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The night passed without any trouble, each of the travelers waking up and taking their allotted shifts. Dawn came all too quickly and after packing their things and a quick breakfast, the group was once again on horseback, riding towards their destination. They stopped only briefly for lunch as they pushed hard to make it to the Aleyid Ruin before dark. Making good time, the mages arrived in the late afternoon at Malada.

Eliya's red hair shimmered in the sunlight as she dismounted Apollo and tethered him to a nearby tree. Ahead of her lay the Aleyid Ruin, Malada. It was old like other Aleyid ruins, its broken pillars and stones smooth and worn from being centuries old. Lichen and moss darkened the once white stones, leaving them looking varying shades of gray and green. The mage assassin was glad to see there were no marauders or dangerous animals outside guarding the ruin. Perhaps it was indeed deserted. That would make their task much easier. Granted, there would still likely be deadly traps inside to watch out for.

Eliya glanced at the others as she lifted her pack from Apollo's saddle, petting him comfortingly. He seemed at ease, grazing the grass at her feet. She looked to the others and saw they were ready. "Shall we?" She wondered if it was necessary to remind them that there could be unknown dangers awaiting them, and that it would be prudent to be quiet as they went below. They walked up the stone steps and stood before the massive stone door that led into the ruin. Eliya paused, and turned to the others. "We do not know what dangers we will encounter below, I strongly suggest we use as much stealth as possible."

The mage put her hand over the door and felt the cold stone beneath her fingers. Firmly she pushed, and with surprising ease it swung open.

They entered.

Eliya nodded at the other's mutual agreement. Their choice made sense and the Altmer was pleased that her associates from the Mage's Guild seemed to have intelligent heads on their shoulders. Without a further word, Eliya led the way forward instead of up the stairs. As they moved cautiously, the passageway in front split to the left and the right, with a stone wall smoothly blocking any straight forward passage. A quick glance showed that to the right was a dead end. To the left it was then. The left opened into another room, slightly smaller than the one with the alter they had entered on the lower floor. Unlike the lower room, this one did not have an alter, and it actually had some sort of intricate metal lining some pillar edges.

The room was rather dark as it lacked the quartz stones that had been lighting their passage thus far, so Eliya used an illusion spell to create light around her and her companions. She had not brought a torch so she turned to whisper to Eneas and Velryn. "It would be beneficial if one of you had a torch you could light." After one was lit they moved further into the room. There were two large pillars reaching from the floor to the very high ceiling of the room, one of them broken. Hopefully the ceiling was still secure after all these centuries. There were four smaller pillars about five or six feet high, each looked as if they had once held ayleid stones, but now they were empty. Likely pillaged by some bandit heathen.

Eliya reminded herself that they were likely not alone in this ayleid ruin. They stepped forward into the center of the room and towards the only passageway. It was actually a straight shot across the room, but as they approached, their light made visible that the passage way split around a large column about fifteen feet or so in diameter. Which way to go? To Eliya it seemed as if the two passageways would join. Then, for the briefest second the mage assassin heard something. A footstep? Abruptly she stopped at held up her hand to motion for the others to halt as well. She put a slendar finger to her lips to indicate they shouldn't speak.

Without a sound Eliya released a life detect spell. A pink aura suddenly appeared in her line of sight. There was someone standing down the hallway, their view obviously hidden by the winding hallways. Just one. She could take care of this, after all. Stealth was her specialty. Without a word to the others she shimmered, her form disappearing as she became invisible. Moving silently she chose the right passageway and followed it about twenty feet to where it curved to the left to meet the other passageway; a see through metal door lay open. She had been right. But that was not important now. A single person stood with their back to her, their features unseen, hidden by a dark hooded cloak.

Her first response was to attack and permanently silence the mysterious person. That would be best. To err on the side of caution. Anyone in this ruin was their enemy. They were here to retrieve the artifact at all costs. But the mage's guild preferred to avoid death whenever possible, and it was that reasoning that caused Eliya the briefest hesitation. The mage's guild wasn't here. When it came down to it, they wanted the job done and wouldn't question the details. Either way, this person was in their way and would likely alert the others to their presence if discovered. Her choice made, Eliya silently lifted her dagger and simultaneously covered the person's mouth and slit their throat. The only sound was a slight thump as the body hit the floor.

Now visible again, Eliya turned to see that Eneas and Velryn had followed her. She motioned for them to come look at the body. It was dunmer woman and upon examination, it was evident that she was not a bandit or hermit living in the ruin....it was obvious they were dealing with necromancers. Probably a whole coven of them living within the Ayleid ruin. Eliya looked up at the others, her face grim as she stood up. "It would seem that our task has just become more difficult." She glanced at the hallways that led away from them. One led straight ahead, continuing in the direction they had came, and another to the right. The one that led ahead visibly curved to the left and was dark, the one to the right looked as though it went straight quite a ways.

Eliya nodded at Velryn's words. It was true that Necromancer's bread and butter were undead creatures. Eliya of all people would know this, considering she had lived with necromancers for nearly a year. The things she had had to do to infiltrate and pretend to be one of them.....she shuddered as she firmly pushed the memories away, turning to face one of the hallways. It was the straight one, the one that they would keep going on if they went straight ahead. "There is enough light from the quartz crystals for us to make our way, I would put out that torch now Velryn," she murmured this as she began to lead the way again. Now was the time for stealth. They needed to figure out what they were up against, and figure out the best strategy. If there were a whole coven of Necromancer's living in this ruin then if they could sneak in and steal what they came for, it might be easier then battling every dark mage. If they had to kill them all, picking them off one by one would be best.

Eliya sneaked down the dark hallway, the mottled stone archway overhead turning their path into a high up ledge that looked down into a large chamber. Their path appeared to turn into another corridor a meter away, and then wrap around the entire chamber, to open up into another ledge, terrace like, directly across. Cautiously Eliya peered over, and motioned for the Dunmer male to do the same. Below were a handful of hooded figures, performing some sort of cultic ritual on an open carcass. Whether it was human or animal the redheaded Altmer could not tell. The people Eliya now knew as Necromancers, were working on a slab of stone that sat right in front of a large pillar that rose all the way to the ceiling. It seemed centered in the middle of the room. At the top of this pillar....the female elf elbowed Velryn slightly and pointed with her hand. Hovering above the circular ayelid pillar was a large red quartz looking crystal. This had to be the object of their mission. Eliya had never seen anything like it. It was larger the both her fists put together. Could it be this easy?

Eliya pulled Velryn back into the safety of the corridor where they could speak safely in hushed whispers. "That red crystal has to be what we came for, I've never seen anything like it. I think I can retrieve it with a telekinesis spell, but there is a possibility the necromancers have put some sort of alarm spell on it, to prevent just that from happening. Or they might simply notice the power is gone. If that happens then we will have to run or fight. Perhaps both. As you may have noticed the odds are not in our favor. But we have a mission to accomplish." Eliya's hushed voice held a grimness to it, that reflected the acceptance of what they would have to undertake. "Do you have any suggestions?" As far as Eliya was concerned, a grab and dash would be easiest, but then again she wasn't sure Velryn could just turn invisible and run to the exit like her.