I'm walking through the undergrowth, tree branches brushing past my limbs like the demented claws of a madman. I tried my best to ignore it though; the jungles had enough dangers without adding imaginary ones to the mix. A squat blue spotted fly fluttered lazily around us beneath the harsh sun, it was the length of my arm and covered with what seemed to be dozens of fiery red eyes. I blinked and the fly was gone… replaced by a sliver of green blood as the leaf curled around the bug that squealed as if it was burning in the very plains of oblivi- "The tomb is not much farther," my guide hissed, nodding toward a group of bushes a few meters away. I smiled; thankful of the distraction. The natives called it the Zwinga-mallu, the stone demon and it lived up to its name. 20 feet tall, it held itself up with four stubby legs that stuck out like pillars, lazy green eyes scanning over the trees that it towered. 3 horns were scattered on the massive beasts head that was covered in thousands of plates the shape of sea-shells that were the size of a daedric cuirass. The natives claimed that not even pure steel could penetrate it, which made them it valuable. Moving closer to us, it looked at the Tsaesci with hunger in its eyes, a slack mouth that hung open in a way that mouths generally should not be. The Tsaesci took a deep breath. Drew its sword. And ran. The Zwinga-mallu seemed unfazed as it stared at me instead, looking curiously at my ashen skin in such a way that I could tell that it was wondering how I tasted behind it. Running my tongue over my teeth I extended my hands, magicka summoned to my fingertips with a whisper and into the air in front of me with a thought. Flames extended along the creature hungrily before evaporating almost instantly. I could feel the surprise on my face, but the creature's curiousity had left it, replaced by a fiery rage that consumed its piggy little eyes. Then I ran. Past the trees and through the long grass that stained the simple boots that were tied to my feet I could feel the ground tremble beneath me as I kept running. My legs were getting tired but I willed them faster, rocks, bushes…more trees… My lung were burning now, the ground approached me like an old friend as my body hit against it with a solid thump. I turned around in surprise… the beast was on the ground panting heavily…. There was a Tsaesci in front of it; a deep white light that had to be calming magic ran from his fingertips along the creatures back. With a smile he turned to me but by then I was practically…. _ "How strange.. I must say I've never seen anything like him…" "Do you think it's really…him?" I opened my eyes carefully to a blurred hut… there was two Tsaesci woman beside me, dressed in the blood red robes of a healer, there was also another Tsaesci there, with his back against the wall he looked at me with a smile. "Sisters…leave us" he muttered with a hiss. The healers gave a short bow and left, their tails dragging softly behind them. "I found you in the jungle?" he hissed in broken cyrodiilic, "Do you have a name?" "Furan Saris…pleased to meet you" I smiled, replying in perfect Tsaesci, the creature looked at me in surprise before giving me a wide grin. "Likewise stranger….only a great fool or a great warrior would battle such a monster… and either way you have my friendship. You may call me Haeilgraforath Ko Bazamorfidhack…. or if you prefer, simply Haeil." With a grin I pushed myself out of bed. _ Haeil entered the main room in the centre of the hut with a smile on his face, a little Tsaesci girl was by the fire,but began moving quickly beside him when she saw us, her blue scaled gleaming as Haeil picked her up and gave up a hug. "How is my little Wanobe today" he whispered softly, gesturing for me to go to the large fire that was burning in the middle of the hut. Wanobe puffed her chest out with courage "I wasn't scared, you can even teach me how to fight now" She looked up at him hopefully, "We'll talk about it after dinner" he laughed giving me a wink from across the fire as another Tsaesci with red scales brought some raw meat to the fire, she looked at him with gentle eyes, looking at me with a smile. "You are the outlander…yes?" I nodded softly and with a chuckle she pushed a small mound of roasted meat near me. Haeil raised a small glass cup "To Ser-Furan, the warrior who fought with the Tang-mo and stopped the red dragon!" he gestured toward the many braids that ran along my thick black hair. I opened my mouth to say something but I was interrupted by a scream, the kind of sound that rips through your spirit like a cold knife, leaving only the fresh sting of silence in its wake. Haeil pulled a katana from above the doorframe and nodded at me to follow him. Outside, near the middle of the village I saw an old Tsaesci woman who I remembered was one of the healers who cared for me less then an hour ago. "For Lord Dagon!" she roared before pushing the dagger into her chest, her body vanishing in a plume of blood red light. Unless you've seen an oblivion gate for yourself it's impossible to truly describe it, The gate is shaped like an upside down U with a blood red sky hanging overhead, there's also a silence that surrounds it, the kind of silence that you hear when you know that you are going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it. We paused for only a moment, pausing often is the thing that kills most soldiers on the battlefield. Drawing my Tang-mo tanto I followed Haeil through the portal, and into the savage paradise beyond. The Sigil Tower was a tribute to destruction, made of scrap metal it towered above an island surrounded by lava, blood sweeping down from its walls as a crimson waterfall that never seemed to end. "You….will…not…get…my…Wanobe!" he roared! Light glowed from above as I clutched the large stone in front of me, magic soared in my body and the world collapsed from beneath my feet. I laughed when I hit Nirn's ground again, the fresh untainted air filling my lungs, my eyes were closed but I hung a smile on my face. I hadn't fought like that in years; challenges like this were so hard to come by…. "WE DID IT HAEIL! WE WON!" I was answered by a sob. My eyes opened softly to see the village around us in ruins, Haeil was in front of me and hunched over, crying at whatever it was that he held in his arms. "No" I muttered as I stood up. It was Wanobe. It was his daughter.
My guide is ahead of me, a Tsaesci who moved shakily through the wilds as if he feared every shadow beneath him.
With the finesse of an acrobat the fly landed on a pale grey leaf the size of a dinner plate.
The coins jingled lazily in my coin purse as we travelled, making sure that my guide remembered why he was so far away from home.
The Tsaesci stopped for a moment… from the way his shoulders were angled I knew it was a defensive position, his tail curled so that he was low down on the ground. I squinted over him to have a look at what was past the trees ahead before feeling my breath catch in my throat.
Entering Haeil's hut, I noticed just how much larger it was compared to the others in the village, swords of all kinds lined the walls, some of them I recognized but most of them I couldn't even imagine would work correctly in a humans 5 fingered hands.
Wanobe looked at her father with a toothy smile and pointed out toward the window, "I climbed that big Yesmet tree that's near the river!"
Haeil laughed,
"Really? I didn't know you were so brave!"
"I heard the stories from traders..." he added when he saw my dumbfounded expression.
She was holding a dagger in her hand, her eyes awake with a demonic fury that followed us as we looked at her with horror.
Haeil's eyes were wild, intense as he swung his blade around, steel meeting dremora skulls with sickening crunch.
Exhaustion painted his face but he didn't seem to care, as more and more demonic blood covered him like paint.
I gasped a mouthful of cold air, Akavir vanished from my mind and was replaced by Morrowinds thick salty air. Haeil was shaking me, sitting above me with his tired golden eyes.
"We're here" he whispered. nodding toward the side of the boat.
