Under the thick cloud cover, it was clear that the evening was steadily drawing by. Fatigue from battle was starting to set in and the party decided that it would be a good idea to seek shelter. Luckily, the owners of the local Braidwood Inn were eternally grateful for their efforts in slaying the dragon and offered for them to stay the night for free. Delphine decided to remain with the party just for the night. She was also rather tired and preferred to be in peak condition before she went back out on to the road to complete her assignments. Luna and Celestia had to carry an injured Ky'ell inside to rest. His breathing was shallow and ragged, his long flowing hair hair was scorched in many places and his forearms were completely covered in third degree burns. The princesses had to push the awful smells of burnt hair and flesh out of their minds as they tried to help him.
Delphine took Katia into the dining hall of the inn while Celestia and Luna attended to their friend in the nobility suite. They would not dare sleep in separate rooms now that they knew that they were being targeted. Delphine ordered food for the group for supper, as thanks for their efforts in slaying the dragon and helping the Dragonborn. Katia finally realized how hungry she was. She had been so busy with running, fighting and worrying about everything that she was starting to neglect her own needs. She sat down in an old wooden chair by the bonfire in the middle of the inn and held out her hands, trying to warm them up, while Delphine ordered their food.
'Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone, and right by, they have a mine, A MINE!' one of Katia's internal voices recited.
"I feel like I should know where that is from, but I'm too hungry to care right now' Katia whined.
The room was well lit, with several candle mounts on each wall, and a lantern set upon the end table next to the main bed. Providing little warmth, but an ample amount of light. It thankfully had plenty of room for at least three people on the bed. They had brought extra blankets with them in the event that somebody may have to end up sleeping on the floor. The sisters plopped him on one of the beds and took off his armor to see the full extent of his injuries. His arms has sustained the majority of the burns and slashes, though some parts of his torso had unfortunately been hit as well as a result of Sahloknir's wide spread of flames.
"Stubborn fool," Luna groaned. "He takes so many risky chances and prods at death too many times."
Luna pulled out a couple of potions and helped Ky'ell drink them down as she lifted his head with a free hand. The man coughed once or twice, but then the viscous red liquid went down his throat fairly easily. Celestia noticed how gentle she was with her injured friend, careful as to not aggravate his condition any further. She smiled at this, glad to see that she had made such a special connection with the Nord in such a short amount of time.
"You really have made a good friend in him haven't you?" Celestia asked with a smile on her face.
"I...suppose so. He is so unlike me in so many infuriating ways and is so damn childish and reckless! He drives me crazy! But...he's a noble soul that I am proud to know. If I hadn't come here, we may not have gone through many horrors, but I would have never met him. To be honest, the thought is rather sobering."
The potions worked their magic as most of the more serious surface wounds Ky'ell had endured started to sizzle and quickly seal up, leaving behind a fresh layer of skin without any scarring. His breathing started to normalize once the burns disappeared. At last, Luna was able to breathe a sigh of relief now that the danger had passed. His chest rose and fell normally showing that he was at least starting to feel somewhat comfortable in his slumber.
"I should really search for some fire resistance potions once we have the time." Luna thought out loud. "Ky'ell seems to have an unfortunate weakness to magical fire at the moment."
"He's just going to have to build up an immunity to it cause he's going to be facing a lot more of it in the future," a voice said from the door. "If he gets killed by a little bit of fire then we're all fucked."
The sisters looked up and saw Delphine leaning in the door frame, taking a big swig from a tankard of ale. Some of it dribbled down her face, but she didnt seem to care.
"Perhaps you too have found a student of your own sister," Celestia said slyly. "Who knew it would be such an attractive stallion though? I never thought that of all places, you would choose your consort here in Skyrim."
"SISTER!" Luna snapped as she blushed violently.
Delphine and Celestia laughed uproariously at her stammers as she tried to defend herself.
Katia came into the room with a plate of food as the laughter commenced. She had no clue as to what caused it, so she sat down by the side of the room and watched with interest as Luna started chasing Celestia around the room like they were angry little girls. Delphine just stood there laughing harder and harder.
Soon after everyone had calmed down, they set up their sleeping arrangements. Who would be sleeping on the bed was an argument in of itself. Eventually, it was decided that Luna and Katia slept in the bed with Ky'ell, while Celestia and Delphine slept on the floor. The inn keeper was gracious enough to provide small bales of hay which acted as fairly comfortable pillows once they were covered in cloth and a left over fur cuirass that Ky'ell had in his bag. The floor was rather freezing, but with a little bit of internal magic and insulation enchanting, Celestia was able to make do with what she had. She knew that it would be a long time before she was back in her own bed, so she thought that she had might as well get used to the super chilled conditions of Skyrim.
She reluctantly accepted deer skins to act as bed mats so she could lie down a little easier. When she laid herself down on the mat, the fur was rather comfortable. Much to her unique dismay. Celestia thought it would be best to get some sleep, so she leaned her head back on to her make shift pillow and scanned the room around her. She was still unsure of Delphine's ulterior motives, so the alicorn felt it would be safer to remain in a light sleep with her ears to the ground, so to speak.
Luna and Katia were having a more difficult time getting comfortable on the bed, despite the more comfortable mattress. With the burly Ky'ell lying on his back, dead in the center of the bed, it was hard to move into a restful position, even for the slender Khajiit. Normally, Katia would be sleeping in only her undergarments, but given the new company and the severely cold climate, keeping everything on seemed to be a smarter idea to her. However, the two girls found that huddling up against the human was a pleasant sensation. The man was rather warm to the touch. His rippling muscles offered a unique feeling up against their fur. Katia and Luna unconsciously grabbed each arm on their side and held it close, as if it was a body pillow.
Opening one of her eyes and peering up at this sight, Celestia chuckled quietly.
'Fillies swooning over a strapping young stallion,' she teased internally. 'It seems that my sister really does have a new favorite person. Not that she would ever admit that.'
Looking up and down the length of the man, she found herself seeing the appeal of the Nord. Similar thoughts began to creep into her own mind about snuggling up to the comfortable looking man as she allowed herself to finally drift off to sleep.
That night, as they mentally prepared themselves for the many adventures and quests that were sure to come, each one of our heroes received unique to them. Many of divine and demonic nature were now closely watching these new warriors. Some, wished to provide counsel or comfort, while others watched, and waited or any of them to reveal critical weaknesses. Weakness that would lead them to their deaths
Luna found herself once again in a strange place. One that turned out to be friendly and familiar to her. Instead of her semi comfortable bed, she found herself laying in a bed of gleaming golden flowers. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, she saw that she was once again in the enchanting realm of Moonshadow.
'Lady Azura must wish to speak with me again.' Luna thought. 'Very well. She has earned my respect at the very least. I should probably see what she wishes of me'
The alicorn pushed herself up on to her feet and looked around. She found one of the paths through the garden fairly quickly as she went on her way towards Lady Azura's majestic domain.
Katia meanwhile was in a less pleasant place in her dreams. The khajiit felt herself in a very dark place. If it wasnt for her acute feline vision, this pitch black darkness would have blinded her completely. There was no sound, save for the occasional drip of water. She could feel her eyes glowing, giving her the only source of light to be found in this place. The ground was hard and flat, with crossings of grooves she could feel with her feet every so often. The unknown source of water made this hard floor slick and slimy. The young khajiit came to the conclusion that she was in a large building of some sort, made of large stones much like that of a castle. The dripping made a large echo that her ears were able to pick up, telling her that she was in a large enclosed space. Katia felt at the back of her mind that she was forgetting something important, but something else assured her that this darkness was all she ever knew.
'Where are you?' one of her voices asked.
The khajiit shrugged in confusion as she trudged along, fearful of her surroundings.
'Try using your Night Eyes. It might help you get around.'
The darkened silhouette of Katia nodded to the unseen voices in her head as she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, able to see with heightened clarity.
Looking around, she saw that she was in some kind of castle dungeon. One with large cavernous chambers and chains attached to every wall like streamers.
Unseen to her, a dark presence was gazing down at her with an unquenchable hunger as she walked about the castle.
It seemed forever as she walked through miles of wet stone, never knowing if there was ever going to be a change in time or if the light would ever return. All of a sudden, right in the middle of her path, a beautiful glowing flower popped right out of the cracks. It startled her for a moment, before she silently kneeled down to get a closer look.
'That's pretty. Try picking it' one of her voices suggested.
She agreed with the idea. There was something oddly entrancing about the flower. With one of her hands, she reached out towards the base of the stem, where it came out of the cracked floor. Suddenly, before she could grab ahold of the flower, the flower lashed out at her and extended around her arm and around her torso. Katia silently began to panic as terror overcame her being. The flower constricted her as it turned into a nightmarish chain covered in spikes. They dug into her flesh as blood spurted from every hole in her body that they created.
'Get away! Get away! Get it off! Get it off!' another voice urged the panicking khajiit.
She tried exactly that, as she tried forcing the chains off but ended up only causing more damage to her hands which were mutilated and covered in slashes. The smell of blood here was amplified for some reason. It was not only her own blood she could smell, but the blood of others who were close by. Katia then felt something pierce through her back and out of her chest. It was an iron black spike covered in all manner of rusty hooks that prevented her from ever pulling it out. She could not tell why
She felt herself being pulled upwards by the spike as if she were a fish on a hook about to be eaten by some unseen fisherman. The chain pulled her towards the ceiling of the massive hellish structure as she came to a sudden stop. Feeling the effect of whiplash as the chain tossed her all over the place in midair. A flash of light revealed the massive form of a nightmarish queen gazing right into Katia's eyes with a manic grin. The queen pointed over to pillars towards the wall, which were still obscured by shadow. Katia was able to make out a mutilated figure chained to the pillar by the queen's horrifying chains.
Katia's fear started to multiply tenfold as the queen snapped her fingers and with a flash of light, the figure was revealed to be a defiled Celestia. Her armor was destroyed, her horn and wings had been cut off, and her eyes were missing. The queen cackled insanely as Katia screamed at the top of her lungs. The castle around her suddenly disappeared as it shifted to a scene of torment and destruction. It was Anvil, slowly pillaged, destroyed, and ransacked. The army was filled with all manner of evil creatures. Orcs, Dark Elves, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Hagravens, Dremora, and many others that she could not identify. Men, Women, and children alike were being mercilessly slaughtered by this demonic horde. The female citizens that were spared were beaten within an inch of their lives and hauled away to be used as slaves for their sick pleasures.
The scene zoomed in on the main square as the queen forced Katia to watch as her best friend Quill Weave ran for her life, desperately trying to escape a pursuing dremora. A goblin grabbed her by the horns and started beating her with a massive mace. Katia struggled against the chain that was holding her even more, not caring about the agonizing pain at all as her want to save her friend grew even stronger. Then her blood turned to ice as the goblin was finished beating Quill Weave and pinned her to the ground with two spears through her shoulders. Katia felt thick streams of tears flow down her face as she saw the goblin deliver the finishing blow with an axe. Katia tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. The spike suddenly shot out and doubled in size as Katia was completely ripped apart into thousands of bloody pieces. Darkness then met her sight, leaving whatever was left of Katia in eternal torment.
The next morning, Celestia was again the first one to wake. It was just before dawn and everything was still dark, cold, and deathly quiet. It took a couple of minutes, but her keen eyes were able to adjust to the darkness of the room. She looked over to the wall where Delphine had been leaning and found that she was not there. She deduced that the mysterious woman must have left earlier to get a head start on her supposed "tasks". She grabbed her sword that she had kept on her side while she was sleeping and slowly got up on her hooves. Carefully scanning the room for any kind of disturbance, she was grateful to find that the door and everything had remained intact during the night. In such a hostile medieval world like Nirn, Celestia and Luna were forced to uncover old battle instincts from their ancient past that they had buried long ago.
Quietly heading over to the door to their room, Celestia cracked open the door just a little bit and carefully peeked outside. Only the Innkeeper was there outside sweeping up the main dining room of the inn. She could hear a few people outside the end working with farming tools, but besides that they were alone.
She knew they had to get an early start their trek towards Winterhold, so she went over to the bed to wake up her new "extended family".
The white alicorn ignited her horn to be as bright as a spotlight and shined it in the direction of the bed, making sure not to draw any outside attention.
"Come on! Rise and shine everyone!" Celestia quietly chirped.
The three people on the bed groaned all together to make a sound of something similar to a waking bear. The Khajiit however, jumped suddenly awake as she screamed in terror.
"Katia, I'm going to defecate in your pillow the next time you do that," Luna said with irritation. "Its far too early right now. I was having the most wonderful feast in a silver palace with royalty when you so rudely interrupted me."
The Khajiit peeled the covers off of her and pushed her torso upwards, so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Her feline eyes were completely bloodshot, punctuating her tiredness. The young cat girl smacked her lips with thirst and a small amount of hunger after a long troubling night of sleep. Pushing herself up on to her feet she pathetically lumbered over to Celestia and placed her head into the alicorn's shoulder. Much to the alicorn's confusion. When she felt a few tears seep into her dress from the khajiit, Celestia became concerned. The khajiit was sweating profusely. It was a cold sweat that only one who had felt pure terror would create.
"Are you alright Katia?" Celestia asked.
"Yeah...just...another bad dream. Its nothing. I've always had them," she choked out. "I'll get over it."
"That was no dream. That sounded like a nightmare."
Celestia hugged the girl who graciously accepted the display of affection. Luna pushed herself out of bed and touched Katia's head. Igniting her horn, the exhausted alicorn gazed into Katia's head to try to find what had disturbed her so greatly. Staring into the blue alicorns steadily glowing eyes was rather unsettling for Katia, who had no idea what was happening. After a few more seconds, Luna ceased her actions and started cursing to herself quietly. Celestia gave her sister an expectant look, wanting an answer out of her.
"The fucking coward escaped before I could get a trace!" Luna growled angrily. "Something powerful invaded the dream realm alright. Whatever it was, it pulled Katia into a deep nightmare, and not a natural one."
"What do you mean?"
"That dream was a fabrication by something very ancient and something filled with evil magic.
"Can you put up a block to keep whatever it was out?" Celestia asked.
"I will have to enter this world's dream realm to attempt that. I have no knowledge of it, but I think I am going to have to learn quickly if we are going to be attacked through there as well" Luna summarized.
"Its that fucking Daedric Princess," Katia sniffled
"Who?"
"Vaermina." the khajiit spat. "She's been tormenting me for years. She ruined my life. Because of her, my parents fucking disowned me, my luck has been shit, I can barely sleep ever, and I have fucking mental problems. She ruined my life back then and she's trying to ruin my life now.
"I read about her in Whiterun" Luna said understandingly. "She is not unlike the dementors of Equestria who stalk the southern marshes on moonless nights. They feed off of your dreams and steal your most precious memories for themselves. Until there is nothing left but complete anguish and terror."
"We will have to deal with her then while we are here," Celestia concluded angrily.
"Wh-what?" Katia blubbered.
"I will personally kill this demon, this Vaermina, whoever she is. No one tortures my student and walks away with their life. These Daedra have been running about freely for far too long, and if the gods of this world refuse to reel them in, I believe that I should be the one to do it."
Far away, off in the barren realm of Ashpit, another Daedric Prince was laughing in approval of the alicorn's sheer audacity.
Katia felt a shred of joy and thankfulness returning to her body as she continued to cry into Celestia's rough spun night gown. The alicorn just stood there as she stroked Katia's head.
Luna had conflicting thoughts about that eventuality, and the risk she would put her sister and her new friends in, given her own troubled past connected to nightmares.
Ky'ell, still feeling quite sore from his encounter with Sahloknir the day before, groaned as he pushed himself up out of bed. Celestia smiled as she saw Luna's face light up and dash over to the human like a mother duck checking on her hatchling.
"You're awake!" Luna cried joyfully. "Oh frabjous day!"
The blue alicorn wrapped her powerful arms around the human and was surprised she was able to use a lot of strength and not hurt the man.
"Hey Loony, how ya doing?" Ky'ell asked weakly.
"I was worried. I'm glad you recovered adequately." she replied.
"Yeah, me too. I feel like I got hit with 50 fire damage."
Luna only giggled as she went over to the chest and pulled out the Nord's armor. They all proceeded to do the same as they slowly but surely got back into their armor and began gathering their belongings. Katia was still quite shaken from her traumatic dream, so she distracted herself by consolidating her inventory into her metaphysical lists. In the past she often liked to organize her belongings into the lists. It was a strange ability that she shared with Ky'ell. She would often organize her active quests and completed quests into separate lists. It was an unusual skill that few in Tamriel have ever been able to use, but luckily it turned out to be a very useful ability on her part.
'Put kill ancient Daedric prince on the top of your active quest list' one of her internal voices suggested.
"Oh believe me, that is my top priority now" Katia said angrily as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
She crossed out get horn back, go to Kynesgrove and kill first evil dragon ever and placed those entries into her metaphysical completed quests list. At the top of her Active Quests list, she entered: Kill or Humiliate Vaermina.
The innkeeper provided them with breakfast before they left as thanks. The party greatly appreciated the gesture as they sat down to eat at a table and talked about all of the things they should do in the coming weeks before they were to head back to Riverwood. Luna and Celestia were given a modest meal of vegetables and fruit while Katia and Ky'ell enjoyed some salted pork and eggs that were provided by a local farmer.
"Firstly, I must visit this College of Winterhold so we can get a better grasp on the magic here." Celestia summarized as she chewed down on a piece of fruit. "Then we will be able to get a better grasp on where we are in the Omniverse. At that point, I will be in a better position to contact our...space faring friend."
"Omni what?" Ky'ell asked.
"The ultimate name for all of creation and every multiverse and reality that exists as a whole." Luna explained eloquently.
The explanation didnt seem to help as the human still gave her a blank stare.
"I'll let one of my more educated friends enlighten you on the subject when we return to Equestria." Luna said annoyedly. "Regardless, I do believe if we are to fulfill this prophecy I keep hearing about, Ky'ell and I should learn all we can about our new found powers. Perhaps we should return the Horn to the Greybeards to gain more knowledge on that front. Or at the very least some concrete leads on the matter."
Celestia noticed that while they were all talking, Katia had become rather quiet as she silently sat there eating her food.
The khajiit had much to think about after her nightmare gave her quite the scare. In particular, her mind drifted to Cyrodil, and the things that she left behind. Honestly, it wasnt that much, but anything to her was precious. Having anything of worth at all was like having a treasure of unimaginable wealth. Her bad luck made sure that she never had anything substantially good. She had a lot of acquaintances she had come across during her many misadventures, but not a lot of actual friends. The few friends she had made while she still lived in Cyrodil for one. The eccentric, but noble soldier Asotil, the stern, but kind Countess of Anvil, and most of all, her Argonian friend Quill-Weave. It quite saddened her to think about the fact that as of this moment, many of them have been dead for two centuries at the least. In between that time, three major conflicts had sprouted up and threatened to plunge Tamriel into perpetual chaos. One of which, she was still completely unaware of. Nor did she realize how much she actually helped the Hero of Kvatch save the world two hundred years ago.
Half an hour later, they were ready to head back out on to the road as they took leave of the warmth of the Braidwood Inn and went back out into the unforgiving cold of Skyrim. It was still early morning, and the snow was pouring down. The cold was crisp and refreshing for the group, awakening any who were still groggy from lack of sleep. The farmers and miners who worked in Kynesgrove were already working on their daily duties. Two women were setting up a makeshift cover for some of the crops out of animal hides and large wooden stakes. Many of the men were brandishing their pickaxes to begin work in the Malachite mine. Their strong lungs created long warm breaths that streamed out of their mouths like big puffs of smoke. A fire had already been rebuilt and lit in the middle of their field for the morning. The light from the blaze helped many of the workers go about their day with an adequate amouny of heat and illumination. Some of the younger workers tended to the lumber piles around the village and chopped away at large fallen trees. Today, they were hauling around many of the trees that had been scorched or frozen through and through by Sahloknir's rampage.
The group quickly made their way back down the road they had used to come towards the village. Celestia was surprised to see that any evidence of the witch's attack a few days prior had been swept away. Only a few scorch marks and broken pieces of the road remained from the attack. Winterhold's Stormcloak guards were already changing to the morning shift, as they poured out of their barracks and came down to the main road. A number of them still recognized Celestia and warmly greeted her.
"Good day milady. Pleasure to see you again."
"Welcome back Princess!"
A couple of them even knelt down and kissed her hand out of respect, which the white alicorn oddly appreciated. Luna rolled her eyes at all the praise she was getting from the guards and some of the citizens of the city as they passed through. Much to her embarrassment however, Celestia overheard one of the guards ask their friends if she had come back to give her hand in marriage to the Jarl. Ky'ell and Luna started snickering like crazy at her expense. They soon moved on past Winterhold and made their way westwards, towards the bridge. They had learned from the innkeeper at the Braidwood Inn that there was no safe enough path for them across the river around Windhelm, unless they crossed the North Road Bridge, several miles west of the city.
As they continued on, Celestia received a number of greetings from the citizens of Windhelm. It warmed her heart quite a bit to see how much the people of that city had come to like her, despite not being there for long. It was an affect her and her sister had on many people, no matter their species. Celestia in particular, always had an easy job making friends with strangers. It was one of her hidden special talents. That's not to say other ponies didnt have that type of charm, but Celestia could brighten anyone's day just by being in her presence. Luna was the opposite growing up with her sister. While not unfriendly, Luna had a more troubled time trying to make friends with anyone outside of their own palace. It certainly surprised her when she saw how many connections she had made when she returned from her banishment. When they came to Skyrim, that charm became an essential skill that they knew they would need to get ahead in this world.
They followed the road alongside the river until they came to a fork in the road. One way leading westwards, back towards Whiterun, and the other a bridge. The bridge was somewhat old and stretched across to the other side of the river. To the left of the bridge was a waterfall that had been partially frozen over. Water still flowed underneath the layer of ice downwards into the river and towards the ocean. Thick icicles formed into giant pillars that almost resembled architecture. It made them feel even colder just staring at it. Parts of the bridge were covered in thin layers of ice forcing the group to watch their footing very carefully. A single slip in the wrong spot could mean plummeting off the bridge into an ice cold river that meant death for most.
On the other side they were able to make out a feminine figure wandering about. They do not know who she was, but it appeared that she was waiting for somebody anyone to pass by. As the party crossed the frozen stone bridge, they were able to make out the figure more clearly. It was a female orc covered in leather armor with a conspicuous leather bag attached to her belt. Celestia could tell right away that this woman could not be trusted just by seeing the devious look in her eyes. Luna smelled something foul and at the same time sweet. The intoxicating odor was coming from the orc woman's satchel. In her experience Luna new that's strange people skulking on the side of the road always meant trouble. She was just about to warn the rest of the party of this when something loud and obnoxious interrupted her train of thought.
"Hell YEAAAAAAH!" the Dragonborn screamed with glee as he charged insanely at the orc.
"WHAT IN OBLIVION?" The orc woman cried in surprise.
The woman tried unsheathing her own sword to defend herself.
"CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THAT GOLDEN CRISP! ITS GOT THE CRUNCH WITH PUNCH!"
Katia, Luna, and Celestia stood there dumbfounded as Ky'ell stomped up to the woman like a bear on its hind legs and punched her in the face. The woman fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes as the Nord stole all of her belongings and tossed her off the bridge.
"WOOHOO!"
"KY'ELL! WHAT IN HEAVENS NAME POSSESSED YOU TO DO THAT?" Luna snapped at the Nord. "Do you have to pocket every interesting thing that you see?"
"Especially if its free!" Ky'ell chattered as he rummaged through the orc woman's belongings.
"Should we worry about her?" Katia asked as she peered over the rail of the bridge.
'It looks like she's still out cold'
"Oh ha, ha, ha!" Katia replied sarcastically.
Celestia rolled her eyes as she spotted a leftover net from a fisherman lying just by the shore. With her magic, she used it to drag the orc out of the water and plop her on some rocks before she could float out of sight.
"I appreciate eccentricities as much as the next girl, but please refrain from attacking people who dont deserve it," Celestia wryly remarked.
"Oh she had it comin alright. She was a Skooma dealer. Even though Dad used to sell the stuff, Ma would beat me something fierce if she saw me within ten feet of a bottle. I still feel the marks from her claws." Ky'ell said nervously as he rubbed his ass. "That woman is psychic I tells ya. I'd rather not risk her catchin me with this stuff.
He explained all of that as he pulled out bottles of Sleeping Tree Sap, three bags of moon sugar, a sack of coins, and three bottles of skooma which he reluctantly chucked into the river.
"Oh." Celestia simply replied.
"You're lucky Ky'ell. My parents never cared enough to keep me away from the stuff," Katia sighed depressingly.
"I should probably leave a note to Windhelm's guards about her then." Celestia concluded.
Igniting her horn, she materialized a piece of parchment paper and a quill and wrote down a small note detailing for the guards who the orc was and what her crimes were. She signed it in her name and teleported it to the orc where it would stick to her clothes until she woke up. Or was caught.
They continued onwards across the river and northwards towards the mountains where they finally stepped over the edge of the frozen wilds. More evergreen trees began to pop up again along with a lot of brush and bushes alongside of the road. It was a rather picturesque sight that reminded the Royal Sisters of Equestria around Hearth's Warming. Snowberry bushes were becoming even more and more common as time went on for them. For the most part, the road remained visible, despite how hard it was snowing this early in the day. The girls were already bringing out cloaks and thicker clothing while Ky'ell barely noticed the intense cold at all. The river leading out to the ocean was now far to the left of them, and was flowing a lot more calmly and smoothly than it had been back closer to Windhelm.
Soon, they came to a fork in the road where one path led into the mountains and the other continued on through the forest. There was a sign placed in the side of the road with multiple labeled arrow, pointing every which way towards all the major cities of Skyrim. It only however, would tell travelers the general direction the city was in. Typical of a still primitive culture. The Sisters were glad their roads and maps were more advanced than this. It got them to thinking how Tamriel could have remained this primitive for thousands of years.
They heard someone running down the path through the snow. They were coming down the mountain path at a very rapid pace. When the person started coming into view, they discovered that it was a rather scrawny man dressed in rather ornate clothing.
"A courier." Ky'ell stated.
"Ah yes, we call those mail ponies now though." Luna replied. "And we use a lot of them so the system is more efficient."
"Let me see if I can't see what he's got," Ky'ell whispered to himself mischievously.
"What was that?"
"Please tell me he's not doing what I think he's doing again," Katia muttered to Celestia as they watched the man calmly walk towards the approaching courier.
"If he does, we will apologize and then give Ky'ell a stern talking to." Celestia replied.
To their surprise, all the Nord did was bump into the courier by "accident" and fish something out of his pocket when he was gathering his dropped items. The man helped the courier pick up the rest of his things and apologized as he went on his way, running down the forest road.
"That had to be the second most polite robbery I have ever seen" Katia said dumbfounded.
"Only second? What was the first?" Luna asked.
"You dont want to know," Katia replied, remembering everything that happened with the enchantress Sigrid.
"Was that necessary?" Celestia asked disapprovingly to the absent minded Nord.
"Imperial couriers usually have good information," the man stated as he showed them a small piece of paper.
Luna snatched the paper from Ky'ell and read it out loud to the group.
Send a small dispatch to Tumble Arch Pass.
We have received word of an Elven treasure hidden there.
Go there before the Dominion finds out about it.
Your Benefactor
"I dont feel right stooping to stealing and pickpocketing, but it seems we can find valuable information that way here." Celestia concluded with a conflicted tone.
"Regardless, we cannot go there right now." Luna replied with assurance. "Tumble Arch Pass is in the opposite direction and going there only to come back the same way would only be a massive waste of time. We shall investigate it when we head back to Whiterun in the near future."
They continued on down the path as it went upwards into higher elevations and a much colder climate. Luna and Celestia found themselves breathing a little harder than normal. Along the slopes, they found a number of mountain goats jumping around, looking for tufts of grass. In the distance, Katia could vaguely hear the howls of wolves. It was an unsettling sound, to say the least. She held up her axe and gripped the handle tightly.
'Are you able to use Night Eye here? There's no sun. Nothing but dark clouds for miles all around' one of her internal voices asked.
"Night vision during the day, even during any kind of weather will create glare. So be careful if you are going to attempt that." Celestia cautioned the khajiit.
"I'll probably never get over the fact that you can hear those guys. I've never used it in a strong snow storm before." Katia replied bluntly. "I can try though."
Katia closed her eyes and concentrated, as she focused on her old innate ability. She opened her glowing eyes to the hyper focused face of Ky'ell standing just inches from her face with a dumb smile on his face.
"Hey, my Ma can do that too! Your eyes look all sparkly and shiny!"
"Eeep!" Katia screeched as she was startled by his sudden appearance.
Her tail fuzzed up as she jumped back a few feet and landed on her butt.
"Owww. Can you please not do that?"
Luna rolled her eyes at the Nord's antics as she helped Katia back on her feet.
"Now let's see here..." Katia mumbled.
Brushing herself off, Katia looked around and found that everything was a lot brighter and somewhat more clear. The snow caused quite a bit of glare but Katia was able to make it a few things far off in the distance. She saw what appeared to be a fort, up on top of the slope. The main keep of the fort and a section of the wall facing south was tall enough to be seen from at least a mile away.
"Theres a fort up there. I cant tell if theres anyone in it though."
"It would be a badly built fort if you could," Luna dryly remarked.
"Let's approach carefully. Our magic is still not completely up to taking on an entire army. So maybe we should see if there are any alternate routes-"
"WOOOHOOO! BADDIES AND TREASURE!" the Nord shrieked as he dashed up the snow covered slope.
"Stop running off you cotton headed ninny muggings and get back here before I stuff you into your own backpack!" Luna snapped.
Once again, she could feel a vein visibly popping out of her head in annoyance as she ran after the man who was most assuredly going to get all of them into trouble. As soon as Luna made it within ten feet of the walls, she felt something in her pack vibrate. Pulling the item out with a single hand, she found that it was Ky'ell's enchanted map which identified the new location within their vicinity. An icon of a castle keep started to glow steadily with a name below it popping into existence: Fort Kastav. She saw that they were now almost directly north of Windhelm, just beyond a mountain that separated them from the ancient city. Luna felt something else as she got closer to the fortress. Something familiar that always made her blood boil with rage every time she felt its presence. The sickening essence of dark magic radiating from the inside of Fort Kastav. She knew right away that she would have to be extra careful. When dealing with users of dark magic, she had to be three steps ahead at all times. Where her Nord friend was, she could not tell, but she hoped that he was still safe.
"Ky'ell! Where are you?" Luna hissed as she pressed herself up against the wall of the fortress.
She could hear movement of a dozen figures moving about the Fort's perimeter, the sound of their footsteps were unusual to her. They made clacking and rattling sounds as they moved across stone. Celestia and Katia came up behind as they dashed up against the wall.
"Where did that moron go off to?" Katia asked nervously.
I'M REA-DYYY!!! READY FOR THE BIG RIDE BAAAAA-BY!!!" they heard Ky'ell shriek.
They suddenly heard sounds like cracking thunder rocketing through the air, followed by dozens of arrows being fired from creaking bows. Dashing around the corner, they found the main entrance to the inside of the fort covered in patches of unnatural magical frost. Spiked barriers made from wooden spears protected the main entryway, presumably to prevent easy access for an invading force of soldiers from pouring inside. Running inside, they found a heavily one sided battle unfolding before them.
Hundreds of bones were spread about all over the courtyard. Scorch marks and frostbite spell spots covered every inch of ground. Some of the Fort's necromancer inhabitants were already killed, Luna could only guess that these were just the guards that watched the main roads for any intruders. Looking around for her wayward friend, she found him leaning over the edge of the wall of the fort just beside the main keep. He was holding one of the last surviving conjurers by the ankle, shaking him up and down over the edge.
"Give me all your Septims NERD!" Ky'ell barked with mean spirited joy. "And all the potions you got!
"Okay! Okay! Okay! Just please don't kill me!" the conjurer pleaded pathetically. "They're in my robes! They're in my robes!"
Moving the mage back to safety, Ky'ell shook the mage even more until a few sacks of coins plopped out. Grabbing the pouches, Ky'ell threw the conjurer over the Fort wall and into a bush, where his groans of pain could be audibly heard. Ky'ell cheerfully jumped down to the courtyard and walked towards his friends who were giving him dumbfounded looks.
"Hey guys! That was fun! You should have joined me!"
"What is the matter with you? You have some serious deep seated issues!" Luna snapped.
"I know! I got some cool stuff out of it!"
Ky'ell tossed a couple of poison bottles and health potion to Luna and Celestia who pocketed them after giving Ky'ell a funny look.
"I'd rather not casually incur the wrath of a fort full of deadly necromacers!" Katia cried. "Unless, we needed to...you know."
"Did you get a chance to go inside?" Celestia asked expectantly.
"Nah, I'll go in when we come back this way." Ky'ell replied. "That College will probably want us to come here for something soon."
"Not sure if that's laziness or good foresight." Katia questioned.
"I'll pick the former," Luna said as she shook her head and rubbed her snout.
Heading back down the road, they started coming back downhill as they passed a number of narrow crags and pathways. They kept a hand on their weapons, knowing bandits and other such brigands could use these hiding places to their advantage. Despite going into a lower elevation, some how it was getting even colder with every step North they took. Katia had to pull out an extra cloak despite her thick layer of fur that insulated the khajiit quite well. Up on the right, they came across the opening to an ominous looking cave. The mouth of the cave had gnawed bones thrown about, the impaled remains of burnt corpses, and even a large blood stain upon a nearby boulder. The girls could smell all manner of foul things in the cave that made their stomachs leap.
For a moment, Luna swore she could feel something old and full of hate staring back at her from out of the darkness. She just dismissed the feeling as paranoia from being in Skyrim for too long. The alicorn felt the map vibrate once again as she pulled it out. The name that appeared before her gave Luna a creepy feeling at the back of her throat. Stillborn Cave.
Ignoring the imposing cavern, they went about their way, with the frozen Northern coast of Skyrim finally coming into view. An arctic sea filled with all manner of icebergs, snow, fog, sheets of ice, and thick puffy white clouds blocking out the sun as far as the eye could see. The coast was somewhat more lax as compared to the treacherous mountains that were directly behind them. Rolling hills of snow, along with a few stray pine trees towering high into the icy sky and many tufts of hardy grasses and bushes that have managed to survive even here. A pack of ice wolves tried to ambush the party, but a stern gaze and a soothing spell from Celestia quickly sent them about their way. When it came to any form of wildlife, Celestia always tried to be kind and understanding to their instincts. Her personal sanctuary in Canterlot Castle was a testament to that. She knew that she would have to apply that policy even more so now that they were in Skyrim.
They could already tell that it was starting to get late, as the sky darkened behind the silvery cold clouds of the North. As the day grew darker, the temperature dropped even further. All in the group, except for Ky'ell himself was shaking like a leaf. The Nord almost seemed at home in this unforgiving environment. His eyes pierced through everything around him from behind his Iron Helmet. His breath was thick and pillowy, like the smoke from a dragon's mouth. Katia's teeth chattered loudly through the loud blowing of wind all around. Every so often, Celestia would rub her arms, in a vain attempt to warm them up. She tried warming herself up with her magic, but found that she couldnt quite conjure up that level of a spell just yet.
Along their path up on the left, facing the mountainside, they came across a lone mine where hardy people of the region were working diligently. Luna felt slightly jealous when she saw one of the workers shoveling coal into a clay smelter in front of the mine. If the workers had seen them approach, they didnt seem to care or notice as they never lifted their heads from their work even once. Two guards were walking up and down the length of the road, while keeping an eye out for anything trying to approach the mine from the snow. One of the guards saw the group approach and put a hand on his sword. Celestia and Luna's presence un doubtedly causing the guard to wait for them to cause trouble. Celestia stepped forward with a friendly smile on her face and gave a short bow.
"Greetings, I am Princess Celestia of the island continent of Equestria in the Eastern Padomaic Ocean. How far down the road is Winterhold?" she asked diplomatically. "My sister and I are visiting the main cities of your province for diplomatic reasons."
The guard seemed confused for a few seconds, but relaxed after he was able to gather his thoughts.
"Just five miles down the road your majesty. I apologize for my apprehension. We have heard tales of a white horse princess that came to Windhelm, but we believed it to be a joke." the guard admitted in a thick accent. "I apologize in advance though your graces."
"Why do you say that?" Luna asked.
"Winterhold is not much to look at. Its now just a withered husk of an age that has long since passed."
"What do you mean?" Katia asked.
"You shall see when you arrive. Now with respect, I must be getting back on to my patrol. Be sure to visit the Jarl however, I bet he would be more than willing to give you warm food and warm beds to sleep in tonight."
"Thank you, that sounds quite lovely right now," Celestia replied cordially.
The guard bowed back and continued down the road to go back to his patrol.
"Is that like your go to explanation?" Katia asked. "Cause I'm assuming people arent gonna just be accepting of a pair of winged unicorn that walks around on two legs and speak perfect common tongue."
"Its the best explanation I could come up with, given our unique circumstances. I learned about much of Tamriel from Jarl Ulfric's extensive personal library. Apparently, the Eastern Ocean is largely unexplored, save for a few island chains and a continent called Akavir. It would be easier to say that we are an undiscovered species rather than saying we are ponies from another dimension."
"I see your point there."
The road turned and hugged the mountainside as they quickly approached their destination. Off in the distance, the party was able to make out a massive structure sitting high on a plateau of rock and ice. The sight was rather impressive to the royal sisters, who always admired huge feats of architecture. As they got closer, it appeared at first glance that large pieces had been forcefully broken from the land and fallen into the sea. Though they could not fathom as to why or how. Many mysteries were upon them as they closed in upon the ancient capital city of Winterhold.
After another hour, at long last, they arrived at the city, which looked more like a half destroyed village than anything else. Only six structures seemed to be completely unharmed, other than the College that laid before them. Countless old decimated houses and pieces of timber were still sticking up out of the snow. Some old undiscernable structures were dangling off of the cliff, still holding on for dear life after decades of abuse. Celestia was able to make out the shape of some roads that led down somewhere but stopped just at the cliff.
"What the hell happened here?" Katia asked. "It looks like this place was washed away or assaulted by an army!"
"I intend to find out soon, if we can get any answers of of the people here that is."
The sisters opted to cover their faces and horns with their large cloaks before they stepped inside the city, so as to not warrant any untimely attention from the locals.
It worked fairly well as they walked slowly along the main road, looking at everything that was left of the city. When they came to the end of the street, they found two ornate towers parellel to a magnificent, tall bridge that crossed the gap all the way to the College. Several different towers marked points along the path of the bridge like significant markers. Even here, Celestia could tell that the College suffered some damage too from this un-named catastrophe that she was suspecting.
At the first set of towers, marking the first gateway into the College, a hunched over old man in raggedy clothing was sitting there silently waiting for anyone who dared to pass by. Slightly apprehensive, Ky'ell stepped forward up the path until the old man standing guard held up his hand.
"Stop! Whoever dares to cross the bridge of the famed College of Winterhold must answer these questions three! Only then will the other side you will see!"
"Uhhh, alrighty." Ky'ell simply replied. "Ask away!"
"What is your name? The old man started.
The girls were immediately confused and suspicious by how simple the questions were. They decided to keep an eye and an ear out so they can be ready for whatever the old man had to throw at them.
"Ky'ell of the Ri'saad Caravan." Ky'ell replied.
"What is your quest?"
"Mostly to find shiny cool things and learn a bunch of cool spells. But helping my friends here and kill a bunch of evil dragons along the way is cool too."
"What...is your favorite color?"
Katia and Celestia found themselves snickering at the question and the way that the old man said it.
"A nice midnight blue."
Luna felt herself blush when she heard that.
"Alright, off you go!" the old man said cheerfully.
"Uhhhh, okay. Thank you. Thank you very much!"
Ky'ell stepped forward into the first tower and waited for the others to approach.
Luna stepped forth next and looked the old man up and down, gazing for any signs of trickery.
"Stop!" the old man repeated. "Whoever dares to cross the bridge of the famed College of Winterhold must answer these questions three! Only then will the other side you will see!"
"Very well old man, ask away," Luna said.
"What is your name?"
"Princess Luna of Equestria." she replied firmly.
"What is your quest?"
She figured that the honest answer would be the best answer in this scenario.
"To fulfill my destiny with Ky'ell as fellow Dragonborn to slay Alduin and return home to our country."
The old man seemed to flinch for a moment at the mention of Alduin's name, but he gathered himself quickly and returned to his crotchety attitude.
"What, is the Capital of Morrowind?" the old man asked quickly.
Luna tried to think but she was finding herself stumped. It has been a while since her studies in Whiterun under Farengar and her memory was not as sharp as her sister's.
'It's Mournhold Luna' Celestia spoke into her mind.
"Mournhold, old man." she replied.
"Right then, on you go!"
Luna quickly moved past the old man and joined Ky'ell in the tower, all the while still keeping an eye on the unusual old man. Celestia came up next and she quickly aced her questions, along with the third trick question that the old man had up his sleeve. Finally it came to Katia who approached the man. She was feeling quite nervous and still didnt know what the odd guard to the College had up his sleeves.
"Stop!" the old man repeated a fourth time. "Whoever dares to cross the bridge of the famed College of Winterhold must answer these questions three! Only then will the other side you will see!"
"Okay, ask away." she replied.
"What is your name?"
"Katia Managan of Anvil."
"What is your quest?"
"To become a world class mage and see my new home with my new teacher." Katia said proudly looking at a smiling Celestia.
"What is your favorite color?"
"Blue, no gree--EEEEEN!" Katia shrieked at the top of her lungs as she felt herself being thrown into the air.
"KATIA!" Celestia cried as she tried catching the khajiit with her magic.
The khajiit fell and was about to tumble down the cliff when she was suddenly caught by something in mid air.
"GRANDFATHER! Stop pestering potential new students with that stupid quiz of yours!" a female voice barked.
Katia was levitated back over to the bridge and was dropped on to her bottom.
A fair, blonde haired woman wearing a long brown robe stepped into the tower with an irritated look on her face.
"Oh, come on! Faralda! Let an old man have his fun!" the old man replied.
"You kill all our recruits that way! That quiz was banned from the entrance exam for that reason!"
The old man groaned as he shuffled down the bridge and back on to the main street of Winterhold as he walked slowly towards the local inn.
As soon as the old man was out of sight, the fair woman gave the party an apology.
"I am very, very sorry about that. My grandfather is from the old generation of wizards here at the College. They had a bit more extreme ways of accepting in students. That is until they realized it didnt help anything in the slightest." Faralda said genuinely. "That, added with a mastery of levitation spells made him mischievous in his old age."
"Well, nothing is broken, so I guess no harm no foul!" Katia said before yelling back in the direction Faralda's grandfather was walking.
"Thank you for saving her," Celestia said as she gave the woman a small bow.
"Don't mention it. The College has been expecting your arrival, your highnesses." Faralda explained. "We do have a simple test that will allow you entry into the College. Our Arch Mage has already sensed that you all have some degree of skill in the arcane arts, so we will only require one of you to perform this test. All you have to do is cast a specific spell of our choosing within the confines of this first tower"
"That sounds reasonable enough." Luna replied.
"Excellent. The Flame Atronach spell is a vital companion for anyone relying on Conjuration. Summoning one here would surely show your skill."
"I can do that! Kinda. A little bit," Katia said.
"Are you sure?" Celestia asked concerned.
"Yeah, I've done it before. It just takes a minute."
"Take all the time that you need" Faralda replied. "Cast the spell and summon the Atronach on top of the sigil here."
Faralda pointed to the plate on the ground inside the tower and stepped to the side.
Reaching out across the stars with her magic, she felt around for a familiar realm of heat and laid back female daedra. It didnt take long to backtrack the trail that Sigrid had used as the khajiit contacted a familiar atronach inside the realm of Infernace. Katia felt a wave of happiness flow over her as the atronach recognized the khajiit's unique aura. It seemed to be glad to hear from her again after two hundred years of silence. She felt a number of questions enter her head from the Atronach, but she had to politely interject. She quickly explained the situation to the atronach and promised to bring her up to speed on everything that has happened. There was silence for a moment, but Katia then received a response of approval as she felt the atronach sear across the realms. It quickly came into being and stepped on to the College sigil.
"So that's a Flame Atronach, interesting." Celestia mused.
The atronach looked around until it found Katia.
"Hey, nice to see you again!" Katia greeted cheerfully.
The atronach seemed to be extremely happy as it jumped on to Katia and started hugging her tightly. The others started giggling when the Atronach held Katia's face into its chest.
"Alright, Alright, Alright! I missed you too! You're just as blazing as always pal."
"A friend of yours Katia?" Luna asked humorously.
"Yeah, this atronach and I go back." Katia mumbled from under the burning hot chest of the atronach.
"A very forward friend if you ask me," Ky'ell quipped.
"Well, she seems friendly enough," Celestia stated awkwardly with a sheepish laugh.
"Well done, indeed Miss Katia," Faralda chuckled heartily. "I think all of you will be welcome additions to the College. Welcome Mages and Apprentices."
Next Time: First Lessons