Author's note:
As usual, I deeply thank all my readers for their support . The special shout-outs of the week go to Valtieri, Contrary to Popular Belief 3 and Erithacus r. I was glad to see that Ancano is loathed by many people beside myself and I laughed out loud when I read Valtieri and Contrary to Popular Belief 3's description of his many, err, "qualities". Moreover, I was very reassured by Contrary to Popular Belief's wise words about this story focusing on Agda's journey rather than her destination.
As for Erithacus r's review, I must say that I found it very interesting and useful. I love it when people express their observations in such a kind and constructive way! The loss of followers actually made me wonder whether something in my writing had changed, so it was good to hear your opinion about the differences between the early chapters and the most recent ones. I must confess that I do want to get through the College storyline as quickly as possible, especially because I feel that this part of the story is too close to the original gameplay. Therefore, dear Erithacus, thank you for letting me know that my eagerness to finish this section is actually influencing the quality of my work. Now that I know about it, I'll try to be more careful ad avoid rushing things.
This update describes the close meeting between Agda and the "stuck up pointy-eared thing", as Valtieri ironically labelled Ancano (apropos, I'm very curious to know more about your ideas concerning the Dominion).
The current instalment has a huge warning for torture. It's a really dark chapter, as a consequence I suggest you read it with caution. Meanwhile I'll go hide in a corner and tell myself that I'm a horrible person.
Enjoy!
3rd of Hearthfire, 4E 202
Agda didn't know how long she blacked out. She only knew that, when she finally opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of a damp ceiling over her head. A second later, when she tried to move, the mage realized that she was tied to a very uncomfortable wooden table.
"Well well well", someone she couldn't see suddenly said. "Aren't you a pleasant sight, all tied up like this?"
When she recognized Ancano's voice, Agda frowned. At that point the girl briefly remembered Quaranir's warning about the Eye of Magnus, her decision to venture into the Midden alone, the way she'd managed to reach the Augur of Dunlain without getting herself killed; a second later, Agda remembered something heavy connecting with the back of her head. It looked like Ancano had hit her with the hilt of a dagger, thus making her fall unconscious. Agda now wondered why the man had tied her down like that rather than simply kill her. The girl had more than a few possible explanations for that - unfortunately, all of them were very scary.
When Ancano took a step towards her, Agda tried to free herself from her bindings by casting a powerful spell. Sadly enough, the Thalmor had shackled her with enchanted chains that made her unable to use her magicka.
"Scream all you want, filth", Ancano mocked her when Agda let out a rageful yell at that discovery. "Only the Augur of Dunlain will hear you - and he clearly isn't in the position to aid you. You are my prisoner, Nord, and no one will come to save you".
As she realized that Ancano was right, Agda cursed her bad luck and her confidence: every time she thought she could face a task on her own, she always ended up being attacked by hungry vampires or heartless Thalmor or other foul creatures. The girl briefly wondered what was wrong with her.
When Ancano took another step towards her, Agda tried to spit in his face. The Thalmor laughed at her boldness, then laid his hand on her shoulder. When the girl tried to pull away from that undesired contact, the Altmer paralyzed her with a spell. Only then did Agda realize that she was still in the Midden, in the unsettling room that hosted a creepy Daedric relic in the shape of a hand.
"Isn't it ironic?", Ancano smirked when he realized that Agda had just taken in her surroundings. "One more brave apprentice of the College will die in the very same room where dozens of others have already met their end. Yet, before we get to the fun part I need to have a quick chat with you, Nord".
As she heard those words, Agda felt as though her heart had just skipped a beat. Her worst fears had just come true: it definitely looked like Ancano was going to torture her. Nonetheless, the girl had no intention of answering his questions.
"I won't tell you anything", she hissed while trying to hide her worries. "Therefore, if you want to kill me, you'd better do it now. I don't have all night".
Ancano laughed at Agda's reply, then he caressed her face with the hand that was previously resting on her shoulder.
"I will kill you, Nord, do not doubt that", he said with a low and seductive tone. "I will break every bone in this ugly face of yours, then I'll leave your corpse to rot in this room. First, however, I need you to tell me about your secrets - and if you behave, I may even give you a quick death. Now tell me, little one: what do you know about the Eye of Magnus and its power?"
When Ancano posed her that first question, Agda frowned. The young healer was more than acquainted with the cruelty of the Thalmor: those monsters had already tortured her once, they had forced her family to flee Anvil, they had even murdered Adaeze's parents. As a consequence, Agda knew that Ancano would have surely used her secrets to misuse the Eye of Magnus, even if that implied sacrificing Winterhold and its people to the greatness of the Dominion. Well aware of that fact, the girl kept her mouth shut throughout the whole interrogation.
Ancano didn't seem bothered by Agda's uncooperative attitude, just like he didn't seem bothered by the insults she kept on shouting in order to break through his detached façade - if that brat thought she could get him to give her a clean death by relying on that lame strategy, she was horribly wrong.
After more than one hour of pointless questions, Ancano surprisingly burst into laughter. He seemed pervertedly pleased by Agda' stubborness.
"You are a true Nord, I'll give you that", he smirked. "Regrettably, I am a master at breaking obstinate little things like you".
After saying those words, Ancano mischievously grinned. Then, for the first time in that long night, he used his skills as a torturer.
When the Thalmor laid a hand on her chest and suddenly electrocuted her, Agda couldn't stifle a surprised scream: in all her life, she'd never felt such a strong wave of electricity run through her body. For a moment she thought that Ancano was about to kill her, but the Altmer withdrew his hand just before she passed out.
Panting in the aftermath of the spell, Agda noticed the sickening smell of burnt skin. Moreover, she saw that her robes now sported a massive hole the size of a handprint. Disgusted by that sight and by the pain that was still running through her body, the girl closed her eyes and tried to block out what was happening around her. Unfortunately for her, Ancano had seemingly got tired of being polite.
When Agda let out a pained whine, her torturer couldn't stifle a satisfied chuckle. Amused by the way the girl was trying to ignore her desperate situation, Ancano grabbed her chin and leant down towards her, thus preventing her from finding shelter in her mind.
"That was only the beginning, filth", he slowly whispered in Agda's ears. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be feeling so bad that you'll welcome Oblivion with open arms".
Smirking, Ancano got ready to electrocute Agda again. At that point, the girl desperately looked for a way out of that nightmarish situation. Prompted by panic, the young healer suddenly summoned the power of the Serpent Stone. There was the familiar bolt of green light, then Ancano fell to the ground. Agda took advantage of that moment to try and break free from her ties, but the Thalmor's enchanted chains prevented her from escaping. As she understood the huge mistake she'd just made, Agda felt on the verge of fainting: not only had she thrown away her only chance of salvation - she'd also angered Ancano by paralyzing him and hurting him with the mysterious power of the Serpent Stone.
As the effects of the poison eventually wore out, the Altmer slowly got back to his feet, then wiped the dust off his clothes. A moment later, he turned to Agda and cast a very powerful spell that immediately caused her to pass out.
When that obstinate Nord lost consciousness, Ancano narrowed his eyes. Since that disgusting creature had dared hurt him, the time for threats and petty displays of power was over - now it was time for pure, utter violence.
After being tortured in Riverwood and coming across the horrors of Fellglow Keep, Agda believed that she'd already seen the worst humans could do to other living beings. Ancano, however, quickly showed her that she was wrong.
Agda didn't know how long he electrocuted her, just like she didn't know how many times she blacked out during that treatment. She only knew that, had she survived that experience, her body and her mind and her soul would never be the same again.
At first the interrogation resembled the one Agda had endured almost one year earlier: Ancano would ask her questions, she'd refuse to answer and a bolt of electricity would hit her at full force. Then, however, the Thalmor opted for a very different strategy.
Before Agda could protest, Ancano hung her up in the middle of that damp room, not far from the creepy Daedric relic the girl had already encountered during her exploration of the Midden. The Altmer made sure that her toes barely touched the ground, then he violently slapped her face. A moment later, he conjured a scourge and used it to beat his victim.
When the man whipped Agda for the first time, the shock and the adrenaline turned out to be stronger than the pain; as a consequence, for one crazy moment the girl believed that she was currently trapped in a very vivid nightmare. As the man kept on beating her, however, Agda understood that she was very much awake and that Ancano wasn't going to stop torturing her until she told him all her secrets.
Even after the girl passed out for what felt like the hundredth time, the Thalmor kept on whipping her with force, thus leaving red welts all over her body. He didn't attend only to her back, but he also made sure not to neglect her front. After a few minutes of that treatment Agda was completely covered in blood.
When the Thalmor eventually stopped asking her questions, Agda realized that by now he was simply torturing her out of fun. Also, she understood that Ancano wasn't going to let her walk out of the Midden alive. On the one hand, that discovery caused the girl to burst into tears; on the other hand, it strengthened her decision to keep her mouth shut. Ancano could take her life, but there was no way he was going to take her secrets too.
When the Altmer stopped whipping her, Agda thought that her torture was finally over. By now her clothes were completely ragged, whereas hot blood was dripping down her back and her chest and her limbs. The girl also had a very bruised face - every time she'd passed out or screamed too loud, Ancano'd namely slapped her with all his force. As a consequence of that rough treatment, the young mage now had a broken nose and had lost at least a couple of teeth. Given the circumstances, Agda believed that her situation couldn't get any worse. Sadly enough, Ancano quickly showed her that she was wrong.
When the Thalmor unsheathed his dagger, Agda tried once again to get free from her bindings, thus causing the man to slap her for the umpteenth time. As soon as the weapon began ghosting over her face, the girl spoke for the first time since Ancano had begun whipping her. At the beginning of her interrogation the young mage had been very vocal: she'd insulted her torturer, she'd screamed her pain, she'd sworn that she would never confess her secrets, all in the hope that Ancano would get tired of her stubborness and finally give her a clean death; yet, after the Thalmor had started whipping her, Agda had been transformed into a bloody ragdoll with no will or strength to speak. The young healer hadn't changed her mind about keeping her secrets hidden from Ancano; nonetheless, by now her body was completely, utterly broken - so broken that Agda eventually forsook her pride and asked Ancano for mercy.
"Please...", the girl murmured between her bloody lips. Every word made her chest heave painfully and brought renewed pain to her bruised face. "Please..."
As he realized how much Agda was suffering, Ancano chuckled. Then, ignoring her words, he pressed the flat of his dagger against her cheek. The enchanted steel immediately caused the healer to hiss in distress.
"It's too late to ask for mercy, Nord", Ancano evilly whispered in her ears. "Also, you should remember that you're the one to blame for this whole situation. By the way, worry not: I'll find out what you were up to after I kill you - after all, I'm sure it was nothing important. Before sending you to Oblivion, however, I'll have some more fun with you, filth: it's been a while since I last disfigured someone and I'm afraid that my skills might have got a bit rusty".
As she heard those words, Agda let out a loud sob, thus earning herself another slap. A moment later, when the tip of the dagger started carving into the soft flesh at the corner of her mouth, the girl prayed for darkness to claim her once and for all. When unconsciousness washed over her, Agda welcomed it in bliss.
It was the middle of the night when Ancano made his way out of the Midden. In his arms was a limp body covered by a black cloak.
The Altmer exited the foundations of the College through a hidden passage to the Sea of Ghosts. Once there, he walked up to the shore and cast a telekinesis spell. The body in his arms floated in the air until it reached the point where the waters of the ocean were at their deepest. At that moment, Ancano smiled: it'd been a while since the last time he had so much fun while doing his job.
As the Altmer raised his hood to fight off the cold snowstorm raging around him, a strong gust of wind blew away the cloak that was covering his victim's body. When confronted with the sight of the battered flesh of that unlucky girl, the Thalmor couldn't stifle a satisfied smirk: the tortures he'd inflicted upon Agda of Anvil were a masterpiece of evilness and mirrored the fate of all those who were foolish enough to oppose the Dominion.
As he thought about the way he'd whipped and disfigured the healer until her body had become nothing more than a bloody mass of flesh, Ancano didn't feel any regret; on the contrary, he simply felt a tingle of disappointment for the way Agda had passed out while he was carving a few nice scars in the soft skin of her arms.
Sighing at the memory, the Altmer carefully looked around him. He couldn't leave his victim in the Midden, just like he couldn't bury her in the wilds for the risk of someone coming across her by the mistake. Hopefully, the freezing waters of the Sea of Ghosts would carry that stubborn Nord away from his eyes and his mind and his soul, thus making her become just one of the many apprentices of the College who'd vanished into nothing and never come back.
Grinning at the thought of that brilliantly solved problem, Ancano snapped his hands and let Agda's body drop in the ocean like a stone. As he made his way back to the College, the Thalmor smirked: he was sure he would never see that annoying woman again.
When the cold waters of Winterhold touched her marred flesh, Agda abruptly snapped her eyes open. She screamed at the burning sensation the sea salt was provoking to her wounds, but that fact only caused her lungs to get filled with water. Shocked by the realization of her whereabouts, Agda used her last forces to understand what was going on. She was still alive, though barely, and she knew she had to keep on fighting.
Swim, you damned Nord!, Agda thought while trying to reach the surface of the ocean. She perfectly remembered being tortured in the Midden and believed that the sea salt could help her survive the awful injuries Ancano had caused to her body and her mind and her soul. To survive, however, she needed to swim.
Move your legs, you lazy girl!, the healer told herself as the surface of the sea got farther and farther. She was a good swimmer, for Talos' sake, she couldn't drown in the ocean after surviving such a painful interrogation at the hands of the Thalmor!
Despite those thoughts, every time Agda tried to move her limbs she was welcomed by a terrifying pain that shook every nerve in her body. As the surface of the sea got more and more distant, the girl eventually gave up the fight: she was sore and tired and broken and was ready to let sleepiness overtake her.
As she closed her eyes, Agda briefly thought about her parents, about her friends, about Delphine and the Blades. The girl later recalled her happy childhood in Anvil, her first visit to the Imperial City together with her family, her first days in Riverwood after the men she was travelling with had stolen all her money; she recalled the joy she felt whenever she used a spell, the pride that overtook her every time she created a new potion, the calmness that surrounded her when she was reading a good book. At last, the girl remembered the nights she'd spent in Riverwood with Steinarius, the soft touch of his lips on hers, the way his arms always managed to keep her warm and safe and protected.
Smiling at the memory, Agda gave in to tiredness and allowed darkness to overtake her.
That night, if someone had observed the isolated shore north of the College of Winterhold, they would have surely been greeted by a very curious sight.
Shortly after a man in dark robes dumped something in the ocean, a woman in an equally dark armor took his place on the shore. Rather than looking at the horizon and grinning, however, the newcomer did something completely different: she shed her cloak, then she dived head first in the freezing waters of the Sea of Ghosts.
For a few minutes nothing else happened in that forsaken part of Tamriel . Then, however, the woman in black emerged from the surface of the sea and took a sharp intake of breath. In her arms was the limp body of a consciousless girl.
The mysterious woman swam back to the shore, then dragged the person she'd just saved out of the water. She covered her with a cloak and other dry clothes, cursing at the sight of the scars that marred her face, her chest and her limbs. Soon enough the snow beside the girl became red with blood, but her savior couldn't care less.
Without losing her calm, the older woman checked for the heartbeat of her friend, then carefully compressed her chest and blew air into her lungs. She repeated the procedure once, twice, thrice, until the girl produced a weird gurgling sound. A second later, the younger of the two women abruptly snapped her eyes open and spat a huge amount of water.
In that moment the black-eyed stranger sighed in relief: Talos be praised, Agda of Anvil was still alive.