand released her throat while she was staggered and went for the rusted sword at its belt. Iseldis thought quickly, the dagger disappearing from her right hand, vanishing into darkness, and then emerging again, now in her left. She thrust the light blade into its chest, the magic cutting the dark creature like water, and she sliced sideways, sending it into death for good.

Suddenly free of its grip, Iseldis stumbled sideways to the other wall and fell to a knee, bracing herself as she turned to see how her partner had fared.
@POOHEAD189

As Iseldis moved, Roland did as well. He sorely wished he had his sword, or this would have been little to deal with. But even with the Draugr's back turned, he found he only had a small amount of his stamina to use with his considerable strength. He hit the Draugr with a backfist to the head, sending the undead stumbling.

If it was hurt, it gave no real sign and turned, eyes glowing with an unknown power. It opened its toothless maw and struck with its notched sword, Roland leaping back from the slash. With a desperation, he flung himself forward a moment later behind the following swing, hitting the Draugr with his weight and sending both to the ground.

There was an otherwordly strength to the deceptively flimsy limbs, but even considering it, Roland was heavier and stronger. He managed to wrest the sword away to clatter onto the stone floor, and he grabbed the Draugr's head to twist it off. The dead thing held Roland's arms, keeping him from finishing the job. Roland growled, sending more power through his limbs to finish this quickly. The Draugr wouldn't tire like he would.

He suddenly moved his knee, pinning one of the arms beneath it and twisting the Draugr head, the skull ripping off with a swift jerk. The body moved slower now, but it was still alive. Roland silenced its unlife forever by taking its own sword and stabbing into its chest where a living heart might reside.

He hated to admit it, but after that one fight he almost had no fight left in him. He had briefly seen light flashing across the doorway, knowing Iseldis had used her powers. He needed to suck it up and remain battle ready. Breathing heavily and turning to see Iseldis looking over to him. He gave a small laugh, happy they made it through this first obstacle. "I don't know by what divine reasoning we're here," he said as Iseldis steadied herself. "But I'm glad its with you."

He didn't know what prompted the Squire to say it, but he found he was telling the truth. He used the sword as a cane for a moment to push himself off the ground, and he held out his hand to help her up. "Let's get the hell out of here. Together."

One challenge down, goddess only knew how many more to go. Iseldis took Roland's hand and lifted herself to her feet, before she brushed off her robes. Rather pointlessly, too; she was a mess and it was not going to be a simple matter to fix that.

"The bodies," she pointed out, seizing the draugr she'd felled and dragging it back through the door into the cell they'd just escaped. While Roland did the same for his, she looked over the corpse-warrior for anything useful. Its sword was too heavy and unwieldy for her to make use of, but she at least salvaged a knife, something to defend herself with without expending valuable magical energy that she had precious little of to spare.

"Let's try this way," she suggested, taking the path to the right from the cell. She had no reason to suspect it was the way out, and she had no knowledge of any of this place in general, but it was really going to be a matter of keeping moving, learning what they could, and hopefully staying alive long enough to escape.

It looked to be a prison hall of sorts, as theirs turned out not to be the only cell, but they were fortunate enough not to run into any more draugr. Iseldis checked inside a few of the other cells, but found them all empty. It seemed they'd have to keep going alone.

At the end of the hall was a doorway on their left, the only way out on this end, and Iseldis thought she heard soft, rattling breathing from within. Pressing her back to the wall, she inched forward and peeked into the room, finding that it looked to be a barracks of sorts, only full of open coffins. At least six that she could see were filled with draugr that looked to be in some sort of hibernation. Their variety of ancient weapons were lined against the far wall.

She stepped back, and allowed Roland to take a look. "We might be able to sneak through," she whispered. "No telling what's on the other side. It's that or turn back and try the other way." Somehow she felt they'd find something just as uninviting if they did that.
@POOHEAD189

Roland had a small cut from the draugr on his left cheekbone, having been roughly wiped for blood after they had dragged the bodies into their cell again. He didn't know if it was fortunate or not that there was nothing else alive in the other cells, or at least nothing else they could tell to be. Just take it as it came, that's what his Chapter master has always taught him. He was just behind Iseldis when she spoke to him, and he gave a nod.

"I say we go forward." He told her, and he took point, holding one of the draugr's swords. The blade was heavy, which suited him. He planned on using it to bash as well as cut through anything that came into his way if he needed to.

He let a foot down into the room, encrusted rust and dust breaking on his weight as he did do. There was no crack or crunch, but he still felt as if every step was audible to his ears. He still wasn't sure how Draugr's ears or hearing worked, but so far it seemed close to human.

Stepping in, they passed back the first set of coffins. The Draugr didn't have closed eyes, but the glow was softer. He also felt this room was unnaturally cold. Far too cold without any ice to make it so. He hid a sigh, and continued on until suddenly, a Draugr popped up from behind a coffin! It was the one he was passing, and it's hands were on his neck before he realized what was happening. Roland sputtered, but did his best to make no noise as he tried to wrench the hands off of his throat.

With a burst of strength, he pushed the Draugr back and the thing stumbled. Roland sucked in sweet oxygen, and then drove his sword through the thing before it could give a wail, placing a hand over its mouth as the magic that had kept it animated seeped out of its body. He felt adrenaline and fear pulsing through him, and looked to see if Iseldis was ok at the moment. By Eruvar, that was far too close.

The breathing in the other room was now louder, and there was a bass to it that sent shudders through Roland. But it was even and monotonous, and if he was correct in his guess, it meant that whatever it was, was asleep.

Iseldis had tried to find some way to intervene when the draugr attacked Roland, but anything she could've done to help would've been far too bright and loud, and would've done far more harm than good in the long run. He stilled it quickly enough that when Iseldis checked behind them, none of the other draugr they'd passed were stirring.

She let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, and it became a cloud before her. She shivered as the cold crept into her, and it made the effort of moving quietly all the more difficult. Her robe had some warmth to it, but it wasn't exactly a winter garment. They needed to get out of this place.

Finally they reached the door at the far end of the room, and Iseldis tried to push it open to no avail. At first she thought it was just heavy or perhaps jammed, but it soon became apparent that it was barred from the other side. A quiet, exasperated breath escaped her, and she stepped back to look for other options. The wall on the right side of the door was in a slight state of disrepair, with some small holes crumbled away, but—

A growling, guttural breath from behind her startled Iseldis, and she turned to see multiple draugr beginning to stir. Two somewhat close, and a third near the edge of what they could see before the room turned to total darkness. They'd never be able to silence them all without awakening others. "Damn it," she breathed, pointlessly trying the door again. They had to do something quickly, or they'd very likely be overwhelmed in here.

"I think I can squeeze through there to the other side," she whispered urgently, not sure if the draugr had noticed them yet. She pointed to the hole in the wall. Roland wouldn't be able to fit, but Iseldis was thin enough to make it on her own. "Can you hold them? I'll try to get the door unbarred."

Pure blackness was the only thing she could make out awaiting her on the other side, and while Iseldis didn't like the thought of separating, she didn't like their chances of survival if they stayed here and tried to fight.
@POOHEAD189

The squire, though he would never think it himself, stood tall and stalwart as the restless dead began to stir. Truth be told, he was pessimistic and a tad scared, though the fear had lessened from exposure. The sword in his hands felt heavy, but he held it aloft like a greatsword of old, nonetheless. "Go," he told her in a breath, nodding. A coarse wail echoed through the walls as one Draugr's head peaked up to watch them. "I will hold them."

As the girl squeezed through, he helped her by pushing against her shoes with his hands, and once she was across he turned again and held his sword up in a guard. Truth be told, this was a win win for him. If she could find a way to open the door, then they could both likely escape with their lives. If not, at least she wasn't surrounded by Draugr. He heard her rump hit the floor a moment later, and when he was satisfied she was on the other side, he took a step forward.

There was nothing like a good offense to be a good defense, and he wasn't going to let these Draugr have the first hits on him. Among the ruined catacombs, the Squire hacked down with the heavy, blunted blade and cracked open a Draugr skull with two hits. He was lucky this one didn't have an iron helm. The others that stirred did however, and one was already on its feet. Within, Iseldis would be able to hear his boots scratching across the dust on the floor as he moved and pivoted, and a clang of cold metal echoed across the halls as Roland blocked a swing.

He heard a shadow of a growl behind him, and an undead lifted out of a tomb at his back and grabbed his arms, holding him as the other wound up for another swing. He could feel air from the noise, colder than ice upon the back of his neck. He cried out and yanked, using his powerful body to twist out of the Draugr's grasp. He took an arm with him and ducked the next swing, skewering the one in front of him. Backing up, his next slash hit the one in the tomb across the cheek, knocking its decrepit head off.

"By Eruvar, you will not find victory here," He whispered to the Draugr that still approached.
@Luminosity

Iseldis wasted no time slipping through the crack once they'd agreed on the plan, going head-first with her back to the ground. She reached down to touch the cold earth with a bare hand as soon as she could, to make sure there actually was a floor and that she wouldn't simply fall to her death. Then came the legs, which Roland helped push through, at which point she dropped ungracefully to the floor.

Quickly she scrambled to her feet and lit a small magical light in her palm so she could see what she'd fallen into. She gasped in surprise, instinctively retreating a step to put her back to the wall. "Oh no," she breathed to herself. Not only did she not have immediate access to the barred door, she found herself in a long, narrow hall, with no end in sight, and on either side of her were cramped stone bunks of sorts, every one filled with a sleeping draugr. She'd put herself right into their barracks.

And with the sounds of fighting, they were beginning to wake. Iseldis had to think fast. Her first thought was to retreat back through the hole, to rejoin Roland, but then they'd be trapped there, and she doubted she could even squeeze through before they were on her. The other option was to press forward, with no guarantee she'd be able to find her way back to Roland. That thought terrified her more, but she knew it was what she had to do. She had to push down her fear, and open the way for him.

She moved forward at a steady but swift pace, the chill in the air creeping into her bones. Goddess, it was cold here. Her light illuminated only a short distance in front of her, giving her the sense that she wasn't moving at all, as she found only more draugr. Some reached for her as she passed, dead fingertips grasping at her robes or the silver ribbons trailing from them. Behind her she knew they were rising, and would soon be in pursuit.

One was able to snatch her wrist, and she yelped, her steady breathing suddenly becoming panicked as she tried to pry its grip off. Quickly she resorted to magic, conjuring a thin blade to slice the hand clean off, at which point the hand fell from her. Iseldis turned and ran, unable to stop herself any longer. The light failed to illuminate far enough ahead, though, and Iseldis ended up running straight into a draugr's outstretched arms before she could react.

Its hands closed around her throat and cut off her breath, stopping her cold. She grabbed at its forearms, unable to free herself, and a moment later it drove her backwards and turned her into the wall, her back colliding with a bunk. Terror overwhelmed her as others closed in, all empty handed but still dangerous. She couldn't see them, her eyes locked on the one snarling before her, but she felt their hands. Her arms were pulled away and trapped out at her sides. Two crawled from the bunks behind her, one grabbing her by the belt and holding her back, the other wrapping hands around her midsection and clawing at her belly.

The claws were sharp enough to pierce and draw blood. Still unable to breathe, Iseldis felt herself slipping. Her light faded until she saw only darkness and the faint blue hue of the draugr's eyes. They were everywhere now, clinging to her legs and pulling at her hair. The thought raced through her mind: this is how you'll die, torn apart by draugr in the black depths of the earth.

She refused. She had the power to survive this, she just had to will it to the surface. It erupted in the form of blinding light magic exploding from all sides of her body. Those draugr close enough to touch her were disintegrated into dust, the rest thrown backwards. Iseldis gasepd in one breath, then another, the sounds in her ears muffled and distorted. Her balance failed her when she tried to stand, and she was met with a sharp pain in her abdomen where the draugr had wounded her. She pressed a hand to it, urging more magic to her palm to slow the bleeding. With her other hand she steadied herself, and kept going forward.

The draugr were still recovering, giving her time to get by the worst of it. A few weakly grasped at her boots from the ground, but she shook them off and kept going until she finally found a door. Iseldis rammed it open with her shoulder, stumbling into the next room and closing it behind her. A heavy wooden cabinet filled with some kind of alchemical instruments was next to it. She got to the far side, and with all her strength, was able to tip it over to block the door and prevent the draugr from escaping.

Iseldis fell to her knees after taking one more step, once more fighting against exhaustion. Her newest wound was going to take some time for her drained magic to heal, but the bleeding wasn't severe. It was just another step towards escape. She had to get up, she had to keep going.

She had to find her way back to Roland.
@POOHEAD189

Roland and the Draugr crashed through a wooden cellar door, the two locked in combat. Damn! If he was well rested he could overpower the thing, fueled by dark magics though it was. But as he was at the moment, he could only just roll atop the thing to put its arms in a lock. His masters at the Chapter had taught him unarmed combat, but fighting Draugr were a bit different. They didn't tap out or give up over the pain, and so he had to break the thing's arm.

With a snap, he dragged the limb off and tossed it aside, He had dropped the Draugr sword, so he felt around on the floor and found a rock, gripping it tightly to bash the Draugr's head in with five hits, each more savage and powerful than the last. He did it until the ethereal blue faded from the abberitions eyes, and the body went limp. His arms felt like lead and his mind swam from the exertion, but he made sure it was done.

Once the thing died, he fell over. The wails from the other room and within the barracks filled the halls, but he didn't feel like moving much. He almost couldn't for a moment, his body shutting down briefly, with all he could do being clenching his teeth. But he knew he needed to move, and with a grunting will he stood up. At first he felt he would fall over, but he caught himself. Blue eyes floated in the darkness just beyond his vision.

He realized that he hadn't heard Iseldis in awhile. He knew that wherever she was, she wasn't close. Had she left him? No, she wasn't the type of person to do that. He trusted her, and not for the first time did he wonder why that came so easily to him. He knew she wasn't killed either, somehow...

Pushing off the broken door, or what was left of it, he stumbled further into the chamber he was in to find a broken sarcophagus. At first he flinched, thinking it was merely another Draugr place of rest. He blinked, hacking up dust. But gradually, he realized from a small light streaming above that it wasn't. There was a skeleton within, but he sensed no malign influence in it. Instead, squinting as the small light seemed so bright to his night vision, he approached and realized he found something. Something that called to him.

A sword. A blade with twin lions carved into the hilt, and a pale moon-lit glow that permeated the steel.
@Luminosity

Iseldis winced as she forced her way back to her feet. She looked down, her floating light spell illuminating the hand she kept pressed against her stomach. It was spattered with her blood, but the light of her healing magic wasn't yet wavering. She could keep going.

A sudden shifting of wooden chair legs against the hard ground drew her eyes up, and she drew in a startled breath. She wasn't alone. A dark elf had just risen from his chair on the other side of the room, which looked to be a laboratory of some kind, an alchemist's workshop if she had to guess. He looked younger than the witch, though of course the age of an elf was hard to guess. Perhaps it seemed that way because he looked about as frightened of Iseldis as she was of him. He had no visible alterations to his body from magic, he simply looked like a dark elf. She wasn't sure what to say. It was an elf responsible for all her misery on this adventure, but he was not that elf.

She didn't get the chance to say anything, as he soon bolted from the room, bashing aside a wooden door on his way out. She wasn't going to catch him in her state, and she needed to go a different way besides. Back to Roland. Still, if he was on his way to warn someone more dangerous... Goddess, they had to hurry.

A bang on the barred door behind her urged Iseldis forward. Her makeshift barrier would hold, at least for the time being. She turned left around a corner and warily made her way back towards where she hoped Roland was still alive. Mercifully, the rooms she passed through were largely empty, simple corridors on the way to these crypts of draugr. When she saw the barred door, she sped up to a jog. It was too quiet on the other side. Iseldis feared the worst, but used it as all the more reason to hurry.

She lifted the wooden bar from the door, allowing her hovering magic light to brighten somewhat. "Roland!" she called, not quite yelling. She stood ready to bar the door behind them, and buy whatever time it would give them.
@POOHEAD189

He closed his hand around the hilt of the sword, and as he did so a small light gleamed from it. It was soft, but definitely there. He felt something warm, and within moments his eyes widened in astonishment when he realized his stamina had been replenished. It was as if the very evil in the place caused the sword to cry out in defiance, and it intended to use Roland as its vessel in order to wreak havoc on the abominations of the underdark.

Roland was not keen on letting anything control him, but as long as his and the sword's intentions were aligned, he'd allow the weapon's help in slaying these foes. And more importantly...

Saving Iseldis.

The door opened to reveal three shambling corpses approaching, and the one up front gave a lumbering swing as Roland strode to meet it. The blade in his hand was lighter than it seemed, and with his vigor returned he blocked it relatively easily, turning the blow and countering with a sideswipe that beheaded the Draugr. Despite his wounds, along with the crusted dirt and blood along his arms and neck, he dispatched the others in a similar fashion, and decided to cut his way out of where he was. The barred door looked a bit less imposing with his strengthened body and new sword, and he began hacking at the timber, somehow knowing the blade wouldn't dull.

Iseldis' mad dash to where she had last seen Roland would be interrupted by a faintly glowing blade sticking out of the wood and stone they couldn't pass earlier, and a cry to Baelyr and Eruvar echoed across the stones before Roland shoulder rushed the blockade and knocked most of it aside roughly, the squire's hair matted and he was getting tired yet again but, he was here and he brightened considerably when he saw his companion in the dark.

"Iseldis! I..." he began, stepping forward, before he realized he might have said something he shouldn't, or at least would be embarrassing. He shook his head and pushed forward. "Are you ok? What happened?" His voice was breathless, but his eyes were alert and his shoulders squared and steady. Somehow, he looked as if he had grown even since they had met mere days before.
@Luminosity

Iseldis let her weight sag against the nearest wall once it was clear they were out of danger for the moment. Just a few precious seconds of rest. She pushed back a few strands of hair matted to her face, her braid steadily coming undone, and she'd had no time to tend to it. Even with the piercing chill in the air her skin was damp with sweat.

"That hole didn't lead where I hoped it would," she explained, catching her breath. "Too many draugr. Managed to get away and block them, but a few got their claws on me. I'm okay, though." Roland looked to be fighting through a similar level of injuries. Her bleeding seemed to have stopped, so she reserved further use of her magic. It seemed likely she'd need it.

"We need to keep moving," she said, urging herself as much as Roland. "I was spotted on my way back to you, by another dark elf. Don't think it'll be long before something worse than draugr comes for us." She dreaded the thought of battling that dark elf witch again, but she couldn't imagine that other elf had run to retrieve anyone else. Just had to hold on to hope that they could avoid her.

Iseldis led the way back where she'd come from, to the alchemist's workshop, where the incessant banging on the nearby door from the draugr had actually subsided. Perhaps they'd grown dormant again now that they had no target in sight. The walls were lined with potions, neatly stored and organized and labeled, only they were in a script Iseldis had no knowledge of.

"I can't read any of it." She peered at the liquids of a few, trying to identify them, but she'd only been given a basic education of herbs and alchemy, not enough to identify complex potions on sight alone. The right potion could make all the difference to them at the moment, but without knowing what they were drinking...

There were also several other doors they could choose. To the left, down a straight hallway, was the way the younger elf had disappeared. Not an option, as far as Iseldis was concerned. Straight ahead, and down a few steps, looked to be an armory or storage room of some kind. To the right were stairs that led upwards. Certainly the most promising sight.

Iseldis peered through the barred window of the door ahead of her, and something caught her eye. "My staff!" she whispered urgently. "They tossed our gear in here." She tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Damn it. Do you think you can force it open?" It wouldn't be quiet, but having their gear and supplies back would be most welcome.
@POOHEAD189

Roland took a deep breath, his face stern and unyielding. He regretted to say, he was beginning to get used to constant battle and the penetrating darkness. He might feel differently without the sword he had procured, but then again he might not. His normally kind eyes were gone, and his youthful face looked a few years older with experience. He looked between the three exits, pondering and wondering how they could tell where to go.

The upper floor was likely the best, but caves twisted and went up and down ubiquitously. He couldn't rightly trust it. He was still thinking on it when Iseldis caught his attention, and he snapped to attention. "Oh..." He breathed, his fierce look dissolving into youth once more when he realized they were not under attack, at least yet. He stalked over and sheathed his sword, grabbing the planks with his callused hands.

He grunted. "I think I can. Back up," he whispered, and once she did he would put his weight and strength into it, gritting his teeth as he pushed. If nothing else, Roland was strong. Long hours hauling knightly equipment and war drills in the training yard had hammered him into a muscled squire, and within seconds the door began to budge. Slowly at first, but after a moment it shot open like a firearm.

The echo reverberated off the walls with an uncomfortable loudness, and he looked back to Iseldis as if he had dropped some expensive pottery, smiling guiltily. "They would have heard that," he deadpanned, and tossed her the Staff, grabbing the rest of their supplies too as she kept watch for the moment. Within, he found a small crossbow as well. That might come in handy.

Walking out, Roland crossed the room and grabbed a few potions too, not knowing what they did but anything could help if they were desperate enough. He plucked them up and dropped them by the armful into his beltsack, hearing them clink until they were nestled within the cloth he had within to dampen the noise. He prayed to Eruvar these things could help somehow.

"Where should we go?" He asked, knowing enemies could bear down on them at any minute. They might not know what the noise signified, but that was small comfort. "I'll follow your lead. I trust you."
@Luminosity

Iseldis laughed nervously, trying to keep the volume of it down. "That makes one of us, I guess." Still, they weren't finished yet, and had even won a small victory here. She took a moment to extend the staff to its full length, letting the white light within it bathe the room. Its weight was familiar and comfortable in her hands, enough to give her a little more courage. The staff folded back down, and she returned it to her belt, taking a deep breath.

"This way." She pushed open the door leading them upstairs, watching the way up carefully while still moving with a balance of speed and caution. She had to hope that this would lead somewhere useful. Ever the optimist. The torchlight on each of the stair landings provided little visibility, but not once did she lose her balance.

"Don't know how they stand it down here," she murmured. "Feels like the walls are suffocating me." Every room they'd been in was so small, cramped, but she supposed that was only natural in an underground network like this.

When the stairs could take them no higher, Iseldis carefully opened the door before her. Her breath left her when she did. They discovered a laboratory of some sort, though it looked to double as a surgeon's room. Slabs of rock were used as tables here and there, and the room was a nightmare of organization, crates and barrels everywhere, magical oddities and ingredients or tools here and there. There was a foul aura in the air of some kind, and only a few breaths of it left Iseldis feeling sick to her stomach.

But in the center of the room was a long table to which a human man was strapped down, his ankles and wrists restrained by glowing purple magical tethers that crackled softly. The dull magical light floating above him near the ceiling was clearly focused on him. He was at least a decade older than either Iseldis or Roland, left shirtless on the table, most of his clothes and gear dumped on the floor nearby. He was a soldier, clearly, perhaps captured on a patrol. And he still lived.

"Goddess," Iseldis breathed, picking up the pace and rushing to the side of the table. He'd been experimented on, it seemed, with strange burns and marks branded onto his chest and abdomen. Iseldis recognized none of it. He was pale and weak, likely having gone without food or water for some time, but soon enough he woke from his dazed slumber, his eyes recognizing that the two near him were not his captors.

"By the..." his voice was hoarse and weak, and he soon cleared it. "How are you here? What's happening?"

"We escaped," Iseldis explained quickly. "An elf witch captured us, but we freed ourselves. Do you know if there's a way out?"

He blinked, struggling to understand. "Y-yes, it's not far, at least I think. Through the door behind me, it should be a straight shot, but there are draugr."

"Draugr we can handle," she answered, confidently for once. "We'll get you free, and clear the way for you." She called magic to her fingers, summoning a small and thin knife, which she lowered to slice through his bonds. He uttered a warning, but she failed to heed it before her blade touched the magic chains.

A loud spark of magic angrily attacked her weapon, dissolving it into dust and sending a painful jolt up her arms. She shook it out, looking to the prisoner for some explanation, some way to help him.

"No!" he managed, grimacing. "She'll have felt that, the witch. She will come here at any moment, she'll kill you both. You have to run, now! It's too late for me."

No, no, no. Iseldis cursed herself for acting too quickly. But she couldn't panic now, couldn't make the same mistake twice. Some part of her wanted another chance to fight the witch, despite the resounding failures of her last few attempts, but at the same time, the wiser thing might be to live to fight another day, and give herself a better chance in the future. That would mean leaving this man to his fate, however.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Gareth," he answered. "You should be running, there are worse things than the witch even, you cannot stay here, you-"

She heard it then, footsteps approaching up the stairs they'd just come from. They had to make a decision. Iseldis looked to Roland, uncertain.

"If this is a fight we can win, we need to stay, right?" Gareth was already telling them how it couldn't be done, not in their state, but Iseldis hadn't asked him. Roland's was the only opinion that mattered to her in that moment.
@POOHEAD189

Roland had never deigned to imagine he would see another human face again, much less another one beneath the earth. It took him a moment to register the surprise of it, and by then Iseldis had tried to free Gareth. What would the foul witch need this man for to experiment upon? Aren't there more available subjects closer to her, anyway? Dark Elves might be nearly extinct, but there were plenty of monsters and barbaric non-humans elsewhere.

Despite the trauma they had gone through, Roland felt less weary, closer rather to rage. To have himself and Iseldis be chased down here and tortured, and to find this innocent man already partially poked and prodded, laid bare. He felt the anger boiling inside of him, and he realized that it served no purpose. Not at the moment at least, and he took two deep breathes and gave a silent prayer to the Gods to show them the way.

When her blade didn't cut the shackles and sparked the violent reaction from the magic, the footfalls beyond the door grew louder by the moment. At the moment he felt completely stuck between decisions. He didn't think of himself as heroic, but he wished to purge these devil-spawn from the world and get back at them for all of the evil they've done. But he also knew they would likely die in the attempt, especially if the she-witch herself was there.

Though he didn't care about his own life in the attempt, one look at Iseldis made him reconsider. He didn't know what made her want to ask him, but he felt a swell of pride from the question. He knew he didn't want her to die, and that he couldn't just tell her to leave, either. It would be insulting, and he respected her too much for that. He looked back at Gareth, imploring them both to leave. Roland wouldn't want to leave the man either, but he knew they needed to make it to the surface as well. Damn! What could they do?

It was at that moment, a moment of clarity filled him.

They would do what they had to.

Roland held his hand out to Iseldis, and if she took it he'd raise it between them in a salute to comrades. "Let's finish this." He told her simply, midnight eyes piercing. At her behest, he'd heft his sword aloft, and the door to the stairwell flew open to reveal a fey-like soldier in abyssal black armor, staring at them both with unmistable dark elven eyes. Behind him were two others, similarly clad, wielding scimitars.

With blindingly fast movements, the three assailants were within the laboratory and snaking past the tables. Roland shifted his stance to a defensive one, sword leading as he parried and slashed, doing his best to keep the dark elves at bay. Already it was a losing battle, and he didn't know if he could beat one in a fair duel, much less three of them. It was only the cramped conditions of the room that kept him from being surrounded as the dark iron slapped against his blade and subtly cut him in a dozen places.
@Luminosity

Iseldis wasn't about to let him fight alone. The appearance of the armored elves had caught her off guard, and she had to force herself not to panic. She'd been bracing for another bout with the witch alone, and hadn't considered that she might bring such deadly help. But it was too late to reconsider. If they were to die here, at least it would be with weapons in hand. Not as prisoners.

She vaulted over a crate, and in one smooth motion kicked one of the elves that sought to flank Roland in the chest, driving him back. Close quarters against armored foes was a fight that played to Iseldis's weaknesses, but she had to try to disrupt the foe, keep Roland from being overwhelmed. She sent a flurry of staff attacks at the elf she'd singled out, but most had little effect against the ebony armor. The last attack he turned aside and in a smooth counter landed a cut to her shoulder.

She yelped, attempting to hop sideways to avoid anything else, only to bump into a low table that nearly tripped her. The dark elf's free hand closed into a fist, a punch of the armored gauntlet swiftly landing against her midriff. Iseldis had no armor to soften hits against her, so she took the full damage of the strike, which drained her breath and sent a tremor through her legs. She only barely got her staff up to deflect the downward swipe of the scimitar that came next.

But she did turn the attack aside, and quite effectively, giving her an opening to quickly swing horizontally with her staff, landing a heavy, jarring blow to the elf's helmet. It dazed him and sent him stumbling away. Iseldis thought to pursue, but a second elf flanked her unexpectedly, meaning Roland was left to fight one in single combat for a moment.

The flat of the second elf's boot caught her in the chest, tossing her back to tumble over the table and crash ungracefully to the floor. The obstacle luckily gave her a precious moment to recover, which she sorely needed. Breathe, damn it, she scolded herself, using her staff to get back to her feet. You won't last if you trade blows with them like this.

And still the witch had yet to appear. Where was she? Simply waiting for the right moment to strike?
@POOHEAD189