I have to agree with everything Acadian said - he picked out the things I really liked about this segment.
I have to respectfully disagree with Zalphon on this:
QUOTE
"...The irregular spikes of limestone rose up hundreds of feet into the air, and spread out in all directions. It was as if someone had taken a forest, and replaced all the trees with towers made of rock..."
I feel that this may have been better shown had you had a brief snippet of dialogue about it, or perhaps made mention of one of the characters being awe-struck by it. It'd have the same effect, but I think it would feel more organic and integrated into the story instead of having painted a background image for the characters to act in front of.
Any such dialog would have occurred when the characters first entered the zone, prior to entering the barrow. Upon exiting it, they would have been more interested in dividing the loot and recovering from their injuries. The brief mention of the environment is, I feel, more appropriate to Aela's nature and her assessment of the exterior surroundings. It seems to me that you were going more for the contrast between the ruins of the settlement, which was damaged by the battle below, and the untouched splendor of the stone spires beyond, which Aela, being so attuned to above and below, would have automatically noted.
However, I do second the rest of Zalphon's assessment, especially the passage about healing with magicka!