The target dummy was right in front of me; this is it, the big one, the time of truth, the final hour…
I slapped my hands together and focused, I could envision the circle forming between my palms, careful now, the circumference was formed, and the runes inside the circle were ready, rune of fire, the center, rune of air, required for burning, and rune of earth, the fuel. Nice! This is the most difficult part now, releasing the spark. I focused, come on, just a small little drop, YES! I can feel it! The spark was released; it went through the circle and ignited the runes. The transmutation was complete.
The air around the dummy began to change; it became thick, and wobbly. I quickly followed up by releasing a small spark of flame in the direction of the dummy. It exploded. Once the fire had disappeared I could see only ash where the target once stood. Yay! I think I’m finally getting the hand of this!
-Good job Zoe! You are a remarkable mage. In only a few days you managed to understand the basics of transmutation and even managed to pull of something as complicated as flame transmutation. Just as a final test, what exactly did you do? – Asked Lucius
-Well, I used circle you taught me, three runes, fire, air, and earth. Air was used to concentrate the oxygen in the area surrounding the dummy, and making a pathway from my hands towards the target. Then I used earth to act as fuel, raising the density of the oxygen for it to become a highly flammable and volatile oxidizer. The final rune that came into play was fire, creating a spark that ignited the oxidizer and turned the dummy into the pile of ash you now see – I said, knowing I had gotten the question right
-Great job, I guess with that, your training is complete, that is all I can teach you about transmutation. And you only managed to destroy Julia’s ward and most of the door in the process! – He said with a tone of sarcasm on the last sentence
-Oh get over it, this way we will never have to go through this again – I said with a positive tone
-Already did, especially since you will be cleaning up everything! – He said with a grin as he got up and left…
Sigh; well this will take some sweet ass time…
When I was done with the lower floor I went up and fixed the reinforced door using my new transmutation skills. Nice! And it looks much better! Dwemer drawings look so good on this circular door!
As soon as I fixed the door I decided to search for Lucius, I went to his office first, then the main hall, then the armory. Ralthos was there, he told me about the recent events, Julia went to Solitude with Sophia and Deestan, Brennan took Ruby to Whiterun to slay a dragon, all that good stuff.
-Do you know where Capran went? – I asked
-I saw him a minute ago, he was heading to the chapel – he said while inspecting some arrowheads, they were made of fine ebony, Lucius told us to start manufacturing these, he said that he read an old book describing someone going up against a dragon. The book described the hero using ebony weapons, saying that they were the only material that was able to pierce their hides
I proceeded to the chapel, but when I tried to open the doors were locked, I could hear frantic whispering inside, Lucius was praying. I leaned closer to the door and listened
-Nazir, Cicero, Gabriella, Festus, Babette, Arnbjorn, Veezara… Astrid… - I heard him whisper, that last name, he said with a deep anger in his voice, I could swear that for a moment there, when he said the last one, another voice spoke it at the same time that he did
I decided to wait; I felt a dark energy coming from behind that door, something that I did not wish to be a part of.
I returned to Ralthos and helped him look for any flaws in the arrowheads. When we finished removing the flaws from the metal I decided to show of my new skill.
-Take a look at this Ralthos! – I said after putting the arrowheads and some pieces of wood on the table
-Ok, lets see what you learned –
I clapped my hands together and focused on the circle, once that was complete I moved on to creating another circle to reinforce the first one, since I would be working with a solid now. Now I focused on the shape, so I would have to create an array to house the runes. Water, to represent the plant fiber of the wood, fire, earth and silica, to represent the ebony metal being transmuted, and another circle to balance the energy being transmuted and connect the inner symbols. Now, the spark.
A bright light was focused on the table; once it faded we could no longer see the arrowheads and the pile of wood. Instead, on top of the table were the finished arrows, neatly stacked and ready for use.
-Amazing! So this is the transmutation class of the alteration school? If I knew it was this useful I would have probably dropped conjuration when I still had the chance – Ralthos said jokingly
We shared a drink and a laugh while waiting for Lucius. Then I tried to explain more or less how transmutation worked, the alcohol was not a lot of help, I’m a very light drinker.
I was feeling a bit woozy when Lucius arrived. Luckily he noticed that and quickly brewed a performance enhancer. Normally the process would have taken a few minutes, but using transmutation he was able to do it instantly.
-Drink from this vial, it will give you a bit of energy. I was going to brew these anyways. We are going out. I spoke with Ralthos before going for my mourning prayer, he probably told you about Julia and Brennan, I expect Julia to return soon, with the information she recovered from Solitude – said Lucius while he handed me a small bottle – And where in oblivion is Ricard? –
-He went out, made his way to your estate, he wanted to check on some notes and on Ganlon – Said the dark elf
-Go find him Ralthos, I need everyone here, we must plan our next move carefully, and try to avoid getting traced by those vampires – Said Lucius
Ralthos left to get Ricard and Ganlon while we prepared for travel. Capran decided that we would have to leave this for awhile, the vampires knew of this sanctuary, this is where Lucius’s caution paid off, having a sanctuary in every hold benefited our situation greatly.
Once our travel preparations were complete we left for the estate, Lucius locked the sanctuary door with a new password, prepared the horses and headed down the road. Once we were halfway towards the estate we heard someone calling from behind, it was Julia, Sophia and Deestan.
Julia moved her horse closer to Lucius, something appears to be wrong, and they are all wearing cloaks, hiding their faces. Julia whispered to him, and then he turned around and spoke to us.
-I’ve just received some disturbing information, you must get to Whiterun immediately, and I will head to my estate and get the others. Ralthos, head to Solitude and let the general know that I will be heading for Whiterun, the rest of you, get of the roads, and infiltrate Dragonsreach, find Brennan and Ruby and warn them about the Stormcloaks, but be careful, Thalmor spies are everywhere – he said as he turned around and galloped in the direction of his estate
We moved slowly once we were out of the trail, we had to leave our horses in Riverwood when we were passing. Left them with a thieves guild contact, and an old friend of ours. By nightfall we were able to get close to Honeybrew Meadery, Julia decided it was probably best for us to seek refuge here before attempting to infiltrate the keep.
We were about to walk in when we heard a loud roar; Julia turned her head and was filled with dread. As we turned to look at the origin of the sound we saw terror incarnate.
-We need to hurry, to the keep now, warn the soldiers…
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