Sionis rose to his feet ready to begin the search anew. And that search would begin with Naga's belongings. He walked to the nearby desk and began rifling through the various papers on it. Most were rather strange drawings of the dead Altmer's utopia of the undead, but there were also a few writings on the principles of conjuration – specifically of raising the dead and binding souls.
Sionis had never really studied the school of conjuration much but knew enough that the ideas conveyed in the writings were either revolutionary or heretical, or perhaps both. He gathered those writings up revealing a leather bound book underneath them. There was nothing on either cover, so he opened it. After flipping through a few pages, he realized it was Naga's journal. This he stuffed into a pocket as well before resuming his search.
But it was interrupted by quite the commotion coming from the floor below him. The noises grew louder and he realized that whatever it was there was making its way up to him. The sound of a guttural snarling joined the crashing as it got closer. Suddenly a horrific figure emerged from the stairwell and into the circular room. White squinted eyes appeared above a grotesquely circular shaped mouth that was sprouting multiple tusks. It was a sickly gray color with large spines protruding from its arms and back and down its tail. Long sharp talons grew off it hands and feet. It stopped only momentarily to let out a growl at Sionis before charging at him.
A second later, an arc of lightning crashed into the nightmarish looking creature throwing it to the ground. Upon landing, the monster disintegrated into nothingness.
"Deadra?" Sionis muttered to himself. He wasn't familiar with the specific one he'd just destroyed but knew all daedra were banished back to Oblivion once if they were killed in the mortal realm. He couldn't contemplate the significance of the creature's appearance for long as another and then another came running into the room.
A moment later, several more appeared. If he didn't act fast, he would be quickly overrun. Still more came pouring into the room. An impressive display of chain lightning that jumped through at least a dozen of the creatures bought him enough time to start a complicated casting. He had only cast the spell once before in order to prove his mastery of destruction at the Arcane University in the Imperial City. At the time he couldn't imagine ever having a need for it outside of that trial, but surrounded by a horde of terrifying daedra served as example enough for waved his hands through the intricate gestures the spell required before feeling his connection with his magicka surge through him. A moment later he released the spell just as the creatures were about to close in on him. A blast of fire exploded outward all around him engulfing the whole room. Normally daedra were naturally resistant to fire, but the sheer power and intensity of the thermal blast seared the daedric creatures out of existence. The detonation only lasted a moment, but the effect was stunningly violent and intense.
The walls were charred in places. The furniture that had been in the room were now smoking piles of ash. And it was now piercingly quiet. Sionis stood there awestruck for a moment. It had been impressive the first time he had cast it, but with Mephala's gift boosting the power of his spells, it had been frightening. In fact, he was somewhat surprised it hadn't brought the tower down on top of him.
As if on cue, he heard a loud groan following by a bunch of cracking. It was time to leave. Sionis raced down the steps, not stopping at any of the lower levels in the tower to see if there were any other items of interest and out of the hole in the wall that had been the door. As he reached the other side of the balcony, he heard a loud screeching behind him. He turned just in time to see the roof of the tallest tower collapse, bringing a couple of the large stones at the top down with it. It would seem that other than the roof, the structure would continue to hold.
Sionis took a minute to scan the courtyard of Mistwatch keep to see if any more of the hideous creatures were about. Spotting none, he entered the next tower on his way out of Mistwatch, hoping to never have to see the place again.
It had been a long time since Sionis had been on any kind of campus, but the College of Winterhold certainly fit the definition of one. The enormous castle featured a circular courtyard enveloped by training rooms, living quarters, eating halls and private chambers for the arch-mage himself. But it was the library he was most interested in. He hoped that it would alleviate his irritation at the surly Altmer woman that guarded the entrance. She had insisted that he prove himself a capable mage despite him wearing his official mage robes – also something he hadn't done in a long time as he preferred thicker warmer robes in the cold weather of Skyrim.
Her test had been easy enough, however, and she let him pass immediately afterwards. Still, it irked him that she had put him through it. He received help from a passing student who directed him to the stairway that led to the library, which he learned was called The Arcanaeum. Sionis pushed open the door and smiled.
The library was a large round room lined with shelves packed full of books. Additional book shelves ran through the space at either side of lowered dais in the middle of the room and reading tables with numerous chairs were placed all over so one could do their reading wherever they wished. He came around one set of book shelves to see a large, rather old orc sitting at a desk at the far side of the room talking quite sharply at another mage. It seemed an authoritative tongue-lashing about the proper care of the books.
The dark-eyed mage waited patiently for him to finish his lecture directed at the student before walking up to the Arcanaeum's Orsimer caretaker. The orc didn't seem to notice him as he had now turned his attention to a book and was reading quite intensely.
"Excuse m …"
"You are now in the Arcanaeum of which I am in charge." The elderly Orsimer interrupted gruffly, looking rather perturbed to be taken away from his reading yet again. "It might as well be my own little plane of Oblivion. Disrupt my Arcanaeum and I'll have you torn apart by angry atronachs. Now, do you require assistance?"
In his opinion, Sionis had always found librarians a bit eccentric and possessive of their collections, but this one took it to a new level.
"I … yes," he answered a bit taken off guard. No wonder the student acted like a rabbit. "I was hoping to have a look at some books to help me illuminate a personal mystery."
"You're not a student of the college." The orc stated after looking over his official robes.
"No, I'm not," Sionis affirmed, "but I am member of the Arcane University of Cyrodiil if that helps alleviate any concerns you may have about my looking into your collection."
"I don't care about anything outside The Arcanaeum. Just tell me what books you need." The librarian snapped.
"I'm not sure actually." The blonde man replied, prompting an exasperated huff from the orc. "I'm going off a few clues and hoped to find an answer in the library."
"The ARCANAEUM," the orc replied stressing the name of the place to demonstrate his displeasure at it being called a library, "has books on just about every subject. Now, once again, what can I help you find."
"My apologies," Sionis offered. "I am trying to find information about a prince; specifically one that has overthrown at least one other power."
"That doesn't really narrow our search down any. The history of Tamriel is full of nobles and their petty power struggles." The orc returned.
"Right. The one I'm looking for would still be alive." Sionis clarified. "Or at least very recently deceased."
"Anything else?" The curt librarian asked.
"Actually yes," the visiting mage cried out after a moment of thought. "He would've been a mage. Most likely a very powerful one. Or one that employed a very powerful mage."
"There were certainly a number of nobles that fought and perished in the Great War. I could certainly give you some records from that time. I haven't heard of any magicka using princes in recent history though." The Orsimer replied.
"I think that would be too long ago. Anything more recent than that?" Sionis asked hopefully.
"Nope." The orc answered shortly.
"There must be something." Sionis pleaded.
"Nothing. No notable figures fit all those characteristics since the Great War. Now, is there anything else?"
Sionis' shoulders slumped. "Let me see the records from the Great War, I guess." He finally said. "At least it's something."
"Wait here." The orc commanded.
A few moments later, he returned with three volumes. "I don't want to see you treating any of these books poorly. Are we clear?"
"Yes, I will be very careful." Sionis replied, hoping to appease any lingering suspicions from the uptight librarian.
Seeing that no reply was going to be offered, the blonde mage moved off to an out of the way table in the room and opened the first tome.
Frustrated and defeated yet again, Sionis closed yet another book. He had read more books in the past few days then he had in the past few months. He had graciously been allowed to use a spare room in the students living quarters due to his ties to the mage's guild of Cyrodiil and had spent all of his time in the College's library. The books on the Great War yielded nothing and he had expanded his search to include any noble that fit the description of a magic-using usurper.
One by one, every figure he read about was eliminated. Most commonly the accounts didn't portray any of them as being powerful enough to do what Mala Aran Naga had done, much less bestow it on anyone else. Arguably, Potema, the Wolf Queen, was the most powerful of the necromancers he had read about, but he eventually ruled her out since the crazy high elf had always referred to his master in a masculine manner. And another, Mannimarco, didn't fit the profile of wanting a "perfect world"; instead it seemed he was more bent on simply destroying it. And neither of them seemed intent on sharing or bestowing their power on another.
He rose from his table once again to return another book to Urag gro-Shub. He had been in the Arcanaeum so much and had treated the books so respectfully that he had earned the trust of the surly orc and had eventually divulged more information to Urag about his conundrum. He had told of the mad high elf mage and the things he had said, hoping that the additional information would aid in the search, but so far it hadn't.
"Still nothing on your search?" The Orsimer questioned.
"No, nothing, Urag." Sionis answered. "Anything else you can think of."
"I have been thinking about what you told me of the lunatic and the things he said," Urag gro-Shub answered. "And a thought occurred to me just a moment ago. What if the prince you're looking for isn't a mortal one?"
"What do you mean?" Sionis asked.
"Well, the kind of power you're talking about is really unheard of." The orc began. "To my knowledge, not even the Psijic Order wields power like that. Certainly not with the ability to bestow it on another. I racked my brain to think of any man that ever had that kind of power and I couldn't think of a single one. And then the thought hit me. Perhaps it's because no man or woman ever has had power like that."
"Okay, so what are you thinking then?" the visiting mage asked. "This ex-Thalmor mage made a deal with a daedra?" He said the last part with a chuckle.
"Actually, yeah." The orc answered. "It's the only thing to me that makes sense of everything you told me."
It was then that the realization hit him. The sheer magical power needed for what Naga had done was almost beyond comprehension. Daedric Lords were often referred to as Princes as well. And Mephala – whom he had not told Urag gro-Shub about – had known about his plight. All of the sudden, daedric involvement made a lot of sense. The only question now was which Daedric Prince was involved.
"Actually, Urag, that makes sense!" Sionis exclaimed, excited to have a new idea to persue.
"Of course it does." The orc snapped. "But which Prince was it that gave your elf the ability to permanently raise the dead."
"Mala Aran Naga called him The Overthrower." Sionis answered. "That should narrow the list down a little."
"Actually it narrows down your list quite a bit." Urag gro-Shub replied. "There are only two, I would think, that fit that description – Mehrunes Dagon and Beothiah."
"What descriptions do you have of them?"
"I pulled a volume just before you came up thinking that my hunch was correct." The orc explained setting down a black leather bound book with silver engraving along the edges and inlaid as the title. Sionis picked it up and read the title. The Book of Daedra.
He didn't bother to leave Urag's desk this time. Instead he opened it right there to find the passages he was looking for.
Mehrunes Dagon, whose sphere is Destruction, Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition. He rules over the plane of Oblivion known as the Deadlands, a barren and inhospitable wasteland. Dagon is perhaps the most ambitious of the Daedric Lords as evidenced by his several attempts to invade Nirn; most recently causing the Oblivion Crisis in 3E 433. The 20th of Sun's Dusk – also known as the Warrior's Festival – is said to be his day of summoning. Dremora, Clannfear, and Scamps are known servants of Mehrunes Dagon. Natural disasters, such as fires, floods, or earthquakes are generally associated with the Prince of Destruction. Dagon is an especially important figure in the Dunmer culture where is he considered to be one of the Four Corners of the House of Troubles.
Boethiah rules over deceit, conspiracy, secret plots of murder, assassination, treason, and unlawful overthrow of authority. Also known as the Prince of Plots, Deceiver of Nations, Queen of Shadows, and Goddess of Destruction, He-Who-Destroys, and She-Who-Erases. Boethiah rules the plane of Oblivion known as Attribution's Share said to consist of garden mazes and twisted towers. Boethiah greatly enjoys battle and conflict and his followers often stage tournaments to the death in order to win favor. The Prince of Plots is also a significant figure in Dunmer culture being considered responsible – along with Azura and Mephala – for the existence of the Dunmer as a distinct race. The 2nd of Sun's Dusk is known Boethiah's day of summoning.
"Hmmm." Sionis mused as he closed the book. "Still sounds like it could be either of them, though Dagon doesn't seem as creative as Boethiah."
"Anything that could help us distinguish which one empowered your looney?" The Orsimer asked.
"I'm not sure." The dark-eyed mage replied thoughtfully. "They both seem to be important in Dunmer culture, both seem to enjoy causing pain or strife among mortals, and both have summoning days in Sun's Dusk."
"Out of curiosity, what days?" Urag asked.
"Let's see," Sionis replied re-opening the book to re-check the information. "Mehrunes Dagon is summoned on the 20th. A day called …
"Warrior's Festival." The orc finished. "And Boethiah? What's her day of summoning."
The blonde man turned the page. "It didn't have a specific name for the day. It was … the 2nd. The 2nd of Sun's Dusk."
"That's Gauntlet's Day." The librarian stated.
And that's when it all clicked together for Sionis. The words of Mala Aran Naga ran through his mind like a mammoth stampede. "The only thing my master asked in return was that I help him through the gauntlet ..."
"It was Boethiah." Sionis breathed.
"What was that?"
"It was Boethiah. Urag, it was Boethiah that did this."
"So your mystery is solved then. Hey! Stop clutching my book so tightly or you'll break the spine. Then I'll break you!"
Sionis snapped his attention back to the librarian and gently set the book back on the table. "Sorry, Urag. Thank you so much for your help, but I must go. I have an important chore to see to now."
"It's nearly nightfall, surely you can stay one more night and attend to whatever you need to in the morning." The orc offered.
"No, I must go now. It cannot wait." Sionis turned and fled the room only adding once he was beyond earshot. "Boethiah must pay."
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed Sable's tale. Sorry for the rather short chapter. I just felt this was the proper break point. The next one will be longer and should be up later this week. Next chapter we get to see the reunion between Sionis and Sable and what fun that will be, right?
-E.K.