Chapter 25:
They had been flying for about an hour. Krona had relaxed a bit. The sun was directly above them, as Odahviing speeded to Helgen. Few people were on the road, and all of those that were usually dropped whatever they carrying and ran away when they spotted the shadow of the dragon passing above them, reminding Siris of the rime when he and Vigfus hunted dragons. The adrenaline surge that raced through his veins when the roar sounded in the sky, the anticipation as they waited for the beast to show itself.
Then the sudden whoosh of what seemed like euphory when the beast landed and they went to strike at the beast. Things always ended with Vigfus or him mounting the dragon to strike at an eye or at the head directly.
He didn`t have much time to mull over the memory. Vigfus screamed over the wind:
- We are arriving. Odahviing will begin the descent.
Krona and he nodded. Odahviing went up a little bit, and plumteed down, almost completely vertical. Siris briefly felt himself float from the red dragon`s back, before he jammed his heels in his flank and fixed himself. The air was racing so rapidly he was forced to close his eyes. He was so close to the others he could almost feel his enemies below him.
Odahviing opened his wings, and they deaccelerated. When Siris opened his eyes, he saw a couple of Shadowscales crambling on the floor, knocked down because of the pressure of Odahviing`s wingbeats. Some tried to crawl away, other tried to scramble to their feet, but Odahviing wasn`t planning on leaving survivors. He reeled his head back and spat a large torrent of fire against the black clad forms. The crimson fire engulfed them, and Siris saw some collapse on the floor, others run around, with fire licking at their backs and faces. Taking a small moment to draw his sword, Siris jumped down, followed closely by Vigfus and Krona. Vigfus whipped Voldrendung from his back and smashed a Shadowscale`s head, making it become nothing more than a pulpy mess. Krona parried an attack, dodging nimbly and somehow sitting on her assailant`s shoulder. She drew two daggers and swiftly slashed the throat of the shadowscale twice, flipping back and letting him suffocate on his own blood.
Siris took care of the rest of the guards. Noticing that Razara wasn`t amongst the dead, he turned to Krona.
- He must be inside the fort. – she said. – Let`s go.
The three companions rushed inside the structure. Siris saw that Vigfus hesitated slightly before running to the fortress. He took a look at his surroundings, regarding the burnt houses and the horribly burned corpses of Legion and Stormcloak alike.
Siris put a friendly hand on his shoulder.
- You okay?
- I should be asking you that question, Siris. – he said. – You just killed your friends. Do you feel okay with that?
- Yes. They aren`t friend anymore. Only enemy.
- Watch out, Siris. Don`t become like Razara.
Siris frowned.
- You two coming or not? – Krona said, slashing the throat of a guard and flipping him over her shoulder.
Siris released his shoulder and rushed on inside. Krona let him pass, before following him.
Siris took a small staircase down, ending up in a dark room. Vigfus came behind them both. Siris lit a torch, and what he saw almost made him gag.
The torture chamber had various instruments, some which Siris couldn`t even guess what kind of torture were supposed to inflict. Some of them, however, still had blood in them. Fresh blood. His free hand trembled at the images that rushed onto his mind, of Dila suffering at those instruments.
He got past the sudden haze in his mind and ran forward, his two companions hot on his track. He needed to save Dila. His life wouldn`t be worth living otherwise.
The went down a small stone staircase, and, finnaly, the moment came.
The small cavern was cut by a small stream of water. A wooden bridge would take them to the taller side of the small platform. Shadowscales were all over that room. Doing a quick head-count, Siris saw that they were being outnumbered at least four to one. A few jumped to their weapons as Siris, Vigfus and Krona arrived. Others simply stood up. Three still had their backs turned to them.
The middle one turned around, and Siris immediately growled at him. Razara stood, triumphant, arms crossed behind his back. His arrogantsmirk was claiming for Siris`s sword.
The other two turned around. Siris recognized Tar-Ma, whose eyes instatntly fell on Krona, who had covered her won face with a cowl, to prevent that her big brother recognized her. The last member to turn was one of the female Shadowscales that had captured Dila. Siris held no interest in her.
- Siris! – Razara said, lifting one arm. – You arrived! We`ve been expecting you. And, dare I say…
He stepped to the side, and permitted that Siris grazed his eyes on another figure, which had been kneeling behind him all along. Siris`s heart sank when he saw who it was.
Dila seemed so weak and tired it pained him. She had her hands bound behind her back. Her fiery red fur was dirty and wet, her hair was messed up, her eyes had lost their shine. Yet, when she looked up and met Siris`s gaze, something shone on them. Siris could recognize that shine anywhere:
It was hope.
- So has she. – Razara completed, signaling the Shadowscales to assume battle stance. – Took your sweet time, Siris. I almost thought you had run away again, afraid to come meet your end.
- If there`s someone in this room who is going to meet their end, it is going to be you, Razara. – Siris took hold of his swords in a two handed grip.
- Empty threats and empty words, Siris. You can`t imagne the power I hold now. And all thanks to you… - he turned his gaze to Krona. – Krona.
Tar- Ma`s eyes snapped to Razara, then back at Krona, this time full of surprise. She took out her cowl, and Tar-Ma`s mouth made a look that, if the situation had been other, would have been comical.
- Krona? – he asked, dumbstruck.
- Yes, brother. It`s me.
- No. Nonono. It can`t be. I buried you. With my own hands. How did you? – he then looked ta Razara. His face changed again, this time to something that denoted anger. – You knew? All along, you let me believe that my sister was dead?
- She`s not your sister any more, Tar-Ma. – Razara continued, without even looking toward the other assassin. – She`s just a bundle of souls clumped together into a vessel which just happens to be your sister`s body. She`s nothing more than a weapon now.
- How could you?..
- For a good reason. Now, I think we are done chit-chatting, Siris. – he said. – Not even the Dragonborn can save you this time. – he lited his hand again. – Shadowscales, kill!
The Argonian`s in the room jumped to meet the group. Siris clutched his sword harder and swng first, narrowly missing his mark. As he descended into the pure, raw instinct of battle, he lost track of the others. All that mattered was Dila, up in the platform , and Razara., who didn`t seem to have any intentions on joining the fray himself. Tar-Ma, however, had jumped down to the level they were in. He reached Siris and clashed his mace with his sword. Various multi-colored sparks flew as the two weapons clashed, some green, some red.
- Tar-Ma, think straight! I`m not your enemy!
- Liar! You subverted my sister`s body. – he said, as they spun around, their weapons still clashed. – You defiled her soul! You are the enemy!
- I tried to warn you about this. Back in Dawnstar!
The weapons disengaged, and they procedded to exchange blows and parries.
- Even after all that has happened today… - Siris yelled, over the sound of demonic metal against demonic metal – You still believe that I am your enemy?! Don`t you see?! Razara is insane!
- Even so, I want revenge, Siris. After I crush your skull, I`ll go after Razara!
Siris dodged one strike. He stepped on the small stream of water. However, another Shadowscale got in his way, and he was soon fighting again.
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Razara watched the scene unfold with delight. Everything was going according to plan.
- Kandella. – he said, with his back to Kandella. – Bring me the Star.
Kandella nodded silently and walked out of the room. Razara walked up to Dila, forcing her to stand up He forced her to watch what was happening.
- I must thank you, Dila. – he said. – Without you, this trap couldn`t have gone better.
Her eyes widedened as he mentioned a trap. He chuckled.
- You didn`t think I would allow Siris to get so close to me without having a back up plan, did you?
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Krona barely had time to think. As she parried a Shadowscale`s blade, she slashed at another, using her otherworldly strength and flexibility to overwhelm her foes. She suddenly saw that Siris was in trouble being attacked by three Shadowscales at the same time. She was trying to dispatch her opponents as quickly as possible, when suddenly a mighty shout came from her side:
- FUS RO DAH!
Her opponents were flung of from their feet, flying onto the wals and crashing amongst themselves with sufficient force to shatter bone. Vigfus came near her.
- Let`s go help Siris. – he said, and she nodded back.
They walked to them. However, Krona felt something grab her feet. When she looked down, a black hand had shot from underneath the stone floor and was gripping her ankle. She looked shocked, until another hand came and grabbed her other foot. She saw Vigfus get stuck on a similat sitation.
Suddenly, another thing grabbed her from behind, forcing her arms against her body. She could feel the scent of decaying flesh emanating from it.
" What is this?" she thought, struggling to break free.
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Siris parried a blow and sent a counter attack that manged to sever his assailant in the waist. The two bleeding halves fell heavily on the floor, and their blood tainted the water of the small stream.
Siris barely had time to breathe as Tar-Ma once again fell against him, sending a barrage of blows he was forced to parry or dodge to avoid a riposte.
Once he caught a break, though, he clearly saw his allies.
Krona and Vigfus were being held in place by two…corpses. The black, rotten bodies were firmly clinging on them, and if his experience with a deathy hold was true to every situation, it wouldn`t be long until them both were cut to shreds.
He rolled under one of Tar-Ma`s blows and rushed to help his comrades. However, something else kcked him in the gut, sending him back down onto the floor. He flipped up, and saw that a Shadowscale he had previously fought was standing eyes of a deep black, holding his chest so the contnt of his ribcage wouldn`t spill on the floor. Siris took a look around, and found that the bodies were rising back up. He turned to Razara, and found him on the platform, holding Dila by her hair, while in his other hand stood…
… the Black Star. It was shinning menacingly.
- What have you done? – Siris asked, looking around again.
- I`ve evened out the odds, Siris. – Then he directed himself to Tar-Ma. – Tar-Ma, be a good assassin and bring me Siris`s head.
Tar-Ma, however, was seemingly shocked at the walking corpses.
- Razara, what is this? – he asked
- This, my friend, is the army with which we will conquer Elsewyr!
Dila tried to snap around to look at him again, but his grip didn`t let her move a centimeter.
Siris`s mind made some sense out of the situation. All of Razara`s plan made sense for him.
- It didn`t even matter for you which side to take on the war… - he said. – As long as there were corpses on the end, you would have both armies!
- Exactly, Siris. But it goes beyond that. With Skyrim so weakened by the Civil War, I would have easily vanquished this land. For once, the dominant race of Tamriel wouldn`t be those Mer, nor the Imperials. For once, they would belong to the Argonian race!
- You`re insane, Razara! – Siris said, repeating the words he had said at their reencounter. He had never been so sure of it.
- Me? Insane?! – Razara snapped. – I plan to give us what was our right! We are the natives of this land! Those proud Nords came from beyond the sea and snatched our land from our grasp! I`m not robbing it! I`m taking it back!
He was so entranced in his own speech that he didn`t even notice Kandella coming up behind him. The female Argonian tackled him, and she, Dila and Razara fell down the platform, the star separating itself from Razara`s hands. The corpses faltered and came crashing to the ground, turning into dust. Krona, thanks to her necklace, was still in one piece.
Razara stood up, rubbing his tepe. He wasn`t expecting that. He turned to see bothe women lying on the ground. His rage quickly resurfaced again, and he moved near Kandella, who was coughing, probably because of broken ribs.
- Vermin! – he said, drawing his Mehrunes Razor. With a swift motion, the dagger impaled Kandella on her chest. In an instant, her body became limp and life left her eyes. Tar-Ma screamed.
Siris took a chance in Razara`s moment of distraction and rushed at him, sword ready for an horizontal killing blow. Razara, however, was very aware of this. With a grace only seen in master assassins, he jumped over Siris`s head and landed a few feet behind him, drawing his sword as well. Siris spun in time to block a lethal jab with the Razor, followed by a spinning strike with the one-handed sword. They locked themselves in the deadly dance of blades.
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Siris and Razara were equally matched. Vigfus couldn`t keep track of any of the two. The flashes of red and black that appeared when the Ebony Blade and the Mehrunes Razor appeared were soon interrupted by a feign, a dodge or a riposte. He knew that, if he tried to intervene, he would be shredded by Razara or by Siris, whose sword was being swung with such ferocity and deadly precission that it reminded him of the Dragons they fought together.
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Krona hadn`t seen Siris fight so hard before. The clinking of metal against metal was a constant sound on the small cave. Two artifacts of immense power clashed against each other, disappeared from view and clashed again somewhere else. Siris and Razara were both blurs of green and gold, respectively, masterfully flipping and spinning to strike at the other.
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Tar-Ma stood by Kandella`s corpse. When had Razara become like that? So obsessed with ending the Khajiit and the Men and Mer of Tamriel? He then looked at Krona, who was watching the battle as if hypnotized. Why did he hide anything from him. Siris had tried to warn him. Why hadn`t he lisened to him. Making a decision and turning to see the fight happening in front of him. He could match that speed. And he himself had a Dadedric artifact.
He garbbed his mace and jumped into the brawl.
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Siris was not faring as well as he wanted to fare. The previous fight with the Shadowscales had left him tired. Razara, on the other hand, had just watched and only interfered when the odds shad turned to him. Siris was having to move faster than his muscles would have allowed normally to parry the strikes and slashes of Razara`s blades.
Siris jumped on a wall and kicked himself in Razara`s direction. Razara sidestepped Siris`s extended blade and tried to sever his tail. Siris knew that the Razor would kill him if it cut him anywere, so he used his tail as a counter weight and slashed over his head. Razara dodged and launched a flurry of quick stabs which he was forced to parry. Suddenly, as Razara began to win the upper hand, a mace collapsed on his head. Razara stumbled forward and regained his balance. He looked back, Tar-ma was coming toward him rapidly.
Before Siris could warn Tar-Ma to stay away, Razara dodged another blow and jumped over Tar-Ma, using his sholders as a platform. Landing behind him, before Tar-Ma could spin fully to give him another strike, Razara sent a stab that pierced through his lungs and his stomach.
Krona and Siris screamed. Tar-Ma`s mace dropped from his handas Razara yanked the sword out. Tar-Ma fell on the floor, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Then, Razara began to run to the other side of the room. Siris went after him, and no one else noticed Dila follow him, grabbing one sword from a fallen Shadowscale.
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Siris stopped when he saw Razara in the next room. The room was large, with a central pillar made of stone. The skeleton of a bear was there.
- This is all your fault, Siris! – Razra snapped at him, loosing his smily attitude. – Can`t you see?! I just want the good of our race! You are being propelled by that twisted sense of justice!
- The only thing twisted here, Razara, is your mind.
- Don`t you dare speak of me like that! – Razara snapped at him, loosing his cool. – You are a Shadowscale! You should be by my side, not fighting me!
- Shadowscale? – Siris said, getting battle ready. – Not anymore, Razara.
Razara roared and drew his weapons once again. However, he noticed something by the door and his demeanour changed again back to his ususal self.
- This time, I`ll break you completely.
With that , he sheathed his sword and threw a spell at Siris. Siris made a motion to block it with his sword, but the small white projectile passed right through the black blade and hit him. He bent forward, coughing and using his sword as to not fall on the ground. When he looked up again, he could see what kind of spell Razara had useed on him.
Razara had seemingly multiplied. He could ount at least seven copies of him. It didn`t matter. He knew that the real one would be the only one to make a sound. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his ears purely.
He heard faint footsteps to his right. Then he heard a whoosh. He paried up and his sword impacted with something. He retreated as he heard the footsteps retreat as well. He opened his eyes. The illusions were circling him and menacigngly holding swords and copies of the Razor.
He heard another set of footsteps, and saw two of the enemies move, he dodged, as he couldn`t risk blocking the wrong one.
Then, he heard the footsteps again. He turned around and paried a blow, but quickly lost Razara as he hid behind the illusions. He struck one of the illusions, and his sword surprisingly hit its mark. However, the illusion ended, and he had struck another walking corpse. Kicking it out of his sword, he readied himself again.
- You can hide all you want, Razara. – Siris said, turning around slowly, keeping his eyes on all of the illusions. – I`ll find you.
- Oh, I don`t doubt that. – Razara said, still obscured by the illusions. Siris heard faint footsteps behind him. He disguised that he hadn`t hear them. – But you will only find me when you already have a dagger in your back.
The footsteps approached him. He rapidly spun around and stabbed. He had hit his mark.
Razara was wide-eyed. He looked down at the blade in his chest. Siris was breathing heavily. He had put all of his might into that thrust.
Then, Razara smiled. His skin began to flake away, and showed something that made Siris become wide-eyed with shock.
- Siris? – said Dila, with the sword impaling her chest. Siris opened his mouth, but no sound came from it.
- No. – he said. – No…
Dila faltered and he pulled the sword back. She fell with the motion, and he barely had time to crouch and grab her. He turned her so she was facing him. He cradled her in his arms. The sense of despair and anguish hit him. His hands began to tremble. Her mouth was blodied, and he could almost feel the life oozing out of her eyes. He pressed her against his chest.
- No. – he continued. Tears formed in his face. – No.
- Siris… - she said, meekly. – I`m scared…
Siris let the sword escape his grip. She tocued his face.
- I`m sorry, Dila! – he said, sobbing. She reached up and touched his face.
- I… f… I for… I forgive… you. – she said. – I love you.
Then, her life was no more.
Yup, I just went there. Poor thing.
We approach the end of our story. Unless I decide to do something stupid, the next chapter will be the last, and then an epilogue is already planned.
If any of you felt terrifed about Dila`s death, or you hate me guts for killing Tar-Ma and Kandella...
...good.
Keep strong.
Eddy out.