It took four hours to get back to the college using the teleportation spell. The spell used over half of her magicka on each casting, and transported her, the party and their mounts about fifteen miles. And drained her of all her stamina. She had to rest up a couple of minutes before casting it again. The horses could cover that distance in about twenty-two minutes, while with rest and locating the next target the spell was letting them cover the same distance in three minutes. After four castings Nora was forced to take a longer break. The Omnipresence spell would take her anywhere in the world with one casting, but her mind wasn't ready for it.

 

They covered the three hundred and sixty straight line miles to the College in twenty-four jumps. The last took them to a point just two miles outside of Winterhold, and Nora was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. She could see some major problems with the spell, one being that after traveling a great distance she was not fit for combat.

 

They rode the two miles to the city and through it, stopping at the start of the bridge. Nora dismounted, stumbling forward and stopping to take a breath.

 

“You need to rest,” said Eldawyn, putting a steadying hand on Nora.

 

“I need to tell Aren what we found,” said Nora, shaking her head. “The rest of you get the horses unloaded and stabled.”

 

“I'm coming with,” said Eldawyn in a tone that brooked no argument.

 

The pair went up the bridge, Nora wondering where everyone was. At this time of day the bridge was normally busy with students and faculty going into the city to drink at the inn or one of the taverns. It was too quiet, and she had a feeling of deep dread as she approached the gate.

 

The courtyard was filled with people, too quiet as they stared at the entrance to the Hall of Elements.

 

“What's going on?” asked Nora of Colette, the mage standing with some other staff and a few students to the right of the statue.

 

“It's Ancano,” shouted the frantic mage. “He's done something to the Eye.”

 

Nora hurried forward, through the door, to see a mass of swirling blue energy occupying the central hall and blocking the entrance. Mirabelle, Savos and Faralda stood outside the barrier, looking in helplessly.

 

“It's Ancano,” said Aren, looking back at Nora. “We need to get this thing down.”

 

“What is it?” asked Nora, feeling the immense power and wondering if any mage, or even all the mages at the College, could handle it.

 

“We think it's some kind of ward,” said Mirabelle, her eyes wide in fear. “Whatever it is, we need to get it down.”

 

“I found out where the Staff of Magnus is.”

 

“Yes, yes,” said Aren impatiently. “But first we need to get to Ancano. Help us take this field down.”

 

The mages all started sending destruction spells into the field. Nora joined in with fire bolts, rapidly sending them into the field. They couldn't use the more powerful area effect spells like fireball, since the explosion would come back on them. At first the efforts of the five mages seemed useless, but eventually the field weakened, then fell completely.

 

Savos ran in and approached Ancano, who was linked to the Eye by a tendril of power.

 

“Ancano, stop. Just what the hell are you doing?”

 

“Don't get too close to him, Archmage,” yelled Mirabelle.

 

“Ancano.”

 

“It's too late. I'm am far beyond you worms. I will soon have the power to unmake the world.”

 

That set off the alarms in Nora. The ultimate aim of the Thalmor. To unmake the material world and return to that of pure spirit. And here was a Thalmor, with the means to make that dream reality.

 

Aren threw spells at the Thalmor which passed through him. Nora swung Dawnbreaker at the elf, cursing as it passed through him as well, as if he were under the effects of an Ethereal spell. She pulled her pistol and emptied a magazine into the elf, who turned to face her, unharmed, and said some words. The world went white to Nora's vision, and she returned to consciousness at the edge of the chamber, the swirling field, smaller than before, now guarding the Eye and the Thalmor mage who was manipulating it.

 

“You need to find the Archmage,” said Mirabelle, leaning against a pillar, injured.

 

“I need to heal you.”

 

“You need to see about Aren, now,” said Mirabelle forcefully. “And see to Winterhold. I believe the city is in danger.”

 

Nora and Eldawyn hurried out of the chamber with Faralda in tow, to see Tolfdir standing over the smoking body of Aren.

 

“The Archmage. He's dead.”

 

“Ancano is doing something to the Eye,” said Nora, continuing through the gate and onto the bridge. “Winterhold is in danger.”

 

The danger became apparent as soon as they left the bridge. Glowing balls of blue energy, reminiscent of Ice Wraiths, were flying around the town, attacking everything in sight. The guards were fighting them valiantly, and several had already fallen. Nora and the other mages went to work, hitting the anomalies with magic; fire bolts and bolts of electricity. The anomalies were difficult to hit, but went down fast enough when struck. That done, the town safe for the moment, Nora ran back up the bridge. She could feel the fatigue behind her eyes, banished for the moment by her adrenaline rush.

 

“The town's safe,” she told Mirabelle.

 

“Did you find the Staff?”

 

“No, but I know where it is. Labyrinthian.”

 

“Labyrinthian,” exclaimed Mirabelle, eyes opening wide. “That can't be a coincidence.”

 

“What coincidence?”

 

“Aren left these objects for me,” said Mirabelle, reaching into her belt pouch and pulling out a torc and an amulet. “He said I was to give them to you, for your trip to Labyrinthian. Go, quickly. Me and the rest of the mages here will try to keep Ancano contained, but we need that Staff. Get it, and may the eight grant you speed.”

 

I have all the speed I need, thought Nora, running from the hall, Eldawyn at her heels.

 

“You need rest, Nora. You're in no shape to fight.”

 

“Then I guess I need to suck it up and keep going,” said the Dragonborn. “We don't have time to rest. That Thalmor bastard wants to unmake this world, and I'll be damned it I let him.”

 

*     *     *

 

The turnoff to Labyrinthian was about three hundred and forty miles from Winterhold. Then almost forty miles of winding road to the ruins themselves. Which meant they needed their riding horses at least, but not the pack animals. That made it a little easier for Nora, though still tiring. It took twenty-three castings, and three and a half hours to get them to the crossroads. Then mounted, with the Thundering Hooves spell active, they rode the forty miles at a gallop in an hour.

 

Nora could feel the evil of the location as they rode up the switchback to the ruins. She led the group through the gate, to see multiple towers, walls with walkways, flat areas. All filled with skeletons. Scores of them, and half archers. The Dragonborn wasn't sure why they were there, or who had called them, but she didn't need to know. Only to destroy.

 

Fireball spells took care of clusters of archers, and Nora, Eldawyn and Sofia kept sending them out until all of the archers had crumbled into burning bones. The undead had gotten a few hits, nothing serious, and heal spells restored everyone. The skeleton swordsmen were not a challenge, and and Nora sent one large group flying with Unrelenting Force.

 

“Get the horses together in that courtyard,” she told her followers. “Tether them, then we'll close the gate and ward them with runes.”

 

“We're not going to leave guards?” asked Annekke, surprise in her voice.

 

“I think I'm going to need everyone with me,” said Nora, shaking her head. “We'll put three runes in front of the gate, then scatter some more at the top of the walls. That should give anything that tries to get to the horses cause for pause.”

 

And arrow came streaking in out of nowhere, hitting Lydia in the back and bouncing away from her ebony plate. Nora turned, spotted the skeleton archer that must have just climbed the tower to get a shot, and sent a roaring fireball its way. The flames blasted it into pieces of bones. Once again Nora was glad she had arranged for everyone to have the best armor available. If Lydia had been wearing leather or ordinary chain she would have gotten an arrow through a kidney.

 

The party headed up the stairs, taking out a couple of skeletons that came out of the shadows. They were like rats, thought Nora. You take all of them out, and some more came out of the woodwork. Everyone stopped as they saw the portal ahead. It was a large door of wood and iron, radiating magical power. But what caught their attention were the six blue spirits standing in front of the door, looking away from the party. And holding a conversation.

 

Lydia, Jordis and Valdimar started forward, weapons ready to strike. Nora sensed no threat from the ghosts, who lacked the evil taint of those controlled by mages. “Stop,” she ordered, and was thankful to see that all three of the Housecarls came to a halt. “These aren't harmful. In fact, I think they’re trapped in some kind of loop.”

 

She heard the words mage and college from the conversing ghosts. She wasn't sure who they were, but she thought it might be a good idea to follow along behind them. The ghosts disappeared, leaving the party with the door to their front. Nora tried it, pushing, pulling, but it wouldn't budge.

 

“What about that torc Mirabelle gave you?” asked Eldawyn. “Those two hinge points look like they would fit it perfectly.”

 

Nora didn't see how the torc would allow them to open the door, since when in place it would span both halves. Not seeing any other solution, she did as her friend had suggested, and slid the torc into place. As soon as her hand left it, the torc swiveled out and slammed back, like a door knocker. And the great valves slid open, revealing a large chamber with a number of skeletons scattered around. Sofia and Elesia grabbed everything of value, while Nora listened in on the ghosts.

 

“We are perfectly safe,” said one of the ghosts, who sounded a lot like Savos Aren. “We're six College trained mages, after all.” That settled, the ghosts disappeared again.

 

“What are they doing, my Lady?” asked Lydia, looking decidedly nervous.

 

“I think they are reliving the past,” said Nora. It was like a holo projection, playing back the scene from the past. And if that was Aren with them, it explained why he had been so evasive when Nora had talked to him about the staff. And if that was young Aren, this event had happened quite some time ago.

 

After a complete search of the room they found there was only one exit. A portcullis with an exceptionally large and very dark room beyond it. There was a lever, which made it seem too easy. Nora motioned everyone back, then pulled the lever, prepared to backpedal quickly if it was a trap. The gate went up, opening the passage. But as Nora walked toward it the gate slammed shut again.

 

“I guess you need to go through quickly,” said Nora. “I'll just run in and find something that keeps it open.”

 

“Do you think that's a good idea?” asked Annekke, frowning.

 

“Maybe not. But if we don't want to stop here it has to be done.”

 

Nora was feeling the fatigue. She thought she would drop off to sleep if she laid down on the stone floor. But the world was threatened by a crazy Thalmor who thought it a good thing to make all the wonders of this land go away. So she pulled the lever and ran quickly into the chamber.

 

The gate slammed shut behind her, and before she could look for something that would open the gate from this side the skeletons came out of the shadows. A score of archers, another score of sword and axemen. Some mages that started throwing fire her way. And with a rattle of bones a huge skeletal dragon rose from a pit in the center of the chamber, its glowing evil red eyes locked on the only living thing in the room. Her.

 

Her people were trying to get to her, yelling, screaming, and it seemed that the lever on that side no longer worked. It was a diabolical trap, and one she had walked right into. The archers started firing, the head of the dragon reared up with open jaws, and it didn't take a genius to know what was coming next.

 

Then a wave of frost came her way, different than that of a living dragon, the taint of death on it. Nora shouted Become Ethereal and the flames and arrows passed through her. She grunted as the effects of death magic on the wave of cold breath hit her, and thought she might be dead if the effect of the shout wasn't letting the flame pass through her. Mostly.

 

Nora ran away while she thought of what she might do. First she called up a summon spell, something she wasn't used to doing. But she needed help, and a summoned creature was better than nothing. She cast the spell and the beautiful golden skinned armored woman rose from the ground, instantly pulling a bow off her back and sending arrows into the dragon.

 

The Golden Saint was an interesting creature. Part of the army of one of the Daedric Princes, Sheogorath, the Mad God. They didn't have the horrific appearance of the other Daedra, but listening in on their speech left one with the impression that they were just as bloody minded. The summoned creatures would fight for their summoner, though, and that was all that mattered.

 

Nora cast Flame Cloak on herself while she ran around the chamber, striking skeletons down as they came within reach. The archers were still sending arrows her way, the mages fire, mostly missing as they had trouble compensating for her motion. The Flame Cloak surrounded her, burning any opponents that came within ten feet. Unlike the scrolls she had used from the Khajiit mage, this cloak didn't burn her, only her enemies, and as she ran into the skeletons they caught on fire. It still took several seconds to burn one down, but weakened them enough that Dawnbreaker had no problem taking them out with one swing.

 

The dragon roared and came after her. Her summoning was gone, destroyed by the dragon or having outlived it welcome on this plane, she knew not. She cast it again, and immediately had another ally attacking the dragon. Its arrows were pin pricks to the creature, but it did distract it somewhat while Nora took care of the skeletons. If she had time to think about it she would have laughed at the image of her running around in a circle avoiding the dragon. The humor failed when she felt the cramps in her calves and realized that she wouldn't be able to keep this up long. Maybe if rested, which she was not.

 

Nora tried to call up the local teleport spell, Blink, but it wouldn't come to mind. Was that because she was stressed and wasn't well practiced with the spell? Or was it something about this place? Either way, she could have used that spell to materialize behind the dragon, and it wasn't available to her.

 

Nora called up another Golden Saint, ran into the last group of skeletons to take them down, then shouted Marked for Death at the dragon. The bones were outlined in a sickly green, and the dragon staggered as it lost life force. The Flame Cloak faded and Nora ran at the dragon, leaping into the air and landing on its back, Dawnbreaker coming down on its spine. Fighting a bone creature of this size was difficult. There were no organs to hit, and the only thing she could think of doing was trying to cut through bones. She must have been doing something right, because the dracolich became frantic. She cut through the spine and it bucked her off, to land hard on the stone some twenty feet away.

 

Nora scrambled back to her feet, thinking that the dragon was coming after her. When she turned toward it she breathed a sigh of relief. It was crumbling into the ground. She waited for the surge of energy to hit her, but it never came.

 

“That sucks,” she said, noting that her people were now in the chamber and crowding around her.

 

“I was so worried, my Thane,” said Lydia, enfolding Nora in a hug.

 

“That hurts,” said Nora through gritted teeth.

 

Lydia backed off, a concerned expression on her face. “Just bruises,” said the Dragonborn as Eldawyn and Sofia sent healing into her.

 

“That was amazing,” said Elesia. “The way you moved. The way you thought on your feet.”

 

“Happy that you learned some summoning spells?” asked a smiling Eldawyn, sending another burst of healing magic into her friend.

 

“It did come in handy, yes. Though for all their beauty, the Golden Saints are still creepy.”

 

“They're Daedra,” said a laughing Sofia. “If you don't think they're creepy, there's something wrong with you.”

 

The chamber was devoid of much in the way of loot, just the weapons the skeletons had been using, high weight low value items. Nora took a few more moments to catch her breath, then led the way out of the chamber.

 

I'm so tired, she thought as she forced herself to keep moving forward. The adrenaline rush of the battle was over, leaving her more fatigued than before. She wanted to stop and get a few hours’ sleep. But this world was depending on her, and she wasn't about to let it down.

 

Nora tried Blink again, wanting to know if it was a spell she could rely on down here. Nothing, so it had to be the place. Something about this place wouldn't allow her to teleport, which meant there were probably other places in Skyrim, in Tamriel, that it wouldn't work in. That was a sobering thought, and what other spells might not work down here. Summoning seemed to work, as did Flame Cloak and her Fireball spells.

 

In the next chamber they saw the ghosts again, five of them. They had obviously lost one in the chamber with the Dracolich.

 

“We... we have to go back. We can't leave Girduin...” said one of the spectral mages.

 

“We barely made it out alive, and you want to go back in?” asked another.

 

“It's too late. There isn't enough of him left to go back in after.”

 

That confirmed it to Nora. They had met the dragon, which had taken one while the others escaped.

 

“Gods, what have we done?” asked an Argonian.

 

“We can't go back,” said the very familiar voice. “Might as well go forward. We can still do this.”

 

“Savos is right. We can make it if we just stay alert.”

 

So it was the archmage, or at least a younger version of him.

 

The ghosts disappeared, leaving the party to find their own way.

 

“Wo meyz wah dii vul junaar?” called out a voice in an unknown language as they proceeded through a door and down some steps.

 

“All my magicka is gone,” exclaimed Sofia.

 

“Mine to,” said Eldawyn. “Whatever that was, he sucked the power right out of me.”

 

Nora felt it as well. Her great store of magicka had been drained in an instant, but it was coming back like a spring filling a container. In less than fifteen seconds she had it all back, thanks to her natural ability and her enchantments. “Is everyone else getting it back?”

 

Both of her mage companions agreed, and Nora wondered if it would happen again.

 

They found a doorway made of ice in a chamber that was otherwise devoid of an exit other than the one they came in. A spirit came through, not harmless like the ghosts of the mages. It started throwing cold spells, but bolts from the three mages took it out. More bolts and the cold barrier went down, revealing the way out of the room.

 

“Nivahriin muz fent siiv nid aaz het.”

 

Again their magicka drained, and again it came back. Nora was in a hurry, but she was unwilling to rush in without her magic. Soon they were all back to full strength and moving through the tunnels again. Draugr, skeletons, and then something new. Spectral warriors wielding weapons of blue light. The party found they could actually loot those weapons, which were light and powerful.

 

“You do not answer... Must I use this guttural language of yours?”

 

Again the magicka drain, and Nora was wishing the thing would just shut the fuck up. They came upon another elemental door, this one of fire, and the spirit that came through was throwing bolts of flame into the wards that the mages erected while they took out the ghost with cold spells.

 

“Have you returned, Aren? My old friend?”

 

It thinks I'm Savos Aren, coming back to do, what?

 

“Do you seek to finish that which you could not?”

 

What did Aren do here that he didn't finish? thought Nora. And what in the hell are we heading into?

 

A few more magicka drains, and couple of more encounters with the steadily dwindling party of College mages. And then Nora heard the chanting of the word wall. They found it soon after, and she almost yelled with joy as she learned the first word of Slow Time. That was an especially useful shout, slowing time for everything around her. Slowing time for her as well, though not as much as the others.

 

“You... You are not Aren, are you? Has he sent you in his place?”

 

Sort of, thought Nora.

 

“Did he warn you that your own power would be your undoing? That it would only serve to strengthen me?”

 

And that was where their magical energy was going. To strengthen the thing they were going to have to fight. Not what she wanted to hear.

 

Finally they came to a door that radiated evil. As evil a manifestation as she had ever felt. This was it, what they had come for, and Nora wasn't sure they were ready for it.

 

“Come. Face your end.”

 

“Everyone ready?” she asked. The faces looking back at her were filled with doubt, but all nodded their heads.

 

“Let's do this,” said Eldawyn.

 

They flung the door open to see a bizarre scene. An exceptionally large room, several raised walkways and platforms. A faint figure surrounded by a globe of light, beams of the same color linking it to a pair of the ghostly figures on platforms across a pool.

 

“It looks like the ghosts are using magic to contain whatever that thing is,” said Eldawyn.

 

And Nora knew that the staff they came for was inside that globe, with the dragon priest the mages were containing. Much as she hated to think of it, they needed to free the thing trapped in that field. Something that Savos Aren and his friends hadn't been able to defeat.

 

Nora tried to get the attention of the mages, shouting, throwing light spells, even cursing at them. All to no avail.

 

“The only way we're going to get to that staff is by destroying those ghosts,” she told her people. “Unless you have some other ideas.”

 

There were no suggestions. Nora started outlining her strategy for doing this thing. She had never faced a situation like this before, and she doubted her strategy, but it was the only thing she could think of.

 

She placed Annekke and Elesia on one of the platforms between those of the two ghosts, Eldawyn and Sofia with them. While she and her Housecarls ran over the walkway until they were just outside the field of light, gripping weapons and ready to charge in and attack the thing in there. In position, Nora raised a hand in the air, and the four on the platform went to work.

 

Annekke and Sofia took out the mage to the right, while Eldawyn and Elesia took out the one on the left. It took several arrows and a couple of spells to destroy each mage, and Nora cringed as they extinguished the people who had given their all to prevent the escape of a great evil.

 

The dragon priest Morokei came out of his cage with a vengeance, throwing a ball of electricity at the people across the way while the archers sent arrows into him. Sofia and Eldawyn threw fire spells at him that seemed to have no effect, then switched to wards to try and protect the two archers, who did seem to be doing some damage to the dragon priest. The three with Nora all swung in at the priest, and he recoiled from the hits of the enchanted weapons, then teleported away. The ball of electricity remained over her friends, though arrows kept hitting the relocated dragon priest. A lightning bolt arced from the dragon priest, surrounded by his own field of electricity, and struck down Lydia, then Valdimar.

 

Nora shouted Slow Time as she charged across the walkway toward Morokei. A bolt struck her, and she cried out her pain and anger as she continued in, Dawnbreaker glowing with power as it readied itself to hit an undead creature of terrible power. Nora plunged through the lightning field, every nerve in her body on fire with agony, wanting to just fall to the ground and curl up in a fetal position while begging for the pain to go away. To do so would be to doom all her friends, so she ground her teeth and swung Dawnbreaker into the undead priest. She felt it recoil as the power of the Daedric artifact struck. Nora pulled back and struck again, then again, then once again, as the substance of the creature began to dissolve. And with one last scream it was no more, and the lightning shield was gone.

 

“We did it,” cried the Dragonborn. She wasn't sure that they were going to win this thing, but they had carried through and..

 

“Nora. They need your help,” cried out Jordis. Nora looked over at the Housecarl, to see her and the other two on the floor and struggling to their feet. At first she thought Jordis was asking for help for the trio of Housecarls, then she looked to the platform to see the four there down, smoke rising from their bodies. Elesia was struggling to get up, but the others were chillingly limp.

 

Nora ran up the walkway and the steps as fast as her legs would carry her. Eldawyn and Sofia were laying across the parapet, their eyes closed, barely breathing. And Annekke was staring at nothing with sightless eyes, her mouth hanging open as smoke rose from it.

 

“No,” screamed Nora, going down on her knees and checking Annekke for a heartbeat. She considered CPR, but the body was actually hot to the touch, cooked from the inside out. She touched the two mages and cried out as she felt how hot they were as well, though both were still breathing, barely. As much as the death of Annekke had hit her, there were people here who could still come out of this alive, and she had to concentrate on them.

Nora put a hand on both of her dying friends and started pouring healing energy into them. She went through all of her magicka and her friends were still not out of the woods. She let the magicka recharge, then sent more into them, then again, until both were again at normal temperature, breathing shallowly, but taking in air.

 

Nora spent the next half an hour pouring healing into everyone in the room with the exception of herself. All were stable, then Lydia and Jordis were on their feet and seeing to Annekke's body.

 

Nora was finishing up on Valdimar when she felt healing energy flowing into her, and looked up to see Sofia and Eldawyn casting.

 

“You took care of everyone but yourself,” said Eldawyn, tears in her eyes. “You're burning up from the inside. If not for your remarkable healing factor you would probably be dead.”

 

Nora nodded. She had acted in character. People needed her, and so she forgot about herself. Suddenly Eldawyn broke down in tears. And moment later Sofia joined her.

 

“We tried to protect them,” said the sobbing Altmer. “He was just too powerful, and we didn't have enough energy.”

 

“Why didn't I die,” cried Sofia. “She deserved to live more than I did.”

 

“She kept on shooting,” said Eldawyn, barely getting the words out. “Even as she was dying, she kept drawing and shooting.”

 

Nora gathered her friends up in her arms and cried along with them. She couldn't believe that the Ranger, who had left her husband and community to adventure again, was gone. Of course she was in Sovngarde, though there was no guarantee that she had avoided Alduin.

 

“We will give her a burial in the Hall of the Dead in Winterhold,” said Nora, giving both of her friends a final squeeze, then getting up to her feet. “Make sure everyone is good to go.”

 

Nora thought again how she wished she had a resurrection spell, along with the skill to cast it. Two people had died that the spell might have saved if she had it. She was determined to track down that spell and gain enough experience to use it.

 

“It was unbelievable, my Thane,” said Jordis, looking at Nora as if the Dragonborn was a Goddess. “I thought that thing had killed you. Your hair was on end, your exposed skin was actually burning, and you just kept hitting it with your blade until it died.”

 

“I've got the staff,” said Valdimar, handing it over to Nora.

 

She didn't think it looked any different from many of the other staves she had handled. But she felt the power of this one. A source that matched that of the Eye back at the College.

 

“Gather up everything we can. Two of you bring Annekke.” She couldn't bring herself to say body, even though she knew that the Ranger was no longer with them.

 

The somber group made their way through some corridors, until they ran into one of the ghosts, this of Savos Aren.

"...I'm sorry, friends,” said the apologetic ghost. “I'm so sorry! I had no choice! It was the only way to make sure that monster never escaped! I promise you, I'll never let this happen again! I'll seal this whole place away...” And with that he disappeared.

 

The group went through a secret door, then opened yet another, to be confronted by a man in Thalmor robes.

 

“So, you made it out of there alive. Ancano was right... you are dangerous.”

 

More than you could possibly know, thought Nora, ready to blast this Thalmor bastard out of her way.

 

“I'm afraid I'll have to take that Staff from you now. Ancano wants it kept safe... oh, and he wants you dead. Nothing personal.”

 

Nora hit the Altmer with Unrelenting Force, all of her rage and sorrow fueling it to send the broken body of the man into the other room. She walked quickly after him, drawing her sword, then striking the groaning head from his body. She then sent flames from one hand into his body, a blast of fire that incinerated him, leaving nothing but a smoking pile of ashes.

 

“Let's get the fuck out of here,” growled Nora, looking over at her friends.

 

“I didn't know you had that much power in your fire magic,” said Eldawyn in a hushed voice, looking down at the ash pile.

 

“Neither did I,” said Nora. She had gone through the crucible of combat and emerged stronger. If only someone else hadn't had to pay the ultimate price for her advancement.