Here it is Ladys and Gentlemen! The Climax! Yey! Read and Review please!

Ch 20

Silent as death Larka crept along the outer edges of the encampment till she found Taka, crouched in the shadow of a large tent. Larka ran swiftly over to her and hand signaled her to look through the soldier's tents and make a head count and to bring anything suspicious to her. Taka nodded and with a graceful turn went through the tent flap, barely making it stir behind her.

Satisfied Taka would do her job Larka crept through the campsite, a deadly and ominous figure in the shadows of the night. She came to the senior captain's tent and ducked inside where she twisted into one of the shadowed corners to survey the inside. The captain was snoring slightly and his breathing was heavy and synchronized, he was fast asleep. Larka knelt down and crawled over to a small table with paper's and the remains of a candle on it. Sharpening her night gaze, a trick her teacher Tyrade had taught her long ago, allowing her to adjust her eyesight mentally without the aid of magic; she gingerly picked up an official looking letter with a broken wax seal. What she read made her blood run cold and her eyes grow wide with astonishment. It read:

Captain Gareth,

You are here by ordered to disarm and pacify the Ashlander tribe known as the Anazimabrah by any means necessary. Their activities have been known to cause disturbances and their tribe members known to be extremely violent and savage. One such member, a Dunmer female known and described only as 'The Woman In Black' is to be apprehended and taken back for her crimes in the stronghold of Molag Mar and is suspected to be wanted for other crimes of violence and thievery in Balmora, Vivec, and Ald'Ruhn. There are also reports of a Breton male and a female Bosmer residing with the tribe, apprehend them as well. This is to be done with the utmost speed as the Empire has plans to build a new stronghold where their tribe is located and they have resisted our attempts at negotiation and relocation. Report back when you have disarmed the Ashlanders and apprehended the Dunmer, Breton, and Bosmer.

Commander Sarthas, Molag Mar Stronghold

It was short and to the point and Larka's hands began to shake and she had to set the paper down again before it made noise. She stepped back into the shadow of the corner and sank to the ground. They're here to kill us, she thought, they'll take me away and kill Liam, Tyrade, WhisperWing and the others. Is this what you meant, Larka thought angrily to Azura. Are my destiny and the destiny of the ones close to me to be butchered like cattle? Not while I'm alive.

Larka's gaze sharpened once more and became cold and deadly. She picked up the letter and stalked out of the tent. She ran silently through the camp, finding Taka just as the Bosmer was leaving at tent. Larka came up beside her and grabbed her arm, making Taka gasp and turn around in fright. "By the Daedra Larka, you almost gave me a head attack!" Taka exclaimed in a whisper.

"Be quiet and come with me." Larka said running through the tents and crouching in the same pathway they'd used earlier to get into the campsite.

"What is it? You look worried." Taka asked quietly, kneeling beside her in the shadow of the overhang.

Larka didn't say anything, she just handed her the note and after Taka used a potion of Nighteye she read it, her face becoming surprised then fearful. "Larka, what are we going to do?" she asked breathlessly. She was absolutely terrified and Larka quickly put both hands firmly on the elf's shoulders and fixed her with a stern gaze.

"You are going to report back to Liam, tell him to have Krillan assemble the best warriors and meet me a mile from here at sunrise." Larka began. "You stay behind with Liam and assemble reinforcements should they be necessary. We are going to stop these men from ever reaching the borders of our tribe, even if it means killing ever last one." Larka said.

"But what are you going to do?" Taka asked.

"Kill off their night Watch." Larka said gravely.

"Larka don't you think we should at least try to reason –" Taka began uncertainly.

"Report back to Liam Taka. Have Krill assemble the warriors and you stay behind with reinforcements. They must be stopped and I'm not giving them an opportunity to murder us in our sleep!" Larka said fiercely, cutting her off. Taka nodded, gulping as she stood up, preparing to exit the pathway. "Taka" Larka said quickly.

"Yes?"

"Have him bring my swords, and keep Tyrade safe." Larka said her gaze unreadable. Taka nodded and in a flash she was out of the pathway and running swiftly into the distance.

"Time to get to work." Larka whispered, unsheathing her tanto.

Her blade dripping the crimson blood of three soldiers already, Larka stalked her next victim. It was the big burly man by the boulder and her last target. With only an hour left till sunrise Larka knew she had to hurry. She snuck, catlike across the hill and ducked behind the opposite side of the boulder. She could hear him on the other side and knew she had to kill him quickly before he would come around the stone and see her, raising the alarm. Using superb acrobatic skills Larka scaled the boulder and perched like a bird of prey atop it, glaring at the top of the soldier's head menacingly. Just as he turned around to start his patrol back Larka stood, the soldier looking up in fright. For a split second their eyes locked, his surprised eyes meeting her merciless ones. He stood paralyzed in fright as Larka jumped from the boulder, falling diagonally towards him. She latched onto him as she landed, her feet connecting with his chest and her free hand gripping his neck as she plunged her tanto into his heart and he fell backwards. She remained there for a moment, still crouched on her dying victim's chest, she ripped the blade out and stood, stepping off of him with distaste and cleaned her blade on his tunic. How dare they try and hurt my family, she thought coldly as she walked triumphantly away from her last kill to where she would meet Krillan and the warriors.

Larka stood motionless in a clearing a mile away from the soldiers campsite, she could see Krillan and 30 or so of her best warriors in the distance. Her mind was still planning and strategizing when Krillan came up to her, fully armored, shock enchanted war axe at his side, his face full of worry. "There's no chance you were kidding about this is there?" he said with an attempt at lighthearted humor.

"Afraid not Krill." Larka said after a few seconds her mind slowly unwinding from strategy into the present. She looked at the warriors assembled in lines, the front consisting of archers and the back of swordsmen and spearmen. "How long has it been?" Larka asked Krillan absently.

"Since what?" he asked.

"Since we had a real challenge, since we've fought for a cause worth dying for?" she answered.

"I can't really say." Krillan answered heavily. "I don't think I've ever had a cause so great."

"Neither have I." Larka said, turning to face him, looking straight into his eyes. "Now we do."

Larka walked towards the warriors and stood in front of them with the supreme air of a commander. "As I'm sure you've heard, the men we are about to kill are here to capture and kill us and take us away from our homeland. We will not allow this so instead we will fight." She said clearly and seriously. The warriors answered with an enthusiastic war cry. "We will fight and we will kill. Every. Last. One!" Larka said, her voice growing louder as the fighters cheered. "Follow us." Larka said as she and Krillan began walking towards the camp.

The sun was rising over the gray hills when two soldiers discovered their night watch dead. Alarmed and afraid they hurriedly woke the rest of the men and the captains had just restored order when they spotted the Ashlanders, Larka and Krillan in the lead coming towards them. "What the hell is this?" one captain grumbled. He gave orders for the company to march to meet the tribespeople and they left the campsite. The two armies met in a large flat clearing, they stood a mere 50 paces away from each other, both sides glowering fiercely at the other. The two captains stepped out and Larka and Krillan stepped out as well till they met halfway.

The four of them stopped and faced each other silently sizing the enemy up. Larka was the first to speak. "We will give you one chance to surrender and leave this place with a pledge to take no further action on our tribe." She said.

"Or what exactly?" the younger captain asked with a humorous look on his face.

"We will kill you." Larka responded with so fierce an assassin's glare the color drained from the man's face.

"Such a pledge we cannot make." The senior captain said.

"Very well then." Larka replied. "It will be your death."

She and Krillan walked back to their warriors, "Are you sure about this Larka?" Krillan asked.

"Yes, are you?" she asked.

"I'm with you till the end." He responded. She squeezed his hand reassuringly and smiled gravely. "To battle we go. You command the archers and the first three lines. I'll take my company." She said. The last lines were comprised of Larka's finest female students, she had dubbed then The Reapers and they had been specially trained by her in the arts of assassination, guerilla warfare and stealth. They were her last resort and would do their jobs effectively. "This shall be quick." She said, drawing her twin wakazashis.

The two armies charged at each other and met with a crash. Soon the large clearing was a sea of fighting bodies, soldier met Ashlander in fierce confrontation. Larka's blades found many victims as she weaved through the fighting men, shouting commands as she fought. Finding Krillan she cut her way to him and fended off his attackers. The two friends stood back to back as they were beset with attacks. Larka noticed her Reapers had hung back as ordered and she hoped they wouldn't be needed but the soldiers outnumbered the tribe and they were suffering casualties.

An Ashlander male fell to the ground in flames and Larka pulled Krillan down just as a fireball sailed over head. Some of the soldiers had fallen back and had summoned a host of Flame and Storm Atronarchs along with several other Daedric creatures. "Damn." Larka whispered, "They have mages." She and Krillan got up once more and split to their different warriors, shouting commands. "Reapers! It's time to kill!" Larka cried to the women who rushed forward to join Larka and Krillan's companies as they charged the creatures.

Larka summoned up a magical shield to deflect the spells that came her way and dodged the rest. A Storm Atronarch swung at her and she ducked, shooting a stream of ice out of her palm, immobilizing it. She turned and beheaded a soldier and aimed a fire spell at the Atronarch, which disappeared into Oblivion as the flames engulfed it. Seeing one of her Reapers surrounded by Dremora she leapt to her and stabbed two of the beasts in the back. The Reaper quickly took care of the rest and was about to turn when a ball of electricity hit her in the back and she fell. Larka winced at the kill and turned away to face off another Atronarch. She could see Krillan to her left fighting the junior captain who was throwing spells at him which Krillan was deflecting with ease. Larka killed the Atronarch and cut off a soldier's arm who was about to stab one of the Archers.

The battle raged and many Ashlanders fell, taking soldiers with them. The Reapers fought with deadly precision, Larka at the lead. Krillan's company killed many; his axe could be seen as an eerie blur, cutting down many. Larka had summoned Llilith and the Winged Twilight was flying overhead, swooping down to aid any Ashlander who needed help. It had begun to rain and the Atronarchs were gone and the last of the creatures were being slaughtered. Larka could see the mages regroup and she charged them, hurling spells from a free hand, one sword in its sheath. She met the first and cut him down with a slash to the chest and she killed the next two with a well aimed shock ball. Her magic was nearly drained and the rain prevented her from using her fire magic (which was her strongest) effectively.

Larka threw her tanto at the nearest sorcerer who was in the process of summoning a large ball of poison. The tanto lodged itself in the mages shoulder but at the last second he flung the ball of poison at Larka who whose back was turned as her sword clashed with a soldier's blade. Larka kicked the man, making him fall back where one of Krillan's archers shot him and she turned just as the poison was about to hit. Her eyes grew wide and she didn't bother to react, it would surly kill her. Time seemed to slow and Larka starred at the ball of lurid green magic, Llilith was fighting off two soldiers and couldn't come to her aid, Larka was about to die. Suddenly there was a desperate cry and Larka saw one of her Reapers fling herself in Larka's path, taking the hit and flying backwards, knocking them both to the ground. Larka lay dazed for a moment, her collarbone area on fire with pain and then she struggled out from under the girl's body. With a sickening jolt she realized the woman was Stellamarah, a young girl who had become a favorite of Larka's for her unwavering courage and skill with the sword. "Fight." Stellamarah whispered as she died to Larka, who held herin grief.

Her words jolted Larka out of her pain and turned in time to stand and kick a soldier out of her way as she made her way to the wounded mage who had almost killed her. She kicked and threw men out of the way as she walked towards him. The man was weakened from her tanto, which was still lodged in his shoulder, and was brandishing a short sword. He swung the sword at Larka but with a hand she deftly hit the blade away, her palm expertly hitting the flat of the sword so she was unhurt. She grabbed him by the neck and threw him backwards where he sprawled in the dirt. She then ran at him and knelt, wrenching the tanto out of his shoulder and thrusting in into his stomach.

She stood and looked around her, rain partly clouding her vision. The numbers had dwindled but both sides kept fighting. Larka realized that the soldiers were desperately frightened by the expertise of her warriors and she smiled at the thought of her fighters matching the skill of the Empire's soldiers, there were far more Ashlanders to soldiers now and they hadn't suffered too many deaths. Larka herself wasn't too badly hurt, she had a long cut up her arm and she suspected her collarbone was broken but she ignored the pain. She ran at the nearest soldier and after a few brief clashes of their swords she killed him and was turning when she heard Krillan's scream.

Her head whipped around and her heart felt like it had been wrenched from her body. Krillan was on the ground, a spear through his stomach, the senior captain standing over him triumphantly. Larka's eyes widened in horror and disbelief as she watched the Captain pull the spear out of Krillan's body and turn away, looking triumphant. She stood, paralyzed at the sight of her dearest friend lying on the ground, blood beginning to seep through his clothing and damaged armor. The sight of his blood snapped Larka out of her state and with an anguished cry she sprung into action, not even stopping as an enemy soldier's sword cut across her back and another's cut a gash in her leg, she kept running. "Llilith! In the name of Azura Help Krillan!" Larka yelled to the Winged Twilight. Larka charged through the remaining fights and leapt at the captain, her sword dropping to the ground as she crashed into him. In a frenzy she beat him again and again with her fists till his face was a bloody mess and then she picked him up and kicked him down once more till she jumped over him and savagely broke his neck with a piercing war cry, making a chill run up the spines of those around her.

The soldiers, seeing the death of their last captain, Krillan had killed the junior one, fled and Larka let them go as she ran to Krillan. Llilith was bent over him protectively and she stepped aside for Larka who fell at Krillan's side, tears mixing with the rain that poured down her face. She drew Krillan to her and looked down at his pain filled face. "I guess this is the end for me…We won though." he said smiling weakly.

"No! No I'll find a way, you can't leave." Larka cried, stroking his face gently.

"Yes I can Larka." He said reaching up to touch her cheek lovingly. "Tell Taka…tell Taka I love her…" he whispered, the light fading from his eyes. "Keep fighting Larka. I'll be waiting in Oblivion…" he said, his hand falling as he breathed his last breath.

"No!" Larka shrieked. "You can't be dead! You can't!" she sobbed, burying her face in Krillan's chest as she knelt. "Please don't leave." She begged softly though she knew it was too late. "Please don't leave…"