Chapter XLI: Journey To The Labyrinth

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"Reyvin I... I can't go back there." Savos says pitifully as I go through my large selection of automatons and select the most potent among them to bring with us "I cannot face that place again." My apparent failure of a grandfather mutters.

"You are going whether you like it or not." I say tersely as I check my stock of gatecrasher-grade ammunition.

Savos chuckles ruefully "And how do you plan to make me?"

I turn to him with a raised eyebrow "Oh so you have enough of a spine to talk shit to me but not to face your past, eh?" I question mockingly and then nod "As I have expected."

And just like that any strong front he tried to present crumbled like the morality of an Altmer in modern times, his shoulders slumped and he said nothing.

"Look" I turn deathly serious "You can either mope here while the last of your family goes and potentially dies against what I can only presume is a Dragon Priest and his retinue..." I trail off for dramatic purposes, it is super effective "Or, you can grow a fucking spine, face your failures and emerge the greater Mer from the experience."

He remains silent as I finish my preparations, nearly an hour later I finally turn back to him only to see him stuck in an internal debate with himself, his expression shifting continuously. Finally, he seems to sense my gaze and his eyes snap to mine, aglow with fresh determination.

I say nothing but merely smirk proudly and signal for him to follow.

We leave Winterhold in the morning, a small commotion inevitably happening whenever the Archmage moved about but nothing that wasn't quickly put under control. Savos' mount was of the usual rugged Skyrim variety, though his horse was a simple traveling beast, unlike my massive warhorse.

Then again maybe I was misjudging it and Glitterhoof was just this massive due to being raised in the royal stables, I was not all that informed about horses unfortunately.

The first two days of travel passed in relative silence as the two of us went over our spells and summons, making sure that everything was prepared and that we could react with sufficient speed. Savos even deigned to start instructing me on merging all three destructive elements into what he called chaos magic.

It wasn't conceptual chaos or anything but it sure did do a lot of damage, as evidenced by an unfortunate pack of trolls migrating across the more remote roads of western Windhelm.

On the third day, as we finally descended onto the plains of Whiterun I finally decided to ask "So, care to tell me more about the family history? All I know you as is 'The Archmage'"

The mood I've worked hard to build over the past few days plummets considerably but not enough for Savos to return to depression, he sighs and says "I began my career by joining the Camonna Tong believe it or not" The old Mer smiles unconsciously as he remembers his early days "Met my wife there and even got something of a reputation for being sly and cunning."

"They must have been blind and deaf to call you anything but annoying." I quip.

Savos ignores my great wisdom in favor of continuing his story "Unfortunately, I decided to start my rise to prominence just when Saint Nerevar returned from the dead and slay your... other grandfather." The way he tries to hide his utter disgust with a wince would have been cute if it wasn't so insulting.

"And then the Red Year happened" I finish for him.

"Yes" He nods with sadness "My daughter had just been born and I was luckily able to save her from the eruption... My wife was not as fortunate." He visibly forces himself to continue "I entered Skyrim with a bunch of other refugees and tried to settle in Winterhold, I thought I was going to become just another thug but the ever-looming college started giving me ideas."

"I don't think I like where this is going." I state cautiously.

"Patience." He huffs "Anyway, as I was saying I started getting ideas. I grew up on stories of Telvanni elder mages doing whatever they wished and slowly the idea of bringing my wife back to life became my obsession."

"My disappointment with you grows with every time you open your mouth." I sigh.

He gives me an unamused glare but continues "And so I joined the college and discovered I was rather talented in conjuration, my entire bloodline was apparently, my ability to connect with oblivion was nearly as ridiculous as your perception."

"Quite potent then" I muse aloud.

"Indeed" He agrees "I quickly grew in strength and fame but during that time I paid no attention to anything beyond my goal of potentially reviving my beloved... Which inevitably led to a rift being formed with your mother."

"Let me guess" I raise a hand "She got aggravated at your insistence on joining you in your work and was sensible enough to know that bringing people from the dead was not a good idea. When you crossed the line she ran off to Cyrodiil while most likely swearing to never have anything to do with magic and somehow met my father?" I list off "How am I doing so far?"

"With uncanny precision" He drawls with a mix of annoyance at being so predictable and genuine appreciation of my deduction. He remained silent for a while before speaking up once again "My obsession continued for years after that, I did not even notice that an entire century had passed since my joining the college but someone else did... Master Tolfdir, bless his old heart, made it his mission to 'stop my foolishness' and took me on as an apprentice... I am ashamed to say it took close to another century for him to finally succeed at which point he gave me his old position of Archmage."

I let out an appreciative whistle "Tolfdir is amazing and if anyone tries to hurt him I will erase their entire bloodline."

Savos chuckles aloud "Many share in your thoughts on the topic, though they would need to get through Tolfdir himself first and we both know that that is an exercise in futility."

We both trail off for some time and just enjoy the surprisingly warm winter day as we ride next to a rushing creek and snow-covered farmland. After some time I summon Scorch onto my shoulder and while tossing some treats his way ask "What about the whole firebird situation?"

My glorious hawk boy lets out an indignant squeak at the name but remains silent as he too is curious.

Savos hums in thought "It appears to be something of an ancient pact hidden deep within our bloodline" He explains, though sounding uncertain "One ancestor of ours must have made a pact with one of the bird's ancient ancestors, and any of us that create a familiar seemingly get an ashen hawk as a rule." A small ball of fire forms in his hand "We also seem to have a greater connection to fire than even the other Dunmer."

"I see" Scorch bobs his head rapidly "This is why you lot don't feel like the other featherless degenerates."

"No Scorch" I sigh "It is literally because you are a fragment of my soul." Speaking of... I look back at Savos "How does that even work?"

"I believe it to be some kind of assurance that the ancient species doesn't die out" He explains "They must have been hunted down for alchemical ingredients in the past and thus created a way to survive while bonding to a clan of known conjurers." Scorch lets out a squawk of indignation at that.

"Sounds plausible" I nod "Surprisingly mundane though."

Savos snorts "You have enough 'divine influence' on your life as is, some mundanity should do you good."

"Fair enough" I agree easily "Speaking of mundane, how about that translocation magic?" I ask with a cheeky grin.

Savos sighs dramatically "I guess I can teach you some of my ways now that you can actually see where you are going..." He tosses a small book my way which I catch with ease and begins his explanation while distorting the space around his hand "Now what I want you to do is feel the Magicka interact with the space around it..."

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The greetings with Jarl Balgruuf and his Court Mage went by rather quickly as we were just passing through. The Jarl did take the time to call me to his massive balcony where we once again discussed the happenings in the province and shared some less known information.

An important thing of note I learned was that the Silver-blood clan in Markarth was starting to accumulate influence at a ridiculous pace and something of a cold war was looming in the ancient city.

I left with Savos after making sure Balgruuf would send some support to the Jarl of Markarth as he was still very much loyal to Torygg.

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The two of us were sitting in the Bannered Mare, discussing the applications and difficulties of space magic and how it could be applied in combat or just general transportation. Apparently the biggest issue with combat blinking as Savos liked to call it was that the more saturated the space was with chaotic Magicka, like say during combat, the harder it was to safely transpose one's self.

We were just about to get to the runic matrix for the basic spell when I lazily pushed the extra tankard of ale to the edge of the table, just in time for a massive Orc to sit down without any preamble.

"Durrak" I greet him with a smile "You've grown even bigger I see."

The complete unit smirks "Indeed my friend! Nothing can stop me, not even my bloodline!" His eyes flicker toward Savos and he inclines his head respectfully "Good day to you sir."

"Oh?" Savos raises an eyebrow "You know who I am?"

Durrak shakes his head "No, but my instincts tell me I should be respectful."

"Some instincts then" Aren quips and offers his hand "Savos Aren, Archmage of Winterhold."

Without a hint of hesitation the orc clasps his hand and smirks "Durrak Gro-Barg, Circle Companion."

"That would explain it" I interrupt their little meet and greet, causing both pairs of eyes to snap to me "You accepted their foolishness, didn't you?"

He looks away, just a tad sheepish, but then refocuses at me with determination in his eyes "I swore I would become the greatest warrior in the land, no reason to deny strength and brotherhood."

I snort "Let us hope you will not regret that decision..."

The awkward atmosphere forms as expected, yet following the same expectation Durrak smashes it with the grace of a warhammer "So where are you going this time?"

Hmmmm.... Why not? "You ever hear of Labyrinthian?" I ask him challengingly.

The violent glint in his eyes is all the answer I need.

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