Chapter Fourteen
Vertigo overtook S’maash and the others. For a moment, there was only blackness. They awoke in a dream. The wizard was the first to rise. He saw his comrades lying on the ground, only it was not the ground as he was accustomed to it.
“What is this,” he asked in a daze.
His voice echoed, drawing his attention to the wonderful world of Moonshadow. As the others rose, S’maash appreciated the sights. The ground was an endless ocean of crystal, blue twinkling. The sky was a swirling pool of all the brightest colors. He barely breathed from the impact of gorgeousness. In the distance, massive trees carved from sapphire, rose to touch the Heavens. The more he observed, the less he saw. He had to look in small spurts, constantly moving his eyes, lest the ultimate beauty obliterated him.
Brelyna approached him and took his arm. Zolara screamed.
“I can’t see…I, I mustn’t keep my eyes open!” the argonian’s voice echoed out into eternity.
“Calm yourself! You must look briefly. Do not fix your gaze,” S’maash ordered.
“All, alright. I will try,” Zolara replied.
After regaining his composure, the conjurer took Brelyna’s hand. The three walked together towards a light. It was difficult to understand what anything was. The entire realm had a wavering mist about it, like too much heat off a forge.
“Where are you taking us,” Brelyna asked.
“I don’t know,” S’maash replied.
He stopped for a moment to look around. Crystalline mountains rose in the distance. A sudden scent assaulted their nostrils, cinnamon. S’maash felt a presence. It was Farengar. Something was wrong.
“Wait. Where is my gem,” S’maash blurted.
“Did it not appear with you?” Zolara was apprehensive.
S’maash looked back from where they had arrived. A sudden pang of fear jolted him. The scenery was different. A magnificent waterfall reflecting all the colors of the sky replaced whatever had been there. Then, Farengar’s presence was felt once more. It pulled him back to the light in the distance, a watery colored glow.
“Farengar…I feel him,” S’maash whispered.
He ran towards the light, jostling the others behind him. After stumbling, they recovered and gave chase. An oddity they all welcomed was the lack of fatigue. They ran for hours.
A palace of silver grew visible on the horizon. Its light emanated as though holding the sky and the ground apart in an eternal struggle. Upon reaching the palace of Azura, they beheld a most wondrous image.
The structure was built with spiraling towers of silver, swaying arches of silver, and two of the largest, silver doors they had ever laid eyes upon. The whole of the palace was reminiscent of roses and cherry trees. S’maash saw no handle upon the door. From his vantage point, he assumed the doors must have been over one hundred feet high. Soon, the others caught up to him.
“How do we get in,” Brelyna asked.
S’maash did not reply. Instead, he dropped to his knees in tears. It was too beautiful. Brelyna tried to comfort him. Zolara was next to fall. Finally, Brelyna fell, too.
Melodic, cinnamon winds caressed them under the heavenly sky. Nonexistent wind chimes tinkled behind the caressing winds. Images of rose petals, soft clouds, and waterfalls burned behind their minds’ eye. Scents of the sweetest fruits swirled about them. Their souls were melting away into Oblivion.
“S’maash,” a voice whispered. He recognized it immediately. Those strange S’s. “Stop wasting time. Enter,” Farengar’s voice echoed.
The elf opened his eyes. With a deep breath, he stood. The doors opened.
He looked down to the others and helped them to their feet. Once they had regained their composure, they walked beyond the silver doors. Perfectly aligned silver squares lay upon the crystal ground. Sapphire trees cast dancing shadows over the group. It was difficult to tread due to some ineffable, swirling essence, but a woman welcomed them in her majestic courtyard.
“Greetings, S’maash Ilteriel,” Azura said. Her voice was rose petals, pink, soft, perfect, like satin lace. They were left speechless. She then produced the daedric heart gem. “What will you do now?”
“What do you wish me to do?”
“You have done much by reinstating my power in your plane. I have passed on the Breath of Everlasting and name you my champion. You will bear this title and my daedric heart gem,” she proclaimed.
He simply dropped back to his knees, unable to see what the others were doing, unable to turn his eyes from the wondrous Azura; her visage was not meant to be gazed upon by mortals.
“Where is Farengar? I heard his voice rally my spirit,” S’maash said after shaking cobwebs from his brain.
“He is gone now. Hermaeus Mora owns him. Hermaeus Mora wants you as well, but you are my champion. Go. Return to your plane, and finish your quest, my child. Go,” Azura sang.
A violent, sinking feeling forced S’maash flat onto his belly. He gasped and looked around. He was in Skyrim at the shrine; they all were. Before his face was the gem. With no soul inside, it no longer glowed.
He stood. A cold wind blew while he helped the others to their feet. It was morning, and the sun came over the horizon to burn through clouds with an orange light. Sunrays obliterated the gray of early morning.
“Everyone alright,” he finally asked.
“Fine,” Zolara answered.
“Yes, thank you,” Brelyna replied.
“Back to the College, I suppose,” S’maash trailed off.
Without a word, the three made the slow climb down the steps from Azura’s statue. They were all so overwhelmed by sudden circumstance. Like a dream, the previous experiences slowly ebbed away, though they were never forgotten. At the bottom steps, a Wretched Abyss approached them.
“By the Gods! What is that?” Brelyna screamed in terror.
As Zolara struggled to keep her from falling backwards, S’maash approached it.
“Good, S’maash,” the deep voice started. “Now, you must finish this.”
“What am I finishing? I still don’t understand,” S’maash complained.
“You will go to Nchuand-Zel. Far beyond the end of the halls, you will find a fragment of the Heart of Lorkhan. Hurry S’maash. Time is of the essence,” Hermaeus Mora spoke and vanished.
“By the Nine! Did I hear what I think I heard?” Zolara was shocked. S’maash turned to face him. He nodded his head, accordingly. “Well, I have to come along for this!”
The argonian helped Brelyna to her feet. She in turn gave a full-bodied shrug. They looked to where the Wretched Abyss had been, but there was only snow.
“What,” S’maash asked.
“You’re just going? Just like that,” she probed.
“Is there a better way?”
“Well, I don’t know. I mean,” she looked away.
“I am. Just like that, I’m going,” Zolara added.
S’maash pointed at him as he kept his eyes on Brelyna. “See, he’s excited.”
His smile was contagious. Brelyna smile then giggled. They made their way back towards Winterhold. A long, arduous journey ensued for hours. While trudging along, they discussed the implications.
“Azura chose you as champion. Why are continuing to quest for Hermaeus Mora?” Brelyna wondered.
“It’s difficult to answer…I have no intention of subverting Azura’s designs for me, but I cannot shun from Hermaeus Mora, either. I fear his power. He’s already threatened to swallow me into his Wretched Abyss,” S’maash replied.
“Here, I thought you were just trying to advance the school of enchanting. Suddenly, you’re looking for Lorkhan’s Heart? I thought it was in Vverdenfell, anyway,” Zolara added.
S’maash shrugged. He was aware of the Nerevarine’s quest to destroy the Heart of Lorkhan, and end Dagoth Ur’s tyranny, but after completion of his quest, it was unknown what transpired.
“If Hermaeus Mora says it’s in Nchuand-Zel then that’s where it is…. Speak
ing of which, what is Nchuand-Zel,” S’maash asked.
“The dwemer ruin beneath Markarth, over in the Reach. It’s Skyrim’s western hold,” Brelyna replied.
“Tell me more.”
They continued their trek beside the grand mountains as a light snow yet sprinkled from dissipating clouds.