AN: For my Honors English class, we have to write a term paper on a literary topic. The paper is going to be long too, so I may not update every Saturday like I said I would.
We are winding down to the end of the school year, and its my senior year, so I'm going to be unimaginably busy. Sorry. :/ I'll update whenever possible; at least once every two weeks, though. Maybe more.
Thank you to everyone that has stuck with this story; it means a lot to know that people enjoy something that I enjoy making!
Sorry for the long AN; now onto the chapter!
Well, at least the place lives up to its name I thought grimly. The farther north I went, the heavier the snowfall. There seemed to be a never ending blizzard surrounding the entire area, coating every tree, house, and person that got caught in it.
Winterhold was, by far, the smallest of the nine major settlements of Skyrim; there were three or four buildings and the College.
Upon asking about the College, I was immediately told to stay away from it. Most of the inhabitants believed that the College was the reason for the storm that swallowed the majority of Winterhold. There was a general hatred of magic in Winterhold. Deciding against staying in the inn, I headed straight for the College.
As I was about to step onto the dilapidated ridge, I was stopped by an Altmer woman.
"Halt. If you want passage, you must show your meddle first. Summon a flame atronach here," she said pointing to a panel on the ground,"and if you need the spell, I can sell it to you." she said in a commanding voice.
Being with the Companions for so long had toughened me up, but I was still intimidated by this woman. I did as she asked and watched her demeanor change instantly.
"I'm sorry about that," she said, "but we've had problems with the local Nords lately. We can never be too careful. My name is Faralda." she said in a much friendlier voice.
Disconcerted by the change in attitude, I simply replied, "My name is Isabelle."
She began to lead me across the broken bridge. The broken chunks of the bridge afforded me a view of the couple hundred foot drop to the ground. I'm going to get blown off this bridge, and there won't even be a way to identify my body after I hit the ground I thought with a shudder.
After successfully reaching the end of the bridge, I watched as the gates opened on their own. Impressed, I followed Faralda into a circular courtyard. In the center stood a large statue of a Mage siphoning magic into the sky. I broke out of my reverie when Farlada began to speak.
"I'm assuming that you want to become a student, right?" she asked.
Nodding my head in an affirmative, she carried on. "You'll need to speak with Mirabelle. She takes new admissions, and she'll get you all set up. She'll probably be in the Hall of the Elements."
At my blank look she added, "The big building behind the statue."
Thanking her for her help, I headed straight to the hall to search for Mirabelle.
Mirabelle turned out to be a Breton like me, and was Master Wizard here at the college. The Master Wizard is second in command to the Arch-Mage, the top of the totem.
Mirabelle gave me directions to all of the facilities of the College, and a set of student robes. I'm just going to wear my Adept robes, thank you very much I cringed at the thought of downgrading.
After giving me all of the necessary information, she sent me to my first class. I went to the main room of the Hall of the Elements.
The room was large and circular, a recurring theme throughout the College. As I went inside, I immediately spotted Tolfdir, along with my fellow classmates. There was a young Nord man, a Dark Elf woman, and a Khajiit man. All three looked to be around my age, and were wearing the horrible Novice robes.
The lesson had been easy enough; we learned about wards. I had never payed much attention to the shields, as the majority of my opponents just used regular weapons instead of magic.
After the lesson was finished, I decided to seek out Faralda. If I want to be back in two months, I should hurry my training I thought with determination. As I entered the Hall of Countenance, I was met with the same architecture as the Hall of Attainment; a round building with bedrooms off of the center room, and a fountain of magicka in the middle of the room. There were also two floors, just like in the Hall of Attainment.
It didn't take me long to find Faralda. She was sitting in what I assumed to be her bedroom, reading The Art of War Magic. I hadn't made myself known before she spoke.
"I was wondering when you would show up. I'm assuming you're here for training?" she asked with a smile.
With a respectful bow of my head I replied, "Yes ma'am. I really came here to focus on Destruction and Conjuration magic."
"Come now. You don't have to call me ma'am. It makes me feel old, and I'm not that much older than you. For Conjuration training, you'll want to see Phinis." she told me with a laugh.
She continued, "Let's go to the Hall of Elements. There's more room for activities." She stood up and began to walk, so I followed.
"So how far along are you with your training? Novice, Apprentice?" she inquired.
I replied, "Adept. I can use spells like Ice Storm, Fireball, and Chain Lightning, but not for long. I need to gain a larger magicka reserve, so what better place to do that than here?"
She looked surprised. "Usually people have that problem when they reach the apprentice level spells; how long have you been casting?"
I smiled. "Before I can remember. My mother said that I would conjure familiars as a toddler."
Faralda let out a laugh. "This should be easy. You must have a natural talent for it. Phinis will be pleased." We went inside the Hall, still chatting as if we had been friends forever. Just like Vilkas and I.
After a long and grueling month, I was happy. I had learned to cast the adept spells plenty of times before running out of magicka. Faralda had become one of my best friends, along with Brelyna, the dark elf woman who joined the College around the same time as me.
One month down, one to go. I can't wait to see everyone again; I love it here, but how I miss the warmer plains of Whiterun! I honestly was enjoying it here, but it feel as if there is a hole in my heart; one that is Jorvaskr shaped.
Through my month here, there had also been an increasingly suspicious Thalmor advisor here. Ancano is one of the most unpleasant people I've ever been around. Just the thought of him makes my skin crawl.
Ever since the Eye of Magnus had been recovered from Saarthal, he had been acting even more strangely. Even Arch-Mage Aren has been uneasy around Ancano.
The strangest part of this had to be the Psijic monk that appeared to me twice. The first time was in Saarthal, before Tolfdir and I found the Eye. The second was after the Eye had been relocated to the College. The Psijic Order is worried about the Eye, and say that it needs to be removed. He also told me to seek out the Augur of Dunlain, who turned out to be a glowing orb of energy who resided in the Midden. He told me that I needed to find the Staff of Magnus.
Now, I'm heading to Mzulft, per Mirabelle's orders. Apparently there are wizards looking for the staff there.
I hate Dwemer ruins *I thought with a scowl. I had been fighting my way through the dank and musty halls. This is so much easier to do with a shield-brother or sister!*
Upon arriving, I met a bloodied Mage who had a key to get into the ruins, and I've just been following the halls since then. My newly found destruction power was coming in handy too. I could blast the Falmer with fireballs until I was satisfied. At this rate, I'll be ready for Expert level spells soon!
I came into a large room holding four Falmer, one of which looked to be carrying around the focusing crystal that the Mage in the first room spoke about. Thanking Drevis for teaching me how to cast spells silently, I cast an iron flesh spell, summoned a frost atronach, and conjured a bow.
I aimed at the weakest looking of the beasts, and fired. The surprise attack killed the creature instantly, but now the remaining three knew I was there. Here we go!
I stood up and cast a flame cloak spell, and charged. When I got within a few feet, I let go of a chain lightning spell; the effect was instant. All of the Falmer stumbled backwards, which have my atronach an opening to slam down on them.
I decided to pick of the weakest before killing the leader. While my atronach kept the Falmer occupied, I sneaked away and conjured my bow again.
The fight slowly began to dwindle as the two weaker Falmer died, and my atronach and I tag teamed the remaining Falmer. A few more minutes, and the Falmer fell. I gingerly stood from my hiding place, and walked to the body. The crystal was the size of both of my fists. Once I had it secured in my bag, I began to look around only to see a huge locked door.
As I jiggled the handle, I heard someone yell to go away.
"The Falmer are dead; you're safe! Let me in." I yelled back.
I immediately heard the lock click, and the door swung open. The man was wearing generic blue mages robes, and looked to be a little worse for wear.
"Who are you? Where is Gavros?" he said impatiently.
I felt my hackles raise as I replied. "My name is Isabelle. Gavros is dead; he gave me the key to get in the ruins before he died. He told me you were trapped."
Instead of looking crestfallen like I thought he would, he just looked mildly annoyed. "I told him he shouldn't have tried to run, but did he listen? No. Now, why are you here?"
Shocked at his callousness, I just said, "I was told you might be able to help me find something."
"Of course I can. That's why Im here; the Oculory. It shows concentrated points of magic in Tamriel." he said smugly.
"You'll need this then." I said handing him the crystal.
His face lit up. "You found it? I was worried that the Falmer had ruined the entire operation by taking that! Follow me; there is no time to loose!" He began jogging up a long ramp until we reached the top. The machine was unlike anything I had seen before; long rods and crystals seemed to be everywhere. After we placed the crystal, he told me to calibrate the thing.
After a while of thinking, I sprayed the crystal with flames and watched as it changed the focal points. Heat and cold must be the answer; this is impressive.
After getting the light in the correct place, a map was cast on the wall in front of us. There was a huge blip on the map at the College. That must be the Eye.
But there was another spot showing on a huge Nordic ruin called Labrynthian. I had been through the place with Farkas and Athis on a job before. I've never seen a Nordic ruin as big as that one. I had all but forgotten about the man standing to my left until he began to sputter.
"I knew the idiots at the College were lying! They told me that there was nothing of importance there! I'll be sure to have the Synod claim the object; it should be in the Imperial City, not with a bunch of idiot Nords!" he yelled, incensed.
I felt my anger rising. "They are not idiots! If we are, then you just got played by an idiot! I just used you to show me where the Staff of Magnus is!"
Instead of replying, he just readied a spell. Surprised, I barely casted a ward before it was coated in fire. This guy is a lunatic!
I waited for a break in the magic before freezing him solid with an ice storm spell. I felt good about not killing him, until I heard the ice shatter. Oops.
As I was leaving, a Psijic Monk appeared to me again. All he told me was to hurry back to the College, before disappearing. Worried, I began to hastily make my way out of the ruins.
Damn bears. Why won't they just stay out of the way? I thought with a growl. I was walking back from Windhelm, after clearing out Stony Creek Cave.
Ever since Isabelle had left, I had been irritable. She had quickly turned into one of the best friends I had ever had, and then her abrupt departure had left me dazed and confused. Not to mention the beast blood has been harder to control I thought with a sigh.
I wonder how she is doing? Excelling, I'm sure. I hate not knowing if she is okay. The occasional letter just isn't enough; this month must pass quickly, or I might go crazy.
As I was walking, I saw someone jogging in front of me. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but then I could hear the crunching of her footsteps. She also had on familiar robes.
"Isabelle?" I called out, surprised.
She stopped and turned around. Before she could speak, I grabbed her up in a bear hug. She's okay!
"Vilkas! This is perfect timing, come with me to Winterhold! I'm going to need your help. There is a Thalmor agent at the College, and I think he is up to something bad." she said in one voice.
Winterhold? That's not too far, I can handle it. "Alright. We can't have you running off and getting killed by some pansy elf." I said with a smirk.
She tried to scowl, but I could see the smile she was trying to hide.
The walk back to Winterhold was full of catching up, and mindless chatter. She asked about everyone back at Jorvaskr, and I asked about her progression at the College. She excitedly told me about her quick grasp of destruction magic and her friendship with the destruction teacher. I was content to listen to her speak all day, glad to be able to hear her voice again.
I can't believe I found Vilkas out here! He told me he had been clearing out a cave near Mzulft. Sadly, I think he is going to see the worst that the College has to offer.
I wasn't disappointed. When we reached the College everyone, except for Mirabelle and Arch-Mage Aren, were standing in the court yard.
"It's Ancano! He's gone insane; he's locked himself up with the Eye! Mirabelle and The Arch-Mage have gone inside to try to break through the barrier." Faralda told me when she saw me.
I turned to Vilkas. "Wait out here; you can come in when you hear fighting!" Not waiting for a reply, I busted through the doors of the Hall of the Elements. Just as Faralda said, the leaders of the College were pelting the barrier with magic.
Arch-Mage Aren spoke. "Isabelle, help us tear this down. We have to get to Ancano! Just throw magic at it; two people just aren't enough!"
I readied a Wall of Lightning spell and began pumping the barrier with it. Eventually, the barrier began to dissolve.
"Hurry, before it comes back!" I barely managed to jump through the gap in the barrier before it closed.
"Ancano! Stop this now! You haven't a clue what you are doing! You'll kill us all!" Arch-Mage Aren yelled.
A surprised look passed over Ancano's face before being replaced with an angry look. Instead of replying, he just began to funnel the magic even more. The last thing I remember was being hit with a shock wave and hitting the wall.
AN: That's the longest chapter I've ever written! Thanks for reading!