Chương 384: The Battle of Winterhold (1) : Cooking Madness
*The day of the Battle*
*Alina's front, Neo Saarthal*
"Daughter, what is that?"
Sigurd stood with a pale face beside Alina, the father and daughter pair were in a stone circular room at the base of the Tower of Music. What was in front of him was simply something that scared the ever living out of him.
"That? It is a Magicka Reactor."
"THAT is one? Aren't those things just some small trinkets?"
"Trinkets? Father, Magicka Reactors are the crown jewel of Jon's creations and Winterhold's core of power. They are artifacts of absolute genius."
The Magicka Reactor in front of Sigurd and Alina was a bit too large. It can be compared with a small boulder with the height of four meters and the width of eight. Indeed, this thing was created by exploiting a massive stockpile of Stalhrim and Soul Gems. This Magicka Reactor has the ability to produce 80 Mega MP on the Magickameter.
Powering a massive artifact like the Tower of Music needed that much power after all.
As Sigurd and Alina proceeded further in the facility, they saw some people in distinctive robes.
"These are?" Jonrad asked.
"Winterhold mad scientists. The former Core Members of the Creation Club, one of the College's most formidable student clubs. The always turned on, Eliel; the Nerd Orc, Morbagog; the big cat who loves small things, Mahran; and the arsonist, Yisra. They are misfits in society but somehow Jon found them."
"We found him. He taught me how to make people naked with my voice." Eliel said as she offered a handshake to Sigurd.
"Yes, whatever you say." Alina held Elie's hand away. "Guys, take us atop the tower, please. We need to install the last piece."
"Understood, this way." Mahran said as he led the way to a small room with a lever in its center."
The group followed him and Sigurd kept looking around.
"Why are we all cramped up in a small room?" He asked.
"Just wait and see." Alina replied as Mahran pulled the lever.
The floor shook for an instant and started to rise up. Sigurd looked at the ceiling with worry but it was rising up with them.
"What in the world…"
"It is a lift developed by Mahran in imitation of the Dwemer lifts. It moved by those four big gears in the corners and draws energy from the large Mega Magicka Reactor." Morbagog explained.
"Yes, This one has come to a conclusion that lifts need very small parts under their floors to move the big gears. I came to Boss Jon with the idea and he helped me with the design. Small machines are really marvelous." Mahran continued.
"How small?" Sigurd asked with worry.
"Very small! Tiny. Isn't that amazing."
"Eh…"
As worry started to appear on Sigurd, Alina spoke.
"It is nothing dangerous father. I checked everything myself."
"Okay, daughter."
As he said, the floor shook once again. Sigurd hurriedly held to his daughter.
"We arrived, father."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Mahran opened the lift's door and all found themselves on a wooden roof. The top was not as vast as the base which was easily imaginable from looking from the bottom of the tower.
The was a pedestal standing in the center of the roof and Alina walked to it revealing the Elder Scroll that she hid in a cloth.
"Lady Boss… is that? Is that?" The four mages recognized the Elder Scroll right away.
"Yes, and if you want answers, go ask Jon."
Alina brushed them off as she installed the Elder Scroll on the pedestal and made sure it stays hidden.
Sigurd surveyed the place and looked down the tower.
It was indeed deserving to be called a tower, a building so high that it overlooked everything around as people looked so tiny from the top. The tower's height was almost 70 meters, an impressive height for the age's builders but even though, the tower was still not complete.
Only from the base of the tower up to 30 meters was just covered in stone while the rest was metal and wood hurriedly made to counter the attack on Winterhold.
Sigurd had to give it to Jon, the design was like none other in this world. The tower was a massive 'A' with curved sides and pointy long top. The circular roof was just a small part of the whole thing.
"Jon said that the original version of this tower was built only with metal with the towering height of 300 meters." Alina came behind Sigurd and spoke.
"Come on! There is something like that out there in the world?" Sigurd scoffed her off.
"You know… his past life." Alina said with a smile.
"Haha! And you believed it?"
"Why not?"
The two became silent for a while. Sigurd then turned to his daughter with a small smile. A long black hair that resembled his as well as the same slim face of a Moonblade. Other than that, her big eyes and delicate features were all from her mother. His smile only grew wider.
"Seeing you this old, building such things and preparing for big battles. Your mother would have been so proud of you." He said.
His words were unexpected for his daughter's ears but she received them with a smile.
"Thank you, father."
"Here, take this." Sigurd put something in his daughter's hand.
"That is… father! You can't be…"
"Take it… it is the Silver Hawk ring your mother gave me. It bears a powerful Blessing of Kyne. Give it to that boy when he is man enough to ask you… and when he fixes his face too."
"Father, this is… this is the best thing ever." Alina hugged her father right away.
He froze for a second before hugging her back.
As they parted, their eyes were a bit wet even in this strong blowing wind atop of 70 meters.
"Fine, go now." He said.
"I will but before I go, here is what you need to do." Alina turned around and looked at the other four. "Eliel will man the tower according to the principal I gave you, Mahran will make sure that the energy flow is going well and will be responsible of maintenance, Yisra and Morbagog will man those two Dwarven Ballistas on the sides. If anything came flying, shoot it down."
""""Understood.""""
"Father will be here to supervise and protect you, he is one of the strongest people you will ever meet in your life so don't be worried while working here with him. And father, those four may be misfits but they are excellent mages whose generosity drove them a bit to the edge of their minds. They will handle it all."
"As you see, daughter."
"Good, now that everything is all handled. I hope you all luck."
"You too, Lady Boss."
"You too, daughter."
Alina walked to the edge of the tower and whistled.
A few seconds later, a large shadow covered the top of the tower.
"Whoa! That thing again." Sigurd said with a wide grin.
The newly arrived was Lokthur (Sky Tyrant), the Snow Cap Gryphon of Alina.
She held to its neck's feather and jumped atop of Lokthur.
"See father, he grew even more in one month. Children grew so fast." She laughed.
Sigurd nodded to his daughter with a smile as he saw her fly away on the Gryphon.
"They indeed do, child."
***
*Wulfur's Front*
Away from Winterhold to the North, a large band of Warriors gathered on the beach of the Sea of Ghosts. Firemanes, Moonblades and Dare Dragon Troopers; this force was something hidden from everyone by Alina. There were faces like Skadi Firemane and Tormund Firemane in the group, none could underestimate what this group will do in the battle even though the plan was kept a secret from the normal soldiers.
What was most interesting was not the force itself but the place they have gathered around, it was a cave with a massive entrance away from the sea and all. Something that none were allowed in other than the top brass of the three entities.
Wulfur, who just came from Winterhold, walked between the tents and arrived at the cave. He walked in right away and was greeted by Vladimir Firemane.
"How is Jorna?" Vladimir asked.
"… Sick worried… she wanted me to stay." Wulfur said.
"Mother said that people women become very overprotective when they are pregnant. It is said that Hafthor's mother killed a bear when by her pair hands she was pregnant with him." Vladimir said.
"That's Hafthor we are talking about. He will take us to Oblivion one day by his actions." Wulfur retorted.
"Sovngarde, brother. Sovngarde where we will drink, eat and fu… fornicate to the rest of our days until the Battle of the World's End with Shor." Hafthor popped up out of nowhere.
"How much did he drink?" Wulfur asked.
"Don't ask me, that's why you are leading us in this fight, not that dumb fool." Vladimir brushed Hafthor away.
"Come on, brothers. I am not even drunk yet." Hafthor retorted, "Look, before you come, we had something we needed you to know."
Hafthor walked in the cave and the two followed until they arrived at where the rest are. There was Frejya, Ragnar, Lela, Veka, Zal, Kera, Zend, Gunmar and the rest of the Firemane cousins.
"Zend, you are the eldest. Announce it." Hafthor spoke to Zend son of Njord.
"Well, why not? I am a married man so I can't be involved a lot on your follies yet today is an exception." He said as he raised a horn of mead to Wulfur. "Wulfur, you are always a brother to our brother Jonhild even more than us and we all envy you for it. You stole young Bjorna's heart so we know you are a lucky man among men. Thus today, we the Council of Cousins agreed to announce you a brother, a cousin and a Firemane. We also took the Elders agreement but the Council of the Cousins is what matters. To Wulfur!"
""""To Wulfur!""""
The boys and girls laughed loudly but Wulfur was frozen in his place. He was just trying to realize what he heard once again.
"Congratulations, brother." A voice woke him up from his mind-numb state.
Wulfur looked behind him to see his sister, Svidi.
"Wha… Why are you here?"
"Well, I wouldn't have missed this moment for the world." She said as she hugged Wulfur. "You are now a part of a family, we always wanted that since the days of the orphanage, right?"
"But… sister, you are my family… all that I need. There are Bjorna and Jon and the others…" Wulfur was flustered.
"And it will keep getting bigger. Cheer up! I can fit anywhere, you know." Svidi patted her brother's arm as she joined the party of the Firemane.
Wulfur watched her closely as she sat beside someone in particular, it was none other than Hafthor.
Wulfur sighed in his heart. He sensed the chemistry between the two since almost a month but that was one weird match, the gentle quiet girl and the foolhardy brash boy.
He couldn't help but drink his horn in one go.
"That's the spirit." Vladimir and Ragnar approached. "Now, are you ready to discuss what we are about to do?"
"Yes." he replied and walked further in the cave.
There, one could see a quiet place with a big bonfire and large silhouettes. Skadi Firemane saw the boys and nodded for them to approach.
"Alina's counter plan is all relying on us, are you boys ready?" She asked.
"Are you, mother?" Wulfur said back.
"Ah! You'll get yourself killed, I know it." She said as she led them further in the cave.
Loud footsteps or rather thuds were heard, Wulfur and the rest gulped as they witnessed the mighty beasts deep inside.
"This will be one glorious, counter-attack." Skadi said with a manic smile.
***
*Jon's front*
"You know, when you told me Winterhold was fun, I was really convinced with that Bathhouse thing and all but you really got me good. Never have I ever thought that I, Brom of Jehanna, would jump in a dark hole in the earth with a tall maniac like you."
Brom the Mercenary was complaining to Jon all day long.
"Shut up, you are the one who agreed on this." Jon retorted.
"I mean… yes, you can buy my soul with 500 Golden Septims each day you are hiring me but not drag me in Winterhold's most infamous death trap."
"I just showed you I can take us out of this from where we entered. Don't make a fuss."
"Are you serious? Even if you are Jon Dare, the cursed child of the Firemanes or even Azura's Laborer; you want me that the two of us will conquer the 'Sightless Pit' alone."
"Like a piece of cake."
"Urgh!" Brom groaned as he gave up on Jon.
The two of them were in what seemed to be a very old Dwermer Ruin. One that was badly damaged with death traps and Falmer all over the place.
Jon wasn't using anything other than a lever-action crossbow and shot down all the Falmer in his way.
The Falmer, or the Snow Elves, are a fallen race of Elves that degenerated over the years from the days of the first era. Those Falmer are now just some alien race of the underground that survives on eating lost adventurers and insects or sometimes cannibalism. One of the worst nightmares for adventurers were those Falmer.
Jon was acting stealthy relying on the weak senses of the Falmer and shot them with silent bolts of his crossbow. If any large band of Falmer came out, he would let Brom summon his Daedric Band of Dremora and annihilate them.
"I must admit that using [Sanguine's Rose] to train your own band of Dremora is genius. You even made those Dremora escape the realm of Mehrunes Dagon and become some sort of Liberated Dremora that live in a pocket realm and even hear your call without [Sanguine's Rose], genius indeed." Jon said.
"I want to say that I hate prying eyes but the way you analyzed things right now made me prideful and scared at the same time. You are something on your own, Jon Dare."
"Thanks. I've seen that technique of conquering a Pocket Realm on Oblivion by a force of your own with a Necromancer Clan called the Black Bone once. A real marvel."
"Actually, I stole the idea from them. Haha!"
"Good call."
Brom of Jehanna was a real genius in Conjuration even with a cheat item like [Sanguine's Rose]. Conjuring Dremora was the trickiest as they were cunning and manipulative but Brom has completely tamed a band of Dremora and trained them in a spartan way. He even called the 'Daedric Band of Jehanna' after the Sacred Band of warriors from his hometown.
As the two exchanged notes in Conjuration, Jon and Brom arrived at the end of the ruins. The two have sped run a Dwemer Ruin with stealth and surprise attacks. Jon even promised all the treasures in the ruins to Brom other than what is inside the Sightless Vaults. By the time the two finished everything, they arrived to a Dwarven Pedestal that seemed to fit a certain item. Jon took out the 'Attunement Crystal' and it to fit on the pedestal right away. It started to revolve and make sounds like an engine.
"You can take it on the way out and complete your Labour." Jon said.
"Thanks."
As the two opened the large gates of the Sightless Vaults, another part of the ruins met them and Jon started to tread carefully. This place wasn't something he played before.
As he arrived at the innermost part of the ruins, he was met with a vast sealing chamber. Jon smiled as he saw what was inside the seal.
He proceeded to solve the riddle of the room right away by fixing the steam pipes and it took him almost an hour. As he rotated the last valve, he felt something from the walls of the room.
Loud metallic thuds were moving towards him. A ridiculously large Dwemer Centurion made of Ebony was standing in front of Jon blowing a strong steam breath at him.
"WATCH OUT!" Brom shouted but Jon didn't move an inch.
The steam overflowed in his place and enveloped him completely. The Ebony Dwemer Centurion walked forward a few steps as it confirmed that its enemy was still alive.
"Weak!" Jon's voice sounded and in his hand, the [Elder Staff] appeared.
Jon pointed the staff towards the Dwemer Centurion's head and his will was translated, the Staff elongated like a bolt of lightning and its pointy tip hacked through the Centurion's head.
The Dwemer construct was disabled just like that and fell down.
The room of the sealing chamber opened for Jon to walk in and there they were, the solution to Jon's dilemma.
[Sunder] and [Wraithguard].
[A/n: An official mod on the Creation Club by Elianora and other modders. 'Legends Lost' adds Sunder and Keening to Skyrim.]
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