Chapter 34: In the Ice
Dipper, Wendy and Serana were near Winterhold as they felt a strange energy through them. At this moment, a weird, wraith-like entity attacked them.
It rammed into them, throwing Wendy of the carriage, and flipping it over. Serana casted firespells at the being, but missed, due to its small size, and fast movement. It tried to attack her, but stopped as an arrow flew past before it.
Wendy had gotten up again, and swung her sword at the thing. It dodged, and Wendy jumped onto it. She managed to capture the creature, but it tried to flee, lifting her up. Dipper and the carriage driver grabbed her, and held her down, keeping the enemy under her. Wendy held up her arm, and the being got out of its prison, only to be shot down by Serana.
"What was that thing?" Wendy asked as she stood up.
"Some sort of magical power." The vampire answered. They looked over to Winterhold, and saw more of the creatures flying around.
The College didn't look good either. Blue Energy came out of the windows, and Fireballs, Lightning and Ice pierced the sky everywhere around Winterhold.
"Can you get home alone?" Wendy asked the driver.
"Sure. Go ahead."
The three nodded, and ran into the town, and to the bridge. Along the way, they helped out whenever possible. Faralda was inside, trying to hold off another one of the beings. Mages were running around everywhere, helping out citizens from the town that have been evacuated to this place. It reminded them of a warzone. It looked like they didn't even have the time to clear out the dead dragon, as parts of its skeleton were still in the courtyard.
She took it out, and looked at the trio. "You? What are you doing here?"
"We need to talk to the Lore-keeper." Serana explained.
"He is in the Hall back there." She pointed in the direction of a door to the right.
"Why isn't he in the library?" Suddenly, a surge of energy came from the big hall.
"The Arcaneum is, just like the Hall of Elements, unreachable right now. " She said.
"Where are Mabel and Ford. Are they okay?" Dipper asked-
"Yes, they are okay. But they are not here right now. They set out for the Staff of Magnus, to set things right. Actually, I think you just missed them."
Wendy and Dipper sighed. "Crap. But thanks anyways."
They entered the hall, and saw Urag sitting on a bench. "Hey. It's us again."
He looked up. "Ah. Did you find your Moth Priest?"
"Yes, and now we need an Elder Scroll."
"Hmph. You think even if I have one here, I would let you see it? It would be kept under the highest security. The greatest thief in the world wouldn't be able to lay a finger on it."
Dipper leaned a bit forward. "And what about the Dragonborn?"
"What about... "ait. Are you? Where you the one the Greybeards were calling? I'll bring everything we have on them, but it's not much." The Orc walked into a room, and came back with a book. He was right that it wasn't much. "Here you go. Try not to spill anything on it."
Dipper took the book. It's contents were incomprehensible gibberish, to say the least. "This… this book doesn't help. It is complete nonsense."
He said, with a bit of anger in his voice. Urag smirked. "Aye, that's the work of Septimus Signus. He's the word's master on the nature of the Elder Scrolls, but… well. He's been gone for a long while. Too long."
"And where is he? Did he say anything?"
"Somewhere up north, in the ice fields. Said he found some old Dwemer artifact, but… well, that was years ago. Haven't heard from him in years."
The three looked at each other. They would need to search out in the Ice fields, and find a way to get over the water. Falling into it would surely results in a painful, and cold, death.
They thanked him, and left the College, before making their way to the shore. After discussing what to do, they decided that Serana would use an Ice Spell to make a walkway over the water. After two hours of searching, they spotted a trapdoor in an iceberg. They opened it slowly, and heard some old man talking to himself.
As they got into the main room, there was a giant, orange cube, half stuck in the wall. The rest of the room was full of furniture. An old mage was talking to the cube. "Dig, Dwemer, in the beyond. I'll know your lost unknown and rise to your dephts. When the top level was built, no more could be placed. It was and is the maximal apex."
Wendy made a gesture for crazy, and they walked down to him. "Hey. Are you Septimus Signus?"
The man turned around. "Yes, I am."
"Great. We need your help. See, we need an Elder Scroll. Do you know where to find one, or even have one?"
"I've seen enough to know their fabric. The warp of air, the weft of time. But no, it is not in my possession."
Wendy whispered in Dippers Ear. "Like I said, he's loco."
"And do you at least know where to find one?" Serana asked.
"Here. Well, here as in this plane. Mundus. Tamriel. Nearby, relatively speaking. On the cosmical scale, everything is nearby."
"Not exactly." Dipper pointed out. "And this isn't helpful."
"One block lifts another. Septimus will give you what you want, but you must bring him something in return."
"Okay, and what do you want?"
"You see this masterwork of the Dwemer?"
"The giant Rubick's Cube? Yes, it's hard to miss." Wendy answered.
"Deep inside their deeper knowings. Septimus is clever among men, but he is but an idiot child compared to the dullest of the Dwemer. Lucky then they left behind their own way of reading the Elder Scrolls. In the dephts of Blackreach, one yet lies. Have you ever heard of Blackreach? 'Cast upon where Dwemer Cities slept, the yearning spire hidden learnings kept.'"
"And where is Blackreach? Somewhere in Reach?" Dipper asked.
"Under deep. Below the dark. The hidden keep. Tower Mzark. Alftand. The points of puncture, of first entry, of the tapping. Delve to its dephts, and Blackreach lies just beyond. But not all can enter there. Septimus knows the hidden key to loose the lock to jump beneath the deadly rock."
"And how does it work?"
"Two things I have for you. Two shapes. One edged, one round. The round one for tuning. Dwemer music is soft and subtle, and needed to open their cleverest gates. The edged lexicon, for inscribing. To us, a hunk of metal. To the Dwemer, a full library of knowings. But… empty. Find Mzark and it's sky-dome. The machinations there will read the scroll and lay the lore upon the cube. Trust Septimus. He knows you can."
Dipper took the objects. One was a cube, not unlike the big one in the wall. The other one was a sphere. "So, this is like a Datachip…" He muttered. It sounded like these Dwemer were way more advanced than the rest of Tamriel.
"Now go. Septimus won't wait that long." He shoved the three out of his hideout, into the freezing cold.
"Now, that was something." Wendy said.
"Guys." They turned around to Serana.
"What is it?" Dipper asked.
"Do you have a moment to talk?"
"Yeah, sure."
"I think I know where we could get a second one."Serana explained, and both looked at her in shock.
"Seriously? And you didn't say it earlier?"
"Half of the people in your little crew would just as soon kill me as talk to me. That doesn't exactly make me want to open up. I got a warmer welcome from my father, and that's saying something." Dipper wanted to say something, but realised that she had a point. "Also, I didn't want to risk my father getting wind of it."
"What is that between you and your father anyway?" Wendy asked her.
"Ever since he decided to make that prophecy his caring, we kind of drifted apart."
"You don't trust him at all, don't you?" Dipper asked.
"It's not a question of trust… he's just obsessed with the prophecy. And from what I can tell, an thousand extra years of obssession haven't made him any better. We should have found him a Hobby."
This got a small chuckle out of Wendy and Dipper. "At least he cares about you." Dipper said.
Serana shook her head. "I don't think he does. He doesn't really se me as his daughter anymore. I'm just… a means to an end."
Wendy put a hand on her Shoulder. "Hey, you are not just a 'means to an end'. You are a good person, and our friend."
Serana smiled. "Thanks. Now, about the Scroll. We need to find my mother, Valerica. She'll definitely know where it is, and if we're lucky, he actually has it herself."
"I thought you don't know where she went." The dragonborn pointed out.
"The last time I saw her, she said that she'd to go somewhere safe… somewhere that my father would never search. Other than that, she wouldn't tell me anything. But the way she said it… 'someplace he'd never search'. It was cryptic, but yet she called attention to it."
"And where would your father never search?"
"In the Castle!" Dipper shouted out, and both looked at him confused. "Think about it. Why would he search in his own castle for someone?"
"That… That almost makes sense! There's a courtyard in the castle. I used to help er tend a garden there. All of the ingredients for our potions came from there. She used to say that my Father couldn't stand the place. Too… peaceful."
"Yeah, but isn't that risky? Someone would still go there from time to time." Wendy said.
"Oh, absolutely. But my mother is not a coward. That is… I don't think we'll actually trip over her there. But it's worth a look."
And, how are we supposed to get in there? We cant just walk past Harkon." Dipper said.
"True. But I know a way we can get to the courtyard. Without arousing suspicion. There's an unused inlet on the northern side of the island that was used by the previous owners to bring supplies into the castle. An old escape tunnel from the castle exits there. I think it's our way in."
"Great. Then we will go there."
"Um, Guys? What about Mzulft?" Wendy asked.
"Oh, yeah. We need two Scrolls."
Wendy clapped her hands together. "I know. You two go and find Valerica. I'll go to Mzulft and get the Scroll."
Serana and Dipper looked at each other. "You sure that you can do it alone?"
"Please. I've got an Ebony Armor, sword and my ax. I am sure."
"Well then. It's settled. But please, don't die." Dipper said concerned.
"Nah, I wont. Now come on, we have to find two Elder Scrolls." Wendy said, and started walking, only to nearly fall into the freezing ocean. "Oh, right."
And Chapter 34 is out.
Now to replies:
Bayoboo: It's not planned for now, but it may happen later through infection.
.549: I'm not gonna say where he is. You'll see when he appears. (I can say that it will happen after the Sky Haven Temple though).
Glitter Bomb1221: Well, they certainly won't be happy that she turned a legendary artifact into a Horncandle (According to Google, that's the actual name of those things.)
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