Cearbhail:

I have a surprise for you. We're going back in time...to where Neloth made his decision to get rid of Veselle. Oh...and this will be a two part story so...next chapter will resolve what happens. And now...you know why he did what he did.

Oh...and enjoy. ^^


[Neloth, 8 years ago] {I know, right?}

Book of Shadows, date: 4e198 19 Sun's Height

Tonight was something of a fright for us. My daughter, Veselle, had awoken to her abilities of Fire Magicka. It was something to behold, but things are getting out of hand with her. It would seem that her spark of Magicka is due largely to her emotions, hence the development of Fire upon herself. When my abilities first manifested, it was observed that I began with Air manifestation, since I was more of a free spirit than an emotional feeler. But it is with most children that Fire manifests first. Children are all about emotions and lack of control of said emotions, therefore a Fire that burns from within takes form due to our magical abilities to take will and project it out. Even so, I have never seen one as powerful as my own Veselle. Only five, still very young to begin most of her training, and she has begun with enough Fire Magicka to destroy not only her room but half of my tower. We need a new roof, and I will begin working on that immediately.

Since the situation is very volatile, and because I have another daughter plus normal non-Magicka users living in my tower, I had to knock Veselle out with a blast of Shock. It was enough to paralyze her meridians so that her emotions would not develop into Fire. I've already gone to work and started placing Slave Bracelets on her arms and legs. She will not be shooting any Fire anytime soon. I just have to figure out what to do with her. She is too young, too emotional to fully control her fire. The best I can do is just keeping her calm, keep her contained, and…

The loud sound of something exploding and the shaking of my table took my attention immediately off my book of shadows. There was a small silence for a few seconds but then I heard Brelyna screaming from a few rooms away. I flashed from my chair, flying right up to Wall of Staves. I grabbed several staves that I kept for any situation. I had the general Focus Blast Staff, which would fire a very direct and focused outward force to wherever I pointed it. I had my Enhancer staff which would take whatever Spell I launched through it and make it possibly 100 times stronger. I could level this island with it if I wanted. The other three were normal Staffs to have. One staff was designed to summon my ethereal ally: a Twilight Flare named Neptune, an ally given to me by Azura. One Staff held enough Restoration within it to repel even the strongest of Undead while giving healing energy to any I believed to be allies. The Last staff…it was my last ditch escape. It reversed time by 13 seconds…just enough time to reverse any mistake. It only worked once.

I rushed out my bedroom into the main hallway. Everything looked like it always did. Brelyna was looking for a place to hide though. She looked worried. When she saw me, she ran to me for comfort. She crashed into my chest with enough force to throw me off my legs, but with a little effort through my feet I stayed on my feet. "Brelyna, what's going on?" I looked down at her as she started crying into my robes.

"These…things. Outside. They attacked me." She said between pouts. She sounded more scared that anything else. She didn't look wounded either. As I was about to say something to her, I heard more pelts against the tower, more explosions that shook the ground underneath us. Brelyna screamed and covered her head in my chest again.

I growled as I started to push her away. "Go watch Veselle. I will go take care of whoever's stupid enough to attack us." I pushed past Brelyna and to the levitator. As I stepped off the small landing, I floated gently down to the tower entrance. I heard more screaming from outside, so I took a deep breath and allowed my mind to clear before I stepped outside. You cannot be one with Shock without having a clear mind. Fire and Frost may be formed from emotions or lack of them, but Shock is more than an emotional status. It is a frame of mind. It's acceptance of your body: your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual forms all as one. It only flows from your figures when all your bodies are linked as one. Only a master of Magicka can ever master Shock through practice, one who hasn't read a book and forced it inside their being. Those who cheat will always lose in the end. Those who discover for themselves will always know their craft.

Once I felt my mind clear, I pushed the door open. Two of my minor towers were on fire: one was my alchemy lab. My garden where my wife used to plant some of the greatest vegetables in this hostile environment was also burning to a crisp. Craters filled most of the empty spots outside. My cook, tower keeper, and my steward were running like Oblivion to hide somewhere since their buildings were burning down. My own tower had taken some hits, hits strong enough to break my wards and wilt some of the exterior. Hmmp… That would take minutes to fix. Minutes I could use to solve my issue with Veselle.

I didn't have to look far to find who was attacking my tower. They were still attacking it. It was hard to tell where one enemy stopped and where one began. Swarms and swarms of Ash Spawn marched up to us, hammering us from far away. In front of the formation was one person: cloaked from head to toe in a black shawl, a large obscuring hood enchanted with Shadow Magicka to keep her face hidden with an unbreakable shadow. It was a large force, one so big that I was glad I grabbed my staves. Wouldn't have to break a sweat this way. Probably wouldn't either way.

I reached for my Enhancer Staff with my right hand, reaching for my Focus Blast Staff with my left. I pulled them both out, pointing them right at the figure in black leading the attack. I used my Magicka to project my voice as loudly as I could as I called out to him. "I will give you three seconds to leave my tower and never come again. If you refuse to leave, I will kill you. If you ever come again, I will kill you. If you even take one more step forward…I will kill you. If you abide by my rules and leave, never returning, I will spare your life. Do you wish to leave, or do you wish to play?" I've been in these situations before. With much of what happened when the Argonians attacked Morrowind, I learned quickly never to give them a second chance. They didn't deserve one. Second chances gets people killed later on.

The shadow figure paused and his army behind him settled. Ash Spawn, perhaps a few hundred of them. Heavily armored with ash weapons as big as they could form, and with armor as thick as it could come. It really didn't help them when it came to being attacked by my form of Magicka, but I guess it really depends on their morale. After my first and final attack, I guess it wouldn't really matter either way. They'd all be just ash.

"I want the girl." The figure's voice slithered from her throat. I was surprised that I had thought it was a male to begin with, but now that I got a closer look, I could see that she did have a feminine curve to her, even though her shawl hid it very well.

"What girl?" I called out to her. My thoughts flashed to Veselle, to the little whirlwind of Fire that I held in my arms just hours ago. It broke my concentration and I felt my Shock wither away. I fought to bring my mind to a restful, purposeful state of mind so that I could command my Shock. I was struggling to switch from Fire to Shock, a tiny insignificant switch that could easily save my life. Sure, it didn't really matter so much, but this woman was clearly a conjurer at least. She depended on Magicka. If I could use Shock, I could numb her from using it…keep her from attacking my tower, from controlling those Ash Spawn under her control. But…would that help? Would the Spawn break apart or go on a ravaging killing spree? I could hit most of them, but all of them? What if one got away and killed someone in Raven Rock? That would be my fault. More emotions I didn't need. More thinking than I needed. Stay calm, Neloth. Stay calm and force yourself to relax.

"The one that commands Fire. I could feel her miles away calling to me with her power…I still feel her. Her power is strong enough to serve my purpose. She's mine. I will have her. Her strength will serve Red Mountain. Give her to me and I will depart from here. Refuse and I will kill you and take her." The woman called out to me.

As soon as she mentioned Veselle's strength in Magicka I felt my body shake with Fire. I had made the full switch from Shock to Fire in just that statement. She wanted my daughter alright. She wanted to take her away. And I wouldn't have that. So, I fed my power into my staves, willing them to take my power. "I will not give her to you…or anyone else." I launched the power from my staves, and my power took form. My Enhancer Staff took my Fire and launched it in a torrent of Lava at the woman. My Focus Blast Staff launched a wall of pure force out at the advancing army.

As the Ash Spawn charged for me and my towers they met the solid wall of force. The entire first three lines of charging ash crashed into the invisible force, not only being thrown back but returning to ash. The woman was hit by the force too, but when she stuck her hands out like she was diving into a deep lake, she seemed to push her way through the force, only showing her effort of getting hit as her shawl flapped around her like she was in a hurricane. As the torrent of lava fell down upon her, she snaked her hand out. Shock Magicka and Frost both roared from her hand. She managed to form a Shell strong enough to glide past the strings of lava falling down around her. She stuck her fingers out like a crossbow and then I felt a solid impact crash into my shoulder like I had been hit by an arrow. Air Magicka…she was using Air Magicka. But…I would have been able to feel that coming at me. I would have been able to prepare for it.

I felt more impacts all around my body. At the fifth slash against my leg, I was able to snap my head down to see a line of ash fall to the ground. More ash lifted off the ground, only a couple grains of it, but still enough that when they rammed into my body moving so fast that I couldn't see them, the impacts felt like arrows slamming into me. The woman was using the ash to attack me. Right as I figured out her tricks, my Neloth senses were tingling. I jumped out of the way as a wave of ash crashed all around me. Standing in front of me was a whirling mass of rocks and ash that had arms and a head with red glowing eyes. Hmm…that was something you didn't see every day.

The inquisitive side of me wanted to analyze the instrument in front of me. It resembled a Shock Atronach, but instead of Shock Magicka rolling inside of it I could see ash and rocks. So, was this construction a form of Daedra? Or was it something else? When it raised its hands in what I assumed as the formation of an attack, I brought up my Focus Blast Staff. Before it could attack me, I blasted it back with enough force to level a mountain. The creature dissipated immediately and I turned to attack the woman in black. She stood there with her arms crossed. She didn't look like she was worried about fighting me. I was about to attack her when my senses told me to jump back. I jumped off to the side as another wave of ash fell down around me. Looking up, I could see that monster already reformed and attacking me.

I growled as I stuck out my hand and attacked it again. Another blast that actually hit one of my earlier burning towers rammed into the beast. My tower broke down until there was nothing left of it, and the creature gone. I continued to look for it. I wanted to make sure it was gone this time. As I was about to turn away after seconds of watching, I saw the rocks in the ground lift up into the air. Ash started to twirl around as the head reformed. As the head reformed, I could see what appeared to be a heart stone residing where the brain would normally be. Ah…so that was it. The heart stone was acting as its anchor. Remove the stone and the creature would die.

I looked around at the rest of the rising Ash Spawn. I could see blotches of red where heart stones were probably resting inside the creatures. The heart stones were creating them. I now had the answer. I just had to hit them. And there was only one method of hitting so many so quickly, before they could raise any Shields or preventions. Shock. I just had to close my mind off, reach my little bubble where nothing mattered. I took a deep breath as I felt my senses telling me Magicka was forming from the ash construction near my leveled tower. I raised a Shield around me as the air turned hot and heavy with ash spraying around. I felt the tiny pieces of rock, scolding hot, crash into my Shield. I continued to fuel Magicka into the spell as I tried to reach my quiet place. It started to work. I could feel my energy converge to Shock. My temper was being calmed, my inner spirit awakened. Time to break their hearts…hah.

I opened my eyes and turned to face my opponent. I started gathering as much energy from my hand as possible. I visualized the Shock launching from my fingertips, slamming into the heart stone inside the head of the whirling monstrosity of ash and rocks. When I felt the presence of hundreds more inside the chests of the now storming Ash Spawn, I readjusted my Shock to hit as many of them as possible. I couldn't focus any one the witch patiently standing far enough away from my range that she could prepare any kind of defense. I would just skip her once and then go back to her. Right as I had enough power stored away to take my attack, I heard Brelyna scream from inside the tower. It was enough to break my concentration and for my Shock to wither away. Then a wall inside my tower exploded.

It was loud enough that I tore my eyes from the battle up to the tower. My tower was on fire. Seconds later, Brelyna came sprinting through the doorway, her own robes lightly burned and her hair charred on one side. One of her twintails was missing, the remaining hair burnt to her scalp. Ouch…that would take a few days to heal up. When she saw me, Brelyna ran up, screaming, "Dad…the slave braces didn't work! Veselle is awake and crying again."

Ok…so…Veselle caused that explosion. Oh…no…Veselle had caused that explosion!

The immobile woman standing next to her army was now moving, and she was moving like a shade. She flew right from her spot up to the hole in the tower where Veselle was. I hurled whatever force I had in my Focus Blast Staff, and I hit her dead-on. The shade flew off into the sky like a sheet of paper caught in the wind. I had maybe six seconds to end this.

I didn't have enough time to gather my mind into Shock again. I didn't have time to do anything at all. I looked down at Brelyna. I used the scared look in her eyes to form all the furious rage I could fathom. The ground around me started to steam until sprouts of fire burst to life. I hugged Brelyna close to me, saying, "Do not be afraid, Brelyna. I am only preparing for the strongest Fire Spell I know: Fire Storm. Just stay close to me and you will be fine."

"Ok, dad." She replied in her usual soft tone, but I could hear the pulse of fear brewing. And that only made me madder. My fire only grew stronger, building into larger swarms. I focused my hatred on the spinning whirlwind of ash. As soon as I realized the army of Ash Spawn was racing to attack me, I raised on hand towards them. A thick wall of flames, easily ten feet high, roared in front of them. The wall traveled from one shoreline to the next. They couldn't come near us without traveling through it. I saw a few Spawn try to cross the wall only to be turned back into ash. Their heart stones fell from the collection of ash. Immediate impact with my magma flames tore the heart stones apart. Good. That meant none of them could charge through.

I turned all my attention back to the whirlwind of ash. He was already launching an attack at me. Had been for a while now. My Shield had absorbed all of it, and I hadn't felt a thing really. I focused all my Flames on him and then let the Spell do the rest. The flames that had been building for a while now swarmed around the whirlwind of ash, attacking it directly. The flames spun around the monster, forming into a cyclone of magma. I saw the monster tried to blast it with ash to make the cyclone die off, but it was fruitless. The cyclone was in full spin now and the flames were only building and growing stronger. I watched as the ash monster and all the ash within the cyclone started turning to glass. The rocks and ash surrounding the monster died off as pieces of glass fell to the ground. The heart stone worked with ash…not glass, not obsidian. I watched as the monster fell to pieces. I finally let the fire die down when I saw the heart stone expose itself. When it cracked and broke into three pieces, I let the fire die down.

It felt nice to be able to breathe for a second. That was all I could afford when I felt that witch's energy returning. I snapped my head around to go find my other daughter. I could keep her safer if I had her by my side like I did Brelyna. I nodded to Brelyna, reaching down to hold her close to me. "Hold on to me." I said to her as she wrapped her arms around my waist. I used my Air Magicka to push myself off my feet and through the hole in my tower that my other daughter had created.

When I cleared the hole in the tower, I could see Veselle. I could also see the witch that had been attacking us. She held Veselle in her arms, and Veselle was out cold. The witch stood there, watching me through her shadowed mask. I could see her yellow glowing eyes though. How could someone so powerful exist without me knowing it? I've lived on this island for years, and I knew who was strong in Magicka. This woman wasn't here before. When did she get here? Or was it truly that my daughter had called her here with her Magicka aura. Was she really that strong?

"Such a beautiful little girl." She woman's voice slithered out through the mask. "I will be taking her now."

I shook my head and pushed Brelyna away. "No, I will not allow that." I looked over to Brelyna for a second. "Brelyna, stand back and raise a Shield as strong as you can make. Remember that bracelet I gave you two years ago?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Activate it." She did. And she vanished. Teleported to the one person I trusted: my brother in the College of Winterhold: Arch-Mage Savos Aren. He would keep her safe for now. I'd get her back whenever I felt it was safe for her to return.

I turned my attention to the witch. "You were smart to send her away. I would have killed her once I was done here."

"Why not just take her too?" I asked as I brought my staves up to meet her.

"That girl is worthless to me. Too weak, too afraid of her own talents."

I shook my head. "I suspect her strength comes from her compassion, not her magicka. Once she finds someone to put that compassion in…she'll be stronger than me."

"As will this little one." The witch gestured to Veselle's limp body, who hung silently in her arms. "With the proper training."

I wanted so badly to throw an attack at the witch, but I couldn't risk it with Veselle in her arms. I might hit Veselle too, and I did not want to do that. So…I had to do something, and I was glad I had prepared for this instance. I pulled out my Last Ditch Effort Staff. While it did have that one enchantment, it also had another one programmed inside it. It only worked when I was inside my tower. It teleported everyone who didn't belong in my house out of my house. I don't know where the witch would be sent, or how long she would be gone for…but it would be for long enough.

"I want to say something to you before you leave." I said to her. "If you ever return, I will kill you. I will prepare for you. I will destroy you. You will not find either of my daughters here, and they will be protected where I put them. They will be hidden. You will not find them. And if by some chance you do find them…there will be counter-measures already applied to fight you. The counter-measures I give to them will destroy all of Tamriel if applied. Are we clear?"

The witch chuckled. "You think you can get rid of me? Here? What could you possibly do to make me give up today?"

"This…" I said simply and tapped my staff on the ground three times. She seemed familiar with my spell because she started to curse her own counter-chant as I screamed, "I claim Sanctuary. I banish thee." Just like that, a portal ripped open around her and she vanished from the tower. The unconscious Veselle fell from sky. I caught her with my Telekinesis, and slowly lowered her to the floor. I sighed a relief as I felt all the Ash Spawn outside return to ash. So…I had won a small victory tonight. Now…I had another battle that needed to be fought. I had to make sure both my daughters were safe. Scratch that…I had a rebellious daughter in Skyrim too, living in Riften last I checked: Karliah. I'll take Veselle to her. She's good at being invisible. She can keep Veselle hidden.


Cearbhail:

Ok, so the first arc is so close to coming to a close. Maybe five chapters left for this first arc. Maybe more just to get some character filler. Ok, maybe ten to fifteen chapters. Yeah, we'll see. Not sure yet. Ok, see you soon.