Moment of Truth

In the open hall, a wide space had opened, as if by magic, around the Blade and the Chii Chare. Madanach had caught Delphine's arm before she could draw her weapon, but her hand was tight around the hilt. Gyrmallion simply stood where he was: unmoving, his hands nowhere near the hilt of his sword.

"Delphine!" Ravenlight's voice was not quite a Shout, but very close to it. "Stand down!"

"Because we didn't destroy enough..." Veleth growled, his eyes starting to glow.

Delphine started and relaxed marginally, but there was hate and loathing in her eyes as she stared at Gyrmallion. "You," she hissed. "Does she really know who you are?"

"Yes," Ravenlight said, coming up and stepping between them. "He's the one behind the destruction of the Blades. I know. I know you and he faced off three times, and what happened each time." Her eyes bored into Delphine's. "I also know he escaped death by the barest margin twice at my hands: once at the Embassy, and then again in the Ratways. But he's also fought beside me against Bal's legions, very recently, and defended my home and children against an invasion of vampires. Perhaps it is simply paying back a debt; perhaps my aid will be useful for breaking Rumalashorn's grip on his people. But he has been trustworthy so far, and I will consider him so."

Veleth started to make his way over. He didn't fully trust that words alone would keep that Blade from lunging forward with her sword drawn.

The Blade trembled visibly, her gaze going from Ravenlight to Gyrmallion, who had not moved, and back, her breath hissing through her teeth. She barely seemed to notice Veleth's approach, though others certainly did, and another space cleared around him.

Ravenlight didn't react to his approach, holding her gaze steady on Delphine. Just before he reached them, she spoke, quietly. "Delphine. Please don't prove the Greybeards right."

Her face stiffened. Her hand tightened briefly, until her knuckles were white. Then she released the hilt of her sword. There was poison in her eyes as she glared at Gyrmallion, and it looked as though she would have gladly spat at his feet if Ravenlight hadn't been in the way. Then she shook herself free of Madanach, turned on her heel, and stormed away.

Veleth went to them, his eyes slowly returning to normal. "That went...well."

"I do not blame her," Gyrmallion said quietly. "I would be just as unreasonable, if I still believed the Blades had killed my family. I was lied to. She...was not."

"Don't need her to be your best friend. Just need her to remember that what's going on is bigger than any personal grudge we got going." Veleth said. "She can follow her word. Or prove a watching world different."

Ravenlight sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Once Elisef and Tullius get here, we can lay out what's going on and get everything ready to send them on their way. I hope they weren't trying to take the west road around the city."

Veleth removed himself from the middle of the crowd, a bit surprised to find it parting to make it easier for him. Apparently, glowing red eyes made an impression.

Gyrmallion turned as well, to find a more private spot. Ravenlight caught his arm before he could. "I want you with me at all times until we're done here," she said in a voice that brooked no disagreement. "The unconvinced will see me keeping an eye on you so you don't start anything; for us, I'm removing temptation from Delphine. Be easier for her to behave herself if you're right beside me." She looked over at Madanach then, giving him a glare that would have withered a rose bramble in full bloom. "You and I will have words about this afterward."


Veleth felt immensely better once he had his back to the wall. He watched all the various groups, noting who was mingling, who was avoiding who and, most importantly, who was muttering when an individual walked by. Most were concentrated on Gyrmallion but there were a few others that garnered attention. He made a note to ask Ravenlight later.

"So," a deep voice that wasn't quite a growl said, "what are you, then?"

The person watching him was a Redguard: a tall, strongly-built older man, bald-headed and bearded, with hard, suspicious eyes. He was wearing an unusual style of armor: metal plates bolted onto a long leather vest that sported a high, thick collar. "You're not normal, that's for sure. But you don't act like a vampire. So. What are you?"

Veleth eyed him but nothing in him was screaming to beware a dagger to the throat. Funny he mentioned vampires though. He had been hearing quite a bit about this lately.

"Dawnguard, I'm assuming?" He raised an eyebrow, receiving a grunt in return. "I might go so far as to guess Isran?"

"You guess right." Isran glanced over at Ravenlight, who had just discovered that Ahmetia, Larifa, and Rellino had also come up to Dragonsreach, and apparently couldn't decide whether to tell them off for putting themselves in danger, or admit that they might well be safer in the crowd than anywhere else. "And I'm going to guess you came with her."

"That makes both of our guessing highly accurate thus far." Veleth said.

"Still haven't answered my question." Isran raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a Dunmer." Veleth said bluntly. "We are aptly named."

"Most Dunmer don't have eyes that glow like that." Isran jerked his head over toward Drizzt. "Even considering what he looks like in the dark."

"I suppose you have a point." Veleth nodded. "Though my answer might change depending on what you intend to do with it."

Isran grunted. "If you came with her, you probably aren't a threat unless something attacks you first. I've..." His face twisted as though he'd just bitten into a lemon, "come to trust her instincts on that."

Veleth snorted. "She's damn good at changing minds, that's for sure. And changing the stances of the stubborn, mine included." He nodded. "Since I know your name, I shall be fair. My name is Modyn Veleth. Ravenlight and I met over this situation. As to the not normal part...that would be Boethiah's influence. I did not earn this armor by being normal, I suppose."

"Boethiah, eh?" He grunted and shrugged. "Better than it could be. Bal's creatures have been ridiculously active this past week; vampires pouring out of every crack and crevice in Tamriel, it seems, and every idiot who could draw a conjuration circle letting his daedra loose."

"I can assure you, it's caught the attention of the other Daedra Lords." Veleth said. "Enough so that Boethiah sent me to look into it."

"Nice that they're taking interest." Isran was apparently losing interest in that topic. "If you came with Ravenlight...you wouldn't happen to know where Serana's got to? Probably know her, they're with each other all the time."

"No." He said, rather honestly. He suspected Serana and Nevano were still in whatever nest they had made but he didn't know for certain.

"Serana is probably still in Solitude," a new voice said from behind them: Drizzt, who'd noticed Isran near Veleth and had been working his way over there. "She was married yesterday; probably won't be joining us all that soon."

'Not until one of us drags them out.' Veleth thought.

Isran's staid composure briefly vanished. "She what?"

"Pretty sure he didn't stutter." Veleth said.

"Married?"

"Rings and all." Veleth said.

"Huh." He blinked and shook his head. "Now I've heard everything."

Veleth refrained from saying anything further. A wedding between a vampire and an ageless elf was one thing, but adding in the guest list that included most of Solitude, several dozen ghosts, and a dragon would probably break Isran's mind.

"You'll meet her husband," Drizzt said, his voice perhaps a hair too cheerful. He was clearly enjoying himself. "She didn't say anything about leaving the Dawnguard."

"After Isran meets her husband she might be asked to leave." Veleth muttered. Nevano would have a field day with Isran.

"If he's worse than Florentius or Sorine, I'll be surprised." Isran glanced toward the front of the hall, where the doors had just opened. "Good, and with any luck, that's the last of the ones we're waiting for."

'Poor, sodding fetcher.' Veleth thought. He had no clue when it came to Nevano. And Serana would probably giggle the whole time.


Isran wasn't the only one to appear relieved that Elisef and Tullius had finally arrived. Ever since Delphine's confrontation with Gyrmallion, the tension in the hall had been rising by slow degrees every minute.

Good. Best to get this over with. Veleth watched carefully. He hadn't seen the Imperial general before but he had heard quite a bit about him. Most of it was in the form of rolling eyes from the Dunmeri generals he knew, but they tended to be a bit...well, they were not easily impressed individuals to begin with.

Elisef did not follow close behind the general; she walked in first, back straight and head high. Judging from the surprised murmurs that rose upon seeing this, it was the first time the gathered Jarls could remember seeing the High Queen actually behaving like a ruling High Queen. Veleth caught a glimpse of Drelasa watching; she appeared most pleased with something.

Of course...the only thing that would complete this would be Ravenlight beaming and Nevano smirking. Oh, there was Ravenlight's expression. Just missing the smirk.

Ravenlight went and greeted Elisef first, the two women exchanging the same odd deference to authority that she and Balgruuf had. Then, finally convinced that everyone who needed to be there was there, Ravenlight, with Gyrmallion trailing after, went up onto the dais in front of everyone. She caught their attention, greeted them, and began to speak, summing up the situation in High Rock and elsewhere. Veleth noticed, a few seconds into her speech, that Delphine was standing fairly close to the dais, watching Ravenlight, and standing on the opposite side of Gyrmallion.

He kept watch on her, not paying attention to Ravenlight. He had heard it before. The shifting feeling in the pit of his stomach was back. He tried to quell it, the Blade wouldn't be that stupid, but it persisted. Like before he realized the demon...he glanced around quickly. Surely there wasn't another?

Gyrmallion was just starting to step forward to give his part, explaining about what he'd discovered from the xivkyn, when Delphine, who'd looked up, suddenly let out a yell and sprang forward, not with her sword out. She grabbed Ravenlight and lunged, bowling Gyrmallion over, carrying them into the clear-half a second before a flailing abomination, part man, part scorpion, part spider, slammed onto the dais exactly where the Bosmer had been standing.

"Vith!" Veleth pulled his sword free. How was that thing still alive?! It was shrieking like a banshee still. Aside from a few cracks in its shell that were oozing a clear liquid that hissed in the air and the missing tail, it hardly seemed like it had been in a fight! He tried to push forward but there was a crush of people in his way. His ire sparked at that and his eyes blazed, tinging the world red. He let it sweep through him.

"Move!" His voice had taken on a snarling echo. He'd start throwing them next.

It wheeled, looking for Ravenlight, claws clacking, and teeth snapping against each other as it champed. Delphine rose and whirled to face it, swinging her blade from its sheath in a hissing arch that hit, and cut deeply.

The Hall was in chaos, screams and cries echoing from the walls. Some people were trying to move forward, to help fight the thing: others were just as frantically moving back, all of them tangling in the center and keeping even the mages from getting involved. Delphine lashed out at the demon, her sword taking bits out of it, but otherwise doing no damage. The demon shrieked, making everyone cringe away, and struck out, snake-like fangs bared.

Delphine managed to avoid the bite, taking another chunk out of it. It was furious by now, and whoever its target had been when it attacked, it was now focused on the Blade. The pincer claws grabbed for her throat, ignoring the blows from her sword entirely. She dodged back, barely in time. It screamed again, entirely focused on wearing her down. She was merely a human. It could win handily.

She moved fast and lightly, keeping its attention on her and away from the others in the Hall. But the dais wasn't a clear space, and as she wheeled one last time, she caught her foot on a small side table and fell sprawling.

The demon screamed in triumph, rearing over her-and a blur appeared from the side, ducking between it and her, a blade flashing straight for its chest. Its claw fell-there was a grunt of pain-but the sword fell in the same instant, cleaving much deeper than Delphine's had. The glass blade suddenly blazed up in flames of silver and green, and the creature's scream became that of agony.

It tried to attack one last time, trying to get rid of the thing that hurt, but thin, barely seen tendrils of black energy wound around the demon. Instead of launching at its attacker, it lurched awkwardly, leaving it wide open for a finishing blow.

Gyrmallion yanked his blade free, steadied himself, then lashed out a second and last time, straight through the neck. The demon fell, its body consumed by the strange silver-green fire.

It took several moments for the realization to sink in that it was actually dead...and several more to realize just who had killed it.

The second the demon fell, Ravenlight was moving. She was probably one of the few who'd realized that this was clearly the demon whose venom had destroyed the porch. She was also one of the few, if not the only one, to have heard the grunt of pain when the demon's claw came down, and therefore knew that Gyrmallion had been struck. She stopped for half a second to throw healing magic into Delphine, then caught Gyrmallion as he toppled back, her hands-her arms--glowing. "Drelasa! Farengar! Anyone with Restoration skill! Get over here and help me!"

"Get out of my way! Move you sodding fetchers...I said MOVE!" Shocks of lightning to the ass did wonders in parting the crowds, allowing Drelasa to run up. Only those behind her, Drizzt and Zak, noticed the last tendrils of dark energy dissipating. She slid in next to them. "Get it in the veins, force it to follow. This is spreading fast."

"Dammit, of all the times for Serana to not be here." Ravenlight laid Gyrmallion down, pouring healing energy into him and stemming the spread of the poison. He was still alive, but his face looked like wax. "I'm going to need more magicka potions than I have. Drizzt!"

"Right!" He wheeled and raced out of the hall.

"We might need to bring them out a bit early." Drelasa said grimly, her hands at key points to reach his blood vessels fastest. "This was too bold and they are getting more difficult and complex...not to mention destructive. Hang in there, darling. Deep easy breaths. Slow your heart rate."

"Cattie-Brie, Farengar!" Ravenlight looked over her shoulder. "Get up here, we need help. Farengar, general healing, keep his body working. Cattie-Brie, help Drelasa get that stuff out of him." She moved both hands directly over his chest. "Damn claw got too close to his heart, I've got to keep that from stopping!"

"Keep it slow if you can." Drelasa said. "If it beats too fast, the poison will spread faster than we can chase!"

Ravenlight nodded, panting. "Keeping it slow; trying to keep it going. Hang on, dammit! Sovngarde does not get you yet!"

Drelasa growled to herself. "N'chow! Isk edur bahr baldefkam! It is too fast. I need to do something different..."

"Here."

Ravenlight barely noticed who'd spoken, as someone held a small bottle out to her. She took it, and was on the verge of drinking it when a hand stopped her.

"Not you. It's for him. An antidote; strong one. It can go on the wound, if he can't drink it."

Drelasa spared the briefest of glances up at the speaker, but Ravenlight was almost too drained to see who it was. She fumbled with the bottle, getting it open, and dripped it into the wound. Delphine straightened, standing over her, and looked down at the drawn, ashen face of the Altmer with a strange expression on her face.

"There, there! It's slowing enough. Almost...can almost catch it." Drelasa focused fully on it.

Ravenlight panted, dark spots dancing in front of her eyes. She almost had no more magicka left, but...his heartbeat was strengthening, just a little, maybe just enough...Someone came up behind her as she started to sway, channeling the last of her power into him: a strong arm caught her shoulders, put something to her lips. The familiar awfulness of a magicka potion flowed across her tongue; she swallowed. A surge of energy shocked her awake, and she bent over him again.

Drelasa doubled her efforts as she finally caught up. It was like a snakefish, wriggling and slippery as it shot through Gyrmallion's body: black, oily, leaving a caustic trail. It thrashed as she forced healing powers to it, burning it away, scrubbing the body clean. They could not lose him. They were not going to lose him. Even if she had to call upon every spirit she knew of to haul his soul back.

Cattie-Brie's eyes burned green-gold as she helped Drelasa, using her power to block the advance of the poison. Farengar stood beside her, the normally garrulous wizard quiet as he focused solely on healing whatever damage it caused. Ravenlight continued to focus on making sure his heart beat and his lungs drew air in and out.

As she neared the 'head' of the snake in him, Drelasa increased the intensity of her power. It was struggling mightily in her grip, threatening to break loose. "No! You won't claim him. Begone!" Her power flared, surrounding them briefly in a gold flash. Ravenlight reached out, adding her power to Drelasa's.

And Gyrmallion, on his own, gasped, his hands suddenly clenching.

"There...there. Just...need to get the last bits out..." Drelasa panted. Cattie-Brie touched her hand, channeling a burst of healing magic through him...and giving a little of it to Drelasa as well.

"Almost have it...there. It's gone." Drelasa opened her eyes, catching herself with one hand from falling over. "Just the remaining damage left. He will live."

A black hand held out a blue bottle to her as well. "Here. Drink slow, it's a strong one. And you take another one, too, essiel. Cattie-Brie, Farengar?"

Farengar waved a hand, breathing hard, but still standing. "A little tired, but nothing a good sit-down with a book won't cure. Fellow's really all right? Just...making sure."

Drelasa carefully drank the potion, somehow not making a face. "Yes, dear, he will be alright. Just needs to rest after all that."

Irileth, Balgruuf's housecarl, beckoned two guards forward. "Get him to the guest rooms," she ordered. "And be gentle about it."

"I still have enough magicka in me to send someone through the roof otherwise..." Drelasa warned.

She didn't have to warn them. Nords respected courage, and no one could deny the courage he'd just shown. They lifted him up and carried him to the back, followed by a pair of servants. Balgruuf watched them go, then turned to Ravenlight.

"Dragonborn...what in Oblivion was that thing?"

"A child of Molag Bal," she answered grimly.

"That was the same one from earlier." Veleth said.

Balgruuf blinked. "You're...certain?"

"Yes," Zak answered grimly. "I'm the one who cut off its tail. How it survived falling all that way, beneath all that rock..."

"Chitin. Better than armor." Drelasa said. "It's why most insects are hard to kill. Then it scuttled right back up."

"And chose a new target," Drizzt said, the glow in his eyes mirroring that of his father's. "It went straight for Ravenlight this time."

"And was distracted by two other strong opponents." Drelasa sighed. "It might be more than one next time."

"His sword," said Delphine. "Mine wasn't doing anything to it, but his-what was different about his?"

"His was consecrated to Stendarr and Arkay," Ravenlight replied. "I'll describe the ritual to the keepers of the Temple, and have them consecrate as many weapons as possible."

"Once they figure that, might have fifty at once." Veleth murmured.

"But we'll have more than a few people able to hurt them that way," Ravenlight said. She looked at Delphine. "Thank you. I didn't hear it coming, it would have got me if you hadn't stepped in."

Veleth finally felt a small bit of relaxation. The Blade finally understood now.

Delphine nodded absently. "Yeah. Figured I'd need to be alert...though I hadn't expected that." She hesitated. "There's more of them, then?"

"Eighty three more." Veleth said. "If that thing wasn't lying..."

"Eighty-three?!" The number bounced from group to group across the hall, people turning to stare in horror.

"Yes. Eighty three." Drelasa stood, ignoring the slight spinning in her head. "Now you understand why everyone must band together to stop this. Everyone. If we don't..."

Murmurs ran through the hall. It didn't take much imagination to see what would happen if Bal's plans weren't stopped. Tullius stepped forward. "I can only speak for myself and my men, but I'm willing to head for the heart of this. It'll be the worst of the Oblivion Crisis all over again, and Bal's worse than Mehrunes Dagon."

"The other Daedra Lords are not happy either. Enough so that some are willing to put aside grievances and fight alongside their usual enemies." Drelasa said. "With some fuss of course...but if the more pugnacious ones are making concessions, you know how serious this is. They did not do so during the Oblivion Crisis."

"Bal's reaching further than Dagon did," Ravenlight said, opening her arms to encompass the room-and further. "Dagon just wanted control of Mundus. Bal wants everything. Mundus, Oblivion, probably even Aetherius." She pressed her lips together. "And he might be able to do it. One of the three leaders of the Thalmor, a nasty piece of work called Rumalashorn Taromoth, is in league with Bal-and has promised him the Altmer."

"All the Altmer. Not just Thalmor." Drelasa said. "From the snakes, to the brave ones like our friend who just took on the demon, to the innocents who never wanted nor asked to be pulled along into a war. It is...I cannot even call it a promise because it is so wrong it cannot be allowed to stand. Understatement, because none of this can be allowed to stand."

The room nearly erupted at that. Folk generally despised the Thalmor-but ordinary Altmer? They were rare in Skyrim, but that didn't mean they weren't there...and while most were snooty, others were good people, friendly neighbors and nice to have at your side. They didn't need to hear any more-save where, exactly, in High Rock they needed to go, and how soon they should plan to mobilize.

Veleth truly wanted to see both women take on the Dunmeri court. They'd both have their own thrones and Morgiah in rags in three days.