Bear Riders' Tales
Malandil's tale
At last it was finished. The Dark Welkynd stone had been installed in the trap, and the complex incantion had transferred the spell. The other mages were all looking at her.
"Go on, test it" one of them prompted. "You're the Master Conjurer, after all."
"All right, but you'll all have to leave the room in case anything goes wrong." She called out to the apprentice at the switch to close the pillar. As the huge slabs of marble slid into place around the trap, the door unlocked and the mages filed out.
In a few moments, a line of eager faces was at the gratings along the corridor, eagerly peering into the chamber. The switch was operated once more, and the pillar slid back open.
Malandil moved into the corner, so that the creatures she summoned wouldn't get behind her. She started by summoning a Scamp. The stone glowed with power, and the Skull of the Mountain spell destroyed the hapless creature in an instant with a huge bolt of lightning that almost made her jump out of her skin.
"That seemed to work" she said, once she could breathe. "Now for something shock-resistant."
Malandil summoned a Storm Atronach, and once again the Dark Welkynd glowed. This time the Skull of the Mountain's massive ice blast sent the creature back to Oblivion.
The logical test to follow that was a Frost Atronach, which disappeared in an intense fireball, confirming that the spell covered all the elements.
That was enough testing for now, and the apprentice, Eugenie, operated the switch without being asked. Malandil noted that. She'd made a good choice in her young assistant, even if she wasn't an Altmer like herself. Bretons were always good with Magic, but Eugenie had the wits to go with it. She'd make a good mage, if she could concentrate on her studies, and not get too distracted by boyfriends.
Malandil gathered herself and met the rest of the mages at the chamber entrance. She was calmer now the test was over. The trap had done exactly what it should, firing only at Daedra, and using the most effective elemental attack for the target. The power it employed still amazed her, and she wasn't surprised that no mage could use the spell.
She knew she'd be the one who'd have to demonstrate the trap. None of the others in the team could summon all the Daedra, even though each of them could manage one or two. High Chancellor Ocato would expect to see it in action, so she'd have at least one more show to put on. The Arch-mage, fotunately, was more preoccupied with the Necromancers, and she'd just have to provide a report to keep him content.
The performance for Ocato went smoothly, too. Malandil was left thinking that the High Chancellor and other Council members had made her more nervous than any concern about the dangerous spells flying around.
So when Tar-Meena introduced her to the Hero of Kvatch, she offered a demonstration without being asked. Tar-Meena had told her that he'd found the book that described the spell, so of course he should see what became of that effort.
He followed her into the Practice Rooms, and down into the basement. She activated the portal to the chamber and when they arrived, he remarked on the stone disk it connected to. "Is that one of those Ayleid Steps?"
"We think so," she replied. "The portal in the basement was originally intended to take you to Wellspring Grove. After the Necromancers killed two mages in the cave that leads there, it was thought safer if we used a portal instead. The University end was installed, and a Varla Stone placed to power it. Before its companion at the Grove end was complete, however, it lit up to show it was already operational. Someone was brave enough to go through and find this chamber at the other end."
"So where exactly are we?"
"We don't know. There are a few Ayleid Steps that lead into caves and ruins that have no other way out. We can't be sure if they're in Tamriel, or somewhere else entirely. If the Daedric Princes can open portals between Realms, maybe the Ayleids could, too. The Step, and it looks just like one, so we assume it is, is now bound to the basement portal by the power of the Varla stone. If it had another destination before, we'll never know."
"That's one reason we need the trap," she continued. "This chamber could be anywhere, and Ayleid ruins are full of hidden doors and sliding walls. We feel safer now it's guarded, if only against Daedra."
Malandil opened the door to the chamber and walked to the corner near the viewing corridor. Eugenie led the Hero to the other side of the grating where he could watch safely, and then opened the pillar with the switch on the wall. She hurried to take her place at the next grating. This would be an impressive show of spell-power and she didn't want to miss any!
Malandil took her time conjuring each of the Daedra she knew. Scamp first, then Flame Atronach, and on to Dremora, Clannfear, Frost Atronach, Daedroth, Spider Deadra, Storm Atronach, each dispatched in one blast from the Dark Welkynd. Finally she paused to let her Magicka build up for a special spell. Xivilai were able to absorb spells, and she hadn't tried one here before. She knew that her skill would produce a strong example, and the trap would need a collosal discharge of energy to kill it in a single cast.
The sound of the lightning was almost deafening, and she was glad the Xivilai had not chosen to stand near her. Eugenie needed a few seconds to gather her wits and go work the switch again to let her out. She took that time to cast a small Calm spell on herself.
The Hero was amazed by the performance, and asked if there was anything he could do in return. Malandil was hesitant to ask, but Eugenie asked for her. "If you could find Priapus for us, we'd be really grateful".
"Prietus, I mean" Eugenie corrected herself, blushing profusely. "I call him that because, well..." Malandil stepped in to save her further embarassment.
"I sent Prietus, my other apprentice, off to look for rare books in the Ayleid ruins. That was mainly because he and Eugenie can't concentrate on anything but each other, it seems."
She drew the Hero aside so she could talk without Eugenie hearing the rest. "Eugenie's been acting strangely recently. She's all but throwing herself at him, but he tells me that she's also refusing his advances. We suspect she's under some kind of spell compulsion that stops her from that. Her father's a powerful mage, and I think he's quite capable of that kind of spell."
"For Prietus, 'No' means No, whether he believes she means it or not," she continued. "Until they can find a way around their problem, they're better off kept apart. However, I am getting a bit worried that we haven't received any word from him in several days. That's not like him at all. The last note said he was going to Sardavar Leed on the Red Ring Road."
While he was gone, Malandil decided it was time to confront Eugenie about Prietus. "You've been behaving very strangely with that young man" she said accusingly. "why are you leading him on, just to turn him down at the last moment? Are you trying to drive him mad, or something?"
"I don't want to turn him down," pleaded Eugenie, "but when I open my mouth to say 'yes' I hear myself saying 'no' instead. I don't understand what's happening, and it's driving me insane too. I was hoping my actions would speak louder than my voice, but he's too confused to do anything now!"
"Could your father have anything to do with this? I know he's a Master of Illusion, and quite capable of casting a Command spell on you to make you act this way."
"Perhaps, but I couldn't just Dispel it if he had. That wouldn't be right. We'll have to find a way around it."
Not long after that, a panting Prietus ran into the Practice Room looking for Eugenie. Malandil made him stop and get his breath back, and tell her what had happened.
He'd run into Conjurers and Daedra as soon as he entered Sardavar Leed. There were too many of them for him to handle, and he'd had to run deeper into the ruin to escape. Eventually he'd hidden in an empty room. He lay in the dark until the chase subsided. When he tried to leave the room, however, he'd found the door locked. He'd been stuck there until the Hero let him out.
They'd talked about his problem with Eugenie, and the Hero had hinted that he was asking the wrong questions. If Eugenie could only say "No", then he had to make sure that was the answer he wanted. He was eager to try that experiment, so where was she?
Malandil told him about the chamber. "Eugenie should be down there still. She finds it a quiet place to study. Her own private space." A slight stress on "private" was meant as a hint to Prietus, and he broke into a run again.
The Hero arrived at a more leisurely pace a while later. He desribed Prietus sprinting out of the ruin like a Clannfear was chasing him. "He really did seem quite eager to get back here to Eugenie. I assume that he's with her now?"
"And I'm sure that he's asking her if he should stop." chuckled Malandil. "I do hope they manage to dispel whatever was holding her back, or they may have the same problem in reverse."
Malandil was pleased to have her assistant back, and offered the book Prietus had recovered from the ruin as a reward. "We already have a copy of this text in the Mystic Archives, but it's a skill book you may find useful - Limnal Bridges, one of my favorites."
They chatted for a further half hour before Malandil decided not to wait for Prietus and Eugenie to return. They'd need to eat eventually, wouldn't they?