Nobody spoke for a long time. The two humans and the two elves each seemed lost in their own thoughts. Uhther, realising he was still clutching the sword's hilt, finally slid Dragon's Breath home into his scabbard, though he did not yet put away Auriel's Shield.
'One thing I am curious about,' Uhther said, breaking the silence, 'is why you are so keen to prevent all this.' He directed this at Quaranir. Safiya's expression became reproachful while Llirvalie was looking at him thoughtfully. Perhaps she had been wondering the same thing. Quaranir seemed genuinely surprised for the first time since they had all arrived. 'What I mean is,' Uhther said, before the sorcerer could speak, 'you said yourself that all Altmer believe that they were robbed of their immortality. If the Thalmor are right, you will return to Aetherius to live among the gods. Why, then, would you wish to avoid this?'
Quaranir drew himself up, his chair toppling to the ground as he stood where it flickered then faded from existence. The sorcerer seemed sternly indignant rather than angry as his golden eyes regarded Uhther.
'The Psijic Order does not hold with the philosophy of the Aldmeri Dominion,' he said, his voice cold as the snows the flurried around them, 'we have ever held to the belief that we were given mortal form as a test of faith. And it is only by passing this test that we shall earn our place. What is more,' Quaranir cast a quick look at Safiya, 'The Crystal Tower was the home of arcane knowledge dating back to the Merethic Era. Though the tower was destroyed by Daedra during the Oblivion Crisis, the stone was left intact. The tower might have been rebuilt, its knowledge retrieved. But when the Thalmor killed...' Quaranir hesitated, frustration in his eyes now. He had not meant to say that but it was too late now. '...killed Rynandor, the Stone of the Crystal Tower, that knowledge and power became lost to the world. I intend to see the Thalmor pay for that.'
Quaranir stepped back from them, his arms folded into the sleeves of his robe. Apparantly he had said all he meant to. Llirvalie looked at Uhther. Her expression seemed hesitant but she did not seem to be disbelieving anymore.
'So what are we supposed to do about this?' she asked, bluntly.
Safiya stood, a book appearing in her hands as if from nowhere, her chair twisting out of existence just as Quaranir's had. Uhther was nervous of moving in case his own chair suddenly vanished and he was left to land on his rear on the hard stone.
'According to the research of the Psijics,' she said, her tone still lacking in emotion, 'the appearance of Akatosh's avatar during the Oblivion Crisis, outside the White Gold Tower, may indicate that that tower may have been reactivated, which would certainly explain why the Thalmor were so keen to get in there during the Great War.'
'The towers can be reactivated?' Llirvalie asked, her eyes darting between the two mages. She was all but ignoring Uhther now. Safiya shrugged.
'Its possible,' she said, her gaze was still fixed on the book, 'but at best, the White Gold Tower is a maybe. I would say it would be best to focus on the Tower that we know is still active.'
'But how?' Uhther demanded, exasperated, 'what are we supposed to do?'
Safiya finally looked up at him, pedantic incredulity on her face. 'Have you not been listening?' she demanded, 'the Stones are the hearts of the Towers. We must defend the Stone of the Snow Throat Tower.'
'Which would be...?' Llirvalie asked, her voice somehow managing to sound bored and interested at the same time.
Safiya shot Llirvalie a quick, irritated look before casting her eyes back down the page of the book.
'The Stone of Snow Throat is mentioned but briefly,' she said, 'it is named only as "The Cave", an opening of great power.'
Uhther knew immediately what that must be. In his mind he saw the Time Wound through which he had seen, with the aid of the elder scroll, the heroes of old use the Dragonrend Shout to defeat Alduin.
'Though we do not know what The Cave is,' Safiya was saying, 'what is clear is that it is near the summit of the mountain.'
Uhther was conflicted. Should he tell them what he knew? They said they were against the Thalmor but words did not make truth.
'I doubt the Greybeards will allow the Thalmor to just walk up to the mountain summit,' Llirvalie said, stoutly, 'from what I've heard its a sacred place to them. They will likely defend it to their last breath.'
'That's as may be,' said Safiya, inclining her head slightly, 'but as powerful as the Greybeards are, they are still but four men. If they are met with an army of Thalmor, even the Way of the Voice may not be enough.'
Uhther was not wholly convinced by that. A true master of the Way of the Voice would be able to knock back whole platoons of enemies with their Thu'um, and there were no greater masters than the Greybeards.
But then, he did not really know the level of power that the Thalmor would have on their side. He had faced their Justiciars on more than a few occasions but only ever in small groups. Imagining an entire army of Thalmor soldiers and mages, all of them clad in armour lighter yet stronger than steel, all able to use magic, was rather a chilling thought. And surely they must be the least of the forces at the Thalmor's disposal. Perhaps the Arch-mage was right.
'We will need to mobilise quickly,' Safiya said, snapping the book closed as she spoke, 'I will move a group of my best mages to Ivarstead immediately. They should be able to manage any advance parties while the rest of the forces muster.'
Uhther was taken aback by this.
'Is such haste necessary?' he asked, 'I can believe the Thalmor will want to take the Mountain but they've been in Skyrim for years now and have made no move for it yet.'
Safiya turned her impatient gaze on Uhther.
'It is my belief they were hoping to do it five years ago while everyone was distracted by Ulfric's Rebellion,' she said, speaking very quickly now. She clearly wanted to be away, making a start on what needed to be done, 'but you scuppered those plans by winning the war for the Empire. Since then, I believe your presence in Skyrim has made them cautious but you know as well as I that the Thalmor do not stay cowed long. They must be impatient by now, having the Tower within their grasp yet unable to act. They will come for the Tower, perhaps not tomorrow but it will be soon.'
Uhther held the Arch-mage's gaze for a moment, then he nodded. What she said made sense.
'I can have some advance troops mobilise at the imperial camp at the base of the Mountain,' he said with the authority of an Imperial Legate, 'I can send a courier to Castle Dour today.'
Llirvalie stood up now. She had an uncertain yet stubborn look in her eye.
'And me?' she asked, 'what exactly did you want me to do? The Thieves Guild may be large now but we are not an army.'
'You can help in other ways,' Quaranir spoke up unexpectedly, making the rest of them jump, 'the Thalmor have many agents and spies who skulk in the shadows.'
'Like us, you mean?' Llirvalie shot at the sorcerer, her red eyes blazing hotly.
Quaranir's mouth twitched into what might have been an amused smile, though not long enough for Uhther to be sure. 'Which makes you ideally placed to root them out,' he said.
Llirvalie sucked her teeth, irritably, but did not argue.
'All our effort needs to go into protecting the Throat of the World,' Safiya went on. Uhther did not think she had even noticed Quaranir and Llirvalie talking, 'whatever differences there are between us, I think we are united in that wish.'
Uhther nodded in agreement, Llirvalie did not disagree. Quaranir smiled solemnly.
'Then it is agreed,' he turned his gaze on Safiya, 'I have some things I need to attend to. I will be in touch. If you need anything, let me know in the usual way.' And with that, the air around them seemed to buzz. Quaranir seemed to be filled with white light and then he simply faded away.
Uhther was about to ask what he had meant by all that when suddenly the winds and snow of Winterhold hit them like an icy slap in the face. it seemed it had been Quaranir's power that had held them at bay.
Shouting with shock, Uhther turned, without bothering to see if the other two were following, and ran back the way he had come, through the stone arch and down the stairs. Only then did he turn to see Llirvalie running down behind him, swearing loudly, and Safiya following at a more stately pace, an aura of warm air surrounding her that seemed to have kept the snows off her.
'Well,' said the Arch-mage, as though they had experienced nothing worse than a brisk walk along a country road, 'I need to go find Tolfdir. He'll probably be best to lead the mages to Ivarstead. Thank you both for coming, Faralda can show you out when you're ready.' And with that, she inclined her head politely to the pair of them and strode off down the corridor.
Llirvalie turned and made to walk off in the opposite direction, back towards the courtyard, but Uhther stopped her.
'Wait,' he said. He had made a snap decision. He did not yet know if he could trust Safiya. Her interests in the Towers seemed too impersonal for his liking. But Llirvalie seemed to have been a bit more passionate about the whole business, besides the Psijic had been right. Her position in the Thieves Guild did make her ideally placed to help him with his own plan.
Llirvalie turned to regard him, her red eyes coldly indifferent.
'Yes?' her harsh, Dunmer voice echoed in the corridor. Uhther was acutely aware of the ebony blades at her belt. In this tight corridor, they would be far more effective than Dragon's Breath. True he had his own dagger, but he had a feeling the Nightingale would be a lot deadlier with hers than he was with his.
Trying to appear confident, Uhther began strolling down the corridor.
'Walk with me,' he said, 'I'd like to discuss a possible business opportunity.'
Llirvalie raised an eyebrow, and Uhther was pleased to see the look was interested now rather than contemptuous.
'Alright,' she said as she fell into step beside him, 'let's talk business.'
