When morning finally arrived Sunset met it with a sense of dread, wondering what madness Ancano was planning while she was away from the College. She had seen it in his eyes when she had been speaking to Tolfdir near the Eye, the elf noticed the power that the artifact was emitting and he wanted it for himself. She knew it was only a matter of time until he reached out to take control of the Eye and would kill anyone that stood in his way, though she had to wonder if he was working on his own or if he was working with Tirek. The Caller had been a pawn of the demonic centaur, so she knew that Tirek had likely made connections with other dangerous mages and was using them as well.
As her companions woke up she wondered if they should diverge from their current path and head to the place called Labyrinthian, to retrieve the Staff of Magnus in case Ancano did something to the Eye.
"So where are we going, my Thane?" Lydia asked, echoing the question the others wanted to ask as the four of them ate a quick breakfast.
"I've been thinking about that," Sunset admitted, sighing for a moment before looking each of them in the eyes, "and as much as I would like to acquire the Staff immediately, we simply cannot go there just yet. We must return to the College of Winterhold and inform the Archmage as to where the Staff is located, and check up on the Eye in the process. I have the strangest feeling that something is happening, or will happen soon, in the College and Ancano will be at the center."
"A wise decision," Fiona commented, turning her head towards the direction of the College, "I knew, from the moment I laid eyes on that elf, that Ancano was up to no good and that he was plotting something inside that twisted head of his. I'm somewhat surprised that the majority of the mages in the College aren't fighting for control over the Eye, but I am glad that they can restrain themselves."
Sunset didn't add to that comment, silently wondering why she hadn't seen Tirek anywhere around the College grounds, or even Winterhold for that matter. She had tracked him to the College, but by the time she had arrived his trail was already cold, almost as if he had been leading her on a wild goose chase. She thought about the Midden, where the Augur had been located, but the place was filled with the taint of Ancano's magic and made it impossible to tell if someone else had been there. She knew that he was in Skyrim, lurking in some unknown location, but she also knew that they would see each other again one day, and she planned on being as ready as possible for that meeting.
Not half an hour later the four of them were heading away from Mzulft, returning to the dirt road they had walked on to get to the dwarven ruin the previous day. As they walked Bjorn and Lydia kept their eyes peeled for any carriages coming from behind them, so that they could ask for a ride to Winterhold if the driver was heading that way. Fiona, on the other hand, watched out for any enemies that wanted to do them harm, so she could put them down before they endangered the group. Sunset simply walked, using her staff as a walking stick for the moment, while she focused on getting to the College as fast as they could, before anything happened.
Though she had the feeling that whatever Ancano was planning to do was likely in effect and she would discover the aftermath of whatever the plan had been.
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It took them the most of the morning to reach Winterhold, but as they entered small town Sunset noticed that the majority of the citizens stayed out of their way. As they walked by the inn she noticed that an elf, wearing robes that labeled him as a mage, walked outside to enjoy the air and ignored them completely. She remembered what the dark elf at Azura's Shrine had said, about an elven enchanter who lived in a place that was endangered by and not touched by it, and wondered if that happened to be who she had been told about. She sighed and turned around, determined to ask him about what he knew about the stars and see if he was the enchanter she had been sent to speak with.
"Excuse me," Sunset called after the elf, causing him to stop for a moment, "I was just wondering where I could find an elven mage who studied the stars."
"Who sent you?" the elf demanded, turning around to face her with anger on his face, "Was it the College? The Jarl? We agreed there would be no more questions."
"No one sent me," Sunset lied, hating to do it, but knew that many people in this landed hated the Daedric Lords and figured that the elf wouldn't give her the information she needed if he knew the whole truth, "I just heard that one was connected with Azura's Star, that's all."
"Azura?" the elf asked, as if believing that she had been sent by the Daedric Lord, which was technically true, despite the face that she never told him that part, "Gods, it's all finally coming back to haunt me. Here's the run down; soul gems are used for enchanting, except the gem is always consumed. They're frail. Except for one; Azura's Star. A Daedric artifact that allows any number of souls to pass through it. Some of us wanted to find out how. I was working under Malyn Varen, then. If only we knew what he was really planning. Malyn wanted to alter the Star. He was dying. Disease. He thought he could store his own soul inside. Become immortal. It drove him mad. Students started dying. Eventually, the College exiled him. He took a few loyal disciples to Ilinalta's Deep and vanished. Look, I don't care who asked you to find the Star, but don't take it back to Azura. The Daedra are evil. They're the reason Malyn went insane."
"I thank you for the information," Sunset replied, filing the location she had been told away for the future, "I'll be sure to search the keep thoroughly when I get there."
The elf seemed to accept what she said, but she could tell that he was mildly annoyed that the past had been brought back to the surface once more.
With that task taken care of Sunset returned to her companions and beckoned them forward, where they began the trek across the old and worn out bridge. As they walked on the bridge Sunset still marveled that it was being held together after all this time, still wondering if it was the magic she had felt when she first arrived in Winterhold. As they walked into the College's courtyard Sunset noticed that many of the Master Wizards were gathered outside, muttering among themselves, and her fellow apprentices were waiting near the student housing area. The only people she didn't see were Urag gro-Shub, Mirabelle, Savos Aren, and Ancano himself, which only made her worry as she approached the Hall of the Elements.
There she found Savos Aren and Mirabelle standing outside what appeared to be a bluish colored barrier, one that prevented them from entering the main area of the hall. That was when she spotted Ancano standing beside the Eye of Magnus, magic rolling from his body to the Eye and back, which she assumed meant that he was behind the barrier.
"Oh, your back," Mirabelle said, turning to face Sunset while Savos turned his attention to the barrier, "I take it that means that you either discovered where the Staff of Magnus is located, or your carrying it as we speak."
"I have its location," Sunset replied, her eyes locked on Ancano, "Let me guess; Ancano cast some spell on the Eye and how he's got a barrier up that's preventing us from entering the main area?"
"Yes, he did," Savos said, lightning pulsing around his hand for a moment, while frost surrounded Mirabelle's hands, "and we intend to destroy this barrier of his. Help us with this will you."
Sunset nodded and stood between the two senior mages, flames dancing around her hands until the three of them had their individual elements at the ready. Then the trio pressed their spells against the barrier, hoping to force the power of the Eye back for a moment so they could confront Ancano immediately. Not a moment later the barrier shattered, scattering the pieces of it to the side before they disappeared, allowing them to approach the insane elf.
"Stop this Ancano," Savos shouted at the elf, who barely looked their way, "Break yourself from the Eye before you cause irreversible damage to yourself and the artifact."
"Do you honestly think you can challenge me?!" Ancano laughed, extending his hand and knocking Savos into one of the pillars, locking him in place for the moment, "Fools, my master has allowed me to acquire the power to unmake the very world you walk on. With this power backing me do you seriously believe that any of you stand a chance at defeating me?"
"Oh sweet Celestia," Sunset said, horror creeping into her as she realized exactly who Ancano was speaking of, "not you too. Just how many of you have fallen into Tirek's trap, chaining your life to him for the promise of power? Your abilities are hollow, as the moment he no longer requires your help he will reach out and take the power away from you, reducing you to a husk... just like what happened with the Caller and everyone else he's come into contact with."
Ancano snapped his fingers and a wave of magic erupted from the Eye, slamming into the three of them and knocking them all backwards, or destroying the pillar in Savos Aren's case. Sunset regained her footing before she could hit her head on anything, but when she went to strike out at Ancano she noticed that a new barrier protected him. Mirabelle seemed to be limping towards her, though she had to wonder what good the Staff would do now that Ancano had messed with the Eye.
"You need to find the Archmage immedia...," Mirabelle told her, before stopping herself and shaking her head, "No, he couldn't possibly be alive after the thrashing that Ancano gave him. Here, the Archmage gave me something before you arrived and said that you might need it for recovering the Staff... and you might as well get moving before Ancano brings the entire College down around us."
The item that she gave Sunset was what appeared to be a metal ring that she assumed went in some kind of opening, almost like a large knocker for a door. She took the item and immediately marched outside, where she found her companions standing over the still and limp body of the fallen Archmage. They looked at her, concerned for her well being if this is what happened to the Archmage, but she beckoned them onward as she made for the bridge once more. As they departed she told Tolfdir of what happened inside and told him that he had best move the rest of the mages away from the College, in case Ancano decided to destroy the courtyard or the bridge.
Once they were back in Winterhold she opened her map and looked upon where Labyrinthian was located, setting her course for the ruins and the Staff that could help her defeat Ancano.
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Tirek allowed a faint simile to appear on his face as he watched the mages of the College of Winterhold running around like they were chickens with their heads cut off. Ancano had done a decent job of slaying their Archmage, the only other mage he considered to be a threat to him besides Sunset Shimmer, and delivering them into a mass of chaos. His former friend Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony, would have enjoyed it much more than he currently was, but that barely mattered to him at the moment. He was busy soaking in even more magic than he had been before the Eye had been accessed, taking in the power of the Augur and the fallen Archmage.
As he watched the mages he could feel his body growing younger, stepping back to a greater power that would allow him to begin working towards his ultimate goal. Sure, he would let Ancano go on believing that he possessed the power to unmake the world until it came time to remind the elf that he was the one in charge. Then his power, and any other mages that died in the process, would be added to his growing reserves, strengthening him for when it came time to put his plan into motion.
He was waiting to see exactly what Sunset Shimmer had planned for Ancano, what power she would call into the world to combat the power that Ancano commanded. And then, once Ancano fell to Sunset or she fell to him, he would appear and show them the true destructive power of the magic they knew nothing about.
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It had taken the four of them roughly four hours to reach the area that housed Labyrinthian, the massive ruin that Fiona had told Sunset that had been built by the Dragon Cult. It was the site where the leaders of the order, the eight most powerful Dragon Priests of that era, would meet and determine how to rule the people around them. It was then that Sunset learned that Krosis, the same priest that had fled from them, had been one of those eight, while only told Sunset that the priest had run away to gather his power. It also told her that there had to be more than one powerful artifact lurking in the ruins that could be of aid to them, to help them stop either Ancano or Tirek.
The actual exterior looked decent, though as they walked in and searched for the entrance to the barrow, which Sunset knew would lead them to the Dragon Priest that was no doubt carrying the Staff she needed. Not even after a minute of searching she spotted what appeared to be an iron door, similar to the one at Bleak Falls Barrow, and decided that she had found the entrance. As they walked up the stairs towards the door several trolls spotted them and came running, tearing into the snow as they approached those that dared to trespass in their home. Bjorn took one of them out with an arrow to the head, while Lydia and Fiona forced the other two trolls to the ground with their own weapons.
Sunset nodded to her companions, grateful that they had sprung into action when they had, and continued towards the door, pulling out the torc as she approached it. Once she was at the door, and her companions were ready, she placed it into the slot that she had known would be there and pulled it back, letting it knock on the iron before it opened for them. Sunset pulled out her staff and they marched into the barrow, beginning the search for where the Staff of Magnus could be located while keeping their eyes peeled for enemies. They stepped into a rather large chamber, with a dozen or two skeletons scattered about, but there was nothing besides a spell book to be found, so they moved on.
The corridor they entered lead them to an iron gate, which they opened with a nearby lever, before they found themselves in another massive chamber. One, they quickly discovered, that had an open dragon burial mound in the center, with a massive skeletal dragon emerging from the hole and a dozen skeletal soldiers coming to life around them. Sunset's magic flared as she ran at the dragon, jumping to the right to avoid its massive jaw before placing a fireball right in its side, trying to blow it apart immediately. The dragon stumbled for a moment before it corrected itself, though by the way it moved Sunset could tell that it was annoyed with her already.
The dragon roared at her and a wave of frost erupted from its mouth, though Sunset slammed the bottom of her staff into the ground and summoned a shield to protect her. Once the attack stopped Sunset pulled the shield back and slammed a fireball into the dragon's mouth, stuffing it to the brim before forcing it to explode. For a moment the body remained where it stood, making her wonder if the dragon would merely put its head back together, but after a couple more moments the bones shook and the body crumpled to the floor. She sighed and looked around the rest of the chamber, watching her friends tear into the skeletons that were still standing and scattering the bones of the fallen so they didn't get back up.
Sunset made a sweep of the chamber, making sure that the skeletons were truly dead, before beckoning to her companions and continuing onward through the next corridor. On the landing before another door, however, she noticed that there was a plinth with dragon writing on it, writing that claimed that the area known as Labyrinthian had once been known as Bromjunaar. She looked at her companions, wondering if they knew what the city had been once upon a time, but the looks on their faces told her everything she needed to know. None of them knew what Bromjunaar was, but Sunset sighed and continued onward through the wooden door.
The following area had two tunnels they could have chosen from, if one of them hadn't collapsed in the last couple hundred years, so they traveled down the other pathway. Sunset found a door surrounded by ice, but as they approached the door her companions tore apart a sleeping draugr, just in case he woke up when she touched the door. As she approached the door she heard a voice echo throughout the ruins, though she could tell that her companions either hadn't heard it or ignored it.
Wo meyz wah dii vul junaar? the voice asked, though for some reason Sunset could understand it as someone asking, Who comes to my dark kingdom?
Flames wrapped around her left hand and she slammed them into the icy door, forcing it to open as a draugr, covered in ice, stepped forward to do battle with her. Instead Sunset swung her staff and knocked the draugr onto its back, slamming the end of her staff into its chest and burning it to pieces from the inside out. Once the deed was done she stepped forward, but as she entered the next chamber she felt her magic being drained and immediately jumped backwards, fearing that Tirek had taken up residence in these ruins. After a few moments she sighed and stepped forward, finding that whatever had taken her magic had disappeared and allowed the four of them to move on once more.
Several more draugr were waiting for them, two of them having summoned their own elementals to help them in battle, but Sunset and her friends were ready for them. Bjorn rained arrows on the furthest enemies, while Lydia and Fiona fought at the front of the line, giving Sunset the ability to use less magic and focus her targets down. As they continued forward Sunset kept her eyes out for hidden or out of the way passages, just in case there were more draugr that could sneak up on them from behind. As it turned out most of their enemies came right at them, wielding their weapons and spells, but the four of them would have none of that and tore through them.
Though as they entered another passage Sunset felt the same force take more of her magic, though this time she could tell that it definitely wasn't Tirek doing it.
Nivahriin muz fent siiv nid aaz het. the voice said, which Sunset also heard as, Cowardly men shall find no mercy here.
"Cowardly am I?" Sunset shouted, causing her friends to look at her oddly for a moment, "That's rich coming from the Dragon Priest that won't show his face!"
There was a pause for a moment, causing Sunset to wonder if it had been a smart idea to anger such a powerful undead creature, but then she heard an echo once more.
Eh, ful hi dreh mindok faal Dovah Vun, the voice said, which made Sunset glad that it had responded to her, Zu'u frin saraan hin arosend, lahzey.
"Sunset?" Bjorn asked, worried that his friend might be starting to go insane, "Is something wrong?"
"No... not that I'm aware of," Sunset replied, gripping her staff as she beckoned them onward, "I heard the Dragon Priest speak to me and I decided to return the favor, though now it sounds like he's interested in meeting me."
"Then we had best not keep him waiting," Fiona commented, moving onward, "I would hate to get on the bad side of one of the powerful Dragon Priests."
As it turned out the path they were on separated into two different areas, one that went straight ahead and a second that took them to a running river that connected with another door. Sunset decided to skip some things and took the downward path, where they bypassed a draugr and moved into the next area of the barrow. They immediately found a group of skeletons waiting for them, but Lydia approached them and shattered them within seconds, scattering their bones before taking the lead. Sunset noticed that her Housecarl wanted to get through the dungeon as swiftly as possible, as if she wanted to see this Dragon Priest and her Thane fight.
As they progressed they smashed through several enemies, including two trolls, a dozen skeletons that were a mix of archers and mages, and something called a Wispmother. They found another elemental door waiting for them, but Sunset summoned frost to her hands and chilled the flames before smashing the draugr that emerged once the door was opened. The following areas they passed through gave them a different version of draugr, one that appeared to be between their normal form and a ghostly type of form. Sunset noticed that a good portion of the draugr they were currently dealing with were wearing robes, as if they were mages at one point in their previous lives.
It relieved her to let them move on to whatever plane of existence awaited them when they moved on, though it also relieved her that their magic couldn't be collected by Tirek, to use against everyone else.
It took them between an hour to two hours to cut down, pierce with arrows, and blast the vast amount of draugr that was standing in their way before they reached something that Sunset had been expecting to find sooner or later; a Word Wall. The Deathlord that stood before the wall was tough to put down, as they had to continue to move out of the way of his Shouts, but they eventually defeated him and opened the way for Sunset to learn another Word of Power. She sighed and stepped forward, letting the word Tiid echo in her mind before she started for the end of the dungeon, where she had her friends wait near the final door so she could deal with the Priest alone.
Inside the final chamber she found two ghostly mages channeling their magic at a sphere of energy, which seemed to be locking the Dragon Priest in place and prevented him from moving.
"So, your the Dragon Priest that I heard speaking to me," Sunset commented, as she walked up to where the Priest had been locked into place, "I wonder how powerful you were to require two mages to give their lives to keep you here."
"And you are the one that Krosis told me about," the Priest replied, though somehow Sunset realized that they could understand each other without her having learned the Dragon Language, "the Dovahkiin of legend. Krosis told me of someone that came from your world, someone that you fear to fight at your current level. Tell me, why have you come here, to the kingdom of Morokei?"
"I require the Staff of Magnus," Sunset answered, pointing at the staff that the Priest carried, "the Eye has been found and I require the Staff to prevent the Eye from being misused. Or rather, misused more than it already has been."
"Ah, but all power comes with its price," Morokei seemed to chuckle as he spoke, "Here's my offer; free me and not only shall you gain the Staff of Magnus, but you shall gain the knowledge that Krosis and I possess. The catch is that you'll have to become the last living Priest of the Dragon Cult, maybe even the one of legend that we once wrote about."
"That's all?" Sunset asked, but immediately noticed that the Priest made no move to speak again until she gave him an answer, "Very well then, if this is what it takes to recover the Staff of Magnus than I accept."
The ghostly mages were immediately destroyed, thus freeing Morokei from his prison, but instead of attacking her the Priest simply extended his hand and released the Staff of Magnus, letting it float over to Sunset's right hand. As she took hold of the Staff she silently hoped that she hadn't just made a deal that could very well ruin her chances of stopping whatever Tirek had planned for this world.