Prologue

I awoke in cold-sweat. I had dreams of my lips being sewn shut as I was tied to a bed. The man sewing my lips together wore dark clothing and had pale skin with fangs and red eyes. I was in the Arcane University, it was twice the size of the Ruined City of Chorrol. Into the Mage-Quarters came a Dunmer with graying hair and light skin. "Are you okay?" the Magus asked. "Arch-Magister Tyrinth asked me to check up on you, Evangeline."

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, "Yes, I'm fine Master Mythaniel." I put on my cerulean-colored robes and pulled up my hood. The moon still dominated the sky. Thousands of silvery lights dominated the blackness of night.

The Master Mythaniel was gone. I heard a voice in the back of my skull. "They truly are ignorant," it whispered. "Of your true power, aren't they? Of your true potential in the arts they consider 'foul'."

"Of course they are," I whispered in response. "But the University has so much to offer me."

The voice was that of a dear friend I met five years ago. He was a Dark Elf that wore a full suit of black and red daedric armor and carried an enchanted ebony longsword. "Meet me in the School of Mysticism within the hour," the voice called.

"Yes, of course," I responded. "What do you want anyway, Zalphon?"

"You'll see," Zalphon stalled. "You shall see..."

I obediently headed to the School of Mysticism. It was the size of a Guild-Hall, however when you entered it increased in size ten-fold. Soul-Gems were in display cases across the room, teleportation pads were in the Portal Room, and mages with glazed-over eyes wandered. They didn't really notice us, they were in Dreamsleeve observing.

Out of thin air appeared Zalphon. He bowed deeply. "I think it is time that we head to the Keep of Shadow's Soul in the Black Marsh. It is a school of necromancers, I think you'd fit right in."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I'm merely an apprentice of the arcane."

"The Keep of Shadow's Soul is a school for those that are worthy," He explained. "If you manage to survive the 'Rites of Passage' and become a full-student, you'll be worthy. However, in the Keep of Shadow's Soul, you must always watch your back. The other students and associates would gladly kill their fellow necromancers to use them to study."

"I am ready."

"I knew you'd say that."

An orb of black-light surrounded us and we were teleported. My dreams of becoming a necromancer would finally come to pass. Finally, I would have the power that was rightfully mine. And I could finally bring back my mother...

This isn't a replacement to Oblivion's Edge, just another story

A Fan-Fiction. Somehow that description below the title of your story reminds me of another story, 'The Expedetion to Somewhere' by someone. What was his name? It starts with K and end with N.

Anyway, we got another story featuring Evangeline. I didn't see any nits so far that would hurt your new story.. So, that's good, right?

Seems like perhaps some background on Evangeline. Interesting.

Chapter One: The Keep of Shadow's Soul

I appeared in a black-stone room. It was a cubic-room with four doors. A red skull was painted in the middle of the floor with blood. Four students were in a circle around it. Obediently, I went over and kneeled like the others. Zalphon walked to the circle and hissed, "You are the potential students. You must earn my favor through tasks that are what symbolize the Order of the Ebon Rose. Follow the Code of Honor and you will be worthy, if you survive..."

"Lord Zalphon," One Student called out. "What must I do to earn your favor."

The Daedric-Clad Lich turned into a blur. The student was beheaded and Zalphon asked, "Would anyone else like to speak to me by my name again. Maggots, I am called Master Broodikus, is that clear?"

We all nodded, fearing the ebon longsword he held. Legend said that the sword was enchanted with the soul of a treacherous lich. "You each know where your quarters are?" He asked. "If you don't then the floors are quite nice."

I sighed and opened one of the doors. It led to a long, black hallway. I heard screams of anguish and shrieks of terror. Behind me walked one of the other potential students. He slammed me against the wall and whispered, "Listen little girl, I will win the challenge, am I clear?"

A black throwing knife appeared in the side of his skull. I looked at my savior, for the quick glimpse I saw, it was an argonian in black-leather armor. He was gone as fast as he came. Zalphon noticed me holding the corpse. "I see, you were too weak to perform the kill yourself," he barked. "Head to the detention center for punishment."

"Where is that?" I asked.

Black flame surrounded me and I was in a dark, dome-shaped room. Cages lined the walls, stretching racks, thumbscrews, pain-pears, were on tables. There were several spiked chairs and crushing boots strewn about the room as well. There were other torture devices as well, such as lead-sprinklers and tongue-rippers. I even saw breast-rippers and iron-maidens. This wasn’t a detention room, it was worse. “Ah, the newest recruit,” the Torturer laughed. “Take a seat.”

Obediently, in fear Zalphon’d kill me I did. He slammed my ankles and wrists into the chair’s spikes and then locked them. I could see my blood start to drip, the agony was intense, but I didn’t complain. It’d only be worse.

The Torturer grabbed a pain-pear and smiled with delight. Sadist. He put it into my mouth and said if I moved an inch, he’d not only dislocate my mandible, but have it completely torn off by the pain pear. He melted boiled some water and put it in the lead-sprinkler and used it on me. Blackness filled my vision due to the intense agony of the spikes, the metal taste of the pain-pear and the heat of the boiling water on my skin. I was dead or worse…

Yikes! Evangeline, what have you gotten yourself into? I wonder what happened to your mother. . . .

Chapter Two: The Forgotten City

My body had scabs all over it, and burns on it too. My jaw also hurt, a lot. It felt dislocated, probably from the pain-pear. The torturer stood over me. I could finally see his face. He was a vampire. An Imperial-Vampire in fact, it was obvious due to his pitch-black hair and icy-blue eyes.

“Welcome back,” he laughed. “I know you were unconscious for most of it, but I had fun. Let’s have some more.” The vampire brought over an iron “boot” also known as a knee-splitter.

“Stop,” Zalphon called. “You’ve shoved a pain-pear in her mouth, strapped her to this chair, sprinkled her with boiling water, and seared her flesh with spells. Her anguish is done.” He released me after swearing under his breath.

Tears burned my eyes as I stood up and walked over to Zalphon. “Th-thank you,” I managed to say. “Thank you so much.”

“You’ve lost favor,” He sighed. “To earn my favor, enter the Catacombs of the Keep of Shadow’s Soul and bring me back the sword and amulet of Kalarn Broodikus, my son and traitor to my Order.”

Obediently I headed down the stairs to an old, iron door. He followed me and then stopped. “You enter alone. No one has ever survived the Trials of Shadow’s Soul. If you come back with the sword and amulet of Kalarn, you will be rewarded with the right to be a true student.”

I opened the huge-metal door and took a step in. It slammed shut behind me. There were no torches to show me the path; instead I had to cast a spell of light. There was ancient stone-work done in the caverns. It was done thousands of years ago, perhaps even before the First Era.

Blood was stained into the black-stone of this place. It radiated the energy of death, I was able to manipulate it a little bit, but this was so strong it made me nauseous. I came to a wooden-door and opened it. There stood a transparent gold-skinned elf. “Foolish girl,” the Elf mocked. “You should turn back before you discover the forbidden secrets that we left behind.”

“Forbidden secrets?” I asked. “What do you mean, Altmer?”

“Before the empire of man, we were here. Before man itself, we were here,” The Spectre replied. “I am an Aldmer. You must go no further, Breton. We left secrets here that weren’t meant to be rediscovered.”

“What is your name, Aldmer?” I questioned inquisitively.

“Altus Caminus,” he responded. “Altus Caminus, the youngest of the Circle of Arcana Specialis. We discovered things no one should have. We discovered things that only the gods should have.”

“Such as?” I sighed. “What?”

“If you continue down this path, you will find out, but I advise against it,” Altus warned. “Please, I beg of you. The Circle of Arcana Specialis have horrible, horrible secrets. They corrupted us and turned us into shells of our former selves, filled with hatred, paranoia, and greed.”

I tried to command the spirit, but it failed. “I am one of the very first wizards to ever walk Nirn,” He cried out. “Stop this, now.”

I walked through him and opened a wooden door. It had more of the unnatural, carved stone. I cast another light spell and saw a spiral stair-case down. I went down and saw an ancient city. I was on a ledge about fifty feet above it. Dome-like buildings were everywhere, as were towers. Altus Caminus walked down and whispered, “The Forgotten City. It used to be illuminated by magic, until we delved into the secrets. The beauty of it, I miss it so. If you go into the Forgotten City, I can’t guarantee you’ll survive, all the others didn’t.”

“Why?” I replied. “The city is forgotten and abandoned. The inhabitants are dead.”

“The inhabitants are physically dead, but their spirits still walk the streets of the Forgotten City. They may be dead, but they’re still more powerful than even the wizard called Divayth Fyr,” Altus explained. “And they still have their old personalities. The reason I’m not corrupted is because I didn’t study the tomes or assist in the creation of the Gateways.”

“Where do they lead to?”

“Anywhere in Nirn. We constructed Gateways in various places on Nirn. The tomes taught them how to create the Gateways and how to siphon the souls of the dead into special rocks the tomes taught us how to make called, ‘soul gems.’ We also learned how to ascend to a state of demi god-hood, only a few of us completed the ritual. It required several soul gems filled with extremely powerful spirits”

“We do this all the time with animals” I stated.

“Eventually they started to learn that with these souls they could become demi-gods. So they killed the vermin of the streets,” He continued. “Then they learned it required more powerful souls. They started to kill each other to create special gateway that could lead to the outer-part of our realm or to other realms such as, Oblivion and to become demi-gods with the ritual.”

“Not surprisingly, we learned that the soul-gems weren’t powerful enough to create this special gateway. By the time they realized this, everyone was dead. Our Aldmeri Leader cast a spell that cursed us all to remain here, never to leave. We would never leave, ever unless the curse was ended by destroying the Tomes and destroying High-Magus Veneficious,” Altus continued.

“He cast the spell as he was about to die, he too was corrupt,” finally finished.

“I see, so I must destroy the Tomes and destroy High-Magus Veneficious, a demi-god?” I asked.

“Yes, I would, but I can’t due to I am cursed as well,” Caminus glumly replied. “I will assist you by traveling with you. Also I will help you fight.”

“All right, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra help…” This would be interesting. Very interesting. I have just entered an ancient Aldmeri City, found out that these ancient elves created gateways that could take us across Nirn in an instant, and that I would need to kill a demi-god…

I really wish I that strange man wouldn’t have saved me…

I enjoyed learning about the Forgotten City, and why it is no longer populated by the living. Very clever.

Here's a question, does a stranger reveal all the secrets instantly? There is much more to the Forgotten City

Chapter Three: The Orb of Arcana

I took a step down the natural-stone stairs. When I reached the bottom I noticed two spectral Aldmer arguing. “Varon, stop arguing with me, we both know I am correct,” One hissed. The one who said that was taller.

“Tyrian, the formula to—We have a visitor,” The shorter one pointed at me. “Let’s kill her, I could always further my own power with by siphoning her soul into my own flesh.”

Altus whispered a spell and out of the palm of his hand shot an arrow of acid. The tall one muttered a spell and out of nowhere came a spear that went right through me. It wasn’t a physical spear, but it was a spirit one. I felt the agony all the same. Caminus growled, “Tyrian, Varon, prepare to die.” He muttered a spell and a conglomerate orb of the different elements bolted from his finger tips into them.

The spirits faded into non-existence. “Altus, you said they just siphoned souls into soul-gems,” I sighed. “Then why did he say siphoning it into his own flesh?”

“Well,” The Ethereal Aldmer stated. “The Tomes taught us how to further our own power by siphoning the souls of others into our own flesh, for it would infuse our bodies with magic.”

“What?” I asked in disbelief. “You captured souls and infused them in your flesh for power?”

“Indeed,” He responded. “The Tomes taught us many dark arts. I’ve only scratched the surface of what the tomes did, when you prove yourself, I’ll tell you more.”

I walked over to the corpses of the fallen spirits, they were still trapped. The Tallest Tower had a blue orb appear above it. “The Orb of Arcana,” Caminus whispered. “The Ruling Council of the Circle of Arcana Specialis gave their lives to create the Orb of Arcana.”

“They thought they were on the path to god-hood, instead it was the path to death. The Orb of Arcana is the final test of those trying for demi-god hood. You must siphon the power of the Orb of Arcana and survive the mental trials it bestows,” He continued. “Few have survived. Even fewer that survived came back still sane. It is said to tear your mind apart, but if you succeed true power awaits. It is one of the darkest things the Tomes taught us.”

“Those that survived and were still sane grew power-hungry and secluded. They experienced paranoia and flashes of rage,” Caminus explained. “The Orb changed our most powerful wizards into the darkest mages to ever live. As more attempted, the more powerful the Orb got. It started to change everyone. They would start to act like the sane survivors. Eventually everyone was corrupted by the Orb of Arcana.”

“Really?” I questioned. “How did it grow so strong?”

“The Failures, they gave it power. I don’t know who wrote the Tomes, but I do know this, we must destroy them and the Orb of Arcana,” He warned. “If you find one of the Tomes, do not read from it. It will seduce you, everyone who read even a single word from the Tomes couldn’t get away from it, except to use the knowledge from it.”

My legs started to walk into what looked to be an abandoned dome-shaped building. I slowly pushed the door open and tried to sense the life-force in here with a spell. There was none that I could sense. On an ebony table I found a note,

“Syrinthia,

The Masters allowed me to read one of the tomes. I can’t keep away from it. I have learned things that I once thought were impossible. I do not bleed, I do not feel pain, I can take a sword to my heart and it’ll regenerate. I must read more; I will speak to you after the Masters allow me to siphon one of the traitors to our people.

Tyrian”

The paper was old. Very old, I tried to pick it up off the table, but it crumbled to dust. In a silver-chest I opened I found a book. It was written in a language I couldn’t read, so I handed it to Altus.

“The Tale of Tray’kor,” the Spectre said. “A story about a worker who became a wizard-lord, it wasn’t too horrible.”

The room was mostly barren except for the table and chest. A bed-roll, a cauldron, and a mortar-and-pestle on a cabinet, was all that was in the room. “I’m going to get some rest, okay?” I asked Altus.

“I’ll keep watch; we’re only in the pauper-quarters. Even the paupers of the Forgotten City can use magic. Well enough for most common purposes, but no where near that of a wizard,” Caminus responded. “Sleep, for when you awaken we must continue our search.”

I see the lure of dark power here. Nice.

Chapter Three: The Tome of Aevum Ac Decessus

I awoke and Altus stood over me. He whispered, “Stay down, the watch are coming.” He sat against a wall. I saw two spectral-guards walk by. They wore suits of ethereal plate-mail. One was taller than the other.

“High Magus Veneficious desires we capture Altus Caminus and his new friend,” the Shorter One grumbled. “They supposedly killed two of us.”

“N’wahs,” the Taller One growled. “Altus was always afraid of the Tomes, foolish weakling.”

They walked past the building and Altus said to me, “I think I found one of the Tomes, the Tome of Aevum Ac Decessus.”

He handed it to me. It was a leather-bound book that was obviously aged. The words, Aevum Ac Decessus glowed faintly blue on the book’s cover. I put it in my knapsack. “I think we should destroy them when we have them all together,” I muttered. “Probably best, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Perhaps,” Caminus replied. “Don’t open the Tome. It will do to you what it did to them.”

“I know, I know,” I responded to his nagging. The Tome of Aevum Ac Decessus, that meant something in Aldmeri, I just wasn’t sure what. I won’t open it, not even a peek.

We started walking through the streets. Mostly in alleyways to avoid being seen by the Watch or the various citizens, for if they caught us, we’d surely die. The alleyways were lined with physical corpse. Littering it were items like swords or maces. For paupers, they sure were wealthy to throw away items like this.

We saw huge double-doors; no guards were near it so we opened it and went in. “The Merchant’s Quarter,” Altus explained. “This is where the War of Vox began. Vox means power in ‘Aldmeri’. The first surviving, sane demi-god came and cast a spell that killed thousands of people and siphoned their souls to empower himself. High Magus Veneficious was the one who did it.”

“Why can I understand the guards?” I asked.

“They don’t speak Aldmeri, they speak Ianus, it appears to the person who hears it as their native tongue,” Altus explained. “They speak Ianus, because the Tomes taught them how to. I learned Cyrodiilic from a lost adventurer a thousand years ago.”

We reached a dome-shaped building, that I assumed used to be a shop. “I think we should probably, well I should probably find something to eat,” I stated.

“Another thing the Tomes taught us. We no longer needed physical sustenance,” He said as he opened a drawer. He shook his head and sighed.

I merely opened my bag and pulled out a gray loaf of bread. The taste was worse than burnt mudcrab, but I was so hungry. I heard a door open and saw two spectral guards. I fainted almost the second I saw it…

There is a delightful contrast here between the dark theme of the locale with the girlish manner of Evangeline's reactions. Fun reading.

Really perfect sentence Zalphon, it gives a peek into the history and the driving force in such a subtle way...I need to learn from that sentence!

I agree with Acadian on this, Evangeline is a ray of light that is in such contrast with the darkness around her, Awesome job you did with that!!!!