Author's Note: Hey guys! This is it! The end of the College questline! Only a few chapters after this and we're on part 2! Here we go!

Mage vs World

So, to summarise; Since I came to Skyrim I had been nearly executed; attack by a dragon; sent through a Nord ruin to find an ornament and a stone; found my lost friend; joined a College half-full of irate mages; delved through another Nordic ruin to find a weird orb that - in turn - had caused me to go through a keep full of mages and vampires; down into the largest, deadliest basement known to mankind to talk to a floating blob; into a dwarven ruin with a madman at its end; then nearly killed by a power-mad Thalmor that makes me go through possibly the hugest, most complex Nordic ruin of all time so I can defeat him. So now I have to defeat the guardian of the Staff of Magnus - a draugr-mage - in order to return and face the Thalmor madman. No doubt I will be expected to do this without any help whatsoever from the people that caused me to do most of these things.

Does the whole world hate me?

I decided that to defeat the draugr, I would have to defeat the spectral sentinels guarding it. I nodded to Jenassa and made for the stairs, reverting to magic instead of my weapons. The pulse and voice was probably the draugr. Jenassa bolted up the stairs faster than me and defeated the higher spectre. I shot fire at the lower ghost. It collapsed into a pile of ghostly remains. The barrier collapsed.

The draugr-mage was free.

I noticed it was too powerful for that name. And its garments were more like that of a priest.

Yes, a creepy, twisted, evil, powerful, undead priest. How faithful and benevolent.

I was running towards it and nearly got shot by a powerful lightning bolt. I needed to drain its magicka so I used sparks on it. A novice spell, but useful for close-fighting and draining magicka. The priest retaliated by using the Staff. I felt fine. I didn't understand it what the Staff was supposed to do. Suddenly, my sparks fizzled out and I felt my health being drained slowly. I now understood that the Staff of Magnus drained your magicka, then your life-force. Jenassa ran after me and did something surprising. She took out a steel dagger and threw it at the priest. The blade landed in its neck. It shrieked in pain and cursed in ancient Nordic. It focused its attentions on Jenassa while switched back to my weapons. I ran my dagger through its chest - or should I say ribcage - and it disintegrated into a pile of ashes. I picked up the priest's mask. It was a light, metallic blue engraved with the features of a face. It was creepy. I turned it over and found that, on the back, there were strange words like on those odd walls that I could somehow read. It said 'Morokei - dragon priest'. I had seen that name before. It had been on that statue when I put the wooden mask on. Now that I thought about it, the wooden mask looked like the Morokei mask! I sifted through the dragon priest's ashes and plucked out the Staff of Magnus.

"How're you going to carry that?" Jen asked me, looking at my weapon sheathes and the bow and arrow quiver slung across my back. "In fact, how are you carrying the staff of Jyrik Gaulderson?" I smiled.
"You know the runes and lines on staves? They don't just look impressive. They carry the magicka and help you carry them. If you can stick them across your back, fair enough. But four or more staves will weigh you down. Hence we do this." I ran my finger along the staff's etched-in lines. They glowed with a fierce blue-green light like the staff's power source (the orb at the top). The whole staff glowed. Suddenly, the beautiful, magnificent staff into a cute little rod. It was still made of wood and still had the lines, but the orb at the top was gone and the lines glowed with the orb's colour. I placed it in my bag next to another rod glowing a light purple, Jyrik Gaulderson's staff. Jenassa nodded and picked up her steel dagger. It was significantly smaller than a usual dagger.

"What's that?" I asked curiously.
"A throwing knife. While you were in Saarthal, I went down to the Jarl's longhouse to ask if there was a nearby forge. He told me there was no forge but there his smith lived a few miles away and he had a forge in his house. I went to see him and he crafted these for me. They are lighter and easier to carry than a bow and useful for quick shooting. Bows are good but they tend to slow you down while firing so I use these for quick shots. Do you want a few?" She explained offering me a couple. I took one and tried to throw it at a plant, but I missed badly so I declined the offer. We walked over to the gate that would lead out of the ruin. We stopped when Savos Aren's ghost appeared. He began to speak.

"I'm sorry friends! It was too powerful! Don't worry! I won't let this to happen to anyone else! I'll seal this whole place away!" It said sadly before vanishing. I growled. The treacherous Dunmer had enthralled his friends so he could get away. At least the Nord ghost should have gotten away. From what I had heard from the ghosts - or were they psychic impressions? - it had been Savos' and the woman's idea to explore Labyrinthian. They should have both taken the punishment. Well, they were all free now. We walked onwards and came to a chamber. We were about to open the door on the other side when a Thalmor wizard - electricity in hand - came barging through it.

"I'm sorry, but Advisor Ancano has ordered that staff to be delivered to him. Oh, and he wants you two dead. Nothing personal. Now-" He stopped speaking as a throwing knife pierced his forehead. I kicked him as I walked past. We came out and nearly fell off a ledge. How did the Thalmor get through from here? He probably used a rope. We jumped down and went over to the place with the statue and I put on the wooden mask and found myself in the restored chamber again. I walked to the statue and looked at the busts, realising that they too were written in the strange language. I had instantly translated them without knowing. How peculiar. I found the bust that said 'Morokei' and raised the blue mask. Instantly it fitted on to the bust. I realised that there must be seven other masks to collect, then something would happen. I removed the wooden mask, leaving the chamber and Morokei behind.

I informed Jenassa about what happened and we went back to Winterhold to finish what we started.

When we returned to Winterhold we found out that things had gotten worse. Ancano's barrier covered all of the College and most of the bridge. We ran past Winterhold's few gawking residents and up the bridge. We found the entire College staff and students outside. Brelyna, Onmund and J'zargo stood together. Urag, Arniel, a man with many soul gem pockets that I assumed to be Sergius Turrianus - the enchanting master - and a Bosmer man - who Jenassa had told me a few days ago was called Enthir, and sold items, likely not above-board - looked at the barrier, worrying about their supplies and research. Nirya stood on her own, looking extremely annoyed. We approached Tolfdir and Faralda who were conversing, somewhat heatedly, with a Breton man, a Breton woman and a Dunmer man. He saw us and stopped the conversation.

"Highborn, Jenassa. Did you get the Staff?"
"Yes." I replied, pulling the rod out of my bag and re-running my hands along the lines to revert it to full size. I looked around and my heart sank. "Where's Mirabelle?"
"She... didn't make it." Tolfdir said sadly. "But we can avenge her and Aren now. These three people are Drevis Neloren, the master of illusion; Colette Marence, restoration master and Phinis Gestor, Conjuration master." He pointed to the Dunmer then the Breton woman and man in turn. "We have decided upon a plan of action. Everyone! Listen!" He yelled. We all grouped together to face him.

"Now, I know we have lost our Master Wizard and Archmage, but do not worry! Highborn and Jenassa have recovered the Staff of Magnus so we can defeat Ancano and reclaim our home!" We all cheered. "But first, we are to separate into two groups! Those who will battle Ancano and those who will support the fighters.
"Naturally, Highborn, J'zargo and Faralda will use their skills in destruction to fight.
"Onmund will stay back with Colette and help to heal and shield our fighters with wards.
"Nirya, just wait outside, this will be easier without you complaining.
"Urag, you guard the entrance to the Arcaneum so none of those wispy magic creatures get in, you do the same with the Archmage's quarters, Arniel.
"Sergius, stay back and provide soul gems for recharging staves.
"Drevis, we need you to stay back and fire courage spells at our fighters.
"Brelyna, stay back with Phinis but conjure atronachs to help the fight.
"Enthir, guard the exit.
"Jenassa, you need to fight. Use many poisons.
"I will fight as I have many magic armour spells and paralyse. Are we all clear?"
"YES!" We shouted. I led the parade to the barrier where I used the Staff to break it. We carried on, Jen behind me and J'zargo and Faralda to my left and right. The others, besides Nirya, trailed along higgledy-piggledy. We stormed the courtyard and went into the Hall of Elements.

We entered the Hall. The support team made a ring around the edges while the rest of us surrounded the Thalmor. J'zargo shot lightning at him but it did nothing. Colette and Onmund stalked forward, readying wards. I readied one too.
"You dare think you can best me?" He yelled madly, raising a green spell. The three wards blocked a spell that would have most-likely paralysed us. "Fine!" He said. " I will destroy you the old fashioned way!" The Eye of Magnus opened and Ancano started casting spells at us. Two frost atronachs appeared and I was immediately shot with a powerful courage spell, boosting my confidence and strength. Faralda, Jenassa and J'zargo fought Ancano but nothing harmed him. I realised the open Eye was giving him protection. I cast the Staff of Magnus' spell on the rotation, convulsing orb and it slowly closed. When it was fully closed, Tolfdir's paralyse spell found its mark and Ancano keeled over. We formed a tight circle around him, casting and, in the case of Jenassa and the atronachs, stabbing. The green light faded slowly.
"Someone, hold him down!" Faralda, Drevis, Tolfdir and Phinis held the man down. Ancano came to his senses and looked up at me in horror as I drew my dagger and looked through Gerdur's poison case for one of the red bottles. I plucked it out agonisingly slowly and made a scene of coating my blade with it. I sliced slowly down his ribs, letting the poison seep into his blood. "That's for Aren." I said. I did the same on the other side. "That's for Mirabelle." Then I raised my dagger. "And this is because you're a Thalmor." I hissed venomously before plunging it through his heart. Ancano's final breath escaped him.

It was over.

I stood up to find that everyone except Jenassa was looking at me fearfully.
"His organisation separated me from my family and everyone I love." I explained. They nodded somewhat slowly and Tolfdir thanked and dismissed them. He walked over to me.
"Well done. You handled things excellently today. But what are we going to do with this orb?"
"I don't know." I admitted. We turned to look at it and Quaranir materialised. "You Psijics sure know when to arrive." I said sarcastically.
"You did well today. You have saved all of Skyrim and possibly Tamriel. But the Eye of Magnus is unstable. It is not ready for the world. We will keep it safe for now. Goodbye." He told me. Two more monks materialised and surrounded the orb. They held up their hands and the Eye vanished, along with them. I turned to face Tolfdir again.

"Well. That matter's resolved. But we still have no Archmage."
"You deserve it, Tolfdir."
"No thanks, you're much more powerful than me." He replied, producing a set of robes. I was shocked.
"What? I can't be Archmage! I was planning to join the Stormcloaks!"
"No matter. If our Archmage goes around Skyrim and joins the Stormcloaks, maybe those stubborn old Nords won't think we're that bad after all! I'll hold things down up here as Master Wizard. Anyways, you could set an example and encourage people to join. Kids these days just aren't as interested in melting things with magic as they used to be." He laughed. I burst into a fit of laughter and took the robes. Tolfdir and Jenassa turned around as I changed and I felt the powerful enchantments of the robes. I told them I was decent and they turned around. Jen burst into laughter.
"It's the hood, isn't it?" I asked. She nodded. I pulled the hood down and set my hair, and ears, free.

"One more thing." Tolfdir told me
"What?" I asked.
"Your skill in magic has somewhat improved, so by mutual agreement, Me, Faralda and the others have permitted you to buy expert level spells." He explained. Then he gestured to a crate of books.
"For free?" I asked, gobsmacked. There was bound to be every expert spell known in there.
"You saved us, it's the least we can do."
"Thank you."

I spent about ten minutes just going through the books, learning them. Eventually we said our goodbyes to everyone and left. On the way down the bridge, I handed Jen the poison case and the poisons inside, she would use them more. Before the long journey, we stopped at the Winterhold inn for a drink and our supper. Embarrassingly, a courier approached us in the middle of Jenassa trying to stuff a whole sweetroll in her mouth (I had bet her fifty septims she couldn't).
"Are you Highborn?"
"Yes. I am." I replied, blushing fiercely and trying not to giggle.
"I have a note for you.
"Who from?"
"Wood Elf from Riverwood."
"Oh! Thank you." The courier walked off and I broke into laughter. Jen spat out chunks of sloppy sweetroll, making gagging noises. This just made me laugh more. I calmed down and Jen paid up. "A letter from Faendal!" I squeaked. "What could it be?" I opened the note

To Highborn,

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Faendal and Camilla Valerius in Riverwood, Whiterun. The ceremony will take place in the streets of Riverwood and a reception party will be held in Dragonsreach in Whiterun city on the 15th of Morning Star. Friends are welcome.

"Faendal and Camilla are getting married!" I squealed. "The ceremony is in five days' time. It takes about three or four days to reach Riverwood on foot, so we'll have a day or two's rest."
"Sounds fun, wedding cake is always nice, too." Jen observed.
"It's settled then. We're going to a wedding!"

Author's Note: Hope you liked it. I tried for humour in this chapter, let me know if it turned out right! Remember to send in characters and take the poll!

Ciao.