Chapter 13: The Oblivion Gate

No matter how much I tried, the memories of that moment could not escape me. They seemed to burn the more they lingered. The fact that I did what I did on good intentions did not help this feeling of betrayal. After the immoral deed was done, I vaguely remember Perennia wishing me "Pleasant dreams," but I must have fallen asleep shortly after because the next morn, I awoke in the exact same spot I was during the night: my back against a tree somewhere in the woods.

As I groaned myself awake, I heard footsteps approach from in front of me. From behind a patch of shrubbery came Sin. "There you are, Zaden," he said. "We have been looking for you! You of all people should know better than to wander the forest alone."

I slowly rose to my feet, groaning once more. "What of you?" I retorted. "You wander more than I."

"No offence, Zaden, but I have better sense of direction than you. You cannot even read a map," he joked.

"… You have me there, my friend," I said with a laugh.

"Let us go, Zaden. In case you have not noticed, it is quite late in the morn and everyone else is waiting for you so that we may head off." I followed Sin through the forest until he eventually lead us back to the camp. Everyone was standing by their horses, clearly anxious to head off.

Perennia stood with arms crossed across her chest and her right foot tapping in an annoyed manner. I could not bear to look her in the eyes. Perennia approached and then began to stare me down (which was tough for her to do, given our noticeable height difference.) "And where in Oblivion have you been?" she asked accusingly.

I was on the verge of replying with something along the lines of "You know damn well where!"… But I analyzed the tone of her voice. It was not one of hidden sarcasm. In fact, it was in as much of an honest tone one could voice.

"Y- You mean," I slowly said, "you do not know?"

"Why would I?" she instantly shot back. "It is not my job to keep track of you, Zaden. You are to keep track of me, and I fail to see how that can be done as you get yourself lost in the woods.

From now on, try to stay with the group, Zaden, ok?"

What in Oblivion is going on? She was acting as if nothing had happened the previous night. If she was masking the truth from the others, she was doing an amazing job, but her act seems too convincing for it to be real. Perhaps she… forgot?

Not possible.

"Zaden!" she continued. "Are you ready to leave now? Or do you wish to gaze off into nothingness for another eternity?"

"Eh- No, Perennia," I said at length, "I am ready."

With that, everyone mounted their steeds and we continued westward. Initially, I kept close to the group. However, as my mind continued to mull over the prior events, my horse's pace slowly began to decline, causing me to pull back from the group.

After a few moments, Sin noticed my drawing back and decided to inquire me as to why. Pulling back and riding to my right, we both were out of earshot of the others.

"Does something bother you, Zaden?" asked Sin. "Is something troubling you?"

While I respected all I travelled with (Raven, Garothmuk, Dar'Raskar, and Perennia as well), Sin was the only one I felt comfortable telling of what happened.

"… Something happened the previous night," I finally replied, "that is causing my mind to spin in circles. An event occurred that, even though I know it to be real, I simply cannot comprehend that it actually happened."

"What happened, Zaden?" asked Sin.

I took in a deep breath. "Last night, I walked into the forest to go to the bathroom. One I had finished, from the darkness of the night, Perennia appeared. She asked me to join her as she watched the moons. I agreed, but begrudgingly so, as all I wished to do was to return to my slumber. Then, as we both sat together, our backs against the trunk of a tree, Perennia…" If it was not said now, it would be said eventually. "… She pinned me down and forced me to… commit adulterous acts."

It would be a full ten seconds until Sin made any sort of auditable response. "… What?" he finally exclaimed. "You had sex with Perennia? How could you do such a thing?"

"She threatened me with my life," I replied.

"I- She… Are you sure it was her? This just does not seem like something she would do."

"Well, that is just it," I said. "That night, her eyes seemed… soulless. I am not sure, but I keep having the feeling that… Perennia's actions were not her own. Then, this morning, she acted as if absolutely nothing had happened."

"Well that is merely smart thinking. If I were Perennia, I would not want anyone to gain any suspicion."

"Yes, but Sin… I have a knack at knowing when people are lying or telling untruths. If she was attempting to cover up any information of any sort, I would be able to detect any change in her voice. However, when she spoke this morn… she spoke as if her words were the absolute truth.

I just cannot understand how this could be."

Sin thought silently for a moment. "This is quite the predicament," he commented. "Perhaps the reason that you could not make out her untruths… was because she really did think she was telling the truth… But how could that be?" He thought for another moment.

"Zaden," he continued, "when the 'act' was committed, did you get a good feel of her?"

"… What in Oblivion does that have to do with any-?"

"What I mean, Zaden, is did you feel or sense anything out of place? Anything that could explain her sudden behavior?"

As much as it displeased me to think back to that moment, I endured and sent my mind back into the previous night. I began to analyze anything that seemed out of the ordinary. It nearly caused me to expectorate. Finally, after a few moments, I picked out one thing I did recall as perhaps out of the ordinary.

"Well," I said, "remember the scrolls you gave us yesterday, the ones that protected us from my mother's indoctrination?" Sin nodded. "Well, I noticed that Perennia still had hers applied to her back. Perhaps that accounts for something?"

"Hmm, perhaps," replied Sin.

"But how could it?" I asked. "If your scroll protected from indoctrination, my mother could not have affected Perennia."

"… Perhaps it was Azura?" Sin asked.

Azura.

"What are you implying?" I questioned Sin.

"Well, perhaps (and it pains me to think such a thing) Azura is responsible for Perennia's behavior. Since the scrolls were crafted by Her, they might have acted as some sort of medium with which to control Perennia's thoughts and actions. Her intention for doing so, though, is unclear to me."

"Sin, the fact that Azura could be playing any role in this journey is unsettling." I was almost mirroring Hui's words. "I do not like this, not one bit, Sin."

"Well, Zaden," said Sin, "what will you do if you find out that Azura was playing a role in Perennia's strange behavior?"

"… I do not know," I replied. "If I wish to exact retribution, it would simply be in vain, for She is more powerful than I."

"Well, let us not dwell on this any further, Zaden. It will not do well to keep our minds fixed on such things, lest we prove ourselves to be less valuable assets for Perennia. While I believe we both must keep our wits about us, we must still serve Perennia to our fullest."

"… Agreed, Sin," I replied at length. "Let us return to the group now. Let us not arouse any suspicions the others may have of us." With that, our horses quickened their pace and we caught up with the others.

"Ah, you return!" joked Garothmuk. "That looked like quite the conversation you were exchanging. To what exactly did it pertain to?"

I put on a fake smile "Oh, only to how we may better serve our leader, Perennia, in our travels together," I replied in a clearly sarcastic tone.

"Ha ha," replied Garothmuk flatly, "wise guy, eh? Whatever."

Ha… I did not think that would actually work…

o0o

We traveled without issue for the next seven days. During that time, no other unexpected behavior issues occurred with Perennia. As well, she failed to gain any recollection of what she did. This only further proved my thoughts that something or someone was in control of her actions on that night.

On that seventh day, we came upon the site where Perennia's first encounter with the daedra of the Deadlands occurred: the city of Kvatch. Perennia had told us of the damage done to the city when the Oblivion gate open up , but her stories paled in comparison to the reality of it.

Even after many weeks, fires still seemed to burn within the city's walls. Columns of faint smoke rose from the roofs of buildings. Many of the structures were either badly burned, left half crumbled, or turned into heaping piles of ash and stone.

Ever since the invasion of Mehrunes Dagon's forces into Kvatch, much of the population lives outside the city. While there were a select few that refused to leave their now decrepit and broken homes, much of the population lived within short walking distance of Kvatch, opting to live in a congregation of tents.

As we rode through the city of tents, many of the citizens recognized Perennia as the one who closed the Oblivion gate: their savior. They each began to approach and give words of heartfelt thanks. Perennia returned their thanks with smiles and modesty, but I could see in her eyes that she was truly affected by seeing the full impact of the attack.

The fellowship decided on camping in the outskirts of Kvatch for that night. With the tent city within sight of us (and vice versa) we settled down and made camp. Periodically, citizens would visit our camp, bring gifts of thanks and gratitude for Perennia. They usually consisted of only things such as fabric, fruits and vegetables, and, on a few occasions, livestock. Perennia usually accepted, feeling that she was obligated to do so.

Eventually, though, the commotion died out as the sun fell behind the horizon. Near the city, there seemed to be much less stars in the sky. As we ate our dinner, our conversation inevitably fell upon the invasion of Kvatch.

"It is such a travesty," said Perennia. "It pains me to think of all whose homes or lives were lost during the invasion."

"It is a shame," commented Garothmuk, "but let it not weigh your mind and thoughts down, Perennia."

"But these people… I cannot help but feel that I must protect them, to save them."

"I do not mean to say you should abandon them, but rather, I am suggesting to not allow any feelings of guild you may hold effect you. If your mind centers on nothing but guilt, you become that much less effective when you are in battle."

Perennia gave a sigh. "I see your meaning, Garothmuk" she said. Her gaze then turned to me. "Zaden," she said. "You are considered a hero among the people of Morrowind, are you not? You were in charge of many during your travels to the Tree of Dawn. I ask you, how did you cope with any lose the Pilgrimage had?"

I looked into the fire. "… I just kept telling myself," I slowly replied, "that no matter what I did or what happened, that I would improve myself at every opportunity possible. While I did feel guilt for those who were lost, I just kept telling myself that I will improve."

"Hmm," replied Perennia. "I see… It's just… I feel so much guilt for those I have failed. I am not sure I can-"

She halted mid-word, her eyes slowly lifted toward the sky. He eyes widened with fear. "The sky," she said, "it is turning…"

I looked up as well. From seemingly nowhere, the clear night sky had suddenly turned overcast and a fiery red glow illuminated the clouds that same color. Lightning then began to rip through the clouds, sending ground shaking booms through the air.

"I have seen this before!" exclaimed Perennia. "This is a precursor! An Oblivion gate is opening near us!"

Raven shot to her feet and pointed off to the West, to a small grove of trees in the distance where it seemed a raging fire was brewing in its center. "There!" she said. "The gate is within the grove."

Wasting no time, everyone else shot to their feet and mounted their horses (save Dar'Raskar.) Smacking the leather reigns against our horses' backs, they galloped at full speed toward the unknown light. As we approached, the lightning and thunder became more and more intense, almost to the point that the sky was constantly illuminated with lightning bolts.

Our horses came to a stumbling halt as we finally reached the light source. It truly was an Oblivion gate, and it was just as Perennia had described it: like a giant flaming eye, turned onto its side, with the landscape around it burned and scarred black.

Upon looking at such a hauntingly familiar site, Perennia began to shake. "My God," she whispered aloud to herself, "not another…"

I placed a reassuring hand on her left shoulder. "Fear not," I told her, "you have closed an Oblivion Gate before, and you can most certainly do it again."

Regaining her composure, she gave a nod and turned back to the group. "Fellowship, listen to me!" she announced. "We must split into two groups: one to hold the outside of the gate and kill any hostile daedra that emerge from it and a second to enter the gate and close it from within… Khajiit, Garothmuk, and Raven," she said as she pointed to each, "you will hold the outside."

Perennia turned to Sin and I. "You two will accompany me as we enter the gate. Zaden, you have more experience killing daedra then most of us, and you, Sin, being daedra yourself and a former servant of Mehrunes Dagon, could aid us. Are you both ready?"

Sin and I nodded in unison.

With that, we turned to face the flames of the gate. Perennia was the first to approach. With her left arm outstretched before her, she plunged her arm into the flames and her body followed. In an instant, she disappeared from sight.

"Do not worry, it does not hurt," said Sin as he approached the gate and walked into it.

With no one left but I, I took what could be my last breath and walked into the fires of the Oblivion Gate.

o0o

I have never believed in what many call "Hell," a place that if you live a life of sin, you are sent to where you are punished for all eternity. I do not believe such things because I know the truth that there is no such place. However, I now believe their visual depiction of Hell was based off that of the realm of Mehrunes Dagon: the Deadlands.

The portal transported Perennia, Sin, and I to a large island in the middle of a vast ocean of molten rock. The heat that rolled from its surface was nearly unbearable. In the center of the island, built atop a tall hill, was a trio of imposing, demonically built obelisks, connected to each other at half their heights by narrow bridges. The sky continued to flash with lightning and shake with thunder.

Upon entering, we armed ourselves: Perennia unsheathed her dual broadswords and grasped one in each hand and I took Blunderbuss from its scabbard. Sin, however, who relied solely on his magic, had no need to arm himself.

Perennia pointed to the tallest of the three towers. "To close the gate, the Sigil Stone must be removed from the Sigillum Sanguis. It will be heavily guarded, so you two best be on your guard." She then studied the landscape before her. "The trail most likely snakes its way up this hillside, so expect ambush attacks.

Head off!"

With Perennia taking the lead, Sin and I followed her as she led the way up the winding road up the hill. The reason for having such a winding trail was evident: as Perennia mentioned, for use of ambush. All these twists and turns would allow the daedra of this realm to set up many points of ambush, leaving Sin, Perennia, and I at a major disadvantage.

As we walked, I suddenly was overtaken by a realization: the mana of this place was incredibly strong. Closing my eyes and looking toward the ground, there was an indescribable sea of mana beneath our feet. The air also seemed thick with mana. I turned to Sin to ask if he felt the mana as well, but before I could speak, he gave me a wink of his eye, telling me without words that he knew what I was feeling.

As we made the second bend up the incline, Perennia looked back to Sin and I and apparently noticed our facial expressions: mine was being understandably in awe, but Sin's being strangely calm.

"Sin, you seem rather at ease for being in such a place," she commented. "Why is that?"

Sin gave a slight grin. "You forget, Milady, I was once a servant of Mehrunes Dagon. I have been in this realm many a time. It does not affect me as it would you."

"I see… Um, Milady?" she asked Sin.

"Yes, Milady. It is a term of endearment, one used for royalty, is it not? Do you not like such a title?"

"Actually, I do like it," she replied. "In fact, when we return to the others, I'll make it a requirement that everyone refers to me as 'Milady.'"

My head could not help but drop. "Now look at what you've done," I said jokingly to Sin. "See what happens when you plant such thoughts in such an impressionable mind?"

"Excuse me," interjected Perennia, "but what do you mean by 'impressionable?'"

"Well, Peren- Excuse me, Milady," I mocked, "but savior or not, you are still a child."

"I am not a child," she shot back. "I am nearly nineteen years of age!"

"Like I said: child."

"Oh, you are just cross that you have to call me Milady… Sin," she said, "you do not think I am a child, do you?"

"Well," replied Sin, "seeing as I have lived for nearly seven thousand years… Yes, I would say you are, indeed, a child."

"Oh to Hell with both of you," she said in a huff.

"Too late," I shot back. "We are already here!" and Sin and I both burst into laughter.

Suddenly, the sound of shifting rocks brought our laughter to an abrupt end. We instantly whipped around to face the source of the noise: the last bend in the trail we took. Perennia and I clutched our weapons tight and I could feel Sin channeling mana into his arms.

From behind a ridge to the North (or what I assumed was North) came a volley of fireballs that arched into the sky and fell toward our position. Reacting, I cast a domed magic shield over our heads and the balls of fire exploded above us, but we were remained unharmed. Dropping the shield, Sin retaliated by throwing a powerful telekinetic blast over the ridge.

Erupting on the other side, a group of five Scamps were sent flying helplessly through the air. Some landed on the hard rock, breaking their bones upon contact. Others were thrown into the sea of lava and they sunk right below the surface. When all were defeated, we continued up the trail.

Eventually, we came upon a point along the trail that had a strait path upward to the entrance to one of the lesser towers (not the main tower, where the Sigil Stone was.) Looking out to our right, we finally had full view of the main tower: it was positioned on an inaccessible island about fifty feet away from the island we stood on. The only thing connecting the two land masses was the bridge between the two towers.

"It would seem," said Sin, "that we are forced to make our way through this lesser tower in order to reach the main one. Needless to say, it will be crawling with daedra."

"We can take on anything thrown at us," I confidently declared. "Are you comfortable with killing your formal allies?" I asked Sin.

"You saw what I did with the Scamps, did you not?" he replied with a grin. "Besides, I no longer share any feeling of loyalty for Mehrunes Dagon. I will gladly kill any daedra that stand in our path."

Grinning back, we approached the doors to the lesser tower. When we came within a few feet of them, the doors swung open on their own. With Perennia gripping the handles of her swords tightly, Sin pooling mana into his arms, and me with a tight grip on Blunderbuss, we slowly stepped inside, the doors shutting behind us.

The interior of the tower was just as demonically visual as the exterior was. Two step-less walkways wrapped along the circular walls of the room, leading upward to the next floor. The floor we walked into was empty.

"Zaden," whispered Perennia, "you take the walkway on the left. Sin and I will take the one on the right. They should converge on the next floor."

Giving a nod, we took our separate paths. I placed the butt of Blunderbuss firmly against my shoulder and aimed down the sights as I inched up the walkway. If any daedra was foolish enough to walk in front of its sights, they would be in for quite the surprise. Thankfully though, I encountered no resistance.

Sin and Perennia reached the top of their walkway as well and we stepped onto the second floor at the same time. As was the case on the first floor, no a soul was there. However, from the floor above, Perennia, Sin, and I could hear the sound of armored footsteps. "If we sneak up the next set of stairs quietly, we might be able to make a surprise ambush."

Nodding in agreement, we took the same way up to the next floor. We made sure to tread lightly as not to make any noise to alert the enemy of our presence. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and a particularly loud footstep (from myself, no less) echoed loud enough to call the attention of a single Dremora. When he turned the corner and saw me, I was left with no choice but to fire my weapon and kill him, ruining any chance of stealth we had.

The voiced of Dremora sounded from the floor above. "Intruders!" shouted one of them. "Kill them!" Suddenly, the roar of armored footsteps came stampeding out of the room and toward my position. With my weapon already at aim, I cocked a fresh shell into the chamber and began to fire at every daedra that came into view. With each bang of Blunderbuss, another bloody body fell clattering to the floor and lifelessly rolled down the stairwell.

Once it seemed that all the daedra had been slain, I walked the remaining distance to the top of the second stairwell. Perennia and Sin seemed standing in wait of my arrival, both their shoulders heaving from a sudden and strenuous fight. The blades of Perennia's glass swords seemed covered in the black blood of Dremora.

"I see you were able to handle yourself in a fight well enough, Milady," I commented aloud. "It is a shame I was not there to witness it."

"Oh, do not worry yourself," she said in-between heaving breaths and with a slight grin on her face, "you will see me in combat soon enough.

I believe the next floor will lead to the connector to the main tower and to the Sigillum Sanguis. Let us not waist any more time." With that, we walked up to the next floor and, sure enough, there was a door to our left as we entered the room.

Opening the door and stepping back outside, we were once again struck with the blistering heat of the molten seas. The bridge was about fifty yards long and it connected to the taller main tower. As we ventured across, a flash of white light came from my right. Turning to the source, I witnessed a volley of seven bolts of mage lightning streaking toward us, casted from a small group of Dremora mages (characterized by the robes they wore.) Thankfully, Sin reacted quickly, and casted a shield of mana in between us and the lightning. Only when the bolts struck the shield did they erupt in booming thunder.

When Sin released the shield, I retaliated with magic of my own. Drawing from the immense amount of natural mana around me, I fired powerful bolts of purple lightning from each my palms. The bolts struck the group of mages in its very center and the limp bodies of slain daedra were once more flung into the air.

Finally making our way across the bridge and entering the main tower, an awesome sight laid before my eyes: on a small pedestal like structure on the floor above was a small black orb which emanated fire from every inch of its surface. It was a Sigil Stone, much like the one Perennia had shown me before. Stairs on our left and right led to a catwalk that would allow us to approach the stone.

We took the stairs on our right and when we poked our heads up the stairs, we were met with the sight of both Dremora and Scamp alike, all expecting our arrival. In a near foolhardy manner, Perennia was the first to confront the daedra, charging forward and slicing at their limbs with great speed and agility. I engaged the daedra as well, firing shell after shell from Blunderbuss. Sin took on our enemies as well with levitation magic, lifting them off the ground and slamming against walls and ceiling with bone shattering force.

Once all had been vanquished and we had sheathed our weapons, Perennia slowly began to approach the stone. The look upon her face clearly showed some sort of nervousness. Taking a deep breath in, she reached out with her right arm and grasped the sigil stone in her palm. She clearly winced from pain when she touched it, but pushing through it, she began to chant something in a very strange language. Then, with one final grunt of force, she jerked the orb from its place.

An instant later, a column of fire shot from the pedestal, through the open roof of the tower, and into the hellish skies above. The ground suddenly began to shake violently and the flames quickly engulfed the entire sky. A blinding light then suddenly overtook us and once it dissipated, we found ourselves back in Cyrodiil.

o0o

Looking back at the Oblivion gate, we watched as the flames began to rapidly wither away and the stone border crumbled into sand. The blood red skies began to fade away, revealing a night sky full of stars. The chaos of the gate seemed to gently die off, leaving the quite peace that once existed in its place.

I turned back to Perennia, who held the black glass orb in her hand. She gazed into the sphere with a certain amazement: a portal to another world was once harnessed with this simple orb. "You performed admirably in combat, Perennia," I said to her.

Finally lifting her eyes from the orb, she replied with a "Thank you," accompanying it with the slightest of blushes.

I then turned to Sin. "You fought well also, Sin," I complemented, "for one who possess no true offensive abilities."

"Well," said Sin, "one does not need offensive spells to be offensive. You saw how I was able to toss around our foes like mere dolls, yes?" I nodded. "Well, that is nothing compared to what else I can do."

"How so?" I asked.

Holding out one of his hands, Sin produced a small bubble shield that about the size of a marble. "Imagine this," he said, "summoned within the very center of your head. The suddenly, it's is grown," and he expanded the orb to the size of a dinner plate in a split second. "It usually rips it open like a rotten pumpkin. It is rather spectacular to witness."

My instant told me to take a step back but I didn't. "… Well, I'll make sure never to piss you off then," I joked.

Sin laughed. "A fair lesson to learn…"