//------------------------------// // 31: The Final Artifact // Story: Sunset's Adventure in Skyrim // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// "It feels so good to almost be done with the Daedric Artifacts," Sunset said, stretching her arms as she and her friends left Knifepoint Ridge, where they had slain what she assumed were the remaining bandits in all of Skyrim and had recovered the Ebony Mail of Boethiah. "What will we do when we have all of them?" Fiona asked, something that was on the minds of everyone in the group, "Elenwen, General Tullius, and Jarl Ulfric are going to be searching for Tirek, with the promise of delivering his location to you the moment they discover it. We could always go to Solstheim and find out who sent those Cultists after you... they might be someone you could consider talking to and warning them of Tirek's existence." "That's right, I'm going to have to visit whoever sent them sooner or later," Sunset replied, wondering how she could have forgotten about the Cultists, but realized that she had been busy collecting the Daedric Artifacts, "Let's get the Oghma Infinium before we decide on anything else... though I'm positive that something else might claim our attention soon." As they walked down the road and began the journey towards Fellglow Keep Sunset kept her eyes out for anyone that would want to do them harm, as there were still people around that Tirek could corrupt and send her way. Skyrim may well be void of people that wanted to see the world burn, but there were other provinces that were brimming with people who didn't know the horrors that Tirek was planning on bringing to Nirn. She dreaded to wonder how many of the other people across Nirn could be corruptible, because if Tirek managed to corrupt an entire province then she was sure that they wouldn't stand a chance against the threat. Though as she thought about it she also realized that Tirek was more concerned with Skyrim, where both she and his targets, the Daedric Princes, just happened to be gathered. As they passed by Falkreath, where they had completed both Hircine's and Clavicus Vile's quests, Sunset noticed that there were several caravans waiting to leave the small town. Sunset had to admit that it made her wonder what was going on, and if Tirek was involved in some way, so she signaled to her friends and they approached the stone wall. Guards were helping the townspeople onto the caravans, while carrying what appeared to be their personal belongings and any weapons they had, as if they were getting ready to leave. Some of the wagons were even loaded up with supplies, everything from food, to clothing, to ingots to make whatever they needed when they arrived at their destination. It was then that Sunset discovered the Jarl of Falkreath, Jarl Siddgeir, was standing beside the blacksmith, issuing orders to the guards that came near him while he kept watch over his people. "Jarl Siddgeir!" Sunset called to him, causing him to turn her way as she and her friends swiftly approached him, "What's wrong? Why is Falkreath emptying itself?" "A dremora stalks the land around here," the Jarl told her, making her wonder if he meant that Tirek was somewhere in the area of his Hold, "General Tullius and Ambassador Elenwen have called for the citizens of Falkreath to move before the dremora decides to assault our town while we are unprepared. We are to travel to Fellglow Keep, where we can assist the effort in eradicating whatever foul dremora is wandering the land, in whatever way each of us can offer." "Then we shall accompany you to the keep," Sunset replied, somewhat glad to have found them before they had moved on, "and I'll make sure that everything is sorted out when we arrive." Jarl Siddgeir nodded and resumed what he was going, but while he did so Sunset and her friends walked back to the main gate, where they could watch the people without getting in their way. As she looked over the town Sunset spotted someone, wearing a robe with a black hood covering his head, leaning against one of the walls near the Jarl's building. The person, a male by the look of his body, was also wearing a pair of black gloves that completely covered his hands and a pair of black boots that covered his feet. The only weapon she could see was what appeared to be the handle of a glass sword, though the blade was in its sheath and gave no indication as to what enchantment it could have. Sunset didn't know who the man was or what race he belonged to, but she had the strangest feeling that she couldn't trust whoever was behind the hood. "I see you've spotted him as well," Fiona commented, leaning beside Sunset and looking out over the town, not letting her eyes linger on a single person, "I was hoping that we'd never cross paths with that man, but I guess it might not be avoidable." "You know who that is?" Sunset asked, turning her gaze elsewhere, but making sure that she kept the person in her sights at all times as she wondered what Fiona could tell her. "If I'm right, and I'm almost a hundred percent positive that I'm right, then that's Revan," Fiona answered, though Sunset could detect a hint of anger in the vampire's voice, "He's one of Lord Harkon's underlings, a powerful one if my memory serves me right, and he's actually done some terrible things to villages across Skyrim. If anyone would sell out all of Nirn for power it would be Revan, but right now it almost looks like he might be in the process of trying to find and kill Tirek." Sunset stared at the robed figure, wondering what terrible deeds he had committed and how Fiona could have come to know him, before she sighed and looked away. Fiona had confirmed that it would be a bad idea to trust the man, though Sunset hoped that the person was on their side and would ignore Tirek's offers. "So don't trust him, I got that," Sunset commented, looking down at Jarl Siddgeir in time to see a signal for them all the get moving, to which she beckoned to her friends. "Trust me on this Sunset, Revan is not to be trusted," Fiona said, collecting her pack as they got underway, her eyes now locking on the robed figure, "I've tried to kill him several times over the years, for the crimes he's committed over the years, but every time I've dealt what should have been a killing blow he always seems to get back up. The last time I saw him was a hundred years ago, where I locked him in an underground lake and escaped before he's uncanny ability to get back up kicked in." --------------------------------------- When Sunset and her latest band of allies arrived at Fellglow Keep she noticed that both General Tullius and Jarl Balgruuf were waiting by the gates, to welcome them to their new home. The guards nodded to Sunset as she and her companions left the caravan and stayed near the wall, where they found Elenwen and Delphine standing at a nearby table, no doubt going over where to place their newest arrivals. It was then that Sunset also discovered that there was another addition to the keep, in the form of Jarl Ravencrone, to which Sunset assumed that something had triggered her departure from her home as well. "Ah, Archmage, your back," Elenwen said, noticing Sunset and her friends approaching, "Thanks to Jarl Balgruuf we've got more places to put the residents of Morthal and Falkreath, in the off chance that they are targeted by our enemy. Tell me something, have you acquired the last two Daedric Artifacts so we can lock them out of Nirn until Tirek is defeated?" "We're only missing one more," Sunset said, pulling out the contraption that she had been given, which now had two of the vials filled, "I only need three more blood samples, one altmer, one orismer, and one falmer, before we can unlock the final artifact. Then, with the artifact in hand, we'll return here and begin the ritual to seal them out of Nirn. Once the artifacts are out of Tirek's grasp we'll focus on finding him and getting rid of him." "Just a sample?" Elenwen asked, curious as to what Sunset needed by a sample, to which Sunset nodded, "Then I shall offer some of my blood to secure the final artifact. I'm sure that Atub, or one of the other orcs, would be willing to give a small sample in thanks for all you have done for them." Sunset was quite pleased when both Elenwen and Atub decided to volunteer some of their blood for the cause, giving her four of the five vials that she needed to recover the Oghma Infinium. As she put the contraption away she had to wonder where she could find a Falmer, until Orak came up to her and revealed that a nearby cave had some of them walking around inside. He said that Delphine was getting some of the most veteran warriors that their army had so they could clear the cave, eliminating a nearby threat before it discovered that the alliance was near their location. They apparently only needed the go ahead from Sunset, who decided that it was a good idea to get rid of them and secure the last sample she needed. As it turned out the warriors that Delphine picked were more willing to head into the cave and slaughter the Falmer that resided within, even moving further inside to clear everything after she had already picked up the sample that she needed. She followed the warriors throughout the cave, taking notes on how they performed as a unit and nodding while they cleared the cave of enemies. With the sample in hand she and the warriors returned to the keep, where she returned to Elenwen, Delphine, and her friends, to tell them that they could rest before they head to Septimus to recover the last artifact. It was then that Elenwen told her that a vampire, one covered completely in black clothing, had come to the keep, only to turn around the moment before reaching the gates. "Revan," Fiona said, though this time Sunset could tell there was anger in her voice, "He followed us here, either to scout us out for himself or whoever he is serving. Keep your eyes on him and make sure that he doesn't take a step into the fort, otherwise there's no telling what harm he could do to us." Sunset didn't know what the vampire wanted from them, or why he was following them, but if Revan turned out to be an ally of Tirek's then she would gladly destroy him like she had done to the others that served the demon. Regardless of what the strange vampire wanted Sunset and her friends retired for the evening, returning to their beds for the night so they could be well rested for the journey to Septimus once more. --------------------------------------- When morning arrived Sunset and her friends met outside in the courtyard, where they could have a chat with Erandur and insure that the ritual could proceed the moment they returned with the final Daedric Artifact. Erandur told them that he and the other Priests of the Nine Divines were building a circle not far away, where they could call on the power of the Divines and, hopefully, banish the fifteen artifacts back to Oblivion. Sunset was quite pleased with the progress Erandur had made, both in reacquiring the method he was going to use on the Skull and finding eight other priests to help him with the ritual. She was also amazed that Elenwen, who had objected to Talos' existence before the creation of the alliance, was actually supporting those that worshiped Talos and welcomed the aid of another Divine against the threat that Tirek posed to everyone across Nirn. "We should be back this afternoon," Sunset told Erandur, who nodded his head while he was making some final notes for the ritual, "if all goes as planned we should also have the final of the fifteen Daedric Artifacts with us as well." "Leave this to us Archmage," Elenwen said, a light smile touching her face for the moment, "We'll have the ritual ready by the time you arrive, or earlier if we're lucky." Sunset nodded and departed from the fort, with her friends following right behind her, though she did take a moment to make sure that the mysterious Revan was nowhere around her base. She didn't want to be paranoid, but with Tirek turning both the Forsworn and the bandits on the people of Skyrim there was no telling who else had been corrupted. If Revan was as bad as Fiona claimed he was then Sunset knew that there might not be a chance to turn him to their side, not without revealing Tirek's existence to him if he was unaware of what was happening. Right now she knew it was better to be safe than sorry, so she'd have to deal with keeping an eye on the vampire the next time she spotted him. The morning quickly passed them by as they, once again, traversed the ice field that rested between Winterhold and where Septimus' hideout rested. Once they were inside the ice cave Sunset moved forward and pulled out the extractor she had been given, hoping that the samples she had acquired were enough to open the box. She found the man in the exact same location he had been standing in the previous times she had visited him, his eyes locked on the box and ignoring her presence for the moment. "Here you go Septimus," Sunset said, holding the extractor out for the man to take, "I've recovered the blood samples that you asked me to recover the last time I was here." "I can almost... hear them." the man said, pulling out another item as he took the extractor from her, "I feel their life energy. Come, I will make the mixture." Sunset watched as he mixed together the five blood samples, creating a mockery of the dwemer blood by using the other elves, before a smile appeared on the man's face. Then, before Sunset or her friends could stop him, he plunged the mixture into his skin and forced the blood into his system, while his smile turned into a wicked grin. With the deed done he dropped the vial he had been holding and approached the box, where the locking mechanism began to move until all the rings were lined up perfectly. Once the rings were lined up the circle stretched backwards, revealing a long tunnel that opened the way to the heart of the box, to which Septimus ran forward, like he didn't have a care in the world. Sunset followed him inside the box, staying back to watch what happened as the man walked down a set of stairs and approached a pedestal, where a book with a grotesque cover waited for someone to touch it. "What is this... it's... it's just a book?!" Septimus exclaimed, wonder filling him as he was slightly lifted into the air, "I can see. The world beyond burns in my mind. It's marvelous...." Then, just as Hermaeus Mora had promised, Septimus Signus collapsed into a heap of ashes, his usefulness to his Daedric master was outlived and he was disposed of. Sunset sighed, knowing that she had no way of stopping this one incident from happening, before she approached the Oghma Infinium and pulled it off the pedestal. With the final artifact in hand she was slightly glad to be done collecting them, though she knew she had one more task she had to do before Nirn could take a breather. She turned around and found Hermaeus Mora filling the tunnel, preventing her from leaving until he desired it. "You have my Oghma Infinium." Hermaeus Mora said, stating the obvious, though Sunset wondered if there was something more he had to tell her, "It contains the knowledge of the ages as revealed to Xarses, my loyal servant. For hundreds of years it's been shut away from the world. Septimus was a useful tool for unleashing it. Now it is in your hands. Let us work wonders together..." "Look, I hate to tell you this after you spent all this time to release it, but I'm just going to be sealing it away again," Sunset told the Daedric Prince, not even faltering as she said the words, "There is a monster that wants your power, and the power of the other Princes, so he can escape this world and return to my home world, but in the process Nirn will be destroyed. When Tirek is defeated I'll gladly give back the artifacts, but they must remain locked up until such a time." "Indeed," Hermaeus replied, catching Sunset by surprised, as she was expecting him to have been more angry with her, "I have seen what the creature you call Tirek is capable of, and what he will be capable of if he reaches his full power, so there is someone I want you to meet. Head to Solstheim and look for Miraak... the rest shall become clear in time." Before Sunset had a chance to reply the Daedric Prince vanished before her eyes, leaving her there with the Oghma Infinium and the name of someone on Solstheim. She had to wonder what game the Prince of Knowledge was playing, but at the moment she knew exactly what she needed to do before she moved onto something else. She quickly summoned her chest, deposited the final artifact, and returned to her friends before they began the journey back to Fellglow Keep, where she knew everyone would be excited to hear that they were officially one step ahead of their enemy. --------------------------------------- When the group returned to Fellglow Keep it was well into the afternoon, exactly like Sunset had thought it would be, and found that the Priests that had been called on to help with the ritual were putting the finishing touches on their circle. As they entered the fortress several of the guards bowed to them as they passed, to which Sunset bowed her head a little in return, before they approached Erandur. The dunmer was quite pleased with the work that had been put into the ritual circle, so much so that he barely noticed their arrival until Sunset tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Archmage, you've returned!" Erandur exclaimed, looking at her with excitement on his face, "Does that mean you've succeeded? Does this mean that we have all fifteen of the Daedric Artifacts that were said to be scattered around Skryim?" "Indeed it does," Sunset replied, a smile appearing on her own face, "Everything from Mehrunes Razor to the Oghma Infinium of Hermaeus Mora, from the Spellbreaker of Peryite to the Dawnbreaker of Meridia, has been secured in my personal chest. Shall I summon the chest and get this show on the road?" "Yes please," Erandur said, moving to a vacant spot on the outside of the circle, where Sunset found a shrine to Mara, "Summon it in the heart of the circle and then back up. We, the Priests of the Nine Divines, will take it from there." Sunset moved forward and approached the spot that Erandur pointed out, snapping her fingers and summoning her chest into existence in the middle of it all. Before backing up she opened the chest and made sure that she wasn't missing one of the artifacts, but after a brief count she found that she was correct and all fifteen were accounted for. Once the chest was closed she immediately backed up, standing beside her friends as she watched more people gather around to watch the work of all Nine Divines. She then nodded to Erandur, giving him and his fellow priests the go ahead to proceed with the banishing ritual, which would also lock the actual chest as tight as possible. "I call upon you, Lady Mara!" Erandur shouted, the other eight priests repeating what he said, but substituting their chosen Divine in place of Mara, "There is a dremora that walks the land, one that would use the power of the artifacts within this chest to cause irreversible harm to all of Nirn. Grant us the power to lock this chest tight and to send it to the depths of Oblivion!" At first nothing happened, with Sunset was expecting considering the nature of calling on a deity's help, but then she noticed a faint shimmer in the air and knew something was going to happen, but pulled out the Staff of Magnus in case Tirek had decided to show up at the worst possible moment. The nine shrines, a special blessing shrine for those that wanted a certain Divine to bless them, glowed bright white for a moment before long white ribbons erupted from each of them. Everyone around the circle, excluding the priests, gasped as they watched the ribbons, which surged towards the chest and began to wrap themselves around it. Eventually the entire chest was covered in the white ribbons, though as Sunset watched she heard a faint clicking sound and realized that the chest had been locked, as Erandur and the priests had requested. Then the nine shrines began to sink into the ground, where everyone witnessed some sort of portal open inside the ritual circle as the bound chest was slowly consumed. Then, once the chest was completely drowned in the portal, the shrines shattered and the portal closed, sealing the chest, and the Daedric Artifacts, outside Nirn. "I never thought I'd see the day when those artifacts were all banished back to Oblivion," Erandur said, walking over to Sunset and her group with a smile on his face, "You have given me the greatest gift I could ever ask for Archmage." "Yes, we have dealt Tirek a deadly blow," Delphine commented, joining the group for a moment, "and there will be plenty more of them until we destroy the dremora, but we should get some rest before we focus on the next problem. The Dawnguard are still requesting your aid and I'd hate to think what we'd face if Tirek suddenly had a vampire army backing his every move." "Then in the morning we'll head for the Dawnguard," Sunset replied, a smile appearing on her face as she realized that they were truly ahead of Tirek at this point, "Any sign of that vampire that Fiona told us about?" "No, he seems to have disappeared," Delphine immediately replied, not letting the news ruin her mood at the moment, "but we should relax for tonight before we focus on vampires. I've got some stories from my days in the Blades that Urag is dying to hear, so he can pen them down no doubt, and the other leaders want to get to know your chosen companions a little more." Sunset laughed as she and her friends followed Delphine to the campfire that Urag was sitting at, glad that all her hard work had paid off in the greatest way possible. They had dealt Tirek a blow that would prevent him from gathering his full destructive power, giving them the opportunity to seek out his lair, form a plan of attack, and then wipe him from the face of Nirn. She'd take a break for the evening, but in the morning it would be back to business as usual, though they were finally ahead of their enemy and she was going to let this victory inspire her forces to continue forward. --------------------------------------- Tirek sat on the rim of what used to be the wellspring that connected Nocturnal's temple to her realm of Oblivion, staring at the artifact known as the Skeleton Key and studying the magic it possessed. It was just a tool, one that he needed if he wished to have his full power again, though he did have one of his prizes already locked up tight for the moment. Nocturnal, whose prison sphere was right across the chamber from him, continued to stare at him, as if she was trying to will her power forward so she could break the prison she was in and escape back to her realm. He'd love to see her try such a move on him, as now that he possessed her artifact he could drag her out of her realm and drain her dry, at that had been the original plan before she had shown her face and allowed him to capture her in no time. What was also amusing was that she, occasionally, continued to state her position on who would eventually win the upcoming battle; him, or Sunset Shimmer. He knew exactly who was going to win, though he found it amusing when someone decided to vote for someone who didn't have a chance in Tartarus of defeating him. "You know you'll never win this war," Nocturnal spat, breaking Tirek from his mind for a moment, causing him to look right at her, "the Dragonborn is gathering enough powerful allies to obliterate you without a second thought." "Oh yes, I already know all about her puny 'alliance'," Tirek chuckled, glaring right at the Daedric Prince, "Let me tell you something; I've been in this world for longer than Sunset Shimmer has. She's already thinking that shes shattered my forces and cut off my chances at victory, but there is one ally of mine that she has not had the privilege of fighting yet... and he should be here any second." Nocturnal watched as one of the portals to the opening of her temple flashed for a moment, revealing a black robed figure that approached the two of them, before kneeling before Tirek. "Revan, my loyal subject," Tirek said, turning to face the robed figure, "Tell me, what is my enemy up to this time?" "She has banished the chest containing the other fifteen Daedric Artifacts to the depths of Oblivion," the robed figure replied, keeping his head bowed the entire time, "exactly as you said that she would. Now that she has completed this set of tasks she has decided to make for the Dawnguard, to see what they need help with before coming after you once more." "Good, then I believe it is time for you to return to your former master and study his forces," Tirek commanded, receiving a nod in return, "and if Sunset Shimmer happens to cross your path I want you to study her. And if she gets too close to you, then you know what to do." "Yes, I understand," the figure replied, picking himself off the floor before bowing for a moment, "I shall take my leave, Lord Tirek." Nocturnal watched as the robed figure walked back to the portal and disappeared as swiftly as he had arrived, leaving her with the unusual dremora. That was seconds before the prison shattered, but before she had a chance to move out of the way she found a hand clamped around her neck. As she struggled against Tirek's hold she found herself lifted into the air, all while the creature was staring at her the entire time with a look of hunger in his eyes. "I thank you Nocturnal, Daedric Prince of Darkness," Tirek said, feeling the power slowly being drained from the Prince's body and entering his own body, "With your power I draw ever closer to my full potential... and to the complete and utter destruction of this world." Nocturnal was somewhat glad that there was no one else around to hear what came next, because as her magic was slowly draining from her body all she could do was scream in pure agony. --------------------------------------- In the middle of the town of Falkreath, now deserted and void of life, the wind suddenly whipped up and blew several objects out of the middle of the road before dying down. A moment passed before a crack appeared in the middle of the air, a crack that slowly mutated into a steady stream of cracks that moved out in every direction. The wind seemed to completely die down and the animals that were still around the town, the wild ones that had discovered an empty town, whimpered as they backed away from the center of the town. Then, just as the animals were sure that nothing was going to happen, the cracks burst outwards, as if a fireball spell had gone off and had blown something to pieces. A moment passed before something emerged from the hole in the air, which slowly turned out to be some sort of imperial as it stepped out of the hole and touched the street of Falkreath. The man was dressed in a strange silver crystalline armor, the likes of which have never been seen by mortals, and carried a large crystalline greatsword on his back. The man's face was bare for a moment, though it was clear that his hair was pure silver colored and his eyes were silver colored, though the animals around him chose to run away. The man barely moved an inch as he raised his hand and knocked on the hole he had made, sealing it up and making it look like nothing had happened. "The Balance has shifted off course," the man said, his voice cold and calculated as he turned in the direction of Nocturnal's temple, "Order must be preserved."