Raika expected to be back inside the Arcaneum, where they had left Urag not a few hours ago. Instead, the group found themselves standing outside the College, which was now surrounded by a light green aura that looked like someone was attacking it. She spotted several of the mages she had seen standing at the edge of the bridge, throwing a spell at whatever came out of the barrier and attacked them. She had no idea what was attacking the mages, but as they approached she noticed that most of them were waiting for something to happen.
"There you guys are," Tolfdir said, noticing them coming his way, "We've...got a problem. Ancano has tapped into the power of the Eye of Magnus and it looks like he's preparing an attack that could potentially wipe out the rest of Winterhold and most of Windhelm."
"Blasted Thalmor!" Raika shouted, eying the barrier with pure hate in her eyes, "Why? Why is it that every time I try to do anything they're always around, trying to turn the powers of others into the destruction of the Stormcloaks?"
"Please tell me you found where the Staff of Magnus is," Tolfdir continued, barely noticing her comment, "I'm afraid that if this continues we won't be able to stop Ancano from causing untold devastation to Skyrim and the people that call it home, no matter what side of the war they're on."
"The Labyrinthian," Trixie replied, causing several pairs of eyes to turn to her, "that's where the Staff is located..."
Before she could continue something came out of the barrier, which happened to be a giant snakes head that took one look at the assembled mages and roared in their faces. The creature reached out to strike them, but Trixie was faster as she tossed a large fireball at the barrier where the snake was coming from, exploding and severing the connection between the two. It wasn't the perfect fix, but they needed to push it back before something terrible happened to the mages that were trying to keep Winterhold and the rest of Skyrim safe.
"Get to Labyrinthian and find the Staff," Tolfdir told them, turning his attention to the barrier again, "we'll hold the fort and stop whatever monsters come out of it."
Sombra, aware of how much time they needed to save, opened a Shadow Gate and directed his friends through it, leaving the mages of Winterhold to stop the monsters that stepped out of the barrier. Once he was sure that everyone was through he stepped into the mass and vanished, traveling to what he hoped was the place known as Labyrinthian.
----------------------------
"How did he get this right again?" Raika asked, staring at the ancient ruins that were known far and wide as Labyrinthian, "Seriously, we've never even been here and yet he got us here in seconds. What is wrong with this picture?"
"Shadow Magic is a tricky business," Twilight said, staring at the ruins with awe in her eyes, "and Sombra knows more about it than anypony else that I have ever met. My guess is that he envisions what he's trying to find and those Gates of his find the place that he's looking for, but how I don't know."
"I...can feel him," Trixie suddenly said, staring at the ruins as if she knew what was waiting for them,"Eight Dragon Priests, seven of which reside somewhere within Skyrim while Nahkriin guarded the gates of Sovngarde for his master Alduin. Six of those Priests had known ruins where they resided, making it so people didn't stumble into them and get themselves killed, but there was one Priest that remained a mystery. Morokei...Glorious in the Dragon Tongue...I can feel the tug of his magic."
"Then let's get in there and get that staff," Luna remarked, her battleaxe touching the ground for a moment before she spotted several creatures coming their way, "Great, trolls. Prepare your fire spells and enchantments for battle."
Raika drew her swords and dashed forward, bringing her weapons down hard on the first troll she came to and grinned as flames leapt from the blades to the trolls. She was right in her thinking, daedric weapons had been crafted with the ability to channel fire without an actual enchantment, but the flame enchantment would have made the blades even stronger. A troll reached for her, but she spun around and cut its feet out from under him before driving a sword into the back of its head. She spotted several more trolls coming out of the ruined buildings, so she pulled her weapons back and prepared for another bout with the vile creatures, but before she could move a fireball soared past her and tore three of them to pieces.
Raika was glad to have her friends along for the journey, otherwise she was sure that the trolls might have ripped her apart before she could have gotten to them all. With her friends standing by her she noticed that the remaining trolls seemed to think on the odds of their success before they turned tail and ran away. That was what she would have assumed would go through her mind, if they had been intelligent creatures like everything else they were fighting. Raika spotted a big iron door up a few short staircases and immediately started for it, her friends following without any delay in case they came across more foes.
What they found at the base of the door was at least a dozen bodies torn, beaten, and even burned, but what shocked Raika was that there was one person who looked mostly intact, excluding her left arm. The entire limp was missing, meaning that if they weren't dead already the poor ash coated khajiit was going to die of blood loss soon enough. Raika gently touched the poor khajiit's shoulder and prepared to whisper a prayer for her save journey to the afterlife, but then she seemed to breath once more as she looked up at them.
"What happened here?" Raika asked, wanting to know if the Thalmor had come here seeking the Staff.
"We...we were foolish...to think we...could take them...all..." the khajiit replied, coughing up blood before continuing, "We thought...we could take...the others down... We awoke them...Otar the Mad...Hevnoraak...Krosis...Vokun...and Vulsung...the other five...Priests..."
"They're in Labyrinthian aren't they?" Raika asked, sweat rolling down the side of her face as she waited for the khajiit to either confirm or deny her fears.
"Ye...yes..." the khajiit answered, before her body went still and her spirit finally left her body.
Shadow stepped forward and pressed his hand on the khajiit's head, whispering a prayer to each of the Divines for the girl's swift journey to her spiritual home.
"Whelp, we're screwed," Raika said, staring at the iron door for a moment, "Not only do we have to deal with an army of draugr, since they are always in these places, but now there are five more dragon Priests waiting for us in there. Trixie was barely able to kill Nahkriin after our trek through Skuldafn and the same thing happened with Rahgot in Forelhost. I'm willing to bet that the Dragon Priests are going to be interested in her and her alone, but there is no way she can take down the six of them without resting for some time between each battle."
"I could share my magic with her," Sombra spoke up, causing the eyes to land on him, "I could create a necklace that I could store my magic in and give it to Trixie, for her to use after each battle so she can be replenished for each foe. The only down side to this type of magic is that I'd have to be really close to her, considering how much magic I'd have to pour into the necklace for her to face Six Dragon Priests."
"How close?" Trixie asked, not really liking the idea of being near the stallion at all.
"Well, taking the magic into consideration..." Sombra said, doing his calculation in his head, "I'd have to be in your shadow, just like I did with Raika back when we visited Castle Volkihar. Of course I be silent and you wouldn't have to hear from me until you killed the last of those Priests."
"Fine," Trixie said, steeling herself for what was to come, "let's get this over with."
Sombra nodded and his magic ignited, summoning a small crystal out of the ground and bringing it into the air in front of where he was standing. Next the shadows around them bent to his will, reaching up and surrounding the crystal as he fashioned a special necklace for this particular spell. Once he had a silver necklace with an ebony colored stone set in the center he began to pump his magic into it, making sure to leave the taint out of it so he didn't corrupt Trixie in the process. As soon as most of his magic was inside the necklace he turned his gaze on he iron door and let the darker magic seep into it, forcing a crystal between the sides to open it up for them.
"That's all I can do for now," Sombra huffed, using the next bit of magic to start seeping into Trixie's shadow, "Now, take the necklace and go kick those rotting Dragon Priests in the flank."
Trixie nodded and took the necklace with her right hand, watching Sombra fade into her shadow until both he and his armor were completely gone. She slipped the necklace around her neck and felt the magic inside it almost immediately, which gave her the impression that she might actually have the chance to beat all the remaining Dragon Priests. She stared at the opened door and could feel Morokei calling out to her, almost as if he was welcoming her to the ruins that he called home. Before the others could stop her she pulled on Raika and they descended into the ruins, causing the others to follow after them before they found the draugr army.
Once inside the ruins Trixie fell to the back of the group, choosing to save her magic for when a Dragon Priest showed up and used her sword whenever possible. The first chamber they came to was a rather large open area with two dozen skeletons waiting for them, along with a skeletal dragon in the middle of it all. Serana and Twilight, the only true mages now, wasted no time in dealing with the skeletons, scattering their collective bones across the entire chamber. Shadow and Luna made sure to damage the dragon by shattering its legs so Raika could approach it and destroy the core that kept it alive. With all of their enemies defeated they started to move on to the back of the chamber, but stopped when they realized something was coming up the back stairs.
Trixie recognized what it was almost immediately, with the decaying robe, the golden pieces of armor that looked like scales, and the mask that covered its face. As soon as she saw the malachite mask she knew exactly which Priest it was, almost as if wearing Nahkriin's mask gave her knowledge about the other seven Priests.
"Otar the Mad," Trixie said, magic pulsing around her hand as she separated herself from her group, "the first of the Six Priests that have gathered in Labyrinthian."
Otar stared at her, as if he was trying to see past the mask of his ally that she was wearing, but at least he wasn't shouting at her like Raghot had when he discovered she wasn't Nahkriin. Then, as if realizing something, Otar leveled his staff with Trixie and lightning shot forth, reaching for her as she threw herself to her left to avoid it. Trixie's magic danced around her fingers before she threw it at Otar, shocking herself when she noticed her ice spike transform into a spear of pure crystal and impale Otar in the left side of his chest. The Priest stumbled out of the air for the moment and stared at her, summoning a barrage of lightning that reached straight for her.
Trixie brought up a shield and watched the lightning bounce off of it, but not without damaging the shield in the process. She conjured another spell and released her mirror image, allowing it to run to the other side of the room and distract Otar for the few moments she needed to end the Priest. Otar, as if sensing her trick, separated his hands and lightning jumped at both Trixie's, piercing her image and destroying it within seconds while the real Trixie's barrier shattered. Trixie got onto her feet and called upon her lightning, allowing it to leap from her hand and crash right into Otar, long enough to make him focus on it and ignore her so she could get close. She wasted no time in getting right in Otar's face and stabbing his rotten heart with Starswirl's sword, feeling the magic collapse like it had on the last two Priests.
"Good luck," Otar whispered, the eerie voice fading before he went limp.
Trixie sighed and pulled her sword out of the Dragon Priest, kneeling down for a brief moment to take the third Dragon Mask off of the one who had worn it while he had been alive. She could almost feel the power that rested within the mask, as if it could just fortify her resistance to the three types of destruction magic. It was like when she acquired Rahgot, she could feel it fortifying her stamina, and Nahkriin, which increased her magical powers. She wondered what the other masks would increase, if she could defeat the other Priests that were waiting for her.
"That was amazing Trixie," Twilight said, realizing just now how much better Trixie had gotten at magic since being in this world, "I'm not sure how you did that crystal spike spell, but I know I have got to learn that some time."
"I'd ask Sombra about that Twilight," Trixie replied, feeling the necklace restore her magical energy as she stashed the new mask in her robe, "after all, I learned it from him."
Raika moved forward, leading the group towards the stairs and the iron door that silently waited for them. After they passed through the doorway they came to a corner, where they found a door that was covered completely with pieces of ice and lowered the temperature just a bit. Serana huffed and flames leaped from her fingers, ripping the frozen door to pieces and destroying an undead spirit that had been waiting to jump out at them. As they passed into the hallway Raika spotted an open area that descended into the ground, though there were at least another dozen draugr waiting for them.
Raika was glad that she was able to actually fight something in this dungeon, but she was annoyed that there seemed to be an army of draugr that must have come here with the Priests. It would have made sense that the draugr that served the Dragon Priests in their ruins would have followed them to the most powerful Priest still alive, which happened to be this Morokei. She wondered how the draugr had moved across Skyrim without anyone noticing them, but she also hadn't been given enough time to hear any rumors during their visit to Winterhold.
Raika spotted a walkway where they could diverge from the path they were on and head down a different path, though she didn't know if it was worth investigating. Instead of heading down the other path she continued down the one they had been on already, walking over a bridge and coming to a small area that held several bookshelves with alchemy ingredients. They only had to contend with two draugrs, who were simply walking around and didn't see them coming until they were literally on top of them. Once the draugr were defeated they turned another corner and found themselves walking down to another door, following a stream of water towards it.
They followed the stream through a locked door, opened thanks to Shadow's incredible lock picking skills, past two skeletons, and around another corner until they reached an open chamber with a troll's body sitting near the back. Floating in the center of the chamber was the second of the Dragon Priests they had been warned about, but Trixie knew which one it was by noticing the iron mask. It was Hevnoraak, who stared at Trixie as lightning danced around his left hand, almost as if he was waiting for her to make the first move. The others backed up as she stepped down the stairs, allowing her magic to summon up three images of herself before all four of her faced the Priest that stood in their way.
Lightning shot out of Hevnoraak's hand and flew at her, though Trixie was ready and she ducked, allowing the magic to hit the back wall and torch the stone a bit. One of her images approached the Priest and thrust out its hands, releasing a stream of flames that connected with its face and served to distract it so Trixie could get close with her sword. Hevnoraak, however, wasn't so easily deceived as he reached out and grabbed her image by the neck, snapping it and tossing it to the side before it dissolved into nothing. Trixie had known that the Priests were a dangerous bunch, but she had underestimated them in their one on one battles.
Hevnoraak faced her second image and magic flew at quicker speeds than it had done when she had fought Otar, as she barely had time to react before the image was torn apart. Trixie summoned her ice spikes and sent out a fury of them as her image called upon the power of her lightning barrage, using both elements against Hevnoraak. She was sure that she hit him, as she noticed him stumble once or twice, but she was still amazed at how the Priests could withstand so much damage before she could put them down. Her last image reached for the Priest and successfully made him look her way, giving Trixie the chance she needed to end the fight before it actually dragged on.
When Hevnoraak grabbed her image by the neck Trixie ran forward and drove the Magistrate right into his rotten heart, once again feeling the magic being torn apart by the weapon. Unlike her encounter with Otar, Hevnoraak didn't say a word as the last of his life force was taken from him, leaving Trixie to take the fourth Dragon Mask. She could feel the magic within the mask, enforcing her resistance to disease and poisons, before she stashed it with the others in her robe.
"I'd say well done and that you deserve some rest," Luna remarked, pointing to the window near the troll's body, "but I think there might be another Priest in our immediate area."
Trixie moved to where the troll was resting and looked out at the open ground before her, searching for a sign that another Priest was lurking near their location. Sure enough she saw the golden armor of the Dragon Priests as the next foe floated in the air, staring up at the window as if it had expected Hevnoraak to fail and was patiently waiting for her arrival. The lightened iron mask, different from Hevnoraak's darker iron mask, clearly told her that it was Krosis, who mostly used fire magic against his foes.
"That khajiit wasn't kidding," Raika said, looking down at the Priest that was waiting for Trixie, "This will be the third Priest that's not even supposed to be in this ruin. Why are they only after Trixie?"
"She was the one who slew Nahkriin," Luna replied, staring down at the patient Priest, "who, by all the records that the nords have left behind, was the strongest of the Dragon Priests in Skyrim. The other Seven saw Nahkriin as their leader, the favorite of their lord Alduin, and likely took their orders from him until he disappeared to guard Skuldafn. Now that he's gone they must have turned to his second in command, who has to be this Morokei that's lurking somewhere in this ruin. Morokei wants her defeated, so the other Priests have gathered and seek to destroy the one whose erasing each and every one of them."
"Well, she's beaten four of them so far," Raika commented, watching Trixie walk down to where the Priest was floating, "so I have faith that she's going to beat this one and up that count to five."
Krosis stared at Trixie and brought out his staff, flames dancing around the base of his feet, the length of his staff, and even his hands as he prepared for the fight. Trixie, barely having time to allow her magic to restore itself, opted to ignore her images for once and summoned an ice spike that she threw right at the Priest. She had known that Krosis would melt the ice before it reached him, so while he was distracted she circled to his right and threw a bolt of lightning at him. Krosis barely had anytime to react before the lightning ripped through his robe, blasting the wall and making him turn to face Trixie.
Before she could summon another attack a fireball came racing for her, which made her dodge by throwing herself to the left. The fireball sailed past them and connected with the wall that was resting in their path, charring the stone around where it had landed. Trixie huffed and prepared herself, holding onto her sword as lightning danced around her left hand, just waiting for the moment that she could use it against Krosis. The Priest neared her, flames licking the floor as she began to feel the heat, but no magic seemed to fly at Trixie, as if her enemy was waiting for her to get back on her feet.
Trixie leapt onto her feet and threw her spell, letting the lightning sail through the air and connect with a barrier that Krosis threw up in time to block it. As the barrier dispelled her lightning Trixie ran forward, holding the Magistrate in front of her and prepared to slide it through the rotten heart of yet another Dragon Priest. As the shield fell down Krosis held out his spare hand and prepared to fire yet fireball at her, but Trixie spun around to avoid it and drove her sword right into his chest. For a moment she thought that he had a spare enchantment that prevented the sword from destroying him, but then the magic keeping him alive shattered and he went limp.
Trixie sighed from exhaustion, due to having to fight two Dragon Priests in a row, pushing the body off her sword before collecting the iron mask and the fallen staff.
"Just hang back now Trixie," Raika said, hoping that the Equestrian would listen to her for once, "we'll need you when we reach the net Dragon Priest. Then there's this Morokei that's waiting at the end of the dungeon that we'll have to contend with."
Trixie nodded and let her magic slowly come back thanks to the necklace, glad that she had taken Sombra up on his offer seeing how she was making use of what he had stored inside it. They traveled towards a gate made out of iron spikes, which lowered into the ground the moment that Raika pulled the lever right next to the gate. The next area that they came to was a foggy area with a ghostly women hanging out in the center of it, but the moment she saw them she summoned ice into her hands. Twilight, sensing what was to come, threw her hand forward and the ghost was crushed under the intensity of her magic, allowing them to move forward.
They then walked up the nearby stairs and rounded a corner, finding a flaming door blocking their path that reminded Raika of the ice door they had seen near the entrance. Serana, once again, threw a pair of ice spikes at the door, though Raika heard them hit another spirit that had been waiting to attack them as the door opened. They came to an open room, but the enemies they found were ghostly forms of the draugr they had found on the upper levels of the ruins, though they were just as tough. As they came to another corner they discovered that the normal draugr were also fighting down there as well, doubling the amount of enemies they had to fight.
Raika was getting annoyed with how many draugr there were, knowing that, without her friends, she wouldn't have been able to even reach this point. The amount of enemies they were facing would have swarmed and slaughtered her if she had fought by herself, so she was glad for the friends she had made. Despite the amount of enemies they cut down and blasted their way through the ruins, eventually coming to a chamber with a crumpling tower. There wasn't much blocking their path, but they followed the tunnels until they came to a hidden Word Wall, guarded by not one Dragon Priest, but two Dragon Priests.
Trixie immediately noticed the steel mask of the first Priest, labeling him as Vokun, and the corundum mask of the second Priest, labeling him as Volsung. The last two Priests had chosen to fight together, blocking their way from reaching the newest leader of the age old Dragon Priests.
"Two against one?" Twilight asked, noticing that no one else stood with Trixie as she approached the Priests, "Is it safe to let Trixie fight two of these Dragon Priests alone? I know she can beat one of them alone, but two at the same time?"
"I have faith in her," Luna replied, weaving her hands around and summoning a barrier that would protect them from any stray spells, "so let us watch her take these Priests down, just like the others."
"Vokun, Volsung," Trixie bowed in respect, knowing that they had been awaiting her arrival, "I have arrived to do battle with Morokei and claim the Staff of Magnus for myself."
"Morokei has awaited your arrival," Vokun said, speaking in the ancient Dragon Tongue and yet Trixie understood him, "the arrival of a mage that could rival his own grand power. A mage that could wield the grand power of Magnus' Staff and tame the Eye."
"He bade us to guard the final door between him and everyone else," Volsung continued, causing Trixie to stare at him, "as a final test of your power. The power of the mage that destroyed our mighty leader Nahkriin. You must be very powerful to have defeated our allies, but not even you can stand against the two of us all by yourself."
Trixie, always one for a challenge, summoned her lightning and blasted the two of them backwards, giving her time to conjure up nine images and surround the area around the Priests. The two stared at Trixie and her images, clearly confused by which one of them was the real enemy and which of them were just the annoying copies. They both brought out their staffs, fire dancing around Vokun while ice danced around Volsung, so Trixie followed suit and pulled out the Magistrate, lightning swirling around her. The three of them stood in the same place, staring at each other while the images waited for Trixie to pull off the first move that would allow them to move.
Trixie threw lightning at Vokun and the images broke into action, lightning flying through the air and hitting both of the Priests, who retaliated by throwing ice and fire at Trixie's copies. Two of the copies exploded in a fury of light, though Trixie used the opportunity to conjure up a powerful lightning bolt and threw it as hard as she could right into Volsung's chest. Volsung went flying into the other chamber, giving Trixie a chance to focus on Vokun and dodged the fireball that was thrown in her direction, though her images continued to hail magic on him.
Volsung got up and hailed ice upon her images, tearing three of them to pieces while Vokun's fireball exploded and took another three of them down. The ninth image didn't stand too much of a chance as the two Priests focused a stream of their magic at it, tearing it to pieces before only Trixie remained. Trixie, on the other hand, tossed the Magistrate right through Volsung's chest, having taken advantage of her images to get close to one of the Priests. With the sword deep in his chest Trixie kicked him backwards, causing him to stumble into the other chamber and left Trixie with the last Priest.
"Very good," Vokun said, still speaking in the Dragon Tongue and Trixie still understood him, "Morokei will be pleased to fight you, if you manage to defeat me in combat."
Trixie threw a fireball next to Vokun, making the blast force him closer to where Volsung's rotten body, and her sword, rested. Her plan was simple; all she needed to do was get him as close to the sword without him realizing it, so she could pull it free and drive it right into his heart. Vokun glared at her, but she responded by throwing a pair of fireballs at him, using the blasts to further him away from the Word Wall and get even closer to the sword. As he neared the body he turned around and threw his own fireball at Trixie, who responded by throwing a fireball and used the resulting cloud of smoke to disappear for a moment. Vokun looked around for a moment before a blade erupted from his chest, destroying the magic that kept him alive and silencing the seventh Dragon Priest.
"Dear sweet Celestia," Trixie moaned, feeling tired despite the fact that the necklace was using what had to have been the last of its reserves to restore her magic, "I should not have fought two of these guys at the same time."
Luna dissolved the barrier and walked to Trixie's side, watching her collect the sixth and seventh Dragon Masks, leaving just the one that Morokei held. She was impressed that Trixie had slain seven of the legendary Dragon Priests, creatures that all the nords had feared to face in the old days. She could tell that Trixie was tired, exhausted from the magical combat with absolutely no time for some real rest and knew there wasn't going to be time to rest until the College was safe.
"Are you prepared for Morokei?" Luna asked, beckoning for the others to clear the way for Trixie.
"Honestly, I don't think so," Trixie replied, staring at the masks in her hands, "I've had to fight Dragon Priest after Dragon Priest, so it is understandable that I am magically exhausted from all these fights. Plus Morokei has the Staff of Magnus, so he's bound to pack a terrible punch that's really going to hurt when he attacks me."
"I have faith in you Trixie," Luna remarked, escorting her deeper into the ruins as they approached the final door, "just remember, you need to beat Morokei and get the Staff. Otherwise the College of Winterhold and Windhelm will be reduced to ruins by Ancano."
Trixie steeled herself and pushed open the door, coming to a large chamber with two ghostly mages shooting beams of magic at a figure near the back. Trixie pulled out her fireball staff and shot two fireballs out of it, breaking the dead mages into dust and cancelling out whatever spell they had been working. The moment the spell was gone Morokei emerged from the back of the room, floating in the air and making his way towards the bottom level as Trixie did the same. Eventually the two of them stood in front of each other, though Trixie knew it was a bad idea to let the Priest get as close as she had let him and noticed the strange staff in his right hand.
"Ah, Illusion, it is a pleasure to meet you," Morokei said, speaking in the ancient tongue like the other two priests, "I have felt the loss of my friends as each of them were bested by you. I offer you a choice, don the armor of the Dragon Priests and take the Staff of Magnus so you can ruin our enemies, or ignore me and face my full power."
"Never Morokei," Trixie told the Priest, summoning a total of ten images all around them, "I will destroy you and take the Staff of Magnus for myself."
"Fine then," Morokei sighed, magic dancing around him as Trixie backed up, "face the power of my wrath."
Lightning shot out of Trixie's hand and barreled into Morokei, though she was surprised the moment she discovered that the staff had somehow absorbed the blast. Seeing the change in how this was going to go Trixie pulled out the Magistrate and spun it around, just hoping that she was right and that the weapon could help her against this enemy. Morokei took one look at her images and sent his magic out at them, ripping them to pieces and scattering them across the chamber before they could even melt away.
Trixie could tell that he wanted a one on one battle, a literal one on one battle, without her images or her friends interfering with the battle at all. She called upon the magic of the necklace and summoned a bunch of crystal shards, sending them out towards Morokei and piercing his chest just a bit. She was just a novice of the crystal magic, but it served a purpose as it wounded her enemy and allowed her to conjure more lightning in her hands. She sent her spell out at Morokei, knowing that he would bash it to the side and moved herself to his side in preparation for the attack she needed to launch on him.
Once the spell was broken she lashed out at Morokei with her sword, cutting through the magic that the Staff provided him and causing him to float backwards just a bit. He held the Staff out and magic shot out at Trixie, who raised the sword and sent a stream of magic out of it, connecting to the attack sent by Morokei. The conflict between the two weapons was brief, but the moment it ended both weapons went flying, the sword hitting the stairs near the entrance while the staff was flung over to the wall Morokei had been trapped near. Morokei stumbled out of the air and touched the ground, being the first Dragon Priest that Trixie had seen to do so in all the time she had been in Skyrim.
Trixie called upon most of the magic that she still had, charging one final lightning spell that could potentially destroy Morokei without the use of the legendary blade. Morokei seemed to be thinking the same thing, as his own lightning coursed around his body and prepared to fling it out right at her. Trixie threw her lightning and their magic connected to each other, pushing back and forth between the two mages as they fought for supremacy. Not a moment later Trixie pushed with all her might and the magic barreled into Morokei, piercing him through his rotten heart and tossing him into the side of the ruins.
"Its...over..." Raika said, not believing that Trixie had destroyed the final Dragon Priest, "She did it. She's managed to destroy all eight of the Dragon Priests that were once scattered across Skyrim."
Trixie managed to get onto her feet and walked over to Morokei, finding that his body had stilled and leaving her to take the final Dragon Priest mask. She took the mask and added it to her collection, glad that the fight between her and the Dragon Priests was finally over at long last. She walked over to the Staff of Magnus and picked it up, feeling the magic within it pulsing beneath her hand and realizing that they could save the College with it.
"Here Trixie," Twilight said, holding out the sword that she had seen her friend using, "I didn't want you to lose this."
"Thanks Twilight," Trixie replied, taking the weapon and sheathing it, "We had better get out of here..."
"Stop right there," a voice shouted, causing them to look up and find an elf staring down at them, "Ancano knew that you would be able to make your way through Labyrinthian and acquire the Staff of Magnus. I'm afraid that I'm going to need that staff right now."
"Twilight?" Trixie asked, gripping the staff tightly while staring at the Thalmor agent, "Could you do something for me?"
"I guess I could," Twilight replied, thinking that she knew exactly what Trixie wanted of her, "what do you want me to do?"
"Crush that elf," Trixie answered, staring down at the dull colored gemstone.
Twilight took a step forward and held out her hand, willing her magic to ensnare the elf and gripped him tightly, causing him to squirm against her. Before Twilight could do the deed a sword pierced his heart and the elf died in her grasp, though Raika was standing at a position to have thrown the weapon. Twilight released the elf and cancelled her magic, looking around and wondering where Sombra had wandered off to. As if answering her silent question Sombra emerged from Trixie's shadow, breathing heavily as he finally stretched after the amount of time he had been still.
"Now what?" Twilight asked, wondering what they were going to do next.
"Back to the College of Winterhold," Trixie replied, turning to the door that the elf must have come from, "We'll leave this place and then, when Sombra's able to do so, we'll summon a portal to the College and save it from destruction."
Raika smiled; once they saved the College the mages would owe the Stormcloaks one for saving them, the rest of their town, and a large chunk of their section of Skyrim. Things were looking up for the first time since she started giving her aid to the Dawnguard.