Sonata's Crazy and Wacky Adventure in Skyrim

by Sonata Blaze

24: Dangerous Knowledge

Sonata took a few more minutes than necessary before she returned to High Hrothgar after speaking with the dragon Paarthurnax, just so she could clear her mind before she gathered her friends. Every time she had a bad feeling about something, like she and her sisters fighting the Rainbooms for instance, she was usually right in one way or another. The information she needed to discover anything about an Elder Scroll had to be in the College of Winterhold, but the chills she had gotten when she determined that she needed to return there meant that something was going to happen. She had no idea what that something could be, but she had the suspicion that it had something to do with Lord Grul and his orcs... which only made her worry about what they would find when they arrived.

This was one of the few times that she actually prayed that she was wrong, because she didn't think the College could survive another attack thanks to what happened the last time.

When she returned to the courtyard of High Hrothgar she noticed that the Greybeards had returned to their beds, though she found her friends waiting in the area where she had received the other Words of Power that belonged to the Unrelenting Force Shout. Gol and Mez seemed to be discussing armor and weapon ideas, while many of the others were sitting around waiting for her to return to them. She wondered if any of them knew anything about an Elder Scroll, though when she considered the idea she threw it out, because Saerza was the only one that could possibly know something.

"So, what did you find out?" Kree asked, as she was the first one to notice that Sonata had returned to them, "Did you find out anything useful about what we came here for?"

"Sort of," Sonata replied, glancing at Saerza for a moment, wondering what she would think if she asked about the Scroll, "Paarthurnax told me that I need to track down an Elder Scroll to learn what I need to stop Alduin... and I guessed that the only place we can learn about one of them is at the College of Winterhold."

"Urag might know something that we don't know," Saerza commented, rubbing her chin for a moment, as she if was wondering the same thing that Sonata was, "but we won't know until we ask him. So let's head back to the College and see if we can't find something that will help us save this world."

Sonata wanted to tell her friend that she had a horrible feeling that something was going to happen at the College, she really did, but at the same time she also didn't want to upset one of her friends in case she was wrong. Despite the fact that most ponies believed that the Siren Queen was never wrong, which was a lie that her sisters spread to make her seem more powerful and godlike than she actually was, she was usually wrong a fourth of the time. In the off chance that she was imagining danger at the College, and she seriously hoped that there wasn't any, she decided to hold her tongue until they saw what was happening there.

When she looked back at Kree for a moment she noticed that her friend had seen something as well, which meant that Kree might have known that she suspected something bad to happen. To her relief Kree didn't say anything, to which Sonata let out a sigh as the rest of their companions gathered their gear and came back to the entrance of the temple. Once they were all back together they walked through the door of the temple and began to trek back down the mountain side, their eyes peeled for any enemies that might have come looking for them... or for Sonata.

The group managed to return to Iverstead without anything happening to them, which was almost a shame to Sonata considering she actually wanted to see how powerful the completed Unrelenting Force Shout was compared to her own powers. It also worried her that they weren't finding any enemies to take out, which only made her wonder if her feeling about an attack on Winterhold was actually correct. Instead of moving on immediately they took refuge in the inn for the night, which made the innkeeper happy to have paying customers after what happened with the vampires and cultists some time ago.

Sonata let the night pass quickly, because she wanted the seemingly longest day of her live to be over so she could start another one in the morning... and hopefully not have to deal with her enemy again.

---

When morning arrived the group had a small breakfast before they departed from the inn, though one thing Sonata found unusual was that she didn't have any dreams about her sisters or her past. She figured that not seeing her sisters in her dreams wasn't an omen or anything, but not reliving her past, the same past that she had been trying to forget for over a thousand years, was the more shocking part. She figured that she wasn't in need of whatever her past could tell her, but not seeing anything made her worry more than when she had been having dreams.

As they walked along the road that would take them back to Winterhold, and pass by the same fortress that they had cleared twice in the past, Sonata remained silent during the beginning. Her friends respected the fact that she was considering what to ask Urag when they saw him, but in reality she was worrying over the fact that she hadn't seen any enemies since the Karthspire. Normally she could have been fine with the idea of not seeing any enemies, but considering that her opponent was Lord Grul she had to wonder if this was another move of his.

Her silence, however, was broken when they approached Fort Amol once more, to which the lot of them discovered that another group of orcs had moved into the fort... ones carrying the banner of their enemy.

"He's definitely persistent," Kree commented as she stared at the fortress, to which they stopped further down the road to see what was going on, "We clear the fort of bandits and he moves a force of soldiers into the area. We take out those soldiers and even more show up, only to be replaced once more."

"I am getting sick and tired of these orcs," Sonata said, pinching the bridge between her eyes for a moment, "Look, we're going to have to fight them at some point, of that I am sure, but we seriously don't have the time to waste on them at the moment..."

"Sonata, they're moving!" Kree stated, interrupting Sonata and directing her attention to the fort's entrance, where the orcs were marching out of the fortress.

Sonata's eyes widened as she counted the orcs up, finding that there were at least fifty of them marching together at the moment and forcing her to wonder where they were going. If they were heading to a village or city to attack it, and she suspected that they might be getting ready to do so, then they would have no choice in putting them down before they reached their destination. It wasn't until she overheard one of them talking that allowed them to learn where the orcs were heading, which only made her and her companions angry.

"You heard Master Mag'zul," one of the orcs said, during which he pulled out his sword and held it out for a moment, "We're to head to Winterhold and finish what Master Aggronak started; the complete and utter destruction of the College that calls the place home. Master Mag'zul is already there, personally hunting down something that the Sisters are supposed to have left there, so it will be our job to hunt down and slaughter every mage that we find."

The orcs around the one that spoke saluted him, indicating that he was the one in charge of this squad, but as they started to move away they were unaware that their leader's words had risen the anger of two certain people not too far away from where they were standing.

"Okay, change of plans," Sonata said, drawing her sword out as lightning gathered around her left hand, "We were already heading to the College, so we'll kill these orcs, head to Winterhold, and then save the College from Mag'zul... and then see if I can't figure out what my sisters left there that's so important that Grul wants to destroy the place."

Saerza summoned a fireball and threw it at one of the orcs, blowing a hole in the back of his armor and blasting him forward, before she roared in anger and charged forward. Gol and Mez, seeing that there was going to be a fight, dropped the armor that they had been carrying, drew out their weapons, and charged towards the orcs with Lydia at their side. Lorthan and Kree stayed back to attack from afar, though while they did that Sonata joined the fight and took one of the orc's heads off before he could even touch her. The orcs ahead of them, realizing that they were under attack, turned around and came back at the group with their weapons drawn, to which one or two met their end by Kree's arrows or Lorthan's magic.

Sonata spun around and brought her weapon down hard on one of the orcs in front of her, running lightning along the edge of her sword and cutting through the armor her enemy was wearing. She then turned to an orc on the left and raised her arm towards him, blasting a hole in his chest with her lightning, dropping the pair to the ground as she moved on. Several of them gathered in front of her, intending to prevent her from hurting one of them without harming herself in the process, but all that did was make her smile. She took a deep breath and released the power of her full Unrelenting Force, knocking the group of orcs backwards and giving her friends the openings they needed to deal with them.

She was impressed that the Thu'um was that strong, which made her decide that she needed to use more of it and rely less on her actual powers until it was time to fight Grul.

Gol and Mez were the last ones to finish off their enemies, hacking off their limbs and cutting their heads off in rapid succession, though before they left the pair of nords insisted on taking the armor with them... even though Sonata had no idea where they were carrying everything or how they were still able to walk. Once the deed was done they resumed their journey, though this time they were moving much faster than they were before they encountered the orcs. Sonata could not believe that the College might be under attack, though she was more annoyed that she had been right with her terrible feeling earlier.

As they followed the road back to Winterhold Sonata noticed that there were a few wild animals left, though most of them were scared at the moment and chose not to engage them in combat. They encountered no more enemies on their way to their destination, though as they drew closer to the ruined city Sonata noticed that there was smoke in the air. When they finally got closer to the city she and her companions discovered that Mag'zul was already attacking the College, because the smoke was emitting from where Sonata assumed the library was located. In fact the majority of the College had the same green flames that Grul's followers used, though as she watched the surrounding area she noticed something else...

...there was another creature made of earth trashing the pillars of the College, though this one was much larger than the one that Aggronak had summoned.

"Oh this isn't good," Saerza said, seeing how many of the pillars were broken and that one of the sections had broken into pieces completely, "Sonata, we've got to get in there and save whoever is left."

"Yeah, you and I need to take out Mag'zul," Sonata stated, already heading forward, "everyone else should search for survivors and deal with that creature... I have a bad feeling about this."

Her friends followed her across the bridge and assaulted the massive creature, though she and Saerza walked into the main hall and climbed the stairs to where the library was located. When they walked into the area they found a orc, who happened to be wearing a robe, holding another orc in the air with his magic, though it appeared that the one in the air was being tortured. That was also when they discovered what the smoke was coming from; Mag'zul was burning everything in the library while he was searching for something else.

"Where is it?!" Mag'zul shouted, his arm extended to keep Urag pinned against the wall, "We know that the Sisters left something of importance here... so where is it?!"

"I... don't know... what you... are talking about," Urag struggled to say, the magic appearing to chock him the entire time, "they... didn't leave... anything in... my library..."

"YOU LIE!" Mag'zul screamed, his anger flaring for a moment, "I will have whatever they left here..."

Sonata turned her palm towards the orc and released a stream of lightning, but Mag'zul moved to the side and the bolt struck the table on the opposite side of the room, shattering it into a hundred smaller pieces. The orc then turned to Sonata for a moment, though surprise seemed to cross his face for a moment, as if he hadn't been expecting her to come back to the College so soon. She growled for a moment as she summoned the Lightning Blade into existence, intending to finish this in one go, but as she charged at her enemy he teleported out o the way and she struck the wall behind him, leaving a small hole when she removed her arm.

"It is fortunate that you already revealed that move, otherwise I would have been dead," Mag'zul commented, a grin appearing on his face as he turned his staff towards her, the sinister green aura appearing around it for a moment, "Now then, lie down on the ground and stay there while I get what I came here for."

Sonata then found herself laying on the floor, though when she tried to move she found that there was some incredible magic preventing her from getting up and attacking the orc. Right then and there she realized how Grul was able to keep a dragon locked up so he could corrupt it; he had Mag'zul use his magic to keep it pinned to the ground while he worked his magic on it. If Grul was also responsible for the disappearance of her sisters, and she was beginning to think that he was, then it might stand to reason that Mag'zul's magic might be keeping them in whatever prison they had been trapped inside. She also wondered where Saerza was located, but she looked towards the entrance and found that she was also pinned to the wall, adding to the power that the orc possessed.

She only needed to overcome the bonds that were keeping her down and she would be one step closer to saving her sisters, so she closed her eyes and focused on calling forth her magic.

"I know what your trying to do by the way," Mag'zul said, not even bothering to look at her while he stared at Urag, "and it won't work. I have trapped hundreds of foes, be they simple animals or even these pitiful dragons that follow Alduin around, in my magic and not once has someone ever escaped from me. Go ahead, try and break my bonds with what power you have... you'll find that you are no match for the power that Lord Grul has bestowed upon me. Its a shame that you had to come here when you did, because now we'll have to waste time in dealing with your enemies ourselves... though our Master will soon have the power to erase this world.

Its been nice knowing you, Siren Queen, but it seems that our game is over... too bad that you didn't discover that we managed to defeat and capture your pathetic sisters on your own."

That got Sonata's attention, because up until this moment she had merely been wondering what happened to her sisters, where they had gone into hiding or if they had been captured by someone. Now she had the truth, Grul had her sisters captive and was trying to use their power to fuel that dark portal she had seen in her dreams... though he required her own powers to complete the gateway. Everything was starting to make sense to her now, but the realization of that truth only fueled the anger that was growing inside of her being... the same anger she had been avoiding for the last thousand years.

It was time for her to release her anger, though when she did so the anger coursed through her body as she shattered the magic that was holding her and stood on her feet once more, forcing Mag'zul to turn and face her.

"Impossible..." Mag'zul said, taking a step back the moment he noticed that Sonata's eyes had turned red with anger, "You shouldn't have been able to shatter my magic that easily."

"You were a fool to believe that you could hold the Siren Queen without bringing her wrath down upon you," Sonata replied, red lightning gathering around her hands for a moment, "especially after telling me that my sisters are being held hostage by my enemy... that was the most foolish thing you could have done. Now, begone from my sight."

She raised her hands and released the lightning she had been gathering, which slammed into the green lightning that Mag'zul was using to defend himself at the moment. The collision of their magic shattered the stone pillars on either side of them, though Sonata could tell that the actual walls were showing signs of cracking as well. She would tell that this was Mag'zul's full power, which made her assume that he had to be the weakest of the lieutenants that served Grul... though he was also the most foolish of them all. She roared for a moment and pressed her anger into her attack once more, which encouraged the lightning to push her enemy's backwards just a bit.

They remained like that for some time, where Sonata slowly pushed her way towards her target with her magic, until she shattered his magic before his very eyes and grabbed him with her magic.

"Even if you slay me now you are still no where near my Master's power," Mag'zul said, struggling against her magic for the moment, "He will destroy you."

"And I would like to see him try," Sonata replied, her magic slowly crushing the orc's body, "too bad you won't live long enough to see me bring an end to his plans. Its also a shame that your only real power was merely trapping people and animals with your magic... you could have been a worthy opponent if you had stronger magic. Now, before I erase you from this world, I have one question for you; where is Lord Grul hiding?"

"I would never reveal the Master's location to you," Mag'zul spat, clearly trying to defend Grul while Sonata was crushing him, which only made her sigh for a moment.

"Then there is no reason to keep you alive." Sonata said, engaging her magic as she crushed the orc's heart inside his own chest, before tossing his corpse into the flames so he could be consumed like everything else.

She ran over to where Saerza had been pinned against the wall, making sure that her friend was okay, before they ran to where Urag was coughing after bring released from Mag'zul's control. As they helped the orc back onto his feet Sonata caught a glimpse of something on his right hand, to which Urag pulled off the half burned glove and revealed the mark that Saerza bared. Urag explained that he had kept it a secret for a reason, because Aria and Adagio had indeed left him something that was only to be handed to Sonata when she came to him for aid. He then pointed at the wall that she had struck with her Lightning Blade, informing her that what she was looking for was actually hidden in a secret area where he stored valuable books that others weren't supposed to know about.

Sonata carefully opened the secret vault, with some help from Urag and Saerza, but when the door was finally open she spotted a really old bound book that was resting on a pedestal. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was one of Starswirl's journals, something that she was sure that she was never going to see again in her entire life. She gently opened the front of the journal and noticed something that she wasn't actually expecting, a note to her from her old friend... explaining in a paragraph or two that the book would hold the knowledge to fix her gemstone if it ever became damaged. She smiled and pulled the book out of the hidden area, to which the three of them escaped from the burning library, where Saerza briefly asked about the Elder Scroll.

All Sonata heard was that they would need to go out into the ice field to the north of the College, because she was too distracted by the possibility of there being a chance to reforge her pendant... and then using that power to find Lord Grul and destroy him before he brought an end to this world.

Comments

[Nova Blaze]

And that, friends and neighbors, is what is called a Super Siren.

[Blackdrag-rose]

So the weakest of the lieutenants has been taken care of... though now Sonata's going to be pissed for an unknown amount of time.

7482612 Yeah, Mag'zul should have kept that piece of information to himself. He got Super Sonata on his rear and couldn't take the pressure.

[Aria Blitz]

So Starswirl figured out what she would need to do if the pendant became damaged... interesting.

[Vigilant of Stendarr]

That's one annoying orc down... and four more to go.

[Adagio Shimmer]

Huh... Super Siren Sonata... honestly, I didn't see that one coming.