Chapter 23
The Portal
They arrived in Winterhold after three days of travel. Emily often found herself feeling restless when they stopped to make camp and noted that Serana seemed to be feeling something similar. They didn't speak as much over the three days. Several attempts at conversation were made but they all fell flat. Emily passed the time practicing her spells and pacing restlessly around whichever encampment they found themselves in. On the third night the ruined city came into view. It was much how she remembered with many of the buildings close to the edge of the cliff being little more than piles of rubble and half-destroyed foundations. One building opposite the Jarl's longhouse, however, had scaffolding around it and evidently some attempt had been made to restore it.
"Looks like they've finally started to rebuild," Serana remarked as they stood on the top of the hill, overlooking the city.
"Yeah," Emily replied, "How long ago was the Great Collapse?"
"About eighty years ago from what I've read," said Serana.
"And it's taken them all this time?" Emily asked incredulously.
"They must've felt hopeless after the collapse," Serana replied, "And hopelessness leads to inaction."
"Oh, I see," said Emily.
"Come on, none of this is getting us nearer to that portal," replied Serana.
"Uh…yeah, okay," said Emily, her gaze wandering from the city to the college which lay beyond.
At the gate they encountered the same woman who had tested their skills so many months ago. There was a flicker of recognition when she laid her eyes upon the two vampiresses.
"I see you once more seek the wisdom of the college," she said, "And who are these strangers you've brought with you?"
"We are of the Skaal, from Solstheim," Storn explained, "We wish to speak to your archmage."
"With the archmage?" replied the woman with a note of scepticism, raising an eyebrow, "I'm afraid if you've been told that our archmage will hold audience with just anyone who comes calling then you've been misled."
"It's important," Emily piped up, "We need help. It's a long story but the short version is that a powerful Dragonborn named Miraak seeks to control all of Solstheim, maybe even Nirn."
"Miraak? All of Nirn? I hope you realise how improbable all this sounds," said the woman.
"Look, just ask the librarian, he'll know," Emily replied, "Storn here said there are old legends concerning him. Surely there'll be something written down in the archives here."
The woman sighed. "You are not going to leave if I ask it, are you?" she asked. Emily said nothing but stared intently at her. At last the woman looked heavenward as though seeking some guidance from the stars. "Very well," she continued, "I will ask Urag. But I warn you, the archmage will not be happy if I find you are wasting my time."
The motley crew followed the woman along the bridge. Glowing lights conjured from her fingertips lined the path and the main tower of the college towered over them as they crossed into the courtyard. Dominating the centre was a statue of a mage wielding magic in both hands. The stony face was contemplative of the skies above.
"I'd ask you all to wait in the Hall of the Elements," said the woman as she crossed over to a wooden door. She opened it and disappeared through it. Emily could hear her climbing the set of stone steps just beyond. Her steps receded and she turned to Storn.
"What exactly did you mean when we were back on the island when you said we would use the college towers to create a wayshrine?" she asked.
"When this college was built the towers were not arranged in the manner they are by chance," Storn explained, "Viewed from above the shape is roughly a triangle made up of the two smaller towers and the larger one which houses the library. I've a few books back home explaining the significance of each. In the centre is the courtyard and altogether the structure forms a sigil on a massive scale, a sigil which can be used to channel enormous amounts of magic. Normally I would not meddle with something so powerful. It has attracted many ambitious and power hungry mages over the years. But here we must make an exception."
"This portal, if its going to be giving out such immense amounts of magic, will it be safe?" Emily asked, "This college doesn't exactly look the most stable of structures."
"The college is far more stable than it looks," Storn replied, "As I understand it, magic is what makes the rocks it stands upon far stronger than nature intended. It would take something the magnitude of Red Mountain to cause its collapse."
Before Emily could say any more the door opened and the woman returned. She was joined by several others: a balding man in purple robes, a Dunmer man with a shock of white hair, a shrewish looking woman in yellow robes, an old man with white hair and beard and the old Orc they had met in the library when they went there in search of an Elder Scroll.
"Well, it seems you were correct after all," said the woman, scarcely masking her disbelief and seeming more than a little disappointed at being proven incorrect. "Urag did have some books concerning this Miraak of yours and none of it good. However, we've found no proof that he intends to take control of Nirn or even Solstheim considering he's dead. I presume you have proof to the contrary?"
"Yes, I spoke with Hermaeus Mora in Apocrypha," Emily replied. She hesitated, wondering if these mages would believe her decidedly unlikely story.
"You have been to Apocrypha?" came a voice from the back of the small assembly. A man Emily had not spotted before stepped forwards, "I welcome you to the College. I am Archmage Savos Aren." He was a Dunmer and he was dressed in navy, flowing, fur-trimmed robes. He had a knotted greying beard and carried himself with a distinguished if slightly haughty air.
"Yes," Emily replied, "I travelled there using this." She pulled the Black Book from her pack. She noticed the balding man crane in for a closer look while the bearded old man and the woman in yellow robes shrink back from the glistening black cover. The Archmage took the book gingerly from her.
"You risked a great deal using this," he said, "I doubt you understand just how much. In any case, what did Hermaeus Mora tell you? His dealings with mortals are rare and rarer still are the times where those who have spoken to him have a mind to tell what they have learnt."
"He told me Miraak has gone to Earth," Emily explained, "My homeworld. You see, I don't come from Nirn. Earth is my home." She noticed one or two of the assembly give her disbelieving looks and the woman in the yellow robes shook her head. "I understand how unlikely this all sounds."
"I believe you," came his reply. Emily blinked in surprise. "You have an air of someone unfamiliar with the land you walk on. The air of a traveller. And your magicka, it is similar, very similar in fact but not the same as that of your companions."
"I'm glad you believe me, Archmage," Emily replied, "Because we need your help. We need to go to Earth to confront Miraak before he can return here. He has many in Solstheim under his control."
"Travel between worlds is, regrettably, not well-researched here," said the Archmage, "I'm not sure what you have been told."
"It was I who told her to come here," Storn spoke up, "I believe we can use the towers here to channel the magicka we need to create a wayshrine. Her soul will remember its place of origin, she is the key to the portal."
"An interesting hypothesis," replied the Archmage, "Sound enough…assuming it works of course. Smaller portals covering much smaller distances have been attempted successfully but something of this magnitude…well, it's unheard of."
"We really need to try," said Emily beseechingly, "Who knows what he's doing to Earth."
"And you claim he is a threat to all of Nirn if we do not act," the Archmage continued. Emily nodded.
"Very well, we shall attempt a wayshrine as you ask," he continued, "But you should not get your hopes up. I reiterate, only small portals have been attempted before."
"A wayshrine to another world," Emily overheard one of the mages say, "If this succeeds this will finally show the Synod and the College of Whispers who has the firmest grasp of magic once and for all."
They followed the Archmage back out into the Courtyard. He came to a halt before the statue of the mage.
"This statue marks the main focal point of what will become the wayshrine," he said, "I will channel its energies here. Colette, Drevis, I want you to channel the energies atop the Hall of Countenance." The white haired Dunmer and the woman in the yellow robes exchanged glances. Emily got the distinct impression that neither were particularly happy with this new arrangement.
"Tolfdir, Faralda, I want you to channel the energies from the top of the Hall of Attainment and Mirabelle, I want you to go with Phinis and channel the energies from atop my quarters."
"Yes, Archmage," said a woman with an air of authority to match that of the Archmage. She and three others left the Courtyard in the directions the Archmage indicated.
"Let us begin the channeling once the three beacons have been prepared," said the Archmage, "If you have any questions, it is best you ask them now."
"Why is Miraak on Earth?" Emily asked. It was a question she had pondered since her encounter with the Demon of Knowledge in Apocrypha.
"I had presumed you already knew the reason, hailing from there yourself," the Archmage replied. Emily shook her head.
"I didn't plan to come here and I had no dealings with Miraak or anyone else from here before I stepped through that portal in Norway. I didn't even know it was a portal until I wound up in Dragon Bridge."
"Then in light of what you have told me I have only one hypothesis," replied the Archmage, "I believe this to be the first recorded case of Cosmic Displacement. When you came to Nirn this created a void in your world, a void that needed to be filled. Perhaps because of your shared dragonblood Miraak was chosen to fill that void. This would have torn him from Apocrypha. Something perhaps even Hermaeus Mora could not prevent."
"And how long do we have?" Emily asked, glancing over at Serana, "How long can you keep this portal open?"
"We have magicka reserves stored deep in the college we use to keep the island on which we stand in equilibrium," the Archmage explained, "We can safely tap into those for a time. But not long. I think we can safely sustain this portal for thirty days and nights. Beyond that I cannot say."
"Alright," said Emily, "I guess all we can hope is that that will be enough time to stop Miraak."
"You will have to kill him in order to journey back to Nirn, I hope you prepared to do that," the Archmage explained, "Once you are both on the same plane of existence… well, even I cannot say what will happen. It may be that he will be pulled back to Nirn. Or because the travel was enacted of your own free will, he may remain. We will monitor things here."
Savos Aren looked up at the three towers. At the summit of each a white light shone brightly against the winter sky.
"The three beacons are prepared," he said, raising his arms, "We must begin. The portal will likely open out onto the last piece of soil you touched before you came here. Once you pass through that portal all that follows will be down to you."
"To us," said Serana, resting a hand on Emily's shoulder. Savos Aren nodded.
"Very well, take care," he said, "I envy you both, the chance to traverse the planes of existence. This is the kind of magic every mage aspires to." Emily watched with open mouth as a blue light blossomed between the stone statues hands, growing and widening with each passing second, swirling with unknown energies. Winds whipped back their hair and cloaks. Emily could not see anything but light and could only guess at what lay beyond. She turned to Serana.
"I guess it's time," she said, holding out her hand to the vampiress. Serana took her hand, taking a deep breath.
"This is it," she said. Then they stepped forward. Their boots left the ground as they passed through the portal and into the unknown.