Cearbhail:
Love it, love it, love it! This chapter has become so much more than I ever could have hoped for. Thank you Dr. Who for coming back on Netflix. It inspired me to so much more... and it's become so much more than I ever could have hoped for. The story has evolved beyond what I originally wanted. And it's only beginning. Oh joy! War will come... it will come. And to so much more than just the Changing Fates story. Speaking of which, the way it ties in...perfect now. Everything I wanted. it's finally coming together, just like I planned it twoyears ago. Amazing.
Oh...and enjoy. ^^
Dear diary,
It's the 23rd of Evening Star. Yesterday, we got the Crimson Blades approved. It's official…we're an official guild now. It seems so…weird. It's like…nothing really has changed, but I know that it will soon enough. I don't know if I know how to be a Guildmaster…or anything really. I guess it's just one step at a time and see what happens, right? We'll see. Anyway, Ravencrone is sending us her son to be examined; because he has the curse of being a seer. Soon Cecilie will be in the same boat so…I guess we'll figure it out sooner or later. Other than that, Ravencrone said we should go investigate Riverwood as our first guild mission. So, Ashana and I are going down to Riverwood to see what's going on. Man…I haven't been there in two years. Not since the war with the Lammer so long ago. I wonder when she'll come visit us again soon. We built all those tunnels for the Lamia to travel to us, and they haven't exactly made too much a scene yet. Perhaps soon.
So, last night, we celebrated the opening of our guild by breaking out the toilet paper and trashing the College of Winterhold. Yeah, it was fun. And then we wrote on their walls the complete formula for how to remove their heads from their asses. It was hilarious until J'zargo showed up and asked me if I was single. I had to bitch slap him for that. That guy is old enough to be well…maybe an older brother, like six years older. He's like 21 or something…still, well ok, I guess that's not too bad. But still, I'm engaged to Maleek. No way I'd let someone like him try anything with me. I'll kill him first.
So, Ashana and I got up pretty early and got on our carriage to Riverwood. The ride was silent, and nothing bad happened to the carriage. When we arrived, my dress snagged on a loose nail and almost ripped it in half, so I had to go out and hunt a deer for a pelt for a new one. I have never, ever, lost a fight to a deer before. I guess there is a first time for everything, right? I charged up and the deer bucked me right in the face. I hit the ground pretty hard. And then it ran away. Right before I could get up a sabre cat came out of nowhere to attack me. I thought I was going to die until it started humping me. I tend to forget…I'm a cat. I had no idea something like that would happen to me. Well, I killed the sabre cat and tore his pelt off. Now I had this really nice dress that matches my fur color. It's weird, but it's also a first. Anyway, now that I have a dress that isn't falling apart, we're going to start investigating.
Nisha Ruby Stonearm
…
I looked down at my new pelted dress. I looked like a cave woman; wearing a pelt that was squared off and tied off with a belt made from the arm of the sabre cat. As soon as my curse was gone, I was going right back to my rabi and my fancier dresses that I loved so much. Sure, I wore these pelt dresses when I needed to, and right now I needed one. I accidentally left my bag at home so I didn't even come down here with my armor or spare clothes. Maybe my curse made me forget about them; I'm not sure. All I knew was that this was all I had right now. If I had thought about it, I could have just taken the pelt to the smithy and have the woman there fashion it to a vest, top, and skirt like last time. I really loved that outfit she helped me make.
But, my purpose in town wasn't to go dress shopping; it was to find some…clue as to what was going on here in town. Ravencrone told us to investigate the Guardian Stones. The Guardian Stones were these astrologically connected stones that helped overlook the three basic groups of adventurers: the Warrior, the Mage, and the Acrobat. We used to call it the Thief Stone, but because plenty of bards and other stealthy types were being type casted as bad guys, we had to change the name of the Stone to one of great acrobatic skills. It's the politically correct term these days. These stones were supposed to give people answers about who they were supposed to become. It was common practice to bring a baby to the stones and lay it on the ground and see which one would light up for it. Most were born as warriors, some as mages. It helped us mold what our children would do for their studies. I hated the concept that they were using these astrological stones for parenting advice, but I guess what I do with crystals isn't so different. Ok, it is, sort of. I'm not changing someone's living patterns based on what one says… well, unless they would die if they didn't then I might.
Ashana walked beside as me walked through town. It was unusually silent. Normally, I would hear at least the smithy guy out here clanging his hammer on the anvil. I didn't see him at his station. I thought about going into the tavern, but as I walked up the stairs, I paused. I don't know what made me not go inside, but I didn't. I turned around and looked at Ashana. "Is it just me…or is it eerily silent here?"
She looked up at me, cocking an eyebrow as she looked around. She seemed to be scanning the town for a few seconds before looking back at me. "I detect no life forms in this town." She reported to me dispassionately.
I nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking." I waved her to follow me. "Think we might need weapons?"
She shook her head and gestured to gloves and wristbands on her arms. They were filled with several types of crystals. She even wore a belt with several variants of crystals wands hanging on a connection ring. "I am prepared for combat."
I looked down at my own belt. I had no weapons at all. I had forgotten my sword at home with the rest of my stuff…go figure, right? So, I had no place better than to go into the smithy's house and look for a sword I could use. I walked over to the forge to see if there were any just sitting around that I could use; I didn't find any. The entire forge was just… empty. Even the coal in the forge was gone. Almost like it hadn't been used in years. I was starting to get worried that Ravencrone purposely sent me here to find something. I don't know what I was looking for yet. But I pushed away from the forge and rushed for the door. I tried to push it open but it was locked. I rammed my shoulder pretty hard into the doorway and I bounced off like I was a lightweight…which I was. I'm pretty light. I'd probably activate the Acrobat Stone if I walked up to it.
I rubbed my shoulder, cursing in Ta'agra as Ashana walked up to me. "Allow me to try." She reached for her belt and snatched one of her darker crystal wands. She held it up like she would a staff, placing the wand's tip at the door. "Unlock." The door's latch turned and the door just pushed open. She clipped her wand back down and looked at me. "We're mages, Ruby…not barbarians." She patted me on the head apologetically and walked into the room. "There is no one inside if you were curious." She called back out to me as she strolled inside.
"Nope…just looking for a weapon." I said to her. I walked through the open doorway and looked around. The inside of the house looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. The floors were littered with dust; the fireplace was filled with charcoal from the fire that had been burning until there was nothing left to burn. The tables had what used to be food on top of it. What wasn't chewed up by animals was old and moldy. I don't think anything would eat the bread I saw sitting on the plate near the fireplace. It was not bread anymore, just old mold. I looked around for a few seconds before I saw something I remembered from my past. Sitting over a bed in the corner of the room was a sheathed wakizashi. I walked over to it and grabbed it. I pulled it off its resting place on the wall and unsheathed it. A brilliant purple and yellow blade sang from the hilt and I was suddenly transported to the past.
I had just finished my skirt and was going to ask Cecilie how her quest to make me a sword was going. She had somehow melted down most of my amethyst and citrine with some refined moonstone down into three blades…all wakizashies. I was so mad at her, but then I found out she did it on purpose to get me used to the idea of crystalline swords. And I figured it out pretty quickly. I let Dorthe, Cecilie's new friend, keep one of the wakizashies. I even taught her how to use it. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about those old days so easily. So….this was Dorthe's bed. And she was gone…just like everyone else in this town.
Ashana walked up to me. She looked down at the blade and then back up at me. "Is this your old room or something?"
I shook my head. "No…this was a gift." I looked over at her. "My sister's friend lives here…and this is where I discovered crystal swords. Here, at this smithy. This was a sword in the first set of three that Cecilie and Alvor made for me. I had one; Cecilie had one; and Dorthe had one as well. We were the first three to ever have crystal swords like this." I sheathed the crystal blade and focused on it. It felt depleted, but I could fix that. "We need to cleanse this blade in the river."
She nodded. "I understand." She tilted her head to the side. "But if you do that, you will not be able to view the sword's vibrational imprints. It might lead us to what happened here."
I hadn't thought of that. I unsheathed the wakizashi and held the flat side of the sword to my eye. I looked into my reflection in the blade's shine. I willed the sword to speak to me, to show me what it had seen…anything that would tell me what happened to its owner. I was suddenly pulled from my body and was standing where I stood now, only I was in astral form. Two crystal spirits, miniature forms of Amethy and Citrina, stood next to me. They were pretty small; coming up only to my knees. They didn't speak, but they did point to doorway. I nodded and walked out through the door without opening it. Outside I saw the village going about its normal routine. And then…a rift opened up right in the middle of town. Those little things surged out of the rift. Everyone was confused but they weren't stupid. They ran for it. They almost got away, but more rifts started popping up everywhere. And these astral things, they looked like really buff Dunmer with brown skin, wearing thick shiny golden Dwarven armor, charged out of the portals. They started grabbing the villagers and retreated into the portals. I watched as Dorthe, now a taller teenager, cursed and grabbed a sword off the anvil. It still glowed with heat as she started waving it around at the astral figures. Her sword went right through them without harming them. One of them grabbed her and threw her in the rift.
The same process happened over and over again until no one in town was left. And once the last one disappeared the vision faded away and I was staring at the crystal wakizashi. I nodded to the sword. It seemed to be asking me to bring its owner back to it. "I will find them, I promise." I sheathed the sword and slid it into my custom belt. I looked at Ashana, nodding to her. "It was a rift. Astral beings, that looked like… I don't know but they were elven, like buff Dunmer, and they wore Dwarven armor, charged out and collected the townspeople." I walked out the door, looking around for any signs of a rift. "But…how do we find them?"
Ashana looked at me. "Buff Dunmer with Dwarven armor?" She looked down. "Dwemer, then. It would not make sense for the townspeople to be tossed in rifts, Ruby. Especially by the Dwemer." She walked outside and joined me on the porch. "Rifts like the one I stepped into only tear a person apart by stripping their aura and energy from them. The sensation that would be necessary for travel off this plane would be a dimensional portal." She scratched her chin. "I recall the rifts were black holes consuming energy to remain open. What if the rifts are only a side-effect of the dimensional barriers of this world collapsing?"
"What?" I looked over at her. She looked lost in her own world though. "Feel like clarifying what you mean by that?"
She nodded. "When Alduin appeared in our world, it was because a portal used to throw him in the future had broken free. So, it would stand to reason that a portal in the past was used to connect to our present. If that was possible, the dimensional barriers of the past and present are currently connected; and that would make our barriers weakened. Our barrier keeping us from Aetherius and Oblivion had already been weakened during the Aedra War and the Oblivion Crisis."
"But Martin Septim rebuilt those barriers with his death." I said to her.
She nodded. "Yes, but the Aedra War followed shortly after. And now Alduin was forced into our time by someone in the past." She sighed. "This is a wild guess…but it has to be said." She looked down at the ground, drawing in the sand with her foot. "Your old Master, Esbern, told me about the dragons and the Dwarves. He believed the two of them were forced to leave the planet. When Alduin was forced through time, he may have ended up in a state of Aetherius, where the Dwarven race may be now." She looked me in the eye. "And your father, Solomon, told me that the Dwarven race is preparing to return. What if they are coming back now? Dragons, Alduin, portals from the past to the present…and the forgotten lost Dwarven race…dragged from the past where they disappeared…and were now coming back to our present?"
Qron. Oh my gods…Qron! He was the leader of the Dwemer armies. That was right! I remember that now. I looked back at Ashana, grabbing her by her shoulders. "Ashana…you're right! That's exactly what's happening! The rifts…they're the portals of Aetherius that are weakened by the Dwemer trying to cross over!" I couldn't believe it. Solomon was right. He said they'd be back in two years…and would go to war with us. It was happening right now! "But…how do we fight back?"
She actually smiled. "The Guardian Stones, like Ravencrone suggested. They break the dimensional barriers in order to predict one's future. We can use the stones to open our own rift…our own portal to where the Dwarves are. Besides, the rifts aren't the portals. The portals are portals; the rifts are the deterioration of our natural dimensional barriers. They are trying to mend but they are getting nothing more than more diluted and tearing apart. If we wish to secure our dimensional security…we will need to fix the rifts."
Something she said about portals from the past and the future made me think of Cecilie. "Wait…if throwing Alduin into the future can destabilize the integrity of the trans-dimensional barriers… could one person going from a point in time to other points in time do the same thing?"
She nodded. "Yes. With each time that person would go from one dimension to the next…those worlds would become connected in a complicated web of meshed barriers. I wouldn't be surprised if what happened in one world would suddenly affect the next one, while keeping its one personal integrity. But if a war with a forgotten race of Dwemer spilled out in our time…it would not be too above the thought that they could be poking around other dimensional holes as well. If this time traveler was going back to the Aedra Wars…when the dimensional barriers were at their weakest in known history…one could imagine an entire extinction impending for everyone."
I couldn't believe it. Cecilie…I had to warn Cecilie…but how? I could never see her again. Man…if only she would call me. If only this 'Mark' spell on me could be used to send her a message. I would warn her about what we found out. She was in danger. Wherever she was right now…might become a hazardous zone for Dwarven overlords. "Oh no…Cecilie."
Ashana tilted her head to the side. "I do not understand…what does your sister have to do with this?"
"She's a time-traveler…or will be in ten years." I shrugged. "Well, not our Cecilie, I don't think. But the Cecilie from a different time, a different universe. She was here, remember? She fought with us against Alduin. And she told me about her time in the Aedra War. She's opened portals between the two worlds. We're connected to them."
Ashana nodded. "Sounds possible; although it's still a theory. We don't know for certain that the Dwemer are really coming back at all, or if they're related to the portal ripped open for Alduin long ago." She started walking towards the Guardian Stones, and I followed right behind her. "But…I believe we will find out really soon whether or not all this is related to what you said."
We walked in silence up to the Guardian Stones. The entire walk was peaceful. No dragons were flying above us, no wolves challenged us. A bird crapped on me, but that was the worst of anything I could expect from this curse by now. Dad told me the curse would be winding down now that I had to shave myself. The worst was over. Ripping my dress, getting kicked in the face by a deer and then getting face-fucked by a sabre cat was pretty bad, but I hoped it would start dying down now. Wiping some bird crap off my head was the lightest of today. My eye still stung from where it received a kick. I was sure it was black underneath all my fur.
"Ruby, I have a question." Ashana asked from beside me. "What is it like to be in love?"
I looked over at her for a second. "Oh…you know…it's …?" I shrugged. "It's hard to explain. Maleek, well… he makes me feel so alive. But he's never around…and that makes me feel horrible. I want to be by his side, helping him fight his enemies. I want to hold him every second of the day, knowing that our lives are too short to waste a minute of it on something stupid. I want him to be with me, to say that he'll love me. To…I don't know… just be with me."
She nodded. "I believe I understand. Would it be weird of me to say that I love Erandur?"
That hit me hard. Erandur was like…really old. "You…what?"
"He took care of me. I never wanted to leave his side. We did everything together and I couldn't think of anything I would have rather done than be there for him." She looked at me. "Is that love?"
I shrugged. "Maybe? Isn't Erandur like your father, though?"
She titled her head. "Perhaps… but is there a difference between love and parental love?"
I nodded. "Yes, a lot of difference. Do you…want to have sex with Erandur?"
She shook her head. "No. But I want to please him. To make him happy."
"Sounds more like your friend then." I said to her. "Do you put him in the same category as me and Samantha?"
She looked down for a second. "I did not think of it like that. But you are correct; he is like you and Samantha. Close companions I wish to journey with, but not explore intimate relations." She looked back at me. "Love, in the context that you speak of with Maleek, is an intimate feeling of sexual attraction? Correct?"
I shrugged. "It's…more complicated than that, but yes, mostly that's what it is."
She nodded. "I understand love is very different and comes in different forms. Hopefully I can find one that I can be sexually attracted to one day. Have a family of my own. Erandur wants that for me; and I do not want to displease him."
The thought of Ashana falling in love was odd for me. She was so emotionless that I thought the very idea impossible. But, I guess she could if she put her mind to it. I patted her on the shoulder. "You'll find him someday." We kept up our pace until we found ourselves standing in front of the Guardian Stones. They looked majestic. They stood ten feet high. I could see the dots that represented the star pattern that held the constellations that held our destiny inside them. The stones were left by the gods to help us reconnect to our roots if we needed to. We weren't alone though. Lying on the ground in front of the stones was a girl. She looked just a little younger than me. She had long brown hair and was grasping at the Warrior Stone like she needed it to survive. She wasn't conscious though.
I looked at Ashana. "Think it might be a survivor?"
That made the girl stir. She pushed off the ground, looking back at us. When I met her brown eyes, I suddenly knew who she was. It was Dorthe. But…I saw her entering the portal. She pushed off the ground, rolling up to her feet. "I…I know you." She said as she squinted. "You're that girl…the one that taught me how to use that sword on your belt." She smiled. "I can't remember your name, but…I'm so glad to see you." She ran up to me, sticking out her hand for a handshake. "I'm Dorthe. Remember? The smithy's daughter."
I nodded. "Yeah, I remember." I took her hand in a handshake. "I'm Ruby. I was told to come here and find out what happened. I looked around…the entire town was gone. And I saw you disappear into a portal."
"How did you know that?" She sounded surprised as she stepped back.
I held out her sword. "Your sword showed me. I can speak to crystals; you should be able to remember that."
She took her sword from me and bowed her head in thanks. Her own clothes, which were a blacksmith's apron with what looked like street fighter's clothes underneath, looked torn and ragged. "Thanks…for the sword. And yeah, I vanished into a portal. And…I was in this…line. I didn't know how to explain it, but it was this line…leading to a forge. Large, taller than me, elves stood around us, speaking in a tongue I didn't understand. They wore Dwemer armor, but they looked like Dunmer with their skin golden brown, almost like their armor. They were leading us to the forge…where they were…doing something. I saw bandits, people that lived in Helgen…they harassed us from time to time. They were leading the bandits to the forge. And these tall elves…they shoved the bandits in one-by-one into the giant melting pot. I could hear them screaming in pain…unbelievable pain…unbelievable screams…" She grabbed her head in horror. Her eyes started dilating and she started shaking her head. "Their screams…they were dying…melting into the liquid. And the elves…they were using them…using their melted bodies to build this…huge, monstrous machine…a war machine. And they called it something. A… what was it?" She tapped her head. "The Ni…ni something. Nimidum? Something like that."
Ashana's eyebrows shot up. "The Numidium." She walked right up to Dorthe. "How big was it? Was it completed?" She walked right up to Dorthe's face, who took a step back.
"What? No…as far as I could tell it was just some skeleton with barely a head even grown." She said. "But…my family…everyone in Riverwood is in that line. I need to get to them." She turned to the Warrior Stone. "Please…guide me on my quest!" She said to the stone. The stars on it started glowing, and a picture of a warrior started lighting up. Finally a round hole at the top started glowing with a bright light. But nothing else happened. Dorthe smashed her hand on the stone. "Come on…" She pleaded with it. "Guide me! Take me there!" She started slamming her fists on the stone like she was begging it to open up or something.
Ashana looked at me. "Ruby…I have a theory." She walked up to the Mage Stone. "Please guide on our quest." She held her hand out for Dorthe. Dorthe looked at her for a second before she took her hand. The Mage Stone made a whirring sound and it started lighting up like the Warrior Stone did.
I sighed as I walked up to the Acrobat Stone. "No laughing." I said to them. I raised my hands in a prayer. "Please guide us on our quest to bring Dorthe's family home…and safely guide us back from harm once we do so." I reached out for Ashana's hand. The Acrobat Stone started lightning up. Once the stone finished lighting up, the platform underneath us started glowing with a light that matched the three holes above us. The platform started glowing and this barrier started forming.
Dorthe's mouth dropped. "The Power of Three…I thought it was a myth…"
Ashana nodded. "You are a warrior…I am a mage…Ruby is an acrobat. We are the three needed for this quest. The Power of Three is us right now."
That was the last thing I heard before the land around us disappeared. Everything around us turned white for a second and then we were surrounded by stars. I looked around. We were literally surrounded by white dots that hovered all around us. "The Power of Three has heard your pleas." A constellation of stars in front of the Warrior Stone started lighting up as they spoke to us. "We will guide you on your quest. Do not run from any challenge and face it with ferocity." The stars in front of the Warrior Stone blinked away.
The stars in front of me started glowing brighter. "Be light on your feet, quick to action, and let your instincts guide you." When it finished, all the stars in front of me blinked away.
"Do not forget to ponder your situation and what best solution may be needed. The knowledge of what you may learn will help you figure out your next course of action." The Stars in front of Ashana blinked away last. We were suddenly engulfed in darkness, the only light coming from the faint glow of the three Stones we stood next to. I squeezed the hand holding onto Ashana's. I heard her sigh as we stood there in silence. Then…we were suddenly surrounded by red… lots and lots or red.
We were in some underground town. I could see the large ceiling with the red glowing veins of burning rock above us. Large buildings the size of towers surrounded us, all carved out of stone. Large rivers of what looked like lava poured through the river canals. And, off in the distance was this large red glow. It was this huge pot. We were still on our platform, but we could see it off in the distance. I looked at Dorthe. "Look familiar?"
She nodded. "Yeah…this is it." She pointed at the giant pool of lava out in the distance. "That's the spot. They were shoving people in that giant pool… melting them down." She looked at me. "Do we have to go?" She shook her head. "I can still remember the screams."
I shook my head. "Just hand me your sword and I'll go find your town."
She sighed as she stepped off the platform. "You wouldn't know them by seeing them." She looked back at me. "I remember seeing you once, but…that was barely enough to know what you looked like, or who you were. We should go together… just… you know… don't leave me."
I nodded to her. "We're a team right now. Just stay beside me and Ashana, and we'll get through this." I wish I had a weapon though. I closed my eyes. "I really wished I brought a weapon."
Ashana smiled as she looked at me. "You're supposed to be the acrobat, Ruby. And Khajiits are most nimble with their claws. You might have activated the Warrior Stone if you had a weapon with you. I think it's for the best we don't give you one, unless it's a bow."
"I don't know how to use one of those!" I said to her. I grabbed my head in frustration. "What on nirn are we going to do if we have to fight?" And that wasn't so much of a guess. If they really were Dwemer and they were using our people as fuel to build the Numidium…we would have a fight on our hands getting the people out of here. "Whatever." I said to both of them. "Let's go kick some Dwarven ass."
Cearbhail:
I can't wait. The way things are going, I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm in the dark now, and piloting on just what my imagination whips up. Let's see where it goes, right? Hope it's a good ride. the Chronicles of Veselle have also taken a bit of a turn too. Since half of her story runs across this timeline as well. You know...when Asger goes over to Raven Rock. She's still in her perspective while all that's going on. And that will be closer than you think. Anyway, enjoy.
