Ch. 2: The Test
"This... has never been here," I whispered, looking dumbfoundedly at it. Brelyna gulped and nodded, walking towards it to place one palm against the smooth, black texture. A chill went up her spine. I studied it quizzically from a distance I found most comfortable, as it was slightly intimidating to myself.
"We should go in," she said suddenly, pushing the door further open. I grabbed her arm.
I demanded, "No! We don't know what's in here. I don't want either of us to get hurt."
"We'll never know what's in there if we don't explore it," she said, her eyes wide with wonder. Sometimes her inquisitivity killed me. She was a mage, however, and one with a powerful thirst for knowledge.
She continued, "What if it will give us a clue about you know who? We should take anything we can get right now." I knew she was saying this only to convince me to come in, allowing her curiosity to be quenched. She did not truly believe this would help us, but regardless I dropped her arm, giving into her will. She hastily pushed through to the other side, myself following reluctantly behind her. The minute both of my feet were behind the menacing door, it snapped sut with a sharp bang! and disappeared from sight. I cried out in surprise.
"Brelyna, the door!" I yelped. "It vanished!" She quickly put her hand to my mouth, grabbing my shoulder and turning me in her direction. As soon as my eyes hit the wall they widened in shock. In front of me on were portraits of every last deceased Arch-Mage, framed and mounted on the wall. The last one was of... I shut my eyes and turned away.
"It's her!" Brelyna shouted out. I felt sick to my stomach, and I could barely process the thought of the sick beast. However, my eyes could no longer stay shut and I was drawn to her portrait like a weak piece of metal to a puissant magnet. The outline of her name was carved into the smooth, sanded portrait of the frame, and next to it was what I could only assume was a self-given title of sorts..
Arch-Mage Persephone, Daughter of the Daedra.
Above the ingrained signature was her photo. The gray-brown tabby cat had a sick and twisted grin on her scarred face, insanity clear in her pale yellow eyes. Her pupils were just a thin sliver, almost undetectable, like a wild savage animal's. Her teeth seemed almost too big for a khajiit, though I could recall she was a vampire. Lastly, her claws, which were resting on a table beneath her, were permanently dyed a crimson red. From all the blood she spilled, I realized, shivering. Brelyna walked in front of me, tracing her fingertip against the haunting outline of the former Arch-Mage's name.
"Persephone," she murmured softly, reading it aloud. Though this was the first time I'd heard it, the name petrified me. When she was killed, all the members of the College agreed to never repeat her name again. When I had first joined, Persephone was briefly explained to me, but never in depth. Her name was so vehemently kept from me and the other newcomers, though she was always referred to as "you know who" or "The Past Arch-Mage" when our classes would be lectured on the dangers of power and necromancy. That feels like so long ago, and now I'm the Arch-Mage, I realized dizzyingly. And i'm only just finding out about my predecessor right now. I always wanted to know, but not like this. Never like this... Snapping out of my thoughts, I shot Brelyna a disapproving glare.
"Brelyna, that name was banned from the college years ago. You should know that," I snapped, putting my hand to my forehead. The fear and terror of everything had seemed to manifest itself into a headache.
She retorted, "This isn't the time to worry about such hla matters such as her name. She is up to something and we must not be cowardly." She turned to look at me, her red eyes filled with determination. I dipped my head. This whole situation had severely clouded my judgement.
"Of course. Let us get back to our studies before we're too late. But how in Oblivion are we supposed to make it out of here?" I questioned, glancing around for an answer.
She suggested, "A spell maybe?" shrugging her shoulders. I tapped my finger to my head.
"Hmm... I'll try clairvoyance then, I suppose." Brelyna nodded in approval of my decision, so I readied my spell and saw the blue ball of magic appear in my palms. The overwhelming light of the spell made me realize how incredibly dark it was in here. I wondered how I was able to see the portraits so easily before when it was almost pitch black in the room. Shaking the unimportant thoughts out of my head, I cast it, watching as the sphere flared out from my hand, hitting the ground like a lightning bolt. I waited hopefully for the crystal blue swirls of magic to appear and lead me to my destination as clairvoyance should, but to no avail. I hummed to myself questioningly.
"Well if clairvoyance doesn't work," I started, "I don't really know what will. Maybe there's a secret exit we're not seeing." Looking over at Brelyna, she shrugged. No idea is a bad idea, I thought to myself. I might as well just look before it's too late. Agreeing with my thoughts, I began to search up and down the stone walls with my hands, feeling for a door of somesort. Brelyna joined in.
"Maybe it's a puzzle," She suggested suddenly, stopping her search to ruminate.
"What do you mean by a puzzle?" I questioned, looking back at her inquiringly. She had the most outlandish ideas sometimes, but, I couldn't help but believe her now. It was worth a shot, anyways. No idea is a bad idea!
"Like a test maybe, something we have to think about," she continued, pacing around. "I think there's something we have to figure out..."
I responded, "Okay then. I will look around for something interesting. You keep thinking." We both nodded in each other's direction, and I went off towards a nearby bookshelf, the only other thing in the room. And no, it didn't reveal a secret room when you pulled out a book. I already tried that. Multiple times since we got stuck.
But speaking of books, I realised how strange this bookshelf really was. There were only two books on the shelf, one spell tome for Magelight, and one book I've never heard of called "Wabbajack". Only those. I examined both carefully.
"Hey Brelyna, maybe you should check this out," I yelled over to her. She jumped, and seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts she was in. She strided over.
"You want me to come over and look at... books?" She asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
"No no no," I cut in, pointing to the books. "Not the books! The amount of books. There's only two of them. Don't you find that odd, especially since this bookshelf is the only other thing in the room?"
"Wait a second," she interjected, taking the spell tome from out of my hands. She flipped through the pages of the book, reading the words furiously.
"Isn't this the spell the College asked you to cast before you joined?" I nodded quickly.
"Yeah, it was! But what does this have to do with getting out?" I questioned skeptically, watching her face. I narrowed my eyes. What is she up to?
"This whole place," she motioned out with her free arm to gesture the entire room, "shows the progress of the college from beginning to end!" She Scanned me intensely, trying to figure out if I understood. I didn't.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that your beginning spell, the one that involves light, is in the room with the very beginning of the college. Coincidence, I think not." She began to pace around, her face confident. Okay... maybe not every idea was a good one.
I rubbed my temples, asking, "What does that have to do with getting out?"
"Light! 'Light in the dark', 'lighting the way'.... Try it, cast magelight and see what happens!" She ordered, stopping in her tracks to watch me. I rolled my eyes.
"You're wasting time-"
"Do it!" Brelyna demanded. I sighed in defeat, casting magelight and letting the ball of light fall on the ground in front of me. Suddenly, the entire room was illuminated, and I needed a moment to cover my eyes and adjust to the sudden blinding light. When I opened my eyes, as though it was there the entire time, I saw the door. I began to wonder if it had appeared because we' figured out the "puzzle", or if it was too dark to see the entire time. Either way, the door was here and we could get out.
"Come on, let's get out of here," I grumbled, taking Brelyna's hand. She was still holding Magelight and Wabbajack. "I can barely stand this miserable place..."
