"Armel! Focus!" reprimanded Colette Marence as my ward began to flicker, her voice echoing across the Hall of the Elements. I ripped my mind from my daydreams just in time to have a fireball shatter the film of magic, rocking me on my heels. My face glowed as I heard the stifled laughter of my classmates. My partner in the exercise, Strides-In-Ash, ran up to me.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked, wringing his hands. Strides-In-Ash, or Ash as the others and I called him, barely came up to my shoulder, with grey scales and a deep red throat. Atop his head he had another splash of deep red, this time in the form of feathers.
"I'm fine Ash. Thanks for asking." Colette gave us a stern glare, before turning her attention back to the whole class. "Get back to your spot Ash, lets continue the lesson." Ash quickly nodded, before scampering back to his earlier spot across from me. I rolled my shoulders, before projecting my ward again. Another monotonous day.
"Armel, could I speak with you for a moment?" Colette's voice rang through the Hall, and over the buzz of the adjourning lesson. I walked over to where the Wizard was sitting. She did not look up from her book, most likely about her precious school of restoration.
"Yes Colette?"
"I have noticed you have been slipping in my lessons Armel," she sighed, flipping another page. "I know that you have a decent grasp upon the concepts I have been teaching. So, I have decided to have you help Phinis Gestor with his research project instead of being distracted in my class." I stared at her, stunned at what she had just uttered. It was true I had been distracted during her lessons. But to have this happen... Was it a blessing or a curse? "Any questions?"
"When... When, do I begin?" Her book closed with a slap, and she stood, only coming up to my chin, rather short for a Breton. That, or I was rather tall.
"Tomorrow. Have a good day Armel!" She smiled cheerfully, before walking off, whistling a little tune.
"Ah Armel! So good for you to join me!" Phinis said sarcastically. "It will be good to have help on a project like this!" We were standing in a small experiment room off of the Hall of the Elements, and it was packed to the brim with iron, steel, and other materials.
"What is your project, exactly?" I asked nervously. Phinis had a reputation of having dangerous experiments, usually involving trying to summon some odd Daedric beast from Oblivion, and usually they were quite violently opposed to being on Tamriel.
"You know what an Atronach is, right Armel?" He said, ignoring my question.
"Yes, they are an elemental Daedra, and an extremely common summon."
"Exactly! However, I have sources that say in Daggerfall, during the rise of the Septim Empire, some mages were able to create Atronachs! Obviously, they weren't creating Daedra, but I think they were creating something much, much more intriguing..." he trailed off, searching through his bag, before giving a cry of triumph. Pulling out a book, he flipped though it before he came to what seemed to be an Atronach. "I think they created Golems. Artificially created beings that are made of one element!"
"And you want to recreate one of these things?" Phinis nodded excitedly, before returning to his bag, and pulling out a handful of notes.
"Yes, of course! My only issue at this time is figuring out how to make one! I have deducted that they were created either binding a Daedric soul, or using some sort of other energy source, most likely a sufficiently powerful soul gem."
"Well then, where do we start?" I asked, Phinis drew out another handful of notes, and handed them to me. Our discussions lasted well into the night.
"Where were you this week Armel?" Ash asked as we sat and ate breakfast the next morning. I ripped open a loaf of bread, and stuffed some cheese in it.
"I have been assigned to help Phinis Gestor with his newest research project. It has been... Time consuming to say the least." I had been some time since I had been able to sit down and eat with my fellow apprentices, the rigors of assisting a man such as Phinis did not allow many breaks.
"Well, just be careful. Those stories we hear about his assistance disappearing may not be true, but it doesn't hurt just to be a little more cautious!"
"I will Ash. Sorry about leaving so soon, but I have to get back to helping Phinis. Have a good day!" I walked off, munching on my cheese filled bread, my mind filled with the possibilities this day of work could bring.
"Armel, wait!" I turned to find Ash running up to me. "We haven't talked in weeks! How's the research going?" It was not hard to believe that it had been such a long time. Phinis and I had made such progress in our work, and had started to narrow in on a successful procedure in creating a Golem.
"Good. Great, if I do say so myself. Phinis and I are making great progress! How has class been?"
"Uneventful, but I am learning a lot. Tolfdir has had us practicing casting flesh spells quite a bit." I snorted. Tolfdir would still be on his safety kick, even after such a long period of time in the College.
"Well, I have to get back to the research. Have fun with Tolfdir!" I heard Ash give a hissing laugh, as I made my way back to Phinis' experimentation room.
"I have it!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet, I scribbled more of my idea onto an extra paper, before giving it to Phinis. "We have been overlooking this the entire time!" Phinis slumped into his chair in shock, before rapidly writing a note that he shoved into my hands.
"Go to Sergius, tell him to give you a filled grand soul gem. If he complains, give him this note." I nodded, before sprinting off to find Sergius.
I returned to find another humanoid shape sitting in the center of the room, made entirely of steel. We had made many others like this one, but they had all failed. This time, it might just actually work! I gave the soul gem to Phinis, who finished a few extra bits of setup, before we started our binding.
"It's working!" I heard Phinis cry out, his voice cracking out of excitement and exhaustion. I looked up to see the Golem starting to come to life, it's arms moving and eyes glowing. We finished the binding, and the Golem was complete! We stood back, surprised, as the Golem looked around the room, before its gaze settled on Phinis. "I command you to raise your arms" Phinis crowed. The Golem, after a slight hesitation, lifted them. Phinis giggled like a child, before composing himself again. "I now command you to walk around this room!" The golem took a step, the footfall a resounding thud against the stone floor. Then it took another, and another! It started to take its fourth step, when its eyes started to fade in and out. I heard Phinis gasp as if someone had stabbed him as the Golem's eyes faded completely, and it collapsed to the floor with a crash. "No! No! No!" Phinis cried, smash his fist atop the table in front of him. I slumped into the chair behind me. We had failed. Again.
After the last failure, Phinis stopped the research, and I returned to my regular classes. Life retuned to how it was before the hectic research and the burning disappointment. Occasionally, I could see Phinis slip into the experimentation room, and leave after a few hours. I figured he was just doing some result notes, or simply cleaning up our horrific mess. However, after class one day, I saw Phinis walking quite determinedly towards the experimentation room we had been doing our research in. In his eyes I saw a burning desire, and started to follow him. Something was off about how he was holding himself, how he was desperate to get to the room, as if we would stop him. If I would stop him.
"Phinis!" I cried after him, my voice echoing around the Hall. He only increased his pace in response. Now I knew something was up. I chased after him.
"Phinis!" I yelled into the room. He straightened as if shocked, before turning to me, as if he hadn't heard me before.
"Hello Armel," he stammered. Standing behind him was another statuesque being, made completely of steel. A Golem body. He hadn't given up. In his hands, he was trying to conceal a large, pitch black object. I glanced between the incomplete golem, his hands, and his face, before my mind caught up to him.
"Please don't tell me you are trying to do what I think you are," I implored, glaring at Phinis. If he was going to try and use a black soul to power this Golem, he was much more obsessed with this project that I had thought.
"I do not need your approval, Apprentice," he growled, suddenly returning to his old vitality. With a blast of magic, he paralyzed me. "I will make this work, and you will sit there and be a good apprentice," he patted me on the shoulder, before turning to the Golem, and starting the binding. I could only sit in watch in horror as he used the soul of some poor Man, Mer, or Beastfolk to bring his Golem to life.
After the binding was complete, he came and cured my paralysis. The Golem followed him everywhere he went, never leaving his side unless asked by him. It made me sick to my stomach. His use of a black soul for his Golem was a step too far. A step I could not forgive. "Phinis, you have the knowledge you wanted, now please destroy it. You have gone too far!" I implored. He turned to me, rage filling his eyes.
"This was not a step too far! This was a step in the right direction! Leave my presence now! Do not return until you have truly understood what I am trying to teach you!" He raged. The Golem stepped towards me, its hands ready to crush me on its master's command. I spun around and left, my mind still trying to digest what had happened.
"He did what!" Ash's eyes widened in shock. He crumpled down into the seat across from me, stunned.
"I know. I can hardly believe it myself, and I was there. I know the College has a lenient policy on Necromancy, but this is... Different to say the least!" Ash nodded in agreement.
"What should we do?"
"You will do nothing Ash. Doing anything will jeopardize your stay here, and you are not involved like I already am. Let me handle this." Ash nodded again, before moving for the door.
"What will you do Armel?" he asked softly.
"I will set things right."
That night I snuck my way into the forge room where we had created all of the golem prototypes. They laid scattered around the room, in various states of destruction. With a flick of my wrist, the forge and smelter leapt to life, casting a reddish glow on the walls. Slowly, I started to feed the broken golems into the smelter. My course of action was set.
Phinis was marching his atrocity around the Hall of the Elements, showing it off to the other Wizards, when I found him. He scowled as I approached, and his Golem trudged back to his side.
"Have you understood my lesson now Armel?" he growled, his eyes glowering at me.
"I understand what you were trying to teach me," Phinis' face relaxed into a smile. "However, I reject it." His face froze, before returning to its scowl. "I will ask you one last time. Destroy this profanity to our research!"
"Our research!?" he roared. "It is not OUR research, it is MY research! You were merely my assistant! Furthermore, I will not destroy my marvelous creation!" My heart sank. So this is what he thought of my help this whole time.
"Then you leave me no choice!" I slammed my staff to the ground with a reverberating clang. The hall grew silent at the implications of my action. However, I was not simply using my old sword staff everyone was used to. The blade of my new staff was now much heavier and longer, and where the counterweight of my old staff used to be, an protruding mace now sat. "Step aside Phinis. What you will not do, I will!" Phinis stepped between me and the Golem, magic crackling at his fingertips.
"You will do no such thing!" he cried, magic crackling at his fingertips. The others in the Hall started to back towards the walls, clearly seeing this verbal duel was going to become physical. We stared down each other, daring the other to make the first move.
I broke the standoff by swinging my staff, catching him in the knees and sending him careering across the floor, crying out in pain. Now that he was out of the way, I could do what I came here for. I looked up to see the Golem's arms reeling back, before it swung.
I threw myself into another blow on the Golem, the shrieking of metal on metal bouncing around the Hall. The Golem, unaffected by my blow, threw me across the hall. I heard Phinis cackling though my ringing ears, his enjoyment of this show all too obvious.
I stood, using my staff as a crutch. With a crackling blast of lightning, I slowed the Golem down as it plodded towards me. With another blast, I knocked it to its knees. The lightning was doing no harm to the monstrosity, but it was knocking it down.
With a grim smile, I started to blast the Golem with fire. Under the intense heat, the chest of the Golem started to bubble, the steel melting and deforming. With the last of my magicka reserves, I blasted the fire through its chest. The Golem sat there, impotent but still intact. With a quick smash, I severed one arm, followed by another, the weakened steel finally giving way. I heard Phinis' cries of anguish as I disassembled the Golem, piece by piece. Finally, with one last, heartfelt swing, I smashed its head off, its remains skidding to a halt at Phinis' feet. It was done.
From behind me I heard a slow clap start. I turned to find the Arch Mage himself, Savos Aren, walking up to me. "That was quite the impressive show Armel. Quite the display of control over destruction magic," He drawled, his voice lazy and uninterested. "Normally, I would congratulate you for such a show, not all can boast of such skill at such a young age. However, you did assault one of our most esteemed Wizards," I saw Phinis hobble over, Colette fluttering around him like a worrying mother. "For that, you are expelled from the College. Effective immediately!" I bowed my head in respect. I knew this path could come with such a high cost.
"Arch Mage, if I made be so bold as to ask, what will the punishment for Phinis for using a black soul in this experiment?" Aren turned to me, a questioning look upon his face.
"Punishment? He did nothing outside the bounds of this establishment. All of his research materials were used and acquired according to the rules of this College. I expect you to be gone by the end of the day Armel, is this clear?"
"Clear as day sir," I mumbled, before walking out of the Hall. Phinis' laugh followed me as I strode from the Hall of the Elements, head held high. I had done the right thing, even if the Arch Mage did not want to agree with me.
"They can't do this!" Ash fumed. "There is no way that the use of black souls is allowed by the rules!" Ash was pacing at my door as I finished packing my sparse possessions.
"Even if it is against the rules Ash, no one is going to argue with the Arch Mage. Besides, I was growing tired of sleeping in lecture." I joked, a wiry smile dancing on my face. Ash just snorted at the joke, and resumed his pacing.
"Where will you go Armel?"
"I will wander, as I always seem to have done. Do not worry about me Ash, I probably will learn more out on the road than cooped up in the College." I swung my pack onto my back, and made for the door. "So long Ash."
As I left the bridge to the College and entered the remains of Winterhold, I looked back. What had seemed to be such an inviting building when I first arrived now seemed to be dark and imposing. No wonder the Nords disliked the College. I turned back to the road, and started walking. It was nice to be back in the clear air, even under such circumstances.
"Ho, Mage! Where are you off to?" asked a guard, clearly surprised to see a College mage out here.
"Wherever my feet take me friend!"