183 Chapter XLVI: On Wings of Fire
"Ah! Fresh air, how I have missed you!" I exclaim dramatically as we finally exit Labyrinthian.
Durrak gives me a mildly baffled look "We haven't been inside for that long."
I shrug "Maybe, but it sure was stressful."
He blinks and then simply returns the shrug, not caring about the situation enough to debate me over it.
"Oi, gramps." I turn to Savos who raises an eyebrow "Can you re-seal the place? I don't want some randoms finding our gold mine on accident after all that."
He huffs "Don't you have an entire vault full of gold?"
I give him a look of pure noble disdain "As if there is such a thing as enough gold."
He snorts and shakes his head "Sure, I can seal it." And then goes to do just that.
"Do you want to come with us and bash some more Thalmor?" I ask as I approach my green friend.
He stops cleaning his tusk and sighs "I would if I could but traveling to Winterhold would take me too much time and we have recently managed to get more information on the Silver Hand."
"Oh right, that is still a thing." I mutter, and then ask "You need any help with that? I can send some of my agents to gather information and they are very good at their job."
A raised eyebrow "Since when do you have agents?"
"We really should at least write to each other from time to time." I lament aloud "I have been reestablishing my great house for some time now, and a group of skilled agents has... Fallen into my hands."
"The Morag Tong" He deadpans, completely surprising me. He chuckles seeing my expression "Don't give me that look, I might not be as bookish as you are, or nearly as thoughtful..." He trails off for a moment before mentally slapping himself back into focus and continuing "But I do have a functioning brain."
"Right" I deadpan "They are a... newer branch, and through some fortunate events have found themselves under my complete control."
He waves me off "You know what, I don't even want to know." Probably wise "But sure, I am not fool enough to decline your offer..." His eyes narrow ever so slightly "What do you want in return?"
"You have grown." I smirk at the Orc who merely grins back "A series of... issues is going to crop up in the coming years and I will need the Companions' aid to deal with them."
"You do realize we would help you for enough coin, right?" He asks, bemused.
"If it were that simple I would not be offering such a big favor." I answer with a dry look to which he nods "I might need to request assistance without any explanation, something which might lead your shield-siblings to great danger."
"Ah yes, because that isn't ominous at all." He deadpans.
"Well, in any case, there will be loot and glory waiting for you all. I will just need some discretion from your side." I explain bluntly.
Durrak shakes his head "No need to make it complicated, as long as it isn't utterly dishonorable we will aid you gladly."
"That is good to hear." I hum "There is one thing that I could use sometime soon."
"Oh?" He raises an eyebrow.
"An apprentice of mine has a talent in martial arts, if you have the time you could visit Winterhold for a while and help train her."
He shrugs "Sure, if I have time."
We turn silent after that, and my own thoughts trail off as I gaze at the ancient ruins. A wave of Magicka brings me back to Nirn and I turn to see that Savos has finished with his work.
"All done?" I ask.
Aren nods "Indeed, only a very skilled mage will have even a chance to enter without the key." As he says this he tosses me the torc/key which I immediately toss into my storage.
"I hear you will not be joining us." Savos turns to Durrak and before the Orc can give an excuse he raises his hand placatingly "No need for an explanation, your aid has been an unexpected boon, and know that you will always be welcome in our college."
Durrak's shoulders sag in relief "It was an honor to fight with you sir."
"Might want to check if the portals still work before we try to teleport back." I suddenly tell Savos "The local Thalmor might be weak by our standard but they are far from incompetent."
"As if I was about to forget such an important detail." He scoffs, a bit too loudly.
Ignoring my judgmental gaze he casts a couple of spells before sighing "You are right, there is a large amount of interference. We could still try and teleport but we both know what happened to the Psijik you and Tolfdir welcomed."
I shiver unconsciously "Yes, better not risk it."
"Thusly!" Savos raises a finger heavenward "We must fly!"
"You do realize levitating that far is suicide even for us, right?" I deadpan.
"Ah, how foolish of you my grandson!" The old fart is having way too much fun for whatever reason "We have mythical birds to carry us forth!"
I scratch my chin thoughtfully "Scorch did grow a fair bit since my Magicka expanded." I hum agreeably.
"You called pops?" My beautiful bird boy appears with a pop.
"They are surprisingly strong when flying" Savos completely ignores him "And rather fast in long distance travel."
"Indeed" Scorch bobs his head rapidly "This old fart knows how to praise his betters."
Savos gives me a thoroughly unimpressed look before himself calling forth his familiar "Wake up Brightburn, I need a ride."
"We really need to work on our naming sense..." I mutter.
A bird larger than Scorch appears next to Savos, though instead of Scorch's golden flames this one is composed of more 'mundane' fire.
The moment it appears it stares at Scorch with piercing focus, my familiar too returns the stare, and after a while they both point their wings at each other and exclaim in perfect sync ""Who the hell is this n'wah?!""
Two audible claps resound as Savos and I facepalm in exasperation.
"What are those weak-ass wings?" Brightburn asks "My brother in fire, do you even consume?"
"Weak ass wings!?" Scorch exclaims in outrage "At least I don't look like a worn-out fireplace!"
"Fireplace my ass!" His newfound rival retorts grandly "I carry the great hues of searing magma, my gaze alone razes armies!"
"Ho?" Scorch raises the equivalent of an avian eyebrow "You think magma is to be praised?" He raises one of his wings while caressing it with the other "Look upon the vibrance of the very sun, how can mere molten rock compare?"
Brightburn huffs gloriously "Only someone so young would be enraptured by something so mundane as the sun."
Scorch chirps imperiously in return "Your claws are blunt and your feathers dull."
Savos' familiar smirks with pure maliciousness "Your pp small."
A roar of incoherent rage erupts from Scorch and he looks just about to start casting spells but I smack him over the head while Savos does the same to his familiar.
"This never happened." I inform my grandfather.
He nods solemnly "Indeed, I saw nothing."
We both turn to Durrak who busied himself with sharpening his scimitars, after a moment he notices our looks and lets out a confused "Whut?"
"Nothing" I sigh "We should really get going now, do you need anything for the trip?"
The Orc shakes his head "I will make sure your horses are taken care of, just come and collect them soon."
"Thank you, my friend." I smile at him and push a large amount of Magicka into Scorch, causing him to grow to the size of a large horse.
Savos does the same and instead of sitting like normal people, like true pompous mages we stand atop our familiars as they both soar into the skies.
(Durrak's POV)
As my two comrades disappear into the very sky I shoulder my spear with a contented sigh and start walking down the stairs of the great tomb. Another adventure in the belt of Durrak Gro-Barg!
A growl to my right draws my attention as a massive troll shambles toward me.
I spread my arms welcomingly "Ho, you are approaching me?"
Truly, there is no greater land than Skyrim!
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(Minthara's POV)
As I crush another obviously disguised Thalmor I cannot help but curse at my luck.
The day had started peacefully enough. Our entire year was still doing some chores at the excavation site and Tolfdir kindly offered more lessons in protection spells.
It started out as usual, we were paired up with each other and through the ancient technique of 'pain is the best teacher' we were told to practice defending ourselves from physical attacks.
All the while we had to listen to that annoying little Argonian Mystic droning on and on about his art... Why was the insane little creature even here to begin with?!
Right... mystic.
Then a tall, shrouded figure appeared at the entrance to the tomb, the smell of blood easily noticeable to my enhanced senses. They tried to bribe Master Tolfdir to let them 'take care of the excavation' and offered all manner of inane excuses.
When they understood that their tactics wouldn't work they resorted to threats.
Halfway through the conversation Tolfdir suddenly stilled and turned to the rest of us "I must go deeper immediately, I beg your forgiveness in this but something extremely dangerous might happen if I do not." He looks at the Argonian "Master Shalazar, kindly teach them the folly of their ways."
As the words left his mouth he sunk into the ground, completely stunning the now terrified students.
Marco and I handled the supposed betrayal far better than most, Reyvin had informed us that Shalazar was not someone to be trifled with... No matter how ridiculous he behaved. That assurance was made fact as the tiny lizard person lazily waved his hand and completely crushed the shrouded Altmer without any visible spell being cast.
"Hide yourselves swiftly my glorious students!" The now immensely terrifying squeak informs us "I shall draw the unenlightened to their doom while you shall consume the sparks of the stragglers!"
"Prepare ambush to the flanks" I translate rapidly and start dragging the more stunned students into proper hiding places.
I hid not a moment too soon, as a bunch of armored 'not Thalmor' started surging through the passage into the buried city. Whatever was buried bellow was apparently so valuable they couldn't risk simply caving us in.
Master Shalazar floated lazily at the center of the grand chamber, filing his claws instead of looking at his glaring attackers.
The lead Altmer, a woman I surmised, stood in front of the formation "Who dares bar our path?"
"Is that rhetorical, or are you merely slow of mind?" Shalazar's massive red eye bulges even further as he raises his brow.
"Insolent beast." The Altmer practically spits "Where is the Nord?"
"There are many Nords here" The Mystic answered as if talking to a child "This is their first city after all."
"I tire of this idiocy" The Thalmor scoffs "You will tell me all I wish to know, or I will skin you and turn your skin into a pair of boots."
All humor leaves the tiny Argonian's face as he stands up straight, his aura giving me the impression that he was taller than anyone else in the room. He stares down at the group of well over a hundred Altmer with pure disdain "I too tire of this idiocy, I have but one word in response." He states "Ishmashell."
Before anyone can blink an utterly massive mudcrab appears below Shalazar and grabs the Thalmor in one of its claws, immediately splitting her in two.
I do not wait any further and rush the Thalmor filth closest to me, the bravest of my allies following behind. They fight back with surprising skill but my might is not something a mere grunt can face.
I do not know how much time passed as we fought, most of the enemy attention was drawn to Shalazar and his familiar with only a couple of the attackers being able to focus on us at a time. Something probably orchestrated by the mystic, if rumors of his future sight were to be believed.
The battle wasn't purely in our favor however. Five of the attackers seemed to be at the level of mid to high expert battlemages, and they managed to stop Shalazar from merely butchering everyone present with contemptuous ease.
At some points it even seemed as if they were pushing him back.
And so, just as I crush another obviously disguised Thalmor, and thoroughly curse my luck as I wipe the blood from my eyes, a wave of searing heat warms the entire chamber.
Moments later a duo of massive flaming birds burst through the passage, launching a number of flaming corpses into the chamber in the process.
The crimson bird falls upon the larger force, revealing the figure of Archmage Savos standing atop it not long after.
Soon I recognize the flames of the other bird just in time to look atop the gigantic mudcrab and notice Shalazar completely ignoring one of his foes behind him. Just for said foe to be vertically bisected by Reyvin who jumped off the back of his familiar.
I look over my friends and colleagues, and after realizing they were all alive if not unharmed I return to the fight with renewed vigor.
This whole thing stunk of Reyvin's scheming and sure do hope he has a good excuse for endangering powerless students.
Who am I kidding? I don't care as long as I get to crush more Thalmor worms!
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Lord Scorch demands your powerstones!
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