By the time the two pairs had greeted one another at the center of the second tower, and slowly made their way back across the treacherous bridge, the larger group had dispatched their foes. Most had avoided injury; Veeza had been left bleeding from several cuts thanks to close-quarter combat with a scamp, but the wounds didn't seem too deep. Naenya was still smoking slightly from her run in with the mage, and Orintur's hair was standing comically upright thanks to the Daedra's lightning bolt. However, beyond minor burns and a strange jitter to the limbs that wouldn't go away, the pair had fared far better than Renart. The last the group saw of him was running screaming from the room, having been set alight by two scamps ganging up on him. After the beasts were cut down to prevent them finishing him off, his fate was clear by the silence that came from the corridor he had fled down. While his companion Engel wished to track down the body, it was quickly decided that group had to move on, as swiftly as possible. Brona had retrieved a key to the upper levels, and they could soon end this nightmare once and for all. But with three of their number now dead, and several others wounded, hope was beginning to dwindle amongst some in the group.

Niko and Bardeck had both sustained the worst wounds of the lot; the former losing the use of his main sword arm, and the latter struggling due to a serious injury to the shoulder - even his earlier leg wound was throbbing more painfully now, but one could guess it was to do with the environment the intrepid group were in. All the cuts, pains and bruises seemed to sting more in the ash-filled air. Wounds didn't stem their bleeding quite as quickly as normal, and even the untouched, healthiest members were beginning to feel fatigued. Everything about the realm was oppressive, the very air they were breathing making each inhale and exhale a laboured task; the atmosphere almost physically weighing down on each already exhausted shoulder. Although the group took down the straggling enemies with apparent ease, it was clear on drawn-out faces that even the simplest of frays was becoming arduous. Even Naenya, excited at the prospect of learning and rarely gave in to tiredness was looking drained. Glimmers of curiosity remained in her eyes as they marched further up the tower; examining everything she came across as swiftly as she could - but her endless stem of chatter had ceased filling the dominating halls of the spire.

The injured nord looked particularly drained too; Niko hadn't dared to remove his bracer and examine his arm as of yet - there wasn't enough time for someone to pull and set his bones back into place, and then to heal the wound after; it would have to wait until they fixed this damned problem. Each time he felt a wave of exhaustion and pain, Niko pushed it away - there were still people in Kvatch. Innocents, who needed to be saved. Martin, who for some unknown reason was extremely important and had to leave the city alive. Mia, his daughter - the one good thing in his life that was stuck here thanks to him. If they failed here, everyone left would die. And he couldn't allow that.

After several more minutes of traipsing down blood-red corridors, the group came to a stop outside a large, grim looking door. At how far they had walked, Niko could only hope beyond anything that this was the top of the spire, and the answer to closing the gate for good. Vigilant for enemies waiting on the other side, the adventurers crept through the door, finding themselves in a strange, volcanic looking passageway. Almost as if there had been a mountain there once, and someone had carved a path through it. Confusion and interest in the design gave way to sheer horror as they stepped into the final chamber.

A vast, circular room lay before them; the flaming spire of malevolent energy they had seen at the base coming to a stop just before exiting the tower, holding in place a black, circular item that could have only been the elusive Sigil Stone. Where a roof should have been was a gap, allowing the blood red sky to fill the gaze of anyone looking up, crimson lightning flashing as thunder boomed. But it was not the sudden exposure to the elements that had brought shock to those trespassing; it was everything else within the room. The first set of steps leading up the platform where the Sigil Stone hovered was grotesque; black and red spikes, like the ribs from some huge and hideous animal. But the second ramp and platform... was flesh. Red, bloodied flesh, with fat and sinew still attached; veins and capillaries illuminating in it at every flash of lightning from above. It had been stretched and hooked together to metal struts to form a walkway, and as Niko looked on, could only wonder in horror at how many had died to create something as pointless as a damned floor.

His eyes trailed from the flesh-made platform to what stood upon it; more Daedra, and if it were possible, they seemed even more pissed off than the last group they had encountered. Readying one of his swords in his left hand and keeping his injured right close to his chest, Niko nodded determinedly at those who happened to look at him.

"Let's finish this."