“When the next dragon attack happened, a mere twenty-six days later, I thought we were prepared. We had learned some things, you see.

 

“For instance, the staff I told you about? The staff of Magus? Yes, the one I got from Labyrinthian. It doesn’t need to be held to work. I learned that in Labyrinthian, in fact. Archmage Savos – although he wasn’t Archmage at the time, of course, he was just a student – used it to bind his classmates and then just left it there and it still worked.

 

“I know, I should have thought of it sooner. It wouldn’t have mattered, though. Turns out.

 

“Anyway, we figured out we could use it to set up a combination Shield and Funneling spell, then just set it at the top of the college and it would just…work. The orb had enough power, especially after all the Funneling of the dragon attacks, to make a shield that could have extended to the town, even. We decided just to cover the college, though – the people of the town just moved in with us. It seemed the safer place to be.” A sigh. “Turns out the opposite may have been true.

 

“Anyway. It worked – when the dragons came back, every breath attack was just sucked into the orb and when they tried to break through physically, the shield made it difficult enough that we had plenty of time to focus fire on them before they could get close.

 

“It would have worked perfectly if it hadn’t been for…him.”

 

A pause and a shudder.

 

“I didn’t know dragons could get to that size. He was as big as five of the other dragons combined. He took one look at our little shield and you know what he did? That’s right – he laughed! Like it was just a funny toy! Which, I guess it was, to him.

 

“He spoke to us. First in the dragon language. I found some books and studied a little of it but I didn’t have time to learn it all – there’s a lot to do when you’re Archmage! Especially when you need to prepare for a dragon attack. And we wanted to continue the students’ lessons as best we could, although, of course, we switched everything to spells that would help. Fighting and healing spells. You know. Not ‘real magic,’ as Urag would have said – just memorization.

 

“Anyway, I knew a little of the dragon language, but not enough, so after a while, he switched to Common. He can speak it very well, although his vocabulary is archaic. Which makes sense! The last time anyone saw him was thousands of years ago. I still don’t know how he came back after all that time. Another mystery I’ll never learn, I guess.”

 

Another sigh.

 

“He recognized the staff immediately. Can you believe that? I sure didn’t! He even knew what it could do. And he knew of the orb. That was my biggest mistake – letting him know that we had the orb as well. I should have just pretended I hadn’t heard of it at all.”

 

A pause to wipe away sudden tears as her voice began to crack.

 

“What’s that? Oh, I’m getting to it. First, though, I need to tell you about J’zargo. You remember him, right? Yes, the Khajiit.

 

“So Alduin…that’s the dragon’s name. Did I tell you that? I’m sorry, I can’t remember which parts I’ve told you. Anyway, Alduin had no problem shoving himself through our shield and then, when we attacked, it was like…”

 

Another pause.

 

“Well, we might as well have been attacking a mountain. The spells just bounced off him. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge them – he just hovered there…no, I have no idea how something that giant can hover. His wings weren’t even beating fast, like a hummingbird’s. I have to assume it is some sort of innate magic. If only I had had more time to study…

 

“Anyway. He just hovered there and said he had had enough of our parlor tricks and opened his mouth and started to shoot out fire. That’s when J’zargo jumped in front of the blast.

 

“Of course, I was horrified, but he managed to Funnel it. There was so much of it, though, and after a few seconds, I knew it was going to be too much. We had discussed this, J’zargo and I – try to Funnel too much and it will rebound!

 

“But, of course, he knew that. And that was his plan. He turned to me and winked and said, ‘J’zargo thinks the time we had discussed has come,’ and, before I could figure out what he meant, he just flew straight into Alduin’s mouth! I don’t know which of us was more surprised! Then, a moment later…”

 

A pause. A long one, accompanied by several wipes of torn sleeves over tear-streaked cheeks.

 

“J’zargo exploded. While in the dragon. A rebound is strong enough to level a city a mile wide, and Alduin got the full force of it from inside.”

 

A grim smile and a small note of triumph.

 

“It worked. Or seemed to. Alduin screamed as his body was torn in two, and a moment later, he lay dead in the chasm at the feet of the college.

 

“Yes, it was very brave. And foolish. You are correct on both counts. Dragons don’t stay dead, you know, and he stayed dead for even less time than usual. Usually it’s a few days but Alduin was back within an hour. I don’t even know where he went, because unlike the other dragons, his body didn’t reassemble itself- it just faded away and then, an hour later, he came screaming toward us from the west.

 

“Oh, he was mad! He stayed outside the shield and yelled, ‘Let’s see how much your bauble can hold!’ And then he breathed his fire right into the shield.

 

“At first, the shield worked – the fire was whisked away, and no harm seemed done. But he kept breathing. And breathing. And, yes, I know they don’t really breathe fire or ice or whatever. Delphine told us the breath weapons are actually words that can create powerful effects. Although I don’t know how – I did learn some of the so-called words of power, and they didn’t do anything when I spoke them.

 

“Anyway. I guess it was because he was speaking, not really breathing, that he was able to sustain it for so long, because he didn’t pause even once over the next hour and a half. It had never occurred to me to wonder what, if any, limit the orb might have. It is something I should have thought of, though, because whatever that amount was, Alduin reached it.”

 

Another long pause filled with wracking sobs followed by a sniff.

 

“It was my fault. I hadn’t planned for someone deliberately trying to send power to the orb. I was the Archmage and all those people looked to me for help and I…I guess I was too prideful. Or stupid. I don’t know. All I know is, they all died because of me.”

 

More sobs.

 

“I tried to stop him. When I realized what he was doing, I flew to him, outside the shield, and attacked him. I threw every spell I knew at him. I may as well have been tickling him with a feather – he didn’t even bother looking at me. He…he filled the ball so full, it exploded. Just like J’zargo had. The entire college was just…gone. Vaporized in an all-consuming fireball. The shockwave knocked me away. I’m just lucky I didn’t pass out, or I would not have been able to stop my fall.”

 

A sigh.

 

“Although maybe that would have been better. Now I’m alone…no offense to you, of course, but you aren’t much of a conversationalist…on a frozen island in the middle of nowhere and everyone I love is dead.”

 

A pause.

 

“Wait…no, they’re not. There are still my parents. If the dragons haven’t reached Hammerfell by now, and I don’t see how they could have, maybe I could go there! I could warn the government! Maybe other places can find a way to stop the dragons!”

 

She stood, suddenly excited, and began to cast a spell, but paused long enough to glance down and add, “Thank you for listening to me. You don’t speak much, but you are a great listener.”

 

The horker responded by lolling on its side so it could get some of the fading sun on its belly, and Aithne laughed. “Sometimes I envy…wait, did you hear something?”

 

It had been a yell, a call of some sort. It seemed to come from miles away, yet Aithne felt it shiver through her body. She turned, her teleportation spell forgotten, as a heavy wind began to pick up. In mere seconds, the wind had risen to cyclone-like levels and Aithne crouched, hastily moving to bring up a Ward spell. It snapped into existence a moment too late – Aithne screamed as she felt herself lifted and tossed over the waves of the sea. Then a wave of dizziness filled her mind and the world went dark.

 

 

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