"As expected, then." The dremora crosses the doorway to stand by Ruby's side, and Ruby Telekinetically fetches his staff and then conjures his bow again. "Shall we proceed? I expect we'll be running into rather a lot of people waking up, now."

"Indeed. Let us go."

The fights don't go any differently than they did, before. The fact that the Dremora is armoured (sort of) while the sleepers are all nude means it is only the mages that stand any chance, and not much of one when they're only just waking up and barely managing to get their bearings. Ruby does wait for them to be up and able to accept an offer of surrender, but it's not really any use.

Eventually, they reach the inner sanctum.

Where the two men Ruby saw in Erandur's memory are up and awake, looking like they've had enough time to really properly wake up. "Varen? Thorek? You're alive!" Erandur exclaims, sounding—surprised, relieved, shocked.

    "Brother Casimir?" says Thorek. "What happened? Who is that?"

"This is... a friend," Erandur says, voice changing as he suddenly comes into the psychological conflict of his friends being awake and now... probably his enemies. He had expected, hoped, really, that they'd be just as lost to madness as the others.

        "Are you the chosen of Lord Vaermina?" Varen asks Ruby directly.

Hooo boy. "No. No, I'm not."

        "Then what...?"

"...I..." Erandur swallows dryly, then takes a deep breath, straightens his spine, and says, "We're here to destroy the Skull of Corruption."

    "Destroy?" exclaims Thorek. "Are you mad? Have you gone out of your mind?"

"I... I follow Mara now. Brothers, we... Think about it. Why would we follow Vaermina? We've been indoctrinated into it, since we were young, brain washed into following her! She does not wish for our health, our happiness, our strength—she only consumes. Even us, we, too, will be consumed, and it is folly to believe otherwise."

    "You have gone mad," says Thorek, shaking his head. "Then let us take you out of your misery. It is the will of Vaermina."

Uh yeah no. Here's a two-handed greatsword-wielding Dremora to the face.

They are more powerful mages than most of the ones Ruby and Erandur have fought so far, and have had more time to wake up and prepare besides, and in addition to that they are not insane.

So now Ruby gets to see what fighting a real mage is like.

...it's a nightmare, is what it's like. The Dremora can only keep one of the two occupied, and one powerful mage versus a physical combatant is—well, it really depends on the balance of power, here. Thorek and the Dremora seem to be about evenly matched, which leaves Veren to provide support and deal with Ruby and Erandur.

Erandur's refusal to use offensive magic is really hindering them right now. His wards and buffs are powerful, at least, but the battle takes longer than any of the previous ones. Ruby can't do target practice on these two because they move too much and too often for his own skill at archery, and though he can conjure a blade he's just not actually good enough with that either to risk getting up close with a mage. Elemental magic will have to do.

Erandur continually tries to talk his friends around, ever more desperately as he and Ruby start to win, but the cultists hold on to their last breath, very literally. They don't stop until they stop breathing.

He kneels, then, and sends Mara a prayer for their souls, that Vaermina not take them and that they find peace in the beyond.

Ruby has to take a moment to catch his breath and regenerate. That was a difficult fight, and it's putting into perspective what may await him in the Valtheim Towers. He may not, in fact, be prepared for that at all.

At minimum, he needs to work on his marksmanship.

When he's done with his prayer he stands up and says, "It's time. The Skull must be destroyed. Stand back, and allow me to perform the ritual granted to me by Lady Mara."

"Sounds good to me," 'cause at this point Ruby really needs a break.

So without further ado Erandur climbs the stairs to where the artefact is waiting, surrounded by an energy field. "I call upon you, Lady Mara.

"The Skull hungers. It feasts on memories and leaves nightmares in its wake. It preys on the weak and sows discord and torment. Grant me the power to break through this barrier and to send the Skull to the depths of Oblivion. Grant me the wisdom to resist its temptations, and grant me the will to see this through. Forgive these foolish mortals their sins, and grant them eternal life at your side, free from Vaermina's yoke. Use me as your instrument, and deliver us from this terror."

And just like that, the barrier shatters.

    HE'S DECEIVING YOU.

Oh come the fuck on.

    WHEN THE RITUAL'S COMPLETE, THE SKULL WILL BE FREE, AND THEN ERANDUR WILL TURN ON YOU.

Girl he literally just murdered his two best friends, the dude's traumatised for life.

    QUICKLY! KILL HIM NOW! KILL HIM AND CLAIM THE SKULL FOR YOUR OWN! VAERMINA COMMANDS YOU!

How did this creature manage to create a whole cult. Who the fuck would fall for this. This isn't even manipulation this is just saying some random words. Ruby has to laugh, at this. "No. Dumbass."

Erandur twitches, but the ritual has started, and he cannot interrupt it.

The will of Lady Mara be done.

Vaermina doesn't have anything more to say to him, maybe because she realised he is smarter than a freshwater clam. So now he just waits for the ritual to complete so they can be done.

This one doesn't take as long, probably due to the goddess's help, and when it's done there's a flash of a lack of light and the Skull of Corruption is just... gone.

Erandur staggers down the steps then sits on the last one, panting heavily. "'Tis done. This is not the last the world has seen of the Skull but... hopefully it will not come back for a long while."

"Yeah." He walks over to where Erandur is and takes a seat next to him. "...I'm sorry about your friends."

He sighs and shakes his head. "I was taken in as a little elf. I... am pretty sure the cult killed my parents." He shakes his head again. "It was all I'd ever known. My social life was the cult, my mentors were the cult, my education was the cult. It took... years to undo most of the damage. It may never be totally undone."

...Ruby puts an arm around Erandur's shoulder and pulls him in a bit.

Erandur looks surprised, but after a moment he leans into the embrace. "I must thank you. I would not have been able to do this, without your help."

The plot keeps following him, it seems.

But still. "I... could not, really, do anything else. I'm finding that I'm not the type of person who can just walk away, when there's something I could do to help."

"Then I'm very glad you were the one to run into me in Dawnstar."

Ruby smiles and runs a finger along Erandur's arm.