Nathan glanced around the chamber, while Jack started to tell him about the other tombs he'd seen with this similar puzzle design. Nathan listened closely running the opinions through his mind. Although, he knew from the stories his parents told him that no Nord tomb was ever the same. The stories they told with these pictures were always so unique and done for a reason. Even if the stories were lost to time, they still meant something. Not wanting Jack to feel bad though, he let him finish just in case he knew something that he didn't. After Jack finished telling him what he knew, Nate licked his lips and said with a casual shrug. "Alright. So... Rationally... When you walk in. You see them from this side." Nate strolled around to stand before the puzzle at the point from where they entered. Looking at the pieces of the puzzle from this angle, he tried to rationalize why there was more pictures than stones. Talking mostly to himself, he pointed to the pictures, softly saying aloud. "Reading from left to right. The picture of the whale would be first." Moving to the first stone, he used his strength to turn the heavy stone to the picture of the whale. The stone turned a bit jaggedly from how long it had been stationary, but he set it properly in place.

Jack moved closer to look at what the next one might be, saying over the scraping noise of the rotating rock. "Well, if you go by that then..." Nathan dusted off his hands, about to look up to verify the next one that he was going to do, when Jack dropped his face into his hand with a disgusted groan. Nate lifted his head to look at the puzzle, asking with concern. "What? What's wrong?" He was about to confront him, but Jack let out a disappointed sigh and told him with dry confidence. "It's Whale, Snake, Snake. I'm such an idiot..." Slowly moving to the middle stone, Nate leaned on it, replying in a gentle voice. "And you know this because...?" He had already figured the puzzle out, but he was curious how Jack had figured it out. He'd never known a person who wasn't a Nord to figure these out. Jack pointed up at the two stone tablets over the doors, muttering out. "One opens up one of these doors. Since the Bird door is caved in. That leaves Snake. Gods... I should have seen this..." Smirking to himself, Nate turned the stone to the right pictures, nicely telling him over his shoulder. "Relax. You're worried about Mark. It's bound to mess with your head a bit."

The second the stones were set, Nate gestured to Jack, and he pulled the lever. The gated door beneath the Snake tablet opened with a loud clang and they both sighed with relief. Venturing out through the tunnel, Jack scoffed his feet across the floor, telling him a bit shakily. "I swear, the closer I get to him. The more... I can't seem to focus on the little things." Nathan nodded, then quickly reached out to snatch the collar of his shirt to stop him from running into a caved in section. Pulling him back a bit from the dead end, he gestured him toward the steps just off to the left. Giving him a warm smile, Nate sweetly regaled to him. "You'll feel better when you see him. You're just getting the jitters. Relax. We'll find him." Reaching out, Nathan couldn't help petting Tiidgein's little sleepy head that rested on the edge of Jack's hood. Tiidgein just looked so comfortable laying in Jack's hood. The next room was lined with unopened crypts, but Nathan felt no magic coming from anywhere. Wanting to be safe though, he walked slowly through the room, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible. Behind him, Jack followed his lead to do the same.

Nathan stepped off the last step and relaxed. Nothing happened. He felt like he'd dodged what could have been an ambush. Until Jack stepped off the last step. At the far end, a crypt popped open with a loud 'BANG.'  The lid falling across the ground, while the sound echoed all around them and dust puffed into the air. Inside the crypt, a Draugr fell to the floor, causing both Jack and him to jump back with a yelp. For a split second, Nathan scolded himself internally. He was technically undead! Of course, HE wouldn't trigger anything designed to keep Mortals out! Nathan tensed, waiting for the other crypts to pop open and unleash a hoard upon them. Instead, the Draugr didn't get up and nothing happened. The place falling back into silence. Tiidgein was up now, his little claws digging into Jack's shoulder as his body trembled and looked around for danger. Jack reached up to calm Tiidgein, grumbling out bitterly to Nate. "I HATE when these things do that!" Nate put his hand to his heart more out of habit and comfort, before chuckling back in response. "If my heart was beating, I'd say the same. But since a heart attack is the least of my problems right now..."

Jack chuckled wearily, then began to lead him to the open crypt that revealed a way through. It had been cleverly disguised as a crypt but was in fact a secret doorway. Nathan liked that. He made a mental note about it to tell Escher later. His mind was racing to see if Lord Harkon had secret coffin tunnels in the castle... and if not. He wanted to make them a thing. Following the dark narrow passage, Nate's eyes adjusted to see things clearly a second or two too late. Jack slipped on a small bone, catching himself on the wall. Moving closer to put a hand near Jack in case he fell again, Dawnbreaker's glow shined enough for Jack to see what he'd put his hand on. The walls were covered in thick webs and in every corner were large egg sacks the size of boulders. Tiidgein curled around Jack's neck, hissing softly by his ear. Nate heard it too. Something was moving farther ahead in the shadows. He could even smell the fresh blood in the air. Taking ahold of Jack's arm, he pulled him close and coaxed him behind him, when he told him boldly. "Stand back. I got this." Nate raised his hand, conjuring a ball of red light between his long nails, then flicking the ball out at the egg sack. Upon bringing his hand back toward his mouth, he inhaled deeply and drew the blood from the millions of little lives within.

The blood gathered into a red mist that wafted quickly through the air to be absorbed into his fangs as if he was feeding from them individually. When every life had been complete drained to a husk, he moved off to do the same with the others. When he came upon the large aggressive spiders, he did the same to them. Their squeals filling the tomb as their bodies thinned out from being so aggressively drained within mere seconds. Showing no remorse for them, he stepped over their dead bodies and headed to the way out. Tearing down the thick webbing that blocked the way onward. While he tore it down, he heard Jack ask with nervous curiosity from behind him. "Nate...? What kind of Vampire are you exactly?" Nathan's shoulders fell and his gut twisted up. He hadn't thought about how that would look to Jack. Deciding that it was better for Jack to find out here rather than back at home, he reluctantly answered in a cool voice. "Well, according to the bastard that turned me... I'm a Vampire Lord. One of the first and strongest of the pure-blooded Vampire strain, that was handed down by Molag Bal. The Daedric Lord and Father of Vampires himself."

Jack followed him into the next tunnel, continuing to ask with light curiosity. "Did you make a deal with a Daedric Lord?"  Nathan tensed a little but decided to dodge the question a bit by answering with a slight bend in the truth. "No. But becoming a Vampire has gifted him my soul whether I wanted it or not." Jack stopped short, his voice sounding so hurt when he asked. "You lost your soul because of me?" Nate stopped in response, slowly turning to look at him. The last thing he wanted was for him to think that. Seeing Jack's watery blue eyes, he told him seriously. "No. I told you. I was already dying. I came here to help you survive... and to find out if I can control this. Lucky for you, that dragon removed a lot of my thirst. Or we wouldn't be having this conversation. So, that's a good sign, right?" Jack nodded and Nathan smirked at him. Even if the truth was slightly different, he didn't need Jack thinking about that right now. Traveling through the tomb, Nathan took a sip of his Daedric Wine discreetly while they rested for a bit. Jack took the time to eat and shared bits with Tiidgein, while Nathan listened to Sanguine's disembodied voice tell him coolly. "You're handling yourself pretty well. You're almost there. There is a few more things you should know before you enter through the gate, and you lose me."

Nathan paid close attention to what Sanguine told him. Yet, kept the knowledge to himself for now. They traveled on through the rest of the tomb with little resistance, until they came to what appeared to be a dead end. Although, for a dead end, it was guarded by a large Draugr Overlord. Nate rushed out to engage the Draugr, cutting him down with his vampiric strength that few could stand against on a good day. Unfazed by the fight, Jack simply walked up to the wall and put his hand on a small disc in the center. Turning slightly, he asked Nathan. "Hey, Nate? Did he have anything on him?" Kneeling, Nathan padded him down until he removed a metal dragon claw from his satchel. Turning it over, he briefly looked over the palm with pictures. Taking the claw from him, Jack told him nicely. "This is a key. Turn the dials to the symbols for me. Please?" While Jack called them out, Nate rotated the three dials to the symbols of a Wolf, Dragonfly, and Dragon. Jack then fitted the claw to the center dial that perfectly fit into the holes and turned it like a key. With a loud 'pow' and the scraping of stone, the entire wall lowered. Nathan had never seen anything like it and marveled at it.

Handing him the key, Jack chuckled out to him. "Here. Souvenir." Nathan accepted it, thanking him as he stashed it into his bag. Jack then led the way up a narrow stairway to a set of stone doors with the face of a dragon head carved into it. Taking a deep breath, Jack uttered back to Nate softly. "This is it. I can feel it." Nate folded his wings in more, stepping up beside him on the steps. Putting a hand on the door, Nate decided to tell him the first part of what Sanguine had told him about, saying casually. "Stay close. There is only one thing standing between us and Sovengarde now." Jack looked at him with worried eyes, asking lightly. "What? Another Dragon?" Nate shook his head, putting both hands on the door as he answered over his shoulder nervously. "No... A Dragon Priest named Nahkriin. We need his staff to open the seal into Sovengarde." Nathan was about to push the doors open but stopped to watch Jack. Jack didn't look as scared as he should have been. Instead, he adjusted a few things and for the first time removed a long black staff from his magic bag. The glowing emerald eyes of the dragon shaped staff glinted in the dim light.

Tiidgein was just as fascinated by the staff. Leaning far off Jack's shoulder to sniff the nose of the dragon staff. Nathan could feel the strange power coming from it and it gave him goosebumps. How long had he been hiding that? Why hadn't he used it before? Petting Tiidgein's head, Jack told him with slight worry. "Stay close." Tiidgein's response was to huddle along Jack's shoulders with his tail curling loosely around Jack's neck. After meeting Tiidgein's eyes with a doubtful look, Tiidgein shuffled around to a new spot. Snuggling into the safety of Jack's hood but rested his tiny head on Jack's shoulder to peek out. Jack chuckled and Nate couldn't help smiling. Why did Tiidgein have to be so cute. He was actually worried for the little guy. Looking between Tiidgein and Jack, he asked them. "Are you ready for this?" Jack nodded, confidently answering. "Ya. Let's do this." Nate turned his attention to the door, his vampiric muscles flexing under his grey skin as he tried to push the heavy doors open. Dust shook from the seam of the door as it struggled to open it. The doors hadn't been opened in years and they were practically sealed shut.

Nate strained so hard that he clenched his teeth and tried to hold back a snarl. His boots started to slid across the stone steps, until his body changed once again. The sides of his boots split down the sides as his clawed feet broke out to dig his toenails into the stone floor. Getting better leverage, his thick talons tore through the stone as he put all his strength against the door. Nathan's leathery wings rose behind him as his body tensed harder than ever, his wings pumping to help propel him forward until the doors finally gave in. Shoving the doors open, the heavy doors swung out, slamming against the sides of the castle. They hit so hard that they broke off their hinges and fell heavily to the ground with a louder BANG that resonated into the open air of the outdoors. Nate rolled his shoulders and wings, trying to loosen them back up. The effort had taken a lot out of him, but he wasn't going to show weakness. Taking the lead, he glanced back to see Jack following and summoning his Flame Thralls with his staff. He was glad that Jack's magic was returning, because they were going to need it. Nate led him around the roof of the castle, lingering by the wall. The second, he saw a set of steps leading up to a Draugr in red robes, he quickly raised his hand to signal Jack to stop and hide.

Jack crouched down by the wall and Nate joined him. Peeking over the wall with him, they both looked upon the Dragon Priest who stood at the high rise of the steps. The Dragon Priest was minding his own business, polishing the golden dragon staff in his hands. He was in no hurry to finish and unlike the other Draugr, Nate could see he was much more sentient. Whoever he was in his past life was still the creature before them. He wasn't a reanimated husk. He was powerful and would be more dangerous. It unnerved Nate that the power he felt coming from the Dragon Priest almost matched the power he felt coming from Jack. The golden staff was very similar to the design of Jack's, but it had bright ruby eyes that seemed to glint in the low light when it saw them, causing the Dragon Priest to lazily turn his head in their direction. Nathan locked eyes with the Dragon Priest, then decided to try something new. Flexing his hand, he conjured a bright blue ball that burst apart with a soft pulse, causing blue energy to leak of his palm. From above them, a stony Gargoyle crawled across the wall to snarl at the Dragon Priest with bright red eyes.

Jack nervously backed up from the wall, when he saw it, asking him nervously in a hushed whisper. "That's yours, right?" Nate cracked his neck with his hand, flashing his fangs in a smug grin when he said aloud. "Yep. We're going to need him." To Be Continued...