The Mask Returned

Sabrina brought her axe up into the jaw of a Stormcloak and he dropped like a sack of trash. Katerina had left a bloody trail of bodies leading to the entryway of the towers, and Sabrina was doing her best to keep the waves of soldiers, who kept advancing in droves, away from that entryway. On the other side of the Imperial lines, Alek'sir was tearing through the Stormcloaks left and right, his magical arm doing double duty as both a shield and spell arm. From time to time, icy streams would release from his rippling arm, and a dozen soldiers would be frozen solid. Amrondiil was engaged in a fight with a giant that the rebels had coerced into fighting for them, and was landing some heavy blows until a few rebels threw ropes around his legs, pulling them together. A thunderous boom echoed from the towers as he hit the ground, his arms thrashing about, but only getting them tangled as well. His wings spread wide, slashing through soldiers right and left of him, and glowed a magical purple over the bronze sheen. Flames erupted from the wings, setting the ropes ablaze, and he flapped them twice before rising into the air and then dropping, driving his spear through the back of the giant's neck.

The enemies hadn't been expecting the Anubis armor, and had been relying on the giant to strike fear into the hearts of the Imperials. Now, any fear that had existed had vaporized. Thirty men rushed forward, intent on spilling Stormcloak blood. Suddenly, a dragon shout rang out across the battlefield, and all thirty were encased in ice. A man stood between the frozen men and the Stormcloak army, his robes billowing around him from the concussive blast that the shout had produced. His voice rang out across the now silent hills, "I am the Dragonborn's representative. I speak for him, and I bear the power of the thu'um, for he has taught me to speak as a dragon…" The mask on his face hid whatever identity he may have had, but his voice seemed familiar.

The robed man kept talking, but Sabrina wasn't paying attention. While most of the Imperials had been taken aback, Alek'sir seemed to be frozen in shock. Ignoring everything around her, she dashed to his side and waved her hand in front of his face. When he didn't respond, she called upon the magic within her and touched his shoulder. Instantly, she saw experiences from Alek'sir's past through his eyes.

The mask that the man wore appeared in front of Alek'sir, though he was holding it, rotating it around in his hands as he examined it for any wear. The bumpy exterior was shaped almost into spikes all across the front, and the round eyes held slots that were cut horizontally through the center of each to allow the wearer to see out. Once he'd inspected it, he strapped it onto his face. Then, the scene changed. This time, Alek'sir stood over a man, holding a beating heart in his hand, the bloody body convulsing below him. Sabrina could feel the shame that coursed through him, and suddenly the scene changed again, this time to him reciting a phrase as he handed off his power to his successor. Suddenly, pain surged through Alek'sir's mind, and a voice spoke inside his head, "You didn't warn me! You said nothing of the pain that I would feel! You went on with your life and left me to rot with the rest of the priests. You… BETRAYER!"

Sabrina puller her hand back, and Alek'sir crumpled to his knees, muttering something about someone named Frieden. The internal struggle was visible in his face as he tried to regain his mind. Finally, he stood. His whole body was shaking and the pulsing rings on his arm began to move faster. Suddenly, he bolted forward, moving so fast that Sabrina almost didn't notice that he was moving until he reached the robed man. As he sprinted, his arm grew slightly, and became a blur as the magical rings sped up to the point of almost becoming indiscernible from each other.

When he reached the man in the mask, he let his fist fly into the mask itself. Purple lines of magic erupted from the mask, and a magical image of the mask stayed in place for a second while the man who wore it stumbled backwards with the physical mask still on his face. Alek'sir let out a scream as the magical mask spun and latched onto his face. The robed man regained his balance, but was obviously missing a large portion of his power. Drawing in a breath, he began to shout, but before the words could leave his mouth, Alek'sir clamped his magical hand over the man's mouth. Ripples of power surged through the arm, forming waves in the surface of the appendage, and creating an audible boom as the energy tried to escape Alek'sir's grasp. Alek'sir grimaced and grabbed the mask by the underside of the jaw, yanking it off of the man.

Alek'sir dropped the mask to the ground and stared at the man who had worn it in complete shock. Finally, he yelled, "YOU GODDAMN BASTARD! WHAT RIGHT DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO INFLICT THE PAIN THAT YOU HAVE UPON SABRINA?"

Sabrina was confused. It wasn't Alden she knew that much. He would be much more showy about his power. Who could it possibly be? She shuffled forward until she was just behind Alek'sir. He placed his hand in front of her in an effort to stop her from seeing who had worn the mask, but she shoved it out of her way and looked down. What she saw shocked her to her core. Below her lay the one person who she had never thought could be evil. She'd done so much to make the world right because of him, and now he was here, defending the evil in the world. In an outrage, she screamed at him, "HOW?"

Below Sabrina, her brother, Faendal, grinned up at her. "Surprise, it's me." he said in a flat tone. Sabrina balled her fists in rage as he went on, "Vampirism is a wonderful thing sis. It can bring people back from the dead if used correctly." Faendal flashed her a far-too-toothy grin, and Sabrina wrapped her hands around her daggers. Faendal's registered his impending doom, and tried to shout again, but Alek'sir clamped his hand across Faendal's mouth once again, and with a thunderous boom, the shout backfired, freezing Faendal solid.

Sabrina stood over the corpse of her twice-dead brother, her hands shaking with both rage and sadness. Slowly, she looked up, and every Stormcloak nearby backed away hastily. Sabrina screamed, and a wave of stones rose from the riverbed. Pain swept through her body, but she didn't care. Unleashing her rage, she began pelting the retreating Stormcloaks with stones the size of a horse's head. Men and women fell left and right as the rocks smashed through skulls and chests.

The world fell silent as she knelt beside her brother, resting her hand on his frozen shoulder. Images flashed through her mind, tearing her from reality.

Sabrina could see through Faendal's eyes as Alden explained that he needed the power that he could gain from the daedric lord that would speak through Faendal, but that Faendal would have to be willing to die. Then, it flashed to the excruciating pain that Faendal experienced as the vampirism coursed through his veins, waiting for the moment when he died to manifest its power. The insatiable hunger he had felt as he had followed Sabrina around during her time with the Thieves guild. The moment he decided that he owed Alden too much to turn his back on him, and the ensuing internal struggle that ripped his soul to shreds. The voices that spoke to him from the cursed mask that he wore, urging him to forget the goodness he'd once bore in his heart.

Alek'sir donned the mask that he had once worn as a dragon priest, it's power having chosen him, the rightful owner, once again. Amrondiil slashed at a few of the retreating Stormcloaks, but finally turned and picked up Sabrina's unconscious form, carefully cradling her in his arms. Sabrina moaned periodically, sometimes uttering phrases, though none could understand what she said. It would be days before she woke, and even then, the visions haunted her every time she closed her eyes. One thing she'd seen stayed with her, for it was the key to killing Alden. The fight would be over soon.