Sorcerer Azur
These days, merely clinging to my consciousness was a task in and of itself. The glintstone, that beautiful thing I saw deep within the primeval current, was consuming me. Slowly but surely, I ceased to be a man and instead became yet more of the crystallized vitality of the stars and those crystals had long outgrown my ability to keep sated, devouring all my magical energy the instant I regenerated it. The moment that had happened, my fate had been sealed.
It wasn’t a painful fate, at least. I had long since stopped feeling most things, my senses dying as my flesh turned into crystal.
Despite that, I regretted nothing. I saw the darkness deep within the primeval current as well as the starry expanse above that abyss. Terrifying though it had been, I had been happy to have made such progress.
Well, if there was anything that I considered to be a shame, I supposed that it was getting exiled from the academy. How much we could have known of the primeval current already if only Lusat and I hadn’t been removed by Rennala, if our teachings had been able to reach more people.
Alas, the Queen of the Full Moon had proven her skill to be greater than mine or Lusat’s. As much as I disagreed with her choice, there was little I could do when she decided to ban the study of the primeval current and remove myself and Lusat from the premises, especially since we were already in the process of crystallizing at the time. All I’d been able to do was hand my staff over to Sellen, the brightest of my apprentices, and hope that she would surpass the one who had banned my field of study in the future.
“How would you like to live, Master Azur?” A voice I could barely hear asked me, drawing me out of my melancholy. “To study the primeval current further without facing this problem again?”
I couldn’t speak. Could barely even move. I certainly couldn’t show that I agreed. All I was barely capable of at this point was slowly lifting my arm to hold out the prepared scroll, the original copy of the spell I had created after peering into the primeval current: Comet Azur.
I had intended to die after handing it over and, had that feminine voice not created a spark of hope in my heart, I wouldn’t have had the willpower left to continue to cling on to life past this point.
Desperately, I tried to convey my will to live by grasping the slender wrist that took the scroll.
Thankfully, the sorceress who had addressed me with a title few would still have graced me with after all this time seemed to pick up on it. “Very well. If you’re unwilling to fade away just yet, my teacher will surely be happy to know that her master is still alive and well.”
Moments after she spoke, I began to feel immense agony for the first time in an amount of years I couldn’t even begin to count. I felt as flesh and bone grew from what little of me remained and began to push out the crystal and I heard as the glintstone that had almost taken over my body fell onto the floor, a part of me no longer after what could’ve been seconds, minutes or even hours for all that I knew.
For the first time in however long it had been, I could see, I could hear, I could smell, I could feel the wind upon my skin! My thoughts were finally clear again!
My sense of time hadn’t survived my fate and, as I laughed in joy, I had a feeling my sanity wasn’t completely intact anymore, either. Then again, perhaps this was merely the result of getting a new lease on life. I had never quite made my peace with this being my end, after all.
Looking at the girl who had saved me after calming down, the first thing I noticed were her strange clothes. The second thing was her beauty. I could truthfully say that I had never once seen anyone more beautiful than her. I was tempted to inspect my surroundings, already having been blind by the time I had been brought here, but decided against it. “Thank you, girl. I would have certainly met my end here without you. I believe you said that your teacher is a student of mine?”
“Her name is Sellen.” She confirmed what I had already suspected and I let out another hearty laugh at that. I always knew Sellen would come far but to have someone like that as her student – that was a feat I had not expected.
“Then tell me yours and, in exchange for your help here, I shall discuss with Sellen how best to teach you. It is the least I can do for you, after all.” Now that my mind was clearer, I also found myself regretting that I had not had the time to finish teaching Sellen. She had been a bright girl and, with another decade or so of studying under me, I could have seen her mastering all I had known and perhaps even Lusat’s knowledge would have been hers.
“My name is Lilian.” She introduced herself. “And, speaking of my teacher, if you wish, I can take us both to her right now.”
Intrigued, I didn’t waste much time before nodding. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. It has been much too long since I last saw Sellen.” And I wanted to see exactly how Lilian would achieve this feat. Teleportation was quite rare back in my day, after all. Besides, there was no true risk. If Lilian had desired me dead, she simply had to not help me.
“Then please take my hand and hold on tight Master Azur. The experience is quite uncomfortable for others, I’ve been told.” My favourite student’s apprentice informed me, holding out one her hands for me to grasp.
It was almost overwhelming to feel another’s skin on my own after all this time but all my senses were overwhelming at the moment. The only sense I’d truly kept to any degree after becoming glintstone was my hearing and even that had been dulled.
But I didn’t have the time to stay focused on the overwhelming sensation of skin contact when I witnessed reality tear open and, though the experience was a blur, I was certain of one thing: I bore witness to what laid beyond that abyss I had once seen. Both the starry expanse and the abyss I had once seen were left behind in an instant, leaving only worlds that each were as stars.
Arriving in some ruins rather than Raya Lucaria was surprising but I only barely noticed it from the sheer magnitude of what I’d witnessed. Looking at the girl at my side, I now understood her nature as a being from beyond the abyss, from far beyond the boundaries of this world. Only, she seemed young. There was, of course, a chance that she was simply youthful looking rather than truly young but…I was under no illusions of Sellen being able to teach a being who truly understood what I had just seen glintstone sorcery.
“After seeing this,” I began, carefully choosing my words, “I believe I have some advice for you.” Lilian perked up as I spoke. “That which I just saw is something one could create countless sorceries out of.” It would certainly occupy the next several millenia of my existence if nothing changed. My only worry was that the glintstone of our world was not powerful enough to channel such sorceries.
The girl, however, froze for a singular moment that let me see her shock.
I had, rightfully it seemed, assumed that Lilian herself, likely being naturally capable of crossing that sea of worlds, had never truly comprehended its magnitude beyond using it as a way to quickly reach her destinations.
With her being part of my school of sorcery via being Sellen’s apprentice and her having saved me, I couldn’t just stand by and let her ignore the endless inspiration before her.
“Thank you, Master Azur.” Lilian told me, inclining her head after recovering her composure.
“I gave you my word to teach you so teach you I shall.” I waved it off before finally allowing myself to focus on our surroundings despite desperately wanting to continue thinking on the knowledge I could gleam from that single glimpse of what laid beyond this world. “Now, why are we here rather than Raya Lucaria?”
Lilian winced before gesturing towards a staircase. “I’m not going to go into the details but, much like you, my teacher was exiled from the academy. If you want to learn more, you will have to ask her for the details.”
In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. I had known from the start that Sellen would continue mine and Lusat’s research. It’s why I’d left my staff with her, after all. I had just hoped that Sellen would have the patience to wait until she had surpassed Rennala in skill and could take over the academy herself.
If Sellen had been exiled, however, that meant that things had played out very differently from what I had hoped would happen. It wasn’t all that strange once I thought about it. Sellen had still been young back then and she had had the drive to truly excel in her studies. To then be told that the field she wished to specialize in had been banned, well, I could only begin to imagine what she had gotten up to for her to be exiled.
“I see you have returned, my apprentice.” Sellen spoke as we walked past a pumpkin head to enter her study, focused on some scrolls. “Are you ready to-“ She cut herself off as she turned around to see me standing there.
“Hello there Sellen. It has been quite some time and, I have to say, that apprentice of yours is something else. Even managed to get me my flesh back!” I smiled at her despite being able to sense that she was a projection. Knowing that the situation was likely worse than I’d expected wasn’t good but Sellen was still alive, still able to teach her apprentice and she didn’t seem to be in a hurry. As such, I was pretty sure she’d be fine without my aid for a bit longer still.
“Master Azur.” Sellen’s voice cracked a little, understandably shaken by seeing me standing before her once more. “What? No. How?” It was unlike her to stumble over her words in such a matter but I couldn’t blame her this time. I wouldn’t even admonish her for it.
“That apprentice of yours. Apparently she was able to undo my crystallization.” I gave the only explanation I could. Truthfully, I didn’t even begin to comprehend whatever it was that she had done, especially since I hadn’t felt even the slightest trace of magical energy from her when she’d fixed me.
In response, Sellen’s projection turned to face her student. “Apprentice, I thank you for restoring Master Azur. I will not ask how you knew where to find him nor anything else. Instead, I shall simply offer you this,” She held out a magical key for her student to take. “it ought to undo the seal holding Master Lusat somewhere in Sellia. Mind you, this is not me telling you to go and restore him. It is merely to give you the opportunity to do so if you desire.”
Lilian took the key, seeming intrigued. “Alright then. I will leave you two to reunite while I retrieve Master Lusat, then.” She declared simply and watching reality simply shatter was no less fascinating when I wasn’t in the rift though I dearly wished I could’ve remembered more of what I saw.
“You sought to use our bodies, did you not?” Sellen’s possession of the key for Lusat’s seal made me fairly certain of my conclusion. Despite that, my tone was not accusatory. I had taught her not to waste resources, after all.
My favourite student nodded without hesitation. “It would have still required someone to remove Rennala or, rather, her daughter’s protection of her but it would have been doable. Now, well, I believe I should still be capable of achieving what I desire, it will simply take longer.”
“You will have my support.” I assured her immediately. “However, before that, let us use the time your apprentice is gone for you to fill me in on some of the recent happenings and discuss how we will teach her.”
“I was unaware that you were involved in her studies.” Sellen pointed out, amusingly defensive.
“My dear student, she is your apprentice but she is also my saviour. I will at least teach her some of what I know. She will remain your apprentice but I wish to be of assistance in her studies.” I declared firmly. I had no intention whatsoever of poaching her apprentice from her but Sellen had to know that I wouldn’t be willing to do nothing when Lilian had saved me when nothing of this world would have been capable of it.
“Very well. Then let us begin by discussing this night’s schedule. Lilian will likely have to leave come daybreak so we will have plenty of time to go over what has happened since your exile then.” Sellen declared and I didn’t argue. She was right about her being the primary authority on what her student ought to be taught, after all.
Lily
Master Lusat was quite depressed. He barely seemed to have the energy for anything. Not until after I’d travelled to where Sellen and Master Azur were, at least. Much like how it’d been with the other sorcerer, seeing the space I travelled through sent his mind racing.
I had really never considered the idea that I could use that place as inspiration for glintstone sorcery but Azur hadn’t been wrong. Now that I was thinking about it, there were countless ways for me to potentially do so and the several hours of being taught sorcery by them only gave me the knowledge required to have yet more ideas.
It was quite difficult to convince myself to take things slow and not just rush the creation of spells that might have devastating consequences for me if I messed up at any point but finishing my studies of glintstone sorcery beforehand was probably for the best.
“Before I leave,” I began, “I will likely fight the Starscourge less than a week from now.” I warned my teacher, the two other masters of glintstone sorcery confused by my words rather than understanding.
Sellen, however, froze for a moment. “I see.” She eventually declared. “I assume that there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise and that you are at least certain of your victory?”
“There isn’t and I am.” I confirmed.
She seemed to have expected that answer, not reacting at all beyond some slight signs of resignation. “Very well. In that case, I wish you luck and I will likely have something to discuss with you tonight.”
I was actually surprised when I felt a bit of relief at her choice. Apparently, I’d allowed myself to grow fond of my teacher in the short time I’d known her. “I will make sure to be back on time.” I promised.
Hopefully, this was about her primal glintstone. Letting Jerren kill her would be bothersome. But the decision was ultimately up to her so I put it out of my mind as I left this world once again.
It was time for feeding my zanpakuto some more aura and reiatsu while practicing with the Force.
Missy
Whiterun was exactly as I remembered it only with some more people out and about. The most important difference, however, was that the Force hadn’t kept warning me of danger the last time I was here and I knew for a fact Lily was feeling the same thing right now.
“If there’s a dragon,” Lily said quietly, bending space so her voice reached my ears and no others, “how do we decide who gets its soul?”
“Let’s just flip a coin or something.” I decided after thinking it over for several moments. Lily was right that we probably couldn’t both eat the soul so that meant flipping a coin was probably the fairest way of deciding.
“Sure.” Lily agreed easily. “But whoever loses gets the next one.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. I call heads, by the way.”
In response, my twin took a coin out of her inventory and flipped it, catching it out of the air at the right time and then lifting her hand so we could see the result. “Heads.” Lily said, sounding amused rather than disappointed. “I guess the first one is yours.”
“…You’re going to go out dragon-hunting afterwards, aren’t you?” I concluded after several moments of thinking about why that’d be amusing to a hoarder like Lily.
“Depending on how strong they are, yes.” Lily casually confirmed.
I’d have told her off for thinking about hunting those things after how terrible that had gone for me but I also knew I had no room to talk and Lily’d said that that flower field of hers could prevent them from using stuff like the invincibility thing Alduin had used to stop me from hitting him and even their fire breath apparently relied on that.
Probably still not a great idea to fight a dragon one on one but I trusted Lily to only do it if she thought she could handle it and, at the very least, she’d gotten a lot less reckless in fights recently.
So, with that settled, we chatted some more as we made our way to Dragonsreach once again, informed the guards of why we’d come back and returned to Farengar.
“Ah, you’ve returned. So, did you find it?” The court wizard asked, sounding really excited.
Lily nodded and took the Dragonstone out of her inventory before holding it out. “Here it is.”
Farengar all but snatched it out of her hand before happily placing it on one of his desks, knocking aside some gems to make room. “Thank you. Now your work ends and mine begins.”
We couldn’t even leave his office to let the jarl know that we’d helped Farengar before the elven bodyguard or whatever her title was rushed in and declared that a dragon had attacked the western watchtower.
I’m aware that, canonically, the glintstone crowns from Azur and Lusat consumed their brains. I decided that this’d be more interesting if Azur and Lusat were still alive, if just barely. Besides, if Sellen can basically put most of herself into a projection and then, later on, just survives by putting her primal glintstone into a puppet and Ranni puts all of her mind into her own puppets, I’d argue that brains are nowhere near as essential as they are in real life so Azur and Lusat get to still be able to think, they’re just not great at it
Anyways, hope you enjoyed and let me know if you have any feedback