Cearbhail:
Ok, everyone. I have some announcements. I, as of right now, know exactly how I'm finishing this arc. Welcome to the final three chapters of Arc One. I won't ruin it for you, but once again, Veselle will unlock Frost magicka by the end of the Arc. And right after that, I will begin working on Arc 2, the one where Asger come into the story to help bring down Miraak. I will not work on any other stories until I finish this arc, because I'm afraid I will lose what I already have planned.
Oh...and enjoy. ^^
Dear diary of shadows,
Today is the 12th of Mid Year. Yesterday, I spent the whole day practicing Air and Earth magicka. It was weird, but Earth was easier for me than Air was. Earth was a lot like doing martial arts in the physical sense. I can see why a lot of mages don't know about it. Most mages don't like the physical approach to combat. Mjoll definitely taught me well enough if I could figure it out, and my mother was great at pointing me in the right direction so that I could unlock the potential to use Earth. So now…I can use Air, Fire, and Earth as elements. Today, I finally learn how to combine the three of them to learn how to use Ash. And after that, I can learn how to create an Ash Guardian. I can't wait.
Gwen has been placed under medical watch since she's pretty much lost it mentally. She's back to normal, I guess. Mother goes in to look at her heart stone, which is starting to look healthier now. I would agree if Gwen would stop trying to kill herself or us. She's so…mentally broken. I can't explain it, but half of what she says is confusing. It doesn't make any sense the things she says, and if we let her go, she'll grab a knife and start carving into her arm. It's scary, and disgusting. And she does it with a smile. Gwen's lost it. But, from what I heard from Mom, that's who Gwen is. How the hell did she survive this long on her own anyway?
Veselle.
…
Today's practice area was a sandy arena filled with ash. Mother had left me alone with some Ash Spawn to train with. She was doing something somewhere. I think it had something to do with Gwen's experiment. Mother seems to think that Gwen is recovering nicely. She's her own person all of the time, and that was a good sign that Gwen was fully back to normal. Could have fooled me though. She keeps trying to kill herself, me too whenever she gets loose. But, that's the thing. According to Mom, Gwen wouldn't try to kill herself if she was under the effects of the heart stone. The heart stone is a lot like a hive mind borne virus. It wants to spread the illness to the whole planet, and it can't do that if its affected are killed themselves. The heart stone was protecting Gwen this whole time by making her jolly; you know, keep her so happy that she wouldn't want to kill herself. Now that Gwen was trying to commit suicide, that meant that the heart stone wasn't affecting her at all.
If it was true that the heart stone's ash poisoning was completely gone, Mom was going to let me leave so that I could find Neloth. Then I had to bring Neloth back here so that I could free Mom and Gwen from their problems. But…I guess releasing Gwen would be more like killing her at this point. There wasn't much we could do for her. Her madness was her own, not created by heart stones. I guess I'll do what I must do, if I have to do it. I don't hate Gwen; I think she's a great person…sort of. I don't want to kill her, but at this point, it just might be a kindness.
I shook my head of the thought as I looked around the room. Several Ash Spawn stood around the arena, all looking up at me with some sort of expectation. By now, I'd learned all their names, and their personalities. Each Ash Spawn had a different, well, aura for a better lack of a term. I could tell the difference between them all anyway. Standing in front of me was Spore. He was the new leader now that Vol was dead. He was the strongest of the Ash Spawn. When he met my eyes with his red glowing spots filled with malice, he nodded to me. "Are you prepared?"
I took a deep breath. "In order to unlock Ash: I must be passionate, I must be creative, and I must be mentally set on going forward. Ash is about survival, and I cannot survive without going forward with a heart full of heat and a mind as quick as a falling star." I took a deep breath, filling my heart with every ounce of courage possible. Courage was passion going forward. Once I felt that click, I knew that I had unlocked Magma element. I could create magma in my magicka now. I wouldn't be able to control it though. If my courage wavered for even a second, the magma would melt me just as fast as anything else. This was amazing. This one element could be what saved my life one day. Why hadn't I been able to do this sooner? Oh yeah…Neloth never explained this to me.
I let my mind wander with new exciting ideas and I suddenly felt the melting courage in my heart harden into an earthy substance. My heart had been filled with the ash that flowed out of the magma. Wow…I never made that connection before. Ash really was what spawned from Air, Fire, and Earth. And just like that, I could feel every little spec of ash around me. I could feel it like it was part of me. Kind of like how I could feel the wind shift around me earlier, now I could feel every spec of ash at my feet. I remember what Mom told me about attacking with Ash. I had to visualize every spec of ash on the ground as an individual effort. I had to will them as a group to do what I want. It was the only way to use Ash for attacking, or defending. I expanded my awareness out to the Ash Spawn. I could feel them too. They were held together by the magicka of the heart stone. It gave them life, which the heart stones were bits and pieces of Lorkhan fused with Ash. The souls of the departed were infused with the Ash to create a hive mind, to which the master mind was living in the heart of Red Mountain.
That's when it clicked. I could feel the call of the Ash. I could feel the winds, the souls of the Mountain call to me. I suddenly understood what Mother had been telling me this whole time. The Mountain really was trying to spread the ash around the world. The Mountain wanted every part of Tamriel to be one giant barren wasteland filled with Ash Spawn. He wanted all the races to be his slaves, to do his bidding. Eventually, he wanted to use the magma to expand the land until there was no water left on the planet. Then there would be nothing left but a planet of ash, a planet he controlled. We would all be Ash Spawn, living in a hive mind. I had to stop this! But how?
I nodded to Spore. "Yeah, I'm ready."
Spore didn't hesitate as he stuck out his hand. I felt the ash gathering in his palm, hot and heavy. I knew he was blasting me with an attack spell. His hand balled up and then fired at me. I felt him gather more ash through his feet to replace the ash he had fired at me. Amazing. I had never understood how they could attack before, but now I understood. As long as they brought more ash into themselves, they could do whatever they wanted; although the heart stone could only control so much ash at once. That's why the Red Mountain needed mages to do its bidding. It needed things that could operate outside of the ash. I finally understood how to beat Red Mountain…get rid of those being controlled by heart stones. Just like what Mother was doing now.
I opened my eyes to see the ball of ash flying right for me. I stuck out my hand to stop it. I tried to visualize the ash coming at me. I wanted to veer it away from me. I pushed my willpower out and made contact with the ball of ash. Too late. I felt the ball of ash smack me in the face. You ever been hit by a snowball? It's soft but stings a little because it's cold? Yeah, that's what this felt like, only hot and not cold. I didn't get a chance to say anything before the other Ash Spawn started firing balls of ash at me. I tried to collect myself but every time I got my concentration under control I'd feel an impact on my body somewhere. I was literally standing there being blasted with ash while I tried to stop the attacks coming at me.
It went on like that for an hour. It was finally when I heard the door open that the Ash Spawn stopped pelting me with ash. I looked down to see that I was almost waist deep in ash. The arena was almost depleted except for around me. I pulled myself out of the ash pile and turned around. Mother was waiting for me by the doorway. I waved to her. "Hi. What's up?" I said as I walked over to her. She had her hood pulled up over her head, and she had those hard looking eyes again. Oh no.
I felt my body stiffen as she used her Telekinesis spell over me. "It time for training." She said as she pulled me up into the air.
"What training?" I called as she dragged me out of the room. "I was practicing Ash."
She scoffed. "Being pelted with Ash is not training, it's playing." Ash Spawns started gathering around us, more than I'd ever seen before. They started following us as we went into a bigger arena, one filled with skeletons. She tossed me through the air until I crashed into the middle of the ashy arena. "You will fight for real now." She directed her stare to the Ash Spawn. "Kill her." She looked at me, her eyes glowing bright red. "You will either destroy the Ash Spawn, or you will suffer a horribly slow and painful death." She turned to leave the arena, melting into a shadow. When she vanished, the Spawn around me started growing swords in their hands. There were easily twenty of them, maybe more than that. More just kept piling out of the ash, like they were zombies. The room was quickly filling up with them. And I still didn't have my staff.
I looked around for something I could do. I saw a lot of skeletons around me. That's it! I couldn't stay here, not anymore. Gwen was trying to kill me; Mother was trying to get me killed. I couldn't stay here anymore. I would go get Neloth and bring him here. As far as I could tell, the silver trick was what was going to save Mother and Gwen in the end. I just had to go and get him and then come back. If I was going to do this then…yeah. I'd have to summon Kyuu.
As I started forming a plan, I felt a heavy bash on my face. One of the many Spawn chucked a hard ball of Ash on my face. My face burned wickedly as the ball bounced off me. Stars danced on my face and I felt more impacts all over my body. All the Spawn were firing at me now, hitting me with everything they had. I was trying so hard to use Ash but at this point, it was more about survival than some stupid element. I stuck my hands up to protect my face and I screamed. I wanted the pain to come to a stop. And that's when it happened. The Ash on the ground flowed up, forming a protective shell around me. I watched as the ash rose up, solidifying into a shell around me. Oh…ok. Instinctual magicka. I guess that makes some sort of sense. That didn't mean that I was suddenly going to say that I should stay here. Mother told me that she was losing the fight. If evil Ildari was in place of Mother, she must have lost her mental battle. Evil Ildari was probably here to stay now. I was almost certain of it. She'd been struggling for days to stay sane while she prepared me for whatever might happen. I guess she finally lost her battle to the ash poisoning. Time for me to leave.
I let the shell of Ash fall around me. Ash Spawn were coming up to me, swords raised. I looked down at the ash and visualized the ash hardening into a straight pole. I reached into the ash and felt the hot presence that I'd learned to feel with Ash. I grabbed something solid and lifted it up. I pulled a straight pole of Ash out of the ash. It was like my old bo staff. Perfect. I twirled it around, but as soon as I did that, the staff broke apart. Oh yeah…I have to focus on keeping it together, don't I? I didn't have time as a Spawn slashed down at me. I stuck out my hand and mentally broke his sword. His sword fell apart. I reached into his body and pulled his heart stone out. The Spawn fell apart as I did that. Countless more Spawn were falling down on top of me though. I had to think fast. I blasted my hands out, willing all the ash to fall apart. It was a stretch because I had to see every Spawn in my mind fall into pieces. But it worked. The Spawn fell back into the pit, lifeless. Their heart stones glowed from where they fell, but other than that, there was nothing. They didn't even try to pick themselves back up either.
"Hello, Vessy." I heard the broken laugh of Gwen as she struggled to walk into the room. Her arms glistened red and she was smiling wickedly at me. "I can smell the blood on your face. It looks so pretty. I want to see more!" She announced as she ripped a portal open in front of her. "Show me your blood!" She charged at me, reaching into the portal and pulling out a large Daedric sword.
Ok, I really didn't want to go through this. I visualized the Ash on the ground flowing up and slamming her. When I launched my fist out at Gwen, the Ash on the ground lifted up and slammed into her like a wave. It buried Gwen enough that I forced the Ash to harden enough to hold her down.
"It burns!" She screamed, laughing as she twitched. "It burns so good!" She cried as she looked at me. "Vessy, want to burn with me? It will be fun, I promise." She tried to move her legs and her arms, but they were covered with enough rock-like Ash that she wasn't moving anytime soon. "Please play with me! I'm so bored, and I only want to see your blood. I want to see it coat the floors, the walls…everything. I want to see my blood too." She struggled but it didn't get her anywhere. "I can get to my arms! How can I see my blood if I can't reach my arms?" She started crying. "Vessy, I can't reach my arms. Please let me go now. I only want to see us bleed."
I shook my head and started walking out of the room. I kept my distance from Gwen while I did so though. She was crazy right now, but she was still dangerous. "Gwen." I stopped by the exit. "I promise I'll make this right one day. We'll get your mind fixed."
Gwen looked up at me and her eyes started to tear up. "You sound just like that stupid…Talvas." She started struggling again, this time more forceful. "You think I'm weak, don't you? You think I need your help? I'll kill you, Vessy. And then I'll paint my walls with your blood, so that I will be reminded of the good old days." I backed out through the door, never taking my eyes off Gwen. She struggled to get out, but I could feel her eyes on me even as I backed out of the room. "Vessy? Vessy!" She screamed after me. I heard her screams turn to sobs. "Please don't leave me… I promise not to cut too deeply." She started crying.
I couldn't stand here and listen to this. I shook my head as I walked away from the room. This was so messed up. I couldn't believe they had to live through this. Especially Gwen. I felt so sorry for her, but there was nothing I could do for her. Her version of helping herself involved mutilating me. And that wouldn't help her in the end, but it would hurt, possibly kill, me.
I walked through the hallway, keeping my eye open for Ildari. As I walked past the operating room, I saw her shadow in there looking at some old book. She hadn't seen me so I silently snuck past her. I walked into the dining room. I looked around for the bottle that had Anari inside it. I had to get her and make a run for it. I wasn't leaving here without her. The dining room was filled with a lot of stuff, but I didn't see the bottle. I looked up the staircase that led to Ildari's bed chambers. It had to be up there then. I pretty much ran up the stairs as quietly as I could, always looking over my shoulder for Ildari. I didn't see anything.
I finally got upstairs. I could see Ildari's bed near the center of the room, bookshelves, an enchanting table, an alchemy table, and finally a nightstand. The bottle containing Anari was right on top of it. I ran over and grabbed the bottle. I hugged it close to me, smiling. "I got you, Anari." I slipped the bottle into my pouch and turned to run. I jumped over the railing, freefalling to the dining room. I landed pretty silently. I looked around for any sign of either Ildari or Gwen. Neither of them was near me. I silently took into a run through the hallway. I didn't know how to get out of here. If I let Anari out, she could tell me. I didn't want anyone to know that I was leaving though. And having Anari out would be a pretty good indicator that I was leaving.
I snuck past the room with Ildari in it without drawing attention to myself. Ok, that's a good start. And that's when I broke into a sprint. I tore through the hallway as fast as I could. I charged past the battling arena with the crying/screaming Gwen, who was still screaming for me to come help me kill her. I almost stopped to talk to her, perhaps try to get her to calm down and be normal. I didn't stop because I didn't have the time to wait. I also knew it was hopeless at this point. Gwen was lost…just like my Mom. They were both gone for good. I had to get Neloth. He'd help. As much as I hated him, he was the only one that would help at this point.
I don't know how long I ran around in circles. Every corridor was the same. Ash Spawn filled almost every hallway I could see. They didn't look violent though. They looked at me like they would a passing person on the street. Just a glance and then they'd go back to work. I thought about letting Anari out, but I still didn't know if it would cause something bad to happen. I don't know if someone would try to kill her. And any commotion would bring Ildari, and that would be a bad thing. So, I settled for running around the castle, going into every room, looking for a door I could go through. Some doors led to other rooms with abandoned beds, some to what looked like ancient bathrooms. Yuck. I'm glad we have toilets. I'd hate to poop into a bucket and then toss it out into the street like an idiot.
I had traveled down a few levels of the old fort before I found myself by a door that was enchanted. When I walked up to it, I stuck my hand out at the door. The door wasn't enchanted, the entire building was. This was the doorway leading to the outside. The second that I opened this door, Ildari would know that I had left, because the enchantment was an alarm system. If I broke the enchantment, it would warn Ildari as well. I didn't have a choice. I had to leave, and this was the only way out. The enchantment covered the whole building. Even if I didn't go through the door, passing the enchantment would set it off. Anything with a soul big enough to fill a grand soul gem would set the alarm off. I looked down at the bottle filled with Anari. She wasn't so big a soul. Neither was Kyuu. But…they'd be attacked by any Ash Spawn on the other side. And I wasn't sure if they could get away. And once again, Ildari would know soon enough that I had taken Anari. No… I had to be the one to leave.
I took a deep breath as I pulled the door open. I felt the enchantment snap into alert and I took off for the courtyard. I sprinted as fast as I could while reaching into my pouch for the bottle. I pulled it out and popped the top. Anari was suddenly beside me, her wispy groan alerting me to her presence. "Are we out?" She asked.
I nodded. "Yes. Go tell Neloth where we are. Go!"
She nodded and vanished. I paused and let my emotions get riled. I let the fire gather all around me and I thrust my hands into the air. A cyclone of fire surrounded me and I let it roar into the sky as I beacon of my location. Neloth had to at least know where I was now, even if Anari didn't get to him. As soon as I lit the sky up with my magicka, I felt a whammy on my face. I was suddenly slammed into the ash as Ildari morphed in front of me. "So…you survived." She hissed at me. "And you broke our promise. First, I will carve out your little heart…" She let that sink in. "And then I'll put in a new heart, a better one. And then you will come with me to kill your little friends as punishment for betraying me."
"You think I'll do whatever you want?" I screamed at her. "You can't control me!"
She hissed out a laugh, picking me up with her Telekinesis. "You will see once you have a proper heart, daughter. You will gladly kill your friends, if it means putting a new heart into them as well." Whoa…that was a scary thought, but it matched what I knew about the hive mind of Red Mountain. She started pulling me back into the fort. "Time for your operation." She hissed as she pulled me back into the castle. No…I couldn't get away this time. This was it. Unless Neloth got here in time…there was no stopping it this time. I was truly going to die.
Cearbhail:
Ok, so... you will see how this will end. Enjoy the end. Well, end of Arc 1. I cannot wait to see how it finally ends.
