14: Dawnbreaker
"Its... its gone," Jarl Korir said, falling to his knees as he stared at the location that his city used to reside in, not wanting to believe what his eyes were showing him, "its really gone. The College finally succeeded... they destroyed what remained of Winterhold."
"It wasn't the College that did this," Sunset replied, causing the townspeople and the Jarl to look at her, "It was Tirek, a demon that had once been sealed away in Tartarus until he escaped, that's responsible for the destruction of this city. I had hoped to find him before he could do this, but it seems that I was too late... this time."
"So what's our plan?" Bjorn asked, his gaze lingering on where the College had once been.
"We need to start hunting down the Daedric Artifacts," Sunset told her companions, though she beckoned to the people of Winterhold, "though we also need to get them somewhere where they can make the beginnings of a new village... and the College needs a new home as well now that I think about it."
"Fellglow Keep maybe?" Fiona commented, adding her thoughts to their conversation, "Its a place that's out of the way for mages to train and practice their craft, though I'm sure that we could persuade Jarl Balgruuf to give us the area to build them a new village. But I agree with Sunset, if this is the power that this demon can wield at his current level than we need to secure the Daedric Artifacts before he gets his hands on any of them."
"I still don't trust you," an elf said, the same one that Sunset had asked for information regarding Azura's Star, before sighing and holding out a large white stone, "but I was smart enough to recover this from the inn before that monster destroyed the College and sunk the city. This is Meridia's Beacon, something I found on my travels. I had intended to use this to find where Meridia's artifact, the sword known as Dawnbreaker, was located so I could turn it away from its fate as a Daedric Artifact, but she never spoke to me. If you are determined to hunt them all down than allow this to guide you to the first artifact, unless you've already uncovered Azura's Star."
Sunset shook her head, silently telling the elf that she hadn't recovered the Star yet, but accepted the beacon and prepared to hear the voice of the Daedric Lord, if she so desired it.
A new hand touches the Beacon. a voice said inside her head, though it caused her to look around for a moment before realizing where she had heard it, Listen. Hear me and obey. A foul darkness has seeped into my temple. A darkness that you will destroy. Return my beacon to Mount Kilkreath, and I shall make you the champion for my cleansing light.
Sunset shook her head for a moment, making sure that the Daedric Lord was no longer speaking to her, before beckoning to her companions and heading down the road. After a moment the mages of the College followed suit, knowing that there was nothing they could do to salvage the College and the grounds around it. The townspeople, after taking the next few minutes to talk among themselves, gathered what little they had collected, thanks to Sunset's friends warning them of some imminent danger, and followed after them. The Jarl, on the other hand, spent ten whole minutes thinking about the fate of his city, silently cursing the mages that had destroyed everything, before sighing and heading down the road as well.
Sunset, while remaining confident in front of all these people, was freaking out on the inside as they walked down the same path that they had taken to get to Fellglow Keep the first time. She had heard stories from Princess Celestia about Tirek's destructive power, but seeing it up close like that made her seriously consider how she could defeat such a monster. She was powerful, yes, but she needed time to regain the level of control she had before she departed Equus and traveled to a world where magic didn't exist, until her own actions changed that. While she regained her power Tirek seemed to be rapidly collecting his own, killing everyone that either helped him or died in the area around him.
As they walked Sunset considered every possible spell that would help her get the necessary training to not only increase her control, but to hopefully stand a chance against Tirek when the time came to do so.
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"So this is Fellglow Keep," Jarl Korir started, looking around the exterior of the crumpling fortress, "Is this seriously where your saying that we should live?"
"No, I said the area around the keep," Sunset replied, watching Fiona lead the mages inside the keep to show them around, "This is the best place that I know of that you can use as a new home."
"I had better speak with Jarl Balgruuf then," Korir sighed, scratching the back of his head before he started towards the massive city, "I don't know how he'll react to hearing that Winterhold is gone... it still doesn't seem real."
Sunset sighed as she walked into the keep, where she approached the massive chest from the Caller's treasure room, moved down to the main hall, and summoned her chest. She spent the next ten minutes moving the ingredients between the chests, giving the mages something to work with while she and her companions were gone.
"It feels weird to be back here after what happened," Fiona commented, causing Sunset to turn and look at her, only to find that she was alone, "the others are looking around the keep and choosing where they want to set up their personal rooms. Bjorn and Lydia should still be outside, either waiting for us or making sure the townspeople are adjusting to their new home. When do you want to head to Mount Kilkreath?"
"We had best get underway immediately," Sunset replied, sighing as she looked around her, "as much as I hate even thinking of leaving these guys alone I know we have a mission. We need to secure as many of the Daedric Artifacts as we can, before Tirek can figure out how to make contact with one of them and steal either the artifact's power or... and I dread to even consider this... that Prince's power."
"I have to ask this," Fiona said, just as the two of them walked out into the keep's courtyard, "but what did Tirek do to decimate the remainder of Winterhold and sink the College?"
"Remember those magicka wells we passed on the bridge?" Sunset replied, receiving a nod from the vampire, "Well, he gathered his magic into one of his hands, stood over the well in the College's courtyard, and slammed the attack above the well, cracking the air. The magic surged through those wells, transferring his power across the Ley Lines that connect the world together, though in his weakened state he was confined to Winterhold. I seriously hope that there are no more of those wells in Skyrim, otherwise a higher powered Tirek might be able to shatter more than the region that it rests in, though that wont matter if he reaches his full power once more.
Princess Celestia told me about Tirek's power through her stories, describing the terror she experienced whenever he damaged the land around them. Thirty-five percent shouldn't have been that strong, not enough to decimate the city like that, but yet Tirek did because he hit the magicka well. Trust me on this, if we can keep him from reaching one hundred percent then we'll have a change at sending him back to Tartarus, where he belongs."
Fiona nodded and they stopped beside Bjorn and Lydia, who nodded to Sunset to tell her that they were ready to go, before the four of them departed from Fellglow Keep. They had an artifact to recover before their enemy figured out how to get his hands on it.
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It had taken the group the remainder of the day to traverse the distance between Fellglow Keep and the Kilkreath Mountain, though when they were close to the ruins that Meridia's statue rested on Sunset heard the Daedric Lord speak once more.
Look at my temple, lying in ruins. Meridia said, almost as if she was sad to see the ruins in such a state from her plane of Oblivion, So much for the constancy of mortals, their crafts and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them?
Sunset spotted a set of stairs and approached it, walking up to the roof area where the statue of Meridia was waiting, with what appeared to be some sort of pedestal resting before the statue. She had her friends stand around the statue, though when they had done so she pulled out the beacon and took a deep breath, wondering what would happen when she returned it. After a moment she lowered it onto the pedestal and let it go, which resulted in the beacon glowing for a moment before a beam of light shot into the air. Sunset had to cover her eyes for a brief moment, but when she opened them she found that she was high up in the sky above the ruins, though suspended in the air before her was a glowing ball of light.
It is time for my splendor to return to Skyrim. Meridia stated, as if she had spent some time preparing this speech for whatever champion she had chosen, But the token of my truth lies buried in the ruins of my once great temple, now tainted by a profane darkness skittering within. The Necromancer Malkoran defiles my shrine with vile corruptions, trapping lost souls left in the wake of this war to do his bidding. Worse still, he uses the power stored within my own token to fuel his foul deeds. I have brought you here, mortal, to be my champion. You will enter my temple, retrieve my artifact, and destroy the defiler. Guide my light through the temple to open the inner sanctum and destroy the defiler.
"Very well Lady Meridia," Sunset replied, knowing that to refuse a Daedric Prince would likely result in death.
Malkoran has forced the doors shut. Meridia continued, almost as if she hadn't heard Sunset answer her, But this is my temple, and it responds to my decree. I will send down a ray of light. Guide this light through my temple and its doors will open.
The next thing Sunset knew she was standing exactly where she had been when she had placed the beacon on its pedestal, with her friends still standing around her. They were concerned, as she had disappeared for a moment and reappeared a few seconds later, but they seemed to settle down when she told them that she was unharmed. Fiona seemed overjoyed to hear that Meridia was giving them a quest, one that she claimed would result in them being allowed to keep her artifact, and was fully prepared to move into the ruins. Sunset also noticed that the beacon was sending a ray of light into a hole that rested below it, which had to be what the Daedric Lord had mentioned to her a few minutes ago.
Once Sunset recovered from being up in the sky, rather suddenly she mentally added, she drew the Staff of Magnus and walked down the stairs until she spotted the door they needed to use to enter the ruins. When they entered the ruin, however, Sunset was shocked to find that there was a lingering darkness hanging in the air all around him, exactly like what Meridia had told her about. As she walked into the hallway she found several discarded bodies laying around them, bodies that belonged to soldiers from the Imperial and Stormcloak factions of the Civil War. However, when she took a closer look at them she found that they had been shriveled up in some manner, not exactly like what Tirek had done, but close enough to make her worry.
"More desecrated people," Bjorn commented, his bow at the ready in case they found an enemy that wanted them dead, "this almost looks like the work of Tirek."
"That, or he's got another foolish mage to do his dirty work," Sunset growled, annoyed with how many people were buying into Tirek's tricks, "I swear, if this Malkoran is working for Tirek, in any way, shape, or form, than I shall take great pleasure in destroying him."
As they walked down the hallway they found a normal locked door and an iron door that seemed to be guarding a chest, though Fiona immediately knew what to do. She spun around, approached the wooden door, and immediately got to work with a set of lockpicks, twisting every now and then until she gently opened the door. She walked into the small chamber, pulled the waiting lever that she found, and returned to the group to find that the iron door had opened for them. Inside the chest they found a collection of magicka and health potions, which were divided among them before they continued down the hallway.
That was when they reached a large chamber, one that had a pedestal in the middle of the room that was being hit by a beam of light, which Sunset recognized. She approached the pedestal and pressed her hand against the stone, causing a white stone, nearly identical to the beacon, to rise out of it and reflect the light at another stone that was much smaller, allowing the door before them to open. When they traveled down the new hallway they emerged in a room that had three creatures made of shadows patrolling the area, who immediately looked at the group the moment they entered.
"Shades," Sunset said, recognizing the creatures almost immediately as she summoned her magic into her right hand, "be careful guys, these enemies could pack quite the punch if we're not careful."
One shade pulled out a bow and nocked an arrow, but before it could fire at them it was hit in the head with an arrow from Bjorn, who was already reaching for another one so he could continue his assault. Lydia charged forward and knocked her weapon into another one of the shades, throwing the creature off balance for a moment, which was all the time that Fiona needed to cut the creature's defenses to pieces. Sunset, focusing on the last enemy, sent out a bolt of her magic, which sailed through the air before colliding with the shade's chest, shattering it into fragments of darkness almost immediately.
As her friends dealt with the rest of the shades Sunset spotted another pedestal and pressed her hand against it, allowing the process to be repeated as another door opened to the right of her friends. They marched into the next area within seconds of the door opening, weapons flashing and magic flaring as they met the wave of shades that stood in their way. As they pressed on Sunset discovered that the shadows themselves were brimming with enemies, as when one of the shades in their path fell another stepped out of the shadows. She had no doubt that they could carve their way through the ruins until they found the necromancer that Meridia hated, but the amount of enemies was definitely annoying.
It almost reminded her of the stories she had read about King Sombra, but according to Princess Twilight the former king had been destroyed when he tried to retake the empire.
Regardless of the situation Sunset's friends tore through the shades that stood in front of them, while she used her magic to tear any shade that decided to approach them from behind. They entered another chamber, but instead of taking the time to break they continued forward, moving up a set of wooden stairs and preparing to defend it against the shades. Sunset decided that it was the best course of action, as she immediately spotted the next pedestal she needed to activate and proceeded over to where it was resting. She cast a look at the entrance they had emerged from and noticed that the shades were either coming out and being destroyed by one of her friends, or they were waiting to surge at them when they had enough numbers.
Sunset spotted an enchanting table on the other side of the chamber and moved around until she stood in front of it, turning to her left so she could approach the pedestal and activate the next beam of light. The iron door just beside her friends opened up the moment she had activated the pedestal, though that was when the growing horde burst into the chamber and filled the lower level completely. Instead of walking around the way she came Sunset ran across the stone floor where the pedestal rested and leapt forward, landing beside her friends before they opened a door and stepped out into the air once more.
"How... how many people has Malkoran killed?" Sunset asked her friends, allowing them to take a pause to catch their breath before they moved into the second section of the ruins, "How long has he been at this game of his?"
"I do not know," Fiona answered, knowing that Meridia wouldn't have answered Sunset until the task had been completed, "but I do know that he had amassed quite the army of shades. It appears that their sole weakness is the light itself, which explains why they haven't broken out of the ruins to slaughter everything around the area."
Sunset sighed as she wondered how powerful Malkoran had to be to command so many of the undead, which was followed by her wondering if she could even best such a mage of that level. After a moment she picked herself back up and tapped the staff on the stone structure, before walking towards the other section of the ruins. The group found another chest that they could open, but inside all Sunset really found of use was the three hundred gold and a variety of arrows that Bjorn collected, until Fiona pulled out a pair of ebony colored gauntlets. Lydia, already carrying an ebony weapon, accepted the gauntlets and slipped them on, a slight grin appearing on her face as Sunset could see her thinking of punching someone in the face with them.
The next area they walked into was a massive chamber that had three more pedestals for Sunset to activate, though two of them were on the second level while a third rested near the roof. Unlike the first part of the ruins there weren't too many enemies waiting for them, but Sunset decided that sneaking would likely benefit them, as it gave them the opportunity to get more done before they were spotted by one of the shades. They moved up the stairs and approached the iron door, where Sunset crept onto the stone pillar where the first pedestal rested and activated the beam of light, opening the door for them to continue. The moment that Sunset returned to her friends they pressed on, though she didn't get ahead of herself and made sure that the number of enemies stayed at the minimum.
They wrapped around the area until they reached where the second pedestal was supposed to be, though that was when the shade guarding it noticed them and immediately drew its weapon. Lydia leapt forward and slammed her weapon into the shade, shattering it into pieces as the others on the lower level realized that their ally had been taken care of.
"Go my Thane," Lydia said, spinning her battleaxe around before facing the path they had come from, "the three of us will protect your rear until the path to this necromancer is opened for us."
Sunset nodded and leapt to the second pedestal, where she activated the beam of light and opened the door behind her, to which she leapt back to the door and continued onward. The chamber she found herself in had three shades, one appearing to be a mage, the second an archer, and a third being a warrior, and she raised her magic before they noticed her. Once they took notice of her Sunset released her magic and tore the magic wielding shade to pieces, scattering it before its companions could react. The other two came at her, but she ducked under the warrior's blade and avoided the arrows before smiting the warrior right in its chest, causing it to explode. The archer continued to try and hit her, but she continued to avoid its arrows until she destroyed with with the Staff of Magnus, clearing the way for her to continue.
She moved through another hallway before she reached her final destination, the third pedestal that rested near the peak of the chamber, and activated the stone, which apparently activated a door near the bottom level. She swiftly returned to her friends, who were in the process of finishing off the last of shades that lived in this area, before the four of them leapt down to the lowest level and approached one more iron door. They appeared in one last chamber, though all Sunset really noticed was what she hoped was the final pedestal before she activated the stone, opening a large wooden door that lead even deeper into the mountain. They silently moved down the steps until they came to a open door, where Sunset noticed a breton standing over a pedestal of some kind, which happened to be where the beam of light happened to stop.
"So that's Malkoran," Sunset said, allowing her magic to gather in the Staff so she could take out any summoned creatures that the necromancer might bring to battle against her, "I'll end this as swiftly as I possibly can."
Sunset then stepped into the room and approached the steps that Malkoran stood at the top of, though he didn't turn around until she was literally at the bottom of the steps.
"So, your the one called Malkoran," Sunset stated, staring at the breton as she waited for him to make the first move, so she could see who he was truly working for, "I must admit, your not the first person I've encountered since my arrival that wanted to incur the wrath of a Deadric Lord."
"And you must be the one that the Master warned me about," Malkoran replied, turning to face her while pulling out his own staff, "He told me that the Archmage's College had been destroyed and that she was likely going to start gathering all the Daedric Artifacts, giving me plenty of time to prepare for your arrival. My Master will be most pleased when I present you to him, bound up for him to drain you dry, along with the Dawnbreaker and your lovely staff."
"There's goes all the respect that I might have had for you," Sunset sighed, magic wrapping around her for a moment, "I should have known better. I should have known that the Caller and Ancano weren't the only ones that Tirek managed to trick into serving him so he could further his own agenda. I shall take great pleasure in removing yet another one of his pawns from this game."
Before Malkoran could reply Sunset's magic snapped forward, slamming into the mage and literally tore his body to pieces, erasing any chance of him fighting her. She turned around to tell her friends that the deed was done, but before she completed her turn she spotted a shadowy figure appear where Malkoran had been standing and snapped her head back. It appeared that destroying his mortal body allowed the mage to ascend to a more fitting form that connected with his power level, though she was surprised to find that his shadowy form was actually a shadowy version of a Dragon Priest. Though as the new shade floated in the air it spread its hands out and several more shades appeared around them, telling Sunset that he intended to fight her with his army backing him.
Sunset summoned the power of her staff and shattered the army before any of them could react, though she turned her free hand on the shade and threw fire at it. Her magic shattered on a barrier that protected the shade, though she noticed that it was a light color, opposite of the shade's actual color, and decided that she had enough of this. She called her magic into the staff and smacked the base of the staff into the shade's chest, causing an explosion that rocked her enemy before backing up as he cast a ball of frost at her. Malkoran summoned more shades to fight her, but she banished all of them back to where they came from almost immediately and then slammed the top of the staff into his chest area.
Sunset then focused on the magic at the top of the staff and let it out, allowing the magic to tear into Malkoran's shade before literally ripping the shadowy body to pieces and destroying the necromancer completely.
It is done. Meridia suddenly said, speaking into Sunset's head once more, The defiler is defeated. Take Dawnbreaker from its pedestal.
"You guys had better head back to the entrance," Sunset called to her friends, noticing Bjorn nod back to her once she said that before they turned around and left her with the artifact.
Sunset then turned to the glowing sword and gripped the handle with her right hand, before she started to pull the weapon free from the pedestal it had been put in. Once she had the sword out the light around her ignited, temporarily blocking her vision before it faded back to normal, only to reveal that she was above the ruins once more. She spotted the glowing sphere that was Meridia, as the Princes couldn't physically enter the world thanks to the barriers being closed, and waited patiently for her to speak.
Malkoran is vanquished. Meridia stated, almost immediately repeating what she had said inside the ruins, Skyrim's dead shall remain at rest. This is as it should be. This is because of you. A new day is dawning. And you shall be its herald. Take the mighty Dawnbreaker and with it purge corruption from the dark corners of the world. Wield it in my name, that my influence may grow.
"Don't worry, I'll keep it safe," Sunset assured the Daedric Lord, despite not being told to do so, but figured she could at least assure that she wouldn't lose it, "and I'll slay many a foe with it."
May the light of certitude guide your efforts. Meridia replied, before the sphere of light disappeared and Sunset was dropped down to the ground once more.
When the light faded Sunset was standing before the statue of Meridia once more, with the beacon exactly where she had left it and the sword known as Dawnbreaker still in her right hand. She stared at the blade for a moment, wondering how the first of the sixteen artifacts could already be in her possession and, more importantly, how she could keep it out of Tirek's hands. After a moment she slid the blade onto her belt, pulled out Fiona's journal and a quill, flipped through the pages until she came to the page dedicated to Meridia, and placed a check mark next to the Daedric Lord's name.
"Fifteen more artifacts to go," Sunset commented, a light smile appearing on her face as she put the book away, "fifteen more and I'll be able to save this world from Tirek's true power."
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Tirek stepped into the grounds of a ruined tower, one that he had spent little time in by clearing out the residents that had once called the place home. He knew that if he used too much, at this moment, would be leaving a calling card for his enemy, who he wanted to believe had all the time in the world to do what she wanted. He would return to her from time to time, so that she would always know that he would always be stronger than she could possibly become, no matter how much she trained. He would wait here, in his new tower, until he felt the need to correct her attitude, though it would be some time before he ventured out into the world once more.
He stepped into the main chamber, where he had carefully crafted small versions of each of the Daedric Lords, using the descriptions he had found in the various books that had been left behind. He had several people, each power hungry and willing to serve him in exchange for greater power, searching for each artifact so they could trade it to him for the power they desired. He looked at the one that represented Meridia, where he had sent the necromancer Malkoran, before he set it on fire, a small grin appearing on his face.
"Fifteen more to go," Tirek chuckled, looking around the chamber as he wondered which artifact would be found next, "and then I will obtain my full power, so that I can decimate this pitiful world and return to Equus. We'll meet again Sunset Shimmer, of that I am sure."
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Just how MUCH power does Tirek need!?
6859509 Apparently he wants to steal the power of all sixteen princes... not that I think he needs it.
35% power=the destruction of Winterhold
40%(just guessing here)=killing everything in his new lair
Just this alone has me dreading what's to come if he gets to 100%
6858310 True, I didn't really think about that point.
6860057 I wonder if he's willing to absorb Mehrunes Dagon...
Shit, why search for the artifacts when Sunset'll do it for him.
And dangit I've caught up with everyone else *Sigh* Till next update
6859509
6860057
I see it now, if he fails to absorb any of the Princes, he'll set his sights on the Divines, possibly all of the souls in Sovngarde...
6860304 I forgot about Sovngarde. I'll bet that Tirek can't beat Alduin because dragons in Nirn can EXIST outside of time. I can't wait for Tirek to DIE!
6860082 Considering he's got sixteen, now fifteen, mini statues of the Daedric Lords, I'm betting he's more than willing to absorb Dagon's powers as well.
6860304 Yeah, not going to lie, but I also tend to forget about Sovngarde. Though it seems like Tirek is going to try and focus on the Daedric Lords, which is proper seeing how you can't really contact the Divines... though I wonder what Alduin would do if he learned that Tirek might muscle in on his territory.
6861115 It might be possible for some of them, like draining the little girl meant to be Dibella's new spirit medium once she assumes the connection or maybe draining the shrine statues scattered in the general map, since they might hold small shards of a Divine's power to give those blessings.
One down, fifteen to go. Or wait, make that fourteen, seeing how Nocturnal's key is only accessible by the Thieves Guild.
Yes