-Zirasha-
One moment crimson fire as the volcano erupts, the next inky darkness, a darkness that burns, a darkness that brings only death and the promise of eternal ice and cold after. A flash of movement, a slash of pain down her arm. And then death sinks its talons into Zirasha and the last thing she sees as she falls is the blur of something huge moving over her as the eruption takes them all.
Consciousness returns slowly to Zirasha and she struggles to open her eyes and when she manages to, it is not Coldharbour that greets her, but the home of her pack, the Skyrim Tomb. The world spins and Zirasha's eyes dart around. Viperish Night is sitting on his throne eyes closed. Tyranius is lying on the ground, helm cast aside and he's slowly waking up. Duskhollow is in a heap near him and Zirasha struggles up vision blurring. She's not sure Duskhollow is even breathing. "Jez...Dusk..." Zirasha says weakly before falling on her side eyes closing as she breaths raggedly and shakes uncontrollably her hand reaching for Duskhollow.
-Tyranius-
The sound of the volcano erupting behind them, Viperish Night's laughter as he mocks the fire mage, causing her to shatter the volcano in her rage. The moment those words came out of Viperish Night Tyranius had sworn to himself and gripped his scythe tighter as darkness and heat swept over them Tyranius saw Viperish Night move through the darkness like a wrath. The last thing Tyranius felt was Viperish Night's icy claw slash him across the side of his neck before he fell.
The cold of the tomb greets Tyranius as his eyes open and he stares up at the stone ceiling, the strength to rise not yet returning. "Damn...worse than the first time," Tyranius says and then he turns his head toward Zirasha, then toward Duskhollow. Tyranius swears again, but black spots dot his vision as unconsciousness threatens to consume him once more.
-Duskhollow-
The moment the portal opened Duskhollow's instincts had been set on edge. The earth beneath her paws felt like a wild thing, soon to awaken to the hunt. But her packmates ignored her whines, seemed not to understand the danger they were in. And then all was noise and fire that utterly overwhelmed Duskhollow's senses. As the cloud of heat and ash fell over them Duskhollow felt the brush of her son's claws upon her back and then the darkness pulled her under.
The forest is dark and full of wild noises and Duskhollow bounds to it but pauses right on the edge whining softly. She glances behind her and then back to the forest and starts to pace. She should be with her pack...but she felt the darkness pull her under, she felt the icy cold of death grip her. It had struck with shards of agony and she felt her body falter and fall under the onslaught of poison. Duskhollow sits and then raises her head and howls, a lonely desolate sound. She is so very close to her Prince, to the Hunting Grounds. Part of her wants to dash into the forest and leave the confusion behind. But part of her yet yearns for her pack, even as her body lies cold. And so she howls for her Prince and soon he answers her.
"You must return, my wolf. It is not yet time for you to run with the Wild Hunt. Hunt what you know you must. Fight, my wolf. Just as Jeziasi must fight."
Duskhollow rises and barks at the forest and at her Prince before turning her back and running. The forest fades under her pawprints until all is darkness.
With a mighty shudder, breath returns to Duskhollow and she weakly whines, her claws scratching at the stone floor. Scents flood in and Duskhollow settles as each of her pack's scents reach her in turn. All are alive, if not yet well. Duskhollow's eyes briefly open before they close in rest.
-Jeziasi-
The deep dark, the sleep. Never-ending and never changing...until it does. A shudder in the dark, a brief period when the wolf feels closer, when the Hunting grounds feels within her grasp. Escape from this darkness, escape from life and memories too painful to endure. But before it can consume this dark trap that has ensnared her it fades from grasp and the dark returns to as it was. Unending... Unchanging... sleep beckoning to draw her deeper, past remembering, past pain, past existence itself. Jeziasi lets herself sink into it until the hated voice returns to pierce the dark.
"So close to your beloved Hunting grounds, your Prince. So close to being free. Free of this life, of fighting. That is what you must want, to give up? To...surrender?" The voice mocks.
The hated intruding voice but this time it comes with a painful sting that at last pierces through the sleep. The very word stirs Jeziasi. Surrender. It, at last, brings her voice back, abid weakly. "I..."
"How do you know he's not still in that Daedric abomination?" the voice asks, "He has your fighting spirit, after all. As vexing as that very thing is."
The words bring pain and despair into the forefront. Her son, the one she lost...lost in those eyes of utter evil. How can he still be in there, beyond her sight? Beyond her reach? Jeziasi remembers staring into those eyes and seeing nothing left of her son. And so she starts to retreat back in the dark.
"...That's it Jeziasi. Surrender. Surrender to the dark. You surrendered to Molag Bal after all. Perhaps when this Viperish Night is done cleansing the world he'll remove the collar from the wolf. You know who he will give you to then. But perhaps you do not mind. Perhaps you want to surrender to The Prince of Domination once more...in every single way."
A growl pierces the dark and Jeziasi's eyes bolt open as shadows surge away from her, allowing her to resume some semblance of form in this dark unforgiving place. The sleep threatens to drag her down, but this time Jeziasi fights it and struggles, finally managing to sit up with a loud growl. "I will rip your damn throat out," Jeziasi snarls.
A laugh, "Of course you will, Jeziasi. Oh wait...you can not. Not here, not in this dark prison that you are trapped within."
Jeziasi's fists curl at that word. Prison, trapped. Anything but free, again. And she let it drag her deeper. Let all hope fade away, but was there any hope to be had? And even if she can manage to keep fighting, all she sees is eternal darkness and no way out. "How," Jeziasi answers in a strangled voice.
"Working on that. But you, Jeziasi, must do what you have always done. You must fight. This place, the collar, drags you away from your wolf. It will destroy your very being in time. So fight, it is what you do. Also, so very vexing. You two...so much alike in so many ways."
"I know you," Jeziasi says, "But why can I not remember?"
"It eats away at all you are. Surrender and you will not last much longer. Fight...and you may give me time to break the magic that binds you here." is the answer the voice gives to Jeziasi.
Fight. But was there something to fight for still? Jeziasi looks down. "Is..." she asks before trailing off, memories of her son flashing through her eyes. The good, the bad, and the final moments before the world slipped away from her.
"Perhaps. He is like you, Jeziasi. And what of Tyranius and Zirasha? This Viperish Night will hurt them in unspeakable ways. Or do they not matter at all to you?"
Jeziasi trembles, more memories. It is true some of her memories seem very far away, but these last months with her pack are still so very clear. "My...my pack," Jeziasi whispers.
"Finally. Fight. I will return when I can." The voice pauses and then continues, "Jeziasi. This help comes with a price. Do remember that when it comes time for me to give you your freedom."
Jeziasi softly snarls as she finds herself alone again. Always, always a cost. But one worth paying...for her pack and for any chance that her son was still in there, however impossible that chance may be. She had almost...forgotten that. Almost lost all will to fight. Slowly her thoughts and pulse slow as she slips into a meditative state to try and better understand this place, and how she can fight against it, fight to keep existing.
-Viperish Night-
Viperish Night opens his eyes and only darkness greets them. Viperish Night hisses softly and then settles upon the ground cross-legged. Of course, he is here... Between life and death... the void that comes before being reformed... but the void of Oblivion will not take him, for he is not truly dead, therefore he will leave here before it can claim in. All it takes is time. As Viperish Night's eyes closed his thoughts return to Southern Elsweyr.
-Southern Elsweyr - Before Destruction-
Once Tyranius's footsteps fade Viperish Night's eyes glow as his energy surges into the scythe and it shimmers brightly before the glow fades leaving the weapon changed and bond to a new master. Viperish Night laughs softly as he places the scythe on a rock and opens a portal, quickly stepping through.
-The Cave-
Mannimarco looks up as Viperish Night steps through the portal. "What do you want now? Time to eviscerate me already?" Mannimarco dryly says.
The portal closes and Viperish Night stalks to the wall and rakes his claws down it shattering the wards. With a glow of power, the wall shimmers, and the damage done is hidden from view. Viperish Night's head turns toward Mannimarco. "For this, you will assist me," Viperish Night hisses.
"Or what? I know what you may do to me after all this is done," Mannimarco says as he narrows his eyes. "I simply have little motivation to help you at this point."
Viperish Night fully turns to Mannimarco and tilts his head. "The Argonian hero. I spent hours slowly and painfully ripping scales from her body. The screams were a song of their own. Tell me, what song of agony will you sing for me, my former mentor?"
The blood slowly drains from Mannimarco's face and there is a slight bit of wariness and fear in his voice when he speaks again. "That little action will enrage them as no other would. So very foolish."
Viperish Night smiles. "Iveryni will come for revenge...alone. She will use all of the power Dagon gave her to destroy us and I intend to make sure she thinks she succeeded," Viperish Night hisses. "I know what my Egg-father did to my pack. I will do the same."
A small frown crosses Mannimarco's face. "You do not sound angry about what Swims-In-Silence did. The Viperish Night I knew would have at least tried to tear him apart for it."
"My Egg-father's actions, at last, made the life aspect fully surrender. I owe him for that," Viperish Night laughs. "But it will not stop me from taking Coldharbour from him if I decide I want it."
Mannimarco leans back against the wall reassessing Viperish Night. "The Viperish Night's I knew never understood deception. But you...," Mannimarco says as he focuses all his attention on Viperish Night. "You want me to return you and your pack to the tomb once you fake all your deaths." Viperish Night nods slightly and Mannimarco continues, "And all I get out of it is to avoid torture until Nirn is ended." Mannimarco sighs. "Very well. Not much of a reward but..."
"You see the wisdom of siding with me," Viperish Night says as he turns the portal reopening though he pauses before entering to add, "Betray me and I will do worse than peel your skin off, my former mentor." And with that Viperish Night walks through the portal and it snaps closed.
Mannimarco watches him go, a small strange smile on his face. "Your learning deception at last my former pupil, but you have a long way to go to be on my level, or your Egg-father's."
It had gone just as Viperish Night had anticipated. Iveryni forgot everything, including the prophecy that Jeziasi had so helpfully told Viperish Night's lesser aspects in the past. She had unleashed her rage at the volcano and it had erupted and annihilated everything. Viperish Night had used the darkness of the explosion to poison his pack and himself had sent the message for all the dead of Nirn to sleep save those in the Tomb who had the antidote ready for Viperish Night and hsi pack. He then had called forth a skeleton dragon to shield their seemingly dead bodies from the final blast. And then...Viperish Night growls softly. He had hated to rely on his former mentor for that, but there had been so very few options. And he knew Mannimarco by now. Always scheming, always looking toward the future for what would benefit him best. The truth of it was that the wards were shattered before Viperish Night laid claws upon them. Somehow Mannimarco had managed to shatter them, though he was still trapped in his prison, though with the wards shattered he could move around in his strange glowing state...and affect the world in small ways as he always had. Viperish Night had just...pretended not to know that. Pretended he was doing Mannimarco a favor. And trusted that Mannimarco's current scheme relied on being in Viperish Night's good graces.
Everything suddenly shifts. One moment Viperish Night is at the void all Daedra face upon destruction, then next somewhere else. Viperish Night hisses angrily for a few moments before calming. No...this is not the throne room, but Mannimarco did not betray him. Something else drew him here for a few moments. Viperish Night knows he can wake now, but first to deal with this. Viperish Night rises and opens his eyes to crimson moonlight that casts bloody shadows upon the sands of the arena. A memory frozen in time from long ago when life surrendered in part allowing death to take over. It had not yet been enough for the Daedric aspect to claim his rightful place back then. Viperish Night's claws sink into the bloody sand as he walks across it. Bodies strewn where they fell and in the middle of the arena an Argonian kneels at the center of the carnage he wrought. Viperish Night or rather The Life aspect.
-Viperish Night - Life aspect-
Unlike that night long ago the arena is quiet, the crimson blood moons light falling upon the frozen scene of horror. How long has he been here, trapped under the depths, locked in a memory that set them free...but also nearly destroyed a part of who he was. As he kneels upon the ground, claws sunk into the ground he understands more at this moment than the night it happened and so he raises his head as the Daedric aspect walks toward him, the viper in the river that he somehow always knew was there on the deepest level. "I gave into death, and death took over. But it was your power that fueled the utter carnage that followed," he says quietly.
The Daedric aspect stops and tilts his head. "I always lurked in the depths. You tried to keep me there. Even if you did not know it...Keerasi-Zish." At the life's aspect's flinch of the use of his Argonian name, he laughs. "You thought you named yourself, but you named me. I am the true Viperish Night. The true serpent in the dark. You... you are just weakness, just the Argonian The Hist was smart enough to reject, Keerasi-Zish." Viperish Night looks down at Keerasi-Zish and then kneels beside him, his claws moving across Keerasi-Zish's face. "Why did you reject me for so long? It was always my power that gave us such impossible strength. The blood of the Daedric Prince of Domination flows through our blood, our very essence. It is what made all of this possible. You wanted to drown the world just as much as I did, as Death did."
Keerasi-Zish flinches from the touch and lowers his head. He knows he is but a pale shadow of who he had been before he surrendered in Grahtwood. Hanging on by the barest of threads, it would be so very much easier to just let go and be no more. Let Viperish Night have it all. Let him destroy the world. It was true... for all Keerasi-Zish suffered, he thought the world should suffer too. Did he still think that? Even now, he is not sure.
Again, Viperish Night's claws upon his face. "Let go," Viperish Night hisses. "You helped cause all this. I may be our darkest nature, but all of us wanted the world to drown. Enemies, friends, innocents. We have killed them all. Their blood will forever be on our claws.
Keerasi-Zish's eyes close at the truth. Truth enough to damn him. Truth enough to drown him. Days spent in the sun with animals and trees, when he thought he wanted a better path are but a faded dream. Everything always taken from him. Everything. Death had agreed with him. Death had wanted to make the world sing the song of the undead. And Viperish Night waited in the depths. Named but not yet known.
Viperish Night stands and circles Keerasi-Zish. "Surrender. Give in. Let yourself and the pain vanish forever. I will make them all drown. Their screams of agony will exist long after death."
...It would be easier. All that Keerasi-Zish has suffered has shattered him time and time again. Never strong enough to rise above it, never stronger than the Daedric Viper that waited in the depths. In this moment Keerasi-Zish would surrender if for not one simple fact, one he did not think Viperish Night knew. Keerasi-Zish was trapped in this moment, but he could see beyond it when he closed his eyes. He saw what Viperish Night did. The slow and agonizing torture that even he and death would never have thought of doing, threatening Zirasha with the one thing that terrified her beyond all else, that even he had no inkling of in all this time running with her, binding Tyranius to him, not to save him from their Egg-father, but so he could control and hurt him if he needed...and what he did to their Egg-mother. The utter despair and agony Keerasi-Zish suffered when he saw Viperish Night trap her in the wolf...and that he planned to give her to their Egg-father if she survived it. Keerasi-Zish growls softly and his eyes open and he stares up at Viperish Night who has come to a stop in front of him. "No," Keerasi-Zish says.
Angry hissing from Viperish Night then he calms and turns his back on Keerasi-Zish. "Stay and suffer here then, with all those you killed. In time, you will give the last claw hold you have left and I will be rid of your weakness," Viperish Night hisses before he fades away leaving Keerasi-Zish alone.
Keerasi-Zish's eyes look around. Even if he does not want to, he still looks at the cost of surrender, the cost of freedom. Those that had been his friends who had done nothing but fight for him, that had given him a little light in the darkness...and in the end, this is how he had repaid them. With death and betrayal. It would be easy to blame the Daedric part of himself, but Keerasi-Zish knew that would be a lie. Even Titumus had been true to him... only Swims-In-Silence's torture and the darkness that drew Keerasi-Zish had turned that into something foul. Keerasi-Zish lowers his head as a single tear falls. So very easy to surrender for the last time. But his pack was alive. And he knew Viperish Night would hurt them in unspeakable ways. They fought for him, they still fought for him even with what Viperish Night had done to them. Still swam in the river towards him. Tyranius, Zirasha, Duskhollow, and his Egg-mother, trapped so very much as he was. Keerasi-Zish knew the hatred in Viperish Night's eyes. The same hatred he had felt for all who had hurt and betrayed him. The things Viperish Night may do to their pack... Keerasi-Zish hisses and slowly rises. He would fight...for them. For the family that followed him into the depths, for the family that stayed with someone who they knew would hurt them... just in the hopes, the Viper they knew was somewhere in the depths. Keerasi-Zish stares up at the blood moons. He would find the strength to overtake the Daedric aspect. He would never surrender again.
-Skyrim Tomb-
Viperish Night's eyes open and he stares down at his pack. Duskhollow in deep sleep, Tyranius lying prone on the floor and Zirasha on her side. Tyranius is the first to sit up and he immediately focuses on Viperish Night. "You nearly killed us," Tyranius says in a quiet calm voice that belies the anger simmering in his eyes behind his helm. The first time they had woken with little issues. This time...Tyranius resists looking at Duskhollow. He was sure she had not been breathing for much longer than the rest. And why had Viperish Night appeared to be stricken as strongly as they, when this was his first time? Tyranius staggers up and crosses his arms across his chest. "Worth it, Viperish Night?"
Viperish Night folds his claws together. "Always so very perspective," Viperish Night hisses softly. "They think us dead. Tell me, my champion... was it worth it?" A savage grin crosses his face.
Champion...that was a new term. Tyranius nods slightly. "We'll be in the marsh before they even figure it out. Too late once they do. Worth it." Tyranius pauses and steps closer to Viperish Night. "Pup never did anything this sneaky."
"He was weak. I am not," Viperish Night tells him and then looks over at Zirasha who's at last stirring.
Again awareness returns and Zirasha's eyes bolt open and fall on Duskhollow who's unconscious but breathing. Zirasha closes her eyes again and shakes in relief before she opens them and turns toward Viperish Night. All she wants to do is fall to Duskhollow's side and bury her face in Duskhollow's fur, but Viperish Night's piercing gaze is upon her. Fear courses through her as she briefly glances at Tyranius, and just how different his armor looks before looking back to Viperish Night. "You...now?" Zirasha manages to say.
A few moments pass before Viperish Night speaks, "Soon, my vampire. Go for now and rest. I'll summon you later."
Zirasha staggers up and looks back at Duskhollow, tempted to stay. Tyranius glances at her, and Hircine's words come back to him. More than one seeks to aid them. "Zirasha, I'll take care of her. You need to go find something to eat."
Zirasha startles at the use of her name and not girl but it's enough to get the message through and Zirasha surges to the doorway and vanishes through it to find a snack.
Viperish Night moves to Duskhollow and crouches in front of her, his claws moving over her fur. "I would think her stronger than this," he hisses. "She nearly did not wake again." With that said Viperish Night rises and turns. "Make sure she's ready to fight when I need her to be." and he walks out of the Throne room.
Tyranius's hands clench into fists as he stares after Viperish Night and only when he is out of sight and his claw steps have faded does Tyranius sit down by Duskhollow's side, one hand gently resting on her back. "Not sure you can hear me wolfy, but you need to come back. If anything is left of your son in that monster, the rest of us have no chance at finding him. Your the only damn one who can find the good in the monsters."
-Outside the Tomb-
After finding a deer to drink from Zirasha sits in the snow her back resting against the tree. Animal blood never filled her all that much, but it was all there was, save for her pack. And the poison had nearly killed them for good this time. Duskhollow...Jez. When Zirasha had woke to find Duskhollow unmoving, unbreathing Zirasha's world nearly shattered. If she had died... Zirasha would have found the strength to attack Viperish Night even though it would mean her death. Without the hope of Jez returning... Zirasha leans her head back and closes her eyes. "Was I better off not knowing this?" Zirasha whispers. "Altmer do not love. Not the ones I knew, not my family. I never knew such a thing before her. Damn you, Jez. Showing me what I never had then..." Zirasha's eyes open to stare helplessly into the trees above, a tear falling down her cheek. "How can I be strong enough to survive what he will do to me without you?" Once more Zirasha's eyes close and unbidden and unwanted, memories surface of just how she became this kind of monster.
Swims-in-Silence had thrown Zirasha through the portal with no warning and as she hit the ground with bone-jarring force and the icy impossible cold hit her a heartbeat later and all she could do was lie on the ground shaking with fear and cold that pierced soul-deep as the portal started to close far above her reach. But rest was only a moment's breath before something spoke to her.
"Rise. Prove you are strong enough for your...reward,"
The voice that pierced through the cold and fear was filled with icy cruelty and malevolence. Zirasha wanted nothing more than to hide from it, hide from everything but Swims-in-Silence's promise clung to her. No more fear..an end to it at last. And so Zirasha rises and turns toward the voice, shaking and yet at the same time trying not to, for towering above her was the Lord of Dominion and the realization that she was in Oblivion. Zirasha tries and fails to meet his eyes, but she is standing and slowly she forces the shaking to subside as she softly speaks, "Swims-in-Silence promised..."
Molag Bal laughs. "I am Swims-in-Silence, he exists for my purposes. For this brief amount of time, he rests in status...so I can give you what I promised. Now, submit. Kneel."
Submit. The memories that brings up nearly sends Zirasha running and it takes all her will not to run. For to run would be to show weakness. To run would be to die, or worse than that. Still, one foot slides backward as she fights with the fear she has never been able to overcome. "I..." Zirasha whispers and closes her eyes from memories and the truth of this moment.
Molag Bal's tail flashes across the ground amused by her terror. "Many ways I could give you what you desire. Test my patience, and it may be one of the more unpleasant ways."
Those words made Zirasha want to run and hide even more. But all she has done since Cyrodiil is that. Only when she murders does the fear retreat for a brief time. This way of living...is not living at all. Zirasha has no one, nothing. Nothing but this madding fear and so trembling she kneels. "Please...make it go away," Zirasha whispers.
Molag Bal's form shimmers and he shrinks assuming a smaller form though he would still tower over her if she was allowed to stand. As he walks to her he speaks again, in that voice that chills her so very deep, "Blood and agony will wash away the fear. And then you will be one of Coldharbour's creatures and you will be feared instead."
One moment Molag Bal is stalking toward her the next he is right in front and his tail wraps around her neck as he lifts her into the air...and that is when the tearing and ripping starts, when the blood splashes in waves upon the ground and the pain is a pit of firey hot and icy cold. Zirasha's screams echo out until her voice gives out and her blood is all but drained. Molag Bal drops her to the ground and Zirasha struggles to keep her eyes open even as darkness and death stalk her, her fingers clawing on the ground. "Fight," Molag Bal hisses at her, and then he drops down next to her as her eyes close and the last thing she's aware of is his icy blood filling her mouth and covering her grievous wounds as the world fades into nothingness.
When Zirasha awakes next she's in a cave, chained. Once that would have sent her into a fit of fear being so contained. But all she knows in this moment, all she feels, is a hunger beyond words, beyond knowing, and as heavy footsteps approach her and throw her something warm and living she sets upon it, its screams meaning nothing to her, only the blood matters.
Zirasha's eyes open as she regards the setting sun. Never once has she regretted it, the newfound power, the lack of fear. But how it was done... Zirasha had been made to submit once. Molag Bal made her submit in another way, but it still was submission. How it was done is not something she will ever be able to forget. He made her utterly helpless before giving him his venomous blood. That blood had bound her to Molag Bal, as it did all vampires. The price of being a monster that could overcome fear, that could be so very strong...was so very high. Worth it, but forever a mark upon her soul for it.
Suddenly a portal opens before Zirasha and she slowly stands hissing at it. "Hurry," A voice emits from it, and not one she recognizes. Zirasha's hand moves toward it and then she backs off hissing. The voice speaks again, "I have set upon helping Viperish Night, and his pack. You have no reason to trust me, but I ask that you do."
"Help?," Zirasha asks blinking quickly. Why would anyone help them? But Hircine spoke to Tyranius...Zirasha swallows. "Viperish Night... he'll come for me soon."
"We will keep a watch out for him. You need my help before he comes for you."
Zirasha once never would trust this voice. Would never go through the portal. But the thought of Duskhollow lying so still... of Jez and Viper so far beyond her grasp, of her whole world crashing down before her has Zirasha stepping toward the portal and crossing through with little hesitation.
-Coldharbour-
The unnatural chill, the eerie dusk light. Zirasha hisses wildly and turns to bolt back towards the portal but the fact that it is still open stills her. If this was a trap, they would have never left it open. Zirasha turns her head as a male voice calls her name. "Your a vampire," Zirasha breaths as she turns around to face him.
The vampire nods at her, "I am Count Verandis of House Ravenwatch. And yes, Zirasha I am a vampire and like you, an original. But we have little time to discuss obvious facts." Count Verandis tells her and then his expression turns thoughtful. "Viperish Night intends to break Molag Bal's hold over you. I spent much of my immortal life seeking such a solution for our kind." Count Verandis's face darkens as if the path to such an answer leads to far darker places than he had ever wished to travel.
Zirasha looks down. To not belong to Molag Bal...but then...and she speaks her thoughts into words, "...But then I would belong to this Viperish Night. He could control me if he wanted. But...could he not already control me? He can control all the dead of Nirn."
Count Verandis gives Zirasha a small smile. "You are yet so young, Zirasha. Viperish Night's power over you is not unlimited. You are an original vampire and in time you will grow into your power. Even now, I doubt he can control you even with the band's power. Not easily and not without cost, at any rate."
Zirasha wraps her arms around herself at that. As strong as she is, she could be stronger? Even though she knew the power she had...some part of her was still the scared powerless girl, and with this new Viperish Night, she seemed to be resurfacing, along with fear long thought gone. "But... if Viperish Night breaks Molag Bal's hold on me he'll be able to then." Zirasha whispers.
"That is what I fear," Count Verandis responds as he withdraws a small vial. "You must let him, Zirasha. But after it is done, drink this. It should, hopefully, give you the power to break his hold over you when you need it."
Zirasha unwraps her arms and takes the vial carefully in her hand. "Why...," Zirasha trails off and looks at Count Verandis helplessly. "Why should I trust you, why would you help me?"
Count Verandis looks at Zirasha seriously. "Nothing I say will convince you, words mean far less than actions. Just know that I and my house help vampires find another path. No vampire is beyond reaching unless they choose to be." A look of sadness crosses Count Verandis's face. "And... I Knew Viperish Night before all this."
Zirasha stares at the count with curiosity burning in her eyes. "Was... was he broken then?"
"No, he was naive and in part still innocent and intensely curious...also very lonely." Count Verandis responds. "I would have aided him, had I not died. Another regret I will hold onto for eternity."
Zirasha carefully places the vial in a pocket and then looks back at Count Verandis. "Why?" she asks again. "Why is anyone trying to help us? We are monsters. We have killed so many people. We have done so much..." Zirasha looks away trying to find her words. When all this started she reveled in the slaughter. Still did, but something else had become so much more important. She would have given up all this for her pack. For her family. For love. "So much evil," she whispers. "It washed away the pain. But love can do that too. I never knew that before my pack."
"I too, have done harm, even when I sought to help," Count Verandis gently tells Zirasha. "If one is willing to change, they should be given the choice. And in truth many of your choices were taken from you and your pack, Viperish Night most of all."
Pain lances through Zirasha. "Viperish Night is gone... The Viper we knew." Zirasha whispers and turns toward the portal, staring at it as if it will cast away the tears that threaten. The tears a monster should not have, for monsters are not supposed to love. Not supposed to want to change.
"Is he, or is that what this new Viperish Night wants you to believe?" Count Verandis tells her. "Your Viperish Night never understood deception. But this Viperish Night is truly the son of Molag Bal, the Prince of Deception."
Zirasha is quiet for long moments before speaking again, "We... we stay for our pack. For a chance to see Viper and Jez again. For a chance, they are not lost as they seem to be." Zirasha turns her head to look at Count Verandis. "We will never be forgiven. We should not. I...we all choose to drown the world in blood."
"And yet you were willing to stop. Forgiveness...no Zirasha, redemption is the path ones such as us must seek." Count Verandis tells her.
"And you know why I will not. Why I cannot," Zirasha hisses as she turns her head away from him. "I don't want redemption. I don't even want the world to pay anymore. I just want Jez and Viper back." And with that, she crosses the portal and it closes behind her.
Once back in the forest Zirasha mists and when she reforms she's in Jeziasi's room and she looks around. It seems so cold and empty without Jez. Slowly she takes out the vial and looks at it. So small and yet it contains the impossible. Zirasha wants to keep it with her. So tiny, yet so very important. But she has no idea how Viperish Night will bind her to him. If he would find it, if it would shatter. And so Zirasha picks up the hairbrush she brushed Jeziasi's hair so many times with and prys part of the wood off, carefully inserting the vial in it and placing the hairbrush back onto the floor. Zirasha sinks to the floor and wraps her arms around her legs as she settles in to wait, dread creeping into her bones. As her eyes closed she softly whispers, "Jez... for you I'll be brave. I'll try, anyway. Please come back to me."
-Outside The Tomb-
Tyranius lies on the snow outside the tomb, staring up at the sky above him. Cold and crisp, the sun inching ever further and clouds with tints of grey and the promise of new snow floating across it. Duskhollow lies nearby, Tyranius had picked her up to take her outside and then decided to unsummon his armor to lie near her. "Bastard nearly killed us," Tyranius says quietly. A small whine and Tyranius turns to look at Duskhollow who's eyes are open watching him. She was smaller than any of them, she had almost not returned from the state of death it put them all in. The two look at each other for a long moment and then Duskhollow slowly rises and moves to his side and lies down, her head on his chest her warm furry body pressed up against his. Small tremors move down her body and Tyranius rests an arm against her, his hand on her back. "Not sure how much you understand...but you understand enough of what he did to us," Tyranius says. "He's not our Viper. But we gotta act like he's the one we want. For now." Tyranius falls silent and stares up at the clouds. Its quiet and peaceful Tyranius closes his eyes and lets the past sweep him away.
-Years ago, East March-
Tyranius stands in front of the small cabin, sword in hand as he stares down the Imperial commander before him. "Commander Ancrich," Tyranius says as his gaze flicks behind the commander for a moment before refocusing on him. "And alone. You came for me alone?"
Commander Ancrich stands with his sword ready. "You know as well as I do the empire is in chaos. It may be such for years if not longer." Commander Ancrich answers.
Tyranius smirks. "In other words, you have no idea what to do without an emperor to follow so your out here alone chasing down war criminals." The smirk growls as Tyranius laughs. "You'd never be stupid enough to come for the Reaper on your own. You came for Dirgola Vanian."
Commander Ancrich's grip on his sword tightens. "So you're protecting the scum? You know as well as I did what he did...Reaper. But all Legion Zero are honorless dogs."
Tyranius's expression turns furious and he almost makes a move toward Commander Ancrich before reigning in his anger. "Not protecting him," Tyranius says and then stares directly into Commander Ancrich's eyes. "Still HIS champion. Still got my toys. You want to give this a go, or go get your scum?"
Commander Ancrich stares off with Tyranius before he breaks it. "Your day will come. Get out of my sight," Commander Ancrich says.
Tyranius nods and sheaths his sword. "You always was a smart one," Tyranius remarks and walks past Commander Ancrich, stopping when the two are shoulder to shoulder. "He's in the cabin."
Commander Ancrich nods and marches to the cabin and flings open the door sword ready but freezes as soon as he crosses the threshold. "By the Divines," Commander Ancrich swears. The cabin walls and floor are splattered with crimson and Dirgola Vanian is strewn in pieces across the room. Commander Ancrich swerves to stare at Tyranius's retreating back. "Why?"
Tyranius pauses and glances back. "You ever mention this to anyone, I'll take your head off. Quick death, unlike Vanian." Tyranius says and then smirks again. "Might be an honorless dog, but this dog has his lines. I kept a list in my head of the Zero Legion I took a dislike to. Any not in jail...well your welcome to put their pieces there when I'm done with them." Tyranius laughs at Commander Ancrich's expression and walks off.
Tyranius's eyes open and he finds himself staring into Duskhollow's golden ones as if she can see into his thoughts, his memories. Tyranius shrugs. "Don't regret my past, Dusky. Is what it is. Only a fool drowns in regrets. Only a coward refuses to admit to all he has done in his life. Not either of those. Just a damn brute...who somehow found a family in this screwed-up world." Tyranius gently touches Duskhollow's furry face with his hand. "Gonna do my best to take care of all of you, Dusky. Even if it is not something I have ever done. Not before all of you."
Duskhollow makes a small contented wolf sound and closes her eyes again. So very much escapes her more and more. But pack never does. She trusts her pack brother with all she is. He is their protector, from without and within.
-The Depths-
Keerasi-Zish sits on the bloody sands, eyes closed. He has attempted to move from this memory but an unseen force stops him every time and keeps him here. Until Viperish Night decides to change it... Keerasi-Zish is trapped here, on this blood-soaked night. Slowly he bows his head despair filling him, but also something else. Something long since lost nearly utterly. Clarity. No madness, no blinding rage. Just a river of despair intermixing with a river of clarity. At last, he understands the truth of it, the truth of himself. "I gave in to death, therefore death took over. And then we both gave in to despair and HE took over." Keerasi-Zish quietly says to himself. There is no answer, for death has been claimed by Viperish Night and they exist in harmony with each other, in a way that life and death never did. Strangely enough, there is no anger in this moment...Keerasi-Zish knows what he is. Fragmented pieces of an Argonian who was made from two very different beings. His Egg-Mother, a Bosmer with unusually innate nature magic and who was the Vestige, dead and reborn in Coldharbour and unlike any mortal, and his Egg-father, who had two sides. The Argonian side he stole, and the unfathomable nature of his true self, the Daedric Prince Molag Bal. Keerasi-Zish's head rises and he opens his eyes. What was he to do now? Giving up was no longer an option. Not when he knew those he loved was above the river and in Viperish Night's merciless grasp, with all his hatred of them and the world. Slowly Keerasi-Zish rises and looks up. Keerasi-Zish had come to hate the world as well. But the depths of it always belonged to the Viperish Night that was every bit his Egg-father's son. "Life sang to me, but so did death," Keerasi-Zish hisses. "So I will sing to death once more and baid him to me." This Viperish Night was very powerful, but if Keerasi-Zish could bring Death to him, could do what he had never done, coexist in harmony with him...perhaps it would be enough. Enough to breakthrough, enough to wrest back control before his pack... his family paid for his mistakes.
-Deep in the Dark-
Jeziasi struggles to her feet and starts to stalk the unending darkness even as the unnatural sleep pulls at her. Endless easy sleep that would cost her the few things she had left. Jeziasi stops and closes her eyes. "Darkness...it is so dark. Even my wolf eyes cannot penetrate it," Jeziasi whispers, and her words cause memories to surface as Jeziasi battles against the endless surge of darkness in which no light can penetrate. It is not the first time, however, she has been in such darkness and those memories sweep over her.
-Years Prior - The Scuttling Void-
Out of the corner of the eye, the only way they can be seen, a slip in the realms of Oblivion. Barbas had taught her to see them and so she slips from one realm, into another. The darkness that greets her is total and Jeziasi startles and turns the way back has vanished, as they so often do, leaving her stranded in dark darker than any she has ever known. Jeziasi's eyes flash golden as she transforms into the wolf. Still pitch black but a faint thread of purple in the gloom catches her wolf eyes. Jeziasi moves toward it carefully, all too aware of the strange scents and sounds all around her. The scuttling of creatures unknown, the soft growls of larger monsters. At last Jeziasi steps from the dark into a land of perpetual night. Swirls of unnatural stars and floating rocks and towers that float across the sky, and on the ground darkness, swiftly moving creatures and living anemones of the darkest purple.
"Lost, Werewolf?"
A voice in the gloom and Jeziasi's head snaps to the left where a nightmare version of a Khajiit has appeared. Jet black fur running with shafts of an eerie blue glow and savage bat wings framing his form. Jeziasi's fur stands on end as she starts to growl and the growl grows in volume. Drom'm'athea...not something she wanted to fall under the notice of. Attracting him may very well attract his Prince. And yet there is no running. He has found her, and now he will be prey, or she will. As his twisted back paw moves back upon the rock Jeziasi lunges at the same instant he does and soon they are engaged in a savage clash blood splashing the ground as the two tears into each other with claws and fangs and wild abandon. In the end, it is he who falls and Jeziasi stands over him growling softly. Should she devour him, or would doing so change her? It was hard to tell at times what was safe to eat in the realms of Oblivion. But before she can decide nightmarish eyes appear in the endless dark. Jeziasi steps back and looks wildly around snarling. The cave entrance has vanished. Too many to fight, nowhere to hide. Killing one perhaps would not attract notice. Fighting a whole pack...would. Jeziasi spins on her paws and drops to all fours as she races away from the eyes in the dark dropping down into a small canyon. Howls behind her as the Drom'm'athea pursue her. No tear between realms, no way out. They are gaining on her, for they know this realm, and Jeziasi is utterly lost here. When it seems as if they will catch her a blue glow emanating from a narrow cleft in the rock catches her eye and she dives toward it shifting to mer as she does. With a burst of desperate speed, she flings herself deeper, the Drom'm'athea running past unaware that she had escaped them. Jeziasi follows the glow until the crevice opens into a small cave light by glowing purple mushrooms. Jeziasi glances around, but the blue glow that leads her here has vanished.
Jeziasi opens her eyes. "...Damn," she swears as realization pieces her, of just who lead her from certain death. She had known, but knowing and remembering was two very different things. Jeziasi's eyes start to drift close as sleep threatens once more but something else surfaces and takes precedence over the dark and endless sleep. Jeziasi slowly rises. It is true she had to honor the bargain with Clavicus Vile, but she went with him willingly. In fact, she had no plans to ever return to Nirn. Why? Why was the feeling that something had been wrong with Swims-In-Silence, that she had done something she should have never done been so very strong? "I...I did not know," Jeziasi whispers, but...that was incorrect. Jeziasi shudders softly. "I did not remember." The worlds echo in the dark and then Jeziasi spasms and falls back onto the ground hands clenched as memories forgotten flood back in.
-Shadowfen over three years ago-
Jeziasi and Swims-in-Silence had hunted the marsh as they had every day. This time they had their eyes on a rather large Wamasu, but in the chase, the marsh ground gave way and thrust them into an underground cave. As the sunlight shone in from above the shadows came alive, vampires long forgotten that had been hibernating from the world. Their hunger surged and Jeziasi and Swims-in-Silence were quickly overrun with scores of them. Jeziasi unleashed the wolf and she fought side by side with Swims-in-Silence until the last vampire falls. Breathing hard Jeziasi returns to mer form and laughs. "That was not a wamasu," Jeziasi says and turns to Swims-in-Silence who has the most feral grin on his face. With night falling they climb out and return to their cave as the last traces of sunlight fade.
That night Jeziasi fell into sleep far faster than she had on previous nights. The fight and what came after wore her down and unlike previous nights when memories of the outside world intruded, on this night they stayed far away and unlike other nights, she fell asleep without Swims-in-Silence softly whispering that she should sleep and let the memories fade.
Late into the night, something awakes Jeziasi. As long as she has been in Shadowfen with Swims-in-Silence, she has never awoken so late in the night. Jeziasi tries to open her eyes but sleep clings to her, pulls her under and only a sense of profound wrongness keeps her from slipping back under into dreamless sleep. Jeziasi fights to stay awake and realization of just what is amiss comes to her slowly. Her arms are bound in chains, her legs the same. Jeziasi wrenches her eyes open and the night wavers into view, lit only by a single lantern. Swims-in-Silence stands over her eyes seeming to glow in the dim light and he slowly tilts his head. "My mate... you have never woken before. Perhaps it was a mistake not to baid you into sleep. I thought perhaps you would stay there on your own for once." Swims-in-Silence tells her.
Jeziasi pulls at her bounds but weakness courses through her as they sap her strength and draw her ever closer back to sleep, and yet she still fights it, anger and confusion in her eyes as she growls at Swims-in-Silence. "W...what are you doing..." she manages to say as another wave of weakness hits her. Such weakness as she has never known, even the wolf is too far away to call with these bindings upon her.
"Do not try to speak, my mate. It will be over soon," Swims-in-Silence says with a feral smile. "I could wait until sleep drags you under. Command you there faster. But...just this once, Jeziasi. I will allow you to remain awake. Aware."
His tone, chilling. His words, even more so. Whatever he is doing, he has done more than once before. Perhaps every single night. Jeziasi growls again. "I will tear you apart for this," she growls.
Swims-in-Silence just smiles at this, his fangs glimmering in the lantern's light and he holds up his hand and strange energy fills the cave and runs up the chains and into her. Pain surges through her and Jeziasi howls and thrashes until the last bit of strength leaves her. The energy swirls inside of Jeziasi and then rises out in the form of a glowing orb that floats to Swims-in-Silence who studies it before sending it elsewhere. Then he crouches at Jeziasi's side his claws moving to stroke her face. "Perhaps this will be the final time, perhaps not," Swims-in-Silence says with a twisted laugh and leans down to whisper in her ear. "I hope not, my mate. I am enjoying our days together...and our nights even more. You submitting to me..." again he laughs as his claws drift to her neck. "You seem to be enjoying it too. It is a strange way of doing this...but memories of these days will cut like a blade one day. When you, at last, know the depths of all of this."
Another growl from Jeziasi, "N...never again," she quietly growls.
Swims-in-Silence just laughs as his claws move to her shoulder. "You say that now, but tomorrow night? Tomorrow night you will not even remember this." Swims-in-Silence moves his hands to grasp her face as his voice changes tones. "Forget this night, my Mate. Sleep and when you wake it will be as if it never happened." What remains of the fight in Jeziasi leaves her as her eyes drift closed, commanded to sleep, commanded to forget.
Jeziasi bolts right up in a cold sweat and she throws back her head and howls but unlike when she learned just who Swims-in-Silence was she does not allow herself to shatter. Slowly the shaking stops and Jeziasi wraps her arms around her knees. That...that is how it happened. After they... he baid her into unnatural sleep she could take what he needed to make Argonian eggs...that was impossibly part Bosmer. Part her. A tear falls down her face. "Viperish Night," Jeziasi whispers, "My Keerasi-Zish. Please still be alive. Please still be in the river. I will find a way out of the dark to you if it is the last thing I do. My son, my family. Be there still. Please."
-Skyrim Tomb-
Clawsteps echoing on stone has Zirasha awake in moments and she trembles for a few moments before stopping and as the claw steps stop at the doorway Zirasha opens her eyes to gaze up at Viperish Night. He was so very different then their Viper, even his appearance had shifted. It was somehow easier that way. Easier to see him as someone other than her Viper. The Viper she was now sure would have never harmed them. Everyone else in the world yes, but his pack? "Viperish Night," Zirasha whispers as she stares up at those eyes of unfathomable darkness. How can their Viper be in there when there was no trace?
Viperish Night looks down at her a slight feral grin upon his face. Zirasha feared this moment, Viperish Night seemed to anticipate it and he holds out his clawed hand. "Come, my vampire. Let me free you from my Egg-father once and for all."
Zirasha wants to run, to hide, how he will go about this...from the darkness and hatred in those eyes she knows it will be no less brutal than when Molag Bal turned her into what she is. But for Jez, for Viper, for what little hope there is Zirasha's eyes fill with steely resolve and she reaches up to take Viperish Night's hand, letting him pull her up the claws nearly piercing her flesh. As her eyes dart around the room she lowers her head. "Not here. Someplace...darker," Zirasha whispers. Not wanting what is about to happen to taint this place that she has shared with Jeziasi.
Viperish Night laughs softly. "It would cause you such pain for me to do what I must to free you here. But you are acting so very good. So very submissive. I'll take you deeper in the crypt. Perhaps its best our pack cannot hear your screams." Viperish Night hisses. Viperish Night lets go of her hand and turns to walk out and Zirasha follows quietly.
Viperish Night leads her deeper into the crypt and into a room filled with torture devices and ancient splashes of blood, and some not as old. Zirasha moves to the wall and kneels tracing the newer blood. Still dried and old, but familiar and she turns to look at Viperish Night who's tilted his head curiously.
"He did not want our Egg-mother harmed, but he could not show weakness to our Egg-father." Viperish Night says thoughtfully, "I had not thought Tyranius would...but perhaps he had to. Perhaps our Egg-father would make sure of it."
Zirasha remembers what he speaks off. Early on, when Jeziasi was still bound by collar and leash. Before they had truly become a pack, a family. Zirasha turns her eyes away from Viperish Night and slowly rises. He wants her to suffer for keeping him in the depths. But more importantly, he wants her fear. He wants to know he can hurt her with this, that she will be so very afraid of him. If he thinks this, he may very well do the worst to her and the very thought has the world spinning and it is all Zirasha can do to keep her balance and slowly she wraps her arms around herself head lowered and slowly she hisses softly. So very tired of this fear she thought long cast into the abyss, but all it took was this to bring it to the surface. No more. No more would she let it rule her, no more would she tremble because of what he might do to her. She was an original, she was stronger than she ever let herself believe. This Viperish Night would not see her fear, she would not let him have it. And so Zirasha enters a state of calm as she turns around, her crimson eyes locked onto Viperish Night. Slowly, deliberately she starts taking off her armor and throwing it in the corner until she's clad only in the simple undershirt and short pants she wears underneath. "Do you want these off too?" Zirasha hisses, her gaze never wavering from Viperish Night's shocked expression.
A low laugh, but a hint of confusion from him. And then Viperish Night snaps out of his shock and stalks to her, running one clawed hand down one of Zirasha's bare arms. "You... would let me, Zirasha?" he asks.
"Free me from Molag Bal," Zirasha hisses. "If you want to do anything else to me besides that, do it. This is my pack. I am your vampire."
Viperish Night moves behind her, one clawed hand on her shoulder the other moving down to grace her upper leg. "You would rather I not, yet you still let me?" Viperish Night whispers in her ear.
Traces of fear linger, but Zirasha banishes them. No... she did not want him to. But she would not let it break her if he did. She was stronger than he thought. Stronger than she ever thought. Stronger than the fear. Zirasha swallows and answers, "You are not the Viper we knew, but you are our alpha. I am your vampire. Do what you will with me."
Viperish Night laughs again and his hand moves from her leg to her face. "You are being so very good Zirasha. Both you and Tyranius have seen its best to be my monsters. It would be...punishment to do that to you. Since you are being a good little vampire we'll settle for merely removing Molag Bal's control over you." Viperish Night's claws fall from her and he moves to a table in the back of the room. "Lie down Zirasha."
Zirasha hides the relief that courses through her and moves to the table and lies down the stone-cold against her flesh. Viperish Night is on her in an instant his claws raking down her arms his jaws snapping on her neck as blood splatters and Zirasha convulses under him, small cries of pain coming from her. The blood flows from her body and courses down the table to the floor. As the world starts to go dark around her Viperish Night lets go and rends his arm asunder. "Drink, my vampire," Viperish Night hisses. "Let my blood bind you, not his."
Zirasha fights the pull of the dark and reaches up to grasp his arm and does as ordered, drinking his blood and the life flows back into her and her wounds heal in moments. Finally, she lets go of Viperish Night's arm and lies back breathing hard. Viperish Night moves from her and Zirasha slowly sits up and then stands.
"Rest, my vampire." Viperish Night says, "Our war will begin anew soon. So very soon." And with those words, he turns and walks out leaving Zirasha alone.
Zirasha gathers up her armor and is soon back in her and Jeziasi's room and once there the armor spills from her arms and Zirasha sinks to the floor as she trembles for a few moments, letting it all out before slowly gathering her armor and putting it back on. Once done her hands move to the hairbrush and she prys the vial out and quickly drinks it before lying back to rest.
-Throne Room-
That night Tyranius and Duskhollow return to the throne room and sit at the table. Zirasha soon follows and sits at the table with them. Her eyes stay on Duskhollow for long moments, making sure she is well before turning to Tyranius. "It is done," Zirasha quietly says.
Tyranius slowly smiles. "Girl. I don't see it in your eyes anymore."
Zirasha gives a small smile back. "I thought becoming a vampire destroyed the fear. But it just hides it. Now though...now it no longer has a hold on me." Zirasha says and then moves her hand to Tyranius, grasping his hand briefly before letting go. "It's almost the end," Zirasha says very very softly.
"End of them. End of us," Tyranius says. "If there is any other path..." Tyranius shakes his head. "Doesn't matter. We started this together, we end it together." The two look at each other and then at Duskhollow. The unspoken vow that must remain unspoken. That they will hope, and do all they can to find Jez, to find their Viper, even as they are this Viperish Night's monsters, for now, or until the end.
The room falls silent as Viperish Night enters and moves to his throne sitting on it as if he already owns all of Nirn and beyond. The smile on his face is enough to chill the very soul. "Tonight we move on the marsh. Tonight I start to end all those who rejected me. And then...they will end Nirn." Viperish Night laughs and his twisted laughter echos throughout the tomb.