Part II: The Road to Hell
When Ned awoke, it was snowing.
At first he thought this was a very silly thing for the inside of a castle to be doing. Then he realized he was outside, laying on the grass. He slowly pushed himself up, and realized that, on the whole, he didn't feel quite that bad. He was a bit sore, and his vision was still a tad blurry, but he expected that after being blown up, electrocuted, and concussed, one was generally a bit more worse for wear.
As his eyesight began to grow used to the light of being outdoors, he took in his surroundings. He was a few hundred feet from the keep, which loomed menacingly over the horizon as keeps are known to do. There was a horse nearby, which S'shani was inspecting. The Khajiit appeared to have secured a rather large and bulky bundle to it, and it took Ned a few moments to realize it was Orthorn.
S'shani turned, and saw that Ned was awake. He smiled. "How are you feeling?"
Ned stood up and stretched. "Y'know, pretty good. Did you carry us both all the way here? And whose horse is that?"
"Glad to hear it, yes, and one of the necromancer's, I assume," S'shani answered. "I must say, I find it quite admirable that you left the Altmer alive after he attempted to betray us. That displays a strength of spirit and mercy that many men lack."
"Uh," Ned responded. "Yeah. Strength of spirit, that's me in a nutshell."
Come to think of it, why had he let Orthorn live? One good icicle to the brain and the little bastard wouldn't be anyone's problem anymore. He had even risked his life to save this Khajiit - a total stranger. Why?
Which reminded him...
"Hey," he said, catching S'shani's attention once more, as he was about to turn back to the horse. "Before I blacked out, I saw you do...something...to the Caller. It was like you yelled at her, and she just sort of...broke. What was that?"
S'shani simply looked at Ned. They continued to stare at each other for what was, to Ned, an extremely uncomfortably long silence. Then S'shani shrugged.
"You hit your head pretty badly. You were likely confused and disoriented."
Ned frowned, scratching his head. "Uh, sure. If you say so. Hey, did you see any sign of Brelyna?"
"No," S'shani answered. "I would offer to stay and search for her, but the necromancers will likely be making full sweeps of the area soon, once they realize what has happened. We should hasten from the area. It is likely she will be heading back to your College, yes?"
Ned wrung his hands together nervously. "We can't just...leave Brelyna here."
His eyes widened, however, when the Khajiit reached into a pouch and produced the sole book that Ned had managed to save. "I believe you were on an important mission, yes? Something to do with this book?"
"Ah! Thank Gods - we managed to grab one..." Ned sighed, but then he cursed under his breath. Two were destroyed...well, hopefully they weren't *that* incredibly important...
He grabbed the book from S'shani and glanced down at it. Embroidered into the cover was the title and author: 'Night of Tears' by Dranor Seleth. Subtitled underneath: 'An inquiry into the cause of the night of tears.' The words rang a distant, foggy bell in Ned's memory, but he could not recall what, exactly, the Night of Tears was.
"I do not think Brelyna would much appreciate it if we allowed this book to fall back into enemy hands after all we went through to procure it," S'shani said. "At least, I would not, were I here."
"Yeah, yeah...stupid selfless logic," Ned grumbled. "For the record, if I'm ever the one who falls behind, you drop everything and come save my ass, got it?"
S'shani chuckled. "Of course."
The Khajiit then motioned to the horse. "Let us get going. I am not certain of the way to your College, so you may take the reins."
Ned nodded, and approached the horse. Just then, Orthorn began to stir. He let out a muffled groan, then his eyes registered deep fear and horror when he realized his situation. Ned grinned at him.
"Morning, Orthorn," he said. "Sorry, we killed your girlfriend. I'm not sure if they've got any prisons in Winterhold, but if not, hey, there are some nice cliffs we could throw you off of."
Orthorn whimpered, but other than that, remained silent.
Ned mounted the horse, and S'shani mounted behind him, with Orthorn tied up behind him. It was a tight fit, to say the least.
"Hey, uh, not that I don't appreciate the help, what with saving my life and healing me and getting me a horse and everything, but...how far do you intend to follow me?" Ned asked, kicking the horse into a slow trot away from the keep.
"I told you earlier, I am a wanderer who helps those in need. I have found someone in need, and I intend to help."
"Who, me?" Ned asked. "I'm not in need."
"You are carrying a book that has proven to be of great interest to powerful practitioners of very dark arts, and a prisoner who has proven willing to kill you over it," S'shani responded. "I do not know what started you on this adventure, but I have thrown my hat into it as well; I intend to see it through to the end, with you."
Ned was silent for a moment, then said, "You're not wearing a hat."
S'shani chuckled, but said nothing.
They rode on in silence, a fact that Ned was quite grateful for, for about an hour. The grassy hills of Whiterun Hold began to merge into the rocky plains of Eastmarch, where everything was more thickly dusted with a layer of snow. Ned kept to the roads, urging the horse North, where the city of Windhelm stood impressively in the backdrop, surrounded by the mountain-ranges Skyrim was known for.
The sound of another horse galloping behind them caused Ned's heart to drop into his stomach. The necromancer's had found them!
"Ned! Oh, thank Gods you're alright-"
He spun around in his seat a bit too fast, twisted off of the horse's back, and crashed onto the road.
"Oh. Well, I spoke too soon. *Are* you alright?"
Brelyna pulled back her hood, looking down at him. She smiled, and extended a hand, which Ned accepted to help hoist him back onto his feet.
"We managed to get one of the books, but the other two were destroyed," Ned said, but Brelyna seemed to ignore this, and embraced him.
"I'm just glad you're okay, I was worried you'd all be horrible mindless abominations by now!" she said, still hugging him. Ned was uncertain how he felt about a hug lasting this long.
"Well, Orthorn is one of those, but none of us actually became undead, no," he said, politely disengaging himself. Brelyna turned around, and appeared to notice the other two for the first time. S'shani smiled and nodded at her, and Orthorn continued to lay helplessly across the horse.
"Oh. Uh, what happened, exactly?" she asked.
"I'll explain on the ride back," Ned said. "S'shani, you mind riding on her horse for a bit? Just so we're not so...rubbing up against each other...quite so much?"
"You can ride on my horse, if you'd like," Brelyna said, quietly and meekly, but any implications went sailing right over Ned's head.
"Nah, S'shani doesn't mind, do you?" he asked. The Khajiit sighed, but shook his head. He dismounted the horse, and got on behind Brelyna. Ned took the reins of his once more, and they headed off, riding side by side.
As they rode past Windhelm and prepared for the ascent into the much more tumultuous Winterhold Hold - a name, it should be said, that Ned always found a bit silly - Ned regaled Brelyna with the tale of how they defeated the Caller and escaped the Keep. Well, *a* tale, if not quite the actual tale. In this version, he was quite a bit more heroic, which S'shani did not question or correct him on. He also left out the part where the Khajiit had bent reality around him in a way that was not traditional magic, and flung the Caller effortlessly across the room. Though he left it out, and though S'shani had denied it, he was certain this had happened. He couldn't help but keep a wary eye on the Khajiit.
What ARE you?
"So, if it is okay for me to ask," S'shani said when Ned had finished his riveting tale, "what is the significance of the book? Why travel so far and risk such danger for it?"
"We mages take our reading very seriously," Ned said, nodding sternly. When S'shani gave him a look that was not particularly amused, he added, "also, we found some big glowing orb thing and we want to make sure it doesn't blow up the world or anything."
"That's still a really terrible answer," Brelyna said with a sigh. "We found an ancient artifact called the Eye of Magnus. We believe it to be an object of untold power that the Nords sealed away from an Elven invasion, so that it would not fall into the wrong hands."
"Right, and what shape is it?" Ned persisted.
Brelyna faltered. "Well, it is rather...spherical, and I suppose it does...emanate a slight glow...okay, fine. It's a big glowing orb thing and we want to make sure it doesn't blow up the world."
"Thank you," Ned said, smiling smugly.
It was the dead of night by the time they reached Winterhold. The area was pockmarked with cliffs of ice jutting out over deep chasms. This had led to many an unwary traveler or drunken reveler's demise, so Ned was quite glad to finally be home, as opposed to plummeting downward at a rapidly increasing, and then even more rapidly decreasing, velocity.
They had been silent for some time, but as they finally dismounted their horses, Ned turned to S'shani and extended his hand.
"Well, it was a pleasure, thanks for all your help," he said. S'shani shook his hand, albeit looking a bit confused as he did so.
"Ned!" Brelyna snapped. "It's the dead of night and freezing cold out, we're not just going to send him off."
"Oh," Ned said, genuinely perplexed. "They don't let non-students into the college though."
"They do, however, give tests to allow anyone who wishes to prove they are worthy of becoming a student," Brelyna responded. Ned furrowed his brow.
"He's not a mage! He said so himself," he argued.
"He also said he was a skilled healer, and based on the fact that you're not being carted back in several bags, I'd say he's right. Isn't that so?" Brelyna said, turning to S'shani. The Khajiit nodded.
"I am indeed skilled in the healing arts, which I suppose is considered by some to be a school of magic. If you are willing to have me, I would be honoured to join your side at the College," he said, bowing slightly. Ned stuck out his tongue.
"Guy heals a few bruises and suddenly he's a mage," he sneered under his breath. "I had to conjure a flame atronoch to get in. And then it kicked my ass."
They walked up the slight incline towards the College, which was located rather precariously on the very tip of a cliff face. The sea lapped into the rocky shore below, and it would've been quite serene if the thought didn't give Ned a case of vertigo. Brelyna patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. He wondered why she did things like that even though she clearly must've realized he was an ass, and a mediocre mage to boot.
Faralda was the mage on guard duty, making sure no unwanted miscreants tried to enter the college uninvited. An older Altmer woman with a haughty attitude, she had also been the one who administered Ned's test when he first came to apply at the College. He had the feeling she didn't quite like him, but he also had the feeling she didn't quite like anyone.
"Who goes there?" she called out as they approached, flaring up some magelight to illuminate the path.
"Just a bunch of horkers, nothing to worry about," Ned announced, but Brelyna quickly spoke over him.
"Brelyna Maryon and Nedhelfin, miss," she said. "And we've got both a visitor and a prisoner with us. Mr. gro-Shub may wish to see us right away, miss."
Faralda nodded. "Fine. Wait here, I'll fetch him. We'll not be keeping a prisoner within our walls; we'll need to figure out what to do with him." She turned and bustled off.
They stood there in silence for a few moments, Ned wrapping his arms around himself in a futile attempt to resist the cold, while simultaneously trying really hard not to wonder how secure the bridge, which was the only thing in between themselves and plummeting, was.
"This looks to be a very peaceful area," S'shani said, apparently not harboring the same fears as Ned. "I can see why you would seek to join this College to pursue your studies."
Brelyna nodded, smiling politely, while Ned simply continued to grimace. There weren't many students at the College of Winterhold, but he knew he was the worst by quite a bit. Everyone else seemed to have some fiery passion that drove them to the study of magic above anything else. Brelyna was studious, with a healthy thirst for magic; others were hungry for personal power, while others were looking to prove themselves. Some wanted to use magic to help the world, others wanted to use it to help themselves.
Ned was simply even worse at everything else than he was at magic.
The whole reason he had moved to Skyrim was because he had no chance in Oblivion of getting into the Synod, which had been a foolish childhood dream of his. He knew the College was more varied in its members, and less inclined to cast out or kill someone for not being up to par. Ned had long since lost any and all fire to learn that may have been in him at one time. Now he was just happy to have a roof over his head and a regular hot meal, even if it did sometimes contain cheese.
The great gates swung open once more, and Urag gro-Shub, the old and highly respected librarian of the College, came bustling out in his nightgown. Ned had to admit a bit of latent racism; he had always thought Orcs were supposed to be big hulking thugs more inclined to eat a book than read one, yet gro-Shub had an undeniably impressive wealth of knowledge, both in his library and in his head.
"The books! You have the books?" he said, looking at the assembled students frantically.
"Yes," Ned said before he could stop himself. "Well, uh, we have...the book. At least." He produced Night of Tears, and held it up hopefully.
"The book? A single book?" gro-Shub's face began to contort into one of fury, and there is no face more highly attuned for fury than that of an Orc. "I sent you out for three books, Nedhelfin. Where are the other two?"
"Okay, yes, well, you see-" Ned began to stutter.
"There were lots of necromancers there-" Brelyna added, jumping in to his defense.
"Yes, quite a few magical explosions happened-" S'shani chimed in.
"This one crazy lady, the Caller-"
"Pretty much exploding books left and right-"
"Tried to stop her, but she was determined to burn-"
"Barely managed to escape with one book-"
"Put our lives in grave danger-"
"Really should be thanking us for even managing that-"
"I think I really need to see a doctor," Orthorn mumbled, the first thing he had said since regaining consciousness.
Gro-Shub looked between all of them, trying to take this all in. "I'm sorry, who in Oblivion is this guy?"he said, waving towards the Khajiit.
"My name is S'shani, sir," he said with a bow. "Your students valiantly rescued me from imprisonment within the dungeon of the necromancers. I can attest that they went through a great deal to procure that book for you, and swear on my honour that they would have done anything to save the other two, if they could."
"Your honour, eh?" gro-Shub said, eyeing S'shani up and down. "Not often you hear a Khajiit staking his honour on something, and sounding damn well like he means it." He stalked over, and snatched the book from Ned's hands. He inspected it closely. "Night of Tears. Lucky for you, you may have managed to secure the most important one. I suppose I can find it within myself to not recommend your immediate expulsion to the arch-mage." He sighed. "Why don't you head on in, my knees are telling me it's going to snow soon."
"Sir, S'shani would like to take the test for entry to the College," she said. "And we are unsure what to do with Orthorn, who attempted to stop us from returning with the books."
"Ah. Interested in joining our ranks, are you?" gro-Shub said, walking in a slow circle around S'shani. "What kind of magic do you know?"
"I am skilled in the art of Restoration, sir," he said. "I regret to say my knowledge of the other schools are lacking."
"Ah, well," the librarian said with a chuckle, "I think Colette just found her new favorite student. One moment."
He reached into his night-gown and pulled out a small, yet distressingly sharp knife. Ned wondered if keeping a shiv in your night-gown was standard Orc behavior. He stepped over to Orthorn and grabbed the Altmer by the hair, hoisting him up. Orthorn yelped nervously, eyes darting around uncertainly. Sitting him up straight on the horse, gro-Shub grabbed his arm, and held out his palm with one hand, then dragged the blade across the open palm with the other. Orthorn let out a howl of pain.
"Heal him," gro-Shub said. "And be glad I slit your palm, and not your throat," he growled, which shut Orthorn up rather quickly.
S'shani stepped over to Orthorn and grabbed the extended, bleeding hand. He raised his own right hand over it, so that the two were perfectly mirrored; a white glow started to emanate from his palm. It expanded, engulfing both hands. Orthorn closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh of relief. Ned craned his neck to try and see what was going on. He caught a glimpse of the cut slowly sealing in on itself, until after a moment there was nothing but a faint scar. The glow faded away, and S'shani released Orthorn, who slumped visibly, his body still shaking all over.
"Very good," gro-Shub said, nodding. He didn't smile, but it was the sort of not-smile those who don't smile make when they're happy. "Far as I'm concerned, you're in. Talk to Ms. Ervine about getting a room and anything else you need; if she asks, let her know I'm vouching for you. On my honour."
S'shani smirked, and bowed. "Thank you, sir."
"And now," gro-Shub suddenly yelled, once more grasping Orthorn by the hair. "It's time to show one poor unfortunate soul what happens when you disrespect the written word. You kids have a good night." He tugged on Orthorn so hard he fell off the horse, and began to drag him off towards the main town of Winterhold.
"What do you think he's going to do to him?" Brelyna asked, taking a few steps closer to Ned as they all watched the Orc storm off.
"I'm sure he'll take him to the city guard," he replied. "Y'know, eventually."
The three turned and made their way through the gates, finally back within the College proper. The grounds were a giant circle surrounded by large pillars of stone, with an open roof to the sky above - which made running from dorm room the lecture hall in the middle of a blizzard a bit of a pain. A large statue of a wizard greeted them with arms extended; Ned had never quite figured out who the statue was supposed to be of, but he figured it was someone important, like the founder or something.
Ned and Brelyna hooked a left towards the dorms where the apprentices slept, S'shani following behind, looking around wide-eyed and full of awe. Ned wondered what he was looking at in this pitch blackness, then remembered hearing something about how Khajiit could see in the dark. Claws, night vision, a permanent fur coat...Ned wondered what Bosmer had going for them. They could probably climb trees really fast? He could not recall a time where this would ever have proven useful.
Ned pushed the door to the dorms open, and held it for Brelyna and S'shani. Brelyna blushed and said, "thank you," as she walked by. S'shani shot him a knowing glance. Ned mused that the both of them were pretty dang weird.
"Looks like everyone is asleep," Brelyna whispered. "S'shani, you should sleep in Ned's room tonight, until they can find somewhere for you in the morning."
"Er, well, actually-" Ned began to protest.
"Thank you, Nedhelfin. You are truly a kind soul, and I am blessed to have encountered you." S'shani bowed before him. "I will not be a burden, I promise. The floor will be more than acceptable."
"No, no, Ned will give up his bed for tonight," Brelyna went on, patting Ned on the book.
"Now hold on just a-"
"Truly your hospitality knows no bounds," S'shani continued. "I will repay you for your kindness, this I promise. I am quite sleepy; which bed is yours, Nedhelfin?"
Ned opened and closed his mouth a few times. "This way...goodnight, Brelyna."
"Goodnight, Ned," she said with a chuckle. "'Night, S'shani."
"Pleasant dreams to you," the Khajiit said, before following after Ned.
Ned tromped off to an alcove in the large, circular room. He held his hand over a small container, and a light appeared within it, illuminating the rather small but none-too-shabby room that Ned had called home for the past few years. Assorted alchemical ingredients littered the various shelves and table-tops, a few books were stacked on top of each other, and a small soul shard was being used as a paperweight for some notes Ned had jotted down in rare moments of giving a shit. He turned around to face S'shani, and held his arms up in the air in an exaggerated moment of pride.
"Well, that was the grand tour," he said. "There's the bed, your majesty. If you get hungry, I'm pretty sure I've got, like, a potato or something in one of these drawers." He opened a drawer at random, took a sniff, made a horrified face, and slammed the door shut. "Not that one."
S'shani sat down on the bed, and slowly lowered himself down onto the pillow. "It is not often one meets someone willing to sacrifice comfort for another, especially someone they do not know well," he said. "I believe in the great force of karma, Nedhelfin, and I feel great things are destined for your future."
Yes, but a night sleeping on a cold, hard floor is what awaits me in my more immediate future, Ned thought. Out loud he said, "it's fine."
"Brelyna is quite kind as well," S'shani continued. "And quite taken with you. Did you know that?"
There was a pause, as Ned attempted to get comfortable on the floor, but then he shot back up. "What?"
"Oh yes. The way she looks at you and talks to you. I have seen it many times in young couples, experiencing the joy of a new romance. I assumed you had realized this; it struck me as quite obvious."
Ned slowly lowered himself back to the floor. Huh.
"I shall keep you awake no longer with my idle musings, Nedhelfin."
All Ned heard was a sort of high-pitched buzz. His brain was cranking itself into full overdrive. Brelyna was in love with him? *Him?* He knew she didn't have the greatest self-confidence, but seriously?
"Needless to say I thank you once more for all your hospitality."
Did he like her? Well, she was pretty, in that sort of dark blue way Dunmer were. And she was nice to him, when they weren't constantly bickering or berating each other. But, he supposed, it was generally playful bickering.
"Goodnight, my friend."
Was she waiting on him to make some sort of move? Was he supposed to ask her out on some sort of 'date?' He had never been on a date before. Unless riding out to a castle full of necromancers to kill your way to a couple of books constituted a date. It probably didn't.
"Fus ro dah."
And just like that, all thoughts of romance were blown out of his head as if by some otherworldly force. His eyes shot open, and he stared at the ceiling.
"What did you just say?" he asked, softly, his voice shaking.
S'shani let in a few slow, deep breaths. The Khajiit was sound asleep.
At some point, Ned fell asleep. It was the kind of sleep where one could feel convinced they had not slept at all, except for the fact that he rather suddenly woke up, feeling even more tired than he had last night.
Then he screamed.
This was because a face was hovering over his, eyes wide with great curiosity. It was a Khajiit face, though certainly not S'shani's. This one had a devious cunning to it, a sly smile that curled up behind a draping black mustache.
"Why are you in my room, J'zargo," Ned groaned, trying to roll over and pull his sheets over his head before remembering he was on the floor without any sheets.
"J'zargo is curious as to why another man sleeps in your bed, while you sleep upon the floor," he responded, straightening up. For a moment Ned thought he was about to offer him a hand in getting off the floor, but then realized that was probably silly of him to expect. He grunted, pushing himself up.
"Haven't you heard, J'zargo," he said, putting on an overly whimsical tone of voice, "I'm a truly kind soul and my hospitality has no bounds."
Ned turned his head to look at S'shani, sleeping soundly in his bed. What an asshole. Then memories from last night came rushing back to him, and he grabbed J'zargo by the shoulders, speaking to him in an urgent, yet hushed voice.
"J'zargo," he said, "can you do me a favor? An honest to goodness favor that doesn't involve any competitive aspects whatsoever and can be completed without somehow screwing me over for personal gain? Is that within your capabilities, J'zargo?"
"J'zargo thinks he can handle such a favor, if only for a close friend like Nedhelfin," J'zargo responded with a grin.
"When he wakes up," Ned continued, thrusting a figure towards S'shani, "keep him busy for me. Show him around. Give him the tour. Whatever. Just...don't let him come looking for me. Okay?"
"This, J'zargo can do," the Khajiit said with a nod. "It has been a long time since we've spoken at length with another Khajiit. It will be a pleasure."
"Great. Thanks. I owe you," he said, and instantly regretted it when he saw J'zargo's smug grin. Still, it was the best plan he had. He bolted out of his room, and threw open the doors to the main campus of the college.
For a brief moment he realized he hadn't properly eaten or bathed in a while, but - despite an overwhelming whiff of himself protesting to the contrary - that could wait. He had to get to the library.
As he scurried across campus, nudging his way past other students meandering about, he saw Brelyna standing by the entrance to the Hall of the Elements, the main study building of the campus. She smiled at him.
"Good morning, Ned," she said. "How-"
"That's great," Ned said absent-mindedly, blowing straight past her without a second glance. He pushed open the door to the Hall and ran inside, instantly hooking a right towards the Arcanaeum, where Urag gro-Shub kept what was arguably the largest collection of books in Skyrim. He made his way carefully up the zig-zagging staircase, and peeked his head around to glance across the circular room. No sign of gru-Shub; he must've been having a blast tormenting Orthorn, wherever they were.
Finally slowing down to a brisk walk, he began to scan the shelves, running a grubby finger along the spines of the books, fully aware that gro-Shub would scalp him for that if he saw it. After a few tense minutes of searching, his heart leapt up as he found the section he was looking for. Here were books on the language of the Ayleids: Glories and Laments, Cleansing the Fane, even the Ayleid Reference Text! Some books about Ehlnofex languages - he wasn't even sure what that word meant, but it looked important. He gathered several books into his arms, then saw a black-bound book. He pulled it out with his free hand, and looked at the cover.
There was no title, just a neatly symmetrical picture of a dragon folded into the shape of a diamond. He shrugged, dropped it onto a nearby table, and placed the other books on top of it.
That day, Ned studied harder than he'd ever studied in his life. He wasn't even consciously aware of what was driving him to this; why had the mysterious S'shani awakened a passion for knowledge he had never experienced before? All he knew was that he had to know. The Khajiit was hiding something, and he would find out what.
After a few hours, he dismissed the possibility that he was speaking Ayleid; his words had been throaty and guttural, while the Ayleid language was very soft and idyllic. After another hour he realized that Ehlnofex was simply the root language for all modern languages; considering he was fluent in two of them, he figured he probably should've realized this sooner.
All that was left was this dragon book-
He nearly fell out of his chair as he heard footsteps echoing up the stairs, heading towards him. He looked around, and noticed what a mess he had made, scattering books all around him chaotically as he finished with them. If gro-Shub saw this...
The figure turned the corner, humming idly to himself, and Ned realized it was the arch-mage. He wasn't sure if this was better or worse.
Savos Aren had always seemed like a relatively laid back man, particularly for someone as powerful and influential as he was. Still, Ned was a bit wary of authority figures, generally because he felt like he was doing something wrong. He tended to avoid the arch-mage as much as he could; the less the man knew about Ned, the less likely he was to realize what a dope he was and throw him out of the College.
He couldn't do much to hide his current predicament, however, and after hastily trying to tidy the books, followed by hastily trying to hide them underneath his chair, he decided to just turn and smile at the arch-mage.
"Hello there...Nedhelfin, yes?" Aren said, nodding at him. "Getting in some good study time, I see? It's always good to see the youth diving into a healthy education."
"Yep," Ned said, nodding and trying to channel as innocent a look as he could muster.
"I was actually hoping to speak with you," Aren continued, pulling up a chair across from Ned. He seemed to neither notice nor care about the books. "I heard that you and Miss Maryon were successful in retrieving at least one of the books from Fellglow Keep, despite the inherent dangers present there. For that, you have my commendations, as well as my personal thanks."
Ned was taken aback, but recovered quickly. "Of course, sir. It was, uh...no problem. Really."
"I am afraid I have need of further assistance in regards to our predicament, however," the arch-mage said. "I have explained the situation to Brelyna, and she has agreed to help. I figured that since you two made an effective team last time, you would be able to team up again."
"Sure," Ned said, absent-mindedly. It had taken him a moment to remember what 'predicament' he was talking about; his obsession with S'shani had made him all but forget about the strange Eye of Magnus that was sitting in the Hall right below them.
"Excellent. I will let Brelyna fill you in on the details, and for now let you get back to your study of..." he paused, and looked down at the black book in front of Ned. "Dragonborn? Interesting. Might I ask what has sparked your curiosity in that particular legend?"
Ned paused, then shrugged. "Just...curious. About knowledge, and...learning."
"Of course." Aren pushed his chair back and stood up. "Keep up the good work, Nedhelfin."
Ned grunted as the arch-mage walked away. The good work. Was this good? What was it he was trying to accomplish? S'shani had saved his life, had proven nothing but pleasant and kind, yet here he was going behind his back trying to dig up some secret on him.
But what if his gut was right, and the secret was...big? How well could he really say he knew S'shani? He had shown up rather conveniently in that cage, not worried about his fate at all...and been really insistent to follow them back to the College, where he was quickly able to gain admittance...what if he intended to cause them harm?
An image flashed across his mind of a monstrous S'shani, twisted and black, looming over the prone figure of Brelyna, bleeding and broken-
My intentions are good, Ned said to himself sternly.
He opened the Book of the Dragonborn, and began reading.