Bab 98: Chapter XXXIX: Battle of Wolfskull (Part 3)
As the head of the lead necromancer falls the rest are stunned by the backlash of the ritual's power getting out of control, and before they can do anything to save their pitiful lives Sybille and I fall upon them without a hint of mercy.
As she rips the heart out of the last necromancer Sybille looks around the room we found ourselves in and mutters "I was wondering where they were powering so many undead from..."
"Quite." I say while rapidly gathering the still powered black soul gems, the souls captured by them were already in the soul cairn so I had no qualms about using them "Only the greatest of necromancers can actually command an army on their own, and these were everything but great."
She nods absent mindedly while looking over the ritual circle, she hears the clinking of the gems and turns to me with a quirked eyebrow "You do plan on sharing those don't you?"
I shrug "Eh sure, if you have a use for them. Just remember you do owe me for saving your ass."
She giggles "But I thought it was your pleasure to save my maidenly ass."
I give her a blank look "Woman, nothing about your ass is maidenly."
Her eye twitches "And who's fault is that?"
"I don't know, you tell me." I shrug and say with a cackle.
We banter with each other as we continue clearing the entire place out, we knew that with the destruction of this ritual the battle outside was well on it's way to a swift end.
(General pov)
Under Rikke's strict leadership, the legionaries reorganize themselves quickly and get to saving the dying and tending to the wounded.
Torygg who finally gathered some of his strength back starts walking toward the entrance to the main cave just in time for Reyvin and Sybille to land on the snow from atop the nearby wall.
"You don't plan on entering right now do you?" Reyvin asks him, bemused by the idea.
The furious King snaps his head to the mage "They must all die for their crimes!"
Raising a placating hand Reyvin inclines his head "I agree, but charging in without gathering ourselves will just make you get killed instead."
"I-" The king begins to growl something out in his anger, but Reyvin raises a hand and hits him with an illusion spell.
Bolgeir Bearclaw who was right next to Torygg goes to grab his blade, but his King raises an arm while taking deep breaths "You are right, I was acting foolishly."
Bolgeir is not so easily swayed, however "Did you just bewitch the king?!" he yells while pointing at the mage.
"A simple calm spell, I assure you." Reyvin drawls.
Before things can escalate Savos pops up next to them "It was indeed just something to calm him down housecarl, there is no need for such reactions." He turns to his fellow mages and gives them a thumbs up "Good job on finding the necromancers kids."
Before they can continue with their conversation Rikke arrives and looks at the mages "You lot know how to heal?"
All of them nod and she waves for them to follow her "I have wounded and I am not letting them die because you wanted to banter, with me!"
Sybille starts to fume and is obviously about to retort with some kind of insult, but a hand on her shoulder stops her. Her head snaps to a Reyvin looking at her with a mix of understanding and annoyance "You know she is right Sybille, no need to blow up over every little thing."
She grumbles, but does follow the Legate without further complaint.
They are shown to the wounded and get to work.
Savos works with his usual nonchalance and casually regrows the severed fingers of several of the wounded while healing the rest.
Sybille is a lot more professional and appears almost like a surgeon to Reyvin.
Reyvin, on the other hand, is holding an unsheathed dawnbreaker in one hand while throwing uncountable insults at a certain Daedra under his breath, and is channeling the power of the sword to heal as many as he can.
Some soldiers ask him if he is praying, and he barely keeps himself from cursing their entire families.
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Half an hour later, when they managed to save everyone they could and tally all those they could not, the now diminished force, led from the front by their Legate, took the first step into the dark cave and toward the horrors it held.
It didn't take long for the defenders to respond to their entrance, sudden collapsing stones falling from above, ambushes by ghouls and skeletons, surprise bombardments by the necromancers, and all manner of other attempts to stall them.
Luckily for the soldiers, they were accompanied by debatably the most powerful mage in Skyrim, so with casual waves of his hands Savos rendered most of the attacks useless in bursts of magnificent yet efficient spellcasting.
What managed to get through his protective aegis was quickly dealt with by his students or the legion.
After cutting down yet another force of skeletons, the army of Solitude stepped through a final opening into a massive cave that looked more like a buried fortress than any natural cave system.
Before they could orient themselves a bright blue conflux of magic appeared atop a tower in the middle of the cave and a loud, booming voice rung out "POTEMA, HEAR OUR CALL AND AWAKEN! WE SUMMON YOU!"
"Ah shit." Reyvin heas Savos mutter and the old Archmage's demeanor shifts from his usual temperament to a far more grave one. He turns to the leaders of the army and says with utmost seriousness "I need to get up there and stop what they are trying to do, you must all get to me as soon as possible."
Without waiting for any kind of response he jumps off the walkway they were standing on and as he falls a massive flaming bird appears below him, carrying him toward the tower.
Sybille blinks and turns to Reyvin "Isn't that the same..."
He stops her with a raised hand "That doesn't matter right now, we need move."
Torygg's voice interrupts any further conversation, and as the young King glares at the tower's summit he shouts "Arkay blesses us this day! With me warriors of Skyrim! Let us purge this filth from our lands!" Not waiting even a second he charges forward followed by his worried guard and the loudly cheering soldiers.
Sybille blinks in their direction and mutters "Since when was he so..."
"Fiery?" Reyvin slowly asks.
"Yes, lets go with that."
Reyvin takes another look at the tower and starts rushing after the soldiers "We can ponder on the King's balls dropping another time Sybille" His staff appears in his hands and the wind around him starts picking up, with a wicked grin he growls "Now it's time to rip and tear!"
(Savos' pov)
Gods damned idiots, what are they thinking?!
Summoning the spirit of a dragon-blooded necromancer and trying to bind it? Might as well just dig your grave then and there you complete amateurs!
My familiar carries me to the top of the tower and launches me at the gaggle of dumbasses while he starts bombarding them with firebolts.
I waste no time on banter with the glaring leader of the ritual and immediately launch a chaos thunderbolt at her.
One of her undead thralls throws itself in front of the spell and I note a hint of disdain in her eyes, that disdain lasts for a briefest moment as the spell detonates blowing up everything around the thrall.
As she falls to the ground and the last ritual caster is carried away by my Brightburn, most likely to throw him down the pit as he is one to do, I approach the seared corpse of the ritual master.
The foolish woman seems to have bound herself to her corpse at the moment of death in hopes of surviving this, I prepare a spell to finish her but the conflux of magic grows unstable and explodes outwards, shoving me onto the ground.
I quickly levitate upwards and turn to see the now glowing corpse of the ritual master glaring at me with dead blue eyes. She opens her mouth to speak, but the voice that comes out is not that of the woman I slew... no, it is something far more powerful, something... divine.
"Have you come to pledge yourself to Empress Potema, acolyte?" The returned wolf-queen asks with all the arrogance of a Septim and an Archmage combined.
My lip quirks and I incline my head apologetically "I am afraid not madam." and continue with a cocky smile my daughter would have no-doubt slapped me for "You aren't supposed to be alive, so I will be doing my civic duty as Archmage and putting you back in the ground now if you don't mind."
The undead queen doesn't seem offended, in fact she is amused as she lets out a dead chuckle "I see..." her eyes refocus on me "Very well, if thee will not serve in life, thou shalt serve in death."
She takes a stance and I see her jaw move in a fashion I have recently familiarized myself with... Ah shit.
"FUS RO DAH!"
(Reyvin's pov)
"FUS RO DAH!" I hear a voice far mightier than anything I ever felt echo from atop the tower. Did... did they actually manage to summon her even with Savos' interference?
I must get up there, and quickly or the old man will die.
I take out a potion of extra Magicka and chug it down, preparing my mind I once again unsheathe dawnbreaker and charge over the ranks of legionaries battling the innumerable draugr and vampires in our way while completely ignoring the panicked yells of my comrades.
My frantic charge is slowed down neither by the undead throwing themselves at me nor the constant whispering of the cursed sword, as I rush through the enemy ranks all the legionaries can see are periodic explosions of solar energy and flames happening haphazardly in the enemy ranks.
With a final swing and a roar I break through the enemy ranks and rush to the stairs of the tower, but before I can get up fully a tall deathly pale Nord places himself in my way.
"I see you liberated that whore's little toy." He drawls in a croaking voice.
"Malkoran I presume?" I ask while preparing to surge my Magicka.
The old man nods "That is indeed the name of your death boy." he opens his left arm toward me "But it does not need be so. Give me the sword and I shall make you my prime apprentice, untold power shall be yours!"
The whispering of the sword turns into a furious howl, but I manage to keep the damn thing from overwhelming me "Oh I will give you the sword." I say slowly and petulant glee spreads on the man's face "Straight into your heart."
His glee is replaced with fury as he swings his staff and launches a massive ice storm at me.
Not wanting to waste time I shout "YOL!" and disperse it.
Unfortunately, he doesn't cooperate and launches more of the damned things, one after another while cackling at my attempts to push through.
'Calm down Reyvin, the damned sword is making you behave like a dumbass.' I chide myself and take a deep breath while pushing away yet another ice storm.
I summon scorch and mentally tell him to distract the necromancer, I sense his glee as he launches himself at the man while surrounded by a cloak of fire. He appears in front of the necromancer only for the old man to wave a disdainful hand at him and send him crashing through the walls.
While he does this I chug down Morrigan's potion, it feels as if my blood itself is set on fire but I grit my teeth and persist. I start channeling a massive beam of red lightning at him with both hands, focusing all my power at once.
At first Malkoran keeps his disdainful look as he summons a grand ward, the disdain changes into horror as he feels his ward pushed back. He quckly drinks a potion of Magicka and prepares to launch more spells at me, but before he can do that a battered looking Scorch rushes through the hall in the wall and passes near him while clawing at his throat.
The old man is stunned for a moment as he clutches at his severed arteries, but a moment is all I need as with a great push of my will I force my spell to break through his defenses and ram straight into his chest.
I take deep breaths and start downing potion after potion, no doubt overdosing already. As soon as my legs stopped wobbling I rush up the stairwell, once again picking up dawnbreaker, who's whispers had long since turned into a cacophony ringing against my mind.
I burst through the gates leading to the apex of the tower with a shout and am met with the sight of a lich glowing with the sheer amount of Magicka it possesses, battered in many places standing over a equally hurt Savos who seems to be lacking an eye and his left arm.
(General pov, Savos' battle against Potema)
The moment the shout leaves the dead Queen's mouth the Archmage blinks to another spot atop the tower.
Without even looking at him Potema waves her hand and a veritable sea of windblades flash at him from every direction.
The old mer grunts in pain as one of his eyes is caught by the spell and destroyed. He pulls out a staff tipped with a beautiful red rose and starts channeling magicka into it, causing large Dremora warriors to rip their way onto Nirn.
The Wolf-Queen, not willing to be outdone, summons her own thralls in the form of skeletal behemoths and liches.
What was moments ago a duel between two mages turns into a full blown battle as the veritable armies of summons start butchering each other.
Taking the opportunity Savos teleports behind Potema and claps his hands, sending an explosion of thunder and pure force at her.
Potema grunts in annoyance and whispers "Tiid klo ul." and while suddenly moving far faster than was natural or unnatural, pulls out a wicked sword and swings for Savos' head.
The Arcmage is saved by his familiar appearing suddenly and pushing him away, getting cut in turn and making it's master only lose an arm in the exchange as Potema takes another angry swing before her shout looses power.
Their dance continues as the armies bellow continue their battle.
(Savos' pov)
'This cannot go on' The thought strikes me as I wipe the blood from my mouth.
She is far too powerful for me to kill without having the time to prepare, the only thing that can in this situation is Meridia's artefact but I don't know if the kid will get here in time.
I look at my remaining arm and with a twitch summon my staff into it, the Wolf Queen is distracted by the last Daedra I could summon with Sam's staff.
Too bad I had to waste it all here, it was a really handy walking stick...
As the last Dremora jumps at the lich-queen I focus all my remaining power into the staff. She swats my summon away, banishing him back into oblivion and shifts her dead gaze at me, but it is already too late as I push my staff forward and launch a massive beam of lightning at her.
Let's hope this stuns her at least.
As my spell dissipates the damned lich is still floating there, now glaring at me due to her heavily damaged form. A wicked smile spreads on her face "I guess mere servitude will not suffice for thee" She spreads her arms "Rejoice mortal! For thou shalt eternally suffer at mine feet!"
It is time to use 'that' then...
I prepare to pull out one last trump card but then I see Reyvin explode from the entrance to the tower's summit, no doubt thrown forward by a shout of his.
Potema, whose pointless posturing cannot hide the damage I dealt to her, glares at the new arrival. Before she can say anything, my eye meets Reyvin's and I send him a mental image of my plan with a handy illusion spell.
His nod is barely perceptible, and as Potema opens her mouth to say "Another mo-" I focus all the magicka I managed to regenerate into my staff and yank Reyvin with a grand telekinesis spell, pulling him toward the lich queen.
His sword finds its way into her heart and with an unholy scream she explodes into searing light, her soul annoyingly escaping eastwards.
With a frustrated grunt Reyvin throws the sacred blade of Meridia onto the ground and spits at it, maybe I should help him out with that now that he has learned his lesson.
I go to make a snarky comment, but all my strength leaves me as the battle ends and I fall unconscious.
(Reyvin's pov)
I quickly go to check on Savos in hopes he might help with chasing the mad Queen down.
Aaaand he is out cold.
I feed him a potion and take a deep breath, finally calming down after that rush. I turn to see a rather worried Sybille, soon followed by the King and Rikke all staring at me.
I wave weakly at Savos "He will live, but we have another problem."
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Give me your stones or Savos will re-earn his staff on your cheeks.
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