A month before
A cold chill brushed passed his shoulders. His foot, inches deep in fresh snow, trudged through the entrance with a struggle. The caves walls expanded and then compacted again, and he squeezed through, his body touching the freezing ice. After a moment, he was inside.
It was dark; the only light being a candle at the end of the entrance, near a door. Vulen started carefully. Where is she? His eyes were not attuned to see in such conditions, as the Khajit were. He raised his hand, pure magicka emanating from his palms, and a small orb of light shot from his fingers. Then, he could see.
She was not there, but the path to the doorway was straight. He kept on, and when he had finally reached it, it would not open. Damn it. Am I supposed to sit here and wait? He contemplated burning it down, and continuing on. No. I can't do anything that could possibly leave a trace. Brelyna would be there soon, and he was in no rush.
He waited there for maybe another twenty minutes, too his dissatisfaction. It had been a very, very long time since he had stepped foot in the College of Winterhold. Nostalgia ran through his brain. He wondered, if all else, if Tolfdir was still alive, teaching the apprentices. Whether Phinis, his old conjuration teacher, still practiced. I'll find out soon enough.
Dust fell from the ceiling, and there was a long cracking noise. Vulen sat down on the ice, ignoring it's chill. I shall light a fire inside thee. Soon, the door swung open, and a black robed figure strutted out. Vulen could recognize her solemn, yet young deep red eyes. She removed her hood, and her face spoke of her naivety. Vulen smirked.
"I'll get you inside." She said.
"Of course."
"What is your plan, the full plan?"
Vulen rose. "I must simply speak with Savos."
"If you think it will just be talking, after what you've done…"
He laughed. "I haven't come for a peace treaty. It's the staff I want. Aren will give what is mine."
"You're delusional if you think that." She began, "It's been under his protection for years."
"And now it will be mine. I will not suffer slights. It is very important for what I am planning."
"And that is?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"If anyone finds out I brought you in here, I'm facing jail time." Brelyna replied.
Vulen smiled. The greatest dark wizard and loremaster of our age. The was, at least, what had been known of him in Morrowind. When he had begun his quest for power, his denial of the authority of the great houses. But together, the great houses had drove him out, and he fled to Skyrim, with a new reputation. That was when he had joined the College, and met Savos unawares.
That was five years ago.
"You need not fear, my dear Brelyna." Vulen told her, "Everything will be taken care of."
She rolled her eyes, but escorted him.
It was a long path through the hidden passage. Cold pervaded the air, and there a damp wet smell that seeped into his senses. Each step made him feel as if they were not alone, yet the absence of sound spoke otherwise. They passed by ruined and abandoned passages and rooms littered with bones and other remains. Vulen could practically smell the necromancy. This must have been where they performed less…tolerated experiments. He had not taken his time to fully explore the College when he had attended there. There may be secrets in here left to uncover. That would have to wait, however; and they kept on moving.
Through more doors, and up a flight of stairs, they finally came to a small ladder. Brelyna looked at it, then back and Vulen. He could see the fear, the doubt in her eyes. It's too late, my dear, you cast your lot with me far too long ago. She was not the only one, nor would she be the last to come to the warlock for answers, or knowledge. And no matter how miniscule, he always demanded a price.
"Stick by me. I don't know who's out here." She warned.
Under the cover of night, they climbed. When Vulen peeked his head out to the world, he saw the campus was empty. It was perhaps midnight. No guards? They must have been at the bridge, during night hours, to keep the college safe. Brelyna helped him up, and they quickly went for the Hall of Countenance. Silence their ally.
When they crept inside, the dorm rooms were closed. There's many moor apprentices than before. There were maybe twenty dorms, each occupied. Brelyna brought him to hers. She shut her door quietly, cast a magelight spell into the mystic lantern, and sat on her bed. Vulen took a seat.
"When will you do all of this?" She asked.
"I'm wondering. Either now, or in the morning."
"If you stay longer, they'll see you. And what if one of the guards comes in here?"
"They won't."
"Everyone who practices magic knows who you are, Vulen. If you weren't my damned Uncle, I wouldn't have even helped you. Damned Dunmer omens."
To the Dunmer, family was everything. Yet Brelyna was of House Telvanni, a group that had rejected Vulen many years ago. They all rejected me. Indoril had branded him a traitor, for daring to claim himself Vivec's reincarnate. When they had declared against him, the others did as well. And now, Skyrim had rejected him too. At the behest of his old friend Savos.
"Where is he now?" Vulen asked.
"In his quarters." She replied.
"Then I shall go. It is better this way, for the sake of your college."
"What do you mean?"
"If I cannot get the staff now, then drastic measures must be taken." Vulen replied, "Worry not. If Savos listens to me, this will all be over soon."
He left her with that, and with no fear, stepped out of the dorm. He wondered, what would become of any of the apprentices in here. Would they unravel the secrets of the Aurbis, as he had? Would any of them grow to match him? Or the Arch-Mage? Many apprentices had come to him seeking power in the past, and he had made men out of them.
The night hid his dark skin well. Brazenly, he walked towards the doors to the main hall. The College had a curfew, and as such there was not likely to be anyone waiting for him on the other side. Still, he slowly pushed them open.
The Hall of Elements was large, expansive. In the middle, a giant, levitating orb resided. Blue, green, white, it's colors changed with the second. It spun like Nirn, faster and faster. Vulen felt his body shiver, his mana unbalanced. The fabrics of the earth shook at its presence. He felt stronger, the closer he walked, with more and more energy. The Eye of Magnus. Savos' prize. It has been in his possession for far too long. But it was useless to him, without the staff.
The Arch-Mage's quarters were held shut by a magical seal. This may be enough to stop an apprentice, but not I. He combined fire and ice, and pressed them both against the force-field. When it faded away, he had the strong suspicion that it was not meant to really keep him out. Surely he could have drawn a better one than that.
A few moments later, and it faded. He opened the doors slowly, with little effort, placing another, stronger force-field back on it. His steps were no longer quiet. He quickened his pace. The ascent was long, near five minutes just to get up the stairs. The College had always been unnecessary in that regard. I don't remember it being this long.
Finally, he reached the top of the tower. The hall before the Arch-Mage's quarters was filled with lively flowers, from all over Tamriel. Magelight hovered over the fountains at each corner, and it was bright enough for him to see Savos Aren waiting for him, at the center of the room. He was clad in his Arch-Mage attire, and the Staff of Magnus was in his grasp. He looked at Vulen, with a scowl.
"Five long years, Savos." Vulen said.
"And too soon you've returned." He replied.
"Only for what is mine." Vulen said.
"The Staff will remain here, Vulen." He replied, "As it has; and you will leave."
"I had feared you would say that." Vulen responded, looking all around the room. "You see, I cannot leave without the staff."
"It was a mistake for you to come here tonight, Vulen. The others are on their way." Aren said.
"They'll find it hard interrupting us."
"And you'll find it hard escaping alive."
"You've always been a close-minded fool Savos." Vulen replied, "Don't you see what I am discovering here?"
"I know your quest for power." Savos Aren replied, "You never fooled me, Vulen. What do you think you're uncovering, the mysteries of the world? Poets are liars and embellishers, why live by the words of one?"
"The mysteries of the Aurbis." Vulen said, "The dream, how we all fit in it. Those are the answers I am searching for. The answers I have almost found. The Nerevarine was meant to read his words, to guide him towards power. If you but only understood, Savos…"
"You are not the Nerevarine." He replied.
"No." Vulen said, "But there are secrets in these words. I have uncovered more sacred and hidden knowledge than your library holds in its thousands of tomes. I have done things that would make Shalidor himself wonder. There is power, in knowledge, Savos. Help me uncover it."
"Your goals are selfish." He replied, "I knew you once, Vulen. I trusted you. But I've known your true colors now. How many have you killed? How many innocents have you experimented on?"
"Not enough. There are secrets that even now evade me." Vulen said. "You have two of the most powerful artifacts left in Mundus, Savos, and you don't use them. Vivec, the Heart of Lorkhan-Us, and the Eye of Magnus. Don't you see? It was destiny. Just as they were the Gods of Morrowind, we could be the Gods of Skyrim!"
"A selfish goal. These are the tools of a Magna Ge, not our toys." Savos replied, "And I know your intentions are not to help Skyrim."
"My intentions are my own; reach heaven through violence." Vulen said, "I am climbing the Tower, Savos. I am atop it. I can see the fabrics of the Cosmos. Nature itself is almost at my command. If you will not give me the Staff, then I will have to take it from you!"
Savos jutted the staff forward, and out of it rang pure energy; a beam of white light that could burn the sun. Vulen shot up a ward, and hid safely behind it. If he hits me with that…It would be over. He had to evade, and hope that the others did not find a way through his barrier outside.
Vulen's ward shattered and he rolled on his back. His flung his wrist forward with an anger, and out of it sprung three flaming atronachs, fiery spirits from the depths of Oblivion. Vulen stood, a ward ready in one hand, and fire crackling in the other.
The Staff of Magnus released more energy, disintegrating two of the atronachs, while the third was caught by Vulen's ward. Lightning cracked, and the boom echoed through the hall. Vulen's ward shattered once again, and he dropped to a knee, feeling weaker. The third atronach distracted the Arch-Mage, but was soon bested as well. I can't repel the staff and his spells.
He calmed down. Breathe. Magicka coursed throughout him, channeling at his palms.
"Surrender!" Savos shouted.
"Death first!"
A blizzard erupted from his palms. Pots, potions, weapons, beds, chairs, all flung around with the wind. Savos was pinned to the wall, the staff somehow still in his grasp. Vulen rose, the snow beating at his face. The room quaked. As the tower shook, Vulen laughed manically. "Don't you see? The staff is mine, Aren!"
"Never!" He shouted with a struggle. He shot the staff, and light dispelled in all directions, sucking the magicka into it's very confines, taming the blizzard. Savos fell from the wall face first into the ground. Vulen would not waste any time.
He shot a ghout of arcane fire. It's explosion was as large as the room itself, and the heat hit the dark wizard like the spell had hit his enemy. Afterwards, however, he saw Aren standing, unharmed, his staff outstretched again. Instantly, his hand outstretched, and black flame opened a portal from Oblivion, and a Dremora charged out. "Death to the mortal!"
Vapor clouded around Vulen's hands, and soon he was gripping a watery whip. When the Dremora drew close, ready to strike, Vulen cracked the whip against its head, knocking it unconscious. Savos let out a scream, and looked to the ceiling, his eyes full of malice. No! Vulen's heart beat ferociously.
Whatever power the Arch-Mage was calling to his aid, Vulen had to answer. He charged in his hands a spell of great calamity. Sparks shot out of his hands, scratching the walls. He struggled to hold it back, charging it up. Aren screams haunted the halls, and he knew that the whole College was probably watching, somehow.
Their power met.
Vulen's storm of lightning crashed into the pure energy of Savor Aren. Light glistened like a show, green, blue, red, yellow, indigo. The room was fireworks. Savos Aren let out a cry, and Vulen laughed at the sport. "I told you, I am meant to be the teacher of the King of the earth." That is I.
When it was over, Savos Aren lied on his back, and Vulen still stood. He laughed. "When will you learn, without the staff, I am the master"
Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Vulen spun around. The teachers had all gathered. He recognized Phinis Ghestor, and even Tolfdir. Others, elves, khajit, Nords. Some he recognized, others new faces. But Mirabelle Ervine was in their head, all of them spell ready.
"Begone from this place." She warned.
He could not take them all alone, with Savos among them. He looked back at the Arch-Mage, who was at his knee, the staff pointed at him. Vulen scowled. Damn them. I should have known they'd find a way through. He was careful now.
"You've been cornered." She said, "Go, or be killed."
Vulen laughed. "A ruling King that sees another in his equivalent rules nothing. I have no fear of you. But I am wise beyond my years. Continue to exist in this dream of yours, this incredible slumber. Know that I am watching. Yes, I have returned to your college. Prepare yourselves."
He then looked to Savos. "There will be a reckoning, for this, and all other slights."
He disappeared in a puff of smoke.