The Staff of Magnus
Dismounting from our horses when we reached the old, fortress–like structure, we tied them up and left them outside, placing a few wards in case anyone had ideas about stealing them.
Once again internally thanking my foster Khajiit sister for her timely intervention, I led J'zargo, Onmund and Brelyna up the aging, stone steps and into Labyrinthian.
I'd been to the ancient ruin before. I had intended to use it as a shortcut past the mountains. I had entered the ruin... and a few minutes later, ran away again, pursued by a small gang of frost trolls. I managed to lose them, but vowed never to go near Labyrinthian again. And I thought I was good at keeping my promises.
We stepped into the vast ruins of the ancient ruin. While it was, for the most part, gone it was still very impressive to look at. The largest structure was to the right, with even more stone steps, that lead up to a massive, temple-like building. Placed here and there, were tall, ornately carved pillars of stone. Screeching birds were depicted atop them.
Cages hung sinisterly as we walked in through the entrance arch, swaying in the wind. The decaying, crumbling ruins of stone were covered in layers of snow. Perhaps, soon this place would be buried in the snow and lost to history. I wasn't sure whether that would be a shame or a blessing.
Fortunately, we encountered no trolls as we ascended the tall stairs to the largest building. Either they were all asleep or they just didn't know that we were here. Either way, I was glad. Trolls were tenacious vicious and had the natural ability to heal very quickly. The first time I fought one, he almost ground up my bones and feast on my flesh. He at least gave me a headache that lasted a week.
My companions remained silent as we made our way in. Whether they were gazing in silent awe at the ruins, or were just plain scared, I couldn't tell. They were looking around the crumbling remains of Labyrinthian, so it was most likely the former. Or they were just good at hiding their fear.
I, myself, was a little scared. Not just about what we might find down in the deepest, darkest depths but also if we could handle it. What if we encountered something vastly more powerful than us? What if we were overpowered and failed? What if... some of us didn't make it back. I didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of any of them. Especially not Brelyna.
I was glad that I knew them, glad that I'd decided to attend Winterhold. They were as much my fellows and equals, as well as my friends. Practicers of the arcane arts, hoping to do well for themselves. On top of that, they had all decided to accompany me to this dangerous place, to watch my back and save the College. For that, I was truly grateful.
We reached the top of the stairs. I had to crane my neck to see the point of the arched structure above us. It was truly remarkable. The door ahead was circular and taller than any of us. When Arch-Mage Shalidor had built this place in the First Era, he had really done it to amaze and inspire. Perhaps, to also instill a little fear.
Well, he had certainly succeeded.
"This is it..." Brelyna said nervously.
"You all still have a chance," I reminded them, gazing over them all. "You can still turn back, if you wish."
"Not a chance," Onmund voiced confidently.
"Don't think you can get rid of J'zargo that easily."
"You know what my answer will be," Brelyna told me. Both relieved and touched that they still wanted to see this through, I turned back around to enter Labyritnthian. That was when I saw a ghost. From the gasps and exclamations of my companions, they saw it too.
Contrary to what most may believe, ghosts were very real. Spirits wondering the world of the living, unable to find solace in the afterlife. They could interact with the world, to an extent. Some were even connected enough to the physical enough to attack members of the living.
There were two types of ghost: those that were tortured souls, forever trapped in the living world and those that were just images, left by some great memory or emotional happening. They couldn't be interacted with, they just repeated the moment over and over again, without end. I guessed this ghost was the latter.
It was hooded and dressed in flowing mage robes. It emitted a pale blue glow, making the snow around it sparkle with a kind of ethereal beauty. Then, other ghosts appeared as well, dressed in the same fashion, all looking up at the door into Labyrinthian. Who were all of these mages?
"What in the world..." Onmund powered up a spell, but I stopped him.
"Wait, let's see what they have to say." One of the ghosts spoke and I recognised the voice immideately.
"Come on, we're finally here," said a young Savos Aren, his voice echoing like he was at the end of a tunnel. His face was youthful, his beard not quite grown in yet. "Let's not waste anymore time."
He sounded eager, impatient. Not the best characteristics to have when handling magic.
"Are you truly sure this is a good idea?" asked the ghost of an Argonian mage nervously.
"We'll be back at the College before anyone knows we're gone," said an elf mage dismissively. I couldn't tell what kind of elf she was.
"You would care about that, wouldn't you?" one of the others snapped at her. "Since you are the Arch-Mage's favourite."
"Don't forget, this whole idea's was Atmah's to begin with," Savos reminded his now ex-colleagues.
"Let's just get inside," a Nord mage said to pacify them, "see what's in there."
None of them said anything as they glided, some nervously, some confidently, towards the door and faded through it. After a moment's silence, Brelyna spoke up.
"Well, that was interesting. The Arch-Mage was here, when he was an apprentice. Rather like us."
"Yes, except that he didn't have the fate of the College weighing on his head," Onmund pointed, still rather wary of the paranormal appearance "Under normal circumstances, I'd say this was a bad idea. But..."
"... We don't have any choice," I finished, pulling out the torc Mirabelle had given me. I approached the circular and lifted it to it's place. I paused. "Last chance to back out." No-one said anything. I slotted into place, knocked on the stone and stood back as the doors 'whirled' open.
"Right," I said, turning to face them. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends." Giving them a reassuring smile, I led them inside.
The hall we emerged into had that same contrast of grandness and decay the rest of the place did. Great stone columns climbed to the ceiling all around us, with the heads of screeching bird-like carvings encircling the top. Ahead was an ancient door to the tunnels beyond and bodies of skeletons littered the floor.
They lay sprawled on the ground, facing the direction of the door we had come through. Their weapons were scattered around, like they had all proceeded in the direction and were stopped. Probably by our departed Arch-Mage and his friends.
We walked into the centre of the room, our footsteps echoing off the walls. There was an almost eerie silence to the whole place. This was only added when the ghosts of Savos, Atmah and the others faded back into view. They were in the process of cutting off spells, indicating my thoughts about their fighting the skeletons were true.
"I can't believe were doing this!" one of the youngest-looking mages said.
"Can you imagine the looks on their faces when come back?" I almost laughed at the eagerness in Savos's voice, as his younger self said this.
"You keep talking like you're sure we'll find something useful down here," the Nord said cynically.
"Given the history of this place," another argued, "it's more than likely that there's still some amount of power here."
"Enchanted weapons, tomes of anicent wisdom, even Shalidor's secrets themselves!" That sounded just as unlikely as it was likely. "Who knows what we could find?"
"And what if..." the cautious Argonian said, "what if there are things guarding this place?"
"Against six, College-trained mages?" the mage named Atmah scoffed. "I think we'll be fine."
"Famous last words," J'zargo murmured and I couldn't help, but nod in agreement.
"Come on, let's not waste anymore time!" The ghost-Savos strode up to the door and faded through it, as did his fellow mages. We weren't too far behind, heaving open the iron-wrought door and stepping through.
We emerged out into a cave-like passage. A large archway was before us, leading down deeper underground. We walked carefully along the cobbled stone path. Torches flickered in their brackets, casting sinister shadows on the wall opposite. I felt a shiver down my spine as we continued.
We arrived at a narrow tunnel, with a metal gate barring the exit. A lever was stationed next to it on the wall nearby. I peered through the bars of the cage, looking out into the room beyond. It was a complete contrast to where we were currently.
A huge, empty space with light beaming down on it in the middle took up most of the hall. The ceiling reached up high above us, stone columns rising up on both sides. Beyond these, there was complete darkness. It made me feel uneasy; something wasn't right here.
I heard a low hiss next to me and saw J'zargo, scrutinizing it with his pale, blue eyes.
"You feel it too, huh?" I asked him. He nodded.
"J'zargo smells something foul in this room." He shook his head. "It seems too much like a trap."
"No kidding," I murmured. I called back; "Someone open the gate, J'zargo and I will scout ahead."
"Right," Brelyna responded. "Be careful in there, both of you."
"Hey," I turned, smiling, "you know me." She returned it, nodding to Onmund who stood closest to the lever. The gate clanked as it opened and I stepped through, cautiously. J'zargo made moves to follow...
... and leaped back from the threshold, as the gate suddenly fell. I whirled around and rushed back, grabbing the bars and looking through. J'zargo was gazing back, along with a worried Brelyna, who had hurried to see what had happened.
"What was that? What happened?" I asked urgently.
"I don't know! The gate just shut and the lever's stuck!" Her eyes flickered to something behind me. "Look out!" I whirled around, to see what she could.
They came lumbering out of the shadows. First one, then two, four, seven. At least a dozen skeleton warriors shuffled out of the darkness, their bony hands clutching ancient weapons. Croaking, clattering, they shambled towards me from all sides, cutting off any route of escape. Could this get any worse?
A loud roar echoed off the walls. Yes, it could. Out from the centre of the room, the bony form of a dragon arose. It climbed out of it's burial mound, it's footsteps shaking the very ground beneath my feet. I waited for the skin, scales and wings to begin forming after it's long sleep.
Except... they didn't. It remained a skeletal visage of it's former self. I could hear the bones clattering against each other. Whether that made it more or less dangerous, I wasn't sure. Regardless of this, it was still a deadly opponent and that was without the other skeletons.
As the cartalidged crusade drew closer, I considered my options. I couldn't fight them, there were just too many. I didn't have the reserves of magicka to do so. A bow and arrows would be too slow and I couldn't exactly stab them with my dagger. There was nothing for me to stab.
I spied another lever that probably opened the door. I made for it, but two arrows and blasts of ice from the skeletons cut me off. I daren't risk turning my back on them, that would leave me vulnerable. Think, Sauron, think!
"Sauron, my friend! Take this!" J'zargo reached through the bars, holding a roll of paper. A scroll. And I could hazard a guess at which one.
"I can't use that!" I yelled back. "You know what happened last time!"
"J'zargo has made improvements, trust him!" He waved it frantically. "There is no time, quickly!"
Realising there were no other options to take, I swiped the scroll and clenched it in my hand. My eyes travelled over my skeletal foes; two archers prepared to fire, two wearing remains of mage robes had their hands glowing cold, and those with swords were itching to swing them.
I walked slowly towards the dragon first. I looked at where it's eyes should have been. It raised it's head, opened it's mouth to shout. I turned on the flame cloak, reached out to touch it's snout. The dragon lunged at me. I shut my eyes, waiting for the feel of teeth sinking into my flesh.
But it never came. I opened my eyes to see it had literally frozen. It stood before me, shaking, not moving. Then, it's head collapsed into a pile of bone meal, followed by it's body, wings and tail. The pile it made was almost as high as me.
Still marvelling that the spell had worked this time, I turned my attention to the other skeletons. They ignored the fact the largest of them was dead and came charging at me. One by one, they all melted before the flames. All I had to do was dodge their blows and touch them as they got close.
By the time the spell wore off, there was only one left. It croaked and raised it's sword to attack. I shrugged, tossed a casual firebolt at it and watched as his body flew apart. The bones clattered to the floor, just as I heard the gate open and my friends rushed in.
"Sorry, you missed all of the excitement," I said, smiling at them all.
"Well, the door was stuck. Someone should get that seen to," replied Brelyna, giving an equally bright smile in return. "I'm just happy you're still alive."
"Me too," Onmund said, gazing around at the piles of dust. "That was some impressive magic."
"J'zargo knows this, but it is good of you to say so," J'zargo said with a grin.
"How many of those did you bring?" I asked. He shifted uncomfortably.
"Regrettably, just two. J'zargo didn't want to waste others in case they yielded the... same results as last time." He grimaced a little. "He did not wish any of his friends to be hurt..."
"It's okay, I understand," I said to him. "What matters is that it worked and saved my life. I thank you for that."
"It is the least J'zargo can do, considering what you went through last time we used the scrolls," the Khajiit replied sincerely. "Now, shall we press on? We have a staff to find."
"Right you are," I smiled, striding to the door. "Everyone follow me, let's go."
After descending the stairs below, we emerged into a smaller chamber with a plinth set in the middle. As we approached it, the ghosts of Savos and his friends faded into existence. I noticed that one of their number was missing... then, I remembered that one of the skeletons I'd fought had been wearing rags of what used to be mage robes.
Leaving no mystery as to what his or her fate might have been, I stopped to listen to the ghosts. They sounded a lot more distressed than last time they appeared.
"We... we have to go back. We can't leave Girduin!" the youngest one said desperately.
"We barely made it out alive-"
"What was that thing?" the Argonian asked, sounding terrified. No-one answered her.
"-and you want to go back in?" the Nord finished, incredulously. Girduin must not have made it past the dragon. These poor mages, they never stood a chance...
"It's too late, there isn't enough of him left to go back in after," Atmah said, as if that settled the matter. I didn't know if she was being sensible or scared.
"Gods, what have we done?" the Argonian cried.
"We can't go back," Savos said, still sounding determined. Had to admire his tenacity. "Might as well go forward. We can still do this!" Savos
"Savos is right," Atmah agreed quickly. "We can make it, if we just stay alert." They walked to the next door and faded through. Before we followed, however, I took the time to read the inscription on the plinth nearby.
Hail all- brave city of Bromjunaar
Forever these walls shall stand
May enemies see her majesty
May all quake to behold her.
I rolled my eyes at the arrogant pretentiousness of the plaque. Well, at least they got what they wanted; the place was still standing- to an extent, of course. Bromjunaar... that must have been the anicent name for Labyrinthian.
I took the lead again as we walked onto the next room. It had a forked passage, the left of which was blocked due to a heavy rockfall. Proceeding down the right one, I saw a door that was entirely encased in ice. I could almost feel the chill coming off of it.
"Right, this is a no-brainer," I said when we reached it. "Brelyna, you want to-" I was cut off by a loud, rasping voice, that croaked like an old man and had the sound of a death rattle.
"Wo meyz wah dii vul julnaar?" I felt a rushing wind, as well as a sudden drain in my magic levels. I staggered a little as it hit me, as did the others. But what really shocked me was the dialect. The way the voice spoke...
"By Talos," Onmund exclaimed whirling around. "What was that?"
"I... I don't know..." Brelyna touched her forehead. "My strength... I feel like something just... took it..."
"Is this some enchantment?" J'zargo stood tall. "Some spell to drain our power? Well, this maze will have to try harder than that!"
A snarl emerged from the icy door, followed by a spirit, as cold as a winter's chill. Though virtually transparent, I could see it was dressed in full battle armour. It reached around and pulled out a one-handed battle-axe.
These ghosts, restless spirits bound to the earth, could interact with the living. That included being able to hurt and kill them. And it looked like he was planning to do both.
I felt a little scared. None of us had the magicka needed to fight, it would take time to get our strength back. Time in which this ghost could slice us up into twenty pieces. I reached for my dagger, as he raised his axe to strike.
Then, his axe met the edge of a sword. I looked to see Onmund, his blade aloft and pushing back the spirit. It stumbled from the force, clearly surprised at this resistance. A surprise that Onmund used to his advantage.
He jumped closer, swinging his sword down. The spirit howled when struck, but I knew this wouldn't finish it off. If it was like the door, only fire would do that. If I could just summon up the energy...
The spirit lashed out with its axe, but Onmund leaped backwards to avoid it. He swung his blade again, but the spirit was expecting it this time. It blocked the blow and the next one. It was starting to gain the upper hand. I felt my energy increase. I think...
I built it up in my hand, just enough for one, good shot. I watched as Onmund backed up from a sudden counter-attack. I pushed him out of my way and sent a stream of flames at the ex-warrior. It screamed, melting like ice into water. I exerted the last of my reserves on the door, melting the ice and opening it.
I collapsed again, my magicka levels drained. At least the door was open and Onmund was safe. I looked at him to see him sheath his blade.
"Nice save there," I said. The Nord nodded and smiled.
"I'm thankful I bought this along now," he replied. "You alright?"
"I'll be fine... hold on..." I reached into my bag and drank a potion of magicka. I felt a strong tingling as it took effect. "There, that's better. Shall we proceed? Has everyone recovered?"
"We're all fine," Brelyna said, moving close beside me. She pulled me to my feet. "Lead the way."
I smiled my thanks and strode on.
The passage led to a deep chasm, with natural stone bridges leading down into the depths. Deciding to check how deep, I kicked a nearby pebble and watched as it fell. It was a good few seconds before I heard it land. To jump from this height would be, at least, great injury to us. We'd have to climb down.
As we approached, we all staggered as the wind returned, accompanied by that ancient evil voice. I felt my energy leave again, as the voice spoke in its choking, rasping tones.
"Nivah riin muz fent siiv nid aaz het." That only confirmed my fears. There was only one language that could be.
"Someone..." Onmund gazed down the chasm, "someone is doing that? What are they speaking?"
"J'zargo has not heard such a language." J'zargo flexed his claws. "It might be some ancient, long-gone tongue this evil speaks..."
"It is," I said, everyone turning to face me. "Well, not long gone, seeing as how they're coming back."
"Who's coming back?" Onmund gasped suddenly. "Wait... you don't mean...?"
"I do. That's the language of the dragons."
"By the Nine... wait, how do you know?" the Nord asked suspiciously.
"Yes, J'zargo is curious to know as well?" I noticed that he tensed a little.
I didn't want to tell them, but it was obvious that trying to deny anything now would be even worse. I looked at Brelyna. She just nodded. I knew what I had to do.
"It'll be better if I show you." I looked over the edge of the chasm. There had to be a few, at least, wondering around here. "Hello! I need a few volunteers for a demonstration!"
The way my voice echoed and bounced off the walls, surely something would have heard it. I heard the sound of footsteps against the stone and two draugr came sprinting out of a passage-way below.
I retreated back beside my friends and watched as they shambled up the cave and arrived before us. They had their backs to the long drop. Just as I planned.
They stopped when they saw us, regarding us with their glowing eyes. I stepped apart from the group, giving them a wide smile. They seemed curious about my reaction, but they raised their swords regardless.
"Thank you, gentlemen," I said to them. "You may experience some slight turbulence, followed by a lot of falling." I drew in breath, felt the power build up in my throat. "FUS-RO-DAH!"
The force of the shout lifted the draugr right off their feet. I heard them yelp in surprise as they fell, followed by multiple cracks and snaps of their bodies smacking against the rocks.
I turned back to the group, two of their number staring in utter disbelief.
"The stories... they're true then," Onmund said in an awed whisper. "You can't have mastered the power of the Voice from such a young age. That can only mean... you're the Dragonborn."
"J'zargo has read enough Nord legend to know that," he said, smiling a little. "All of this time, J'zargo was beating the Dragonborn and he never knew."
"Yeah, how about that?" I returned the smile. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you both. I didn't want any special treatment or to be seen differently. By any of you."
"I already knew," Brelyna explained. "That day we went to the Shrine of Azura, we fought a dragon there. I would have told you both, but Sauron made me promise not to tell anyone."
"And you never did," I smiled, making her blush a bit. "So... how do you, well..."
"J'zargo understands this," the Khajiit said. "H does not berate you for keeping this secret and you are still an honourable, great friend to him. This does not change that. Besides, J'zargo now knows that, when he proves he is the better mage, the triumph will be all the more great. Do not think J'zargo is disheartened, my friend."
"I wouldn't dream of it," I said. "What about you Onmund?"
"I... I think it's incredible!" His mouth was open in a wide smile. "I've been told the stories of the Dragonborn, ever since I was a child. When the dragons were said to be returning, I wondered who would be chosen. Who deserved the responsibility Now, I can say that there is no other more privileged or worthy to be him. I'm proud to know that such a good, noble man is the Dragonborn."
I was dumbstruck. I thought that they might treated me with disdain or jealousy. I was truly touched and honored to have such honest, good friends as them.
"Thank you. That means a lot to me." I smiled around at them. "I'm glad that I know you, all of you. Now then, let's get going. We've got a Staff to find!"
With renewed vigor we charged down the path and into the depths below. There were a good few more draugr between us and our destination, but this didn't stop anyone from taking them down.
Our magicka levels recharged, we unleashed our magical might upon our enemies, now and again resorting to other weapons. J'zargo waved his staff, bringing electrical doom upon his foes, Onmund swung his blade and cut a path through and Brelyna, while she couldn't use her bow this close, made short work of them with her atronach.
I myself, as the legendary hero, seemed to bolster their spirits. I also made the draugr easy to eliminate by performing the Disarm shout on all of them, leaving them practically defenseless as we burned, shocked, stabbed and sliced our way through them all.
Yet, all the while, my thoughts kept drifting back to that voice. If there was something down here that knew the dragontongue, then we were in major trouble. Somehow, I didn't think it was a dragon. It didn't seem powerful enough. But what else could it be? A draugr deathlord with enhanced power? An age-old necromancer? I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
We soon reached the bottom of the chasm, where the path led us to a shallow stream. The direction the stream was flowing went through an ancient iron door. We stopped for a minute, regain our strength and have a little drink of water. Fighting off undead warriors could be thirsty work.
After everyone put away their water-skins, I stood up to rally them.
"Okay, anyone mind getting a little wet?" I looked to J'zargo. "I know how cats feel about water, so if you're a little nervous..."
"Ha. Amusing," the Khajiit said sarcastically, though I could see him watching the water warily.
I gave Brelyna a look and raised my eyebrows. She noticed his reaction and giggled a little. I led the way into the water, which was very cold, and headed for the door.
"You do not answer... must I speak in this gutteral tongue?" The hideous voice echoed around us, once again draining our power. Silence, then: "Have you returned Aren? My old friend?"
Allowing us a little time to regain the magicka that the voice had drained, I contemplated the meaning of the words of the mysterious speaker. It knew Savos, that much was obvious. He and his party must have found it when they ventured here. But that meant they must have tried to fight it and if they did, they must have failed. It was still here. Waiting for us now.
I found my gaze drifting to Brelyna. She was leaning against the rock, taking a swig of a magicka potion. I didn't know what was at the end of Labyrinthian, but it was certainly powerful. Maybe even too powerful for us to handle. I didn't want to see any of my friends suffer or die, but Brelyna... I'd never forgive myself. I resolved to myself that, if she was in danger because of this, I would do whatever it took to prevent her from getting hurt.
I realized that she was looking in my direction and caught me staring at her. I felt my face flush and was about to look away, when she smiled. One of those smiles that left me speechless. There was something glowing in her eyes, something that I'd never seen before. It made my heart pound against my chest and my stomach flutter. What was it...?
No sooner had it arrived, it was gone and she cleared her throat, bringing me out of my stupor. I shook my head, as the others stopped resting and looked ready to proceed.
"Well rested, are we?" I asked, tearing my gaze from Brelyna. "Let's not dilly-dally."
"Then lead on, fearless leader," Brelyna encouraged, with a gesture to the door. She gave me a wink, making the heat rise to my cheeks again. I opened the iron doors and strode on.
The little stream continued down a narrow passage-way, so narrow we had to walk in single file. I continued down the stream, leading the way, striking down a skeleton and decimating a draugr that stood in our way.
The voice spoke again when we stepped out of the stream and into a dryer passage. It was just after I beat another skeleton dressed in rags of mage robes. Another of Savos' unfortunate party, I guessed.
"Do you seek to finish that which you could not?"
Okay, that proved it: Savos and his group did try and fight... whatever was down here. It had been too strong for them and they had fled. Now, whatever it was, thought it was the former Arch-Mage, come back to finish the job. Well, it was certainly half right.
A small waterfall guided us back into the flow of water, which I found to be rather calming, and followed it down to a large room. Torch brackets hung from the walls all around, bars blocked the archways out and it was mostly empty... except for large splatters of blood in the furthest corner of the room.
Something was hunched low in that corner. I could hear guttural growls, the sound of flesh being torn from bone. It gave off a smell not unlike if you took some rotten cheese and month-old meat, put them in an airtight room and left them for a year. Even then, that would probably smell better.
"Careful now," I whispered to them. "Onmund, J'zargo, spread out around it. Brelyna, you stay up here and give us some fire support."
She nodded reluctantly and drew her bow, stringing an arrow. I motioned for the other two to follow me down, treading lightly towards the form. It stopped eating as we approached, raised its head and lumbered out to face us.
It was a massive, hulking brute. Its body was covered in coarse brown fur, with muscular arms like thick tree branches. It stared at us with three, blood-red eyes, snarling and revealing uneven teeth. There was no mistaking it. A troll.
It beat its chest with its fists, each the size of a man's head and gave out a billowing roar.
"Attack!" I yelled, hurling firebolts at it. It charged at me, its fur singed and its temper flared. Just as I hoped.
With myself in the center and Onmund and J'zargo to my right and left, the troll was caught in a circle. The two of them sent lightning spells at the beast, slowing its charge. I still had to dive out of the way to avoid its attack.
The combined magical attack looked like it was too much for it, but it still wasn't going down. Trolls were notorious for their healing abilities. It made them hard to kill. I prepared to send another volley, as it started to charge again. Then, an arrow struck its topmost eye.
It stopped, its tongue lolling, mouth slack. It made a strange groaning noise. Then, it fell forward in a dead heap.
"Oh." I hadn't expected the fight to be over that quickly. I'd taken far longer to kill trolls on my own. But, then again, I'd never killed one with other mages. I turned to Brelyna, who descended the ramp to meet us. "Good work everyone, great shot Brelyna."
"I know," she said, surprised. "I was aiming for its chest."
"Like losing a septim and finding a ruby," remarked Onmund.
We took a moment to gather ourselves and let Brelyna retrieve her arrow, then continued on, kicking aside a skull as I did.
We left the troll's lair and walked out into an even larger cavern, set with elaborate carvings, rocky high walls and a bent bridge nearby. Our footsteps echoing around was mingled with another message from the formless entity.
"You only face failure once more," it warned. I'd had enough of this. If it could talk to us, maybe we could talk to it.
"Okay, enough with the shouting!" I shouted out. "Only a madman talks to thin air, and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Either tell us who you are or shut up!"
"Sauron!" Brelyna grabbed my arm and hissed in my ear. "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry," I whispered back, "I know what I'm doing. I think."
A long silence followed my outburst. I couldn't help but wonder if it heard me. Then...
"You... you are not Aren, are you? Has he sent you in his place?"
"Something like that," I called back. I decided to try and respond in kind. "Zu'u fin Dovahkiin."
"Dovahkiin?" A croaking, snarling noise that I would recognise as laughter sounded. "At last, a worthy challenge. Tell me, Dovahkiin, was Aren too fearful to face me himself? So much, that he sent you in his stead? Did he warn you that, your own power would be your undoing? That it would only serve to strengthen me?"
"Savos Aren is dead!" I shouted back. "I'm here to finish what he started! Now, how about we save the chit-chat until we reach you."
"Come then, Dovahkiin. Face your end."
We waited for a few more minutes, but the formless voice said nothing more. I looked around at the others, but they were silent but I could tell what they were thinking. They knew that we had to carry on, to find the Staff of Magnus, no matter what happened... or what might be guarding it.
I was still scared for them. I might have spelled their doom. I was about to suggest that they turn back, let me handle what was at the end. But I knew what their answer would be. They wouldn't leave me to face this thing alone. At least, I hoped they wouldn't. Then, Brelyna stepped forward.
"We're not leaving you. We're with you, to the end." She stepped forward and whispered in my ear. "I'm with you."
I glowed inside at her words and I couldn't help but smile. "I know," I replied.
I turned at the sound of a groaning, to see a troupe of skeletons, two of which had rags of mage robes on them. A growling announced another troll was arriving on the scene. The skeletons waved their weapons and the troll roared and beat its chest.
Brelyna summoned an atronach, and stood close by my side. J'zargo twirled his staff stylishly, the top end crackling. Onmund drew his sword in one hand, and created sparks in the other. Created a double firebolt in both hands and felt a Shout build up in my throat.
"Don't worry," I said, addressing the voice, "we'll be right with you." And with a cry of FUS-RO-DAH, I charged at the skeletons, my fellow mages running with me.
"Wow..." Onmund panted and collapsing against the wall, "we made it. We actually made it."
"Don't get... cocky... Onmund," I replied, gulping down air. "We're not... quite there... yet."
Despite my words, I was proud of all of them that we managed to sprint most of what we had done. The skeletons were beaten without issue and the troll went down in seconds, under our combined might of spells.
We did have a slight problem with a wispmother, namely Onmund, J'zargo and myself. We couldn't quite remember, but Brelyna said that we had been 'enthralled' by her... or it. She had turned to me, looking rather hurt as she said it. I was about to ask her if something was wrong, but she quickly suggested we get moving again.
We then froze our way through a fire door, beat the spirit that guarded it and proceeded on. As we did though, I heard Brelyna give a loud sniff and she was looking at anything other than me.
Not long after, the ghosts of Aren and his party appeared again. There were only four of them left: Savos, Atmah, the Argonian and the Nord. They were beginning to despair at coming here in the first place, blaming themselves. Savos insisted that they continue to press on. Then, they faded away again.
It was at this point that a new foe appeared. They looked like draugr, they sounded like draugr, but they glowed a faint blue and were see-through, like ghosts. Luckily, they only looked a little more scary, not that I was scared of them, and went down quickly enough.
They had warhounds that looked the same as well and were just as dangerous. I should know, I got my arm chewed by one of them. Their swords also had a nasty effect of draining our energy when they struck, as Onmund discovered when he tried to rush one of them. He was just fortunate to have us with him.
When we reached a crumbling catacomb, with bodies covered in cobwebs and vines overgrowing everywhere, I suggested that they catch their breath, recover their strength. As they sat on the rocks, taking drinks from waterskins, I noticed Brelyna still looked a little upset. I wondered what I could do.
Then, I had an idea. I stood up and clapped my hands.
"Right, I'm going to scout ahead," I announced," make sure there are no nasty surprises. Brelyna, want to come with me?"
"Oh! Um... alright," she affirmed quietly. She moved to my side, not looking at me.
"We won't be long," I told the other two, flaring my hands and leading the way.
We followed the passage in silence, as it made us descend further down. Our footsteps echoed around the passage, bouncing off the stone walls. Shadows flickered on the walls in the torchlight. A door leading to the right was ahead, as was another ghostly draugr.
It raised its glowing axe and began a charge. We leaped apart to avoid the swing and sent a combined stream of flames at it. It screeched as it burned, until it was a pile of burnt and blackened mess, that smelled absolutely foul.
Curious. Even though they looked like ghosts, fire still had the same effect as on a fleshy draugr. Brelyna and I ended our spells and I turned to look at her.
"Good teamwork," I said to her, with my best smile.
"Huh?" She appeared distracted and didn't really look at me. "Oh right... yes, I suppose."
"Hey, what's wrong?" I knew that something was wrong, I just couldn't figure out what.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, followed by a resigned sigh. "Actually, that's not true. There is." She paused, then finally looked up at me. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can," I assured her.
"That wispmother," she said quietly, "when I had to fight her off, I was trying to reach you, break her spell. You kept shoving me away, telling me to leave you alone. You kept saying to the wispmother no other woman mattered... not even me..." Her eyes were glistening as she spoke. "You didn't... you didn't..."
She broke off, unable to finish her question. She broke her gaze and shifted it to the floor, out of either shame or embarrassment As the tears began to roll down her cheeks, I walked closer to her. I touched her chin lightly, and lifted her face back up.
"No, I didn't," I answered. "I'm sorry that I did say those things, but I was under her spell. That wasn't me talking."
"It sounded sincere to me," she replied doubtfully
I let out a sigh. "Okay, I guess it was partially my fault. I underestimated her, and her power. I'd heard stories that wispmothers can enchant men with their beauty, but I thought I could resist it. I thought..."
I felt nerves rise in my stomach. What would she think if I told her what I'd tried? But her eyes were boring deeply into mine. There was no way I could avoid this now.
"Thought what?" No backing out now, I realised. I took a deep breath and continued.
"I thought that if I kept thinking and focusing my thoughts on you, I would be able to resist the wispmother's spell. I know, it sounds stupid. I just thought... it might work..."
Now, it was my turn to stare at the floor. It was out now, she was going to think I was a complete fool, for even trying out such an idea. What was I thinking? How could I have been so completely and utterly stupid?
That was when I felt a warm hand cup my cheek, and I was once again staring into those ruby-red pools.
"Why did you think that would work?" she asked quietly.
"Because... because..." I collected myself as best I could. "Because you're the most beautiful person I've ever met."
Her expression was one of absolute shock. She clearly hadn't been expecting something like that, but every word was the truth. Her eyes began to water up again.
"R-really? You think so?" I nodded silently. "Sauron... that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me." A smile played on her lips. "It was still a silly idea though."
"Hey! I think you underestimate how beautiful I think you are."
"And I think you overestimated." She rapped my head with her knuckle and giggled. "Empty-headed idiot."
"Okay, okay fair enough," I said, laughing along. "So... would you say you were jealous?"
"Perhaps a little," she admitted, still smiling.
"Don't worry, wispmothers aren't my type." She suddenly blushed deep red.
"So... are you saying that I am?" Oh gods, what had I just said?
"Well... um, er... you see..." Great, now I was stuttering. "Well... what I mean is..." I sighed and took another deep breath. I guess it was time to tell her. I looked right into her eyes, took her hand and summoned up all of the courage that I had.
"What are you doing?" she asked nervously. I could feel her shaking, see a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Sauron?"
"Brelyna, there's no easy way for me to say this... I don't know how long I've felt this way... I lo-"
"What's going on here?" I almost leaped out of my skin at the sound of Onmund's voice.
Both he and J'zargo had emerged from behind the corner, looking scrutinisingly at us. Gods-dammit, why was there always something? Brelyna and I had now jumped apart, our cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"We were just..." I sighed. "Never mind, it's nothing. Let's get moving..."
In an embarrassed and disappointed silence, I led the group onwards down the stairs.
I was so close! I could have told her there and then how I truly felt, tell her just how much she meant to me. Just a few more seconds and I would have done it! Now, I was once again doubting if I'd ever have the courage to tell her again.
The corridor we entered had a magical defence that I had never encountered before, and I was a little confused until I figured it out. Nearby soul gems, atop stone pedestals had been enchanted to cast frostbite, flames and fireball spells.
We had to use our combined wards to protect ourselves from the flames and frost, get close enough to the soul gems and grab them to cease the spells. Fortunately, no-one was hurt, apart from some minor burns and cold fingers.
Fighting our way past more draugr and ghost dogs, we continued to follow the echoey, dingy cave route. At first, I thought we might be able to handle any other guards before we reached the end.
After we stepped through a pair of wooden doors, I noticed that there was the familiar form of a word wall, not too far away and tucked away in the corner. I strode over to it quickly and began to scan it.
"What's all of this?" Brelyna traced her hand around the words. "I've never seen this language before, I can't read it."
"I don't blame you. It's written in the tongue of the dragons." I pointed at the shape of the letters. "If you see, they're carved in the way a dragon would use its claws."
"Can you read it?" she asked, as I bent down again.
"Only specific parts and one I'm looking for... ah ha!" There was one word that I instinctively knew the meaning to.
I stared at it, until the carvings made sense in my head. A new Shout was known to me and, if it did what I think it did, it was a good one. I stood back up and turned to face them all.
"This is where I get my words of power from," I explained to them. "Just one word here has power that I can use, the only one that I can understand. Once I learn it, I can shout it. This particular one is 'tiid', which means 'time'."
"Are you going to try it out?" J'zargo asked eagerly. "J'zargo is eager to see what it can do."
I was about to, until I saw something move behind the three of them. Glowing bright blue and rising from his stone throne was a draugr deathlord. He turned his head slowly to face us, then pulled out a two-handed longsword. How did I not see him before?
"Maybe later," I said, lighting my hands, "right now, we have bigger problems. All of you, run down that passage. I'll cover you, go!"
As they ran, I held the draugr's attention. I tossed two firebolts at him, which both missed. He retaliated with a Shout, but I blocked it with a ward spell. He raised his sword to bring down on my head, but I jumped out of the way.
"My turn. FUS-RO-DAH!" He was lifted off of his feet, sailing back and smacking to the ground.
Satisfied he'd stay down, for now at least, I dashed to catch up with the others. They were waiting in a passage, with tall columns built on either side. It wasn't long until I noticed that we had bigger problems than the deathlord.
Two more draugr, and a pair of skeletons emerged from hiding places behind the pillars. They drew their weapons and strung arrows into bows. I looked back the way I came, and saw the deathlord was shambling back over to us, cracking broken limbs back into place.
There was no way back, no way forward. They had us cut off and completely surrounded. I cursed myself for not thinking about this more carefully.
"Sorry everyone," I said to them, my eyes darting from foe-to-foe. "This is my fault, I shouldn't have told you to run."
"At least, if we go down," Onmund said, drawing his sword, "we go down fighting."
"J'zargo agrees with this," the Khajiit said, lifiting his staff. "J'zargo bets he will kill more than the rest of you."
"That remains to be seen," Brelyna countered, summoning an atronach.
"Good luck everyone." I was ready. The undead closed in all around us. This was it.
Then, we were saved, by the most unlikely source.
"Stay your weapons, my soldiers," the ancient voice ordered. "Let them pass. I will deal with them myself."
For a few seconds, nobody moved. Then miraculously, unbelievably the draugr and skeletons lowered and sheathed their weapons, rather grudgingly it appeared. They backed off to allow us passage. I looked at the deathlord, who pointed with a blue, bony finger.
"Go," he croaked. Funny, I didn't know they spoke Tamrielic.
I inclined my head respectfully and led the rest of us away, under the scrutinizing gaze of the undead guards. I could still hardly believe our luck, but it still felt more like running from a wolf only to anger a giant.
As we walked into the next room, before we proceeded on, the ghosts of Savos, Atmah and the Nord appeared. The only survivors who made it this far. Well, at least we knew one of them made it out.
"We shouldn't have left her there to die!" Atmah protested angrily.
"What else could we do?" replied Savos, gesturing wildly. "Stay there and die with her? She refused to go on, we didn't have a choice."
"This is it, you know," the nameless Nord said foreboding. "Through this door. Can you feel it?"
"We're not going to make it, are we?" asked Atmah, in a fearful voice.
"We stay together," the Nord resolved, "no matter what. Agreed?"
"I'll be right with you," Atmah promised.
"Agreed." Savos stepped forward. "We all stay together."
With that, they strode forward and faded through the door. What transpired next, we would never really know. All I did know is that we would have to follow them, and face whatever was in there, waiting for us.
I looked around at my friends. They all looked tentative, scared, but I knew they wouldn't leave me now. We'd come this far, there was no turning back. Mainly because, if they did, they'd be hacked to pieces by the undead squad at the other end.
"Guys, in case we don't make it out," I said, "I just wanted to say... thanks, for coming this far."
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Brelyna smiled in that way she did and I knew I was ready.
"We all stay together," I told them, echoing the ghosts. "Agreed?"
"Agreed," they all said. "We'll have your back," Brelyna added.
"Thank you, all of you." I turned and started the march for the door. "Now, let's go and get this thing!"