Instant Regret

Elsewhere within a dim cave, Malyn Varen and his student, Nalecar had just arrived with a hundred or so freshly raised corpses that the former had managed to steal from Winterhold's cemetery.

After his expulsion from the College, Malyn had immediately gotten to work in creating an army to snatch back the artifact that was stolen from him. It didn't matter who had stolen the Star of Azura, Malyn would make everyone in that misbegotten College pay for it if he had to.

His ambitions to attain immortality via soul trapping himself could only be furthered through the use of Azura's Star. Other soul gems were simply too fragile to hold his soul without taking away all of his free will.

Sure, the voices in his head kept telling him to turn back and to stop wasting his time, but what did they know!? Those voices were in his head, so they only knew what he did! They wouldn't realise his genius until he finally achieved his goals.

Unbeknownst to all, Malyn's mind had been so thoroughly warped by Azura due to his attempts at desecrating her artifact, that recognising normal from not, or reality from delusions had been getting further and further away from him. His mind was falling apart at the seams, and the only thing that was keeping him functional was the unifying concept of attaining immortality... It's for this reason that raising an army of undead to assault the College had struck him as stupid and insane.

There wasn't anyone to tell him otherwise either, most of his students had either abandoned him or been killed, and even Nelacar was simply too afraid to remonstrate him... How do you reason with a mad man?

"What is this place, Master?" Nelacar tentatively asks as they step into a cave that Malyn seemed far too familiar with.

Malyn gestures over at the wall, causing a multitude of torches to light themselves, revealing a hidden laboratory. Not only that, but there were skeletons wearing Apprentice robes scattered about, painting a very alarming picture for Nelacar.

"M-master... What are those?" the Altmer chokes out as he stares at the old corpses.

Malyn looks up from the enchanting table that he'd begun examining and crooks a brow, "What do you mean? The cave, the table, or my research materials?"

"Y-your research materials?" Nelacar parrots.

The Dunmer nods, "I'll take that as a question, my student... These are the fools who failed to meet my standards. At least they were useful in testing my theories regarding soul trapping and soul warping."

Nelacar's mind was swarming with questions now, but he simply couldn't voice them. If his master had killed all of these other Apprentices, what hope did he have!? Indeed, he'd been looking for a way out as soon as his master began plotting to create an army, but he hadn't had a single chance to leave... Even his toilet breaks were monitored by Atronachs that'd warn Malyn if something untoward occurred.

Despite how old and frail the man was, he was still an expert in multiple fields, Conjuration only being one part of his vast abilities. One wrong move and he'd have an army of Flame Atronachs chasing him to his death...

Fortunately, it looks as if he wasn't completely alone in this situation... Sorkas and Jernil, two of Malyn's students that'd been forced from the College, had just entered the cave from a side entrance and greeted Malyn on their knees. "Master, you've arrived!"

And they appear to have already known about Malyn's murder of the other Apprentices, judging by their lack of reaction to the bodies.

"Of course I have you fools! Now stop idling around and prepare more servants for the coming battle!" Malyn exclaims prompting the two Nords to begin working.

Malyn looks over his shoulder at Nelacar, "Boy! Once we've enough servants, we'll march to Fort Kastav and take it over. The pathetic mages that are holed up there will bend to us or die!"

"W-will that not just waste our resources, Master?" he asks, knowing that many of their raised zombies would be destroyed by the Mages... Many of their enemies would die in battle, and many more would simply refuse to serve them. It was a lose-lose scenario to Nelacar.

Malyn growls, "Are you questioning me!?"

"No! Master!"

Malyn continues to eye Nelacar for a couple more moments until the boy had sufficiently sweated enough. "Our undead would fall in droves against those amateurs in the College! Even if we gained the services of one mage for all of the undead, it would still be worth it! Do you understand!?"

Nelacar nods, and Malyn has him immediately get to work in creating yet more Atronachs, Familiars, and Undead for their steadily growing army. Usually, folk who'd attempt this wouldn't have the resources to fund it, but Malyn, in his warped mind, had anticipated a large scale battle occurring in the future and had already planned for it. There was enough Frost, Fire, and Void salt to permanently summon many Atronachs, along with a good amount of corpses from both animals and humanoids being prepared.

Nelacar could only hope to find a way to escape soon, otherwise, his fate would be sealed... He had no doubt in his mind that the Arch-Mage would utterly destroy them if it came to it. Against Savos Aren, an army of undead would only serve as meat shields. Which left Malyn, Sorkas, Jernil, and Nelacar to attack the Arch-Mage...

Not just attack the Arch-Mage... But all of the other Masters and Apprentices in the College... Yes, this plan was doomed. And the worst part? His master, along with Sorkas and Jernil actually thought they could win... What utter fools.

"Gods, let me live past this and I will become as pious as is possible!" Nelacar almost feverishly prays under his breath, making sure none of his 'companions' could hear.