Tennant was one tough son of a bitch. Not many would have the courage to charge headlong into a bear, not to mention a magically enhanced ursine. Such attempt without a weapon or armor further compounded his bravery, and stupidity. Hearing a story like this one would no doubt make some wonder if the man had been hit too many times in the head. Yes, he had, and he lived through the worst concussions Tamriel had to offer, one more was just another notch in his belt.

“What on Nirn just happened?” Relmyna gasped. After Sadri has broke the silence, rather casually, considering the fight they just encountered. Unlike Sadri, the younger dark elf practically stood astounded, jaws wide open in disbelief when she opened her eyes to see the same cavern, not some gloomy realm of Oblivion. “I, I almost soiled myself. Sadri, Edith, I owe you two my life.”

Edith simply chuckled and nodded. Her left arm, the one that bore the shield and the full brunt of the bear's assault, was throbbing with dull pain. Even though she fought for years before, challenging men, elves, animals and even daedric creatures, few had the raw power of Smokey. Her experience and training took on a mind of their own, thankfully, as she wasn't sure what would become of Relmyna otherwise.

“Right, you're welcome.” Edith responded. With her right arm, the one with full response, she waved the all-clear to Lucex. “Looks like that blade came in handy.” She said to Sadri. At least there was one part she actually planned well for. As the group went to check on Tennant, Edith pondered on how the main assault was going. They were fairly deep underground, and any tell-tale signs of a battle topside would be drowned absorbed by meters of thick earth. Edith though about her friend, Sevine; her peer, as much as she averted him, Dumhuvud; and thirty some other mercenaries. There was the chance that they were turned back, or even eliminated. Failing the main assault would leave her flankers to wither on the vine, just four against a whole redoubt.

Seeing signs of life in Tennant brought some measures of hope back. The wrestler was not conscious, dark bruises on his skull accompanied by dried blood from nostril was unsettling. On the positive side though, his heart still beat, and small puffs of air came out at regular intervals. 

“He wouldn't be hurt if I just aimed a little higher.” Lucex fretted. The confidence and purpose in him was gone. No longer were solid strides and fluid grip on his bow, all replaced by a guilty limp hurting through his sense of responsibility. Lucex was the one staying behind, he was sitting back comfortably while Tennant was flung head first into stone surfaces. Lucex stood at the rear of the group, like he always had been before. He had one job, one shot he failed to deliver. All a sudden, the tunnel ahead seemed so long, and the pit they stood in seemed so much deeper.

“You can't dwell on it.” Edith reminded him. “You can't dwell on any of it.”

Lucex looked up, he closed his eyes when Edith reached out to him. When they opened again, he gave Edith an affirming nod. It was not reinvigorating energy, but rather simple conviction to finish what he started. 

“Relmyna, stay with Tennat.” Edith instructed the Dunmer girl. Between their group, Relmyna was most out of her elements. Her physique, frail and petite, would do no good in another fight. As fast and witty she was, Edith knew straight up melee would be Relmyna's doom. 

With that settled, only Edith, Lucex and Sadri climbed out of the pit. Relmyna sat cross legged beside Tennant. The Dunmer girl closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. Smokey's corpse, combined with the rotten smell of death was almost too much to bear. They could have Sadri perform his telekinesis on Tennant by lifting his body out of the pit. But Edith realized by doing so would exacerbate any unseen trauma to his neck or spine. 

Immediate top of the pit was another table akin to one they say earlier. On this particular one was a dead body, with a gaping cut on its throat and skin rotten from decay. Lucex could not recognize the person, but Edith recalled the dead man as one of Daelin's scout missing in action on their first day. Alongside the corpse were enchanting equipment; glyph markers, candles and discarded soul-gems. There was one roll of parchment, and it documented briarheart transplant procedure requiring additional soul energy. 

Lucex twisted his face in disgust. As a hunter, he wasn't disturbed by decaying bodies. What did hit home was the morbid implication of what happened to the poor chap.

“Nothing we can do for him, let's keep moving.” Edith carried on, albeit with her own reservations about her observations. She took the parchment and stuffed it under her belt. Ashav would want to see this. 

Indeed, Ashav would want to keep tab on many things. Just around the corner of the tunnel were two more tables. One of them completely empty. The other one, it held a disc with a gem shaped whole in the middle; an arcane charge identical to the one Edith carried. By the looks of it, there were more than one, and tool marks on the table wood indicated some type of work being done to the charge(s).

“This must could be where the other half of our shipment went.” Edith remarked. She rubbed her left hand and surveyed the proximity. “Can't believe Dumhuvud was right; the Forsworns stole our charges.”

“Stolen for what?” Lucex questioned. 

“These devices can do a lot of damage, if the Forsworns recognize their best use.” Edith answered, and also guessed to the best of her knowledge. “Looks like this one was deactivated.” Edith mused. Parts of the charge was hollowed out, a fluid had been poured and dried on its surface. In the end, hovering her hand above it revealed no humming like it did with the active counterpart. “Anyways, we can dally on this once we clear out the Tunnel. There's something up ahead, keep moving.”

Outgoing passage was just at the fore. This side of the abandoned mine was fashioned with a door same as the entrance. The door was locked, a crude iron lock held together a large piece of wood. The door was un-reinforced and weakened with time, striking the lock location and matching several strong kicks could very well break it down. However, light seeped from underneath and multiple urgent voices could be heard from the other side. It was assumed the exit was hostile.

“We could use the charge, destroy the door and surprise our foes.” Edith suggested, shifting her attention to her allies. Sadri reminded her of uncertain risks of using explosives in enclosed space. He had a point, and perhaps the Dunmer man could better assess their options. “Or we could just kick it down, though we might very well be charging into an ambush. Either way, we have to take chances and advance through this area.”

Lucex shrugged, he didn't know hokey-pokey magic or fancy combat engineering, hell, he does not even read books. Close quarters made him claustrophobic, he wanted to get it over with, preferably with arrows sticking out killed Reachmen. Without anything to add, the Imperial trained his gaze on Sadri as well. 

“Sadri,” Edith said. “What say you?”