One year... Well, being honest and how I had to repost this story once, it's one year anniversary was on day 11.
But anyway, one year since I started this story. Thank you so much for all of those who stayed and are enjoying this as much as I am. I'm not the best writer and I know it, but my objective never was write a story to a massive amount of people - this is a personal project of mine, something I always had on my head for a long time. But even with that, I always try to put my best on each chapter, and I appreciate those who like this as much as me.
Now, talking about the chapter, I truly nedded to divide it into three parts. Something I forgot to tell last time is that this and the chapter's names were taken from Castlevania. Dance of Illusions is the OST from the final battle against Dracula in some of the games, like Rondo of Blood. This title also makes sense with some events on the chapters.
The more Farlenya saw from Nerevar, Lydia, Lucien, and Arissa in combat, the more she saw herself building very reluctant respect and even admiration for their skills. If they were Altmer and part of the Dominion, she was certain they would be the most successful and deadly group of all. Nerevar and the others also could better witness Farlenya's skills in combat, which wasn't much possible in previous times. She proved herself to be an extremely talented Spellsword - fighting with Hopesfire like a professional duelist while using her spells to also do massive damage and kill from a distance.
The journey through the Dwarven ruins continued for a few more hours, with they dealing with even more Falmer on the way, but they defeated them without much problem. The few Dwarven Centurions they found on their way, however, showed to be an interesting challenge - but they beat all of them, nonetheless.
After all of that, the group now proceeded into Alftand Cathedral, but the scenario inside there wasn't the one they were expecting. All the Falmer and the automatons, including some Centurions, were already defeated by someone, looking to be a very recent battle. "Guess we're not the only ones down here." Nerevar analyzed the environment, looking for any danger. "Let us proceed with caution."
And so, they all resumed their walk, seeing even more dead Falmer and automatons on the way. Once they walked up some stairs and crossed an open gate, they came across a strange Dwemer machine in the middle of the room.
But before any of them could say something, Farlenya heard some noises, similar to steps and even voices.
"Hide!" The Thalmor whispers aggressively while pulling Lucien, who was on her side, to behind a stone pillar.
The others were not understanding a thing, but obeyed and also hid behind the pillar, soon enough so that they all could see an Imperial man and a Redguard woman approaching a place near them, arguing about something.
"Sulla, let's just get out of here." The woman wearing steel plate armor says to the man wearing Imperial heavy armor. "Hasn't there been enough death?"
"Oh, of course, you want me to leave..." The man said, starting an even more heated argument with the woman. Nerevar and the others remained hidden, only watching carefully.
After some time, the Imperial loses all of his patience and tries to strike the Redguard, who blocks with her shield. "Just... die!"
"Let them take care of each other." Nerevar whispers. "Let's not put ourselves into unnecessary risks."
Most of the group agrees with the Dunmer, but not Farlenya. Disobeying Nerevar's command, she decided to act.
"What are you doing?!" Nerevar was ignored by the Altmer. Moving surprisingly quickly and with a surprise attack, the Thalmor cuts the Imperial's head off with a single strike with Hopesfire.
The Redguard woman widened her eyes for a moment with Farlenya's sudden appearance, which was all the Thalmor needed. She prepares herself to attack the Redguard, but the woman is faster and not just blocks the strike with her shield full of spikes, but also hits Farlenya's arm with the shield, injuring the Thalmor and making her step back a little, also dropping Hopesfire.
But before the Redguard woman can do anything else, she gets hit in her head by an Ice Spike and falls dead on the ground. Looking to the side, Farlenya sees that it was Nerevar who shot the spike.
"You are a skilled one, my lady." The Dunmer spoke more severely this time. "But it lacks your patience." He exits behind the pillar and goes until Farlenya while being followed by the others. The Dunmer takes a moment to have a good look at the Altmer's injury, noticing it was bleeding much more than usual.
"Probably an enchantment of some sort." He murmurs.
Farlenya expected that Nerevar would heal her like he did last time. But to her surprise, he simply moved away. "You heal yourself this time."
The Altmer raises both her eyebrows, before grunting and moving to heal her wound. She should have expected this. "Damn Dunmer..."
Ignoring Farlenya, Nerevar takes from the ground the shield the Redguard woman was using and analyses more closely. Indeed, he could feel a powerful enchantment upon that item. Then, at this moment, he had an idea about who might get interested in that.
"Hey, Lydia..." He turns to face the Nord, showing her the shield. "What do you say? Its owner will not need it any longer."
The Housecarl looks at the shield for a few seconds. "Why not? I could put that to good use."
Tossing her old shield aside, Lydia takes the enchanted one from Nerevar's hands. She could feel it was a bit heavier than her previous shield but nothing that she couldn't handle it. Besides, those spikes and that enchantment would certainly be useful.
Meanwhile, Lucien and then others were looking around, especially the blonde Imperial, who had his eyes locked on the strange Dwemer mechanism that was in the middle of the room. Taking a closer look, he notices a strange circular fit on it. He then remembers about that other item Septimus gave Nerevar - besides the Lexicon.
"Hey, Nerevar..." Lucien calls him. "Could you deliver me that sphere Septimus gave to you?"
The Dunmer raises his eyebrows behind his helm, and at the same time, he moves his hand to reach the little sphere. "You think the sphere will work in this mechanism?"
The scholar takes the item into his hands. "I'm almost sure it will."
Moving and placing the sphere on the fit, the Imperial's suspicions were confirmed when the mechanism started to move - at the same time the ground around it started to retract and turn into stairs, revealing a hidden door beneath them.
"Well, I guess we're on the right way." Arissa says. "Going even down into the earth. I just hope we find an exit from this place."
"We should go, then." The Nerevarine looks to Farlenya and signs with his head to the door. "Come on."
The Thalmor reluctantly agrees, and then everyone walks down the stairs and crosses the big door down there. They found themselves on a stone corridor, with another door at the end. Walking there and crossing the door, they all were mesmerized by the vision of Blackreach - its colors, the glowing mushrooms, everything. Even Farlenya couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her.
Lucien's jaw dropped. "I can't believe it. Blackreach. It is real."
Arissa whispers upon seeing the place. "And here I thought this place was just a rumor."
"It was." To everyone's surprise, Farlenya was who spoke next. "There was this scholar, Ursa Uthrax, who said he already had been in here, in this entire Dwemer kingdom beneath Skyrim. But given he was insane, people never paid too much attention to what he talked about." The Altmer takes some more time to look around her. "But now, I see there was some veracity beneath his insanity."
The entire group blinked at this. It was the first time Farlenya talked mostly normally with them, and not just to complain or try to make them feel inferior to her.
Lydia lets out a dry laugh. "So you can be more than a total bitch sometimes."
Farlenya sails nothing to the Nord, only narrowing her eyes. At her side, Nerevar stops looking at the scenery around them and looks back at the others. "It is an extraordinary place, but we must not forget our main objective here: Find a way out - and more importantly - that Elder Scroll. Let us move."
Despite its wonders, Blackreach also had a great amount of danger, just like any other Dwemer ruin. Falmer, Chaurus, more automatons... and now even regular people that were enslaved by the twisted Snow Elves and forced to fight for them. The group opened their way through all their foes without much difficulty.
After almost two hours of walking, they kept forward, now exploring a massive ruin where lies a strange glowing yellow orb, similar to the sun. Lucien, given this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, was gathering all the information he could in his journal, as well as taking some samples for studying later.
Then, out of nowhere, a very familiar sound echoed above them. They all were shocked by the vision of a dragon, especially because they never expected a dragon to be in this place.
"Get ready!" Nerevar ordered everyone, already ready for combat. Even without Vardall, just the Nerevarine alone was more than capable of getting a dragon down, even if he didn't truly kill it.
All the others prepared themselves, including Farlenya. But to everyone's surprise, instead of attacking, the dragon merely ignored them and kept flying to wherever he was going. That made everyone confused.
"Now that's odd..." Arissa lowers her bow. "Not just what a dragon is doing down here, but... why didn't he attack us."
"Your guess is as good as mine." The Nerevarine answers. "We shall double our attention now."
Partially ignoring that strange event, they all continued their way through Blackreach, taking care of some more Falmer and other minor dangers. That was when, they all heard the roars of the dragon again; but this time, being followed by something everyone, except Farlenya, knew very well.
"Su!"
"What the..." Lydia was the first one who moved right in the direction of the sounds, the others following her right after. On the way, Farlenya got curious about this entirely new situation.
Crossing over a little hill, everyone was caught by surprise with the view of the dragon fighting against none other than Vardall, Serana, Inigo, and Bran - together with a strange woman none of them knew who it was.
"What are Vardall and the others doing here?" Lucien questions the others.
Farlenya took her time to analyze the name the blonde Imperial said, quickly remembering who that man was: the Dragonborn. The Thalmor had started to keep an eye on the man and his friends only a few weeks ago, to make sure they were not going to become a threat to their plans.
"Does that matter now? We have to help them!" Lydia already was with her sword and her brand-new shield in her hands, itching for a fight.
"Lydia is right." Nerevar takes Trueflame in his hand and then looks back to Farlenya. "Are you sure you'll manage to face a dragon?"
Farlenya wasn't going to lie, she was a little nervous. She could face anything in her path, but she knew full well that a dragon was not to be underestimated. These beasts have killed many Thalmor squads, with soldiers better and more experienced than Farlenya. But even so, she wasn't going to let her fear to control her. The Altmer's grip on Hopesfire tightened, and her expression turned to a mixture of arrogance and determination, to mask her true emotions. "Don't worry about me, Dunmer. This beast will fall by my hand."
"Then you will die braver than most." Nerevar waves his head negatively. "I admire your courage but condemn your stupidity. A dragon is a powerful foe. Keep this reckless attitude of yours in this fight, and it will be your last."
The Thalmor deep knew he was right, but even so, grunted in a little anger. Right or not, Farlenya wasn't going to allow anyone to say such things about her, being the Nerevarine or not. She already had enough of such speeches in her life.
However, the sounds of the battle near them caught everyone's attention once more, making them have to act right away. That discussion will be delayed until later as they all grabbed their weapons and advanced to the battle.
With the unnatural speed granted to him by the Elemental Fury shout, Vardall tries to use that advantage to wound one on the dragon's wings, but the dragon notices that and acts even faster, hitting the Dragonborn with his wing.
Move it, lad!" Flemeth yelled at Vardall, casting fire in both her hands, which made him quickly understand the message. As soon as the Dragonborn rolls to the side, Flemeth starts throwing several fireballs at the creature, some of the most powerful that Vardall has ever seen. The Witch of the Wilds was not kidding when she said this was a battle where she wouldn't need to restrain herself too much, as her attacks were causing some severe damage to the creature. Together with Flemeth, Inigo was attacking the dragon with his arrows, and Serana with her spells. Bran couldn't do much to damage the dragon, but he was doing his best to distract the creature to give the others some window to attack him.
Growing tired of that, the dragon roars and tries to use his fire breath to kill all his attackers, but Flemeth is faster and quickly summons magic shields around them all. Taking this chance, the dragon prepares his wings and starts flying, but not before Vardall jumps on his back to try to stab his weakest points near his neck.
The others watched as the dragon kept flying, with Vardall still on his back, trying to keep his balance upon the flying creature. That didn't work, as when Vardall was trying to stab the dragon, the flying creature started to shake and roll in the air, causing the Grey Warden to lose his balance and fall from the back of the beast. He soon hits the ground, but suffers no damage thanks to his unnatural resistance.
"I hate when they start flying!" The Dragonborn grunted in rage. Dealing with a flying dragon was the worst and most annoying part of facing those creatures, ever since Vardall's days on Thedas and especially in his battle against the Archdemon.
Turning to face Inigo and Serana, Vardall already was giving them orders. "Alright, you both know what to do." He then turns to face the shapeshifter next to them. "Aim at his neck, Flemeth. It is the dragon's weakest point."
As soon as Vardall finished instructing them, they all saw the dragon coming to attack them again with fire. However, in the middle of the way, he was hit on his body by some arrows and spells, making the beast dodge his attention, as well as Vardall and the others.
Looking to the side, they all saw Arissa, Lucien, Nerevar, and Lydia there. Together with them, Vardall also saw another person, a female Altmer that was wearing, to his surprise, robes of a Thalmor Justiciar. That made the Dragonborn grow even more confused, but now wasn't the appropriate moment or place to lose his focus, so he ignored that for now. Lucien, Nerevar, and the Thalmor kept shooting spells at the dragon, at the same time Arissa was shooting her arrows. The dragon dodged a few of them, but now he had his focus entirely on the new group that arrived, and that ended up being his ruin.
Seeing that the dragon was now distracted with the Nerevarine and the rest of Vardall's new friends, Flemeth used that chance to act. Stepping in front of everyone, she started to prepare a frost spell in her hands, and again, Vardall could feel it was much more powerful than any spell he or any other mage had ever made, not even those of Tamriel. Those together with Nerevar could also feel or see that it was no regular spell.
"What that woman is doing?!" Farlenya's question soon earned an answer, as, once she was ready, Flemeth aimed perfectly at the dragon's neck and released her spell.
The dragon didn't have any time to react before the spell hit its target, and almost immediately the creature felt his neck and even the inside of his throat and mouth being frozen and covered by thick layers of ice. The dragon tried, but he couldn't use his fire breath or even roar, and slowly everyone there saw that even the dragon's head was frozen.
Landing on the ground, the dragon started to beat his head on rocks and similar things, all in a desperate attempt to see himself free from all that ice, but to no avail. A few more seconds passed, in which the dragon started moving less, and it ended with the beast still on the ground, apparently dead. But just to make sure, Flemeth prepared a Stonefist and fired it at the dragon's frozen head, shattering it into countless pieces. Everyone there covered their faces to protect themselves from the shards of ice that flew in all directions.
Soon after the dragon's head was destroyed, the usual happened. The remains of its body started to burn and Vardall absorbed even one more dragon soul. While everyone there already was used to such a thing (Even Flemeth), Farlenya still widened her eyes once she saw that. She, just like the Thalmor, only had heard descriptions of how the Dragonborn absorbed the soul of dragons, but none of them had ever seen it in person.
Once Vardall absorbed the soul and added the knowledge of one more dragon to his mind, he cracked his neck and turned to face Flemeth.
"You're stronger in your normal form than in anything you shapeshift into, am I correct?" Vardall asks.
Flemeth laughs. "You could say it is a correct assumption."
The Dragonborn crosses his arms. "And still you decided to turn into a dragon to fight me, Leliana, Wynne, and Sten."
The witch laughs again. "I wanted to give you and your friends a fair chance."
Vardall grunts as he frowns, but his attention is dodged once Nerevar and the others approach them.
"You guys know how to surprise someone. We didn't expect to meet any of you here." Nerevar says as he and Vardall share a quick handshake before the Protector of Morrowind dodges his attention to Flemeth. "Very less together with someone new."
"We could say the same about you." Vardall quickly dodges his gaze to Farlenya, closing his hands into fists. "Do you guys care to explain why there's a Thalmor with you?"
"It was not our choice, believe us." Lydia comments and Arissa nods in agreement to her words. "It was Nerevar's decision."
Standing next to Vardall, Inigo crosses his arms, looking to the Dunmer. "There's better be a good explanation to this. Even though this situation is giving me the idea for a song."
Nerevar raises both his hands. "There is. She has some valuable information for us. We can discuss this later, in private."
Farlenya grunted loudly, clearly irritated with this. "Do not talk about me like I'm not here."
Immediately after her words, Vardall dodged his eyes to Farlenya, giving her a cold gaze that looked like he would kill her if she even dared to breathe. Only now standing close to the Dragonborn that the Thalmor noticed how extremely tall the Dragonborn was; being much taller than any Altmer Farlenya has ever met.
She also took her time to analyze the ones that were following the Dragonborn, finding the Khajiit even more strange because of his blue fur, and opening her eyes wide once she spotted that the black-haired Nord woman was carrying nothing more than an Elder Scroll on her back. The question about how they had such items was fused with others once she moved her eyes back to the old woman standing next to the Dragonborn. Farlenya didn't know who she was, but she very well noticed how powerful and proficient in magic she was, giving she froze a creature such as a dragon.
While all that discussion was going on, Flemeth just watched everything with a neutral expression covering her face. When it was all settled, Nerevar and the others turned their attention to the witch again.
"And what about you?" Nerevar questioned. "What's your name?"
A subtle smile took the witch's face. "I am known by many names, lad. Asha'bellanar... The Woman of Many Years... But you all know me as Flemeth."
As soon as that name was spoken, Nerevar and the others reacted just like Vardall, Serana, and Inigo: with total surprise and shock. Under his helm, even Nerevar widened his eyes a little, while Lucien, Lydia, and Arissa just kept looking at each other, totally confused. Farlenya wasn't understanding a thing and didn't know who that woman was, but given her early demonstration of power and the others' reactions, she easily deduced she wasn't just someone random.
"What..." Lucien even stuttered a little. "How is this possible? Vardall didn't kill you?"
The Dragonborn sighs a little and crosses his arms. "Don't lose your time, Lucien. Not even I know how this happened."
Arissa was the next to speak, still very confused. "And why is she with you now, Vardall? There must be a very good reason for you to not have killed her again."
Vardall opens his mouth to answer, but Flemeth interrupts him. "At this moment, we all share one single goal: Find a way to defeat Alduin."
The others blink hearing that. Serana then talks next: "Flemeth mentioned she knows about a book that contains information about a way to slay Alduin. We're here looking for the book." That left all the others even more confused, especially Lucien, Nerevar, and Farlenya, who was hearing the entire conversation with lots of curiosity.
The Dunmer crosses his arms. "I never heard of such a book in my life."
"Me neither." Lucien answers.
Flemeth's face is taken now by a more serious expression. "It doesn't matter now. The book is locked inside the Dwemer Lockbox that poor fool Septimus Signus is so desperately trying to open. The key to obtaining the book is the Lexicon he delivered to you, Nerevarine."
Nerevar murmurs to himself. "So that's what's inside that lockbox..."
While they were still discussing, Lydia stepped forward and got closer to Vardall. "Vardall... Are you sure of this? This witch may be fooling you."
"That's right." Vardall sighs. "But I also feel this might be a risk we should take. And even if this ends up in nothing, at least we'll have the second Elder Scroll we need to stop Harkon."
Lydia didn't like very much what she heard but agreed with her Thane. Flemeth just watched all of that without saying anything.
"Now..." Vardall turns his attention to everyone. "We already know the place that the Scroll is, and where you need to go and use that Lexicon of yours, Nerevar. Let us not waste more time."
The entire group agrees with that and prepares themselves. Looking at Arissa and Lydia, Vardall remembers something. "Oh, yeah... right."
Removing the Dragonbone bow and the quiver full of arrows from his back and taking them in his hands. "To my favorite rogue, I have something for you." He then shows the bow and arrows to Arissa.
She raises one of her eyebrows while taking the items in her hands. "What is this, Vardall?"
"It's a bow and arrows, both made with the bones of dragons." The Imperial rogue widened her eyes once she heard that. Everyone was quite surprised by that. "I got that while I and Serana were traveling through a plane of Oblivion."
Lucien widened their eyes once he heard that. "You two what?!"
Serana giggles with the scholar's reaction. "We'll explain later."
Analyzing the items in her hands, Arissa immediately felt how heavy that bow was, compared to her previous one, but she had no doubt it was much more resistant and reliable. The arrows were also great, as she analyzed them and noticed how sharp and balanced they were.
She smiles as she replaces her old bow and arrows with these. "I'm sure to put this to good use. Thanks, Vardall."
The Dragonborn nodded, with a smile on his face. Now looking at Lydia, he took the mace he was carrying and delivered it to her. "Don't you think I would leave my Housecarl without a little gift, would you? This is made with dragon bones as well, and it will be nice to have a new weapon for this new shield of yours."
The Housecarl took the mace, also feeling its weight. She was more of a swordsman but knew how to use a mace just fine. No doubt that would be much more effective than a mere steel sword. "Thank you, my Thane."
While all of this was happening, Flemeth was with her arms crossed, a neutral expression on her face again. "Can we move now? We don't have much time to waste."
For one of the few times in his life, Vardall agreed with Flemeth. "Then let's move." Taking this opportunity, the Dragonborn approaches Farlenya, looking right into the Thalmor's eyes with some serious gaze. "I still don't know what is this information that Nerevar is talking about that we need to know... but if you try something funny, I'll shout your soul to Oblivion. I learned to hate your organization very quickly in the last months."
Farlenya didn't say a thing, just grunting and crossing her arms. That would have to be enough for now. Stepping away from the Thalmor, Vardall once again turned his attention to the rest of the group. "It's just this way."
Just like Vardall, Serana, and Inigo, the others also were mesmerized by the Dwemer Oculory, in special Lucien and Farlenya, with the Imperial taking notes on everything he could on his journal - and the Altmer would do the same if she had one with her. Such a machine... Since her childhood, Dwemer craftsmanship always enchanted her, and, even being a Thalmor, Farlenya recognized the talent of the Dwemer people.
Standing still and crossing his arms, Nerevar stares at the place where, according to Flemeth, the Elder Scroll is stored. "I visited this place months ago. If I knew there was an Elder Scroll here..."
"You couldn't do anything without a blank Lexicon." Flemeth approaches the Protector of Morrowind. "Speaking of it, give it to me. Let me use it to release your precious Scroll."
As soon as the Nerevarine takes the Lexicon in his hands, Vardall approaches both of them.
"Ah, ah, ah... You're not gonna use that Lexicon, Flemeth." The Warden now has an extremely serious expression on his face while looking at the witch. It remains there even when he turns to face Nerevar. "Give it to me. I'll do this."
At his side, Flemeth can't help but laugh a bit. "As you wish, lad." She then turns around and points toward several buttons above them. "This is the place where you need to put the Lexicon."
Vardal grunts and takes the Lexicon in his hands, following towards the machine. Meanwhile, being quite distracted, Farlenya didn't notice Arissa staring at her from afar while holding her new bow and arrows, with a deadly gaze in her eyes. The Thalmor was with her guard down. It was just Arissa aim and shoot that was certain she wasn't gonna have the time to dodge.
Noticing what was going on, Serana moves and stands at Arissa's side, leaning against the wall. "If you're gonna do something, do it now while she's distracted."
Arissa got scared a little by the vampire, not noticing that she was at her side. Serana was looking at her with a worried expression, making the rogue dodge her eyes and return to stare at the Thalmor again. "I just don't like to be so close to a Thalmor, especially working with one!"
"I guess no sane person would like to work with a Thalmor." Serana giggled a little. "But the way you speak... It sounds almost like something personal."
Arissa sighs while dodging her eyes to the ground. "Because it is."
Serana raises one eyebrow, curious about that while Arissa starts explaining. "You and the others already know that I lived in Cyrodiil with my parents until they're killed, right?"
Serana nods, recording the time Arissa told them a little about her past, but refused to go further. The vampire continues to hear while the rogue keeps talking. "The thing is; it was the Thalmor. The Thalmor killed my parents. My father owned some very good lands, and the Thalmor demanded him to hand the lands over. When he refused, they simply invaded the lands with soldiers and killed everyone. I just escaped because my father sacrificed himself and gave me time to run." Arissa sighs. "And the rest you already know: I was forced to become a thief to survive, living alone for the next 10 years until I met Vardall and the others."
Once Arissa finished telling her story, Serana had her both eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little. Arissa had a happy family that loved her, and that was taken from her at a relatively young age.
The vampire then places a hand on the rogue's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Arissa. For everything. Now I got it why you're so uncomfortable around her." Serana nods her head towards Farlenya.
The Imperial sighs more heavily and tired, this time even running her hands over her face. "Being honest here, I'm upset not just with the fact that I'm working so close to those that murdered my parents, but also..." She takes her time to stare at everyone there, from Lucien to Nerevar and back to Serana. "I'm alone since my parents died. But when I started traveling together with you guys... I remembered what it is to have real friends, people that you can trust and rely on in any situation, people that will always watch your back..." While she says that, her lips start to curve into a smile. "And more than that, I started to consider all of you as family, my new family."
Serana smiles back at Arissa once she hears that. But, a few seconds after, the smile on the Imperial's face starts to fade away, replaced by her more bittersweet expression. "But now... there's an intruder in our family."
Serana sighs, resting her head on the wall behind her. "I understand you, I truly do. I felt the same when my father became a follower of Molag Bal, and especially after when I started distrusting my parents." Serana places her hand on Arissa's shoulder again. "Look, if you need to talk about anything with anyone, I'm here. You can't have that inside your chest for too long, and I can assure you that I'm an excellent listener. Vardall is the living proof of that."
Serana's words managed to bring back the smile to Arissa's face. She was right, she needed to take that out of her chest. "Thanks, Serana."
The vampire smiles. "That's what family is for."
The rogue can't help but laugh a bit with that. Meanwhile, Vardall, Nerevar, and Flemeth were already at the receptacle where they needed to place the Lexicon. Placing the cube on the receptacle, they all notice the buttons next to them being released and making it possible to manipulate it now.
Vardall then yells at Lucien and Farlenya, who was standing next to the Oculory: "I guess you guys will want to back off a little. I don't know what will happen once I press this button."
Hearing Vardall's advice, they both make their way to the platform the Dragonborn was with Nerevar and Flemeth. Serana and Arissa also move, followed by Inigo, Lydia, and Bran.
"Alright, here we go." After the Warden pressed the button, they all watched, marvelous with the way all the pieces and mechanisms of the Oculory moved in perfect synchrony and without any failure. Indeed nothing comes closer to Dwemer's craftsmanship.
It didn't take much time for them to understand they needed to make the reflectors of the Oculory reflect the light from above it to the ground the same way it was carved on a piece together with the buttons. And as more of them are pressed, the Lexicon is opened, ready to receive all the information from the Elder Scroll.
"Just a warning that, if this thing unleashes an immortal demon or something like that, it's not my fault." Vardall jokes as he presses the final button, and when he does that, all the reflectors are lifted, while the place the Elder Scroll is stored is lower down and open. Also, looking at the Lexicon, they see as it closed and enveloped in a faint blue light, with that being an indicator that it was now full of information regarding the Elder Scroll.
"All the secrets of an Elder Scroll stored in here, for us to read without fear..." Lucien was mesmerized as he took the Lexicon in his hands.
"Yeah, too bad we need to give it to Septimus." Lydia comments. She wasn't going to lie, even though she was curious about what information a Scroll had.
Getting down, Vardall moves forward as he gets the third and final Elder Scroll they needed to find Auriel's Bow and stop Serana's father.
Holding the Scroll in his hands, Vardall turns to face the others. "Now... where do we need to go to deliver this Lexicon and retrieve that book?"
Nerevar prepared to answer, but Flemeth was faster. "Septimus Sigmus' outpost is located on the ice fields, near the College of Winterhold."
"Then let us go. Come on, guys - the exit is this way." Without anything else to do in that place, it was time for them all to leave. Putting the Scroll on his back, Vardall leads everyone to the lift and activates the lever - making them all go up, back to the surface.
Meanwhile, Durnehviir was just watching the skies of Tamriel like he used to do thousands of years ago, waiting for Vardall's return. As soon as the elevator reaches the surface, Durnehviir looks back at it, already seeing Vardall there. "It pleases me to see you're still safe, Qahnaarin."
Nerevar and the others that were with him get a little scared by the sudden presence of a dragon there, very less by one talking directly to one of them. Vardall can't help but laugh at that. "Thanks, Durnehviir." He then turns back to the others. "It's ok, Durnehviir here is on our side. He's our ally."
Everyone there just blinks once they hear that, even more confused.
"How... Did that happen?" Lydia questions, asking what everyone wanted to know.
Vardall shrugs. "It happens that dragons have a high sense of honor. I will explain more later."
Of everyone there, Farlenya was the one who was the most impressed with that. The Dragonborn, the ultimate dragonslayer, now had a dragon as his ally. Even though she was impressed, the Thalmor noticed how dangerous that was. The Dragonborn alone already was a potential threat to the Dominion, but now with a dragon at his disposal?
Nerevar raises both his eyebrows behind his helm. "I... didn't expect this. But having a dragon as our ally will certainly be extremely helpful." But then, he turns to face Farlenya, still remembering one more thing he needed to solve now.
The Protector of Morrowind looks slightly up, gazing directly into the Altmer's eyes. "Our truce was just until we returned to the surface. Now... you have two choices now, my lady. You could try to run away now, but we'll be forced to kill you. Or, you could come with us just a little longer and you'll be free to go after you give us the information we need of course. You have my promise."
Farlenya hated both those options. She would hate to return to being just a prisoner, but still, she didn't want to die. And there's also the fact that all of this situation had her itching her curiosity. Why would the Dragonborn and the Nerevarine want the Elder Scrolls? What was this evil, besides the dragons, that is a menace to both the Dominion and the Empire? If she wanted answers, she would have to play along, just a little more.
She didn't need to say anything, as her eyes already spoke for her. Under his helm, Nerevar smiled, happy they wouldn't need to kill her. "A wise choice. And don't worry, we'll not tie you again unless you do something that forces us to do it."
Behind Nerevar, Vardall just watched that with a quite angry expression on his face. "I hope you know what you're doing, Nerevar."
The Dunmer turns to face the Dragonborn. "It will pay off, Vardall. Trust me."
"If you boys have already ended..." Flemeth called everyone's attention back to her. "We still have something important to do."
"Right." Vardall agrees. Flemeth then walks into a more open space, where she turns herself into a dragon, surprising all those who haven't seen that before.
"There's no mistake now..." Lucien starts. "She truly is the Flemeth from Thedas."
Farlenya didn't even notice what the Imperial said, as she still was shocked by what just happened. Her suspicions just had grown even more. Who was that woman? How did she do that? Her curiosity reached a dangerous point, and she doubted she would ever get an answer.
Vardall just watched that with both his eyebrows raised. "Okay. Serana, Inigo, Bran and I come to ride upon Durnehviir, just as before. Nerevar, Lucien, Lydia, Arissa, and damn Thalmor that I still don't know the name... you're all going with Flemeth."
"Wait, WHAT?!" Arissa blinked and yelled, just like the others. "You want us to ride a dragon?!"
"I know it sounds like insanity because it is..." Inigo said. "But is not that bad, trust us. Besides, it is much faster than walking."
The others still were a little scared by this, less Nerevar. After all what that Mer saw and went through in his life... riding a dragon was a piece of cake to him.
"This... will be interesting." Lucien says, a little quiet, but everyone heard it.
Seeing they didn't have much of a choice now, Lydia and Arissa slightly agreed with that, feeling both of them would regret this decision.
And regret this decision, they did.
While Vardall, Inigo, and Serana were already a little used to that, the others upon Flemeth were finding out that seeing the world through the eyes of a dragon was both beautiful and scary. As expected, Nerevar was pretty calm, not showing any other emotion, and was more worried about watching the beautiful views of Skyrim from this unique perspective. Lucien was scared at the beginning, but after some time - he was now also pretty calm. Arissa was having the time of her life; laughing out loud and having much fun now, after thinking about how insane this was.
The real highlights were, without a doubt, Lydia and Farlenya. The Thalmor had a tranquil expression on her face, looking like she was fine; when in reality she was really scared, with both her hands violently shaking and she had some cold sweat all over her face. Lydia, on the contrary, was doing nothing to hide her fear. The fearsome Nord warrior who could face any foe without hesitation was now shaking, with her eyes closed and holding Flemeth as her life depended on it, and it did.
After a few hours of travel, they all landed in a place isolated, but near Winterhold. Two gigantic dragons landing right in the middle of the city would be... strange and scary, to say at least. The moment they landed, Lydia jumped from Flemeth's back, still scared but at least happy for being on solid ground again. Farlenya followed her, still pretending he was okay, but her hands were still shaking more than in an earthquake.
"Well..." Lucien starts. "That was..."
"That was incredible!" Arissa, however, interrupts him. "Can't believe we never did that before!"
Under his helm, Nerevar smiles. "Indeed, it was a unique experience."
Already out of Durnehviir, Vardall approaches them with a smile on his face. "Glad everyone enjoyed the experience. What about you, Lydia? Already stopped trembling like a mage apprentice that is facing his first demon on his Harrowing?"
Deeply breathing with both her hands on her knees, looking like she had just run for hours in a row, the Housecarl looks directly into the Grey Warden's eyes. "My Thane... with all due respect, I know I swore my loyalty to you, and that I promised to protect you with my life... But if I ever have to do that again, I'll kill you myself!"
"You're not alone in that, Lydia." Inigo comments, also not very happy with flying upon a dragon.
Vardall can't hold back and lets out a burst of loud laughter, being followed by some others as well. Again, Farlenya saw all of that as something peculiar, feeling the bond that linked and kept them all together was true friendship, and not a blind sense of duty, obligation, and the desire to prove yourself superior to all like it was within the ranks of the Dominion.
While all of that was happening, Flemeth changed back into her normal form, walking toward the others with both her hands on her hips. "If you're all finished, we still have something to do."
"Yeah..." Vardall murmurs as he turns to face Lucien. "The outpost of this Septimus Signus, where is it?"
Lucien nods. "Not that far. We shall move now, taking advantage that it isn't a snowstorm happening right now."
Nodding in agreement, they all start to move towards the outpost. As was expected, a group such as they called quite the attention while crossing the partially destroyed city. They all received some strange gazes while walking, what Vardall supposed was mostly because they had a Thalmor with them, and that Winterhold was on the Stormcloak side of the civil war.
Not caring about that and continuing to walk, they're soon entering the ice fields, crossing upon the frozen water carefully, in the direction of the outpost. As soon as they arrived there, Vardall could notice how much that place highlighted itself from the rest of the fields.
"This is the place." Nerevar says. "Let us get inside."
Getting through the narrow entrance, one at a time, they all proceed until they finally see the crazy mage down there and the gigantic lockbox from the extinct Mer civilization.
"We're so close now." Flemeth now had a big smile on her face. "That book is close to being ours."
Vardall delayed his gaze upon the witch for a few seconds, still not trusting her at all. But now he had to ignore that and focus on this. Walking down until the mage, the Nerevarine steps in front of everyone.
"Let me talk to him." The Dunmer then walks toward the mage, holding the Lexicon in his right hand. Only now it looks like Septimus noticed the group that had entered his outpost.
"We inscribed the Lexicon." The Dunmer shows the cube to Septimus. The crazy mage's eyes even seemed to glow once he saw the object.
"Give it, quickly." He takes the cube in his hands, fascinated by it. "Extraordinary. I see it now." He then turns his attention back to the lockbox. "The sealing structure interlocks in the tiniest fractals. Dwemer blood can lose the hooks, but none alive remain to bear it."
Septimus starts pacing back and forth. "A panoply of their brethren could gather to form a facsimile. A trick. Something they didn't anticipate, no, not even them. The blood of Altmer, Bosmer, Dunmer, Falmer, and Orsimer. The elves still living provide the key." He then takes an object in his hands and shows it to Nerevar, it was a grotesque machine, full of needles. "Bear you hence this extractor - already filled with almost all, less the blood of the golden Mers. Come back when its set is complete."
Taking the extractor into his hands, Nerevar looks at Signus once more, then walks back to the group.
Vardall lets out a dry laugh. "Now I get why you guys said he was crazy."
"Indeed." Serana agrees. "I just wonder what happened to let him like that."
"I highly doubt we'll get some answer from him." Nerevar comment. "But you all heard him; we need the blood of basically all the Mer races to open that lockbox."
"Not from all the Mer." Flemeth's words make everyone look at her. "You also heard he said that this is filled with almost all required blood, less the blood of the 'golden Mers', referring to the Altmer." The witch turns to face Farlenya. "Lucky for us, we have one right here."
The Thalmor immediately opposes the idea. "No way, you old hag. Following all of you already are courtesy enough by my side. You're not taking my blood."
Not waiting, Vardall steps forward, his hand steady to pull the Black Star from his back. "You heard, we just need your blood, not you alive."
Before the Dragonborn or the Altmer could do anything, Nerevar stood before the two of them. "Vardall! Do not make something stupid, we still need her."
"And to what?" Vardall questions. "You said she has information about something important, but what can be so important to keep her alive?"
Looking back to the Altmer, Nerevar then goes to Vardall and whispers something in the Warden's ear. Farlenya couldn't hear what it was, but it was something that made the Dragonborn gasp and open his eyes wide. "What? How is it possible?"
"That's why we need her alive, to find that out." The Protector of Morrowind had conviction in his voice as he said that.
Looking at the Thalmor, Vardall sighs - before taking his arms down and abandoning his previous aggressive posture. "Alright."
Smiling under his helm, Nerevar then turns to face Farlenya. "Look, I know this already is too much, even with you not being exactly our friend, but this is truly important. So, could I take some of your blood?"
There it was again, that strange and unnatural force that convinced Farlenya that she could trust Nerevar. She tried to refuse, but she was already standing her arm to him before she could even notice. "Just do it before I change my mind."
The Dunmer nods. "Thank you." Approaching the extractor to Farlenya's arm, Nerevar analyzed the object briefly, already having some idea of how to use it. He rolls up her sleeve, looking at her once again before piercing her arm with one of the needles, pressing a button that starts taking some of her blood. The Altmer grunted a little, but it was over sooner than she expected, with Nerevar removing the needle and even healing her arm with a spell.
Looking back at the Altmer's face, Nerevar smiles under his helm and nods as a gesture of appreciation, before turning to Septimus to hand him over the object. "Here. I have all the blood you require."
Septimus looked as excited as he was when he took the Lexicon. "I can almost... hear them. I feel their life energy. Come, I will make the mixture."
The crazy mage walks back to the lockbox while being followed by Nerevar, Vardall, and all the others. Without anyone noticing, Flemeth's smile grew even bigger as Septimus used the extractor to mix all the blood inside of it and released it into a place on the lockbox.
Right after that, the mechanisms from the Dwemer creation started to move, reacting to the supposed blood of its creators. The mechanisms then stopped and retreated, creating a tunnel and opening and making everyone realize the lockbox was bigger than they had imagined.
"All of you, wait here." Vardall ordered his friends, as Septimus entered the box, extremely excited, and Vardall followed him.
In the middle of the lockbox, upon a pedestal was a rough-looking book, with its cover made of what looked to be skin. Even though Vardall had already seen many ugly and grotesque things in his life, that somehow made him feel extremely uncomfortable. But no doubt was the book Flemeth told him about it.
Septimus, however, looked extremely confused and disappointed with that discovery. The poor fool thought he would find the Heart of Lorkhan inside that box.
"What is this... it's... it's just a book?!" Even not being what he wanted, the mage raised his hands to try to grab the odd book. But before he could do that, Vardall got scared when Signus started to float. "I can see. The world beyond burns in my mind. It's marvelous..."
And with those final words, Septimus Signus was turned into nothing more than ashes in front of Vardall.
The Dragonborn got more confused than anything with what had happened. He now was extremely afraid of touching that book, but still, he needed to find a way to defeat Alduin. He then swallowed, reaching out and finally grabbing the book in his hands.
He sighs in relief when nothing happens to him, turning back to return to his friends, with the book in his hands.
Serana immediately reaches him. "Are you okay?" She then sees the book in Vardall's hands. "Is this?"
"I guess it is." Vardall looks at the book again. "The Oghma Infinium..."
As soon as the Dragonborn says the book's name, that lights up a red alert in Lucien's, Nerevar, and Farlenya's minds.
"Did you just say... Oghma Infinium?" Lucien reluctantly asks.
"Now I'm truly regretting opening that lockbox." Nerevar murmurs.
Vardall doesn't understand a thing, raising one of his eyebrows. "I don't get it, what's so scary about..." But before he can finish talking, Vardall senses and notices Flemeth doing something. More importantly, she was casting a spell.
"Feim!" Vardall didn't have the time to warn his friends or to try to stop the witch before she cast the spell. All he could do was to use his shouts to turn into an ethereal form, in the hope that he would not be affected by the spell, which worked. Looking now, Vardall sighs in relief that the spell Flemeth used was just one to paralyze everyone, not to harm them.
The Witch of the Wilds already expected this outcome, so she merely smiled, while the Dragonborn, surprisingly, wasn't showing emotions like rage or something, but just a calm and collected expression.
"I knew you would do this sooner or later." He looks to his paralyzed friends. "At least I appreciate you didn't harm them."
"You're not going to defeat Alduin alone, lad. You need them." Flemeth smirks. "Just as I needed someone that could open that damn box and release the Oghma Infinium so that I could take it to myself."
"It was never something in this book that would help me defeat Alduin, right?" He questions.
Flemeth giggles a little more. "That's true. But you see... the secret to defeating Alduin isn't in the book, but instead on the Elder Scroll you're carrying. But to use it, you should talk with the Greybeards leader, Paarthurnax." The Warden takes a moment to look at the Scroll on his back. "I said that I wanted to help you, lad, and that was true. Now give me the Oghma Infinium."
Vardall didn't have to think much on what he was going to do. He still didn't know exactly what that book was, but he wasn't going to let Flemeth put her hands on it.
He looks directly into the witch's eyes. "Yeah, no." Taking advantage that he still was ethereal, Vardall runs towards the exit of the outpost, holding the book tightly within him. Fighting in such a small place would put him at disadvantage, besides that it would likely hurt his paralyzed friends.
Flemeth doesn't even try to hit Vardall with a spell, knowing it would do nothing against him while he was like that. She just watches as the Warden manages to exit the place, with her following afterward.
Now outside, Vardall thinks about what he's gonna do with the Oghma Infinium. The book was just gonna float if he threw it in the water, even if he covered it with ice. But it looked like he would have to delay any of his ideas, as his body was now back to normal and Flemeth was finally here.
"Just hand me the book, lad. I'm already losing my patience." By her voice tone, Flemeth was serious now.
Grunting and turning back to face the witch, it was obvious to both of them that Vardall was not going to give her that book. "I wasn't planning to let you live, Flemeth. You're a menace to everyone I care about." Instead, the Dragonborn stores the book inside his backpack, taking his greatsword afterwards.
"Also... I made a promise to Morrigan." As soon as he finishes talking, Vardall assumes a combat posture, a mixture of anger and determination in his eyes. He was talking seriously. "And today, I will fulfill it."
Flemeth can't help, but close her eyes and sigh. "Enough with the speeches, lad. You are a hero just in title, I sense in your heart." Casting spells on both her hands, Flemeth also prepares to battle. "On the inside, we're not so different."
The wind and the sound of the waves on the water are the only things breaking the deadly silence upon them now. The birds flying upon them were the only witnesses of when Vardall made his first move.
Yesterday I played poker for the first time. It was really fun, but I almost lost all my money. At least the guys were kind enough to let me get my money back, giving it was my first time.