Behold! Summer vacation has come and I have returned (at least for the moment)! And now the time has come to continue with the main quest!

"What do you mean you don't have anything on Elder Scrolls?" yelped Minerva. It was three days after the incident with the Eye, and the days before had been spent repairing things. Both the damage done to the college and the town, and the damage to the relationship between the college and town.

With the magical anomalies that had been running about causing chaos, Jarl Korir had new ammunition for his arguments against the college. Despite Tolfdir and Faralda's protests that the fault was Ancano's, the Jarl still insisted that the fault lay with the college for digging up the Eye in the first place.

Honestly, despite his dislike for the man, Onmund couldn't help but feel he had a point.

It was during repairs to the lecture hall that Minerva had filled Onmund and the others in on what had happened since Kynesgrove. "So you need to find a unique artifact of immense power in order to stop the end of the world," summarized J'zargo. "Seems simple enough."

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm," grumbled Minerva.

"Who said this one was being sarcastic?"

Which led them to now, with Minerva and Urag staring each other down. "In case you forgot, this is a library! Keep your voice down!" Urag grumbled. "And I didn't say I never had anything. I said I barely had anything."

Urag crossed his arms. "You've gotta understand, very few people study the things. Elder Scrolls are bits of the divine made solid so we can understand them. The people who study them devoutly usually go mad...or worse." He sighed. " There used to be a man here, named Septimus Signus. He studied the Elder Scrolls. And, just like pretty much everyone else, he started to go crazy. He grabbed almost all his notes and anything I had related to the Elder Scrolls and rowed out into the sea." Urag shrugged. "By the time I tracked him down, he'd been gone for a while. Muttered something I couldn't understand then just...died. Most of the stuff was ruined by ice and water, but I've got a book he wrote."

Minerva took a deep breath, then nodded. "I'll take whatever you've got."

Urag nodded and stood up. "Just gimme a sec." Then he walked off into the back.

Onmund studied Minerva as she drummed her fingers on the desk and muttered something incomprehensible under her breath. Onmund put a hand on her back. "It'll be fine," he said, trying not to sound nervous. "If anyone can find something, it's Mr. gro-Shub."

Minerva took deep breaths through her nose. "I know, I know. I just...I'm worried he won't be able to..."

Urag came back before she could finish. On the desk he set two things: a book covered in water stains, and a strange-looking cube. "This is all I've got. Let's hope it helps."

Minerva grabbed the book and cracked it open. "Okay, let's see here..."

She read in silence for a bit, squinting at the book, then her lips moving as she tried to sound out the words.

Onmund peeked over her shoulder at the page she was looking at. "...each of our minds are actually the emptiness, and the learnings of the Scrolls are the pinpoints. Without their stabbing light, my consciousness would be as a vast nothingness, unknowing its emptiness as a void unknowing of itself..."

Minerva scowled. "Urag, are you sure this is the right book?"

Urag snorted. "Yes, I'm sure. I told you, studying those things makes you go crazy!"

Minerva grumbled and flipped through again. "All this is theory anyways! Nothing on where the missing scrolls could have gone! Not even a-!"

"Wait!" yelped Onmund. Urag shushed him. "Sorry. But look!" Onmund jabbed a finger at the page Minerva had nearly flipped past, near the back of the book.

Something was scribbled on it. Not part of the book, but notes that someone had made later on, messily written in rusty ink and barely legible.

under deep

Below the Dark

The hidden keep Tower Mzark

Alftand the point of puncture

of first entry of the tapping delve

to its limits blackreach lies just beyond

but not all can enter one must

use the hidden key to loose the lock to jump

beneath the deadly

rock

Minerva frowned. "Okay...so we have a name. It still looks like poetry but...what's Mzark? Or...Alftand? Never heard of it."

Urag leaned forward. "I have. Gane was bugging the...Savos about funding an expedition down there. But it's incredibly dangerous, and Savos didn't want to send students. Too dangerous."
"Sounds like a place where an Elder Scroll would be," sighed Onmund.

(line break)

It took another day of preparation before they were ready. Gathering enough food was difficult due to the damage, and because Brelyna (due to worry) and J'zargo (because "J'zargo is not being left behind on this expedition!") decided to come along as well.

"It's for the best, anyways," Mirabelle reassured them from her bed. "Sending only two people to Saarthal was an awful idea. Best to travel in groups. I still have no idea how you made it out of there."

"Quick thinking," said Minerva, grinning. "And Onmund's aim."

"Alright, that's enough out of you," said Colette, shooing Minerva out. "Let the Master Wizard rest."

Minerva rolled her eyes, but waved to Mirabelle as she was pushed out.

"How's she doing?" asked Onmund, who was just outside the door.

Minerva shrugged. "She doesn't look too bad, considering everything. She was sitting up and drinking on her own and everything. I can't decide if that's a testament to Colette's abilities or Mirabelle's fortitude."

Onmund smiled, relieved. "Probably both. Come on, the others are waiting by the entrance."

(linebreak)

"By the Nine…" muttered Onmund as the group came upon the scene. It appeared to have been a campsite, but there was blood splattered on the walls and floor. There were no bodies, however, save for one lone Khajit lying in a pool of blood.

J'zargo walked over to the body and closed its eyes. "May Khenarthi guide your soul, friend," he murmured. Then he frowned and stood up. "The body is still warm, and the blood is still liquid. Whatever happened here…"

"It was recent," Minerva finished. She drew her sword and looked around. "Hey! Is anyone here?"

"Minerva, shush!" yelped Brelyna.

But it was too late. A brown-furred Khajit, who looked similar to the dead one, stumbled out from behind a wall. "Who is this, brother?" he slurred. He turned to the non-Khajit in the room. "These smooth skins…they were not with us, were they? They were not trapped with us…yes, it was them!"

Minerva frowned. "What in Oblivion are you talking about?"

Onmund took a step back, pulling on Minerva's and Brelyna's robes. "Guys, I don't think he's well…"

"It was you! You must be the one who took my skooma!"

The Khajit lunged at Minerva, woodcutter axe in hand…and promptly took a lightning bolt to the chest from his would-be victim. His body crumpled to the ground, and Minerva looked down at it. "Well, that was depressing."

Brelyna picked up a bottle lying next to one of the bedrolls and sniffed it. She wrinkled her nose. "Skooma," she sighed. "That explains the poor guy's behavior."

Onmund frowned. "How do you know what skooma smells like?"

"Don't ask."

Onmund nodded as Minerva dragged their attacker's body over beside the other Khajit. "You guys don't think he did all this…do you?"

Minerva shook her head. "I kind of doubt it. There's a load of bedrolls here, so if he tried to attack them, he should've been overpowered." She gripped her sword tighter. "I don't like this."

"I don't think any of us do," shivered Brelyna.

Onmund nodded. "Yeah. Let's move on and get out of here as fast as possible."

So the group moved deeper into the cave, weapons and spells at the ready.

(linebreak)

The hike after that was tense. Minerva could swear she sensed things moving in the shadows. She never put her sword away, and on the contrary held it so tight she was sure it would leave a mark.

Brelyna was shaking like a leaf. "It's so cold in here…why did the dwarves build a city in ice of all things…:

Onmund shrugged. "There's lots of it around here…"

"Guys!" hissed Minerva.

"What?"

"Please, quiet! I don't want whatever attacked those guys to get the drop on us!"

J'zargo put his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner. "J'zargo thinks dragon-breath should relax. We have not seen any enemies for the past thirty minutes. Likely it was something a group of trained mages such as us can handle."

Minerva scowled. "Don't call me that."

Onmund shook his head. "Don't call her that," he said simultaneously.

The two looked at each other in surprise, then looked away, blushing. J'zargo rolled his eyes. "Just get in bed together, already," he muttered as they continued downwards.