Chapter 1
With the quiet evening of any day, with the strong current of cold running through floor and walls. The clarity of the sky was so little that at first glance you wouldn't say it's late, but for those who survived the previous events, the light of a new day is appreciated every second.
Me being a lover of cold, I stretched out my arms towards the sky, trying to catch every falling snowflake, I was so nervous.
My personal game was interrupted by a man's voice behind me, with wisdom imbued in every word even if it was very simple.
"All set, only you are missing" he said, scratching his scraggly beard, touching my shoulder patiently.
A second man lifted the hood that covered his face, revealing a moderately bald head "Are we sure about this? This practice in conjuration goes beyond what is allowed at school."
With overflowing enthusiasm, I pointed at him and myself "Phinis, I am the Archmage, this will be allowed for the first and last time!"
"In 3 months you became Archmage, and I was against it, remember?" I snort, turning back to the large illuminated circle on the floor.
Walking to the center of this circle, signaling for him to begin, I replied "My first choice was to give him the position Tolfdir, but he insisted that I had earned it."
"After what you went through against Savos, there was no other who could take over, I'm sorry."
With a sincere smile, I shook my head looking at Tolfdir "I had a good teacher. Now without Mirabelle and Ancano, the change in the school was great."
"We lost one Archmage and now another…" With a blue flare created by Phinis and Tolfdir, who were each on one side of the circle, the runic lines also caught fire.
"Things will remain the same without me. Projects for the betterment of Winterhold are still ongoing."
It had been 5 months since it was all over… The war, Alduin, the vampires. Every evil I had the chance to eradicate, I eradicated it, yet I felt sad to leave it all behind on a whim.
With a breath to the sky, I clasped my hands together, channeling enormous amounts of magic.
For this, I was wearing all the rings with magical properties that I possessed, besides wearing the Archmage's ropes.
I looked at both sides, seeing that they were also channeling in their hands the magic in which they are experts, Alteration on one side, and Conjuration on the other.
All the hurricane of magic concentrated in one place caused the snow that fell all over Skyrim to fall in one place.
Having spent my magic reserves to keep it in my hands, I shouted to Phinis that it was his turn.
He held out his hands, and a great rupture in front of me was heard, generating a portal that led to nowhere, just a great void, but the snow seemed to be attracted there.
"Tolfdir, Staff of Magnus!" I exclaimed, seeing his quick reaction as he manipulated the staff along with his Alteration magic.
The sound of crystallization was heard as the Staff and the Alteration collided with the portal. Now with my hands imbued with pure magic, I pierced the great void, shattering more and more of what was apparently glass.
A warm sensation awaited me on the other side, as if it were another land, another place to go, and that's what I was looking for.
Clinging with my fingers to the invisible wall, with a last pull, I tore what separated me from that place, leaving in front of me a portal to another world.
"READY, IT'S DONE!" I gave the warning signal, lowering my hands slowly as a precaution if something bad happened.
Exhausted and with blue vials in hand, Tolfdir and Phinis approached me to look through the portal. The magic used for this was colossal, as were the soul gems expended in large quantities to keep the Staff of Magnus active.
"We did it… We broke through reality to… Where?" said Tolfdir, taking a large gulp of the magic potion.
"I think I know the answer. It's that advanced place you talk about so much? Archmage"
I guess my fanaticism overcame my silence, so I was talking a lot about how wonderful that world is.
Tolfdir put on a surprised expression "More intelligent than the Dwemer?"
"Yes and no. They are many races living together, so to speak, but they are not Dwemer."
"You commented on it once… Asari, Turian, Krogan, Human, Salarian… Right?"
Nodded slowly, I taking Magnus' Staff from Tolfdir's hands "Yes, so different. Not like an orc that would be a green human… different different."
The 3 of us were silent, we had done something very unique, and we were trying to cover it up with silly conversation as even we didn't believe what was in front of us.
"I… ummm… please keep an eye on this. I must take a little trip through Skyr
"Go carefully, Archmage" I said Tolfdir, summoning a barrier at the door so no one could enter.
While on the other side, Phinis was preparing some Atronach in case something went wrong. "Will you give everyone the message of your departure?"
"I have to" I replied, preparing my voice for a mighty shout, heard beyond this shire "Od Ah Viing!"
A few seconds passed where the wind roared and the snow began to accumulate, through the mist of the sky came at full speed a great red creature
So magnificent widening its wings as it landed in front of me, uttering a few words almost immediately, deep as the black of its eyes.
"Is it done?"
I nodded slowly, climbing up her wing so I could reach her neck "Yes, only one thing is missing."
"I did what you asked."
With wings outstretched, he propelled himself into the skies with such force that he dispelled the snow accumulated on the tower, also cutting the icy wind with his wings.
Seeing everything from a great height while traveling to my destination, I noticed how peaceful Skyrim had become. There was nothing out of the ordinary, very few bad things like random bandits guarding their caves or raven witches performing rituals, but compared to the towns I was leaving behind, it all seemed incredible.
I had to say goodbye to whom I knew, whom I loved, whom I trusted my life to overcome the journey of being the Dragon's Blood.
I was leaving behind friends like: Hadvar, Balgruuf, Vilkas, Isran. People who taught me how to fight and know how to handle myself in combat even when I was nothing.
From Serana and Valerica from whom I learned the art of necromancy and conjuration, thus defeating the leader of the castle, making it only a home for the two of them, and on the other hand strengthening the presence of the "Dawnguard" in Skyrim.
In Riften I had a small meeting with the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood. Two groups quite different in their methods of making money, so much so that they could have fought right there, but didn't out of respect for their headquarters.
Windhelm was still as cold as ever, and the gray quarter looked as clear as ever. Yes, there was some fighting remaining on the part of the citizens that could snowball into something more serious, so before I left I strongly urged the jarl not to fight violence with violence in these cases. The jarl agreed in a good way.
In Solitude I had dinner with Jarl Elisif, leaving Skyrim in his hands as it was from the first moment, but I was already more prepared.
And so it went on and on until my last stop, WhiteRace.
This was a new beginning, a new life, so I left at home the Archmage's clothes and every weapon I was carrying at that moment: The Volendrung and Auriel's Bow.
I changed my clothes to the ones I had on when I arrived in this universe: simple sneakers, sport pants and a cream colored trench coat.
I breathed happily as I hadn't worn these clothes in a while, it was always sleeping in armor or some tunic, hugging myself in a fit of warmth and happiness "Aaahh~ By the King, this feels great!"
I was almost all set when I heard a knock on my bedroom door, Lydia asking me to come in
"You may come in" I said, opening a small chest that held many rings and pendants.
Lydia came in, as radiant as ever, dressed in normal clothes as she had been home for days, being a normal citizen
"Honey, is this the day of your departure" she said with regret in her voice, I want to meet my eyes with hers. "Is it necessary?"
With the small chest in my hands, I couldn't help but look at her. She looked so fragile, as if my departure meant that ha would not see me.
In the game, this was as simple as, Mara's Amulet + Dialogue = Wedding, but living it is so much harder, and better, because I learned from her, we laughed, we fought back to back. She was almost always my partner in adventure, she had even become close friends with Serana, so saying yes hurt me quite a bit, I even hesitated to nod, so with a strong and warm hug I said goodbye to her.
"I-I'll be back, I promise."
"When?"
"3 years, just 3 years."
The whisper was heard above me due though she was taller than me "Just 3" A whisper that was repeated for a few long seconds.
I hugged her so tightly that I interrupted her whisper, causing her to hug me back even tighter. And tremendous strength she had…
"Lydia… when the sun rises, and you feel its warmth, I will come back… here where I kissed you today."
I had never had the initiative to kiss her or hug her, but in these moments, my confidence was much greater. So with all I had at that moment, I gave her a kiss on the cheek, saying goodbye to her for good.
We left the house, seeing almost the entire population of WhiteRace around the great Odahviing, who was still waiting for us to leave.
They already knew the story of how he helped me, so there were no problems, they even welcomed him as a hero. Although he obviously didn't like it.
Just before I let go of Lydia's hand, she grabbed it tightly, releasing me only when she left a ring on my hand.
"This is the Marriage Band" she said smiling, showing me the one she had on her finger.
I laughed a little as this was what I was looking for in the small chest, the one of many "Which one?" I asked, putting on the other rings I took out of the chest. This time they were magic, magic regeneration.
"I had asked Adrianne if she could melt them down and make just one. And with Colette's help, we were able to power the restoration magic."
I looked at the ring with longing and happiness, wearing it on my on the finger of my right hand "Thank you so much for this."
One last hug before leaving, one last kiss before parting.
I jumped with all my might in the direction of Odahviing's head, hanging on to one of his horns and settling in to mount him.
"It's time. To Winterhold, Odaviing."
With the spread of his wings, and a strong up-and-up motion, we furrowed the clouds again.
Almost in the blink of an eye, surely from the excitement of visiting a new place, the trip to the school was too short for me, feeling relief when I saw that they were still guarding the portal. There was no disturbance.
On the descent, I jumped seconds before Odahviing clung to the castle, me being greeted by Tolfdir and The Staff of Magnus.
"All ready, Archmage," he said, handing me a backpack he had on his back. "Shall we go over the plan one more time?"
I nodded, explaining what had to be done once I entered through the portal: Once I pass through, Tolfdir will drain the energy with the help of the Staff, while Phinis uses the Mystic Tuning Gloves to clean all traces of portal left there.
And so we did, but not before saying goodbye to Odahviing, giving him the mission of guarding Tamriel in my absence.
With nothing but my desire for adventure and the magic coursing through my body, I jumped into the portal almost immediately as I stopped talking, being welcomed by the brightest light I could see.
As if I had just woken up, my eyes hurt from direct exposure to it, being blinding and blinding for a few seconds. Seconds where I was looking for a place to lean.
All I could hear was a strange language, not known in the land where I come from, but from their tone I could tell they were shocked and incredulous.
Only when my eyes adjusted to the light could I see what fate had in store for me.
Between 3 fingered men and women, with suits and helmets that didn't let you see any of their skin they were so far away from me, but alerted to my next move. Only then did I realice where I was. I was on a Quarian ship, being to them an invader of their privacy and security systems.
"Finally… Mass Effect."
"But… I wanted to go to the Citadel! F***!"