Author's Note: Last chapter was supposed to get us all the way to the Nook but that ended up not happening as it hit a natural end point and was also by that point my longest chapter for this fic.
Chapter 26: Every Nook and Cranny
Harry stared up at the ancient Nordic shelter which had been used by many different iterations of the Kingdom of Skyrim over the centuries, possibly even millennia.
It had been fully abandoned within the last era or so, and it showed. Covered in dirt, ice, and snow only the outer circle was truly visible from the road.
"This one highly doubts that the staff remains here if it was left here," J'zargo commented, to which Harry nodded along.
"Agreed, but we need somewhere to camp for the night and this will be as good as any,".
As they approached they heard strange gruntings and growlings coming from within.
Harry held up a hand and gesture for the group to be prepared as he drew his blade, having not quite mastered fully silent casting he forwent magic once more.
As they crept within the outer ring they were met with a horrific sight.
A scraggly and crazed Nord in hunting furs bent over another body, slobbering and slavering all over a gaping wound in the neck.
The figure paused and turned to look up at Harry with bloodshot eyes slowly darkening to the reddish-orange of a vampire just in time to react to Harry's thrust with his sword.
All Harry's companions saw was the creature roll out of the way of Harry's initial trajectory with preternatural speed.
However Harry saw everything at normal speed, as the smell of burning ozone that he attributed to the enchantment on the ring gifted to him by the Sapling taking effect and charging his body and mind with the electrical impulses needed to fight at high speeds.
He was able to change his attack's direction mid-thrust, taking the creature completely by surprise and impaling it through the heart down into the snow covered floor of the ruins.
The smell faded, only to be replaced by the overpowering rusty stench of copious amounts of shed blood.
He glanced over at the corpse of the fledgling vampire's victim and cursed under his breath.
"It's Borvir!" Harry called outloud, recognizing one of the upperclassmen from the College.
Brelyna walked over frowning, "I cannot believe he was completely blindsided by this creature, perhaps it approached him before it fully turned and lost control when his guard lowered?"
Harry began searching the area and found Borvir's dagger, tossed across the ruin and Borvir's rucksack, which held a few notes, a few recipes, and a few potions.
"Aye, it looks like he may have been digging for a potion when the thing fully turned, lost his dagger in the struggle, no time for magic."
Speed casting should be taught earlier, Harry mused to himself, at least for the Novice spells so mages can throw something up in defense at the least.
With a sigh the group all pitched in to help remove and burn the vampire's corpse and to give Borvir a proper burial, carving out a rudimentary sarcophagus with magic and blade and placing a levitated relatively flat stone over the top.
"So we're bringing his stuff back to the College, I'm guessing?" Onmund spoke up hesitantly.
Harry nodded, "Yes...let's...let's just get a campfire going and get some sleep. Alphabetical shifts, means Brelyna first and Onmund last."
None of them had been close to Borvir, he was an older student and had his own group of friends he stuck closely to. They'd been a group all very interested in Alchemy and the possibilities of applying it outside of what was considered "Pure Potion-making". They'd all within the past few weeks left on some venture which Tolfdir had derided as a "Get rich quick scheme!".
But all students and members of the College, particularly due to how Skyrim viewed large amounts of magic use, felt a kinship for each other, it still felt like losing a family member. Albeit a cousin of no real closeness.
Thus they settled in for the night, preparing to set off for Mara's Eye in the morning, hoping to clear out the vermin and hopefully also recover the staff.
As they broke camp in the morning Harry frowned up at the sky.
"We need to move quickly, we may have to shelter in the vampire's den after clearing it. It might not be today but there is going to be a blizzard soon," He announced to the gathered party.
"Snow surely, but how does Harald know it will be a blizzard?" J'zargo questioned.
Onmund however nodded along, "Low clouds, red sky at the horizon line in the morn, and I can hear a mammoth that we cannot see? Aye, that's a storm surely. And out here up in the mountains it can be nought but a summer blizzard,".
Harry was glad that Onmund had that folk knowledge, because he felt it perhaps had something to do more with the ring upon his finger. He'd felt more and more connected and in tune with the sky and the weather since beginning to wear it.
Perhaps someday if he could fly again he could truly connect with the sky in full?
"Great so now we are racing a storm?" Brelyna questioned.
"Yeah, though if the clouds haven't gotten any lower there's a chance we could make it to Windhelm in time to wait it out in the Jarl's hall!" Harry, trying to inject some spirit back into the party commented with a grin.
"Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak?! You know him? I mean, personally know him?" Onmund excitedly let out.
Harry nodded, "Aye, he came to Whiterun for the festival held for the return of the Eldergleam Sapling. He has some friendship with the White-Manes who are close with the Companions in turn. We...I think perhaps debate may be the correct word? No, that suggests it was a fair debate. I believe he was feeling me out as a potential ally for the future? He said he saw some kind of potential destiny in me,".
While Harry snorted at that idea both Onmund and Brelyna nodded along, seemingly taking it very serious.
Their leader noticed, "You guys don't seriously agree with that do you?"
While he didn't know the contents of the prophecy in his old world, he knew it had to mean he was destined to fight Voldemort, and maybe even defeat him. Not that he bought into prophecy of course, but for Voldemort to want to kill him as a baby and to go after it for the precise wording later, Harry now understood what those series of events indicated.
Hermione would be proud, he thought to himself, I'm using my brain a lot more over here.
Which unfortunately reminded him of the last time he hadn't used his brain, and his feelings of guilt and failure over Sirius going through the Veil.
Though...perhaps Sirius survived like I did? He wondered, not noticing that Brelyna had begun to answer his question.
"Ergo with the example of the Nerevarine prophecy fulfilling itself so precisely, and after so many ingloriously bad false attempts to fulfill it, there is heavy precedent for the concept of destiny in a way that transcends self-fulfillment paradoxes!"
Glancing over to see Onmund's eyes glazing over, Harry knew that his internal musings had helped him dodge a-...an arrow? He supposed that was the correct version of that saying in Tamriel.
"The battlemage may have considerable skills in his field but destiny has yet to show its face in this one's opinion!" J'zargo cut in allowing Harry to interject himself.
"That's all well and good but whether it's destined or not we should get a move on, there are some vermin to smoke out of their den!"
They were lucky that the first two locations were so near each other, apparently the journey of the previous owner of the staff had been a relatively straight shot from Winterhold to the Riften area. Meaning there were likely other locations they had stopped at along the way, but that the sleazy dark elf had only gotten information on three exact locations.
A few hours later Harry glanced northward, up at Mount Anthor where the blizzard pounded against the north-western face of the mountain.
"We got lucky," He commented, "The mountain is slowing the storm down significantly. We may find either shelter or our destination before it hits!"
He sped his horse up at that declaration, and his party followed swiftly after. J'zargo cursing slightly as his mount.
They quickly rode past Fort Kastav, manned to prevent bandits and such from encroaching upon the pass between the Pale and Eastmarch.
However as they and the pass made to turn back to the south the storm began to spill over the top of the mountain.
"Daedroth spit!" J'zargo bit out, "This one does not enjoy our chances if we continue riding into that!"
Harry nodded, "Quick, look for shelter, if we don't find something in the next half hour we run off to the side and build something!"
"There!" Onmund shouted out not long after, "Like the Nook, another abandoned waystation!"
Harry saw the top of the dome reach up just over the ridge ahead and grinned, "Then we make for it! Come on!"
Even as they approached they noticed two skeletons wielding iron weapons burst forth from sarcophagi beside the entrance.
"Blast it!" Harry called out as he let out a burst of Sparks, the electricity flowing over the creatures.
"Burn instead!" J'zargo bit out as a Fireball rolled forward and blasted the skeletons to pieces.
"That works, too!" Harry yelled, "Now, inside! Everyone!"
It was a close thing, but they barred themselves into the ancient Nordic ruin just in time for the snow and ice to blow past them.
The winds howled for hours as the party miserably attempted to keep a fire going.
"This one fears the pass may be closed by the storm…" The cold and wet Khajiit almost whined.
"I fear you may be right, we may need to camp out here for a few days. Perhaps explore the pass a bit for anything interesting? I think there were some interesting ruins nearby that the College had mapped out, are they on the map you got from Arcanist gro-Shub, Harald?" Brelyna added.
Wordlessly Harry unrolled the map.
"Hmm…" He muttered after a bit of analysis, "Forsaken Cave? That's...ominous!"
"Should we really be adding more onto our plate?" Onmund nervously asked.
"If this one can't continue the trip, he may as well practice on an interesting delve!" Their destruction specialist countered.
Harry raised a hand to stop the arguing, "We can take a look, but I won't promise more. We'll see how the snow is in the morning."