"So, how do we stop Miraak?" Chrysalis asked, not wanting to voice her concern that it sounded like there was no way to reach their enemy's location, "How do we find where he is hiding and stop him before he puts this plan into action?"
"With the Black Book you hold locked I would think it impossible to go exactly where Miraak is," Storn replied, shaking his head as if he was recalling something, "but maybe if you gathered the other six Black Books you might be able to force open the lock and follow the Dragonborn into Apocrypha. A dark elf by the name of Neloth came to our village some time ago, asking where he could find one of the Black Books, but we could not tell him anything about them. Maybe he has uncovered some information about them and might share them with you, but I cannot say if he'll do that."
"And where would we find this Neloth?" Chrysalis continued, hoping to get the information so they could leave.
"His home, a place he calls Tel Mithryn, lies to the south of our village," Storn told them, beckoning to the south of where he was sitting, "You'll come across a structure that looks like it was grown out of a massive fungus, that would be his home, no matter what you think of it. He and his apprentice should be inside the building, but that is all I know about him. Before you go, maybe I could ask you to do something for me?"
"And that would be?" Chrysalis said, raising an eyebrow at the old man.
"You have no doubt seen the All-Maker Stones that litter Solstheim's landscape," Storn said, sighing before looking up at the, "if you find a way to crack through Miraak's hold over one of them then maybe we can shatter his hold over the island and her people."
"We'll see what we can do," Sombra spoke up, casting a look over at the Wind Stone that laid just outside the village, though he had no idea if his plan would work.
Storn bowed his head and returned to the task of keeping the barrier up, giving Sombra and his friends the chance to get up and make their way over to where the Wind Stone rested. They crossed the bridge and got closer to where the Stone was resting, finding all the villagers that had been taken and forced to build the contraption against their will. The villagers, and the three bandits that worked with them, took no notice of their arrival, but Sombra had expected to find something like this before they had even arrived at the Stone.
"So what's the plan with these guys?" Chrysalis asked, staring at Sombra as she wondered what was running through his mind at that exact moment.
Sombra sighed and the air around him seemed to darken, the shadows coming out of the ground around his feet and stretching up to where his hands were. Chrysalis jumped back and watched as his shining armor seemed to darken, in the same moment that tendrils of dark magic seeped out of his eyes. It shocked her to see Sombra suddenly shift from the peaceful pony she had known into the violent tyrant that everypony feared before he was defeated. She looked over to Celestia, hoping that she would stop him from doing something dangerous, but she just shook her head and watched her husband.
Sombra approached the Stone and sent the shadows outwards, allowing the darkness to wrap around the villagers before he forced his own version of mind control on them. As it turned out it wasn't very easy to take over their minds, as Miraak's control hung on them with a tight grip, but Sombra was determined to win. For a few moments the villagers did nothing while he worked his magic on them, but eventually his shattered Miraak's hold on them and his shadows seeped out of their eyes. Once all of the villagers were saved he released them, taking the darkness out of their eyes, and sent them on their way home as the structure they were working on fell apart.
As the structure crumpled Sombra fell to his knees for a moment, but it had to be expected from the magical duel he had to pass if he wanted to free people from Miraak's control.
"You okay dear?" Celestia asked, helping her husband onto his feet, "That looked exhausting."
"I...was not...expecting such resistance," Sombra huffed, trying to shake his exhaustion off, "Miraak's will is strong, so I can only imagine how strong he truly is in person. Let's move on and find that elf."
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Miraak felt it long before one of the Seekers came floating over to him, he had somehow lost one of the Stones that were scattered around Solstheim. How he had lost the Wind Stone he did not know, but with the other five Stones still under his control he could easily regain the other one in time. He sent the Seeker away and turned back to his workbench, where he had crystal shards that his cultists had painstakingly collected from the wreckage outside Whiterun. His followers had used them to lock onto Sombra's unique magic and prevented him from reaching the top of the Throat of the World, where they had been nearly destroyed.
He was pleased that his followers had the sense of mind to divert the attention of the strange nords away from Whiterun, giving the second group of followers time to drag a chunk of crystal out of the hole it had been lodged in. Where his followers wanted to end the life of the 'False' Dragonborn, Miraak wanted to devise a way to use the magic to create a gateway out of his realm. He had been working on this for the last few days, ever since he had received the first batch from a follower that had returned with a small crystal in his hands, Hermaeus had taken a liking to the possible magics of the crystal and let Miraak study it, but whether or not he knew his plans Miraak did not know.
Hermaeus was, as to his very nature, a hoarder of knowledge, so now that there was something new for them to study, catalog, and write volumes on, he was willing to leave Miraak alone. It was also because he had given the Daedric Prince a chunk of crystal for him to study, with the promise that they would exchange notes later that week. As long as Hermaeus stayed away from his research books and his notebook Miraak was content to let the Prince do whatever he wanted in his realm, though he'd be done with him soon enough.
He glanced back at the drawing he had made on the first day and grinned, his plan was nearly ready and the only thing that he needed to do was awaken Yolrahtoor.
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Sombra and his friends eventually reached the area that Storn had called Tel Mithryn, the fungal tower that seemed to be growing right out of the ground itself. As they arrived outside the tower they found two people arguing over how to properly summon what they called an 'Ash Guardian', with one mentioning that the second should just ask Neloth about the summoning again. The pair spotted the three of them coming and stopped what they were doing, staring at them as they made their way up to the wooden door and entered the tower. Sombra found a sphere of magic and simply touched it, letting the magic grab him and haul him all the way to the top of the tower, where it dropped him off on a small walkway.
As soon as he stopped off the walkway he spotted the elf they had seen in Raven Rock, who was poured over a book that looked like it was open to the middle. That was before he spotted a second Black Book sitting in a locked room, though he could feel the book that he carried pulse as he drew closer to it.
"Can I help you?" the elf said, making Sombra turn around and look at him, "Ah, wait, I remember you. You were one of the strange nords that traveled with the Dragonborn, Raika Snow-Heart. You are Sombra, known as the King of Shadows to every nord across Skyrim. Do not look so surprised, I have heard the tales that the sailors tell of you in Raven Rock, waiting for their next ride out of the miserable little town they are forced to rest in."
"The chief of the Skaal sent us to you," Celestia replied, walking up to them with Chrysalis not far behind, "We found one of the infamous Black Books of Hermaeus Mora and he pointed us to you, telling us that you might be able to help us find another one."
"Wait, there are only three of you gathered before me," Neloth said, staring at them as if he was piecing together a puzzle in his mind, "Ah, the Dragonborn! Where is she? She is the only one who could have found one of the elusive Black Books that I have been searching for."
"Allow me to answer your question with another question," Sombra spoke up, causing the elf to turn to him, "How much do you know of a dragon that goes by the name of Yolrahtoor?"
"Ah, an excellent question indeed," Neloth replied, walking over to a bookshelf and pulling out a rather large volume, "I found this rare and ancient volume in an ancient ruin, perfectly preserved as if the nords that had penned it down knew that it would be of use to the future generations. The ancient nords warned that, despite her defeat at the claws of her former master, Yolrahtoor would one day return to Tamriel, to finish what her new master started. Ah, now I see that your question was meant to tell me my answer; the Dragonborn has been carrying around Yolrahtoor's soul and now the dragon is waking up.
That also tells me why you are looking for the seven Black Books, which are fragments of Hermaeus Mora's forbidden knowledge; you are looking for a way into Apocrypha that does not lie through the book you found. As you can see, I have one of those books locked up for my personal research, but I cannot allow you to simply take it without allowing me to finish. I can, however, show you where a third Black Book is located. To the northeast is a sunken dwarven ruin called Nchardak, where I found the book, but I could not open the case the dwarves placed it in. Maybe with your help we might be able to crack the container and retrieve the book."
Before any of them could stop him Neloth moved to the walkway and descended right towards the bottom level, where the front door was located. Sombra sighed and they followed after him, descending to the ground before following the elf out of the fungal tower, heading in the direction that he had indicated. As they walked Sombra spotted a fourth Stone not too far away from where the tower was located, workers putting up the same structure that the workers near the Wind Stone had nearly finished putting up. He would have turned on the structure and freed the prisoners from Miraak's mind control, but he wasn't up to having another bout with the deranged villain at the moment.
When they reached the sunken city they were attacked by the local bandits that had taken the place as their home, but Neloth blasted them from where they were standing and cast them into the water around them. Sombra let him go about his business, tossing the bandits lifeless bodies off the ruins and clearing the way for them to work their way around the structure until they came to a locked door. Neloth approached a small pedestal and pressed a cube into the waiting area, waiting for a second before the giant door unlocked before their eyes. Neloth chuckled to himself and entered the building, leaving the rest of them to follow him.
"See here?" Neloth asked, showing them around the reading room before showing them the case with the Black Book, "This is where the dwarves contained the Black Book, locked in a container that would require us to rebuild the steam connection to this room. That, in itself, isn't easy, as we need to find four more cubes like the one I used to open the door which will, in turn, activate the steam and unlock the Black Book.
The last time I was here I made sure to research where the remaining cubes I would need to open the container were located, though I quickly discovered that I would need an assistant to aid me. Now that all of you are here I think that we might be able to open the container and retrieve the Black Book, though we won't be able to do that if we've got the dwarven constructs attacking us. Come, let us find those cubes and get that case open."
He lead them down to another level of the ruin, where they were greeted by an enormous chamber that was nearly completely full of water, though Neloth didn't seem bothered by that fact. He approached an area that had two pedestals and told them that they would need to use the both of them to access where the last cube he could locate rested. Once that was done he turned to the left and approached another large door, where he set the cube down and opened it wide open for them. Sombra sighed and followed the elf into the next room, where they found a cube sitting on a pedestal, beckoning for them to reach out for it and pick it up.
Once the deed was done they heard the familiar sound of the dwarven machines waking up, but Sombra was faster as a dozen metal spiders came near them and he crushed them with his crystal spikes. They followed the pathway the spiders had come from, coming to a submerged chamber with a simple bridge, which they crossed without pause. Once on the other side Neloth placed both cubes on the two pedestals, the gears in the walls activating and began to lower the water level so they could travel to where the third cube was located. The only unfortunate thing about that was that the ancient machines that were still working woke up and pulled themselves off the ground, though Sombra was beginning to hate dwarven ruins as much as Raika had.
"Allow me to do this," Celestia said, holding a hand out to stop Sombra before a light wrapped around her, "I've been itching to get some real exercise since I've returned."
Flames leapt out of her weapon as she landed around the machines and cut one of the monstrous giants down before it could even get close to her. The spiders, now aware of the potential threat that she posed, turned on her and gathered around her, allowing their lightning to leap off of their bodies and surge right at her. Celestia held her sword up and the lightning was pulled to the blade, where she spun it around and coursed the lightning to those that had sent them at her, piercing their metallic shells and silencing them with ease. A second giant came at her, but she ducked under its attack and put into the arm, allowing her heated blade to cut through the metal before she destroyed the core that powered it.
"Oh yes, that was good," Celestia said, stretching her arms as she looked up at the others, "Let's go get that cube!"
The third cube was easy to find, as it was literally above where they were standing, though the spiders that emerged from the walls when they removed the cubes died in seconds. Sombra spotted another walkway past the bridge they had crossed, though when he mentioned it to the group Neloth removed both of the cubes he had placed and raised the water back up, barely giving them time to move before the water was back at its original level. With the water level raised back to its original height they managed to cross to a higher area, though Sombra had them halt as he spotted a sentry waiting for them.
He connected to his magic and summoned a crystal spike, going right through the ground below the sentry and piercing it so hard that he ended up splitting it in half. A third monstrous machine woke up and came their way, but Sombra wanted nothing to do with it as another pillar erupted out of the ground and tore the machine apart. He lead them up to where the cube sat, but the moment they reached it Neloth took it off its pedestal and opened a bridge for them to return to the gate they had used earlier.
Once back in the main chamber Neloth approached the two pedestals and deposited two cubes on them, activating the larger pumps in the walls and lowered the water down so they could access the second area. There were two more sentries waiting for them near the door, but Sombra was more than ready for them as two spires tore through them like they were paper.
"The stories the sailors told about you were true," Neloth remarked, just as they passed into the next area, "You must let me study one of those crystals of yours before you leave."
Sombra shook his head as he took stock of what rested in front of them, an area that had three bridges that looked like they were waiting to be lowered. He then spotted three pedestals resting above where they were standing, so he acquired the cube that Neloth still held and moved up there, wondering what would happen if he pressed a cube into one of the slots. He pressed the cube into one of the slots and the bridge to their left lowered down into position, only for the one on their right to raise back up. He growled and tried again on a different slot, causing the middle bridge to lower into place as the left one, that he had just lowered, raised back up.
After five minutes of twisting them around he finally discovered the key that would allow all three bridges to lower and build the walkway for them to cross. The machines that lived in the walls woke up and came after them, filling the room with spiders and spheres, but they were more than prepared for them. They fought their way across the first bridge, up the nearby set of stairs, across the second bridge, down a second set of stairs, and across the third bridge before they managed to walk up a third set of stairs. Along the way they had broken many of the machines that had woken in the initial wave, but as they reached the top of the stairs they noticed that even more were waking up and were coming their way.
"I knew Nchardak had an army sleeping in its depths," Neloth commented, blasting a sphere to pieces as the others neared him, "but with as many constructs as there are in front of us I'd wager that we might die here. If any of you have a plan I'd like to hear it."
A light flashed in the middle of the construct army and a dozen of them went flying into the air, crashing against the walls and exploding into pieces in seconds. At first Sombra wondered if Miraak had somehow found where they were and had come to finish them off himself, but then he caught the sight of a familiar ebony battleaxe and knew who had come. Luna, dressed up in her suit of ebony armor, leapt into the battle and cut into their foes, either tossing them into the air or crushing them against the ground. Sombra smiled and watched her make short work of their enemies, though she seemed interested in keeping them at bay then speaking to her friends.
Neloth sighed and pressed the cube into the final pedestal, lowering the water level and allowing them to see a barred gate that could only lead to the fourth cube. Sombra had Celestia and Chrysalis stay with Luna, so they could hold off the seemingly infinite swarm of enemies while he grabbed the tool they needed to press on. Once they were ready Sombra traversed the shadows and appeared in the area they had opened, far enough from the machines so that they wouldn't spot him. He nodded to Celestia and turned around, heading down the passageway while she stayed with her sister.
The passageway lead him right to a small chamber that had spinning blades, but he stared at them for a few moments as he made sure they wouldn't catch him. Then, after studying them, he shook his head and conjured a small wormhole on the wall near him, where he slid his hand through the hole, grabbed the metallic cube, and pulled it off while pulling his hand out. With the cube in hand he felt the water begin to raise back up, so he turned around and hightailed it back to where the others were still fighting. When he arrived he snapped open a portal and took them back to the main chamber, giving Neloth time to take the cube he had used so they could proceed.
Once they were back in the main chamber Neloth removed one of the cubes from the two pedestals, raising the water level so it would give them the keys they needed to open the steam up. Luna stood guard near the ramp, her eyes peeled for any more creatures that would come to do them harm, while Sombra and Celestia put the four cubes into the four pedestals. Once the cubes were all in place the ruin shook for a bit before steam was released into the busted pipes, to which Neloth signaled the retreat. They made their way back to where the entrance to the main chamber was located, though they were immediately followed by the annoying constructs that seemed to pour out of the walls themselves.
Once they reached the ramp that would lead them up to the reading room Sombra turned around and summoned a crystal barricade, which would stop the flow to the constructs until they could lock the main gate again.
"Now then, all that remains is to press this button," Neloth said, stretching his arms the moment they returned to the reading room before he pressed the button.
The case that contained the Black Book opened up moments after he pressed the button, cracking in half before the two pieces receded into the ground beneath their feet. The book rose up until the ground that carried it was in line with the rest of the floor, though it took a moment before they heard a faint click. Then a pedestal rose up and stopped as it reached the height of a normal nord, giving them all a view of the Black Book and Neloth glared at it as if he truly wanted it.
"Go ahead," Neloth said, beckoning for one of them to approach the book, "take a look and find the knowledge you'll need to open your gateway to Apocrypha."
Sombra smiled and the shadows leapt off of the ground, twisting around the Black Book as he made sure it held no nasty surprises for any of them. Once he was sure that the book was safe to take from its pedestal he opened the container that contained the book they had collected from Miraak's temple and stashed the second book with it. The moment that the book was sealed away he slammed the container shut and looked over at Neloth, who stared at him in utter disbelief and shock.
"We need all seven of these Black Books," Sombra told the elf, knowing that there were four more that were unaccounted for, "You are going to help us find the other four and then, once we have them all, you'll turn yours over. Now, once everything is said and done with Miraak, I'll be more than happy to let you take all seven of them and learn whatever forbidden knowledge your searching for."
Neloth stared at them as they made their way out of the ruins, where they happened to find two serpent looking dragons staring down at them as they beat their wings. The one on the left looked like nearly every other dragon they had seem in Skyrim by the color of its scales, dirty brown with a hint of some small scars that had never healed. The second was a light blue scaled dragon, who just glared down at them as if he had the intent to simply attack them and wipe them all out in an instant.
"More dragons?" Luna asked, a grin appearing on her face as she studied both of their opponents, "Sister, I would love to fight the serpent dragon, but, seeing how I chose the last time there were multiple dragons, I leave the choice to you. Which do you want?"
"I could honestly care less," Celestia said, staring up at the dirty brown dragon, "but, seeing how you came to have fun, I'll just take the dirty brown dragon down and leave you with the serpent."
Luna's grin only widened before she blasted into the air, racing right towards the serpent dragon before it had any time to beat its wings and get out of the way. She hit it right in the chest, causing it to stagger out of the air for a moment before flinging her off of it, roaring at her as they both corrected themselves. Ice leapt out of the dragon's mouth and raced towards Luna, who simply ducked under the attack and soared right up to the dragon, swinging her battleaxe and cutting its its chest just a bit. The dragon roared in pain and reached to grab her, but Luna circled to the dragon's back and sunk her weapon into the space behind its heart, cutting through the scales like they were butter. Then, before the dragon could recover, Luna moved up to its head and swung her battleaxe as hard as she could, piercing the skull and going right into the brain, effectively dropping it from the sky and crashing it against the roof of the reading room.
Celestia, on the other hand, followed the movements of the dirty brown dragon, her wings beating as she waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. The dragon roared and breathed a gout of fire at her, but she spun her sword around and caught the flames, ripping the control to her side before sending them back at the beast. The dragon barely noticed the attack, but as it circled around the attack Celestia surprised it by attacking the back and cutting a small gash in the scales. She ducked as the tail came at her and circled round once more, swinging every now and then as she got the chance, cutting some gashes to wear out her foe. The dragon growled and noticed three sitting ducks, so it decided to forsake its current opponent and flew down to where the others were standing, only to have a crystal pillar erupt out of the water and pierce it right in the chest.
"I must thank you, friends of the Dragonborn," a voice said, as a shadowy robed man wearing a mask appeared before them with two sphere pulsing around him, "for giving me their power. Soon you shall feel the power of my wrath, so don't get comfortable anytime soon."
With that said the man, who Sombra assumed was Miraak, disappeared into thin air, taking both souls with him to Apocrypha, though for what purpose he did not know.
"So," Luna commented, glad to have had some fun as she landed by the group, "who was that and what have I missed?"
"I think that was Miraak," Sombra said, as there could be no one else in his mind, "and he's holding Raika captive."