Those Whom the Gods Forsake - Chapter 15

• Posted by Accursed October 27, 2015 - 1,403 views

  Chapter 15: Quite a Number, There

  Tolfdir and I silently looked at each other, which in turn drew in the attention of the others. The entire Inn-Fortress, as we later came to call it, went silent.

  “So that… prophecy is about… me.”

  “It seems so.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes. You.”

  “Me.”

  By this time I believe Tolfdir began to realize just how much this had affected me. My mind, however, continued racing.

  What in Oblivion were the beasts who devour men’s souls? Why were they described as having breath that was akin to coals? And by Auri-El, what did I have to do with Sovengarde?

  “Ahem. Would you like a drink, Caranthir?”

  “Uh, no. I don't drink.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh? I seem to remember you being drunk for the first few days here.”

  “Exactly. With me, one becomes about ten.”

  He shifted his weight awkwardly.

  “Ah, not a good drinker, then?”

  “Well, I can hold my liquor, I just have trouble stopping.”

  A fairly new student walked up to us. Dunmer, wore his hair straight up. He was trying ever so hard to appear “edgy”.

  “Why in Azura’s name are you talking about liquor? We have a city out there that we need to protect!”

  The two of us stared menacingly at him. He was clearly very young, probably less than Valund. The looks wiped his youthful confidence right off his face, and he slowly backed away. Incurring the wrath of a master wizard and one in the possession of the Staff was seemingly not on his to-do list.

  “Okay, prophecies aside, has there been any major updates with Ancano?”

  “We have no clue. Most of us have been hiding out in here. The only ones to leave are the group you encountered fighting those anomalies.

  I rubbed my forehead. No knowledge of the enemy, no way of knowing even what their habits were.

  “Not exactly in our favor, Tolfdir.”

  “We know. We've been pouring over every map or construction notes for the College we can find to see if we can find a hidden way in.”

  I shook my head. This was hopeless.

  I walked over to your table and began to cradle Almenar. The only two remnants I had of a more normal time. Of Erissa.

  Kissing you both on the foreheads as what may have been my final farewell, I turned to Tolfdir.

  “He will come out to speak with me if I present myself. I shall go and ask his terms.”

  “That's insanity! They'll kill you on the spot!”

  “It is our only chance to do this.”

  “At least take somebody with you.”

  Ignoring his request, I fastened my cloak and made for the exit, Staff in hand. I felt the eyes of everyone on my back, and as the door closed a sense of dread permeated the air.

  The College appeared empty, though I knew that he and quite possibly a small army were inside. I trudged through the snow and crossed the bridge to the main gate, were a Thalmor captain stood on the rampart above me. Upon seeing me cross, he scurried off, presumably to tell Ancano.

  A little while after, he returned. Ancano trailed behind him, though he was changed. He seemed more powerful, to the point where he nearly radiated energy.

  “I have the power to unmake the world, yet still you dare to appear before me?”

  “Yes. How many soldiers are with you?”

  “Officially, none. In reality, fifteen .”

  Fifteen plus whatever power he had gained would surely be the end of me. If I could convince him to fight one on one, though, I may have a chance.

  “Ancano, I have a proposition for you. If you can beat me in one on one combat, with no restrictions, the College is yours.”

  “And if you beat me?”

  “Then it's mine, to do as I please with it.”

  He thought for a while, and then said;

  “Captain. Have the men vacate the grounds. Wait in town for further orders, either by me or the gentlemen at the gate.”

  “Yes, my Lordship.”

  His smugness bothered me. Tolfdir would be expecting me to be back soon, and whatever Ancano had gained gave him the confidence that this would be a very easy fight, if a fight at all. The captain had also called Ancano his “Lordship”. That was reserved for generals who came from the nobility, not the Justiciars. Ancano was certainly commanding respect. I doubted the Thalmor knew of what actually was happening here.

  The soldiers exited, and I entered the College, making my way to the door to the main hall. Ancano came down the stairs, gave the Eye one last cast of a spell, and turned to me.

  “Well, Caranthir; we’re here at last.”

  “One…two…three.”

  I rolled to the left as soon as I uttered ‘three’. The Staff made this difficult, but I managed to pull it off. Ancano cast some form of magic that was akin to a Destruction spell, but unlike anything I'd seen prior. It blew out one of the windows.

  He seemed surprised at my agility, and was not expecting me to cast the Staff at him. A similar spell shot forth to him, which he ended up blocking with a spherical ward.

  I ducked behind a pillar to avoid another blast, and the spell took out a large portion of the wall. If he truly was as powerful as he claimed, that was nothing.

  I cast the Staff to the ceiling and watched as a large portion fell to the ground.

  “I guess I'm just as powerful.” I muttered.

  Ancano had plenty of time to avoid being crushed by the debris, but that was simply a proof of concept. Now I knew I could do it.

  I sprinted a few pillars down, one of which was blown out by Ancano. In turn, I knocked one down too in an attempt to hit him.

  We continued on in this way for a while; ducking, casting, knocking down the walls and pillars bit by bit. We both were hit by rubble and were bruised and exhausted, but the battle continued.

  Finally, Ancano ducked behind one of the few untouched pillars. I knocked it down and he flew back, but not before he did the same to me.

  I lay on my back, with rubble all around me, and slowly stood up. Ancano had formed an orb of magic, though I could not tell if it was Destructive or Restorative.

  The orb dissipated, apparently having been a ward, and I managed to send him soaring back and into the wall with a blast from the Staff.

  He slowly rose, deep red blood trickling out of his mouth. He limped forward a few steps, and began to cast a spell that was similar to the ward, though this one crackled with magical power.

  The orb rushed into him, then caused a large explosion that sent both me and him flying back, as well as knocking down the last pillar.

  It also ended up being the last of the damage the building could take. A large hole opened in the ceiling and the many books and bookshelves of the Arcaneum rained down upon us. Next came the books and furniture that lay in what used to be Savos’ office.

  The walls of the upper floors collapsed, sending massive pieces of mortared brick tumbling into the hall and the Sea of Ghosts.

  I lay motionless, barely conscious, next to the remnants of what was once a support pillar. I gazed blankly to the ceiling, and could do nothing but watch as a boulder made it's way directly down onto me.

  After a moment of blackness, I was once again in Alinor. It was one of my fondest memories of my mother; the day the painting of us together was painted when I was but a small child. I sat on her lap for hours as the artist painstakingly sketched us in, all the while smelling her lavender perfume she had brought from County Anvil.

  I never could forget that smell, how it used to comfort me as a child when we embraced.

  Gods, I miss her. I truly would give anything to wrap her in my arms one last time.

  My bliss came to an end when I once again came to. The boulder, thank the Gods, didn't hit me, but leaned over me against the rubble of the pillar. With much effort, I rolled it over, but continued to lay there.

  The College was obliterated. All that history, all the knowledge of the Arcaneum, lost. Sure, some could be recovered from the ruins, but most of it would be washed away by the Sea of Ghosts.

  I wiped blood from the corner of my mouth, and tried to sit up.

  I instantly knew that my left leg and many ribs were broken. The would heal fine, but there was no way I could walk out of there on my own. Thankfully, I didn't have to.

  Ancano trudged over to me, placing his foot on my chest.

  “Say hello to Erissa in Oblivion for me.” His voice was raspy and forced.

  He pulled a dagger from his boot. Ancano knelt down and raised the blade above my throat. I was certain this would be my demise. Ancano would win, you would be raised without your parents, and the Thalmor would finally have the Eye.

  I truly wish I could tell you what happened next, but the truth is that I do not know. All that I can recall is the Staff beginning to glow, and then a blue light fiercer than the light of a Magelight spell in a dark room. After that, I slowly came back to consciousness when Tolfdir and Valund pulled me from more rubble; presumably the rest of the wall.

  Now all that was left of the main tower of the College was an empty floor of broken tile, covered in dust and rock, with the dormitories on either side, though even those buildings suffered damage.

  “By Shor, you said you'd talk with ‘em, not bring the whole damn thing down.”

  “Yes well, apparently I lied, no?”

  “I would say you lied. Come on, Valund, help me support his weight. He sure as Oblivion can't do it himself.”

  “Kyne’s forests! Look at this mess! Look at him!”

  “Yes, yes. We've established that I look awful. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to receive actual medical attention.”

  He mumbled something about the ruins and then begrudgingly helped Tolfdir take me back to the Inn.

  While on our way into the city, we came upon the Thalmor soldiers.

  “Afternoon, gentlemen. You may tell your superiors that you've been ousted.”

  If you can't tell, I do believe I was delirious at this point. Why I said that to them, I may never know. However, they headed down to the Sea and boarded a small boat that they seemed to be taking west.

  Once we got back to the Inn, Colette set the broken bones and sent me off to a bed.

  “You need rest. Oh and, Caranthir, try not to blow up the bed, won't you?” She giggled at her own joke, but it failed to amuse me.

  I slept well into the next afternoon, but when I woke I found the city bustling with activity. The College scholars ran about, drawing sketches of buildings and reviewing topographic maps, looking for a new location.

  I grabbed a wooden crutch from Colette’s work space and made my way outside. The ruins of the College were also filled with people, and I noticed that the Eye of Magnus had disappeared. I later came to hear reports of a young student who claimed to see four hooded figures surround it, then vanish.

  The place was unusable. The explosions had made the large ice structure it was built on unstable and the Jarl had had the last straw. I suppose I can understand why.

  “Quite the number you two did here.”

  I turned to see one of the Vigilants of Stendarr who performed surgery on me after my torture standing there.

  “I seem to remember you doing quite a number on my stomach.”

  “True, but an entire building? This place was practically a castle!”

  “What are you here for, anyway?”

  He uncrossed his arms.

  “Ah, we’re just here to make sure it all goes smoothly. Keep out the riffraff and the like.”

  I nodded to him and hobbled back to the Inn, where the Jarl and his men were waiting for me.

  “You, Elf! You have some explaining to do.”