Onmund:

Minerva might not have been there for the first draugr attack, but she was there for the second. And the third. And the very powerful draugr that came after them afterwards. "Okay, you may have had a point about that axe," Onmund conceded as Minerva yanked said axe out of yet another draugr's skull.

"Told you," Minerva smirked. Onmund shook his head. It still didn't sit right with him, taking things off of corpses. The only thing that kept him from making further protests was that the others had a point: the draugr were attacking them.

But mage or not, he was still a Nord, no matter what his siblings said. So every time J'zargo even looked like he was heading for a corpse that hadn't risen, Onmund pulled him along. "Watch it! There are shock runes on the ground!" J'zargo yelped.

J'zargo spoke just a second too late for Onmund to avoid putting his foot on one of the aforementioned runes. Luckily, they didn't do too much damage, but it caused both boys to twitch around quite a bit. "J-J'zargo thinks you should stop w-worrying about J'zargo and watch where you walk!"

Onmund ignored him. "Well next time, don't let me catch you going through urns!"

Minerva was walking just ahead of them, munching an apple, but she turned around and stuck out her tongue at that comment. "You were going through the ashes? Ew!"

Brelyna shook her head. "Yeah, all moral quandaries aside, that's just kind of gross."

Onmund smiled, feeling a bit more vindicated as J'zargo pouted. The group had entered a long hallway, the walls lined with intricate carvings. Standing in the hallway were stones carved with images of different animals, one on each side. "We saw this before, right?" Brelyna asked.

Onmund nodded. "The combination should be on the wall somewhere." He walked over to start turning the stones.

"J'zargo wonders what the point of a puzzle is if the answer is right next to it."

Brelyna bit her lip. "Maybe...maybe it's not to keep people out, but to keep something in."

Minerva shook her head, pulling out a sweetroll as the gate in front of them slid open. "And you couldn't have said something before we opened it?"

Brelyna smiled sheepishly as they walked through the hallway behind the gate. In front of them was another iron door. Onmund slowly creaked it open, and all four students were met with a strange teal glow.

J'zargo:

"What in the name of Azura is that?" whispered Brelyna. The students cautiously filed into the room to see what was in there. In the center of the room was a sphere, which was emitting the strange light.

"There you are!" came a voice from behind the group. Onmund turned around to see Tolfdir jogging up to them. Once he got to where they were, he stared at the orb. "What in the world...Why is this buried so far within Saarthal?"

As the students descended the steps to investigate, there was a clanking sound. Brelyna gasped. "Look! On the throne!"

Stirring from a throne below the orb was what looked to be another Dragur. But this one was dressed differently, with a solid metal breastplate and a helmet with two upright horns. As it stood, it became apparent that this one was taller as well. It pulled out an axe similar to the ones the other Dragur had been using. "Qiilaan us dilon!" it rasped.

"Sure, when the Deadlands freeze over!" Minerva yelled.

J'zargo turned to her. "You can understand him?"

Minerva blinked. "Um...no?" Her eyes widened. "Look out!"

J'zargo wheeled around just in time to dodge a blast of frost from the undead. The cold nipped at his tail. "Well, if you should fight fire with fire..." J'zargo shot an ice spike out of his palm, nailing the undead in the chest.

Despite the large spike, the draugr didn't seem fazed. "Or was that don't fight fire with fire?" muttered J'zargo as he backed up quickly.

Onmund and Minerva charged toward the being, attacking it with lightning and an axe respectively. Yet the being kept coming. Minerva muttered something under her breath in frustration. J'zargo couldn't hear the words but was pretty sure from her tone that it wasn't very polite. Then Minerva raised her voice. "What gives? Nothing's working!"

Tolfdir looked around, then his eyes widened. "It must be connected to the orb! Keep it busy, I'm going to try and drain some of its power!" Saying that, he ran around to the other side of the orb and began casting a spell that connected with the orb.

As he did that, the students did as he asked. J'zargo and Onmund blasted the zombie with lightning and ice, while Brelyna summoned a familiar and Minerva kept hacking away with an axe, occasionally dodging out of the way to heal herself with magic. "Would you just die already?" Minerva screamed.

The undead warrior gave a raspy laugh, which only seemed to anger Minerva more. She screamed and slammed the axe so hard into the draugr's breastplate that it bounced off, slipped out of her hands, and shot across the room. "Shit!" yelled Minerva, running after it.

The undead shook off Brelyna's familiar. It hit the floor and disintegrated with a puff of daedric smoke. It locked eyes with Onmund, raising a hand and shooting a line of frost at him. Onmund coughed and sputtered as the ice hit him in the face. "You're using ice magic on a Nord? Seriously?" Despite his protests, it did seem to affect him, if only because it was blinding.

"I got it!" Tolfdir yelled. "Hit it now!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Minerva yelled.

She picked up the axe again and ran towards the undead soldier. J'zargo pulled out a magicka potion and downed it in one gulp, gagging a bit as he did. Both he and Onmund intensified their lightning attacks, and it finally seemed to be working, leaving small burns across the undead's body and staggering him. He didn't last long after that. First he got a fireball in the stomach, courtesy of Brelyna, then Minerva came running up from behind. Screaming, she slammed the axe into the undead's head. And he finally, finally fell.

All the apprentices were panting heavily. "Divines above, that was..."

"He was definitely tougher then the others. Who is he? Er, was he?" questioned Onmund.

J'zargo was wondering the same thing. He walked up and knelt by the body, and saw a piece of paper stuck under the breastplate. "Oh, what's this?" With some difficulty, he pulled out the paper and flipped it open.

Be bound here, Jyrik, murderer and betrayer

Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord

May your name and deeds be forgotten forever

And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward

"The charm which you bear?" questioned Onmund. "Does he mean the amulet off the wall?"

J'zargo searched some more and shook his head. "No, it probably meant this." Saying that, he pulled out what looked like part of a necklace. J'zargo could feel the telltale buzz of an enchantment coming from it. He pocketed the charm, and to his surprise Onmund didn't say anything. Maybe he was too tired from the fight.

"What is this thing, anyways?" J'zargo heard Minerva ask. Oh, never mind. Everyone else was just too focused on the orb. It was very strange, J'zargo had to admit.

As J'zargo stood up, he saw Tolfdir shake his head. "I have no idea, but this is amazing! Absolutely amazing!" He was grinning so widely his face looked like it might split in half. "We must inform Archmage Aren immediately. He needs to see this for himself." He looked at the students. "Can some of you return to the College and inform the Archmage?"

Onmund nodded. "I'll go."

Minerva rotated her shoulder and nodded. "I'll go too. I'm famished after that fight, and I forgot to pack food."

Tolfdir nodded. "Very well. Brelyna, J'zargo, can you come examine this with me? We'll need to figure out some way to move it if we want to study it back at the college."

Minerva:

Minerva hadn't been lying, she was starving. She'd burned through most of her snack supply on the way up to Saarthal, and the low blood sugar was not helping her annoyance. That stupid Jerry or Julian...whatever his name was, he'd made a total fool out of her! Flinging her axe across the room like that, she'd be so tempted to twist his-

Woah woah woah, calm down now, Minerva mentally admonished herself. He's dead now, and plus, it's not like anyone else's attacks were any more effective. Whatever Tolfdir did, it was probably the only thing that could stop him. Don't beat yourself up...or anyone else for that matter.

"You doing alright?" Onmund's voice jerked Minerva out of her thoughts. The two had gone off into a side passage that led out of the orb's chamber, and were currently winding their way back the direction they had come from.

Minerva looked towards the Nord and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit spacey from hunger I guess."

"Didn't you eat two pies this morning at breakfast?"

Minerva gave him a sour look. "What's your point?"

Onmund put up his hands. "Uh, nothing! Just...just observing!"

Minerva sighed. Damnit. Is he just skittish, or am I too forceful? Probably the second one. That's when she noticed that they'd come out into another room? "Huh? What's this?"

The room was similar in lighting to where they'd found the orb, kind of a teal color that made Minerva think of a grotto. There was a stone wall with markings on it. They seemed familiar, but Minerva couldn't quite place them. Where had she seen them before? Had she seen them before?

In front of the wall was a large chest, surrounded by ferns. Minerva tested the chest's lid and found it open. She heard Onmund make a funny noise in the back of his throat. Well, they were technically still in a tomb. Minerva turned around and saw Onmund looking very uncomfortable. Minerva shrugged. "Hey, it's open. If they didn't want us getting in, they'd have locked it." She gave Onmund what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Anyways, think of it as a reward. A prize for getting past that undead asshole back there."

Onmund sighed and nodded. He walked up next to Minerva and helped her lift the heavy lid. Inside the chest were some gems, some weapons, and a lot of gold. As Onmund and Minerva divided the loot between them to carry back, MInerva's eyes were drawn back to the wall. Specifically, one section of the wall that stood out from the rest. It almost looked reflective, or just straight up glowing.

"Iiz," muttered Minerva. "It says 'iiz'." It means "ice" she realized. Wait. Where did that come from? How did she know that? She had never seen those words in her life...right?

"What did you say?" asked Onmund.

"I said this shield is freaking heavy! How do people carry this around with one arm?"

"I never thought I'd get to see one myself," murmured Onmund as they walked back to the college.

"Hm?" Minerva tried not to wrap her arms around herself as they trudged through the snow. Despite her fur cape, she was shivering. She'd never felt this cold back in Anvil. But she didn't want to look weak.

"I'm pretty sure that carving we saw back there was a Word Wall," said Onmund, turning his head to look at Minerva. "I don't know much about them, so I can't say for sure. But it sure looked like the descriptions I've heard."

Minerva tilted her head. "What are they, exactly? Are they supposed to glow like that?"

Onmund looked at Minerva with a concerned expression. "Glowing? I didn't see anything glowing." He touched his hand to her forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

Minerva waved him off, frowning. "Never mind, never mind. Probably just a trick of the light or something. But seriously, what are they?"

Onmund shrugged. "No one's entirely sure what their purpose is, but most people think that they're really elaborate gravestones. They're supposedly left over from some really old civilization, even older than the First Empire!"

"No wonder they're illegible then." At least mostly...

"Are you sure you're okay? You're shivering..."

Gah, as if things couldn't get any more embarrassing! "I'm fine. Just not used to the weather yet, I guess." Minerva sneezed.

"Where did you say you were from?" Onmund questioned.

"Oh, I never said. I'm from Anvil."

"Where's that?"

"...Cyrodiil."

Minerva watched Onmund's face as he put two and two together. "Oh...oh! That's why you didn't mention it." Neither of them said it out loud, but both of them were aware of the Civil War that was troubling Skyrim. "Well, I wouldn't worry. I think most people at the college are pretty apolitical. Well except Aracano, but he hardly counts, right?"

Minerva sighed and shook her head. "I came up here to get rid of those bastards. I guess they're like skeevers. They'll get into every nook and cranny if you let them." There was silence for a moment. "Say, where are you from? You never mentioned that either."

Onmund winced, and hesitated. "Windhelm."

Minerva blinked. "Oh, I've heard of that place. Isn't that where...Ulfric...is...oh." she trailed off and looked away.

They walked in silence for a moment. "I'm...uh, not on either side if it makes you feel any better," Onmund finally said. "I mean, I just wish both sides would sit down and talk it out, you know? I mean, I'm not-"

"Onmund," Minerva gave him a stern look.

"Yeah?"

"Chill. It was dumb of me to bring up, especially since I didn't share where I was from either."

Onmund fidgeted. "Okay, then. Um, can we agree to just forget about it, then?"

Minerva nodded. "Yeah, that would probably be for the best."

They walked a bit longer in silence. Then Minerva heard a rustling sound and felt something being draped over her shoulders. "Huh?"

She looked over at Onmund, who was no longer wearing his fur cape. "Just to keep you warm until you're used to the weather. Wouldn't want you freezing to death."

Minerva blushed despite herself. "You didn't have to...um...thanks." She wrapped the capes around her tighter as the college finally came into sight.

You can't tell me your PC in Skyrim doesn't have a crazy metabolism considering how much food you can stuff into your mouth in the space of five seconds.

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