Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20150814172530/@comment-3293219-20150818022208

Gwendis could feel her time approaching, the aura surrounding the Remnant was growing more powerful, with each passing second. She could see, feel the artefact being slowly pulled into the God of Domination's realm.

After a thousand years of regret, of failing Verandis, she was finally ready to embrace eternity... She had lived a long and prosperous life, a life that she hoped that Verandis would be proud of...

Seeing it again brought back so many memories, memories that she could barely remember unassisted. Seeing the Doomcrag, High Rock's grandest mountain, become little more than a crater. She remembered seeing the explosion from afar, probably being one of few who was truly paying attention to it...

Doomcrag 2E 582
"The Portal to Shornhelm is open my lord..." The Mage said in an almost robotic voice as said portal materialised, reflecting a purple glow on the surrounding Covenant soldiers as they stared up at the shattered Doomcrag in awe...

Well, nearly all of them were staring up, save one Bosmer, who knelt, hunched down at the foot of the bridge that once served as its entrance...

Her 'friends' cared little for her, they instantly scrambled towards the portal and stepped inside, not even hesitating to do so. Good, they could go, they could rot for all she cared... The only man she wanted to be here wasn't, he hadn't come back, he had every reason to come back and he didn't...

She didn't need telling, she already knew...

She could hear Verran turning to his assistant, who was obediently waiting for him, she reminded her of herself in many ways, their relationship seemed to mirror that of herself and Verandis, even if Eilo was a little more rough around the edges...

"Go on through..." Verran insisted before turning his attention to the grieving Bosmer.

"There's... Something I must attend to..."

"Don't be too long." Eilowyn sighed, following the others through, the portal shimmered as she made contact and was zapped back to Shornhelm. Verran was yet to enter the portal, as he said, there was still a matter that he hadn't attended to...

The Old Breton approached Gwendis from behind, she couldn't see him but she knew that he was there...

She slowly turned her head to him, her usually red and bloodshot eyes glistened as tears built up behind them...

"He's really gone, isn't he? The mighty Verandis.

I hate this! I really hate it!"

Verran sighed as he slowly approached her, taking a seat on the step by her side, crouching down as fast as his creaking knee joints would allow him to...

"He... Stayed behind to send the Remnant to Coldharbour... He sacrificed himself to save us all."

"Sacrificed? Like in dead?

What do you mean he sacrificed himself!?"

The Sourcerer couldn't help but sigh again as he looked up to the jagged mountain top, wrapping his arms around his knees as he hugged them to his chest.

"No, I should imagine that he is trapped in Coldharbour though, it was the only way that he could get the Remnant there."

Gwendis' eyes widened, it was hard enough imagining that Verandis had died at the top of the spire but that he had been sent to Coldharbour, with no way back? Trapped without any means of escape, without any means of respite...

She wished that she had gone with him, that she had the choice at least... She would have gone alone for him, why didn't he trust her?

"No!" She protested, jumping to her feet as she unleashed her anger.

"Why'd you let him do that? Do you know how hard he worked to distance himself from the prince? If Verandis is still alive, the prince won't give him up easily." She then sighed, folding her arms as she gently rubbed her shoulders, like she was shivering, except she wasn't cold.

"But why did he leave me here? I would have gone with him."

"Gwendis..." Verran uttered as he slowly pulled himself up, using his staff to support himself this time. As he turned to face her, she suddenly realised that this was the first time that she saw the old man up close. At least... properly... his armour was dull, knicked and somewhat worn, much like his old face, which was hidden inside his beige hood.

She slowly looked up to him as he began to speak, feeling truly lost and helpless for the first time since she turned, all those years ago...

"Verandis wouldn't have wanted that..."

This response only angered her, she quickly lowered her arms and clenched her hands into fists, bringing her face closer to his.

"How do you know what he wanted? He was everything to me!" She snapped, turning away and burying her face into her hands before crossing one arm over her chest and burying her face into the opposite hand.

"Why didn't he tell me what he was planning? Why didn't he let me help him?"

"He saved Rivenspire, like he set out to do..." Verran began but he was cut off pretty quickly.

"Saved us? It doesn't feel like I was saved..." She snapped again, turning her head back to Verran and glaring at him as if she blamed him, in truth, she couldn't as easy as it would be to do so. She seemed to be calming down, though was still in a great deal of pain from losing... everything.

"Verandis always carried a great weight on his shoulders. Maybe that's been lifted from him now, I can only hope, right?"

"I don't know..." Verran sighed, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But I do know that you are of more use to him here than you would have been going with him. I can't imagine anyone else he trusts more, at trust you earned." The Breton sighed, slowly turning his attention back to the Doomcrag as he placed his hands behind his back, staring up at what was left of it.

"I know that if it was me, I'd want Eilo to carry on my work... I trust her, believe in her, more than I do my own daughter..." He smiled a little, quickly turning his attention back to the young Bosmeri Vampire.

"I saw that same determination in Verandis' eye, when he made his decision. I don't know what he wanted, you're right about that... But..." He paused again as he turned his attention back to the Doomcrag or what was left of it.

"I have some idea..."

The Two of them fell silent, observing the destruction in the distance as they reflected on Verandis' efforts. The battle that had taken place at its summit, the destruction of an iconic landmark...

The destruction of a brilliant man...

"I think we should get back, to Shornhelm I mean. I can't imagine that Verandis would be too happy with us if we left that lot unsupervised, after five minutes of leaving us in charge of them." The Old Man concluded, turning back towards the portal and rubbing his cold hands together, he looked forward to getting a rest at a warm fire.

Gwendis paused, kneeling down to pick up a staff that was left at the base of a firepit in the camp.

"Before we go..." She began, passing the staff to Verran.

"Verandis gave it to me... But I can't keep it, you helped him so much. You should have it..."

Verran nodded and took looked at the staff before holding his hand out, graciously accepting the staff, slotting it onto his back to replace the one that he had dropped whilst scaling the Doomcrag.

"You helped the man I cared about... the man I loved. And you were with him to the end. This belongs to you."

Verran sighed, he couldn't argue with her wishes as he was the mage out of the two of them. Gwendis returned to her step, slowly lowering herself down to it as she knelt down again.

"I need a little time to say my farewells... Don't worry about me. I won't do anything stupid. I promise.

But you need to get back to Shornhelm. Without Verandis there, they're going to need your help to figure out what happens next."

"What do you mean?" Verran asked, finding himself unsure.

"All of this..." She began, looking back over her shoulder to the Elder Mage.

"It happened because Rivenspire doesn't have a true leader. If that doesn't change, it won't be long before the region falls into chaos once more. At least, that's what Verandis used to say."

"And you?"

"I'll find my way. Verandis taught me well and Adusa's back at the manor. She'll keep me company. Things will be alright. It'll just take time..."

Verran nodded respectfully, hanging his head as he thought on it, he hoped that the decision didnt' fall to him but considering how these Covenant officers needed him to tell them which hand to wipe their rears with.

"Now go. Get out of here and go help the High King choose a ruler for Rivenspire."

Verran nodded, finding himself determined and inspired by Gwendis' own determination. He flashed her a quick smile before  marching over to the portal, ready to determine Shornhelm's future.

She turned her attention back to the Doomcrag, not even bothering to watch as he left through the portal, she just sat, staring up at the broken summit as her head was spinning with conflicting thoughts.

"I'll find you Verandis, someday..." She uttered, sighing heavily as she hung her head, ignoring the fact that the portal was slowly flickering back to none existence.

"Somehow..."

-

Gwendis' teary eyes blinded her vision with a bunch of red smeers, which were reflected from the Remnant at the center as it became brighter and more powerful.

She winced as it elevated her off of the ground, slowly absorbing her in its light, sinking its dark fingers into her mind as she and the Remnant were drawn in together, heading straight to Coldharbour.

Within a flash both the Bosmer and the Lightless Remnant vanished, without a trace, knocking the mages back down to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

As it settled, the world had returned to the way that it once was... The Remnant was exactly that, a Remnant of a previous menace...

