Cearbhail:

So... surprise! No reason why. You'll see... at the very end. Oh! And... I thought it would be nice if I introduce some of the character from the Certain Mythical Ballista, you know... Ahmbra's side story. You get to meet some of her classmates. As well as some backstory I've already created. Now... I've made more than 44 new characters for the whole book, as well have planned out all four years of her studying there so NO AMOUNT OF COMPLAINING will stop me from writing that story. Hear me, Guest? It's happening, whether if you like it or (and especially so) if not. For the rest of you, hope you enjoy this fun little chapter. Bye bye.

=^^= Enjoy...

"WELL, WELL, WELL…." Asger said as he looked around the Six Cardinals, over to me, and then back at the broken army of Orcs. "Looks like it's time for dinner."

Sure… we're standing in the middle of a hostile government, surrounded by hostile enemies, all pointing some kind of futuristic weapons at us, some of the strongest Dwemer version of mages standing in front of us, a massive lurking robot of destruction behind them; we have a 0% chance of walking away from this if we're not careful and precise with our wording and actions to come… and we're just going to say a catch phrase in the attempts to annoy our enemy. Gods… I love this universe.

If that reference made any sense to anyone, it was lost on the cardinals. Well, not lost, but the six cardinals all took a different interpretation than I did. The entire Dwemer army took a different interpretation than I did. The massive lurking Numidium took a different interpretation than I did. The reason why… the Cardinals, the soldiers, the Numidium, all looked over to the fat leader of the Dwemer… the fat Ondaisseun. The fat leader looked down at his bulbous belly, patting it. I bet I know what they believed Asger was implying. "Is that your attempt to mock my love of food?" The fat leader said as he looked back up at Asger, still drumming his fingers on his stomach. As I looked at his bulbous belly… if it was an attempt to mock him… it was a pretty good slam on him. And I don't care! I really hate this guy, and he deserves some amount of payback. But… I know Asger, and that wasn't an attack on him, but a favorite bardic character of his from Wanderer, the musical.

Asger shook his head at the Dwemer man. "What? No… gods, I'm not insensitive! I… I just…" He shrugged. "I really wanted to use that line when I barged into Qron's mansion to save my daughter…" He looked up to the giant purple sky, smiling. "Just imagine it… they're there, eating dinner… Qron thinks he can own my daughter as a slave, telling her how he will obviously win in the end… how no one can stop him… and then… I barge in, 'Well…well…well…" Asger shook his head. He patted me on the shoulder, "But then I had an argument with my wife… and I forgot to use it. So, I thought… we'd sit down, have a feast, I could say it perhaps five times... maybe six… and then you know… we'd have you sign a release form of surrender, I'd let you come to Tamriel… settle down, and then… well… only time could tell."

"Or our time reading baby." Lydia suggested from beside me.

Asger nodded. "Or her. That is true."

Ondaisseun looked over at the woman. "Or Antlanthia."

The woman Dwemer, Antlanthia nodded, looking at us all. "I have read that future. I do not like it."

I shrugged. "Why? What's so bad about that future?"

She glanced away, looking at the ground. "If we choose war… in the aftermath of the war… the Dwemer live in peace. If we don't choose the war… well…" She shrugged. "It's not pretty. For anyone. Let us say… in order to make a perfect omelet… a few eggs will need to be cracked."

Ondaisseun nodded. "We must have war… it's the only way this works. But… we're not just choosing the war because it suits our perfect future. We are choosing war because of what your kind represent…. Of the past we all represent. Your gods… they live eternally… and they never seem to change, never adapt, never question their realities. And they chose to forsake us, and when we tried to rise to their station, and bring them down to our level as mortals… they did away with us. Or tried to. And so… what's to stop them from doing away with us whenever it becomes incontinent to them to have us around? What happens when we advance so far that the gods lose control over us? What's to stop them from doing what they always do?"

"And what do they always do?" Asger questioned.

"War… anarchy… plagues… you name it. The Daedra, Aedra, or whatever kind of kind may or may not exist… they always have one thing in common… When we advance and become united, someone… brings some god, or something with a name, into question and begins genocide. It will always be our undoing. War, High King… is the only answer. War… with the gods. Your kind, your people… don't sit well when your gods are questioned. They will choose to fight us if we fight their gods. And more war falls upon us, upon you. And if we do not choose this war… if we do not wipe away the gods… and those who fervently worship them… the Dwemer will never know true peace. We will never advance, not in the way we need to. Every time we will try to advance as a race, we will be stricken down by the very gods who are so honorably exonerated by your people. They will say 'the gods' Will be done'. Why? Why do we need to kneel before such disgrace upon our race? I will not have of it. We will not need of it. We will be free from it. And once the gods are gone… the world will finally know true peace."

That… that speech stopped us dead in our tracks. Here we stood… and I had to think about what had occurred since I met Asger. War with Alduin… a killer god dragon. War with Vampires… who wished to kill Alduin's sun, which is a representation of our god… war with Mehrunes Dagon, Hermeaus Mora, Mehrunes Maven, the Aldmeri Dominion's war against us because of Talos… it all… everything. He was right! Everything he just said. What I learned in Solstheim when I was doing that quest with Veselle. The Daedric Princes helping out Hermaeus Mora… the god of plagues: that bunch of rats that bit the crap out of me. And then finding out that I'm actually Azurah's chosen champion. Everything as of late… everything.

"Gods…" I found my head shaking. "That makes sense. Too much damn sense."

The fat Dwemer smiled as he looked over to me. "Your pet shows more sense than you do, … what is it you are? Oh yes… Dragonborn… a god-bred killing machine. Bred for one purpose…to do your gods' bidding. Tell me… what's the kill count on your shoulders these days?"

Asger fumed. I could actually see smoke trailing out his nostrils. "Six more in a few minutes if you keep insulting my daughter."

Ondaisseun looked over at me, looking me up and down. He looked back at Asger, smirking. "Is that thing not your pet?"

Asger shook his head. "She's my daughter… not my pet. She has more royal standing for me than pretty much any other living person on the planet."

Lydia sighed. "Sure… I'm a nobody now… and so is Cecilie."

Asger smiled as he glanced over my shoulder over to her. "Love you."

Lydia squinted. "Love you too."

Asger quickly shifted his gaze back to Ondaisseun. "Ok, I think I get your point… why you feel you need this war. I… I can't believe I'm saying this. I can't agree with you. I've always tried to reason with my enemies… but this… killing every god… there are good ones you know. Fun ones. Stupid ones. Evil ones. The evil ones… they help maintain balance, which the world needs. I think, I think they're needed. The universe's soul should not be tampered with. The gods should not be tampered with. They're alive just like you and me."

"And yet… they pay no price for murder, torture? Enslavement? Illegally taking an unmarried woman and forcing her to become pregnant with his child, only to torture that child and then have him die… all for some plan to absolve the world from the very sin he created in the first place? Why? That's stupid! A needless sacrifice all for the hubris of one being. If any mortal did that, they would face worse than just a lifelong prison sentence, or a public execution. Any gods that do horrific acts like that should stand trial… as they would put us on one for the very same crimes. The gods are nothing to Dwemer; and should be nothing to everyone else too. They have no true power if we take it from them. Our Numidiums are built for that very reason. To punish the gods for the crimes against our mortality."

Man… I was feeling more and more on Ondaisseun's side of this. I had to admit… I've seen bad things happen in the name of the gods, but never really experienced a good thing yet. Asger smirked. "For every bad god… there is a good one. Alduin was never a true god. He tried to become one. A real god created me… so that I could stand against Alduin. And I won, but I didn't do it alone. When Hermeaus Mora decided to use his own tool… Miraak, I fought back. I won… but I had help. When there are bad things out there, you better well bet that a stronger good thing out there waiting for the right moment to strike. You? You're about to commit massive genocide and deicide… another tool of these so-called 'gods' you hate and adorn for the very same reason. And yet… I talked to Qron. He says you have been talking to Hermeaus Mora. A god… and a very evil one. And I bet he talked you into starting this war. I bet… you're just a tool for another wipe-away, for an even greater evil force. Well… I'm a tool for an even greater force. If you decide on war… then war we will have. I just hope you're ok with the consequences. You plan to attack us… and yet you're just a tool… for Hermeaus Mora. And… if history is to repeat… I will win. But…" He waved his hand over to me and then to Lydia. "I will have help. Again."

Ondaisseun looked a little shaken by Asger's comment. "Hermeaus Mora… he supports our cause. We will deal with him for now, but when the time is right, he will see the same punishment as the other gods."

"Or he'll do away with you, like he did my friend in Solstheim. Hermy didn't need him, so he killed him. Murder… right? And you're his rallying army?" Asger scoffed. "Fighting over a fucking Daedra Lord… jeez… how overplayed is this concept becoming anyway?"

Ondaisseun looked down for a second. "I think we've discussed this long enough. Are you ready to die? The first step to taking over your planet… is to kill the ultimate tool of the gods… the Dragonborn."

Asger spread his arms out, welcoming him. "You want a piece of the dragon? Grab your carving knife. I'm standing right here." He smirked. "Ready, Lydia? Ruby? Maleek? Solomon?"

I didn't notice Maleek standing behind me, standing beside Lydia's father, Solomon Battle-Born. Standing behind him was Ahmbra's Fire Legion, which she told me consisted of her Third Year and Second Year classes from her academy. Standing next to her was Ksaan and two panther Khajiits: one that had glowing blue circles in her fur, and one that was just straight up panther. The straight up panther was bending over, catching her breath. She must have been the dimension hopper Lydia mentioned earlier. I wish I could take a few minutes to meet them. I bet I could make some new friends. If I can, as a Guildmaster of a magicka studying guild, make some contacts with the Rimmen Firedrake Academy, I can possibly make an ally out of a neutral magicka studying academy. Perhaps share notes and stuff. Make friends, and guildmates upon graduation. That's my goal anyway. Firedrakes instantly becoming Aurans. I can't think of a better result. Like the Dark Brotherhood and Shadowscales. Ooh! I could make a deal with the Shadowwraiths! Yes! I love that idea!

I felt goose bumps all over my body just thinking about it. My guild could become partnered with some of the best magicka institutions of the world. If I could unite us all… the world would be a much cooler place. Much friendlier too. Not to mention the unifying of the many magicka institutions would help usher back into the world some kind of united mages guild. Like the one that existed before Mannimarco blew it all up. If the world had been more united and capable of defending against the threat… that would have been responded to in a much quicker and decisive way.

"You do realize that we could end you in seconds?" The fat Dwemer was still saying. He waved his hand back to the Numidium. "My Master Numidium, Dwemidium… can and will destroy you all in a matter of seconds. My Master Numidium has a central processing unit that allows him to control all the Mini-Numidiums that make up our Dwemium Legion. You don't stand a chance against a unified army. No one can."

Asger rolled his eyes. "Can we get to the fighting now?"

Ondaisseun groaned, rolling his eyes. "Yes, fine." His eyes sharpened and I felt something overcame me. I wasn't standing on a stage anymore. I was standing in an open field. The wind was rushing over me, over the fields of golden grass.

Huh…

"Nisha." I heard my name being called from behind, and it made me jump in surprise. When I turned, I only saw a younger Khajiit dressed in Firedrake robes. She looked about Ahmbra's age, and I suddenly realized that I knew her. I'd seen her with Ahmbra a few times. She looked like one of the Skyrim Khajiits, white-ish leopard fur, like a snow leopard. She had a braid much like my own, her hair a light cream color; and astral blue eyes, like the ones you see with runes.

Looking around, I didn't see anyone else. "Um…" I looked around some more, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. When I didn't see anyone but her, I shrugged. "Ok… what's going on? Where is everyone?"

The girl looked down at the field of grass. "Nice world. It's very…calm. I like it." She started to sprawl out on the grass, taking in a deep breath. "Can we just sit here for a while?"

Looking around the field… I really didn't have anything else to do. I couldn't help but wonder… what was going on? I was just standing outside a potential warzone with my family. I finally shrugged. Eh… whatever it was, I guess it could wait. Lydia used to tell me about these situations where she would somehow end up in a place where something epic was going on while she waited it out. She just went with it and it always ended up for the better. "Ok… but… tell me what's going on. Why am I here? Why are you here? What happened to the battle?"

"Oh… the battle's over." The girl replied.

"What? But…" I've only been here a second! There is no way it could have ended. "How?"

She glanced over at me, smiling politely. "You've been out cold for at least three hours. Not just you, but pretty much all of us. That Dwemer, Ondaisseun, I think his name is… he's very good at Illusion manipulation. He pretty much knocked out our weaker minded people."

"Hey! I'm not weak-minded!" I pointed to her as I made that clear.

She rolled her eyes. "You were a special case. You'd been fighting for a long time already, had your magicka drained, your protection crystals shattered by that Illusion Breaker guy… you were the first one to go down. Half of everyone else went down just a few seconds later. Only a few of us, including me, were able to stand up. Even your mother, that High Queen lady, she dropped almost as quickly as you did. I think it's a trait you two share or something… protagonist something-something-or-whatever. It's a plot device that makes you susceptible to any situation for whatever reason. Eh, I don't care for it. Honestly, I'm so tired. I've had a very hard year."

Oh… so I was mind-controlled into passing out. And because they drained me of all my magicka, I wasn't in a position to bring up any magicka-related or mental barriers to keep him out. "Ok. So… why are you here then?"

"Battle's over. We're running away."

"Running away, why?"

Lydia popped into the field out of nowhere. "What is taking you so long?" She demanded of the Khajiit girl. When Lydia saw her lying in the field of grass, she crossed her arms. "Nevermind. Is it soft?"

"Like her heart." The girl replied.

The two of them exchanged glances for a second before Lydia sighed, lying down next to the girl. "Oh… you're right. It's definitely Ruby's soft spot."

"It's her feelings for Maleek. It's so warm and tingly." The girl replied. "I love this feeling. Reminds me of my old feelings for Idzo." She scrunched up her face, turning away from us. "I hate him so much right now…"

I was grabbing my head as I started pacing back and forth. "Will someone tell me what's going on?!"

Lydia glanced at me. "Ruby… it's time to wake up."

"Ok then…" I looked around. "How?"

Lydia shrugged. "No idea. I'm going to relax here while you figure that out." She looked over at the girl. "So… this Idzo."

"I really don't want to talk about it." She replied.

"Lydia! Tell me what's going on out there!" I screamed to her, trying to get her attention back on me.

Lydia shushed me, looking over at the girl. "Oh, come on. You can tell me. I'm really good with dating advice."

The girl looked over her shoulder back at Lydia. "He raped me last semester."

That shushed Lydia. "Oh… nevermind. I'll leave you alone. Wait… you have feelings for him?"

"Did. Not anymore." She mumbled as she curled into a ball. "It…it's complicated. It wasn't really him. I mean… it was, but… it wasn't." She sighed, groaning as she spun herself to look at us. "It's like this… he comes from a very influential family. As in… they have the magicka power Suggestion. And… for the past five generations, they're all Suggestion users. Well… his parents Suggested him over and over again… which broke him into a lot of tiny little inner pieces. He's broken, and has a lot of darker personalities that have formed because of the constant Suggestion. Well… one day, he got Suggested too much, and it broke him entirely. He asked for my help, because it's what I do. I help people with shattered minds. I climbed inside his head… and tried to help him piece his mind back together, to fix it. Well… his alter ego beat me and him. As soon as his alter ego won, he changed… but before that happened, we were great friends. As soon as I was thrown out of his body, the other him… He Suggested me… controlled me… made me do things… and then… he tried to kill me when he was done with me. He didn't want to go back to being his old self. I…I almost died. But… he snapped out of it long enough for me to escape. I… I haven't spoken to him. We haven't really talked about it yet."

"Wow…" Lydia said as she looked over at me. "Now, that's a back story. See, Ruby? People can talk about their past without being completely inappropriate about it."

"That reminds me… this one day at slave camp…"

Lydia shushed me. "Quiet, Ruby. I'm trying to help this emotionally distraught girl who's been raped."

"You never try to help me whenever I talk about it." I couldn't keep a slight bit of malice out of my voice.

Lydia shrugged. "I would die of old age before I could help you out with each time you've been touched." Ouch… wait… Lydia would never say something like that to me.

"Where exactly are we right now?" I asked Lydia.

She looked over at me. "What do you mean?"

"Well… the battle's over… and we're running away. So… where are we?"

Lydia shifted, the world shifting as well. Wait… I caught something. Amethy! I need your help! The world began to shift some more. Lydia and the girl quickly started flashing in and out. For a second, as Lydia began to stand up, I saw her morph into a much fatter version of herself. "Ruby, you need to focus on waking up!" Lydia said.

"I am…" I said to Lydia. Amethy! I need your help.

"All you need… is me…" I felt scaly arms wrap around my shoulders down to my chest. I felt Maleek press himself up against me, resting his head against mine. "Hi, honey."

"Maleek?" I almost purred. "Is that really you?"

"I'm as real as Lydia or Enji." He replied.

Enji looked over at me. "No… you're not." She replied. She started to stand up, looking around. "Nisha… you're being tricked."

"No duh." I said to the girl. "Wait… you're real?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I got here first. Ondaisseun must have followed me here. Um… that would mean…" She glanced around. "Oh stars…" She rushed up to me, or tried to. Lydia quickly jumped up, wrapping her arms around Enji.

"What's wrong, little girl?" Lydia scowled as she tightened Enji in her arms, pulling her further away from me. "I can help you, you know… I can make you see whatever it is you want." Lydia's eyes began to glow. More and more people started to show up in my field of golden grass. More and more Khajiits I've never seen.

Enji looked around frantically. Her eyes settled on a Khajiit with cheetah spots and tear-lines as he started to walk up to her. "Idzo…" She mumbled as she tried to fight her way out of Lydia's arms.

Just so you know, I was not just standing here watching all this happen. I was trying to move as well, but Maleek is very strong, and was keeping me wrapped around him. Wrapping his arms around me was just a pretext for securing a cable around my arms, pretty much tying me up. I was trying my best to break free of his hold, but it was pretty fruitless.

"Stop struggling, Ruby…" Maleek hissed lightly into my ear. "To struggle is futile. I will not let you escape me twice. Now… just stand back and watch as we deal with our little interloper."

"No…" Enji cried as Idzo started to touch her face with his claws. "No!" She screamed as her body exploded into bright astral blue flames. Her eyes glowing pure astral blue, she managed to break free from Lydia's hold. She jumped away from them, looking around. "Nisha! Give me permission to fight for you!"

"Yeah, totally! You have all the permission in my world." I screamed to her right before Maleek covered my mouth with his claw. "That's enough out of you, honey." I bit his finger as hard as I could, which made Maleek holler in pain.

Enji's fire quickly grew in size, armor appearing on her body. "I can fight in the astral realms of other people's brains, but I can only really actualize my full potential if someone lets me. And so… without further ado, I shall now help you, Nisha. I will help you break free of this monster's hold." A magicka circle formed underneath the girl. She made a hand-sign I've seen with Illusion magicka. "I challenge he who trapped us here, Ondaisseun. Ashi… I call you before me as my ally!"

A new Khajiit appeared out of nowhere. "What? Where am I?" He was a gray Khajiit with a white mane and brown eyes. He looked down at the patch of golden grass. "That looks amazingly comfortable."

"Ashi, focus!" Enji cried.

Ashi looked up at Enji. "Enji? Oh… oh! Ok." He glanced around. "I'm guessing you need my help?"

She nodded. "We're all trapped in some kind of Illusion trap. We three are the only ones not completely affected. So… I called all three of us to the same world to help Nisha wake up."

Ashi looked over at me. "Ok, so… who's the third?"

Enji glanced at him. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, you said there are three of us that aren't affected. So… who's the third?"

"Nisha!"

"Then why do we need to wake her up?"

Enji paused as she glanced at me. "Why are you asleep?"

I found myself shrugging. "You just got done telling me why!"

"No, no, no…" She shook her head. "I told you how you fell under the illusion, but you're not being controlled so… you can fight back. And yet… you're just standing there."

"No I'm not! I'm wrapped up in my fiancé's arms, trapped."

Enji had to squint before she nodded. "Oh, I see him now." She looked over at Ashi. "I guess it's just the two of us then."

Ashi shrugged. "Ok, so… how is this going to happen?"

"We need to drag out the mind controller, Ondaisseun." Enji replied.

Ashi nodded. "Ok… so, in order to do that, we need to bring him here."

She nodded again. "Hence… why I need your help."

"Got it. One massive Illusion, coming up." He walked over to Enji and took her hand. They closed their eyes, focusing hard, no doubt. While they stayed like that, my golden grassy place started to shift. The air grew colder, the grass started to wither and die… the sky became quickly enclosed with dark flashing clouds. Before I knew it, I felt the first raindrop fall down onto my nose. I groaned as it quickly began to pour in my realm of what I assumed was supposed to be my happiness.

And then… there was a flash of lightning, crashing down in front of me. When the flash vanished, the fat Dwemer himself was standing here. He looked just as confused as I did when I first popped up. "What? Why am I here?"

"I forced you to join us here!" Enji challenged him.

"You? But… you're not an Illusionist. You can only enter minds, not pull someone into a fabricated illusion."

She looked over at Ashi. "No, but Ashi can create a lot of Illusions. And when we use Compatibility… we can do what you're doing. Pull people into complex Illusions that dominate their minds."

The fat Dwemer smirked. "Ah… so you're clever. But… can you beat me?" He started cringing his face, sticking his hands out at Enji and Ashi.

Enji and Ashi still had their hands clasped as they started cringing their faces as well. And you know what… I remember when Asger and Ulfric had their first bardic fight. It was a lot of staring at each other with wide eyes and spread out arms. This… this was a much more comical version of that. A bunch of facial cringes with squints and jerks of the head. And this went on for like… six minutes. I was still being wrapped up by my fiancé, which… by the way, I totally didn't mind. I even tried to make the best of it by rubbing myself against him where I thought it might provoke him into action. I guess my brain's version of Maleek is more like the real version. Too impossible to entice.

It finally ended when the Dwemer man threw his arms out. Enji and Ashi both screamed out in horror. "NO!" Enji screamed as she grabbed her head. "Idzo… no… stop!" She quickly curled into a ball, convulsing in a way I knew all too well.

"No… not homework!" Ashi said as he curled into his own ball. "Anything but homework."

The fat Dwemer turned to look at me. "Well.. . that was barely an effort. It would seem that I win. Your only defense… and they lost to me. It's too bad. My only completion were a bunch of barely trained children. If only they had a few years to develop their Compatibility, as they called it. They might have stood a chance."

"I challenge you… to a bard off." I heard Asger say from nowhere.

Ondaisseun seemed confused. He turned around, looking at him. "You? But…" He glanced around. "I locked you in a pit filled with snakes."

Asger nodded. "And that girl, Enji… she pulled me out. Brought me here."

Enji and Ashi both stopped crying immediately. Enji rolled out of her ball, brushing the dirt off her robes. "Did you seriously think you got us?"

Ashi smirked. "Please… that was child's play. I was totally 10 illusions ahead of you. You'll have to imagine greater than that if you wish to beat me."

The two of them walked over to Asger, both of them taking his hand. "Ready for a Compatibility Raid? The Power of Three Compatibility." There was a giant flash, one not even Ondaisseun could shield his eyes from. A massive dragon appeared from inside Asger's chest. The dragon roared as it surged out of Asger, becoming bigger than the world itself. It snapped down at Ondaisseun, completely eating him whole. There was a flash and suddenly, I wasn't in the field of golden withered grass…

I was standing where I was a few seconds ago. Well… not really standing, more like lying down. Everyone had fallen asleep, I guess. I woke up right at the right time too. A Dwemer soldier was busy clamping my hands with slave bracelets. As soon as I saw him, and he saw me, and how I saw the bracelets hovering over my hands, he rushed to clamp them shut. I flashed so quickly that he didn't get them on me. I quickly palmed him so hard his helmet flew off his face. And… well… part of his face went with it.

I was quick to grab the Dwemer soldier as more soldiers began to fire down at me. I used him as a shield as that red energy rained down on me. I could hear and feel the impacts against my Dwemer shield. It didn't last long. Everyone was snapping out of their comas now too. And… it got busy, really fast. Everyone only had a few seconds to respond. I took the second of confusion to look up at Ondaisseun. He was grabbing his head in pain, rubbing his eyes like he just woke up with a hangover. Serves him right! Trying to trap us in an illusion like that!

Asger roared as he jumped to his feet. "You'll pay for that!"

"Will I?" Ondaisseun said as he snapped his fingers. The massive Numidium began to groan as it shifted, looking down at us with its glowing eyes and glowing arms pointed right at us.

Asger glared at the thing before nodding. "Yes… Yes you will."

Ondaisseun smirked. "OK then. Impress me."

I paused as I glanced over at Asger. He tapped his chin for a few seconds before saying, "I'm going to need a stack of pancakes, syrup, a lute, and a lemon sherbet."

"What?" Lydia shook her head. "How will that help us?"

He glanced at her. "Huh? I… oh… you think I was talking about the Numidium. No… that's what I'm going to need when we get back home. I'm getting hungry."

She pointed up at the hulking machine. "And what about that?"

"You have six seconds before it's ready to kill you all." Ondaisseun said.

Asger sighed. "We'll figure it out. Just… give me seven seconds to figure it out."

"We only have six!"

"Four actually. I miscounted." Ondaisseun announced.

I looked up at the Numidium, and then back at Ahmbra and her classmates. "Do you have any ideas?"

She looked up at the machine and then back down at me. "No, well…" She glanced around the Khajiits. "Oh wait… where's Rvi?"

"He's dead, remember?" Ashi said. "He killed Truvii and then committed suicide."

Ahmbra's ears folded back. "Oh… yeah. Man, last semester sucked."

"One second." Ondaisseun said. "And that… took one second to say."

I looked up to see the massive Numidium's cannons spark. "ONE QUESTION." The Numidium said… Wait… It said? Numidiums can speak?

It confused Ondaisseun as well. "What? Since when do you speak?"

"ONE QUESTION." It repeated.

Ondaisseun looked more curious now than ever. "Ok… What is it?"

Those mini-Numidiums that looked like foxes started to surround us. I wondered when they would show up. Oh man… we're so screwed.

"WHICH CAME FIRST…" One of the Mini-Numidiums said with the same voice…

"What?" Ondaisseun said. "You too? How?"

"THE CHICKEN… OR THE HUNTER?…" Another Mini asked.

My mouth dropped as the army of Minis all started repeating the question, all while surrounding us. I can't believe. I can't fierfekla believe it. We're saved! We're so saved! Esbern was with us… inside the Master Numidium.

Cearbhail:

So... Esbern's back. Yay! It's almost like I wanted to give them a perfectly valid reason for escaping this whole time... (you know, in case this kind of crap started).