Hello everyone. The newest chapter of Thaumaturge is here after... I don't remember how long it took but I'm sorry for the wait. I'm working on some projects at school and working on getting a couple more stories up. I did get a new story involving Mass Effect put up if you wanna check that out. Also: I try to proofread before I post things but if you see something please, please, PLEASE, tell me. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Read on!
EDIT: Fixed a few errors.
Tanz woke up to someone shaking him and he opened his eyes to see Trebon standing next to his bed. Tanz stood up and got ready for the trek to Saarthal. He pulled his hood over his feathers and horns and walked out of his room. The other four mages were ready and waiting for him.
"Ready?" Onmund asked. Tanz nodded and the group walked out into the courtyard.
"Tolfdir said we're supposed to meet at the ruins." Trebon said. Tanz started to follow but stopped when he saw Brelyna standing behind him, unmoving. She was just staring at him, a look of fear on her face.
"Something wrong?" Tanz asked. She shook her head.
"No, nothing." She replied, an obvious lie. "Come on, we should get going." She walked past him and out onto the bridge.
"That was odd." Tanz said. "What do you think that was about?"
"Maybe she's that assassin." Bros said.
"No, I don't think so." Tanz said. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid." Tanz walked out across the bridge after the others and reached the other side. They walked through the town and out onto the trail toward Saarthal. Snow was falling heavily and the sky was a dark grey. On top of that it was windy, which made the snow come at an angle. The group stuck closely together, following behind Trebon who held up his palm, a flame hovering closely above like a magical torch. They had walked for a few minutes when Tanz saw something in the distance. He tapped Onmund's shoulder.
"Look." The five stopped to look at the figure. A lone person in a snowstorm wasn't normal... Or smart for that matter.
"Maybe it's an apprentice." J'zargo shrugged.
"Hello?" Brelyna shouted. The figure moved and a shard of ice shot out toward them. They all dropped down and prepared spells. Tanz prepared his own ice shard and aimed, but as soon as he did, the person ran off.
"Get back here!" Trebon said, chasing after the attacker.
"Finally! Something to do!" J'zargo said excitedly as he followed.
"Wait" Brelyna yelled angrily.
"Stop!" Onmund shouted. The rest of the group followed the attacker down into a small canyon that provided cover from the snow and wind, where they saw Trebon and J'zargo launching lighting bolts at the attacker. The attacker was wearing red and black armor with black hands adorning it. Tanz could tell it was a female, and she was raising a ward to block the spells. Tanz launched a few shards at the attacker and charged at her, reaching for his sword. His hand found his robe, and he realized he had left his sword at the college.
"Damn it all!" Tanz yelled. He heard Onmund shout something and Tanz looked up. The attacker was sprinting towards Tanz with a dagger. She had something slung across her back. A crossbow. She lunged at him with the blade, but he countered with a barrier and swung his fist at the attacker. She hopped backwards and blocked a spell from behind with a ward. This was the assassin from before, the one who had a attacked him on his way to the college. She charged at Tanz again, ramming a fist into his jaw. He fell backwards into the snow and she aimed the crossbow at him.
She fired, but Tanz rolled to his left. It was instinct, he was acting on adrenaline and fear. He cast a blue orb at the ground and Fera appeared by his side. He pointed at the assassin. "Fera, attack!" He commanded. The assassin muttered something and charged past the atronach toward him, dodging firebolts as she ran. She immediately started swinging at him with the knife.
"To the void with you!" She screamed furiously. Tanz discharged his barrier spell and she stumbled backward, falling into the snow. She started to stand up when Tanz ran over to her. He held his hand in the air and a red glow emitted from his palm. The glow intensified and the assassin's eyes widened. "What are you..." She never finished the sentence. Tanz cast the spell and the assassin screamed in pure horror. She scrambled away and Tanz fired a shard into her side. She yelped and ran off into the storm. She turned around long enough to glare at him with menacing emerald eyes.
Trebon and J'zargo launched lightning bolts as she fled. Once she was out of sight the other four headed over. "What in Oblivion was that about!?" Trebon shouted. "Was she after you?" He asked. The four stared at him expectantly.
"I... Don't know." Tanz said. Brelyna looked at him like she did at the college, wary and distrustful. "Uh... Lets just keep going."
"Yeah, we should go tell Tolfdir." Onmund said.
"No!" Tanz shouted. They all gave him odd looks.
"Why not?" Brelyna asked.
It had just came out, he didn't even know why he had said it. "Uh... It was probably just a thief, or a bandit." Tanz said. "Nothing to worry about." The others seemed to buy it. But Tanz could tell Brelyna didn't. She watched him with wary eyes.
"Let's just go." Trebon said. "We're late anyways." The five continued on and in a few minutes they arrived at the ruins. The apprentices, along with Tolfdir, stood outside the ruin. The five walked into the crowd and Tolfdir noticed them. He looked over the crowd and nodded.
"Alright everyone. Now that everyone is here we'll be entering the ruins. Be on your guard however, this ruin still has active traps." Tolfdir said.
"What are we looking for?" An apprentice asked.
"Anything! Anything relating to magic. Wards, barriers, things like that." He said.
The students followed Tolfdir into the ruin. Tanz nostrils burned. It smelled of rotted flesh and dust. "By Akatosh! What's that smell?" Tanz said.
"Corpses," Onmund said. "Saarthal is filled with my ancestors. We shouldn't be here, we should let the dead sleep."
"I'd watch out for draugr, these crypts are filled with them." Trebon said.
The group started to move on and something grabbed Tanz arm. He jumped and saw Brelyna holding is forearm. "I need to talk to you." Tanz looked back at the group who had had already proceeded down the hall. Tanz looked back at the Dunmer who had folded her arms.
"What?" Tanz asked.
"Who were you talking to last night?" She asked. Tanz's heart skipped and his stomach tightened. She had heard him talking to Bros.
"Uh... Nobody." Tanz lied.
"We already have one strange person at the college and we don't need another." The Dunmer said, clearly agitated. She wouldn't let this go.
"Just give me moment." Tanz said and walked a short ways away. "What do I do?"
"She can't know about me Tanz, you know this." Bros said.
"Well? What do I tell her?" Tanz asked.
"I don't know. Tell her you're insane." He joked.
"I'll just tell her, what will she do anyways? Attack me?" Tanz scoffed.
"You cannot tell her!" Bros said. Tanz ignored him, which took quite a bit of effort. It isn't easy to ignore someone that's in your head. Tanz turned back to Brelyna, who stood waiting, a scowl plastered on her face.
"Well!" She shouted.
"Alright..." Tanz said. He told her everything, how he had woken up in Quagmire, undergone his first trials, and met Bros. He explained everything, and by the end of it, Tanz realized how crazy and made up it sounded. He gave her a blank stare when he finished.
"So you're telling me: a spirit is living inside your head, and your a servant of a Daedric Prince?" The Dunmer said.
"Yeah... But not by choice." Tanz said. "And that person from earlier that attacked us? She's an assassin that was hired to kill me." The Elf stood there, speechless. "You can't tell anyone!"
"I need to think about this." She said, still dumbfounded "We need to go back with the rest of the group." The two walked back to the group who had gone a few rooms deeper into the ruin. They entered a room filled with wooden scaffolding and walkways. The scaffolding made walkways and stairs that led down deeper into the ruin. The group had already walked down the stairs and Tolfdir was assigning tasks to the apprentices. The two hurried down the stairs and walked into the crowd. Tolfdir noticed Tanz and gestured for him to come to him.
"Ah, I need you to meet with Arniel Gane and help him with his research." Tolfdir said, he looked past Tanz and walked toward another apprentice. The crowd separated as students went off to complete their tasks. Tanz walked through the halls of the crypt in search of Arniel Gane, every few minutes seeing or passing a student. But after a while he saw less and less apprentices. He walked on through the halls for a while without finding Arniel.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned around. The figure in the red and black armor stood in the hall with her arms crossed. "Well, well, well." She said. "You got me good with that fear spell. But I won't fall for that again."
She pulled a dagger from her belt and walked toward him. He launched flames from his hands and the hallway was filled with fire. She charged through the fire at him and rammed into him. They toppled over and Tanz charged a lightning bolt in one hand as she kneed him in the chest. Tanz launched the bolt at her and she jumped backwards, launching her own lightning bolt. Tanz cast a ward and the electricity dissipated along the ward's surface. Tanz charged firebolts in both hands and launched them both at the assassin. She dodged the attack and sprinted toward him.
She lunged at him with the dagger and he blocked with a barrier. He discharged the barrier and it propelled the assassins arm the other way. She spun and slammed her fist into the side of his head, he lost his balance and slammed into the wall. The Argonian snarled and stood up. She laughed mockingly and stood upright.
"I thought lizards were supposed to be nimble?" She teased. He hissed and charged a firebolt. He launched it and she blocked with a ward. He launched shard after shard until the ward weakened. He charged and raised a barrier like a battering ram. He discharged the barrier as he neared closer and she stumbled. She swung at him with the dagger and he raised his arm in defense.
The knife cut through the scales and flesh. He grabbed the dagger's blade with his gauntleted left hand and discharged a barrier with his right. She let go of the dagger and fell onto her back. He threw the dagger to the ground and stomped over. She raised her hand and a blinding light emanated from her hand. He shielded his eyes and after a few seconds the light vanished along with the assassin.
"Damn you!" He screamed.
"Are you alright?" Bros asked.
Tanz looked down at the gash in his forearm, he hadn't felt it until Bros mentioned it. The pain set in as the adrenaline wore off. He quickly sat down and cast a healing spell on the wound and after a few seconds the wound was completely sealed. Tanz stood up and searched the halls for the assassin. After a few minutes he gave up. He grabbed the dagger and moved on. The dagger was a dark green with jagged curves and edges.
"How'd the assassin know I was here?" Tanz asked.
"Its possible she followed you here." Bros said.
"I don't think so, I don't see how she would find out we were coming here." Tanz said.
"Maybe she was in the college, assassins can get closer than you think." Bros said.
Suddenly it dawned on him. "She's a student at the college." Tanz said. "Mirabelle said that someone enrolled before me. It took two days for me to get to the college, in that two days the she could have enrolled there."
"It's possible." Bros said.
"I need to find out who enrolled right before I did." Tanz said.
"Don't worry about that now, focus on the task at hand. The Nord told you to find Arniel Gane."
"The Nord? You mean Tolfdir?"
"I don't pay attention to names." Bros said flatly.
Tanz walked through the halls for a few minutes and found who he assumed was Arniel. The Breton was hunched over examining an artifact. Tanz walked over and tapped a finger on his shoulder. Arniel jumped and turned around.
"What!" He shouted as he turned around. "Oh, my apologies."
"Tolfdir wanted me to help you with your research." The Argonian explained.
"Oh, well, I'm just looking for enchanted items and artifacts right now. Search the area for these artifacts and bring them to me." Arniel said. Tanz nodded and went off in search of artifacts.
Tanz walked around into the rooms and found a ring on a table, a circlet on a shelf, and another ring on the floor. He walked into another room and found an amulet perched on a stone wall. He pulled the amulet off the wall and heard a rumbling sound. He turned around and saw a metal gate rise out of the ground, blocking the only exit. Tanz ran over to the gate and Tolfdir and an apprentice stood on the other side.
"What happened?" Tolfdir asked.
"I pulled an amulet off the wall." Tanz said.
"Strange." The Nord said.
"How do I get out of here?"
"The amulet must have something to do with it." Tolfdir said. "Put it on." Tanz pulled the necklace over his head and around his neck. The wall that he pulled the amulet from started to glow. "There!" Tolfdir said. Tanz walked up to the wall and tapped on it. "Try casting a spell on the wall." Tanz charged a firebolt and cast it at the wall. The stone exploded into fragments and a pathway was revealed. The gate behind him fell back into the ground and Tolfdir stepped in.
"How very strange..." He muttered. "I'm not sure what to expect here, please be on your guard." They walked through the passageway and out into a room with three coffins and a pedestal. Tolfdir examined one of the coffins while Tanz looked for a way through. After a moment of searching, Tanz looked back at the Nord.
"I don't see any-" He started to say. Everything turned blue and Tolfdir froze as an Altmer appeared I front of him. He was wearing tan robes with various markings. A cowl was pulled over his head.
"Hold mage, and listen well." He said. "Know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgement has not been passed, as you have no way of knowing. Judgement will be passed on your actions to come, and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you. This warning has been passed to you because the Psijic order believes in you. You mage, and you alone, have the potential to prevent disaster. Take great care, and know that the order is watching." As soon as he finished, he disappeared in a flash of purple. Tolfdir started to move again and Tanz's vision returned to normal.
"Wait!" Tanz shouted. The Altmer disappeared and Tolfdir started to move. He shook his head and looked up at Tanz with a confused, almost worried, expression.
"I... I swear I felt something rather strange just then, what just happened?" The Nord said.
"An Elf appeared, he said something about danger and the Psijic order." Tanz summarized. Why did strange things have to happen to him.
"The Psijic order!? Are you sure? Nobody has heard of any news about them in years. And danger ahead? Why, that doesn't make any sense at all." Tanz stood there in silence. "The Psijic's have no connection to these ruins... Perhaps we should look inside these coffins." Tanz and Tolfdir walked over to one of the three coffins and peeled off the cover. A rotted corpse fell out of the coffin and onto the ground. The corpse shook and stood up, pulling an axe from its belt as it lunged at Tanz. He raised a barrier and cast a bolt of fire at the draugr. The firebolt exploded when it made contact with the draugr and the remaining skin boiled away. The corpse collapsed in a burning heap.
The other two coffins opened revealing two more draugr and they both rushed towards the mages. Tolfdir cast a fire spell at one of the corpses and it fell, its rotted flesh still burning. Tanz fired a few ice shards into the other draugr's chest. The shards busted the zombie's rib cage but it kept walking toward the Argonian. Tanz pulled the dagger from his belt and jabbed the blade into the draugr's chest. The blue glow faded from its eyes and it fell limp. Tanz yanked the dagger from the lifeless body and shoved it to the ground.
"Draugr..." Tolfdir said. "We should keep moving." One of the opened coffins led into a passageway that led to a large circular room. A bridge led over a small pool of black water. Coffins circled the room along with dozens of lit candles. A few of the coffins opened and multiple draugr stepped out, but Tanz and Tolfdir made quick work of the undead.
"I've never seen anything like this in Nordic ruins before. I'm going to examine this, go on, I'll catch up. But if these ruins are as dangerous as they seem, be careful." The next door was guarded by spikes and a metal grating. By it were two chains on each side. Tanz tugged on both and the spikes and grating lifted. Tanz walked through the door and into a room filled with corpses. The corpses sat in indentions in the wall, wrapped in cloth. The corpses didn't move however. Tanz walked through the room, around a corner, and into another two-floored room. A few draugr appeared and Tanz cast an arc of lightning at the closest. It spasmed and collapsed after a few seconds. Tanz launched an ice shard at the second but it blocked with an iron shield. The shard shattered against the metal.
Tanz rushed at the draugr with the dagger and rammed into it with his shoulder. The corpse fell onto its back and he stabbed the knife into its chest, just below the rib cage. The last rushed at him and hit the Argonian with his shield. Tanz launched a firebolt at the draugr and it caught it in the chest. The draugr's skin melted away and it fell. Tanz stood up and searched for any more of the undead. Finding none he continued.
The Argonian walked up some stairs and turned to the left. He passed through some doors and walked down an incline. As he reached the bottom he saw a treasure chest. He started toward it when he heard a click. Darts shot out of the wall and Tanz grunted as he dropped onto his stomach. A dart fell down by his head and looked at the tip. A green liquid was dripping from the point. Poison. After a few seconds the barrage stopped and Tanz rose to his feet. Tanz checked himself over to make sure he hadn't been hit. Satisfied that he hadn't, he moved on.
He rounded a corner and entered a long hallway lined with corpses. In the hall were a few pillars with symbols: a whale, a bird, and a snake. Tanz walked down the hall, watching the corpses as he went. He examined the pillars. Behind each pillar was a tablet with one of the three symbols. At the end of the the hallway was a rusted metal gate and a lever. Tanz adjusted each pillar to match the symbol on the tablet behind it. He did the same with the others and after he had checked over them, he pulled the lever.
The metal gate lifted into the ceiling and Tanz walked on. He rounded a corner and walked down a few steps. He opened two iron doors and entered another room. It had two flights of stairs that led upward onto a platform. In the middle of the platform was a coffin. He started to walk up the steps when a draugr appeared at the top of the stairs. Tanz charged a firebolt in both hands, which made it doubly more powerful, and launched it at the draugr.
"Koh." The draugr muttered as the firebolt collided with its head. The undead slammed into the wall and tumbled down the stairs. Tanz nudged the corpse away past him as it fell. He walked up the steps and through a door. He entered a room that resembled one he had seen in Bleak Falls Barrow. The walls were covered in carvings, but at the end of the hall wasn't a door with rings. It was a metal gate with four pillars and a lever, just like the other hall. Tanz arranged the pillars in the correct order a pulled the lever.
The gate rose and Tanz started on when he heard a familiar voice. "Hold on my boy!" An out of breath voice said. Tanz turned around and saw Tolfdir running after him. "I though it high time I caught up with you. Lets get a move on." Tanz walked on while Tolfdir followed. They entered a large room, in its center was a massive glowing blue orb that hovered a few feet off the ground, and around the orb was a magic wall. On a lower level was a table with a staff on it, and a chair with a corpse sitting in it. The corpse's eyes lit up and the draugr stood up. It unsheathed a sword and launched an ice shard at Tanz. The mage countered with a ward and the shard shattered against the shield.
Tolfdir cast a flame spell at the draugr, but the spell had no effect. A magical shield enveloped the draugr's body, protecting it from any attack. "I'll find a way to weaken its shield! Distract it!" Tolfdir said. Tanz summoned Fera and she immediately started launching firebolts. Tolfdir seemed to vanish from the room. The draugr started up the stairs, charging at Tanz. Tanz fired multiple shards at the draugr and the ice shattered on the magical shield. The draugr had closed the distance and swung its sword at Tanz. Tanz blocked with a barrier and discharged, sending the draugr over the edge and onto the table below.
The staff rolled off the table and onto the ground. The draugr released a grunt and stood up. The shield around the corpse vanished and Tanz took his chance. He fired a few shards at the draugr and they hit home. The shards struck the draugr's chest and it collapsed onto the table, legs dangling of the edge. Tanz ran down the steps, toward the orb. Tolfdir stood before the floating ball, admiring and observing. Tanz walked up beside him and something hit his leg. He looked down and saw the staff on the ground. He picked it up and looked it over: the staff was made of wood and at the top was an orb that radiated magical energies.
"This is just amazing! We need to tell someone!" Tolfdir said. "I don't dare leave this unattended, would you go find Savos Aren at the college and inform him of this?"
Tanz nodded proceeded out the door and through a few hallways until he entered a familiar room filled with scaffolding. It was the same room he had passed through before. He jumped down onto the wooden scaffolding and it rattled for a few moments. Tanz froze and proceeded when it settled. He ran up the scaffolding and out into the snow covered mountains of Skyrim.