Cearbhail: I hope I don't ruin the surprise too early. Well, anyway. Enjoy.


[Nisha]

Nisha's diary

Mid Year 16, 4e003 Freedas.

I figured now would be a good time for me to write what could be my final words. Vatu, my brother, I love you. I know when you read this that you'll flip out and kill every Aedra on the whole planet. And then those scaly-heads will try to kill you. And then you'll kill them. But it's ok to not kill them. I'll see you again someday. Not that I'm dying, but… it's just so chaotic out here that I want you to have something to remember me by in case I DO die. You know… today is the 16th of Mid Year. It's the Mid-Year celebration today. We should do something to celebrate once this battle is over. Maybe a cake. Brother, if I don't make it to the party tonight… please eat some cake for me.

And to the big-nose chasing after my brother…be nice to him. And to pointy-ears, don't be too sad that I'm gone. I feel that you only liked me because I'm related to my brother. I hope it's not entirely true. I always wanted a sister to play with. You've been that to me these past few months. Take care of my brother for me. He needs someone with a kind heart to watch over him, and big-nose is cold-blooded.

Nisha.

I closed my diary and covered my head as someone behind me exploded. If I closed my eyes, I didn't have to see the raining intestines and if I concentrated on how much the color pink reminds me of Mother's nose, I won't focus on the blood raining down on me. I was in my happy place, in my Mom's arms, listening to her hum me to sleep. I was not surrounded by people killing each other; I was brewing potions under a bright sky with beautiful clouds. Yes, and Vatu was napping up against a tree with Nexa twirling a flower in her fingers.

I started freaking out when someone suddenly wrapped their bony arms around my stomach and hauled me up. I opened my eyes to see one of the liches lifting me up. I looked behind him to see the line of mages and archers retreating. The lich was flying in the air, clinging me closely to its chest. The place where I was sitting was now a pile of dust that some Aedra had bombed into the ground. Were we losing? I thought we had this fight in the bag.

I looked up into the sky to see several other liches all flying around. Some of the liches had their skin, some of them were rotting corpses, and others were just bone. I remember my Uncle J'skar was a lich and he had left to find his skin. No one had seen him since. We all wondered what happened. Maybe my savior would know.

"Excuse me?" I asked to the bony face with eyes lit up with a light green fire.

He turned to look down at me. I could tell he was trying to smile. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just keeping you safe, as ordered."

I shook my head. "That's not what I was about to ask. Do you know J'skar?"

He nodded. "Yes, he is one of the newly awakened."

"Do you know where he is, or what he is doing?" I screamed to him as he started speeding up. Several Aedra were pursuing us, blasting visible balls of Restoration magic.

The skeleton shrugged a bit and tilted his head to the side as he did so. "I believe he left to find out how to recreate his skin. Many of us do so the first time, but as more time passes, it becomes distasteful to recreate our bodies. The process is morally questionable, and even though we became liches to live forever, we are not necessarily evil. Most of us are just scholars that want to know it all, to feel it all. I was once such a mage. I wanted to find a way to save my wife's life. By the time I learned how to become a lich, she was already dead. Sure, I could reanimate her body, but…without the soul…what do I have? A shell of the woman I loved? I couldn't desecrate her body in such a way. So, instead, I became a lich myself so that I could share my knowledge with hundreds others with all the research I did on Restoration magic. I was a great herald to the healing arts. A sage…if you will."

"Thanks…but I didn't ask for your life story." My reply came out more deadpanned than I was proud about. I thought all liches were evil, but I guess I was wrong. He seemed like a decent man.

He seemed to chuckle. "When you get to my age and you find a person who's not afraid of you…you'll understand." The lich carrying me suddenly cried out in pain and we started falling. He pushed me out of his arms, screaming, "Grab my leg!"

When he reached out for a kick, I snapped my claws out and dug my non-existent talons into his leg. I slipped for a second, but it was enough to slow me from falling off him. The lich spun around, me still squirming to find a solid hold on his leg, and brought up his hands to fight the several Aedra spinning around us. As the Aedra started hammering us with their spells, my new lich friend threw up a round barrier that warded all magic away. He forced a yell as a ball of fire formed in his hands. "We might not be a natural product of this world, but we are connected to the spiritual side of this plane. As such, my magical capacity is greater than some fallen angel." He launched his hands forward, a giant wave of fire magicka roaring forward.

The Aedra brought their own barriers up and his attack rolled right over them. The Aedra continued to stand there, staring him down. That's when I noticed something different. The Aedra reached into their robes. And they pulled out weapons. Three of them pulled out these beautiful golden swords that shined with a brilliant sheen that reminded me of the sun. The others had pulled out a similar style bow. What I didn't see were arrows. When one of the Aedra pulled its bow back and an arrow just magically appeared, I think I understood where the arrows came from.

My new friend didn't seem all that impressed. "300 years and they think that I don't own my own sword?" He snapped his fingers and a portal ripped open. He reached into the portal and pulled out a giant claymore with engraved runes that glowed a soft blue and then a hot red. "I am Sword Master Shinji Gray-Mane. If you understand my speech then hear this now, Aedra. I will be your salvation. I will be your end."

Shinji looked down at me, almost smiling. "I'm sorry, Nisha, but our time has now been cut short. I will trust you in the hands of my friend." He said as he shook his leg. He kicked me so fast that his leg just slipped right out of my hold.

The wind suddenly took me and I watched as Shinji vanished, reappearing almost instantly in front of the Aedra, conducting a sword slash on the first one's face. The Aedra seemed ready for him and the two of them started fighting head-on while the other Aedra took pot shots at Shinji. He looked like he was doing just fine, however, not even appearing worried about the fight.

Once I felt that he was safe, I started worrying about my position. I was falling to my death after all. I suddenly came to a halt as some strong arms caught me mid-air. I could see the black robes of another lich holding onto me. But this one was not bones, but soft fur. It was a Khajiit. But…the only Khajiit lich that I know of would be…

"Hello, little Nisha. It's been too long." Uncle J'skar's voice purred out as a raspy welcome.

I looked up to see him, fur and all, smiling down at me. He looked like he was a normal cat again. His eyes looked as alive as ever. I spun myself around and gave him a big hug. I knew I'd see him again. And just in time. We did have a party tonight after all. I would make sure of it now.

I found myself crying. It'd been so long since I had shed tears like this. It just felt so nice to have him here. He was the closest thing I had to a parent now. Sure, we weren't even clan related, but he was the only Khajiit we had around, and he took care of Vatu and I when our problems were Khajiit related. He was our second father, even if Adam was our first. And he was dead too. I had lost too many family members. I don't think I could handle another.

He rubbed me on the back of my head, scratching me lightly. I quickly calmed down, relaxing as he continued scratching my head. He still knew how to relax me. Same ol' J'skar. I looked up at him and smiled. "Hi, Uncle J'skar!"

He looked down at me, smiling. Then he looked back up at Shinji, who was busy fighting the Aedra. "Where is your brother?"

I pointed over to Cheydinhal. "He's rescuing a seer. Hey! What took you so long anyway?"

He shrugged. "I met this little blind girl that wouldn't leave me alone. She did help me with my quest, though. That was nice of her." He started floating away from Shinji, hugging me close. We could see my brother running as fast as he could as the ground exploded in front of him. Several Aedra flew past overhead, blasting more bombs down on him. "Well, let's go give your brother some back-up. Do you still have some oil?"

I motioned to my backpack and nodded. "Yup, right here in my astral bag. I stored as many as I could, in case I ever needed it."

He smiled. "Good, because I have a plan."

[Vatu]

I swallowed hard as I looked up at Nexa. She was lying on top of me, pushing me flat to the ground. She was pressed up against my body, glaring forcefully down at me. "Vatu, keep it under control! You can't do this, not here!"

"I can't control it…" I managed to say as my teeth started to sharpen, my fur beginning to stand on end.

Seeing Primrose getting hit in the shoulder like that had hit me harder than I thought it would have. I could only see her blood flying into the air, hearing her scream in pain. Then I paused to see if I could help her. Then Nexa tackled me to the ground, crying, "Vatu, watch out!" The ground exploded behind us. We rolled for a bit and Nexa ended up on top of me. That's when I felt the change coming. And then Nexa went from protecting me to keeping me pinned down.

Primrose was no longer conscious. She was lying quietly, bleeding freely. She was going to die if I didn't do something soon! I had to at least try.

"Oleeme, Nakuma! Don't just stand there, heal her!" Nexa screamed.

The two Argonian mages rushed up to her, pouring magicka into her wound. I could see that it was starting to seal now. Good, I couldn't bear to see her go without at least giving an answer to her question. And judging from my reaction, I think I know who I can't live without.

But that didn't stop my growing inability to control my emotions. Now that the top was popped, it was starting to fizz out. "Vatu, calm down! Don't make me do this!" Nexa screamed at me. Like that was going to help.

The Aedra were spinning around, flying right back up to us. My arms started tensing up and my vision was starting to blur. This was it…I couldn't stop it any longer.

"BROTHER!" I heard Nisha's high-pitched call through my dreary state. My vision instantly came back.

I looked up to see Nisha and…J'skar flying up to us. My sister waved frantically to me as she came closer. J'skar gave Nisha a light shake, saying, "Now!"

Nisha opened her backpack and tossed a bunch of vials of oil into the sky. J'skar smiled and snapped his fingers. The vials of oil multiplied by hundreds and became flying missiles. The flying bottles of oil flew out to the Aedra surrounding us.

Nisha stuck her hand out, blasting a fireball to one of the vials. The vial exploded into a fiery blaze that spread across the sky. That explosion set of all the other bottles of oil, lighting the sky into a beautiful soft blue fire that melted the Aedra on impact. Oil and fire was their greatest weakness. According to the myths, the only thing that could kill an angel was fire lit by holy oil. Well, we got rid of the holy part and just threw oil instead. It still works just fine.

All my instincts to rip the Aedra apart started to fade away. Nexa was still pushing down on me very hard, glaring into my eyes as hard as she could, scanning me for any sign of me becoming a blood-raging Khajiit. She finally smiled, loosening her hold on my arms. "Well, your eyes are turning back to yellow. I guess I can get off you now. Or…we could stay like this for a little longer."

"Nexa…my sister's here." I responded, deadpanned. Seriously, as far as a joke goes, that wasn't very funny.

Nexa shrugged and stood up, taking my claw and pulling me up with her. "Ok then, we'll do that later then." She said, patting me on the shoulder. I only rolled my eyes at her comment. And I thought Primrose was bad. Neither of them were helping me.

Speaking of Primrose, I heard her gasp out a quick breath. I looked past Nexa to see her reaching up at Nakuma's hand. Nakuma took her hand, saying comforting words to her. Primrose was crying out in pain, tears rolling out of her eyes. I rushed up to her, taking her other hand.

"Primrose, don't worry. You'll be just fine!" I said to her, giving her hand a light squeeze. She glanced up at me and smiled thinly.

"Vatu?" She managed to whisper. Then she passed out. Her hand became lifeless and I thought that she had died. But I could notice that her chest was rising and falling. She was breathing. That was good.

"Brother!" My sister called up at me.

I turned around just in time to see her freefalling down at me, smiling from ear-to-ear. I reached out in time to catch her, but the impact did force me to crash into the ground. I hugged her close. "I'm so glad you're safe, Nisha!"

She pushed me away and rushed up to Primrose. "I didn't jump down to see you! I wanted to see Primrose before she passed out."

Of course you did. I thought to myself as I rubbed the top of my head. She'll never change.

[Crassi]

I threw my sword up as an Aedra slashed down at me. I didn't know where they got their weapons, but it carved through my sword like it was butter. And it carved through my arm just as easily. I jumped back in time for it to only do minimal damage, but I was now bleeding. And that was only the Aedra's first slash. It was now charging right at me, thrusting its blade out at me.

I jumped away in time. The sword only traveled alongside my ribs, cutting me briefly. I was pouring as much magicka into my wounds as I could, trying to seal them up. This Aedra wasn't stopping. That sword was flying back into my unarmored side, its sharp edge pushing into me. I willed as much magicka as I could muster to hold a barrier in my skin. It's a technique called 'iron skin'. It was helping, I wasn't dying, but…I couldn't hold up much longer.

I cried out in pain and exhaustion as my skin started to falter. I could feel the sword pass into more of my side, cutting more than just skin. I felt hot blood rolling down to my legs and I knew that I was going to die soon if I didn't do something soon. It couldn't end like this! I could not disgrace my newly designed Ruins and Dwarves character. My Falmer paladin needed to find her place in the world!

I willed as much power as I could into my hand and I launched it out at the Aedra's sword hand. My energy exploded on impact with its palm and I saw the hand explode into an orange mess of Aedra blood. It was a good thing too because my inner barrier had just failed and that sword would have passed right through me. I was about to stumble back, but I couldn't stop now. So I jumped forward and slammed my already charged fist into the Aedra's face. I was welcomed by an exploding head. After that, I fell forward onto my knees in exhaustion. Was I safe?

I looked around at the surrounding fifty Aedra that were now drawing two swords each. Nope…not safe yet. The Aedra all screeched out in war and I felt my head splitting in two as their cries rolled down into my soul. They were going to kill me using their voice alone if I didn't do something soon.

I lost all feeling in my legs and I fell onto my chest, all the life drained out of my body. This was it. I couldn't go on any longer. "Get away from her!" Travis called out. I saw out of the corner of my eye, he was running up to me, strapping on his magically enchanted boxing gloves. That Redguard was something else. He preferred hand-to-hand. That's why we chose him for the infiltration/recon squad. Looks like he was coming up to save me.

An Aedra saw him approaching and turned to face him. It didn't stand a chance. Travis flashed forward, flying right up to the beast, jabbing out his right hand. A massive ball of fire exploded on impact with the Aedra's face and the headless Aedra fell to the floor. He didn't stop there. He slammed both of his gloved hands to the ground. The ground shattered and lightning and fire ripped through the ground, consuming several Aedra as he did so. The remaining Aedra turned to face him. Then they all disappeared as they turned into a flash.

Travis suddenly cried out his own war cry. He spun around rapidly, dodging the random appearing Aedra as they slashed at him. It was like watching a master of close combat dance around hundreds of enemies fighting with swords. And that was exactly what was happening. Travis came from a family of gladiators. His father was some leader of the Blue Team of the Arena in the Imperial City. He also had a sister that was in the Fighters Guild. I could see how the family resemblance now. I had only seen him fight so hard against Vatu and Erandur during sparring matches. I hadn't seen him this amped up since then.

While he kept the Aedra busy, Pakinla was rushing up to me, healing me again. "Is this going to happen a lot then?" She asked me jokingly as she fed golden magic into my wounds.

I nodded. "Yup, at least once every hour. Hope you don't mind."

"I think I would if it didn't give me something to do." She responded.

I watched as dead Aedra suddenly appeared, parts of their bodies flying off, magic from Travis's gloves contacting with something. It was an awesome show. I think I was falling in love. Too bad he likes Primrose. Suddenly, Travis stopped fighting and he stood still. All the Aedra that were fighting us were lying around him, as dead as they could get.

He only smiled and wiped his nose in that cocky fashion. "You can thank my sister for those moves."

I smiled. "I'll thank you first." I pushed myself up and I rushed up to him. I was going to kiss him as soon as I could.

"Wait!" Pakinla cried. "Your wounds aren't healed yet. You might…"

My world suddenly felt very heavy and my legs gave out. Everything turned dark and…

"Crassi!" Travis cried. "Wake up you stubborn Breton!"

My eyes slowly slid open and I could see Travis holding onto me. He was filled with concern. I was happy to see him. The area around me was filled with bodies of our fallen. I guess they thought I was dead. I looked around and I could see Davilia lying next to me.

I gasped out in alarm. "Davilia? Why is she in here?"

Travis pulled me close to him. "See…well…"

Erandur walked into the tent. "She passed out from healing everyone that came through here. She poured everything into healing William and then she passed out. William…he didn't make it, though. He's head."

"The Troop Leader? That William?"

Erandur nodded. "Yup, that William."

Oh man…I really loved his sense of humor. This unit would not be the same without William. Nope…he was such a memorable character. Wait…how come I don't remember much about him?


Cearbhail: Wow, who expected that? I bet you don't even remember him. Khajiit Battlemage, chapter 21, Not in the Face. yeah... that's the only mention of him... until now. :P