Cearbhail:
Ok, everyone. A very long chapter today. Had to. I wanted this all done in one session and that includes a very special Zera perspective today! Yeah! Towards the end. You'll see. I left it very open so you can tell it's hers. If you've read any other of my stories, you know I display multiple perspectives like this. [Zeratah]. Yeah, just like that. Ok... have fun.
Oh...and enjoy. ^^
Dear diary of shadows,
A lot has happened. First and foremost, earlier today I managed to infiltrate the Severin Manor under the pretenses that we wanted to have a tea party. And it was nice. We had some tea and I got to talk to Vendil. He definitely gave off the whole assassin man thing. And then there was Mirri. I mean, I never knew she was training to be an assassin, or that she knew any martial arts. If I had known earlier, imagine the sparring matches we could have had. Fighting with Seth was fun, but imagine having a three-way match between Seth and Mirri. That would be so much fun for me. I could go all out too. Magicka all over the place. Well, anyway, I decided to spar with Mirri so that my friends could find some proof that the Severins were really the Ulens and that they were plotting to kill the Councilor.
Mirri was one intense fighter. She was able to use her magicka in a precise combat fashion. I actually picked up a few tricks from her since our sparring match. If it came to a rematch, I think I would win. But that's a problem all its own. When my friends found the proof they were looking for, they told me telepathically. Vendil eavesdropped on our conversation with the skills of a true assassin and then ordered Mirri to kill me. She pretended to kill me and according to Seth, Vendil and Tilisu searched the whole house for them, but they hid very well and kept moving so that the family would never find them. Soul Separation and Invisibility were invaluable after all.
After Vendil searched for a few minutes, he declared that they needed to evacuate the house and go to Ashfallow Citadel. They were going to mobilize their troops while they still had an element of surprise. They have their own army of assassins. Ok… so… this is happening. Seth and Zera found me motionless on the floor in the dojo. They checked for a pulse but didn't find out. And they couldn't wake me up either. They rushed to the Bulwark with the note and explained what had happened in great detail. Father was angry that I was dead. But I wasn't. Like I said, Mirri pretended to kill me. She never wanted to fight me. She never wanted to fight at all. She's innocent in all this. She saved my life… and we're mobilizing the entire Redoran Guard against these assassins. I will save Mirri's life, like she saved mine. I just hope she lets me.
Veselle Tenvanni.
…
House Redoran guards lined the bulwark with everyone at the ready. My father and mother waited by the gateway, looking out at the strip of land that led out to the wilds of Solstheim. As we approached the gate, Father and Mother both turned around to see me running up.
"Sorry…" I had just begun to say before I was suddenly wrapped up in my father's arms. His cape fluttered in slow motion as he hugged me close to him. I stood there, completely shocked as he actually embraced me.
"I thought you were dead." He said to me as he hugged me close to him.
"Umm…" I started to say before Mother joined in. I was suddenly trapped between two Telvanni Lords as they tried to kill me with their love. I started tapping Dad on the back as I tried to catch my breath. "Ok… I feel the love. Let me go!" I struggled to get out of their death lock.
Dad and Mom finally broke out the hug spree. Dad nodded to me. "Well done, as always, Veselle. You did as expected of you, the best I could have hoped for. You could have tried to stop the family, but with what was going on, I can understand your inability to stop them."
"Mirri was kicking my butt." I said to him. "I couldn't beat her in a fight. Which opens me up to what I'm going to say next." I took a deep breath. I had to say this. "I want to fight her. Just me. No one else will interfere."
He crossed his arms. "What about the rest of the family?"
I shrugged. "I don't care about them. I'd prefer they face justice like normal citizens."
Captain Veleth held up the note that Seth took from the safe. "This note is proof enough that the Severins are actually Ulens in disguise. The whole family, as far as proof can go, is guilty of treason."
"But we don't know that for certain." Seth almost screamed at Captain Veleth. "Only Vendil's name is mentioned in the note. His wife and his daughter might be innocent in the whole thing."
Veleth shook his head. "If you think he can hide something so carefully planned and concealed from his family, you obviously don't know House Hlaalu. They suck at being invisible."
"And yet an entire army of Hlaalu assassins have lived on his island without detection." Father mumbled just loud enough for Captain Veleth to hear.
Captain Veleth almost chuckled. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over your dead wife raising the dead, kidnapping your daughter, and living just a mile from you without you knowing about it."
Mother laughed at the thought. She looked over at Dad, nudging. "He has a point. I lived right next to you for years and you never knew."
"I never sought you out." Dad replied.
"Enough." I said. "We can stand here all day and argue about who's more useless: House Telvanni's or House Redoran's leaders, or we can actually do something and get the jump on these assassins before they have time to prepare for a full-on war."
Dad nodded. "Veselle has a point."
"Thanks, Dad."
"We are pretty useless." He growled. "I vote we send Veselle and two unnamed guards to go fight a fully functional army of assassins. I'm certain she can handle them with no problem."
Captain Veleth nodded. "I… agree. That sounds like the perfect offensive plan. Forget mobilizing the whole guard to nullify the massing threat… no… we should send one person with two unnamed guards."
Seth and Zera stood next to me. "We'll be those two unnamed guards." Zera announced.
Both Captain Veleth and Dad laughed at the thought. "Children, we were only kidding. No one is stupid enough to think that sending two guards and a little girl alone would be even considerable for a mission of this caliber. Vendil has been training for this moment for decades. He's very strong, and not going to be beaten by a teenage mage. No… I will slay him personally. The guard will assist me. And Veselle will join me."
Dad nodded. "We shall stay here and watch the Councilor with our lives."
"See to it." Captain said. He nodded to me. "Veselle, Seth, Zera. Come."
The three of us started following Captain Veleth as he started exiting through the gate. I looked back at Dad, waving to him and Mom as we followed the rest of the guard. There were perhaps 12 other guards with us. That was about half of the guard. Six of them had the red armband that showed that they were part of the Cute Girl Squad, a squad that specialized in following me around and dancing on cue for whenever I wanted a musical number. They were getting pretty coordinated. Nah, I'm kidding. That's only on karaoke night. Thrin was probably the best singer of my patrol, but it was Starah that could dance the best. She was pretty cool. Yeah, I have a woman on my squad. She's amazing with a blade. Reminds me of Mjoll, if Mjoll were a party animal. Can you imagine a party animal Mjoll? That's Starah.
"So… do you think we'll be ok?" Zera asked as she walked beside me. "This will be my first real quest."
I nodded to her. That was right… this was her first time. It was Seth's too. They'd been training with me for the past year, but they don't learn as fast as I do. Then again, I was born to Telvanni mages. They were the first in their generation. Their parents weren't going to bother becoming mages either. They were going to stay farmers. They were proud of Seth and Zera though. They had never hoped that their children would someday become part of the restoration of House Telvanni. It was something out of a fairytale.
I finally found my voice. "You'll be fine, Zera." My first mission wasn't all that great. I had Talvas helping me through the majority of it. He protected me, and even past all that, I was almost killed by an Ash Guardian. That was the day I met Kyuu. Even with his help, I was barely keeping it together. Dad had to save me. Dad wasn't here… and neither was Talvas. I was going to have to step up and keep everyone safe. Was I ready for this? I found my stomach sinking at the thought that someone I loved would not be coming back with me. One of my guards… one of my friends… my boyfriend. Oh gods… what was I getting myself into?
We walked in silence for the most part. Seth and Zera continued to ask me for tips on what to do. I told them to just stick close to me and throw as much magicka as possible to everywhere possible. Seth had noticed how worried I appeared and he tried to spend the whole time making jokes. I think it was for his benefit too. He must be shitting bricks if he thought I was worried. These were not some mindless Ash Spawn… these were hardened assassins. People forged from the pits of Red Mountain… trained to kill anyone that got in their way. Oh gods… what was I getting into?
Captain Veleth, after a couple miles of walking, stopped and turned to face us. "Men! Listen up! Right ahead of us… is an enemy…"
"Fire!" I heard from all around us.
"What?" Captain Veleth screamed as crossbolts rained down on us all. I had just enough time to throw a Shield up around me as the bolts rained down at us. Captain managed to cover his head with his own shield as he was hit with the majority of the bolts.
"Well, well, well." Vendil started to say as he stepped out from behind his hiding spot. "It would see that once again…"
"Return fire!" Captain Veleth shouted. The Redoran guards pulled out their bows and took fire at Vendil.
Vendil smirked as he unsheathed a Daedric katana. He slashed with such elegance that he made it look effortless as he chopped the arrows down. He tsked the Captain, shaking his finger at him. "Interrupting me during my evil person monologue. How…unheroic like of you."
"You interrupted my awe-inspiring war preparation speech!" Captain Veleth returned. "That's a soldier's thing. Right before a big battle where someone dies… usually the commanding officer or the comic relief character… a really inspiring speech is given. And you ruined it."
Vendil held up his hands in defeat. "Ok, you got me there. Sorry, I jumped the bow on this. Tell you what. You do your speech, and then I'll do my monologue. Think we can work that into our whole…final battle thing?"
Captain Veleth seemed to consider it. "Only if you promise not fire at us while I'm giving the speech."
Vendil nodded. "And you return the same courtesy." The two men stared at each other for a second they turned to their men. "Ok…" He said back to Captain Veleth. "I will just return to my little hiding spot." He said before he slid back down behind his giant rock.
Captain Veleth cleared his throat and regained his posture before throwing his sword up into the air. "Mer of House Redoran…" He paused before dropping his arm and turning around. "You know… I just don't feel it. You know? It's just like… the moment's already past. Am I right?"
"Oh thank the gods…" Vendil laughed as he stepped back out from behind the rock. "I thought it was just me, hiding behind my rock like I'm somehow no one knows I'm here. It's like… they already know I'm here. You know? So awkward." He cleared his throat, looking down at Captain Veleth. "So… do we just skip the usual good guy bad guy banter and just go straight for the killing each other?"
"Do you plan on surrendering at the last minute when everyone else is dead?" Veleth asked.
He shook his head. "See no reason to. You would never take me alive." He turned around and motioned to the rows and rows of assassins. "Slow them down."
"Don't you mean 'kill them'?" One of the assassins asked.
Vendil smirked and ran for the citadel. "I know what I said."
Captain Veleth turned to look at us. "Ok everyone. Clear them out like novices."
"I have a really bad feeling about this." One of the assassins said as they began charging for us. He was quickly silenced by an arrow in the head.
I looked at Zera and Seth. "Ok, guys. Here's how these things work. The Redoran guard will handle the assassins out here. Captain Veleth and we will probably end up inside the ruin and take the fight to the Ulen family directly. And if you see Mirri… she's mine."
Zera and Seth both nodded. "Well… what are we waiting for?" He started to step in front of me. "Let's go!"
As soon as Seth took off in a run, I followed behind him. I tried to catch up as we raced across a few assassins charging for the Redoran. One of the assassins saw us and switched to us. He was about to attack us until a nearby friend of his grabbed the guy by the shoulder. "Dude… they're children. They can't be that dangerous." He gestured to the 12 Redoran guards. "They are. Focus on them."
"Right." He nodded. "Wow… that was almost stupid of me." He nodded an apology before running for one of the members of Cute Girl Squad, only to be cut down by Starah.
The three of us ran for the citadel, making it all the way up to the archers by the entrance. As soon as I spotted them, I grabbed Seth and pushed him back. I jumped in front of everyone and pulled up a Shield spell. A thick wall of protective magicka roared to life in front of me right before a few arrows nearly pelted me. I held the Shield as I reached into my back pouch. I grabbed the heart stone I kept with me and pulled it out. I held it up and gave it a quick kiss before I tossed it at the archers. They watched as the heart stone fell towards them. When it hit the ground, they looked at it with bemusement before laughing outright. Their laughter was met with a large whirlwind of Ash that turned into huge fists that slammed down on them. Ha! Serves them right for laughing at my cunning strategy to use Volana to fight for me.
Volana's body started to take shape. She looked back at me, bowing to me as she did so. "Mistress Veselle, I have taken care of the archers."
I nodded my thanks to her. "Great. Can you help us inside?"
She shook her head. "No Ash inside. I will break apart if I do go inside."
I finally nodded and then waved to toward the war going on outside. "Then go fight the assassins attacking the Redoran Guard. Keep Cute Girl Squad alive, got it?"
She nodded. "It will be done, Mistress."
I ran past Volana with my team. As soon as we entered the fort, the door closed behind us like it was booby-trapped just for that. I hear pounding on the other side of the door. "Veselle!" Captain Veleth screamed at the door. "Can you open the door?"
I shrugged. A useless display, I know, but habits die hard. "I can try."
I heard laughter in the hallway. I took up a defensive stance as I looked around for assassins of any kind. I didn't see any. It looked like a pretty standard fort: one really long walkway with separate rooms. Oh… and stepping blocks that trigger giant spiked swinging door traps too. Crap… where's a bottle of sujamma when I need it? This was a job for drunken fist Veselle. That's when I got a great idea. I reached for the Sanguine Rose on my back. I had enough backup right here!
I looked back at Seth and Zera. "Um… promise me that whatever you see… or whatever I say… you will not hold it against me."
Zera looked at me like I was an idiot. "What are you talking about?"
Seth only smiled. "I will always be on your side." Oh boy… saying stuff like that before I get drunk. I hope he's strong enough to hold me off.
I looked back at them. I could see the chain that would unlock the door. It was behind a complicated swinging door trap. "I'm about to unleash my drunken fist." It's about time! Sanguine called from deep inside my head. Just bring a few of your strongest drinks, Sanguine. Oh, boy. Finally! He screamed into my head. "I'll take care of the traps. You just stay here for right now."
I pulled the Sanguine Rose in front of me and concentrated on it hard. I reached out for Sanguine and called him to me. I willed the Rose to teleport him to me and then I heard a loud pop sound in front of me. "Here's Sanguine!" He screamed as he charged out the portal. He had a few bottles of what looked like wine in his hands. As soon as he exited the portal, he turned to look at me, a wide grin on his face. "Time to party? Sanguine style?" I nodded as Sanguine passed me a bottle. He kept one for himself. As I started taking a sip, Sanguine pushed the bottle up, making me chug it. "Chug, chug, chug!" He screamed as his miracle liquid seemed to flow right into. It was an instant buzz. No wait time needed.
Time seemed to distort. My body felt hot and everything seemed light and fuzzy. Sanguine smiled as he wrapped his arms around me. "My cutie is ready for a real party." I could barely hold myself from wrapping my arms around him and trying to kiss him. I don't know why, but he seemed really attractive.
I found myself being pulled away by Seth. "Hey, Vess. Not that I'm jealous or anything like that, but you shouldn't be macking on other guys, especially Daedra Lords." As I spun to look at Seth, I could only imagine what it would be like to rip his shirt off and bury my face in his chest. So, I started reaching for his belt to untie his hakama. "What?" Seth called as he started fighting my hands. "Vess? What's gotten into you?"
My only reply was a drunk hiccup. Sanguine, the drunk fool, was busy trying to help me hold Seth down while I undid his hakama. Zera only rolled her eyes as she stepped past us. As I started fighting Seth so that I could undo his hakama, I was vaguely aware that Zera was jumping past the trap block activators, using what knowledge she had of Air magicka to float. She managed to pull the chain that would unlock the door; but that chain didn't unlock the door… it shot a bunch of poisonous darts at Zera.
The room spun around me as I turned my attention from the pinned Seth over to Zera. She had screamed in horror as she was pelted with poisoned darts. And if that wasn't bad enough, when she stepped back, she stepped on one of the block activators. By the time I turned around, one of the swinging doors was already flying at her. I was too slow. I couldn't get to her fast enough. All I saw was a flash of blood on the wall and on the spikes of the swinging door. Oh, and the heart-shattering scream of Zera.
Of course, by the time my drunken brain processed what was going on, I was able to determine that the body lying next to me was Zera's. Her eyes were wide and dilated, but she wasn't covered in holes. She wasn't dead or bleeding out. She was breathing hard and she was twitching like she was fighting a poison inside her. I looked over to the wall to see a bloody corpse smashed into a wall. It was Sanguine's. He had swapped places with Zera, saving her life and giving his away. My mind was still spinning and I doubt that the alcohol in my system was going to wear off anytime soon.
I still had enough sense to form a link with Kyuu in my mind and bring a summon portal to me. "Kyuu!" I called and laughed the portal orb out at Zera. The portal ripped open and Kyuu came jumping out, landing on top of Zera.
He looked over at me with his beady blue eyes. "Hi, partner." He glanced down at Zera for a second. "Oh… I see." His ears perked up and a giant Heal Beam fell down around her. It took a few seconds before the beam wore off.
Zera gasped for breath and quickly sat up, wrapping her arms around Kyuu. "You saved me!" She said as she hugged him close.
He smiled. "It's what I do!" He announced happily.
"Captain!" Seth called to the doorway. "We can't find a way to open the door."
"Ok then." He yelled to us. "I'll just break it down." There was a loud thud and the Captain screamed in pain. "Ow… my wrist." There was another thud. "Ow…my other wrist…" And finally a louder thud that didn't do anything to the door. "Ow… my shoulder!" He was silent for a second before saying. "I can't get in. You'll have to take care of the Ulens yourself."
Seth looked at me as I started placing my hands on his belt again. I was so close to having that tricky knot undone. Seth pulled my hands away, saying, "No time, Veselle. We have people to fight." I groaned as he pulled me up. There should always be time! While the chain Zera pulled did fire deadly darts at her and nearly killed her, it did open up a doorway into one of the rooms. And inside was Tilisu Ulen. She was dressed in a flower kimono, her hair braided and wrapped around the back of her head like a giant halo. She had two golden fans in her hands, and she sat there in seiza while she waited for us to approach her.
Tilisu's eyes flickered open and she looked at us. "I was afraid it would come to this." She said as she started to stand up. She looked at me, a brief smile growing on her lips. "I see Mirri failed to kill you. Shall I spare her the embarrassment and grief of having to go through that again?"
I was still pretty drunk so I didn't really put my fists up. I just stretched my hands out and blasted her with a torrent of orange flames. The flames flooded the entire room and the wave was thick enough that it was making all the nearby stone hot golden as they glowed from the heat I emitted.
As the flames started dying down, I could see Tilisu spinning in the middle of my flames, using Air to create a whirlwind that protected her from any attack. She chuckled as she ceased her spinning, her fans coming down at her sides. "Come now, children… you must have a better plan than that."
By the time she finished her speech, I was already in her face with the Sanguine Rose. "Sanguine, I choose you!"
He appeared through a portal, wielding a massive Daedric longsword. He rushed right for her, but he didn't lob her head off like I thought he would. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Why… hello, cutie." He kissed her. And that was that. Tilisu struggled for a second but I guess you can get drunk off of kissing Sanguine. Her face blushed over and she passed out under his kiss. Sanguine gently placed her down and then looked over at me and my bewildered look. He threw his arms up in question. "What? I'm a lover, not a killer." He turned around and tapped the trap release block at the end of the wall. The next section of barred gates started to slide up out in the main hallway. Time to move on, I guess.
I looked down at Tilisu. "What do we do about her?"
Sanguine smiled. "A party in my mouth will put anyone out for a couple days at least. A party in my pants will put someone out for months." He winked to me. Eww…
I refused to give him anything to reply to so I just turned and ran for the main hallway with the new opened gate. I felt my head starting to clear up already. Man, that was some powerful wine but it sure hit me hard and fast. Bowchikabowow. Sanguine forced that word into my mind and it made me want to slam my head into a wall.
As soon as I cleared the next hallway, I found myself staring at a room filled with assassins. Well, "full" was subjective. To me, there were maybe ten assassins. That wasn't a lot… not really. To my friends, it might be a lot more people. I smiled as I reached for my personal staff, dropping the Sanguine Rose on the ground. I cracked my neck as I waved for the first assassin to come at me.
The assassins looked at each other like they were confused about something. "Is it me or are there two girls with twintails looking at us like we're stupid?"
Another assassin lowered his arms. "Now I just feel self-conscious and pitiful." He looked down before reaching for his sword. "It's all their fault!" He was the first one to meet the tip of my staff. My crystal tip poked him right in the middle of the forehead. Oh… and it was still programmed with lightning. As soon as my staff made contact with him, a large lightning wad launched from the crystal tip and ripped through the guy's skull. As soon as he hit the ground, the other assassins all looked at his charred corpse and then at me. They screamed and charged for me. I stuck out my hand and blasted them with a fireball. The room exploded. No one survived.
I looked back at Seth and Zera. Seth looked more than happy at my display, but Zera looked upset. She crossed her arms and huffed as she turned away. "Jeez… I'm not having any fun at all."
"You almost died!" Seth said as he looked down at his sister.
"That was two minutes ago." She reminded him.
I walked past the burnt remains of the assassins and pulled the final lever that opened the last gate. As I stepped into the hallway, I could see the remaining gate was sliding up. Vendil and Mirri both sat inside the room, both in seiza… both dressed in the same armor that I saw the other assassins wearing. I walked into the room and nodded to everyone. "Ok…um…" I waved to them. Once I got their attention, I shrugged. "Give up and go peacefully?"
Vendil looked over at Mirri. "Mirri, you have failed me." He said as he stood up. "Your punishment will be to kill your friends."
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and pleading. "But…Dad…"
He backhanded her so hard that she was thrown off her knees and into the pool of water they were meditating around. When Mirri managed to push herself out of the pool of water, Vendil was already on his feet. "No buts! You're part of the Morag Tong! You will not whine like a child! No, do as I ordered and kill the whelps."
She looked at me, her face fearful of disobeying her father. But then I saw her eyes sharpen. "No." She said as she pushed herself out of the water. "I will not kill for you!"
That was as far as she got before a sword exploded through her back. "Fine then. You have failed me for the last time." He let her body slide off the katana and back into the pool of water.
"Kyuu!" I screamed to him.
"On it!" He cried as he bounded off to heal Mirri.
I looked over at Sanguine. "Sanguine!"
"Ready!" He screamed as a giant barrel of wine materialized on his shoulder. He held it over me and smiled. "Open up…" He cooed. I rolled my eyes but opened my mouth. He pulled the trigger and the wine flowed into my mouth. Man… it was so sweet, so smooth. So…where's Seth? I bet I can get past that belt this time.
I was barely able to stand on my feet as Sanguine stopped the wine flow. I missed a step and found myself wandering to the right. Just as I did so, a long Daedra katana brushed past me, cutting my left arm sleeve open. I felt a small razor pinch rub against my arm and I felt some warm blood flowing down. That didn't bother me so much. When I looked over at Vendil, I saw that he was turning his attention to my boyfriend and Zera. He had something sparkly in his pants. It looked like a potion bottle. I reached for it but I didn't quite grab it. I thumbed the top of it off and the bottle started fizzing.
"What?" Vendil asked as he snapped his head around. When he looked at me, he growled. He slashed at me but I managed to jump back in time.
I laughed as he reached for the potion in his back. "What's the matter?" I stuck my tongue out at him. "Mad that you can't touch me because I'm too young for you?"
He looked at me with furious eyes. "What is wrong with you?" He only had time to ask before the alchemist fire on his back exploded. White fire rained down his back and he screamed in horror as he was melted alive. He slashed madly at me as he ran for the pool of water. His sword smacked me across my chest and I lost most of the feeling in my body.
"Vess!" Seth screamed as he walked up to me. He reached for my chest, and I hoped that for a second that he was going to try to take advantage of me while I was incapable of fighting him. Doubtful. He wasn't like Talvas. He would never do anything without my permission. He paused for a second. "Um…Vess. My healing arts only work if I'm touching. Do I have permission to touch you?"
"Gods yes!" I screamed to him and grabbed his arms. I practically pulled his hands on my chest as I reached up to kiss him. He seemed a little taken off guard by that. He didn't pull his hand away though. I started feeling the healing energy of Restoration running through me and I could feel the presence of alcohol starting to fade away. I looked up to see Seth still holding his hand on my chest, but the buzz of being drunk was already fading away. "Ugh…" I started rubbing the pain from my eyes. "I'm so hungover." I could feel the world pounding down on me.
Seth smiled. "You know…Talvas told me what you're like when you're drunk. Told me to watch out for it. Never knew just how bad you could be."
I groaned. "Please, shut up." His voice was making my head hurt.
There was a loud scream from the pool and a large charred Vendil rose from the steaming pool with a vengeance. He pulled out a bottle of already cooking alchemist fire and threw it directly at us. Sanguine was quick to the draw and jumped in front of us. There was a large explosion….
….
[Zeratah]
I watched in horror as my brother and his girlfriend disappeared into a flash of fire and smoke. When the smoke cleared, they both were lying unconscious, my brother on top of Vessy. Even Sanguine was gone. Neither Seth nor Vessy was moving. I was all alone. I looked to the pool to see that evil man looking right at me. He growled as he stepped out of the pool, picking his huge sword up. "You know… at times like this… I really wonder if they truly prepare us for the hardships of assassinating children." He walked right up to me. "I mean… I've killed adults. Easy targets. It's always the children. So…lucky." He slashed at me. I managed to step back and his blade barely skimmed my uniform. "See?" He almost laughed as he slashed at me again.
"I've got you!" Kyuu shouted as something slammed into Vendil's back. There was a small explosion and the man snapped back. I looked past him to see Kyuu standing seven feet tall with long claws and nine large flicking tails all flicking with Frost.
Vendil turned his attention to Kyuu, but I couldn't let him get away with just fighting him. I knew magicka! I looked down to see Vessy's lightning staff lying on the ground near me. I bent down and picked it up. Vessy taught me a little about martial arts, but I didn't know a lot. So… I would have to improvise. I aimed the staff for Vendil and willed the staff to do its thing. Lightning blasted off the staff, flying right past Vendil's head and into the stonework on the other side of the room. It tore some of the wall apart, but didn't do much to hurt Vendil. He stopped his attack at Kyuu and turned his attention back to me. His eyes were filled with blood-lust.
He stuck his hand out at Kyuu and grunted. Kyuu was thrown off his feet and into the wall with enough force to create an impact crater. What the heck did he just do to Kyuu? He snapped the same hand at me and smirked. He grunted again and I felt something slam into me. Next thing I knew, I was on my back and out of breath. The room spun around me and I didn't know what to do. Summon me! I heard a light voice coo into my head.
What? Where did that come from? Where do you think? Jeez… and Kyuute told me you were smart. Was… was that Tatianna? Bingo! Now… summon me! I can help! Summon? I didn't know how to do that. Sure you do! It's… um… vroom vroom magic, right?
That's right. I heard Kyuu's voice in my head along with Tatianna's. Oh… is this what Vessy goes through every day? I wouldn't mind this so much. I heard Kyuu laugh in my head, along with Tatianna.
I looked up to see that Vendil man halfway over to me. He was already pulling out a vial of alchemist fire and popping the lid off. Ok… I really needed to get this thing started. What do I do? Hmm… Tatianna said. Um… Have you tried working turning your magicka off and back on again? Kyuu laughed at the joke but I didn't have time for this. I was going to die! Ok, fine! Jeez! Just, well… for us it's second nature. Just…
Tatianna, I got this. Kyuu was inside my head again. Just create a ball of portal magicka. And you can make one by just willing your magicka to take form of one. Now, visualize your soul connecting with Tatianna's. Then… will her to travel through the portal magicka. And voila! She'll pop up!
I did as Kyuu said and formed a pall of intention. I willed Tatianna to travel through the portal to help me. Vendil was just tossing the cooking alchemist fire at me when I let the portal rip open. The alchemist fire exploded and I covered my eyes. I felt the heat wash over me. Oh no! I was too slow.
"Hahaha!" Tatianna screamed as she leaped out of the portal. She was a tiny thing, only coming up to my knee at best. She was all yellow with an orange dress that looked like a summer leaf caught on fire. She had bright orange hair that looked like an open flame. As soon as she jumped out of the portal, she waved her hands around. The fire spreading all around me started flowing like they were part of her. She waved her hands and spun around. The fire collected around her and formed into a large ball that surrounded her.
She paused to look at Vendil. "You should never hurt little girls." She said as she took off like a firefly. She slammed into Vendil's chest with all that fire surrounding her. She burned right through his chest in a matter of seconds and flew out his other side. As soon as she blasted out his other side, she let the fire die off. Vendil stumbled off his feet as he reached for his chest. He fell to the ground, still gasping for air. When Vendil finally stopped breathing, Tatianna crossed her small arms and smiled at me. "Hi! I'm Tatianna. You must be Zeratah!"
I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for helping."
She waved it off. "Oh, that was nothing. So, will you make a contract with me?"
I nodded. "Of course! You'll be my first spirit ally."
She smiled at that. "Good." She looked at Kyuu. "So…you still available?"
He smiled at that. "Really? I thought you were with that Frost Sprite."
She shrugged it off. "He gave me the cold shoulder too much."
"I'm finally here!" Captain Veleth said as he charged into the room with the rest of the Redoran guard behind him. "What happened here?"
I smiled. "My spirit and I killed Vendil."
"What about the rest of the Ulens?" Captain Veleth asked.
I shrugged. "Tilisu was kissed to sleep. She's near the entrance. And Mirri helped us. She's not evil."
Captain Veleth nodded. "I'll hold you to that." He looked at Vessy and my brother. He looked at Kyuu. "You should heal everyone so we can get a move on."
Tatianna smirked. "I can help with that… if you want my help." She looked at Kyuu, giving him her best cute girl stance. I should know… Vessy does it a lot with my brother.
Kyuu smiled from ear to ear. "Of course!" Aww!
Cearbhail:
Yeah! Tatianna is now in the story. And I wished I could have shown some of what Zera can do, but since this is her first mission, I didn't want her going all badass on the first try. She'll get there. but this story isn't about her, it's about Veselle. Although we might see other scenes like this where either Seth or her will have to fight in her stead..
Oh, and Ruby makes a cameo next chapter. i will get that up tomorrow
