"Well, here we are." Cyrus muttered to himself as he slipped off his white horse, gripping it's reins as he led it towards a tree to snow covered tree to tie it up.
The Breton's words neatly encapsulated the group's feelings as they took in the ancient ruin.
The stonework might have been built centuries ago, but it still stood strong, despite the heavy layers of snow that were building up on it's arches.
Rusted metal cages hung at irregular intervals, creaking and twisting with every gust of wind.
The whole place seemed eerily silent, despite the howling wind as the group passed through the entrance to the ruin.
Jaden gripped his staff tightly as he kept alert for danger. He and Cyrus had slain the Frost Trolls that had inhabited this ancient city, but that had been months before. Who knew what kinds of creatures had taken refuge here in that time?
Those thoughts were at the forefront of Jaden's mind as the group approached a giant gateway. In the Dunmer's experience, if the gateway was that big, something dangerous was inside.
"Looks like that's the entrance." Jaden gestured to the door with is staff.
"Agreed." Cyrus nodded, his hand resting uneasily on his sword hilt.
Brelyna looked like she was about to add something, but another voice beat her too it.
"Come on! We're finally here! Let's not waste any more time!"
The voice was defiantly familiar, and when Jaden saw what had spoken, he relieved why.
Standing in front of the door, a semi-transparent blue figure was clearly visible. It appeared to be wearing generic blue mage's robes under an apprentice hood.
The two mages present recognized the face immediately.
"Arch-mage!" Brelyna called. She tried to run over to the figure, only for Jaden to grab her around the waist and pull her back.
"Brelyna, stay back. It's just an imprint." The Dragonborn told her, keeping his eyes locked on the figure.
Brelyna turned back to her friend, eyes wide. She was about to say something when another figure appeared, followed by another and another until five others had joined the younger Savos Aren.
"Are we truly sure this is a good idea?" Asked an Argonian mage as she appeared to examine her surroundings.
"We'll be back at the College before anyone even knows we're gone." Another of the imprints responded.
"You would care about that, since you're the Arch-Mage's favorite!"
"Don't forget, this whole idea was Atmah's to begin with."
"Let's just get inside, see what's in there."
As the imprint said those words, all six figures vanished, leaving no trace of what had just occurred.
"Jaden, do you know what that was about?" Brelyna asked as the Dragonborn released his grip on her.
"Those were magical imprints. I've read a bit about them." Jaden began, Juliet and Cyrus turning to listen as well. "Sometimes spirits don't make it to their afterlife. They get trapped, tied to a place that was connected to their life…or death."
"So Arch-mage Aren came here when he was still an apprentice?" Brelyna asked, things clicking in her head.
Jaden nodded. "Apparently so. But if he and the rest of those apprentices are bound to this place…." Jaden shuddered as he gripped his staff tighter. "Something horrible must have happened here."
"We don't have a choice." Cyrus gestured to the door. "We need that Staff to stop whatever's happening in Winterhold." The Breton bravely stepped closer to the door. "If that means traversing this ruin, so be it."
"Cyrus is right." Juliet nodded, joining her friend. "We need to do this."
Seeing his sister and best friend ready to move on gave Jaden the push he needed. He stepped forward and examined the door. He noticed a strange carving in the front of it, with a jagged piece missing. It was almost the perfect shape for….
The Dragonborn pulled the item Mirabelle had given him from his pouch, carefully inserting it into the door. With a quiet click, the metal ring locked in place.
Turning to his companions, Jaden's face told them what they already knew.
This was their last chance to back out.
No one moved.
The door opened slowly, revealing the room beyond. As the group entered the ruin, the imprints appeared again.
"I can't believe we're doing this."
"Can you imagine the looks on their faces when we come back?"
"You keep talking like you're sure we'll find something useful in here."
"Given the history of this place, it's more than likely there's still some amount of power here."
"Enchanted weapons, tomes of ancient knowledge, Shalidor's secrets themselves - who knows what we could find!"
"And what if... What if there are things guarding this place?"
"Against six College-trained mages? I think we'll be fine."
"Famous last words…" Juliet muttered, keeping her sword drawn and eyes locked on the passage on the far side of the room.
The imprints did nothing to alleviate the party's growing anxiety as they passed through the room, noting the bones that lay in almost complete skeletons, some still having bits of ancient cloth clinging to them.
Jaden shuddered involuntarily as the group made their way down a steep hill, towards another door. He had been in Nordic tombs many times, looking for new words of power or just to make some gold with Cyrus, but he had never been through one that filled him with this much trepidation. It was as if the very air were pressing in on him, telling him to run away and never return.
This feeling grew even more when the Dragonborn saw the sturdy iron gate baring access to the next room, a heavy lever serving as the gate.
The gate itself wasn't that much of an issue, as the Dunmer had grown used to these ancient mechanisms during his travels. The room beyond, however, was a very different story.
The large open room, lighting shining down from above, simply looked too inviting to not be trap. Could this be what the imprints were warning them about? Had something happened in the next room that killed the apprentices?
"Jaden?" Brelyna's voice snapped the Dunmer out of his thoughts.
"This next room looks like trouble." Jaden told her, his staff sparking.
"Agreed. It's too open to not be a trap." Cyrus nodded, drawing his word. He glanced to Juliet, who was closest to the lever. "Open the Gate. I'll check it out."
The older Dunmer nodded and gave the lever a firm pull, the gate rattling as it retracted. "Be careful, Cyrus."
Cyrus stepped through, Jaden moving to follow….
…only to jump back as the gate slammed back down, sealing the Breton inside the room.
"What happened?" Cyrus started, turning back to the gate and gripping his sword tighter.
"I don't know!" Jaden exclaimed. "The gate sealed itself.
"The levers stuck!" Juliet called to her companions as she attempted to push the ancient device back up, to no avail.
Peering through the bars, Jaden saw another lever on the far wall of the room. "Cyrus you need to get over there and-"
The Dragonborn was interrupted when Cyrus suddenly lurched forward, gripping the bars to support himself.
Reaching behind him, the Breton pulled an arrow from his armour, the once sharp head blunted from impacting the hard Ebony.
Cyrus immediately threw himself to the side as more arrows followed, bringing his shield up to cover most of his body as he peeked over it.
Emerging from their hiding places around the room, was a small army of Skeletons, their eyeless sockets filled with glowing blue light as they gripped their weapons.
The Breton wasn't overly concerned at this point. He had dealt with Skeletons dozens, if not hundreds, of times. As long as he was careful, he should be able to deal with them with little difficulty.
That was until a loud roar thundered through the halls as the ground at the far end of the room exploded outwards. From within an ancient mound, a long, skeletal limb pulled the familiar form of a dragon from it's burial mound.
Cyrus tensed, waiting for the skin, scales and wings to pour themselves onto the bones, until the dragon resembled the beasts that were becoming more and more common in Skyrim's skies.
Only…it didn't.
The beast remained skeletonized as it lurched forward, it's bones clacking together audibly.
Cyrus didn't know if that made it any less dangerous, but he didn't want to have to find out. He gave ground as the Skeletons pressed closer, holding his shield up as he blocked incoming arrows.
"Cyrus!" Brelyna called from behind the gate. She had noticed that the Breton was backing himself into a corner, with the undead moving closer to box him in. The Dunmer turned to the Dragonborn on her right. "We need to help him."
Jaden nodded. "We might not be able to get in there, but we can still help." As he spoke, a purple ball of magic materialized in his hand. The Dragonborn thrust said hand through the bars. "Barry!"
With a Whoosh of magic and a sphere of purple light, the familiar form of Barry the Shock Atronach materialized. The Atronach immediately began peppering the Skeletal archers will lightning as it levitated to the side. This was quickly followed by Brelyna summoning her Flame Atronach, which glided along with Barry, flinging firebolts at the undead horde.
Several of the archer's simply fell apart under the force of the Atronach's spells, causing several to peel away from the crowd, intend on banishing the summoned creatures.
The majority, however, were continuing to press towards Cyrus, who now had his back against the corner, his shield still held in front of him as a pair of Skeletons lifted their heavy great-swords, bringing them down on the black metal again and again.
The Breton's arm shuddered under the impact as he absorbed another blow. Cyrus threw his blade down, spearing in into the soft dirt beside him as he braced his shield with his other arm.
'Alright then, Cyrus.' The cornered Breton thought to himself as he absorbed another impact. 'Time to see if this works.' He summoned the magicka he knew he had, shaping it into the spell he wanted to cast. A small orb of fire materialized in his palm.
The Skeletons closest to him didn't have time to escape as the Breton released his spell.
Jaden, Juliet and Brelyna could only watch, shocked as Breton who had moments before been pressed against the corner burst into flame, incinerating the nearby Skeletons.
Cyrus recovered his sword and sprinted closer to the undead, who still hadn't grasped the concept of self-preservation. They charged the Breton, only to be burned to ashes by his Flame Cloak or smashed apart by his sword as the Atronachs continued barraging them from a distance.
Not even the Skeletal Dragon itself could withstand the Breton's attack. A few moments after coming into contact with the Breton's spell, whatever force was holding it together seemed to vanish. It crumbled under it's own weight, until there was nothing left but a blackened pile of splintering bone.
Sighing with relief, Cyrus proudly stepped to the lever and gave it a firm pull, allowing the rest of the party access as the summoned Atronachs reached the end of their brief summons and vanished, returning to the plains of Oblivion.
"Cyrus! Are you alright?" Juliet asked after she had jogged to his side, Jaden and Brelyna following.
"I'm fine." He assured her as he dismissed his spell.
"When did you learn Flame Cloak?" Jaden asked, a small smile on his face as Cyrus shrugged.
"A couple weeks ago. I bought a couple of tomes from Farengar. Flame Cloak was one of them." The Breton shook his head and turned to the passage with a sigh. "Let's get moving. We still have a staff to find."
Jaden nodded. He had a feeling that an undead dragon wouldn't be the worst thing they faced in this ruin.
As the four companions stepped down the passage that had been previously inaccessible, the Imprints made another appearance. This time, however, there were only five of them, gathered around a stone tablet. Their dialog quickly revealed why.
"We... we have to go back. We can't leave Girduin..."
"We barely made it out alive, and you want to go back in?"
"It's too late. There isn't enough of him left to go back in after."
"Gods, what have we done?"
"We can't go back. Might as well go forward. We can still do this."
"Savos is right. We can make it if we just stay alert."
"Looks like one of them didn't make it past the dragon." Cyrus said to no one in particular, his voice icy calm.
"Looks like it." Jaden confirmed as he approached the center of the room and knelt to get a better look at the tablet.
"Hail All - Brave City Bromjunaar. Forever These Walls Shall Stand. May Enemies See Her Majesty. May All Quake to Behold Her." The Dragonborn read aloud.
"Bromjunaar must be what this place was called, back in the ancient days." Juliet mused as she peered down the dark path ahead, the shadows not hiding anything from her eyes.
Jaden shook his head and stood. "It doesn't matter right now." His voice was filled with unease as he stepped down the passage. "We don't have a choice. We need to keep moving."
"Right." Brelyna confirmed, moving to follow.
Cyrus was slightly slower in following them, flinching slightly every time his gauntlet shifted.
"Cyrus? You alright?" Juliet asked, noticing her friend gently readjust his shield.
Cyrus turned to see her, his green eyes meeting her red. "I'm fine. It's not important right now." The mercenary assured her.
Juliet clearly didn't believe him, but she knew the Breton well enough not to press him. She turned and walked down the passage without another word.
They found Jaden and Brelyna standing in front of a door. It looked like it had been frozen solid, with small patches of frost spreading from it a short distance across the stone wall.
Jaden had his fist to his chin, deep in thought. "It's frost magic, obviously, so maybe we should try fire magic?"
"It's worth a try, at least." Brelyna nodded, turning to look at Cyrus and Juliet, as if expecting them to comment.
"Don't look at me." Juliet told her, folding her arms. "I don't use magic very often." 'In this form, at least.' The Dunmer thought to herself.
"You two are the specialists here." Cyrus said, gesturing to the door. "Give it a shot."
Nodding, Jaden began summoning a Flames spell. However, before he could sent it towards the door, a cold rush of wind came from behind, carrying a deep, gravelly voice with it.
"Wo meyz wah dii vul junaar?"
The spell vanished from Jaden's grasp, as if it had been swallowed by some great and powerful force, along with most of the Dragonborn's magicka.
"Whoa." The Dunmer struggled out as he gripped his forehead. "What was that?"
"I don't know." Brelyna responded, looking similar. "My magicka…it's like something just….took it."
"Was that some kind of trap?" Cyrus asked, not as effected by the magicka drain.
"I don't know." Jaden muttered. "That voice….could it have-" He was cut off by a deep growl, originating from the door.
From within the frozen shell, stepped the ghostly form of a Draugr, but this one was very different from the standard Draugr that Jaden had fought in Saarthal.
This one looked like it was completely made of ice. It's glowing eyes locked on the party as it drew it's frozen war-axe.
Jaden swore softly to himself as he reached for his own blade, the dwarvern metal resting on his hip. He could feel his magicka begin to restore, but not enough to defeat this spirit.
That was as far as he got, however, before the icy undead had a pure black sword through it's torso.
Juliet had closed the distance impossibly fast, both hands locked around her blade's hilt as her eyes flared. With a quick spin she sent the spirit to the ground.
It didn't stay down long, as it's wounds seemed to heal almost instantly, like water refreezing. It shot an arm towards the older Dragonborn, releasing a blinding Frostbite spell.
"Juliet!" Brelyna called as she reached for her bow, but quickly realized her concern was unwarranted.
The frost magic clearly hit the cloaked Dunmer, but she didn't react in any way. It was as if she hadn't even noticed the magic as she spun, delivering a crushing kick to her opponent's knee, knocking it back to the floor.
Jaden gritted his teeth. Juliet could hit it all she wanted, it would make no difference. Only fire could kill the thing, but he couldn't use his Fire Breath Shout without hitting his sister. He just needed a few more seconds as his reserves replenished…
The spirit lurched back to it's feet, eyes blazing a frozen blue as it swung it's axe. Juliet brought her sword up and parried, only realize her mistake as the spirit sharply pulled it's weapon back, locking the blades together as it pushing forward, it's magical muscle forcing the Dunmer down.
Flames sparked in Jaden's hands as his magicka finally recovered.
"Jewels!" He shouted. The older Dunmer met his eye before releasing hold of her blade and throwing herself to the side, just as the icy spirit was struck from behind with the swirling flames.
With a hiss resembling a stream of cold water dripping onto red-hot iron, the spirit sank to the ground, glowing dimmer by the moment, before vanishing altogether as Jaden turned the billowing flames towards the door, unsealing the passage beyond.
"Nice work." Juliet smiled at her brother as she recovered her sword.
"Thanks." He responded, extinguishing the flames as Brelyna looked at him questioningly.
"I thought you only knew Shock spells."
"I said Shock spells came easily to me." Jaden corrected. "I never said they were the only ones I knew."
"Spoken like a Storm Mage." Brelyna said with a smile.
"If you lovebirds are done" Cyrus called over, his hidden smile growing as he saw both their faces begin to turn snowberry red. "We should press on."
"Of course!" Brelyna stammered out, breaking away from Jaden to join Juliet at the front of the group.
The Dragonborn had to bite back his disappointment as Brelyna moved away, her blushing face obscured by her hood. He decided to push the thoughts out of his mind for the moment as he followed. They had a job to do.
As the group passed through the door, the cold breeze came again, along with another message.
"Nivahriin muz fen siiv nid aaz het."
Jaden flinched as once again, his Magicka was absorbed. "Something is defiantly doing that intentionally."
"But what could be doing this?" Brelyna asked, turning to face her friend, eyes wide with barely contained fear.
"Something ancient." Cyrus interjected as he adjusted his shield uneasily. "I might not know as much as you two." He gestured to the Dragonborn siblings. "But I know that there's only one language that voice could be speaking."
Jaden nodded, his grip on his staff tightening further. "Dragons."
Brelyna's entire body tensed. "So, you're saying that whatever this thing is, it's connected to the Dragon's return?"
The other Dunmer nodded. "It has to be."
The silence that followed spoke volumes as the four began to make their way down the passage.
The tunnel ended quickly, emerging into another large chamber, with the entrance on a ledge over a deep chasm. Juliet peered over the side, seeing the familiar shimmer of clear water at the bottom, flowing downwards.
The few Draugr patrolling the path forward didn't even get a chance to draw their weapons, dropping from bolts of flame and precise arrows from above as the group picked them off before continuing.
As they crossed a rather narrow bridge towards another corridor, voice returned.
"You do not answer... must I use this guttural language of yours?"
Somehow, hearing that rumbling voice speaking a familiar tongue only made it more unnerving.
Jaden pulled a small vial of blue potion from his pouch and handed it to Brelyna before retrieving a second for himself. Trying to ignore the taste, they swallowed the thick liquid, feeling their Magicka restore partially.
"Thanks." Brelyna smiled as Jaden set his empty vial on a nearby stone table.
"No problem." Jaden returned the smile before leading the way down a staircase, deeper into the chasm. "I get the feeling we're going to need our Magicka soon."
These words were quickly proven true, as the next room contained several Draugr, all which were left in blackened chunks of charred flesh and bone.
Descending another passageway, the party finally arrived at the bottom of the chasm, stepping into angle deep water that flowed towards an ancient stone door.
"Divines, this waters cold!" Cyrus cursed as he stepped off the staircase and into the weak current.
"Cyrus, you, barely an hour ago, defeat an undead dragon and a small army of skeletons, but stepping into this water is too much?" Juliet asked, her voice amused.
Cyrus shot her an offended look. "Not everyone can handle the cold like you can, Jewels."
Juliet was about to respond, when the voice spoke yet again.
"Have you returned, Aren? My old friend?"
Jaden and Brelyna froze at the mention of the former Arch-mage's name before the Dragonborn recovered.
"Well, we know the Arch-mage was here before. He must have encountered whatever this thing is."
"And it apparently remembers him." Brelyna breathed, feeling her magicka regenerate once more.
Jaden nodded grimly as he led the group through the door.
The journey though the ancient city remained difficult, as the group encountered more and more variety in the ruin's occupants.
A heavily built troll fell to a combined effort of firebolts and arrows, falling back and laying still.
A ghostly Wispmother was reduced to a pile of ectoplasm as Juliet drove her enchanted blade through it's semi-transparent form.
The voice from earlier called out, as it had before, taunting a supposedly returned Savos Aren, but the group ignored it mostly. They had a job to do, and no amount of ghostly threats were going to stop them.
Juliet noticed something with her brother as they had been fighting the troll, and again with the Wispmother.
He always seemed to be keeping himself between Brelyna and the threat, firing his Thunderbolts with precision. The other Dunmer didn't seem to notice, as her Atronach gliding to the side as it charged it's spells and when the fighting was done, the Dragonborn asked if she was alright before checking himself for injuries.
'Well' the older Dragonborn thought to herself, a small smile on her face as Jaden cast Healing Hands on a small burn the Wispmother had inflicted on his friend. 'as long as he's happy. But for her sake, she better not break his heart.'
A flaming gate was quickly removed, as well as the spirit it summoned, thanks to the combined Frostbite spells of the two mages before the voice called yet again.
"You...you are not Aren, are you? Has he sent you in his place?"
"Took it long enough to figure that out." Cyrus muttered, flipping his sword uneasily.
The Imprints made another appearance as well, another of them missing as the four remaining began to despair.
Pushing onward, the party was met with resistance from more Draugr, but not the kind they were familiar with.
They were semi-transparent, glowing a malevolent blue, with spectral versions of their usual armour still visible on their ghostly forms.
Fortunately, they died just as easily as the usual forms, their bodies crumbling under both blade and spell.
Another taunt flowed through the air.
"Did he warn you that your own power would be your undoing? That it would only serve to strengthen me?"
Jaden and Brelyna gulped down more of Jaden's potion supply, feeling the need to keep their reserves high. The group had long since stopped commenting on the voice.
"Let's see where this leads." Jaden said aloud, hoping to relieve some of the tension that hung think in the air. He stepped down a passage, only to scramble back as a firebolt collided with the stone wall he had been standing beside.
"Azura damn it." He cursed.
"Draugr?" Cyrus asked, weapon raised.
The Dragonborn shook his head. "No. Spellcaster traps." He peeked his head around the corner to get a better look. "I see five of them. They're all armed." He stepped back. "If my Ward can hold back the spells we might be able to make it though."
"That's a pretty big 'if', Jaden." Brelyna responded.
"Indeed it is." Juliet said, her tone surprisingly confidant. "I think I have a safer option."
"And that is?" Jaden asked, confused.
The older Dunmer didn't respond with words.
At least not in a common tough.
"FEIM ZII GRON!" Juliet's Thu'um echoed through the halls as the shout took effect. In an instant, the woman was no longer a physical being. Her body was transparent blue as she sprinted down the corridor, knocking the Trap's power sources, Soul Gems, from their housings as the spells they fired passed harmlessly through her incorporeal form.
Her companions stepped into the room, ignoring the now disabled traps as her Become Ethereal shout faded, returning her body to it's normal appearance.
"Good idea." Jaden told his sister, sounding slightly impressed.
"I have my moments." Juliet responded with satisfaction, not missed her brother's tone.
They continued through the ruin, dealing with more spectral Draugr along the way, before the voice came one final time.
"Come, face your end."
The four companions tried not to let the voice's words discourage them, but it was becoming harder and harder with each appearance.
A sound from ahead quickly caught Juliet's attention. It sounded quite familiar, a quiet buzzing that grew more defined by the moment.
"Jaden, do you hear that?" She asked, tilting her head to the side as she listened.
The younger Dragonborn stopped and listened. The buzzing was changing, becoming more defined until muffled chanting resounded from the corridor ahead.
"There's a Word Wall here." Jaden muttered, not surprised at all. He had learned quickly that Words of Power could be found in almost any ruin in Skyrim.
"A what?" Brelyna asked, confused.
"It's where we get the Words of Power for our Shouts from." Juliet clarified, watching as Jaden pushed open another door. "And there it is."
The door led into another large room with the Word Wall tucked into a corner, down a short flight of stairs with a throne situated above it, as if it wanted it's occupant to look down on the chamber, with another corridor leading onwards to the right.
"What are the odds that throne's empty?" Cyrus asked rhetorically as he once again adjusted his gauntlet.
"Not great." Juliet responded, pulling a dagger from her belt. It was a short, dark blade with a second, smaller point sticking out from the bottom. "Get your spells ready, mages." She told her companions, feeling a small amount of amusement at their slightly offended looks.
The elder Dragonborn's footsteps were silent as she approached the back of the stone chair, until she was directly behind it. With movements too fast to be natural, she brought her arm around the throne and buried her knife in it's occupant's chest.
A roar that had more resemblance to fury then pain echoed through the halls as the Deathlord lurched to it's feet, gripping it's battle-axe with a single hand.
Juliet quickly withdrew her knife as the Deathlord spun, it's axe shining as the Dunmer evaded and rolled away.
Her companions took this opportunity to release their charged spells. Three bolts of fire exploded against the ghostly Draugr, throwing it against the far wall, where it lay still.
"And now that that's over with, lets get a look at this wall." Jaden slipped his staff back into it's ring on his pack as he stepped closer, Juliet following as the blue light began to flow from the wall, entering the Dunmer's eyes.
"Jaden? Juliet?" Brelyna asked concerned as the siblings when rigid. She tried to approach, only to be stopped by Cyrus.
"Relax, Brelyna." Cyrus assured her as he gently gripped her shoulder. "They've done this before. Their just learning a new word."
"He's right." Jaden added as the light faded. "These Word Walls are written the dragon language." He gestured to the carvings. "See the way the letters are carved? It's like how a dragon would use it's claws. Anyway, Dragonborn can use these walls to learn new Words for our Shouts. This one is Tiid, which means 'Time' in our tongue."
"Are you going to test is now?" The conjuror asked, now more curious then concerned.
"Not now." Juliet said, turning away from the wall. "We still need to find that staff. It feels like we're close, at least."
Nodding, the group continued down the hallway, defeating the skeletons that were waiting in ambush and pushing open a rotting wood door.
The magical imprints faded into view, this time, only three remaining.
"We shouldn't have left her there to die!"
"What else could we do? Stay there and die with her? She refused to go on, we didn't have a choice!"
"This is it, you know. Through this door. Can you feel it?"
"We're not going to make it, are we?"
"We stay together, no matter what. Agreed?"
"I'll be right with you."
"Agreed. We all stay together."
As the images vanished, Jaden turned his attention to the door, only to feel is stomach drop. The last time he had felt this much dread, he was standing at the summit of the tallest mountain in Tamriel, getting ready to read an Elder Scroll. This was similar, not knowing what awaited him, but knowing that there was so avoiding it. He could almost feel the power radiate from that door.
"They're right you know." Cyrus said stepping beside Jaden. "This is it."
"The Staff has to be on the other side of that door." Juliet added, her glowing eyes narrowed as she traded her sword for her bow.
Jaden nodded. "I feel it too."
"But we don't have a choice!" Brelyna said firmly as she stepped in front of them. "What's the other option? Go back through this hell and leave? Abandon Winterhold to whatever Ancano's doing? We need to stop this now!"
The young conjuror's words snapped Jaden out of his trance. "Brelyna's right. No matter what happens, we need to get that Staff."
"I'll be right behind you." Cyrus said, his armor clanking together as he shifted his grip.
"So will I." Juliet added, keeping an arrow drawn.
With one last glance at Brelyna, Jaden threw open the door.