Jack didn't want to move. Part of him was planning on going back where they had come from. Monsters he could deal with... but Skooma did unpredictable things to heavy users that made monsters seem friendly on their worst day. Mark loosened his grip over Jack's mouth, gesturing him to follow him down the dark tunnel. Jack shook his head, when the wooden boards on the support wall creaked under pressure and he could clearly hear the sound of something sniffing the air. Jack cautiously moved as silently as he could over the snow toward Mark, keeping his eyes on the wall. He could hear the Khajiit let out a soft growling purr on the other side and it gave him goosebumps. Mark took his hand firmly, leading him around the corner and deeper into the winding tunnels. Jack hoped that they wouldn't run into him... but he was never that lucky. 

Mark lead him at a brisk pace, peeking around the corners before pulling him out. Jack noticed that the ice around them seemed to fade into a stone structure that he guessed was the work of the Dwarves by how metal was accented with stone in places. Mark suddenly slowed down his pace, lowering the tip of his greatsword to touch something crumpled on the ground. Mark tapped the blade on the crumpled mass of what appeared to be metal. When nothing happened, Mark relaxed his shoulders, informing him confidently. "Dead. Looks like someone got to it before us." Mark released his hand to peek on ahead, while Jack kneeled to look at the thing. Mark thought this thing would move? Upon closer inspection, he swallowed nervously. It was crafted to look like a small metal spider. Designed for an unknown purpose with six legs and two smaller clawed hands. Built into the top of its body is what appeared to be a mechanism for holding something... but it was damaged and a piece was missing.

Mark walked back to him, telling him. "The way looks clear. We should keep moving forward." Jack rose to his feet, asking Mark curiously. "What is this thing?" Mark glanced at the thing with disgust, answering dryly. "We call them Dwarven Spiders. They are everywhere in Dwarven ruins. As far as anyone knows... These pests dig. It's hard to say why, because the moment they see you, they try to shock you with electricity." Mark nudged the dwarven spider with his boot, adding in. "This ones soul gem in missing from the looks. They need that to work. I'm not worried about these guys though... I've heard tales of... Other things being in places like this. I'm just hoping we never see them." Jack nodded in agreement. He hoped to just get in and out without being seen by anyone... or anything.

Mark lead him out into a semi-open room with large pipes that ran through and around the walls. While just a few feet from a stone table was a large square doorway that was blocked off with heavy bars. Mark kneeled to touch a large puddle of blood leading to the bars, telling him cautiously. "Something came through here... recently. This blood is only a few days old." Jack moved to examine the stone desk, suggesting curiously. "Maybe that crazed Khajiit got him?" Mark rose up to follow the blood to the bars, uttering out in an undertone. "I don't think so. There is no sign of a struggle and the blood leads farther in... If the Khajiit has done this, he would have taken the body back to the fire pit we saw. The kill would have been sloppy. This looks too clean. The thing that did this was rational in its attack." Jack looked over the bodies of two more gutted Dwarven Spiders on the desk, mumbling out uneasily. "I don't like how you said that..."

Mark tested the strength of the bars by trying to see if he could slide them, while grunting out. "Ya... Well... Machines don't waste time playing with intruders." Jack shivered at the thought, picking up another journal as he told Mark anxiously. "I don't like hearing that either." Jack showed Mark the journal, then opened it to read aloud a page or two of the research notes on Dwarven Spiders for Mark. "If only Unmani had left one of these Dwarven machine creatures intact enough for me to study. The fact they almost killed those Khajiit brothers in the middle of the night doesn't mean we couldn't have found a way to disable one. We dragged some stuff in front of the pipes they came out of to stop them from coming back. They are simply fascinating! It is just as Calcelmo described in Dwarves V1. Their appearance does, in fact, resemble that of an arachnid. I had thought that to be an embellishment given by this source. The inclusion of the soul gem into the design of the apparatus is quite remarkable. It could explain the focus for the lightening that he describes. Oddly enough, it doesn't appear to be the main power source for the apparatus. Perhaps some sort of harmonic resonance with the energies contained in the soul gem to bring heat to the small boiler? Too early to say conclusively, That does raise the question of where they get the liquid for the boiler however."

Jack paused to turn the page and continued to read aloud a bit more tensely. "Huh, that was strange. I thought I just saw something moving beyond the barred door. It looked vaguely humanoid. I wonder if it could be an undiscovered automaton? I'm going to move my bedroll down here to see if I can catch another glimpse of it. This is all so exciting!" Jack closed the journal, setting it back down on the desk to say numbly. "That is where it ends... Mark... What have we walked into?" Mark moved closer to slide a hand over his shoulder, pulling him back against his chest for a minute to say sweetly into his ear. "Don't worry about that part. Let's just get what we came here for. I get the strong feeling that this expedition team is beyond our help." Jack hated to let himself believe that, but the deeper they seemed to go... The more his hopes dwindled.

Mark kissed the nape of his neck briefly, then released him to continue on ahead. Jack gave Mark enough space to lead the way and as Mark passed by a large pipe sticking out of the wall it began to rattle nosily. Jack raised an eyebrow at the stacked supply boxes in front of the pipes valve, when he recalled the journal entry mentioning something about that. He slowed for just a second wondering how effective that really was, when the top box was knocked away and something metallic lunged for Jack's face! Jack toppled back across the floor with a sharp surprised scream as the Dwarven Spider landed on him. Jack managed to grab the Dwarven Spiders tiny arms to keep them from clamping its claws into his throat. The Dwarven Spider snapped its claws in his face and its head began to glow a bright purple as white static prang to life like veins of lightening in a globe!

Jack struggled with the thing, only until Mark shouted out. "Don't move!" Jack barely had time to process Mark's words, before Mark's sword came down and swatted the thing off him. The Dwarven Spider crashed into the floor a foot or two away, but quickly gathered itself back up. Frustrated, Jack raised a hand as Mark raised his sword and engulfed the fucking thing in flames. The flames ignited the boiler in the spider and it began to overheat, until it dropped to the floor and exploded in a shower of sparks. Mark slowly lowered his sword, looking a little impressed. Jack let his hand fall back to the floor weakly, grumbling out to Mark. "I'm going to need a minute..." Mark kneeled down beside him, placing a hand on his chest comfortingly to say a bit worried. "Did it hurt you?" Jack shook his head. His heart was beating so fast that his body simply couldn't move. Mark adjusted to sit next to him, telling him in a slow calming voice. "Maybe we should rest for a bit."

Jack huffed sarcastically, gesturing with his hand to the blood stain over by the desk as he muttered out. "And wind up like that guy? No thanks. Just give me a minute to get my heart at a normal rate and we can go." Jack stared up at the dark ceiling, trying to let his mind drift to anywhere else. Someplace calm. He settled for thinking about the sound of rain. He was staring to relax, but not enough. Mark leaned over him then, pressing his lips to Jack's in a gentle hesitate kiss. Jack gave a throaty chuckle as he deepened the kiss with Mark. Reaching up to cup his cheek, before breaking the kiss to mumble out. "That isn't helping to slow my heart rate, Mark..." Mark playfully nipped Jack's bottom lip, whispering. "It is. It's slowing it down just enough to match mine... and mine is beating softly so that it won't interrupt." Jack smiled up at him, kissing him again. Mark could be such a romantic when he wanted to be.

Mark kissed him for a bit longer, until Jack was able to sit up. After he had sat up, Mark broke the kiss to whisper sweetly. "Feeling better now?" Jack nodded, watching Mark climb to his feet before taking his hand. Mark pulled him up onto his feet, then turned reluctantly to lead again. Jack flicked his tongue over his lips enjoying the taste of Mark. He didn't want to rest in a place like this, but the idea of snuggling with Mark sounded so good to him. Mark crouched low to peek around a corner and Jack's eyes drifted down Mark's exposed arms. Captivated by the way Mark's arm muscles flexed, gripping tighter onto his sword hilt. Jack couldn't help being distracted... Mark had started it. Turning him on was easy, turning him off was harder. At least, until Mark jerked back against the wall. Mark grabbed for Jack's shirt, pushing him flat against the wall as the same crazed Khajiit voice hissed out. "Need me some skooma... The imported stuff. Might pay off my bounty this time... Walk into the city a free man."

Jack pressed himself as far into the wall as he could, feeling very anxious as the voice drew nearer. Mark seemed to hold his breath as the Khajiit spouted out a little too close by. "Kill him, if he talks like that again! Kill him while he is sleeping... Or poison his meat. See how he likes that!" Jack shivered for a brief moment and then his heart rate was back in full force. He was afraid... The Khajiit were like any other animal... They could smell fear. It was too late to correct it. The Khajiit caught their scent and ranted out loudly. "What?! Who is this brother?! Another one of the smooth skins looking for food? But this one wasn't trapped with us...? No. NO! You must be the one who took my skooma!" Mark raised his sword at the ready as the Khajiit leapt out into full sight on all fours. The Khajiit's ears were flat back against its head, its tail pointed straight to the ceiling as it hissed at them like a fierce domestic house cat! The Khajiit's yellow eyes were bloodshot and dilated so much that they were more black than yellow.

Jack raised his hands igniting his palms with charged energy that swirled like small orbs between his fingers. The Khajiit took them both in, then dashed back where he had come from. Mark swung his sword, clipping the Khajiit's shoulder as he made a mad dash past him. The Khajiit skidded across the icy snow to drift into a stop, turning crazed eyes from his bleeding arm to Mark. Mark stepped out into the center of the tunnel with his sword pointed at the Khajiit. The Khajiit hissed loudly, raising up from all fours to snatch the wooden axe off his belt. Mark braced himself as the Khajiit rushed in with a fury of quick strikes. Mark blocked the strikes, but the Khajiit's attacks were wild and had no form. Mark's blade cut the wood axe in half as the Khajiit tried to block with it and quickly slashed out at Mark's face with his sharp claws. Mark leaned back enough for the claws to miss his face... but not his shoulder. The Khajiit's claws tore into Mark's flesh, causing Mark to stagger back with a sharp groan.

The Khajiit bared his sharp teeth, lowering back down on all fours as he menacingly stalked closer to Mark with a loud purr. Jack saw his chance and extended a hand to Mark, casting a spell to heal and then a spell to boost his stamina. The Khajiit paused mid-step to glare at Jack with merciless eyes as it hissed out with disgust. "This one cheats! This one dies!" The Khajiit changed direction to leap for Jack and Jack ducked to leap for the spot the Khajiit had leapt from. The Khajiit whirled around with a loud snarl. Jack quickly rolled to his feet, raising his hands at the ready. Mark stepped in beside him with his sword at the ready, asking in a low voice. "You wouldn't happen to be able to slow him down, would you?" Jack shook his head, his eyes drifting down the tunnel where the Khajiit had come from. From this angle, he saw another body laying on a bedroll. A Khajiit body that was intact.

Holding his breath, he changed his spell and threw a purple orb of light out toward the body. He had never used this spell before... but he had managed to read up on it enough to use it. It was weak... but it would have to do. The Khajiit lunged and Mark stepped in to block Jack's body with his sword. The Khajiit gripped Mark's sharp blade like he couldn't feel the steel cutting into its hands. The Khajiit was entirely focused on getting closer to Mark using brute force! The Khajiit leaned over Mark's blade, growling inches from Mark's face, when a commanding elsewhere accented voice snapped out through the tunnel. "J'DARR!" J'Darr froze, his eyes flicking away from Mark to look at his twin J'Zhar at the end of the tunnel. Jack tried to hold the spell for as long as he could. Reanimation was a low Necromancy spell that only worked on bodies that were intact, whether that be flesh or skeleton based. It was a beginner spell... but he was having more trouble with it, than any of his other spells.

He had no proper training in Necromancy, which made this spell unstable and it used too much of his energy to maintain for more than one quick use. J'Darr eased up on pressuring Mark, his entire focus now on J'Zhar as he purred out in disbelief. "J'Zhar? How can this be? This one killed you!" J'Zhar's ears fell flat across his head, his tail hanging limply behind him as his features turned mournful. J'Darr released Mark's blade, turning to face J'Zhar as he scratched himself feverishly and muttered out almost rationally. "J'Zhar... This one sorry... This one sick..." Jack dropped to one knee, holding this spell was becoming too much. J'Darr inched closer toward J'Zhar, whining out in a soft purring voice. "J'Zhar... Just tell me where you stashed it... Please? Help me!" Jack lost his hold on the spell and J'Zhar's body toppled to the ground lifeless.

J'Darr's ears perked up in shock, his voice flooding with concern as he mewled out. "J'Zhar?!" Jack bit his lip, flinching as Mark stepped up behind J'Darr and implied him in the back with his sword. Mark waited until J'Darr's last breath, before carefully laying him down and removing his sword. Jack could see the pain in Mark's eyes at having to kill him like this. Jack panted softly, breaking the sudden silence by telling him. "Now we might have to rest for a bit..." Mark moved away from J'Darr's body to sit beside Jack. Setting his sword down, Mark wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders to pull him up against his chest. Jack rested his head on Mark's shoulder, sliding an arm around his waist. Mark kissed his forehead, whispering to him. "Take all the time that you need." To Be Continued...