Chapter Three: The Staff of Chaos

Khali wasn't sure how long she had walked through the woods, unsure of her destination. The sun passed lazily over the sky and finally began to touch the horizon. Still holding the dagger that she had gotten from the sewers, she stopped her trek by a river. She sniffed around the water, checking for dead animals, and climbed in.

The feline shivered as the cold water soaked through her fur, and she gritted her teeth when she plunged her head beneath the water. Sputtering, she climbed out of the river and shook her fur, hoping she got the rest of the sewer stench off of her, but that was probably wishful thinking. Flicking water out of her ears, she picked out a nearby tree and climbed up, holding the dagger in her mouth as she sank her claws into the bark.

After some scrambling, she reached a branch and pulled herself up onto it, looking around to see if there might be anything nearby she could eat. Her stomach was screaming in pain, but she had ignored it in favor of continuous movement. The last thing she wanted was for Tharn to find out she had escaped, and she had been too busy focusing on food rather than giving herself a head start. She was also travelling north, to the snowy reaches of Tamriel. Her plan was to stop in Skyrim and hole up in some cave. It was her best plan, and it was better than travelling back south to Elsweyr, where Tharn might suspect she would go.

The Khajiit race hated the cold, so if she wanted to remain missing, her best idea was to go to the coldest part of the continent, maybe catch a boat to Solstheim one day. Solstheim was pretty uninhabitable, arguably worse than Skyrim, but it wasn't as cold.

Khali curled up on the branch as a breeze chilled her damp fur, making her shiver. She placed the tip of her tail over her nose to keep her face warm and ignored her complaining stomach as she drifted off to sleep.

A strange warmth spread throughout Khali's body, and she found herself purring in delight. She was back in her bed at the Imperial Palace no doubt, within the warm, dry walls. She had just had a terrible dream. Any moment now, a guard would bang on her door telling her to get up, but for now, she could just enjoy the heat.

"Khali," a voice whispered in her ear. The Khajiit flicked her ear in response, assuming it was a weird draft that just sounded like her name. "Khali, you need to wake up," the voice said, sounding desperate.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, and a blurry image of Ria's transparent body appeared in front of her. She blinked, allowing everything to come back into focus. Ria had her hands held out, and they were glowing a bright yellow-orange.

"Thank Talos," Ria said, the glow from her hands dying, and with it, most of the warmth. She took Khali's hand and helped her stand up. "I thought you were going to die of hypothermia."

"What?" Khali asked. She looked around. She was in the same foggy clearing as the last time she had dreamed, and reality once again hit her like a charging bull. "Oh…"

Ria nodded. "I'm sorry, Khali, but you cannot run from this. There is no one else to take this fight. You are the best chance, even if all you wield is a stone dagger."

Khali looked down at her hand. The dagger that was with her in the waking world must have followed her here. She shook her head. "Ria, I can't stop Tharn. I don't even know where to begin!"

"But I do," Ria insisted. She held out her hand, and in the fog a staff appeared. It was made of a long, dark branch with several segments separated by gold. The top of the staff looked to be fashioned out of gold in the shape of a dragon's claw, clutching a bright green, glowing emerald. "This is the Staff of Chaos," Ria explained. "This is the only item that can open the door between this world and the dimension to which the Emperor has been banished."

Khali held up her hands. "Wait. The Emperor was banished to another dimension using that weird stick Tharn always carried around? It's that powerful?"

Her friend nodded. "Yes, but it wasn't always at this strength. It has taken many years to get it like this, and you must move swiftly to rescue the Emperor. I do not know the state of the dimension he is in, but it could be dangerous, possibly even deadly."

"How can I rescue someone from another dimension?" the feline asked, studying the staff.

Ria pointed to the Staff and it burst into several pieces, before each piece shot into the sky, out of sight. "You must use the Staff itself. It is the only thing that can retrieve the Emperor. Tharn tried to destroy it, but the Staff was simply too powerful, having been made from the essence of the land itself. However, he came up with a solution. He shattered it into eight pieces, and scattered them across the realm."

"So, I get the pieces back, and I can save Uriel?" Khali clarified. "Where are the pieces? In caves or something?"

"If only it were that easy, my friend. I am using my magic to find these missing pieces, but it is taking much time and strength for me to do so. Recently, I have been able to divine the location of the first piece. It is in a place called Fang Lair."

Khali bent her ears back in confusion. "Fang Lair? I've never heard of it."

"That is not shocking," Ria said. "Fang Lair is shrouded in mystery. It is said that it was originally built by the Dwarves of Kragen, and legend has it that a Great Wyrm drove the Dwarves from their home in the Dragon's Teeth and took the Lair for itself."

"Uhhh…" Khali paused. "A wyrm? I have to fight a wyrm?"

"I do not know," Ria confessed. "I'm afraid I only have a name for the place you must go. Perhaps a scholar or sage would know its precise location. All I know is that somewhere in the dank depths lies the first piece of the Staff of Chaos."

Khali absentmindedly scratched behind one of her ears. "Okay. What do I do from here?"

"I recommend making your way to Hammerfell. Rumors of Fang Lair are strongest in that province and may give you a lead."

"Hammerfell. That's a few days northwest of here." She hesitated. "They aren't too fond of my kind there. I'm not sure they will willingly give me information."

"You must get it," Ria said with determination. "Build yourself a reputation, bribe the right people, help bandits if you must, but most importantly: be prepared. You need to collect gear to survive. A little knife won't get you through the depths of this dungeon." She paused, looking up. The sky appeared to be growing lighter. "Dawn is upon us. I wish you well. I do not think Tharn knows of your escape yet, but tread lightly. I have tried to obscure your identity with a spell, but I am not sure it will work while you are awake, and Tharn may be searching. Take care, my friend. Go forth, with the blessings of the true Emperor and myself…"

"Wait!" Khali cried, but she blinked and suddenly was looking at the ground. Gasping and digging her claws into the branch, she managed to keep herself from falling out of the tree. She paused to catch her breath from her sudden scare. She recalled the dream, and it seemed easier to remember than the first time she had dreamed about Ria. Still, she wanted to review everything.

She needed to head for Hammerfell, and to get a clear direction of the fastest way there, she needed to find a main road. The only problem with that was meeting other travellers who might recognize her and try to take her to the Emperor.

She needed a disguise.

Her stomach rumbled.

And something to eat.

Khali bunched up her muscles and leaped down the tree, rolling as she landed on the forest floor. She stood up, brushing herself off, and looked up at the sky. From the smell in the air, and from what Ria told her, it was dawn. She needed to go west. She spotted the sun and started walking away from it. She didn't know exactly where she was in the Imperial Province, but if she kept going west, she'd eventually reach Hammerfell, or the sea, even if she couldn't find a road before that.

As she walked, she untied the rope that was around her waist on the outside of her shirt, retying it around her pants and pulling her shirt down over the rope. She needed to make herself look less like a prisoner, and the only thing that came to mind that she could currently disguise herself as was a beggar. Beggar was miles better than a prisoner. Hammerfell was home to Redguards, and while their views on Khajiit were rather neutral, walking around looking like an escaped prisoner would cause anyone to feel alarmed, even fellow Khajiit.

She used her claws as she walked, raking them across the ends of her pants and making them ruffled and ragged. She also attacked her sleeves a bit, but not as much as her pants. Deciding she must look like a proper beggar now, she took off at a run.

She trotted along through the woods, picking up small edible plants as she continued on. Berries and mushrooms weren't her favorite food, but she couldn't afford to be picky. After around an hour of walking, Khali spotted the tightly packed stones of a main road. Excited to get her paws out of the thorns and brambles, she pushed through the foliage and stepped out onto the street.

It looked to be a road that was used for trading between the countries based on how large and well kept it was. Khali looked up and down the road, her ears pricked and eyes squinted. She needed directions. She wasn't too familiar with the Hammerfell province, and she couldn't be sure if the roads needed to curve around mountains or rivers. If she wasn't careful, she could end up walking in the wrong direction and have to cut through the woods again.

She spotted a weathered oak sign down the street to her right. She trotted down to it, discovering a fork in the road, three paths meeting at the same intersection with the splintered sign slightly bent over at the center. There were several province names haphazardly hammered into the wooden stake, pointing down the three roads. The one Khali had been on pointed to the Imperial Province, Elsweyr, and Valenwood.

Resisting the pull to follow the road to Elsweyr, she looked at the directions for the northern road. This way only had one name on the board: Skyrim. That didn't surprise Khali. Skyrim was known for its winding roads around snow-tipped mountains and giant lairs. It made sense that this road only led to Skyrim. Road building in that province was no easy task.

Turning to the last direction, west, revealed the names of Hammerfell and High Rock. Khali twitched her tail as she took the western road. She didn't know much about High Rock either, except that it was north. She'd pay attention to any more forks in the road to make sure she didn't unintentionally walk too far north. The last thing she wanted was to end up in the wrong province. Tamriel was a big place, and taking an accidental detour could prove fatal.