Whitney Writes…

The entrance hall to the College was flooded with people and magic. Spells and screams flew through the air. There were Daedra and Dremora everywhere. Stone was crumbling from the ceiling and flames licked the walls. She saw Professors Drevis and Sergius – the professors of Illusion and Conjuration magic, respectively – barring a wall of Daedra so a herd of younger students could escape out to the courtyard.

Arya stood in the entrance to the stairwell, Meeko beside her, with her hand resting languidly on the dog’s head as she scanned the hall. She was looking for Brelyna. She didn’t care if her best friend wasn’t speaking to her, Arya had to make sure she got out. Then Brelyna could resume hating her for the rest of her life.

Finally, Arya spotted her. She was on the far side of the hall, near the base of the stairs to the dormitories. Her friend was crouched on the floor, pouring healing magic into Professor Colette. Ironic, Arya thought as she hurried over to her friend, dodging spells and blades alike.

Brelyna did a double take when Arya knelt beside her. She scowled for a moment, but then her face softened. “Thank the Divines,” Brelyna breathed, “I’m still not speaking to you, once this is all over, but help me.” Arya simply nodded and began pouring healing spells into her old Restoration professor.

Once they had Professor Colette mostly mended, Arya began to look around the hall again. Some flashy magic caught her eye at the entrance to the Hall of Elements. It was Tolfdir, sparing with Ancano.

“Weird,” Brelyna murmured, following her gaze, “but… shouldn’t Ancano be on our side?”

“I… I don’t think he was ever on the College’s side,” Arya said, her heart skipping a beat. Her uncle hadn’t trusted the man who was supposed to be his ‘advisor’ in months. “Thalmor spy”, Savos had taken to calling him in their apartments. “I have to go help Paba, are you ok with-“

“Of course,” Brelyna said quickly, giving Arya a nudge, “go to him, help him.”

Arya felt her hands tingling as she gathered magic to her as she worked her way across the entrance hall. One turned to a burning sensation and the other continued to tingle in an electrifying way. With a glance down at her palms, Arya knew she was ready when she saw the pulsing red and blue glow in each palm. She let out a primal scream and threw a massive ball of flames from one hand and a jagged stream of lightning from the other. Both spells flew across the hall and slammed into Ancano, flinging the Altmer man into the wall behind him.

They were not strong enough to eliminate a wizard like Ancano, but they should stun him for a while and give Tolfdir some breathing room. Arya summoned a flame atronach and sent her over towards the Altmer who was already struggling to his feet in hopes the magical being would keep him busy for a bit longer.

She darted the rest of the way to Tolfdir.

“What in Oblivion are you still doing here?” Tolfdir demanded when he saw her, panic etching itself amongst the wrinkles of his face. He looked… older.

“I… saw you with Ancano,” Arya said feebly.

“You must listen to Savos and I, if only this once, my love,” Tolfdir said firmly, taking her shoulders. “You must get out of here.”

“But, Paba, I can help you!”

He gave her a meaningful look, one that chilled her to the core. “Ancano must not find you,” he said, holding her gaze. “Now go. Take Brelyna and Meeko, and go.” He gave her a smile that was tinged with sadness. “We’ll find one another again one day, my girl.” She registered the fear in his bi-colored eyes, and slowly, she nodded. Biting her lip, Arya squeezed his fingers one last time, hoping he was right.

She turned away from one of the men who had raised her, the only safe space she had ever known, and began to move away. A sadness filled her. Even though she had never felt like she truly belonged here, hiding her true self, it had still always been home. Tolfdir and Savos had always been home.

The doorway to the stairs where Brelyna still crouched near Professor Colette exploded in a ball of flames, knocking Arya off her feet. The room spun above her, her ears were ringing and everything was silent. Her left arm was on fire with pain. When she looked down, her sleeve was literally on fire. She beat the flames out and pulled herself to her feet, looking for Brelyna. But all Arya could see was rubble. And fire. And bodies.

“Brelyna!” she shouted, but heard nothing. She called for her friend repeatedly, unsure if she was responding and she couldn’t hear, or if Brelyna was dead.

Finally, she spotted Brelyna on the floor, near the entry the stairs where she had been with Professor Colette. She was lying amongst some rubble, her limbs at… unnatural angles. Arya ran to her friend, though she could already feel it in her bones….

She knelt beside Brelyna, cupping her friend’s cheek. “Bre, come on,” she said feebly, “we have to go.” Arya shook Brelyna’s shoulders when she did not respond. “Brelyna,” she tried again, “please, get up.” Brelyna’s head lolled back when Arya reached to find a pulse at her neck, her friend’s ruby-red eyes staring, lifelessly, up at the stone ceiling.

Arya pressed her hands to her friend’s chest, her ashen skin was already cooling. “No,” she begged, “no, no, no…” She began to pour healing spell after healing spell into Brelyna’s corpse. “Please, come back,” Arya finally whispered, leaning forward, light-headed from the sudden loss of magic. She pressed her forehead to Brelyna’s, tears beginning to sting her eyes.

A cold, wet, black nose shoved its way into Arya’s eye and a warm, pink tongue licked her tears. Meeko nudged Arya in the side and whined, telling her it was time to go. Arya held her friend’s hand to her cheek for a moment, kissed the cold fingers one last time, then slowly rose, letting Brelyna go.

Arya stroked Meeko’s head, biting back the tears. “Let’s find our way out of here,” she said to him. She felt for the stone wall and began to follow its curve around to where the main door should be. She could see nothing.

A tall, darkly robed and hooded figure materialized before her. Arya would recognize the way they carried themself anywhere. Ancano. Arya shrank back a bit, remember her Paba’s words.

“Ah ha,” Ancano purred, his voice sounding far away and echoing. ” I have been searching for you for quite some time; and all this time, you’ve been here, just under my nose.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Arya said before she could stop herself. She silently cursed herself, she shouldn’t have given him the satisfaction.

“Oh, I think you do,” he said, grinning maliciously as he began to advance towards her. Arya remembered her dream, the man coming for her. This one? she wondered, no… but similar.

A man came from nowhere, stabbing wildly at Ancano with a dagger. Arya’s heart faltered when she saw it was her Amoo.

“Brelyna! Run!” Savos cried. Arya stared at him in confusion. “Run, Brelyna, run!” he yelled again, emphasizing the name. Ancano looked between the two of them in confusion.

Amoo is trying to get Ancano to think I am Brelyna, she realized.

She gave a slight nod to her uncle, that she understood. Savos gave one last stab towards Ancano, connected with the Altmer’s left thigh, and then dashed away to the glowing main entrance. Ancano cursed, pulled the elven dagger from his bleeding leg, gave one last disgusted look to Arya, and then limped after Savos.

Arya knew she should move. That time was wearing thin. But she had this strange feeling, like she was standing on the edge of a void and was about to go plunging in, head first. That she was on the brink of losing everything she had ever known. Her best friend. Her parents, in every sense of the word but name. Her home. Her… future. She had grown up assuming she would be a lifelong scholar of magic, like her uncles. But if the College had come to… this… whatever this was… she would have no place here in the future. And her uncles were sacrificing themselves so she could get away…

It dawned on her then, with that thought, that she had to move. She could not sit here, wallowing in self-pity that her life was ruined. Her uncles were giving up everything they had built, everything they cherished, so she could have a chance of escaping. Part of her wondered what on Nirn made her worth that, but Arya pushed that thought down. That was thinking for another day. Another time. Another Arya. Right now, this Arya had to get out of the College, and likely Winterhold. Perhaps, even Skyrim itself.

Blindly, Arya made her way to the main door, where the winter haze outside was blinding through the open doorway. As she and Meeko stepped out into the frozen courtyard, the air was swirling with snow and flame. The courtyard was empty, it appeared she was the last to leave. She looked up at the guardian wizard of the college, he had been decapitated.

As they passed the base of the statue in the center of the courtyard, Arya heard a strange gurgling. She looked around, seeing no one. When she heard the sound again, she followed it, it was coming from near the Hall of Attainment.

She followed the gurgling blindly through the snow.

“Little one,” she heard a voice croak.

Arya’s heart fell. She knew that voice all too well. “Amoo,” she whispered. She skirted the severed head of the stone wizard and crept along the walkway along the outer edge of the courtyard. Finally Arya saw him; her uncle lay on his back, propped up in a snowberry bush. She raced the remaining feet to him and knelt beside him, taking his hand in hers. An icicle as big around as an apple protruded from his chest.

Blood was pooling beneath Savos as he labored to breathe. “What are you still doing here?” he finally gasped.

“I… I couldn’t just leave you,” Arya whispered.

“You should have,” Savos wheezed. “If Ancano finds you… this will have all been for nothing.”

“Why?” Arya demanded before she could stop herself. “Why am I worth… all of this?” she gestured wildly around herself.

“Oh, my little love,” Savos wheezed again, reaching across his body with his other hand, wincing horribly, to caress her cheek. “I wish we had had the time to explain everything properly.” He smiled, showing the blood in his teeth. “I wish I could have seen you grow into your true self.” His eyes were filling with tears. “I wish we had had more time, two centuries was not enough with you.” He coughed violently, blood seeping from his chest. “You have to go now, Arya. You must run.”

She gripped his hand tightly. “I… I don’t think I can leave you, Amoo.”

“You must, little one.”

“Don’t say that,” she whispered, “I can heal you.”

“Do not be foolish, my love,” Savos tried to chuckle, but it came out as a choking gasp that viciously wrenched at Arya’s heart. “In case you did not notice, I have a piece of ice the size of a gourd in my chest. Now go, go to Riften.”

“Riften?” Arya fought back tears. “But, I don’t-“

“Go to Riften,” her uncle interrupted firmly, “she will know what to do.” Arya noticed his grey-blue skin was beginning to pale. “I will always be with you.”

Behind Arya, Meeko was beginning to growl. She turned to see him charging back into the courtyard.

“Run, Arya,” Savos hissed, gripping his niece’s arms tightly. “The trap door, take it down to the Midden, follow it down, there is an old, hidden exit down there that comes out in the Sea of Ghosts. Now go, do not look back, little one.”

He kissed Arya’s forehead fiercely, then used her shoulders as a launching pad to pull himself up and fling himself forward into the courtyard’s center. “Ancano!” he bellowed. Savos gave Arya a push towards the Midden trap door and stumbled towards the entrance to the College bridge, blocking Ancano’s escape. Arya slowly backed towards the the trap door, she felt a warmth wash over her and when she looked down her clothes and boots were faintly glowing green. Invisibility, she thought, thank you, Uncle.

As she crouched beside the trap door, Savos Aren was backing into view once more. Ancano was advancing toward him with Meeko still stalking the Altmeri man. Meeko lunged at the Thalmor’s leg, clamping down. Ancano shouted in pain as blood began to soak through his trousers. He spun to kick the dog off and Meeko let out a yelp as he released the Thalmor’s leg. Blood spattered the stones and Meeko’s grey fur. Arya let out a low whistle as she pulled on the trap door. She grunted with the effort as she tugged at the round iron handle with all her might.

Finally, the door creaked open and Arya slid in, feet first. Her foot found the wooden rungs of the ladder as she situated herself to wait for Meeko. He was still snapping at Ancano, holding his focus. Meeko had been hurt, why wasn’t he coming to her? Arya’s attention shifted to her uncle. Savos had both hands out before him, palms placed a few inches apart. His skin began to glow with a blueish, unnatural light. It traveled into his palms and up his fingers. With a pulse of his fingers, Savos sent a trickle of the blue, shimmering light into the air between his palms.

Arya noticed the wind picking up speed in the courtyard and swirling madly about the two robed men and the shaggy dog. Suddenly, it occured to Arya what Meeko was doing. He was holding Ancano’s attention while Savos Aren prepared the spell Blizzard – an incredibly powerful Destruction spell that obliterated everything in it’s path, enemies and caster included. The dog must be able to sense Savos’ vulnerability and was protecting him.

Bits of debris were flying through the air now; small chunks of rock, snowberry branches, mountain flower blossoms, a student’s hood, and spell books. The hairs on the back of Arya’s neck prickled; the spell was nearly ready. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Arya to brace the trap door up and to see her uncle, Ancano, or Meeko in the swirling wind. They had all nearly disappeared.

“GO!” Savos abruptly roared.

Arya jumped, startled, surely he hadn’t meant her. A moment later, Meeko was limping into view, free of the snow cloud. Arya’s heart leapt into her throat when she saw the bloody paw prints on the snowy stones and his blood-matted fur on his side. She held her arms out to Meeko, hoping to encourage him. When he finally reached her, he wagged his tail slowly and licked her face pitifully.

“Yes, yes, you did a very good job,” she said softly as she gathered the massive dog into her arms as gently as she could. “Hold on, boy,” she whispered as she precariously maneuvered herself and the dog that weighed over half her weight down the ladder. Once at the bottom, she set him gently down into the dirt. “I’ll be right back to heal you,” she said.

She climbed back up the ladder, her arms shaking with fatigue. She peered over the edge, back into the courtyard. Ancano and her uncle were mostly obscured from view, but Arya could just make out their dark silhouettes. Both men were staggering in the magical storm.

Suddenly, the swirling snow halted and dropped to the ground. Both men staggered again, finding themselves overly compensating for the now absent screaming wind. Ancano’s face was covered with bloody cuts, his robes were partially shredded. Savos stood, stoically, largely untouched, his arms reached up to the heavens. He shouted, in a tone Arya had never heard her uncle use before, in a language she had never heard before:

“STRUN BAH QO!!”

The courtyard exploded with lightning a few moments later. Arya saw her uncle struck down by his own mysterious spell before she lost her grip on the trap door and fell down the ladder to the dirt below.