Cearbhail:

I know it's been a long time. I haven't stopped writing, I've just been too caught up in playing games, socializing during the weekend, and of course DMing for D&D. I'm also playing a character in a different campaign that takes place on the same day, so we alternate. If you want, you're able to keep up with our D&D stories, I record a cliff notes of everything we do on my facebook page. My group is pretty childish sometimes, but then again, I play a kitsune monk who solves everything by punching it.

Oh... and enjoy =^^=


[Mirri Severin]

"Father, we have returned." Frea shouted as she charged into her father's hut.

Walking back into the town was pretty easy, and I'm happy I didn't have to shed my armor a second time to get inside the town. The barrier that Frea's father raised was no longer covering the town, so I'm guessing we managed to subdue the influence of the corrupted Wind Stone. The villagers were gladly back to their families, and it seemed like a happy ending.

I wish I could say the same for us though. We still have to go back to Tel Mithryn, save Veselle, and everyone else in our town, and then we have to go to Raven Rock and save them. And then… it just keeps going on, doesn't it? There are only five stones from what I remember, so… I guess if we cleanse all five of them, this whole matter should be resolved. Miraak will no longer be a threat and then… we just go back to having a life. I can finally sit down and relax or resume my training with Teldryn. That would be nice. I miss him. He's like the father I wish I had to begin with.

"Father!" Frea shouted from inside her house.

The High King followed behind her, saying, "Sir, we finished that small quest."

I walked in behind them. The shaman was sitting at a table, eating a huge piece of venison. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days. If he'd been keeping that barrier up for as long as he had, I couldn't blame him. I doubt I could have kept up an active Shield for that long.

"Welcome back, Dragonborn." Frea's father said as he nodded his head to the High King. "By cleansing the Wind Stone and freeing my people, I can safely say that you are an ally to the Skaal, and because of this… we are your allies as well."

The High King nodded delightfully. "Sweetness, so… how about you tell me what I wanted to know about how I can stop Miraak?"

The Shaman swallowed his food and placed his piece of deer leg back on the table. "Miraak resides in Apocrypha, the realm of Hermeaus Mora. I'm sure that piece of information is no surprise to you, and for you to stop Miraak, you will need to travel to Apocrypha and challenge Miraak, destroy him before he can leave the realm. Or… you can wait until he manifests in physical. Whichever sounds nicer to you."

The High King nodded. "I like the part where I get to him before whatever he's planning comes to fruition."

"As I suspected. You will need the Black Books, the devices of Hermeaus Mora left behind to ensnare mortals, bring them to his world. They offer information, often black magick, to the reader in exchange for something. A service, a trial. Something wicked, I'm sure." The Shaman sighed as he stood up from his table. "If you were to go to the other Stones and cleanse them, it would slow Miraak's infestation of the world, but I doubt it would stop Miraak from returning. It would make him weaker though, easier for you to handle once you arrive at his location. Not to mention, it would be doing the world a service it could never repay to you."

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about the whole explanation just a few minutes ago from the High King's friend. If the Stones were messed around with… the entire world dies.

Master Neloth, who just watched from behind, continued to listen to the conversation. He must be thinking up a plan of action.

The High King rubbed the stubble that was his coming beard. "Ok, so… that's cool and all, but that takes time. And we don't have much of it left. What I need is to go to Miraak and kill him, and when I'm done with that, these Stones won't be much of an issue anymore."

The Shaman shook his head. "Unless the Stones are not intended for Miraak. He very well might be a puppet for Hermeaus Mora, the trickster god. But, if you are hellbent on going to Miraak, then you will need to follow the same path as Miraak. He came to the service of Hermeaus Mora and now resides in Apocrypha, as I have already mentioned. And from what I sense in you, you have already been to Apocrypha, and so… you know the way to get there. The Black Books. You need to obtain the same power as Miraak, the power to Bend Wills. And once you can best Miraak, go to him, and destroy him utterly."

The High King sighed. "But Black Books are hard to find. Where to even begin?"

"I have your answer." Master Neloth finally pushed his way into the room, shoving his way past me. "I have the very Black Book you are looking for. It has the same feeling as the negativity in the air, and I am certain it is connected to Miraak. I obtained it from Nchardak some time ago and have been keeping it a secret from the rest of the family, in case it led to bad choices among curious mages."

The High King looked over to him, almost smiling. "Wait… you did my job for me? We don't have to go to this place and go through a long and exhausting puzzle-solving quest that involves water pressure and collecting round orbs?"

Master Neloth shook his head. "No, I already did that with one of my apprentices long ago. I really wanted that book, and we were facing a crisis at the time. Even though I have this text, I will not just freely give it to you, High King. I expect some amount of effort from you. I request that you free this island from the effects of the Stones first. Save my daughter and my family, as well as the residents of Raven Rock. When this island feels safer for my family to reside in, then, and only then, will I give you the book you desire. And I will be coming with you. I will help you finish this mission of yours. Miraak has been a thorn in my side for too long, and so has Hermeaus Mora. He has declared war on House Telvanni long enough, and as presiding Lord of Telvanni, I will not idly sit by and watch as this Daedra does as he wishes to my daughter and wife. He brought this on himself. Now, let's go free my daughter."

He turned quickly, making his cape snap as he exited the tiny house.

The High King looked over to me, almost smiling. "Well, this has become a lot easier. So, let's go save the world." He rubbed my head, which I found oddly annoying. "Just imagine, you're going to help save the world. How does that make you feel?"

How did that make me feel? "Unworthy." Was the word that escaped my mouth.

The High King only smiled deeper. "Good." He didn't say anything else, he just looked over to Frea. "So… are you going to join us? Help us save the world?"

She stood there for a second, and then shrugged. "I'd rather just stay home and eat some venison. Maybe next time?"

The High King laughed. "That's why you're the best, Frea. You're so powerful, much stronger than my other friends, and yet… you just don't care to use your strength to alter the world around you." He patted her on the shoulder. "I wish for the simpler times, honestly. I miss being home with Lydia, Ruby, and Cecilie. I miss the simple days of planning for war against the Aldmeri Dominion, and the threat of the Dwemer coming back to life and destroying everything we know and love. Just… simpler times, you know?"

Frea nodded. "There will always be another threat, Asger. After a while, you just get to the point where you let someone else save the world. I would rather stay at home and train to become the next shaman. You are capable of saving the world, Asger, I know you are. You push yourself too hard though. Just promise me this: you will never lose that smile."

The High King broke open a huge smile. "Who? Me? Never."

I felt a cold foreboding feeling overcoming us, as if the universe just took the High King's reply and offered a challenge to it. There was a darkness on the horizon, and I fear that none of us are truly prepared for what this world truly has in store for us. What the universe was preparing us for. I've lived in the darkest of places, raised for the express purpose of destroying House Hlaalu's enemies. I know the kinds of things the world prepares the heroes for. I was almost killed by one of them, and I called him father. Even knowing this, I feel that something I cannot prepare for, something I cannot fathom is on its way to us. And that bothers me.

I looked over to Rynamel, who looked about as lost as I felt most of the time. He was standing on the other side of the door, holding it open for us. When he saw me glancing at him, he offered me a small toothy smile, waving at me. I glanced away, wondering if he even knew what he was getting involved with by being with us. He's a farmer boy, much like Veselle's boyfriend. Her boyfriend seems capable enough. I wonder if Rynamel will do well in this family we're building.

Just thinking of Rynamel as one of us brought a small burning to my cheeks, and I wasn't quite sure why. It could be possible I was feeling something for him, and as I tried to stand there and process what I was feeling, trying to understand the reason why, all I got was a small dimming of that feeling, like it was fleeting, untouchable, unexaminable.

I glanced back at Rynamel, who was now looking down at an ash yam growing in the ash. I felt that burning in my cheeks slowly return, my heart slowing down. It felt like the world itself was spinning slower, and I noticed the smaller things around me. The cold wind biting on my face, the small breeze coming through the open doorway as it pushed against my hood, my ears slowly giving into frostbite. I wanted nothing more than to go home, and just resume my life. Even so, I found myself imagining me on patrol in our little town, and seeing Rynamel outside, doing his studies with magick, or farming, whichever. And I could already see him smiling in our daily interactions with each other, and that made the blush on my face burn even hotter.

Just as I was about to head outside, Master Neloth pushed through the door open, calmly but loudly saying, "We must get moving now, or else my daughter may very well never recover from her coma. Time is of the essence."

Oh, right. Veselle needs our help. She's my best friend. I should be focusing on her right now.

[Veselle]

"Master Shaman Tenvanni." I sighed, holding my head high as I walked up to the chopping block. Time to face the music.

I looked out to the sea of people who showed up. Every single one of them looked angry. I couldn't blame them though. I looked from them over to the bloody block with axe notches everywhere. How did it come to this?

My shaky feet came to a stop right at the chopping block and I turned to face the people.

"Master Shaman Tenvanni, you will be asked for your accounts of what happened in Dawnstar, Whiterun, Markarth, Solitude, and Winterhold. Upon assessing the validity of your statements, we will then proceed with your verdict. If you are found guilty of all charges, you will be executed on the spot. If you are found innocent… we'll decide at that time." The guard captain of what used to be Winterhold, stood next to me. He was holding a sheet of paper that had all the crimes I committed in the past two days.

Oh, I'm guilty, and I know I am.

The guard captain looked down at his sheet of paper. "Would you please recount the events in Dawnstar on the date: 5e 228, 13th Mid Year?"

I sighed as I looked down at the crowd. They wanted blood. I can't blame them. "Ruby Stonearm and I were approached by a resident of Dawnstar with an urgent mission to go stop some rogue Daedric cultists that had taken residence in the Vaermina shrine. We traveled there as quickly as we could, using Nexauvia Creishan's Shadow Portals. Upon arriving at the shrine, we investigated the immediate area, finding a lot of red plastic cups, empty bottles of mead, and litter everywhere. We ventured into the shrine and found a lot of teenagers dressed in purple Daedric garbs passed out on the floor. At first, we thought it was the Miasma, but after investigating, we found that the Miasma had not been activated. The teenagers were just passed out drunk.

"We then tied up the teenagers while they slept, Ruby Stonearm drew a dick on one their foreheads" That was funny at the time. And even though I was looking out a sea of disapproving glares and death stares, I found myself chuckling at the thought of my girlfriend doing something so her. "and once we had everyone contained, we threw some water on one of the teen's faces, waking him up. We questioned him as to their plan, and he just shrugged and said that parents are lame, and we're old and don't understand their plight. Typical teenage stuff."

The guard captain looked down at the sheet. "According to this report, all the teenagers are dead."

I nodded. "They are. I asked Ruby how she wanted to deal with the teenagers, she suggested community service, and I agreed to that with the addition of cleaning up the site, and while we were at it, I wanted to blow up the entire shrine, keep it from becoming a threat later on. After we dragged the teenagers outside into the snow, safely away from the shrine, I turned to the shrine and used my magicka to destroy the building, burying everything in rubble and then melting the stone into glass so that it could never be reached. As I was doing this, Ruby was watching the children, telling them about their new duties. They weren't happy to hear that, but they're kids, who cares. Well, destroying the shrine did something. Not to the kids, but the adults. I had no idea Dawnstar had a Mythic Dawn cult inside it. Vaermina and Dagon Worshipers in the same town? Bad idea. When teens rebel, they go to do something they're parents hate. What more could cult worshippers hate more than kids that worship a different cult? Dawnstar was a Dagon cult the whole time. And as I destroyed Vaermina's shrine, the village marched up to us, dressed in their red robes.

"The parents did something to Ruby… I don't know what. But I heard her scream and after I turned around, she was already on the ground, her head severed from her body. Her head was in the hand of the lead cultist, a man by the name Silus, I don't know his last name. He was happy to hear that we were successful in destroying the only threat to their dominion of the world. I guess Vaermina was holding their malicious intent at bay or something, hiding it like a bad dream. With her power gone, wiped away from Skyrim, they were free to do as they planned. I watched as the parents killed their own children, sending them to Dagon as presents, or something like that.

"I acted quickly. I killed them all. I incinerated everyone. And then I marched down to Dawnstar, looked for any survivors. I found a few, but they were grabbing their heads in pain. That's when I watched their bodies explode into muscle and fur. Werewolves, a whole pack of them, living in the town. If that wasn't enough, vampires were camped out nearby, staking the town for any victims to latch onto. So… I did what any sane person would do. I condemned the town. It was clearly linked to a powerful curse or harboring a lot of evil. If anyone was still innocent, they wouldn't be for long in the town, so… I blew it up. Wiped the whole town off the map. Killed the werewolves, killed the vampires, killed anything that moved. I have to admit, I acted in haste, but I had just lost my girlfriend. The love of my life… gone. I wasn't thinking clearly."

The guard captain nodded to the headsman. I felt a swift kick under my knees, and I was forced to fall to the ground. As I hit the ground, I felt a heavy boot press down on my back, pushing me to the chopping block.

Well, this was it then. I was found guilty.

"What you did in Dawnstar was understandable." The guard captain stated. "But why did you destroy Winterhold?"

The town behind us was still a smoldering pile of glass. That was my fault too. Honestly, I didn't even have to return to this hellhole. It's not like I just destroyed this town, I did that a month ago. I've also destroyed Whiterun, Riverwood, Solitude, and Markarth. If I didn't return, I'd probably be heading down to the Imperial City next. But, I figured that I should finally end this. I returned to the people of Winterhold to finish what I started. It's too bad it has to end like this.

My head as pressed against the chopping block, but I could project my voice loudly enough so that everyone could hear me as I said, "I was still upset by Ruby's death that… I came back home and just… shut down for a day or two. But then High Queen wanted to know what happened in Dawnstar, and so I had to go see Cecilie…"

"You will call her by her regal title!" Someone spat at me, literally spitting in my face. "You don't deserve to call her by her name!"

I sighed. "When her highness met with me, she asked me why I destroyed the town, and I told her. I gave her the same report I just gave to you. She was quick to pardon me and asked for my help. She was sensing some kind of virus inside the town. The other Crimson Blades were out doing some mission and she needed someone who understood the Corprus virus. Someone who killed a person spreading the disease. So, I went on with the investigation. I found several spores throughout town, and when I asked some people around the area, I found out that they were already infected. There is no known cure for corprus. You just kill them. The entire town was infected, and when I went back to her highness, I found out that she too had contracted the virus. It was still in its infancy stage. I thought I could cure the disease, find some way of getting rid of it. I…"

I looked up at the guard captain. "I wasn't fast enough. The people started going mad, the town was turning on itself. I opted for the faster route. I destroyed the town. And then I went out to find the other members of the Crimson Blades. They were infected too, as were the towns they were visiting. The spores of the corprus has spread to the very air, the fauna and flora infected, slowly spreading, but this is Skyrim, and it was easily containable to the areas that weren't filled with snow and ice. So, cleansing the areas of the virus were simple enough, and it seems that every bit of corprus here in Skyrim is pretty much contained. There are just a few more of us that are infected. Myself included."

I looked up at the guard captain. "You are too. And so is anyone else here. We're all infected. I came back to this site to examine if the virus was contained, and I wasn't expecting to find survivors. When you had me locked up in chains, paraded me around the execution yard, I got a good look into all of your eyes. The yellow hue… it's the classic sign. You're all infected. This entire town is infected. And now… if we want the world to survive, we need to destroy the virus."

I looked at the shocked faces of everyone. They knew exactly what I just said.

I looked up at the guard captain, who looked too shocked to answer.

I sighed as I started warming up my invisible fire. "For all it's worth, I am sorry it has come to this." I said to the town as I brought my fire to my body. There wasn't any screaming that I haven't heard before. They didn't have time to prepare. There was just a flash; I've been perfecting this move for so long that… it just didn't matter how fast you were. After the flash ended, there was just ash and glass. No bones, no blood. Just flash imprints of where everyone once stood. The entire town was completely gone, everyone burned away.

Now I'm just kneeling over a smoldering pile of ash. It was just silent, and I let it stay silent for a minute before I pushed myself back to my feet. I just killed everyone. And it was my fault, or Nexi's, or even Agni's. I don't know which one of us ended up with Corprus during our visit to Riften, but it lied dormant in one of us for years before it ever manifested. I should have had us checked out when we got back. We knew the area was infected with spores. We should have known.

Damn Corprus. I hate this fucking world. Such a disgusting virus, always destroying my family… my friends.

I looked down at my hands. I was infected. If I stayed alive, I was only to go crazy… like Mom. Or… that version of Mom from long ago, and whatever I have will spread to wherever I go. Like an unstoppable cancer, it will grow and spread until the world is consumed. Gods, it's been so long. What even happened? I can barely remember that other life I lived. I still remember the name Talvas, but the face… I don't even know what he looks like. And that's what sucks the most. I remember how much I loved him… and yet, I will never see him again. And when I found out why Khajiits give locks of their hair away, I knew that I at least had a chance with her. I threw that old life away to be with Ruby. Khajiits give locks of their hair away for the same reasons Nords wear Amulets of Mara. It's a dating proposal. And once I learned that, I was more than happy to jump on her. It was like a new life, a new purpose. I could finally say goodbye to Neloth, to Ildari… to Talvas. And we were happy. Everyone claimed we made a cute couple. She wasn't Talvas though; she was more. She was real.

A strong cold wind blasted through the area, making up for the scalding hot air I created just seconds ago. The cold air felt good, but it wouldn't matter for me. I still held the Corprus virus inside of me. I either had to die, or I had to go somewhere I could never bother anyone and slowly let myself go crazy, just like mom. She tried to find a cure for the virus, and I can't remember if she figured it out. It was so long ago, I can't remember what she discovered. I guess there's no use. But before I kill myself, I should go to the source of Corprus and destroy it once and for all. No more Corprus, ever. The Red Mountain must go away. I take the whole island of Morrowind out with me. It's abandoned anyway, except all the Corprus monsters. Good thing I'm already infected. Let's finish this.

"Veselle." I felt a heavy shake on the ground, and I almost fell off my feet.

What was that?

I snapped my head around, looking for whatever it was.

"Veselle, wake up!" That sounded like…

[Mirri Severin]

Well, I'm glad we're finally back home. Well, not home, not yet. But we're at the massive stone right outside Tel Mithryn. I wanted this over with just as badly as Master Neloth. I couldn't wait to just get back to training with Teldryn. But, in order to do that, we must first save him.

And here we were, walking up to the stone, with a plan to save everyone. The only problem was, Miraak, or whoever was really controlling them, was obviously going to be expecting us. And as we walked up to the stone, our friends, our family, were standing around the stone, looking out towards us. Teldryn holding the front of the line. Talvas and Gwen right beside him. Draseth and Zeratah at the ends with the other people who live and work in Tel Mithryn.

As Teldryn stepped forward, taking a deep breath, Master Neloth snapped his hand out, grabbing Teldryn in some kind of Telekinetic hold by the head, and pulled him straight to the ground. Teldryn hit the ground so quickly that his voice was effectively silenced.

Master sighed as his other students started putting Wards up around the stone. He glanced at me, saying, "Apprentice Mirri, I will face Teldryn; you must face Gwen and Talvas. Be wary, young one, Talvas is strong but not very cunning, nor very clever. He's an idiot most of the time, but a strong one. Gwen is crafty, but not very strong. Together they form an actual mage. So, you should have the upper hand. I'll be testing Teldryn on his proper forms." He glanced over to the High King. "And you will start Shouting at that pillar. The faster we can get to it, the better."

The High King nodded. "You'll need to drop that barrier first. Found out in the College in Winterhold that I can't Shout through barriers."

Master glanced down at me. "That will be your responsibility. Keep Talvas and Gwen too busy for Ward work." Master glanced over to Rynamel. "Congrats, you have a job." He pointed to Draseth and Zeratah. "Those two are not very gifted, not at all. Just punch them a few times, I'm sure they'll be too weak to fight you."

I had to fight Gwen and Talvas? Huh, I haven't had the chance to spar with them. Veselle was under the impression that they were pretty strong, and I think she told me that she sparred Gwen once and it didn't end well for her. Well, I took Veselle out with one hit, so I think I'll be just fine.

I exhaled as I lowered myself into my Gold Kanet Blossom. I'll finish this before it even begins. Talvas and Gwen looked like they were expecting me. Good, let them expect me. I hope they retain their memories after this. I want Gwen to fear me and what I can do. I pushed off my back foot, teleporting myself over to the barrier they raised.

"Stop!" I felt the word slam into me with such force that I froze on the spot. Teldryn's Suggestion hit me hard. I stood there, frozen mid-flash, just barely skimming off the ground. Teldryn's magick voice magick, formed from weaponized Illusion, was unfightable. If he Suggested that I 'die', I would instantly die. There would be no way back from it either. No mage can heal a mind that decides to die.

"As you were." Master Neloth stated. And I was no longer frozen. I was falling to my knees, grasping at my chest. My lungs had also stopped, and maybe my blood stopped flowing too. It's hard to tell just how powerful that Suggestion really was. Whoever was controlling Teldryn was either too weak to order him to kill, didn't know how his magick really worked or if there was a word to kill me, or they didn't want me dead. I'm not sure which of those options it was, but it all pointed to one fact: I could be dead right now, and there could be no way of stopping it. And I'm not sure how comforted I should feel that Teldryn could kill me with a single syllable word. "You are immune to all forms of Suggestion." Master Neloth stated. And I felt… wow. I felt like there was nothing Teldryn could do to affect me anymore.

"Sleep." Teldryn Suggested, and I felt nothing. No pull, no droopy eyes. Huh… that's some powerful spell. I wonder just how strong Master Neloth really is.

"You will fight it." Master Neloth said as he started walking up to Teldryn. "You are a Magister of House Telvanni, Teldryn Sero."

I wish I would watch what was going on with Teldryn, but I had two angry adults charging for me, and I needed to put them down. I charged up to Gwen, and once I reached her, she didn't much time to react. I did a quick scan of her auric signature, finding several weaknesses in her magickal array. My palms and fingers flashed out quickly, jabbing her right behind her left ribcage on her left side. I spun around, landing a shuto chop on the right side of her jaw. She toppled over quickly, and I finished her off by blasting her with a quick mana blast, hitting her so hard with my raw energy that a cloud of ash flew up to my face. There was no getting up for her.

I turned to Talvas and did a quick scan on him too. I didn't find any obvious weakness, other than the traditional kick to the balls, but I'm a classy lady. I'd rather put a knife there, not my foot. I stepped over to Talvas, nodding to him. "Talvas, if you're in there, I just want you-"

I was cut off as a sheet of Ice sprung from the ground as spikes. My reacts were fast enough that as the ice spears exploded out of the ground, I was able to keep my foot balanced on one of them, and was able to push off as it came it its stop. I soared through the air for a few seconds, going ten feet high before doing a backflip, landing further away than I originally intended. Oh well, so much for talking him out of it.

I flashed over to him as quickly as I could, but I couldn't get close enough. He raised a Shield wall of Ice, one I had to smash my way through, using my Fire Petal's main mana blast attack, one that melted through his Frost magick. His spell broke apart, and I thought that I was about to end this, but I guess this battle had just begun. Three giant spears of Frost slammed into my chest, and I wasn't prepared to defend against it. I was launched off my feet, and I landed on the ash. Good thing I was wearing the enchanted Chainmail Boethiah gave me. That could have killed me. I'm done letting people stab me through the chest.

I had just enough time to push off my back, rolling back up to my feet, before pillars of Ice slammed up from the ground. That wouldn't have killed me either, but once again, the fight was only just beginning. Talvas was inside his broken Shield bubble of Frost, firing more and more spears of Frost at me, all while springing more pillars out of the ground at me. Jeez, no wonder Veselle hates fighting this guy. He's a bothersome opponent. Gwen I could handle, but him?

I kept up with my Fire Petal Dance, using the flowing forms to dance around the constant attacks, and using a bit of Stoneflower Shuffle at the necessary times to deflect spears heading right for my face. They just kept coming, always aimed at my chest, and his aiming was impeccable. I had to keep moving with more and more pillars shooting up from the ground. The battlefield was quickly becoming closed off to me. Talvas was being strategic in the way he was using his pillars. Most of the battlefield was already closed off, forcing me to stand still and let the barrage come right at me. The very ash was chilling to the point where it was freezing over. My feet were beginning to slide on the uneven frozen ground. This was not good. If I can't move at my own leisure, then I won't be able to control this fight. I guess I have to end this.

I jumped back as a new pillar jumped up. Ok, Mirri. Time for you to fix all of this. I grabbed onto the pillar and threw myself up onto its shaft. I pushed off the pillar, using my mana to push myself over the battlefield. I landed on the next nearest pillar, planting my foot on it, and them pushing off it like I did the last one. I quickly raced across the battlefield using the pillars as my stepping stones. I had to be careful; they were made of ice and slippery, not to mention sharp enough to give me a new hole to crap with.

As I came over to Talvas's bubble of ice, I snapped my foot out, kicking with all my might. His ice bubble shattered as I flew through it, and I landed right in front of Talvas. He wasn't prepared for me as I snapped my palm out, blasting him with my mana. As I did so, my hand went through him, and for a second, I was worried that I actually killed him. When the second of hesitation ended, I saw his form fade away to a mass of Frost in his image. My hand was stuck in the middle of his ice statue. Crap. I didn't know he had a spell like this.

"That world shall cease to be…" Talvas groaned out from behind me. When I snapped my head around, his hand was aimed at my face, a Frost spell already warmed up. I can't reach him in time. Fuck.

"Hey, ice mage!" I watched as a club smashed against Talvas's face, a club being held by Rynamel. He knocked Talvas enough that his spell fizzled out, and that gave me enough time to break his ice statue, freeing my arm. I pushed off his statue, flipping over Rynamel, and landing right on top of Talvas.

I looked him in the eye. "Good night." I smashed his face with my palm, and this time, I felt it connect with solid flesh.

It was at this time that I heard, "Gol!" I watched as the green energy coming from the High King's mouth slammed into the pillar. The weird webbing and pillars made from obsidian exploded and out of the guardian stone sprung one of those tentacle monsters.

"I'll take care of this." Master Neloth stated. And with a snap of his fingers, the tentacle monster was exploding into black tar. I shielded my face as the black tar rained down on top of me. And once the stone was cleansed, I felt that heavy presence surrounding our area disappear.

I heard groaning underneath me, and I looked down to see Talvas reaching up at his head. "Gods, Veselle. I wish you'd stop kicking my butt…" He opened his eyes, looking up at me. "Um… you're not Veselle."

I nodded, pushing myself off him. "Indeed, I am not. It's me, Mirri. You've been under the control of a Daedric presence, one that we've managed to contain."

Master Neloth glanced over at me. "That much is true. It would seem that I was right about cleansing this stone. And if that is true, that would mean Veselle is no longer in threat of Mora taking her mind." He started heading back to Tel Mithryn. "I will go see to my daughter. Mirri, you and Talvas will stay here and tend to the unconscious. Make sure they're protected until they wake up."

I nodded. "Yes, sir." I'm just glad that everything's back to normal.

[Veselle]

This was a surprise. My dad's alive! When I woke up from that nightmare I lived through, I wasn't sure if I was waking up in a new world, or if I was dreaming all over again, or if I was back in my real world. I'm still not sure. My dad is dead. But… here he is, just like in that nightmare world I was stuck in for so many years.

"So…" I looked at my dad as he pulled me through the streets of Raven Rock. "How are you still alive? You died in Riften."

He glanced at me, smiling. "When I died, Hermaeus Mora saved my life. He took me in, offered me a new life in exchange for me bringing you to him."

I felt like I should be upset, or mad. But… my dad is alive. He's dressed like a crazy necromancer but… I still don't care. My dad is alive! The dad that is not Neloth! There's no way he'd do something that would hurt me. I can trust him, no doubt.


Cearbhail:

Well, Veselle is back with her real father. There's no way this could possibly end poorly, right?