"I haven't seen seen Savos since the explosion..." Mirabelle winced, "I need you to find him, and I need you to do it quickly."
Quill-Finder blinked. "What about you?" she asked, a tone of concern in her voice.
Mirabelle shook her head. "I'll be fine. Find Savos. now." there was a bluntness in her voice as she issued the order. a tone that said "this was serious."
Quill-Finder knew better to argue, though she looked at Mirabelle as the argonian stood before looking for her companions.
Lydia was helping Illia off the floor while J'zargo picked himself up.
Quill-Finder exchanged a look with the three before running to the foyer and through the double doors back outside.
Quill-Finder didn't have to look far. as soon as she pushed through the double doors, she nearly stopped in her tracks.
The arch-mage laid there on the stone ground. unmoving, unbreathing. Quill-Finder's jaw clenched.
"Quill!" Lydia called from behind with Illia and J'zargo in tow. "What happened? What's going on?"
Quill-Finder was silent. her body stiffened with anger as she stared at Savos's body.
"Quill?" Lydia approached, concerned, before letting her eyes follow the argonian's gaze. in but a moment, she fell silent. the two listened to the other mages circling the body. there were whispers and worry. questions if he was actually dead, but all doubt was laid to rest as soon as people looked to Tolfdir.
there was a sadness in Tolfdir's eyes matched only by a burning rage. the moment his eyes met Quill-Finder's, he rushed over. "What's happened? are you alright? who's responsible?"
there was a silence Quill-Finder tried to speak, but the words fell flat in her throat.
"Ancano." J'zargo finally stepped forward. his tail twitched in annoyancce. "He's done something with the Eye."
Quill-Finder wordlessly nodded, confirming J'zargo's truth.
"Is he the one responsible for this?" Tolfdir growled. he looked between his two students. "if what you say is true, then I fear whatever Ancano did may have effected Winterhold. You need to get out there and make sure it's safe."
"But what about--" Quill-Finder objected.
Tolfdir shook his head. "I'll find Mirabelle and see if we can't put a stop to this. you and your friends are need it else where. Quickly now! there's little time for chatter."
Whisp-like creatures terrorized the citizens of winterhold while Mages from the college tried their best to defend the people from their assailants.
Faralda, a high elf, and a student of the college flung bolts of electricity one after another, trying hard to dispell these creatures. She looked back for but a moment when she heard footsteps, her eyes meeting Quill-Finder's. "What the hell is going on?" the elf called out.
"One thing at a time!" Quill-Finder called back. her own hands lighting with fire as she focused on the realm of oblivion.
In a flash, Quill-Finder's Atronach floated in front of the Argonian. and with a single thought, was pointed towards the wisps. A firebolt raged across the broken town, striking the orb.
The wisp screeched in response as it snaked its way to the elemental, charging and striking firmly in what passed for the Atronach's abdomen.
Faralda nodded. "Fair point. But I demand an explanation after this."
Quill-Finder nodded, before targeting two more wisps and blasting them in a cone of fire. she looked to her friends, each rushing in to engage with one of the orbs however they could.
Lydia swung her axe, striking a wisp clean. and yet, it glanced off, not doing as much damage as she had hoped.
the wisp, enraged, charged at the soldier
reflexively, Lydia turned the axe head to the side and swung. batting the magical creature away. she could hear the crashing of wood as the spirit was knocked in and through a storage shed. "Quill?" she called out. "I can't do anything here!"
Quill-Finder turned to Lydia, watching the wisp emerge from the wreckage and charge at her friend. she watched as Lydia raised her weapon defensively. Quill-Finder was already engaged with her own adversary, dodging as the spirits whirled by. With a curse, she turned heel and started towards her friend.
In an instant, one of the wisps struck with unparalleled force into Quill-Finder's gut. she let out a pained wheeze before crumpling to the ground and watched as the wisp readied for another strike. this time, at her head.
the wisp rushed. Quill-Finder braced, gritting her teeth as she prepared for the blow. but it never came.
Instead, she felt the tingling of electrified air and the the defiant detonation of magic against her scales.
"Get up, Quill-Finder!" J'zargo's familiar voice cut through the silence, jolting the argonian to her senses. "This is no time to be resting!"
J'zargo hoisted the lizard to her feet. Quill-Finder wheezed heavily, trying hard to reclaim the air in her lungs as she made her way to a nearby post. Immediately, the argonian's attention turned to Lydia once more. she watched the orb harrying her friend. Lydia dodged, trying her best to get hits in where she could, but always kept off-balance.
every movement of Lydia's was responded with an equal force, and Quill-Finder could see that the soldier was beginning to wear thin.
Lydia readied her axe once more, gritting her teeth, and swung.
the blade cut through the air, and she was so sure she would hit her mark. In the last second, the wisp dodged and shot towards Lydia at a terrifying speed. there was an audible KRAK as the orb struck. Colliding hard enough to force Lydia to reel back in pain.
Quill-Finder tried to scream, throwing her hand forward, concentrating on a fireball, releasing. she wanted it to burn, she wanted it gone.
Lydia let out a sharp cry of agony, trying to steady herself.
Quill-Finder looked to J'zargo who had since rejoined the fray and was trying hard not to get struck by another wisp, and then to Illia valiantly dispatching of one only to be struck in the shoulder by another. Ice shards cut through the air as she fought off her own attackers.
Quill-Finder pushed herself to her feet, hobbling towards Lydia as she tried to regain her breath. she watched as Lydia wobbled on her feet while readying another swing. she watched as Lydia swung wildly. the soldier's axe cut through the air, missing the whisp by a full foot.
She watched as Lydia gritted her teeth, readying another swing. the axe whirled towards the wisp, missing as the spirit dodged underneath and shot towards Lydia's face once more, striking squarely in the center,
Lydia stumbled back. her feet failed to find any sort of purchase on the cold snowy ground as she fell back as she fought to keep herself upright. she could feel her strength betray her. there was a sharp pain in her fain. Lydia winced, she felt a wetness run down her lip as she plunged her axe down to find any sort of purchase. She wiped at her lip, looking down at her fingers.
Crimson. she looked at her hand, then towards Quill-Finder, offering the weakest of smiles before falling to her knees and collapsing in the snow. unmoving.
Quill-Finder screamed. Partly in fear, but mostly in anger, as she charged at the wisp. Mustering what little magic she had left, she pulled an ethereal dagger from her side and plunged it deep within the spirit.
the wisp tried to push away, only to be grabbed tightly by the claws of the Argonian. the blade plunged deeply into the wisp once more.
Over and over, Quill-Finder withdrew the blade only to push it back through before finishing by spiking the orb against the ground.
The wisp burst with one final screech, leaving nothing but silence.
as Illia cut down the final spirit, turned to look for her companions. Immediately, as soon as her eyes hit Lydia's crumpled form, she rushed over, pulling the soldier into her lap.
Illia winced as she looked over her friend. Lydia's nose was broken. the swelling had already begun.
J'zargo was the last to rush over. "Is she...?" he could feel his words trail off as he watched Illia look over their companion.
Illia simply shook her head. "She'll be okay. She looks pretty rough, however. We should get inside."
Quill-Finder stood in the cold wind, shaking. her hand gripped the spectral dagger tightly as she shook with anger. "I'll kill him." she thought to herself. her eyes were locked on what barely passed as remains for the wisp. the only thing snapping her out of her trance being the noticeably warmer atmosphere in the bitter cold.
She looked around before her eyes settled on the atronoch. it rejoined her, almost seeming to wait for the next command. Quill-Finder smiled. "good job." she had no idea if the elemental understood her. With a wave of her hand, the flame atronoch faded before finally disappearing from sight, and this plane.
"Quill-Finder!" Illia called, the lizard's quickly turned. there was a frustrated tone in Illia's voice. "We need to get inside!"