Chapter 43
Serana stood over the now dust corpse of the Dragon Priest Morokei. She and Garen had come to the final chamber of this area of Labyrinthian to find the Dragon Priest imprisoned here. All along the way to the chamber, the Dragon Priest had taunted her and only her. Garen hadn't heard the Lich's taunts, and neither had Savos.
When they finally reached the Dragon Priest, Serana freed him from the magical prison he was held in. The Dragon Priest held Garen in a prison of his own and forced Serana to fight the lich herself.
In the end, her frost and necromancy magics beat the lich's lightning magic. It was a hard fight, but her stamina and agility won out over the lish's more powerful magics and slow movement.
Morokei had tightly clutched the Staff of Magnus in his hand the entire time Serana and he had done battle. It was the dust of what had been that hand that Serana plucked the Staff from.
The instant her fingers grazed the polished wood of the staff, Serana could feel the immense power that lay within it. Serana stared at the staff, in awe of the power that lay untapped within.
A warm, concerned hand gripped her shoulder, pulling her out of her awe. Serana looked to see Garen looking at her with worry and concern.
"Are you alright?" He asked her.
"I'm fine." Serana smiled to him. She was relieved when his features softened and relaxed.
"We need to get this back to the College." Garen spoke softly to her and she nodded.
"I hope they are still fine." Serana spoke softly to him.
Both of them over the last couple of months had come to think of the other members of the College as part of their family. To them, their students had become like their own to them. The thought that their students and friends could be harmed doing something that they had asked them to do had been in the back of their minds the entire time they had spent in the ruins.
"They are. They may not be the best yet, but they can handle themselves." Garen spoke softly and embraced her.
"We need to go." She spoke into his shoulder.
Garen nodded and they made their way out of the deathly silent ruins.
When Garen bounded into the silent streets of Winterhold, he could smell something wrong in the air. His gaze instantly snapped to the College in the background. To his amazement and horror, the pillar of light that had been emanating from the Hall of the Elements had expanded into a massive swirling ball of light and energy around the entire College. Garen spotted J'zargo and Onmund near the ball of magic, fighting off seemingly endless amounts of what looked like an odd cross between a wisp and an ice wraith.
Garen snarled at the sight and bounded towards them. When he neared the College, he spotted a group of mages around the bridge to the school. By the look of them, they were all weary and exhausted from keeping the magic from the College under control. He spotted a few of them that had minor injuries, but nothing serious.
Garen stopped and looked at the crowd around them. There was one face that he didn't see and a scent that he didn't smell in the crowd of mages. Garen snapped his gaze back to where Onmund and J'zargo were and spotted a limp form on the ground behind them.
Garen growled and raced towards his students. He could feel Serana's legs tighten on his sides and her grip tighten in his fur. He knew that she saw it too.
When he was only seconds from their students, Garen felt a massive amount of magical power build up above him. He didn't have the time to look and see what was causing it before a massive blast of pure energy sizzled through the air over him. The energy slammed into the wisp like wraiths that Onmund and J'zargo were fighting. The energy didn't stop there and slammed into the magical orb that surrounded the school.
The energy seemed to devour the wraiths and the barrier as if it was a living thing. Onmund and J'zargo watched the energy devour the magic that had barred them from the College in awe. Garen turned his gaze to the limp form of Brelyna laying behind them.
Garen stopped behind the students and Serana slid off his back.
"Are you alright?" Serana asked hurriedly.
"We're fine, but Brelyna passed out." Onmund spoke in shock to Serana.
Garen bent down and found that the Dunmer mage was fine, simply unconscious due to overexertion. Garen looked up to Serana and nodded. Serana let out a sigh and looked to the two still standing mages.
By the look of them, they had been fighting these magical creatures nonstop for hours now. Both the Nord and the Khajiit looked as if they would join their friend at any second. Only sheer willpower kept the two on their feet.
"Get Brelyna back to the others. Get her taken care of and get some rest." Serana spoke gently.
Onmund and J'zargo nodded and the Nord picked up their friend. By the way that Onmund held the other mage in his arms, Garen could tell that the Nord cared for his friend deeply.
Garen and Serana watched them walk away before turning to one another.
"We need to end this." Serana spoke with rage and an fire in her eyes that Garen had never seen before. "Now."
Garen nodded and was about to shift back into his human form when Serana climbed back onto his back. Garen looked to his wife with a puzzled expression, but at seeing the pure hate and loathing that she was directing towards the College, he decided to say nothing.
Garen lunged forwards into motion,racing them to the College. As he raced towards the gate, more of the wisp-like wraiths rushed towards them from a smaller orb of magic that still surrounded the College.
Garen felt the same build up of magical energy above him. Another massive bolt of magical energy rushed towards the creatures, consuming them as it made its way through their ranks. Just before he reached the magical orb that still encased the College, the bolt of energy consumed the orb, allowing he and Serana to enter the College.
Garen raced into the courtyard of the College and immediately skid to a halt. The large, spacious courtyard was now filled with hundreds of the magical creatures. As one, they all turned to look at he and his wife.
As before, Garen felt the massive build up of magical energy above him. Serana leaned down and whispered into his ear.
"Run into the center of them. I have a plan." Serana whispered.
Well, looks like this woman will be the death of me. Garen thought before letting out a challenging roar and leaping into the mass of creatures.
Around them, the creatures swarmed over one another, each racing to try and get to them and tear them apart. The magical energy kept building up above him and a blinding white light entered his vision from above.
When he reached the center of the courtyard, Garen stopped and snapped at a wraith that got too close. Serana let out a yell of power and the blinding light exploded out from her and the staff. Garen slammed his eyes shut for fear of the light blinding him.
When he finally opened his eyes, the courtyard was empty of the creatures.
"He knows we're here." Serana snarled, looking towards the Hall of the Elements.
"Then let's send him to Sithis." Garen snarled and padded over to the doors to the hall.
Before he reached them, the doors flung open, revealing Ancano standing in front of the Eye of Magnus. The Thalmor mage had a massive smirk on his face as he regarded them. Garen padded into the Hall and growled at the Thalmor.
"Don't know how to keep your pet on a leash wench?" Ancano smirk at them.
Serana slid off his back, ignoring the barb at the both of them. Garen barred his teeth and tensed the muscles in his legs. Should this piece of scum try anything, he would be missing a throat in seconds.
"I'll give you one chance Ancano." Serana spoke calmly to the elf. "Leave now, or I will turn you to dust."
"You think you scare me?" Ancano scoffed at her. "You don't know the power that I hold at my finger tips!"
Garen snarled and looked to the elf's hands. They had a magical glow around them. Just as the elf began to raise them, Garen lunged.
Ancano's gaze snapped towards him. In a blur of motion, the elf flicked his hands towards Garen. He felt his entire body seize up and he was lifted into the air.
The elf flicked his hands way, as one would to clean themselves of a bit of dirt. Garen flew backwards and slammed into one of the pillars on the sides of the rooms.
An explosion of pain and lights went off in Garen's head when it slammed against the stone of the pillar. Garen's body slumped to the ground.
""GAREN!" He heard Serana cry out in grief and rage.
His world went black as the dark abyss of unconsciousness overtook him.
"GAREN!" Serana cried out as she watched her husband being flung into one of the pillars of the hall. His body slumped to the ground and he didn't get up.
Serana turned to Ancano, her entire being radiating rage and fury. The smirk that had been plastered over the elf's face faded and turned to wide eyed horror.
Ancano raised his hands and lightning crackled between his fingertips. He extended his palms outward and lightning shot towards Serana. Behind him, the Eye pulsed with magical energy that fed into the elf.
Serana raised the Staff of Magnus as the lightning rushed towards her. The lightning struck the Staff in her hands, and was consumed by the ancient weapon. Serana scowled at the elf and willed the staff to shoot the lightning back at the Thalmor.
Ancona's eyes were impossibly wide with fear when he raised a ward to block the attack. In only seconds however, the ward shattered and his body was seized up by the electrical attack. The lightning stopped coursing through his body and he dropped to his hands and knees.
Serana yelled out in fury and charged the staff up for an attack of her own. In her free hand, ice sprang to her fingertips. At the same time, Serana sent forth both her spikes of ice and the magical energy from the Staff towards the kneeling Thalmor.
The cries of pain of the other mage brought a wicked smile to her lips. When the light that had surrounded the Thalmor from the magic of the Staff faded, Serana's smile turned into a wicked grin. Ancano was laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood from the wounds from her spikes.
The elf coughed and blood spattered his face and lips. Ancano looked to her weakly, his eyes pleading for mercy. Serana however, had none to give.
She dropped the Staff to the ground and closed her eyes. She called upon every ounce of knowledge that her mother had taught her. She summoned up every bit of magical energy that coursed through her veins.
When Serana opened her eyes, she didn't notice the black energy that seemed to radiate from her entire being.
She locked gazes with Ancano and lifted her hands into the air. Ancano's body lifted up as well and the mage screamed out in horror and pain. When he was several feet into the air, Serana stopped his ascent. She focused on everything that she had learned and everything that she knew about magic. She closed her hands into fists and the elf screamed in unnatural agony.
Serana grinned to the dying elf and jerked her hands away from each other. Ancano screamed at the top of his lungs as every fiber of his being was torn apart. In seconds, what had once been Ancano's body, was turned into nothing more than a small pile of black dust.
Serana let her magic fade and the dust dropped to the floor. Serana turned to where her husband was lying and rushed to him, forgetting about everything else in the world.
When she reached him, She dropped to her knees and placed her ear against his chest. She could hear his breathing and his heart still beating, but both were faint.
She began sobbing into the fur of his chest and didn't notice when a figure blinked into existence behind her. She jumped when a soothing hand found it's way to her shoulder. She looked up to the owner of the hand and found Quaranir looking down at her with soft, sad eyes.
His other hand pulsed with soft yellow light. Under her hands, Serana felt Garen's heart beat strengthen.
"He will be fine." The monk smiled to her.
Serana looked up to the monk with a smile and thankfulness in her eyes. She noticed movement behind the monk and looked to see the other members of the College slowly walking into the Hall.
"Now." Quaranir spoke with firmness. "If you don't mind Arch-Mage, I will need to take the Eye with me. The world is not yet ready for its power."
Serana nodded numbly and in a flash of light, both Quaranir and the Eye vanished.
"Serana are you alright?" The cautious voice of Tolfdir asked her, stepping out from the crowd of mages.
"Yes." Serana replied after breaking from her daze. "Yes I'm fine. We're fine."
"Did he just say what I thought he said?" One of the other teachers, Faralda, spoke after stepping from the crowd as well.
"He did indeed." Tolfdir smiled. "And I can't help but agree with him."
Around them, the other mages nodded and a murmur of agreement all passed through them. Serana felt humbled to know that the other mages so willingly handed leadership of the College over to her. She never would have thought she would feel alright with being the leader of something again.
"I-I don't know what to say." Serana stammered.
"How about thank you?" Urag joked, getting a chuckle from the rest of the mages.
"Yes." Serana replied, a slight blush coming to her face. "Thank you. Thank you all. It's an honor."
"The honor is ours Arch-Mage." Tolfdir smiled.
"Now, Let us see to Master Garen, you go and get some rest."
Serana nodded and left her husband in the very capable hands of the other mages.
