There was only one thing to do when fed a perfect line like that.
"Hahaha!"
The sound of my abrupt laughing fit echoed around the room. The one that called herself 'Triumphant' looked annoyed, a frown on her face as she glared angrily at me.
"Sorry." I said through my laughter. "It was just really funny."
"Do you not know who I am?" She asked, her head tilted to one side the confusion clear to see.
"Not a clue." I admitted and made a 'come on gesture' to her. "You mind introducing yourself?"
A wave of power began emanating from the woman at my flippant answer. It was as if I was brought to the ocean floor, as an all-encompassing pressure crashed down on me. The kind of weight that would bring lesser creatures to their knees. But it has been a long time since I would ever call myself lesser. So, I stood uncaring, my arms crossed underneath my chest, and my gaze challenging.
"I am the Dread Empress Triumphant." She declared arrogantly looking down her nose at me. "And you." She said suddenly taking me in, realization dawning in her eyes. "Are not of Creation."
"I am most certainly am." I countered and rested a hand on my chest. "And not that you asked but you may call me Kiera." I then blinked at her confused as a thought struck me. "Triumphant isn't you real name, right?"
"But not of mine." She clarified as she relaxed in her throne, also ignoring my response. "What brings you here to my tower, Vagabond."
Rude. But there was something about her that was bugging me.
"Are you human?" I asked.
"Not quite anymore." She grinned as if the question was a joke. "You?"
"Not quite." I echoed back, you couldn't do what I did and honestly call yourself a normal human. "But to answer your first question, I'm here for that guy." I said as I hooked a thumb over to one of the sections of the wall, the one with the sigil of a rose painted on it.
"You serve the foreign gods that walk this realm." She wondered curiously.
"Not all the time and certainly not all of them." I replied shrugging nonchalantly. "But that Prince offered me something, I just couldn't say no to."
"Which is?" She asked intrigued, for there were many a thing one of the Daedric Princes could offer a person.
"Alcohol." I said. Smiling broadly at the flicker of anger and indignation that washed over her face.
"You would face me over a drink!" She screamed, part in anger and part in confusion, the tower shaking at the volume of it. "You'd attack my tower, all over a simple drink!?"
"I'd fight you over a sweet roll." I told her. It was something I did once too, I ended up spending a night in jail because of that fight as well. But it I my roll back, and that made it all so worth it.
"You're mocking me." Her voice was calm and seething with rage. "You walk into my realm; free my prisoner and you have the nerve to come before me with mockery!"
"Pretty much." I said. "But I mock almost everyone I meet, it's nothing special."
She began to speak again but I decided to cut her off.
"I'm pretty sure you got some good reason for doing all of this." I said smiling as I waved at the complicated magical array on the ground. "But I'll be honest here and say that I really do not care."
Triumphant's eyes narrowed in rage and her voice was ice cold as she spoke. "Then you will die knowing nothing."
Then she hit me. There was no movement from her, no words or gestures. There was no warning at all as a missile of pure arcane energy took me in the stomach. The impact pushed me back with my feet digging furrows into the ground and nearly sent me toppling over.
It didn't just hit me either, I could feel the energy gathered within that orb start to grind away at my stomach before the power behind it was drained and it faded away.
If I hadn't been constantly fortifying my body since I appeared in this chamber, that single blow would have ripped straight through me. I gasped for air and I could feel the bruise starting to form on my stomach.
Triumphant fired off even more of those missiles in the time I took to process what had just happened.
Raising a hand and exerting my will I created a wall of energy between me and her, the grinding orbs crashed against my ward. Our magic's opposed each other for a moment, then her orbs shattered against my ward.
Shaking off her spell I countered with my own. My other hand rose lightning gathering in my palm. With a snarl I fired a concentrated beam of lightning toward the seated woman.
Instead of burning her horridly, it splashed harmlessly off a spherical barrier that materialized inches away from her.
It wasn't a single dome of energy like my ward, but hundreds of tiny circular bands of force spinning and rotating around her, grinding away my lightning without slowing down. It was, I'd have to admit, a rather impressive display of magic.
"Pathetic." Triumphant sneered as she sent more of those missiles at me.
I wasn't going to be able to take too many of those spells head on and keep breathing. So instead of keeping up the attack I took off running at an angle trying to circle around her to get at her from behind while also prodding her defenses with my own magic.
They all splashed ineffectually off her barrier.
As I maneuvered around her and should have been behind her, Triumphant was still facing me head on without once having moved from her chair. Either I was running on a rotating gear or it was an enchantment woven into the room.
Changing directions and tactics I twisted on my heel as another missile passed by my head and charged her, if magic wouldn't do it then I'd just have to get physical.
Ducking and weaving through her continued magic assault I reached her throne. I wasn't able to avoid all of them as some grinded away at my form. When I finally got close enough, I drove my fist straight into her face.
And nearly lost my hand as the top part of my fist was grinded away by Triumphant's barrier. I bit back a scream as I retreated, an afterthought had restoration magic coursing through my hand repairing the damage.
I didn't have time to do more than move as she sent more missiles after me. These were different from before as they didn't come head on but curved around the room to strike me at odd angles. I had to focus on dodging them even as I felt the gathering power swirling around Triumphant.
She was preparing another spell while using her first one to keep me from interfering all while lounging on her throne.
This only the opening act in our bout so I was reasonably sure she wasn't using her full strength yet. But the power she was gathering off-handily rivaled that of an entire cabal of Dragon Priest working together. If this kept going the way it was, I would have no chance of victory.
It's was time then to get creative.
During a jump to avoid another missile I released a blast of wind and launched myself towards the wall. Turning in mid-air I landed on it feet first, standing there for only a moment to re-orientate, I kicked off of it and towards the ceiling.
Digging my hands into the dome ceiling I hung there for a moment and focused. I poured my magicka and soul into my left foot and launched myself towards Triumphant with another blast of wind.
She in turn launched more of those missiles of hers, but they only grazed me. Her barrier sprung to life before I made contact. This close to her I could see the bored expression on her face.
Well, I thought. Let's see if you can keep making that face in just a second.
"Mul." I shouted out as I kicked her.
The power I gathered in my leg amplified by several magnitudes with the word and my leg started to glow, metal formed around it into the appearance of an intricate golden armored plated boot.
My foot struck the barrier and it held for a moment then I proceeded to break right through it like it didn't exist. With a fierce smile on my face, I planted my foot straight into Triumphant's chest shattering the stone throne beneath us and creating a crater in the room around us.
I took that moment to smiled down at her and appreciated the look in her eyes. Her eyes that were building out of her skull wide as she looked from me to the foot buried in her chest then the shattered remnants of her throne. Then she did something I didn't expect.
She smiled at me too. A genuine happy smile.
"Good." She said still smiling. "If you couldn't have mange atleast this much, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy myself."
She gripped my ankle tightly with one hand and punched my calf with the other. I felt the greave around it crumpled and vanished and had to bite back a scream as something in my leg broke. She then threw my leg out from under me. I fell forward and for a single moment I was parallel to the Triumphant, then she hit me again, with her fist this time.
And let me just tell you, I've been hit before, by many different creatures, with a wide variety of abilities over the years. So, believe me when I tell you that single punch was stronger than anything I had felt before. The force of it sent me upward smashing me into the ceiling.
But I didn't stop there I kept going up. The stone ceiling shattering around me as I was flung out into the open-air. It was only my fortification spell that saved me from dying instantly but even with that it felt like my body was broken in a single hit. The only plus side was that the blow was so fast that the pain hadn't set in yet.
"Feim!" I croaked out, my body shifting to spirit form and my body rapidly repaired itself. I arrested my movement with levitation magic and floated there above the realm. Which let me get a good look at the entire place.
The first thing that I saw beyond the city was a sea of sand. There was nothing within that sea but death and the corpses of those that tried to cross it. The city beneath me was also much larger than I thought when I approached it from the land. If the desert was a sea that spread to the edges of my vison, then the city was an island stuck in the middle of it as it spread out around me.
But there was one thing that drew my attention immediately as it was something I had only heard about or read in a history book. Two long black iron pillars stood from the ground, but instead of standing straight they curved toward each other creating an arc. Runes were carved into the sides, though it was too far away for me to see easily, that pulsed faintly in the low light of the realm. A sigil was carved into the apex of the arc, that looked vaguely like a tower.
An Oblivion Gate, a fucking doorway to Tamriel. It was placed in a field large enough to field an army large enough to match the Imperial Legion. And with how big the realm itself was there was no telling what kind of force this Triumphant could produce.
It shouldn't come to much since Nirn was warded against invasions from Oblivion since the Oblivion Crisis. But there was no such thing as a perfect warding as any kind of power could be broken down if you hammered at it hard enough.
Looking back towards the top part of the tower stood Triumphant there waiting for me.
I sighed reached out towards Oblivion and pulled some of its lesser spirts toward me. They writhed and struggled as they fought against my will, but this was a dance I had done many times before. In the end they broke and obeyed, as they always did. They gathered around my limbs and my chest. Hardening from simple energies to metal stronger than steel as I bounded them to me in the form of armor.
The armor consisted of a black scalemail cuirass, small plates of metal woven together to look like scales, with a matching set of gauntlets and greaves. I also brought forth a bounded sword in the form of a scimitar.
I cut the levitation spell and let myself fall back to the ground.
Triumphant did not wait for me to come to her for long, as circles, each one lined with runes that I didn't have time to decipher, appeared around her. She made a sharp gesture at me and each circle launched a thick solid beam of light at me, a deep dark crimson reminiscent of recently spilt blood.
I reactivated my levitation and did my best to dodge them. Some I could easily enough slapping them aside with my blade, while others I could only barley avoid running into, but a few got through my defenses and carved into my scalemail armor. The pain was immense and afterwards the parts struck felt oddly numb.
Thank the Nine, for my inherent magic resistance as those beams that struck me barley did anything to slow me down.
I didn't have much time to think as the attacks kept coming, an endless wave of arcane force that I was just barley keeping away.
I made a mistake I realized, I shouldn't have rushed and took my time to check out my surroundings. My gaze was drawn to the landmasses. I had a gut instinct that I needed to check out those floating landmasses, but I couldn't if I had Triumphant on my tail. I would need to distract her.
A summon would be my best bet, but the average daedra would be ripped apart by her in an instant. To do the job I would need something strong, and I knew the perfect saint for the job.
I reached out with my will and called out her name with my Voice behind it. "Staada!"
Golden light bloomed infront of me as a figure straight from the Shivering Isles came forth at my summons. She floated there in the sky as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Her skin, hair, and eyes were a golden bronze, and her eyes were like that of a cat's.
Her armor consisted of a breastplate with a deep cut that exposed the top of her chest and ended above her bellybutton along a set of pauldrons shaped like wings ending in gauntlets tipped with talons. An armored skirt shaped to resemble bird feathers, that ended at her upper thighs exposing her long and supple legs until they ended in a pair of high heeled armored boots, sabaton. All forged in gold.
She glared at me hatefully as she did everytime I called her. Staada is what is referred to as a Golden Saint, or an Aureal, a loyal servant to the Daedric Prince Sheogorath. We had met when an insane mage had tried to open a pathway into the Lord of Madness's domain with a magic sword from the Lord of Order.
When the sword fell into my hands, she demanded it back. I refused as the sword was mine but gave her a counteroffer that she would heed my call until the day I die and then she could have the sword back.
She refused, we fought, I won, and she reluctantly agreed to my terms and has been waiting for me to die since that day.
"What do you want?" Her tone was venomous, but her voice had an enchanting musical quality to it. She was always so breathtaking to look at, befitting a race known for their looks.
Whatever I was going to say was interrupted as a beam scorched her right pauldron and nearly took her head off.
Staada swirled around to look at where it came from and saw Triumphant. She let out a scream of outrage and gathered light in her right hand. That light formed into a mace shaped like the head of a hawk clutching an orb in its beak.
Staada fell like a falling star, a golden aura appearing around her deflecting any wayward spells as she crashed into Triumphant and they disappeared from my sight.
That will buy me a few minutes at least, I thought to myself.
I tucked in a shoulder and curved away from the tower and headed for one of the landmasses that orbited the perimeter of the tower. I noted that they weren't chained to the tower with something mundane like chains but a concentrated stream of energy. I circled around the tower until I figured which one belonged to Sanguine, it was the smell of fruit that led me to it.
I don't know what I expected to see on the landmass, but what I did see was a shrine encircled all around it by grapevines. But unlike a normal shrine dedicated to praising a deity, this one felt like it was set up to profane Sanguine.
Instead of the usual offerings given to Sanguine, any kind of acholic beverage. It was surrounded by crisscrossing metal beams, black as night with runes carved into them, circling around the statue of Sanguine. The statue itself was off as instead of looking powerful and proud, the statue of Sanguine cowered behind its metal cage.
The sight of it infuriated me more than I thought possible. I reached out towards it…
A fleeting sense of magic and the runes on the beams glowing bright red was all the warning I had as a ward snapped together around the statue. I pull my hand back just before I could lose it.
It could never be that simple could it.
I walked around the ward and examined it. After seeing the array in the throne room, it was easy enough to guess the purpose of the statue. The island itself must have been the source of Sanguine's stolen power, but the statue acted as the focal point.
Like the cork in a bottle almost.
The shrine acted as a font for Sanguine's power. Power that was being funneled into the tower and Triumphant. Destroying the throne may have disrupted the ritual, but something like that could be fixed easily enough. To make sure that whatever she was trying stops the power itself needed to be released.
I sent a wave of dispelling magic at the circle and it fizzled out as it contacted it. Next, I tried to physically remove one of the beams and would have got my palm scorched if not for the gauntlet I was wearing.
I did not know how long Staada could keep that woman busy, but I could guess that it wouldn't be long enough to decipher the runes around the statue. The quick and simple solution of violence it is then. I dropped the sword its blade sinking easily into the ground.
I slid into a stance, left palm forward along with my foot, right hand clenched and up next to my shoulder and right leg back. I took a breath and gathered my power into my right hand. The gauntlet changed as I did, the darker materials of it were starting to shine gold.
"Mul." I snarled and punch the shrine with all I had. My fist met the edged of the surrounding ward. The force of the barrier started to push me back. I gritted me teeth and pushed forward, my feet digging in the ground for purchase.
"Qah." I continued, the light in my fist started to spread upward towards my shoulder and chest. Power I had not used in so long was rushing back and still I was being pushed back.
"Diiv." The light finish spreading turning my armor golden. The barrier cracked like glass and the shrine followed shortly after.
As the stone Sanguine cracked and shattered a light erupted from it and shoot into the sky. I watched as the grass on the island wither and die, along with the vineyard around me as all life on it disappeared.
I took a moment to exult in the power flooding through my veins. It was as always equal parts similar and exotic, beautiful and horrifying, pleasurable and at the same time painful. I could never stay in this state for long as even now my dragon aspect was threatening to burn out my mortal body.
Not that I ever need long when I was like this.
I glanced out at the other islands, each one containing a portion of a god's power. Just what was she trying to do? Was Sanguine right, was this Triumphant trying to become a god. It wouldn't have been an easy process trying to take in all this power at once is impossible. To do it right she would have to take her time and slowly make the power hers.
Dangerous, this woman was dangerous. If allowed to continue who knows what she'd do?
Any other thoughts were interrupted as the island shook violently when something slammed into it at bone breaking speed. I turned to see Staada's broken form lay crumpled at my feet.
She had time to let at a wet garble as her body faded into motes of lights. I would be some time till I could call her back.
The island was already starting to list to one side with the stored power of Sanguine gone. That when Staada's impacted it the entire island began to fall out of the air. When Triumphant landed on it the whole thing fell faster.
Triumphant cracked her neck. She was scuffed slightly but otherwise she was untouched. In her hand she held Staada's bloody mace. She also looked pissed. Which by now I'll assume it is her natural expression.
"I was just going to kill you at first." Triumphant snarled as she looked around the now barren rock. "But now I need a replacement battery, and lucky for me you seem to have enough power to do it."
"You are just the worst." I commented. "But you got me curious now." I said as I gestured to the other landmasses. "What are you after?"
She looked as if she was thinking over her answer then she said. "I seek the Tower."
"What? The one behind you not enough?" I asked pointing at the tower behind her.
She sighed looking almost disappointed. "If you don't understand then I will not explain further, you will not need such knowledge as you serve as my battery." She said.
"Round 2 it is then." I said as I kicked off of the ground, making a small crater, and rushed towards her, snatching up my sword as I passed it by.
From the look on her face, she wasn't expecting me to be as fast as I was in this state. The surprise caused her hesitated for a single moment and I ruthlessly took advantage of it as I swung at Triumphant.
She raised a barrier to defend herself, but my swing shattered it. The blade caught her across her middle the edge grinding against her chest, but it didn't draw any blood. No matter as the blow with the force behind it threw her out from the landmass and into the air.
I raised my free hand and aimed at her falling form using the space between my index and middle finger to guide me. The air became charged with lighting as I focused on her.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you anymore." As I spoke my blood began to boil in excitement, a ball of concentrated lighting gathered in my palm. "Qo Nos Krii"
The ball of lightning launched as I spoke the first word of power and struck her as I finished the last. As it launched across the distance, the ball unfurled itself and changed. As if hatching from an egg it went from simple lighting to the savage visage of a dragon, its mouth opened in a roar of rage. It then chomped down on Triumphant and exploded, the light from its eruption shined like a sun.
I waited with bated breath as the light died and the smoke cleared. My hand was shaking and numb from gathering all that power within it and it would take some time to regain the feeling in it.
As the smoke cleared, I let out a grunt of annoyance as Triumphant floated there in midair. She was not untouched though as her right arm was burned badly, but it was already healing before my eyes.
"My turn." She began to speak in a language I didn't know as a runic circle larger than the ones she used before inscribed itself infront of her, power was gathered and released in a single breath as a lance of crimson light and of destructive energy fired at me.
I didn't have time to run, so instead I carved a rune into the blade. With that done I aimed and hurled it at Triumphant. The bound blade narrowly missed the beam and should have struck her dead on, instead she contemptuously drifted to the side and it miss her easily.
The spell hit the landmass and the power packed into it wiped the island out of existence and me too.
If I was still there atleast.
I gripped the handle of the blade I recalled myself to and swung down on the back of Triumphant's head.
She swirled and twirled to the side, Staada's mace caching my sword between its head and shaft. With are weapons locked she open her mouth to speak.
I interrupted her.
"Yul Toor Shor!" I roared out, fire poured from my mouth as a spiraling beam of blue and white-hot fiery death.
Triumphant dropped, whatever power she was using to stay afloat cut off as she fell from the sky. The beam of fire missing almost all of her but a part of it clipped the right side of her face. That part my fire breath touched was vaporized in an instant.
She screamed in pain one hand going to her face, the other raised towards me another spell ready to go off.
I didn't give her the chance as I dived down planting my feet into her chest and sending the both of us directly down to the city bellow.
Triumphant, one arm burned to cinders and the right side of her face burned black, raised her unhurt hand towards me as we fell. Power gathered there, the spell ready to go off any second.
Not willing to let that happen I ran my sword through it and her hand. As the bound blade pierced through the magic and the flesh underneath, the spell went off in an uncontrolled explosion.
The explosion sent me spiraling up and away, shards of the broken bound sword cutting my arm to ribbons. I tried to correct my flight when I felt something bit into my already damaged leg. Looking down to it I saw and felt as a chain wrapped around it.
I had just enough time to not the magical creation of it when Triumphant spun in a tight circle, spinning me around like a top. Then with a single heave she let go of the chain and the next thing I know I'm flying straight down into the ground.
"Fe.."
I hit the ground…
…
…
…
A pebble fell on my head causing me to draw in a ragged breath as a sudden and excruciating pain woke me up. I looked around dumbly as my mind caught up with where I was. In the bottom of a carter formed when I hit the ground was the answer apparently.
I let out a load groan of pain as I asset the situation.
One arm was still numb from channeling to much lightning magicka through it, while the other was cut to bloody ribbons from an exploding sword. The rest of my armor was still intact so that was good.
My Dragon Aspect was reaching the point of pain trying to keep it up. If I had to describe the feeling it would be like, holding your breath for too long and feeling your lungs burn while at the same time lifting a massive weight above you as your body breaks under the pressure. Every second the pain increased and If I it kept it for too much longer then it would kill me.
I instinctively reached for my magic and only received pain in response. I tried to speak and coughed up blood. I'd burn through too much of my power too fast. Damm it this wasn't the kind of thing I could fix, the only way this get resolved is if I find someplace to rest and let my body recover from the strain naturally. But I got this sinking feeling that a long rest would be out of the question for awhile
I crawled me way up from the lip of the crater and out of it. Standing on shaking legs I looked around me.
Around me the inhabitants of this realm gathered around me, once again actual human beings which while not exactly weird to see in Oblivion. The fact that I could spot the tiny form of children behind the legs of adults were.
Usually, the various Princes would invite their favorite worshipers or victims into their land, but rarely would they take the whole family.
I took stumbled step forward as I eyed them all, I was so hungry now that it was hard to focus. The fight had drained me more than I thought, and it was far from over. None of them seemed armored or skilled, it wouldn't take much to…
I shook my head vigorously to escape the sudden thoughts clouding my mind, I wasn't that far gone yet. Hopefully, I never would be. As a figure floating infront of me.
Both of her arms were damaged with blood spilling from them and her armor had a long shallow cut across her stomach. Her expression was blank with one side of her face was whole as the other side had been burnt off.
She regarded me silently as she landed on the ground as she stood a few feet away from me.
I didn't say anything either, not that I could at this point, as this point there wasn't much else to be said.
We stood in silence then with an unspoken action I burst into motion. As I charged, I knew I would only have one more shot to stop her here and now. If I failed there was no telling what that woman would do.
Triumphant raised her hand, magic was gathered, shaped, and released in a single breath. As another of burst of that crimson energy burst out of her like a lance to run me through.
I dropped to my knees sliding underneath the spell, scooping up a random rock, with an errant thought I marked it, and I tossed it at her head. It missed her easily enough but that wasn't the point as I smiled at her. With my other hand I dug into the ground sending a pulse of power though it throwing up dust to hide me from view, as she fired another lance through the dust cloud.
Raising my left hand absorbed the power behind the spell, but destroyed my gauntlet at the same time. Lashing out with my will I activated the mark on my thrown rock and it exploded
Triumphant took the bait looked turning towards the thrown rock expecting me to appear there.
Instead, I burst through the cloud of dust rushing her before she could react. My throat and body was burning from the exertion but I knew I needed to end this now. Pumping as much power as I could into my right hand I swung towards Triumphant. The Thu'um I needed to end this on the tip of my tongue.
"Krii Lun Aus!"
The Marked for Death Thu'um, a curse that renders the armor and flesh of the target tough as wet paper. Useful when dealing with especially tough opponents. With the curse in place, I buried my fist into the side of her head with enough power to rip it clean off.
It didn't do that, or anything else.
My fist made contact and the curse was in place, but Triumphant reacted as if I had tossed a feather with how she looked at me. I had a moment to understand just how bad I fucked up before…
Pain.
"Gah…"
I coughed up blood as pain erupted through me when Triumphant moved far faster than what I could react to and plunged her hand into my chest. She turned to me fully then and I saw that her face now fully restored smiling at me. I grabbed her wrist before it could plunge deeper and she hefted me up, my feet dangling in the air, though our combined grip laughing.
"It has been sometime since I have felt the need to Surpass my limits." She said, continuing to laugh.
I hock a bloody lugie at her. It landed on her cheek and down it in a macabre parody of a tear. The smile on her face fell away and the spell she held in her palm went off. The crimson lance of power erupted out my back in a bloody spray, the agony was all encompassing, and I couldn't hold back my screaming that time.
What remained of my armor shattered like glass.
She dropped me on the ground like so much trash and stood over me. I noticed that her hands were mended, and her armor was restored, any harm I may have caused her was now wiped away.
I laid there unable to move as my Dragon aspect faded and I was reminded what having the body of a Mortal and the soul of a Dovah meant when you try to use your soul to its fullest potential.
Mainly, pain that permeates every inch of your body along with a bone deep weariness that made you want to crawl into bed and never leave it.
Triumphant glared down at me and I fully expect to die right there. Instead, she placed her boot on my calf and stepped down.
The resounding crack echoed in my ears and I screamed.
She didn't stop there, raising her foot a little higher she crushed my knee cap.
She did the same to my other leg.
Then my arms.
By the time she was done I didn't even have it in me to scream anymore. Blood trickled from several wounds I hadn't realized I taken and my eyes glassy with pain stared up at nothing, as I tried to bring about enough focused to do something.
Triumphant looked down on my broken form and smiled. Her face was flushed in the way only someone who was genuinely enjoying themselves could pull off.
"This is only a taste of what I'm going to do to you, you arrogant fool. Did you honestly think that you'd who be able to do come into my tower mock me and not pay the price?" Triumphant spoke savoring every word as her eyes dance, no doubt envisioning the torture she was planning to put me through.
I'd like to say I was terrified about what was coming, if I said that though it would be a lie. Don't get me wrong, I knew I wasn't getting out of there and was fully excepting to die screaming over the course of the next few months. But beside the upcoming pain I wasn't afraid of an end.
Not that I want to die mind you, it's that at some point in my life people went from being people to something lower in my eyes. That I was the only real thing in the world while others were mere props and that thought, it scares me.
Paarthurnax likes to say that a Dovah was nothing but a bundle of destructive impulses that live to dominate and devour everything around them. The one true fear I hold these days is that one day I'd wake up and start killing people for no other reason than just because I could.
Some days I think I've already reached that point. A small still human part of me knows it would be best if I met my end before then.
The lack of fear in my eyes must have been obvious as Triumphant threat fell on deaf ears.
"Fuck… off… bitch…" I managed to get out of my mouth.
"Still with the sharp tongue, that's good don't what you breaking to soon." Triumphant smile at my show of defiance, then stepped on my chest leaning down to look me in the eyes. "But I think, you won't be needing that anymore."
She reached for my mouth when a clatter of footsteps approached. She looked up at who was approaching, sighed and instead of putting her hand in my mouth, brushed the hair out of my face.
"Later, then." She smiled at me ruefully. "When we have some more time to ourselves."
I could barely move my head in time to see who had showed up.
The first was the Knight that had met the other daedra at the entrance to the city. That black and gold heavy plate armor still cut the impressive figure.
"If you are here to explain how some Hero got into my realm and entered the Tower, I would love to hear it, my fair Knight." Triumphant said as she idly played with my blood in her hand.
"Apologies." The Knight said, her voice quiet and monotone. "I was leading the others to processing and didn't realized one wasn't with us until the alarm was sounded."
A second set of footsteps approached me from an angle where I couldn't see. But the steps were delivered with enough force that each one lifted me slightly off the ground. Then a hand, it had to be a hand as I could feel five fingers but big enough to encircle my torso, lifted me up as if I was a doll.
I was then face to face with a gargantuan being. My first thought was that it was an orc or ogre, but it was much too big, at least around 10ft tall I'd wager. Then I thought of a giant, but it didn't quite reach that height and was much to bulkier than the typical lean frames of a giant. In the end I decided it was a creature that was a mixture of both, an orc and a giant.
His skin was an ashen grey with black tribal marking decorating his chest. He was also bare chested with his only armor being Faulds that fell to his knees, vambraces that went up to his elbows, and greeves that went up to his knees. All a deep dark ebony.
He brought me close enough to see the sharp tusk that all orcs have, along with all his other razor-sharp teeth. His dark hair flowed freely behind his head like the mane of a lion and from the side of his head two thick ebony horns extended outward. His black eyes regarded me passively.
Wait, no I remember what he was now. I read about them in a book once, he was a…
"A Xivilai?" I whispered in shock.
"It looked like you have this well under hand, I saw no need to interfere with your fun." The Xivilai's voice was a rough gravel of mountain rock.
My nose wrinkled as his breath washed over me, blood and rotten meat. "Urgh… you… stink… what did you eat?"
The Knight laughed and tried to cover it by coughing into her gauntlet, she failed.
"You have jokes, little one." The Xivilai gave me a shake and I was wracked with pain at the movement. "Let's see how long that will last."
The pain ran through me without end, and I wanted to do nothing more than sleep. Except if I passed out here there would be no chance for me to get out of this mess. I would have to hang on if I could and find a way out of here.
"You should be careful with her." A third voice spoke from the shoulder of the Xivilai, a person that I knew wasn't there before. "A cornered animal is twice as vicious."
The figure sat on the Xivilai's shoulder in a way that let their legs dangle. They looked to be human in shape and that was all I could really tell as their entire body was covered with a cloak the shade of sand.
Triumphant looked visibly annoyed at their interruption. "Where the hell were you all a few minutes ago, when you could have been useful?"
A fourth figure dropped from the sky and slightly hovered above the gathered group. A swarm of bats flowing in his wake.
"Another one." I groaned. The numbers of them while a problem was second to the power I could feel wafting off all of them. They didn't feel as strong as Triumphant but that didn't mean much when each one had the taste of power that would make even a Dovah pause.
The floating figure looked as human as Triumphant, with his short brown hair and dark skin. He was handsome enough to look at, sharp features and he gave me a piercing stare when he turned to me with those ocean blue eyes.
He was adorned in an exquisitely crafted robe, a deep cobalt blue, with inlays made with golden thread along the edges its hem and sleaves.
One of the bats around him flown towards me letting me see it for what it was. I blanched and turned my head to avoid looking at it, for while it did have bat-like wings where the body of the thing should be was instead a single eye. Beneath that eye were four tendrils that poked and prodded my face.
Watchers, an entire swarm of pocket Watchers. Typically, servants of Hermaeus Mora, a Prince who I have a complicated relationship with, they had a lot of strange abilities centered around that large eye of theirs.
"I was gathering the army, incase this was just the prelude to a much larger attack." His voice was rich and smooth like velvet. "Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case."
More footsteps echoed as a battalion of heavily armored and armed daedra surrounded us. In the mix were the armored giants that served as guards along with regular sized daedra and more creatures that looked like the one holding me up.
This was getting worse and worse, I was also losing way too much blood to keep awake much less alive. I tried to move any of my limbs and only my left arm would budge. It gave me a little hope and the spark of an idea, but I would have only one chance to make it work. I need a distraction…
A bottle flew through the air aimed directly for Triumphant, who easily slapped it aside breaking it in the process. The contents of the bottle then fell on her soaking Triumphant in, from what I could smell brandy.
"What?" Triumphant looked confused at this turn of events and looked at me as if it were my fault, but I was just as confused as her. Along with the rest of the people gathered in the street.
Then before she could say or do anything a lit torch landed at her feet. There was a single moment of incomprehension on her face as the torch ignited the brandy and her.
She screamed and flailed her arms as she was engulfed in the flames, not out of pain but sheer surprise. Her, I wanted to call them her generals, took a step forward to help.
Well that just happen but it gave me a chance to act.
My left arm lashed out like a snake and gripped the chest of the Xivilai holding me. Then with every ounce of desperation and strength I had left in me I tore at the orc and devoured as much of his power as I could. Without the words or the proper patterns in my head the attempt was a paltry one and easily repelled. I was only able to take a small bit of his power, but that bit was all I need to shout.
Triumphant finally calmed down enough that she was able to disperse the flame without much effort and not a hair out of place. She scanned the crowd looking for whole did it when her eyes met mine.
"Feim Zii Gron."
My body once again took one that familiar bluish tint as my flesh became closer to that of a spirit's. The coldness came over me that was a balm to my injuries as they started to mend, not completely but enough that I could move without risk of passing out.
I slipped from The Xivilai's grip easily and hit the ground in a dead sprint, no destination in mind but the simple desire to escape pushing me forward. Several things flew through me and out without issue as they tried to stop me.
For a moment I thought myself untouchable, then a thin beam clipped my shoulder, and I was rendered tangible again.
I risked a glance behind me and saw the blue robed figure look at me from where he remained floating, one of the Pocket Watchers eyes faintly glowing behind him. Sandy cloak was a step behind me with a pair of hook swords in hand, and the Xivilai a step behind them.
Clutching my bloody chest, I didn't stop running, I couldn't stop.