Sunset sighed as she walked towards the Arcanaeum, where she was supposed to speak with the librarian and learn the information she needed about the orb she had discovered in Saarthal. Bjorn and Lydia walked behind her, though she was thankful that they were allowing her to be silently thinking about her enemy, the demon Tirek. She didn't have the heart to tell them about the destructive power that Tirek had, which she learned from several of Princess Celestia's stories when she started learning offensive spells. She needed a plan to stop the demon before he could cause any damage, but so far she couldn't find him and she had no idea how much power he had already absorbed.
Though she did know that, if Tirek had somehow regained all of his power, then the College of Winterhold, not to mention the rest of the Hold and likely a piece of another Hold, would have already been destroyed.
When she walked down the stairs and entered the Arcanaeum she was pleased to see that there were a large number of bookshelves, each of which she suspected held fifteen to twenty books a piece. There was so much knowledge around her that she knew she could spend a few weeks reading and studying up on the history of this world her companions called home. Unfortunately she didn't have the time to waste, as she had Tirek to worry about and the black dragon that had wrecked the city she had nearly been executed in. She spotted a counter at the back of the area and approached it, but as she walked to it she spotted the elf that Mirabelle was arguing with, Ancano she recalled, sitting on a bench and ignoring her completely.
"You are now in the Arcanaeum," the librarian, an orc Sunset quickly learned, said as she stopped before his workstation, "of which I am in charge. It might as well be my own little plane of Oblivion. Disrupt my Arcanaeum, and I will have you torn apart by angry Atronachs. Now, do you require assistance?"
"Tolfdir and I found something in Saarthal," Sunset explained, forcing a smile on her face, "and the Archmage told me to come and see if you had anything that would tell me about what we discovered."
"I know what you want." Urag gro-Shub replied, looking up at her for a moment, "Word travels fast around here. To answer your question; no, I don't have anything for you. Not anymore, anyway. An apprentice by the name of Orthorn stole a number of books when he ran off to Fellgow Keep to join those Summoners. Some kind of peace offering. I think one of those volumes may have had some relevant information. If you want them, you'll have to talk to Orthorn."
Sunset moaned for a moment before pulling out her map and laid it on the counter, asking where she could find this Fellglow Keep and the runaway apprentice. She was surprised to find that the keep in question was near Whiterun, which meant that they could rest in the city before striking out at the mages Orthorn had gone to join. She quickly thanked the librarian and turned towards the exit, finding that Ancano was now standing in the middle of her path and it didn't look like he would be moving anytime soon. Sunset sighed for a moment before walking up to the elf, wondering what he wanted from her and her companions.
"You there. I have questions for you." Ancano said, his eyes resting on Sunset for a moment, "You were in Saarthal, yes? It has come to my attention that something was found there."
"Yes, I told the Archmage about ten minutes ago," Sunset replied, moving by him and stopping for a moment, "I don't know how you discovered the sphere's existence so quickly, but I would leave it alone if I were you."
"It is my job to know these things." Ancano told her, though she detected a sneer with those words, "My role as advisor to the Archmage is aided by knowing everything that transpires here. You may go now."
Sunset stared at the elf for a moment, wondering if he could possibly know where Tirek was hiding, but she didn't want to alert the one person she didn't trust with the existence of someone so powerful. She then sighed and beckoned to Bjorn and Lydia, telling them to follow her so they could leave and recover all the books that the former apprentice stole. As the trio headed towards the stairs Sunset looked back at Ancano and again wondered if he had met or even seen Tirek, but shook her head and moved on. She'd figure out the elf later, when she deported Tirek back to Tartarus and could focus on something else.
-----------------------------------------
Ancano moved to the upper walkway of the College and watched Sunset Shimmer, the strangest breton he had ever met, and her companions walk out into what remained of Winterhold. He had overheard where Urag gro-Shub, the foul orc librarian, was sending them and what they were supposed to recover, though it only brought a small smile to his face. He knew that, by the time that Sunset returned to the College, the Master Wizards would have moved the sphere from Saarthal to the hall where Tolfdir taught his students. And, once the sphere was in position, he would attune himself to it and discover what his partner needed to know, which he would turn over in return for complete control over the magical artifact.
He'd love to see the look on Sunset's face the moment she discovered that he was working with Tirek, but he figured that something would kill her before she managed to return to the College.
"She's leaving I take it?" a voice behind Ancano said, causing him to turn around and watch his partner step out of the shadows, the old man named Tirek he had learned.
"Sunset Shimmer and her companions are no longer at the College," Ancano replied, noting that Tirek had found a staff to use as a walking stick, "she won't be back until tomorrow at the latest. Or maybe never if some wild creature kills her and her band of 'adventurers' on their way to Whiterun."
"Good, that is very good," Tirek said, moving up to where Ancano was standing and looking out at the decayed city, "I can feel my power slowly returning to me, though it is a matter of time until she realizes that her worst fears will soon be realized. Soon I shall know exactly what I need to know and once I do it will be too late for her to stop me. Never forget this fact Ancano; so long as I get the knowledge that I desire I shall let you have everything you desire."
Ancano turned to face his partner, but when he did he found that Tirek had vanished, returning to his resting place in the Midden so that no one noticed him until it was time. He sighed and went back to staring out at the city, wondering what he would do the moment he was given complete control over that magic artifact.
-----------------------------------------
Sunset and her companions continued down the road that they had taken to get to Winterhold in the first place, though she kept her eyes open for any enemies that wanted them dead. As they walked she wondered about the layout of the keep she was supposed to recover the books from, as she wanted to have some sort of plan for when they arrived. She had asked Bjorn about the keep, wondering if he had been near the location during his time as a hunter, but as it turned out he had never been near it at all. Lydia also spoke up during their journey, reporting the rumors she had heard about the mages that were supposed to live there, but she had never been outside the gates of Whiterun until she became Sunset's Housecarl.
Despite how Sunset wanted some information about the keep she just had to accept the fact that she would have to wing it when they reached their destination.
When they finally got close to Whiterun, which happened to be the watchtower that rested on the border of the Pale, Eastmarch, and Whiterun, Sunset turned to the east and they continued in that direction. As they moved the trio found themselves assaulted by the wildlife, resulting in a pack of wolves, a sabercat, and a bear coming their way and forcing them to put them down. Bjorn had made it easy for them, as he pointed out each of their major weaknesses before they engaged in combat, though Sunset was grateful for his experience anyway. Then, in a matter of minutes, they spotted the keep, which rested in the exact location that Urag had pointed out and allowed Sunset to look up at the sky.
"Its almost nighttime," Sunset commented, a plan forming in her mind, "Bjorn, when darkness covers us I want you to pick out the sentries and put them down. Then, when the coast is clear, we'll move into the keep and found where this Orthorn is located. Hopefully he has the books on him and we can work out a deal with him, otherwise we'll have to kill our way through the keep until we find the tomes that we need."
Bjorn nodded and they fell back just a bit, coming to a small cave area that they built a small campfire in and prepared a small meal that would serve as their dinner. While they waited for night to fall Sunset told them that, when they were inside the keep itself, they would need to be as silent as possible and only engage in combat when it was absolutely necessary. She didn't want to alert the mages further inside the keep that they ad intruders until they were no longer able to keep themselves hidden from their enemies. Bjorn agreed with her plan, though it was clear that Lydia didn't want to be sneaking about and openly asked why Sunset didn't just blast them with her magic.
"I'm still not as powerful as I was when I was in Equus," Sunset replied, rubbing one hand against the opposite arm, "I was a powerful unicorn in my home world, but I have been without magic for quite some time and my body is adjusting back to what it had been when I was born. I'm sure that former me would have no problem breaking into that keep and blowing the mages up without wasting much of her magicka, but it will be some time before I'm at that level again. We'll have to play this smart and not charge in like warriors, which these mages are likely expecting to arrive at any moment."
Another hour passed before night fell on them, giving them the cover that Sunset had been hoping for, which allowed the three of them to move towards the keep. As they approached the wall Bjorn pulled two arrows out and nocked one, pulling the string out and letting an arrow fly right at the mage that was walking along the top of the rotten wall, colliding with his chest and knocking him to the ground. Bjorn turned towards the tower and loosed the second arrow, knocking the mage that had been standing guard off his feet and forced him to fall to the ground, where Lydia made sure that he was dead. A flame creature, an atronach Sunset remembered, appeared near the base of the tower, but Lydia spun her battleaxe into the creatures chest and slew it in seconds, though she dived to the side as it exploded.
As her companions made sure the coast was clear, which Sunset thought was kind of easy, she collected the staffs that the mages held and moved towards the opening that the atronach had been guarding.
Once they were inside the keep, a lower area Sunset believed, they moved forward as silently as they could, though when they reached the first room they found a mage staring down at the pool they were standing in and spotted them immediately. The mage clapped his hands and his familiars, a pair of large spiders, began to rush towards the stairs, but Sunset snapped her fingers and summoned her magic, tossing fireballs at the mage. The mage ducked and moved towards an opening, though was Lydia took down the spiders Sunset ran up the steps and chased after her enemy. He moved to head down another passage, but she threw a fireball into his back and sent him flying, though she heard voices down the tunnel began to speak to each other.
The room the mage had been heading towards was a holding area of sorts, as three of the cells were occupied by what Bjorn claimed were vampires. All that told Sunset was that there was another vampire in the keep, no doubt being tortured by the mages, though before she could get close and ask one of them what was happening a second mage stepped into view. Lydia, apparently getting tired of sneaking, charged forwards the moment the mage appeared and heaved her battleaxe at her, barely giving the mage time to defend herself as her head went flying. Then, before Sunset could stop her, Lydia turned towards the direction of another door and opened it, before charging into yet another fight.
"Do set us free," one vampire commented, staring right at Sunset as she and Bjorn passed by her cell, "we could provide some assistance to you. Maybe we can cut some form of deal?"
"I'm just here for the books that an apprentice stole from the College of Winterhold," Sunset told the vampire, noting that she and her companions were former nords, "What could you possibly have that I would cut a deal for?"
"The Caller is a mad women," the vampire said, eyeing Lydia as she returned to the group, with three staffs in hand for Sunset, "she's got this grand plan to use this fortress as some sort of summoning portal, so she can call one of the Daedric Lords into Tamriel, breaking the barrier that was set up when Martin Septim gave his life to seal Oblivion off from our world. I don't know which of the Daedric Lords she's trying to summon, but based on the runes I saw its clear that she's trying to latch onto the powers of Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, and someone called Jyggalag. I don't know what she's thinking, using her own created Daedric Lord in place of a real one, but if she succeeds she could very well shatter this world beyond repair.
Let the three of us go, and in return we would gladly sacrifice ourselves to make sure this world is safe, despite the fact that most people don't care for us."
Sunset knew of the destructive powers of the Daedric Lords from the brief stories she had heard, but Bjorn seemed to pale at the mention of what the Caller was doing. He immediately sprung the levers and let the vampires out, who seemed grateful for the release and immediately gathered some armor from the fallen mages. They dressed themselves in the armor that the mages had worn, though they had an assortment of weapons, no doubt taken from the bodies as well. Sunset had no idea why they would trust the vampires, but if it was to stop someone from tearing a rift between Nirn and Oblivion then she guessed they had better work together.
"You have my thanks," the vampire said, just as her companions nodded their agreement, "Fiona Nightblade, at your service. These are my sisters Diasa and Hel."
"I'm Sunset Shimmer," Sunset replied, walking into the next area with her companions, new and old, following behind her, "and these are Bjorn Wyrmsblood and Lydia."
The room that they entered was the one that Lydia had run into, with the three dead mages that her Housecarl had slain by herself, though as they walked Sunset spotted a symbol crafted into the wall, one that looked like a rune. It seemed to fit what she had been told not a few moments ago, though she was surprised to find one of them so quickly.
"That's one of the three runes the Caller created," Fiona commented, seeing how Sunset was looking at it, "the Mehrunes Dagon one it seems. Diasa is going to stay behind and make sure that this rune is disrupted the moment the Caller activates her spell. We had best move on and make sure that the other two are secured as well."
Sunset nodded and the group moved into the next area of the keep, finding a single mage that was guarding three locked cells; one that was empty, one that had a trio of wolves locked up, and the middle one had someone standing behind the bars. Bjorn prepared to loose an arrow at the mage, who was barely turning around to face them, but then Lydia ran forward and cut the mage in half with little effort. Sunset chuckled and looked at the three levers in the middle of the room, then turned her gaze to the man behind the bars, who she assumed was Orthorn.
"So, your Orthorn," Sunset commented, staring at the mage for a moment, "Tell me something; does the Caller have the three books that you stole from the College of Winterhold?"
"Yes, and she's insane," Orthorn replied, though Sunset could hear a pleading tone in his voice, "She's trying to breach the barrier between worlds. Why, I do not know, but she needs to be stopped before she..."
"...destroys all of Nirn," Sunset finished, turning to Bjorn and nodding to the middle lever, which opened the cell, "Here's how we're going to do this; your going to come with us and we're going to stop the Caller before she has a chance to start her spell. I get the books, the vampires get their freedom, and you... you can do whatever you want once we're done here."
Orthorn nodded and Sunset moved down the tunnel that was by the cell that held the wolves, wondering what they would find before they discovered the Caller.
That was before the group approached a new room, one that appeared to have three ready mages , one of them wearing the robes of an instructor, waiting for them. Fiona looked behind the mages and spotted the other vampire that had been taken captive, though she smiled as she slowly drew her steel dagger from its sheath. Before the mages or Sunset's group could react Fiona disappeared, almost as if the shadows had swallowed her whole and left them to wonder where she had gone. Then, just as Sunset readied her magic, Fiona appeared behind the mage near the stairs and drove her dagger into the mage's head, killing him before he had a chance to defend himself. Hel, seeing Fiona strike first, pulled out her swords out and approached the other two mages, cutting them down before they knew what was happening.
Sunset was impressed that the two vampires could preform so well, no doubt after being locked up for a few days or weeks, but as they prepared to move on she noticed that Hel was standing near the table and staring at a magical rune.
"Molag Bal's rune," Hel commented, readying her blades as she turned to face the passage they had come from, "Go, find the final rune and stop the Caller before she starts the spell. I will protect this rune and will sacrifice myself if it is required."
The group moved on once more, finding an area with five coffins and two mages, necromancers Sunset realized, that were waking the sleeping dead. Sunset snapped her fingers and ignited her magic, flames leaping out of her hands as she torched the area, burning the bones in the coffins and the ones that had been summoned. Then, before the necromancers could escape, she threw the rest of her flames at them, throwing them into the walls with enough force to kill them. Once the deed was done the group moved on, watching out for anything that the mages might have summoned to stop them.
After going through a passage they opened a door that lead to a summoning chamber with three more mages, but Sunset was ready to deal with them this time. Flames wrapped around her staff before she smacked two of the mages in their chests, knocking them backwards as the third mage came towards her. Lydia, willing to sacrifice herself for her Thane, jumped in front of the mage and cut his right hand off, before spinning around and slicing him in half. Before they could finish the current fight the door opened and two more mages, followed by their familiars, frost creatures that were also atronachs, walked into the chamber.
Fiona nodded to Bjorn as she charged at them, arrows following in her steps as they pierced the chests of the mages, though as they tumbled backwards she cut into their necks to insure that they died the moment they touched the floor. Once the fight was over Sunset collected every magical staff they had, which she was beginning to assemble quite the collection of at the moment. The next area they came to was, according to Orthorn, the main chamber of the keep, where they found quite a number of mages waiting for them. Sunset quickly counted at least seven more mages, each of which were carrying their own staff, before they were spotted and spells immediately started coming their way.
"We're going to have to be careful here," Sunset commented, summoning a barrier that would protect them until they were ready to attack, "otherwise those mages will be the end of us."
That was before Fiona disappeared and reappeared behind one of the mages, tackling her into another room, where Sunset assumed that she was draining the mage of all her blood. The other six turned their backs to where Sunset was for a moment, but that was all Bjorn needed before arrows started flying into the mages backs. Lydia and Sunset approached them after the arrows went flying, using their weapons to cut into them until the mages were dead at their feet. As they stood there Sunset wondered if it could truly been that easy, but she dreaded to think what the Caller had up her sleeves when they met her.
Before moving on Sunset and her companions searched the immediate area, where Fiona rejoined them and produced an odd golden sword that had frost dancing around the blade. Sunset let the vampire keep the weapon, mostly as a thanks for helping them get this far, though she knew the vampires would need weapons when this ordeal was over. As they looked around Sunset also discovered an odd gemstone in a golden case, which she figured she could sell to someone later on and took it with her. Once they had everything of value the five of them continued up the keep, following the path that Orthorn was leading them through when he had spoken to the Caller the last time he had seen her.
He lead them to what appeared to be the top of a tower, where they found a wooden door with a burning rune standing on the wall on the opposite side of it.
"And here's the third rune," Fiona commented, standing beside the rune, "I shall stand right here and make sure that this blasted thing doesn't do what she has planned for it. Go and stop the Caller before she brings ruin upon us all."
Sunset nodded and opened the door to the final chamber, where she and her companions found a single women standing in the direct center of the room, in what appeared to be some form of summoning circle. Next to the women, who was no doubt the Caller, was a pedestal that a book rested on, though as Sunset looked around the chamber she found two more pedestals, with the other two stolen books. She also noticed three runes laid out on the walls, identical to the ones that the vampires were ready to stall the moment the Caller's spell went into effect, and knew they were in the right place.
"So, you're the one who barged into my home and laid waste to my projects." the Caller said, turning to face them as they entered the chamber, "How nice to meet you. You may refer to me as The Caller. Now, do you have a reason for making such a mess?"
"Originally I'd just say I was here for the College of Winterhold's books," Sunset replied, summoning her staff once more as her companions, including Orthorn, drew their weapons, "but, upon hearing of your deranged plan to breach the barrier between Nirn and Oblivion, I'm afraid that I must ask you to stop what your doing."
"You are a fool," the Caller chuckled, just as a ring of runes began to appear on the ground in front of her, "Tell me, do you know why I have set up this keep up the way I did, with all of the runes lining the walls and dozens of mages that protect me with their lives? Yes, I wish to tear open a hole between Nirn and Oblivion, but that is only a necessary means to an end. Then, when some of the Daedric Lords come to investigate the hole, my spell will ensnare the most powerful of the sixteen Lords, stripping them of their powers. Said powers will then be stored in a special stone, while I will then hand over to my master, the Daedric Lord of Power, who gives his followers bits of information and expects some form of knowledge or power in return. And if one of his followers fails him he will reach out and strip them of their own natural power and anything that he gifted them before their failure.
Here, allow me to reveal to you the name of my master, who arrived in Tamriel a few weeks ago and has been biding his time until he recovers his full power."
The runes in front of the Caller flared for a moment before they settled down, though when Sunset glanced at them her eyes widened and she could feel herself sweating. She was expecting some forgotten Daedric Prince that the people of Nirn had forgotten about, but the Caller's description of her 'master' had only made Sunset worry. The name of the Caller's master, on the other hand, was enough to tell Sunset that whatever she had planned was something that had taken a week or two to plan. She glanced back at the runes to be sure that her eyes had actually read them correctly, but there was no changing that she had been right; the Caller's master was none other than Tirek.
"Tirek is not a Daedric Prince," Sunset snapped, flames wrapping around her, "Your precious 'master' is nothing more than a demon who wants to destroy all of Tamriel before he breaks your world into pieces. Your plan to open a hole between Nirn and Oblivion is just a ploy, as he wants a way to go back to Equus, where he will repeat what he does to my home world. And you, all you are doing is helping him accomplish his goals. I'm sorry, but for the good of both Nirn and Equus I'm going to have to put you down."
"You are a fool if you think you can stop me!" the Caller shouted, magic connecting with the runes all around her, "I will use this keep and tear open a hole to Oblivion, where your souls will be consumed by the Daedric Lords."
Before anyone could move a purple circle formed in the air behind the Caller, though it struggled for a moment to open the way between dimensions. Sunset waited, looking for an opportunity to do something to stop the madness, but before she could decide on something the circle morphed into an oval and became a large cat like slit. As the circle changed Sunset felt the keep shake for a few seconds, something that basically told her that what the Caller was doing would damage Tamriel if it succeeded. She called her magic into her hands and threw it at the circle, to which the Caller leapt into the air and shielded the hole with her own magic, not to mention her own body.
"Get the books," Sunset called to her companions, to which they immediately sprung into action and moved towards the three pedestals, removing the books and returning to Sunset's side.
Sunset poured her magic into her attack, trying to force the Caller back so she could seal the breach between worlds before it caused some serious damage, but it seemed like her enemy would not give up. She glanced at one of the walls and watched as one of the runes disappeared, weakening the spell and telling her that one of the vampires had given their lives to stop the Caller. Orthorn stood next to Sunset and poured some of his own magic into the attack, trying to aid her in stopping the Caller's wicked scheme, that he had aided in the end. Then, as they struggled under the pressure of stalling the Caller, Sunset watched the second rune shatter, weakening the hole further and stopped the keep from shaking.
"Someone else has to die," Orthorn suddenly said, turning to face Sunset, "someone has to tackle the Caller into the hole to stop her from hurting this world. It has been an honor to fight by your side Sunset Shimmer, but as this is partly my fault I shall take responsibility for whats happening."
Before Sunset could reply Orthorn charged forwards and barreled into the Caller, who had been distracted by trying to match Sunset's power output. The result of him colliding with her was the two of them being thrown into the hole, disappearing into whatever Oblivion realm they would be drawn into. Sunset, now on longer having to deal with the Caller, focused her magic on the hole and willed it to close, watching the runes along the walls shatter until they were all gone, allowing her to close the way between worlds and trapping the Caller in Oblivion.
"I can't believe that worked," a voice behind them said, causing Sunset to look back and find Fiona standing there, "Despite being a cause behind what happened here that mage had the guts to make sure that the Caller failed in her goal. I'm glad he did it when he did, otherwise that rune would have broken me when the spell reached it."
"What will you do now?" Sunset asked, curious as to what the vampire would do now that she was the sole survivor of her coven.
"I wish to travel with you, Sunset Shimmer," Fiona replied, a sigh escaping her lips, "I heard what the Caller said to you, not to mention your retort back, and I don't like the sound of this 'Tirek'. I only ask that we spend a little time to gather my sisters and bury them before we move on."
"I would be honored to have you along for the ride," Sunset said, glad to have some extra help on their side, "We'll leave in a few hours and get these books to the College, then we'll see to finding a way to stop Tirek."
Sunset had the sneaky suspicion that things were only going to get worse as the days moved along, as anything associated with Tirek ended in disaster.
-----------------------------------------
Tirek, standing in the shadows on the Hall of the Elements, stirred for a moment, feeling his power increase and watching some of the lines on his hands revert backwards by some years. It was clear that the Caller was dead, though she had served her purpose in stalling Sunset Shimmer for some time. He had, true to his word, given her the power that she had asked for, though she had failed in the end and had taken everything back, including some of her own power. A smiled appeared on his face, as he was one step closer to accomplishing his goals, so long as Ancano continued to do his part and got him what he wanted.
"Soon I shall have the knowledge I require," Tirek said, watching the mages summon the sphere Sunset found into the chamber, "and then nothing will stand in my way."