Cearbhail: Finally, a new chapter. Nothing really that important to report. Other than this chapter is done in Nakuma's perspective, as is dircted below. All her chapters will include an entry from her shadow journal. A shadow journal, for those of you unfamiliar with them, is a journal that magic users write in. It is usually a collection of spells, your feelings on them, your results on using them, and just about anything you want to put in it. After a while, the journal takes on its own magic. For my series, these shadow journals will have their own role, their own purpose.

Also, enjoy.

[Nakuma]

Shadow journal entry 2,

Black Soul gems. A soul gem that has been transformed using necromancy and the shadow arts. It has the capacity to trap beyond just wolves and lesser Daedra. It has the ability to trap any sentient life: i.e. Humans, Khajiits, Argonians, and even Dremora.

The Black Soul Gem Capacitor. It is a device created by the wizards of old. Project leader was Mannimarco. Designed as a portal to the shadow void (not to be confused with the realm of Sithis). The Shadow void is a separate realm within our own, hidden away within the shadows of space and time. It is timeless and limitless. Millions of Aedra have been sealed away over the course of the original war. More just keep coming. No one has figured out why or how. The current Aedra are believed to be some of the current prisoners. As such, the device needs to be tweaked. Rather, has a separate function the shadow realm's walls started to degrade. Mannimarco theorized the possibility of the Septim line being killed out by some cult or another. If such an event were possible, added with Daedric portals ravishing our dimension, Mannimarco also theorized that the walls to the shadow void would also weaken and allow rifts through to our world. It seems that he was right.

The Device itself was created as a last ditch effort. It is a creation of dark magic and Dwemer construction. Apparently the Dwarves had their own battle against Aedra. Is this how they all just…died off? The device needs seven black soul gems to run it. It also has a slot built in for a colossal black soul gem in the center of the circle of black soul gems. It acts as an additional power source/emergency back-up. Luckily, we still have the one that was made from Hannibal Traven, the previous Mages Guild leader.

The Great Dark Welkynd Stone. The only one in existence. According to Mannimarco's shadow journal, it is a dark welkynd stone which in itself is the outlining wall to the shadow void that the Aedra were sealed into. Since the wall has cracks, this stone is probably in poor condition, or even destroyed. There are notes on how to create a new GDWS, but it's not pretty. I'm sure the council will provide the necessary components. It is created by using the said seven black soul gems, and one colossal black soul gem for the middle. Fresh ones will be needed for this as in…filled on the spot. In the device will need to be a Great Welkynd Stone. Once all the black soul gems, colossal included, are filled, the stream of dark magic will travel through the tubes into the GWS. That will corrupt the GWS and turn it into a GDWS. Just in case I need to remember all this for later.

Nakuma, Shadowwraith…

…

"Are you busy?" I heard Ram-ku say from behind me. It was enough to make me jump out of my skin.

In a rush, I slammed my shadow journal closed and rushed to stand up. All the journals and books on black soul gems all started falling out of my lap as I started pushing my way up to my knees. As the journals and books started falling into the mud, I suddenly looked away from Ram-ku onto the now muddy texts. "No!" I screamed as I bent down to pick them up.

I started pulling the books out of the mud, Ram-ku rushing to help me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Meesei walked up, shaking her head in disappointment. "Ram-ku, you almost gave the poor shadowwraith a heart-attack. You know how they are…they get so involved in their research that they don't even exist in the same world as us."

I smirked and looked away from both of them. The sad thing was…it was true. The training we went through, the mastery of all the arts of magic, magicka, and spirit-weaving, was intense. The darker arts were even harder to grasp because they were involved in deep-seated rituals and rules, precision stuff. Our training was intense so we could master every aspect of this stuff. When we got it wrong, we spent a day in the…shadow chamber. Dark, cold, empty. Time means nothing there, your own voice carries no vibration. And with just a thought, the entire place can become a giant cyclone of emotion and pain, smashing your spirit on all sides with force strong enough to smash bones. It was necessary as a punishment to force us to focus. The pain and suffering only stopped if you could focus on nothing and just…embrace the shadows. I spent almost a year collectively in that place. When you live through that…you change. You become what I am, scatter-headed, jumpy. If you stay there longer…you become like Oleeme. He almost never left that place.

I smiled up at Ram-ku and Meesei. "Uh…thanks for helping." I said as I grabbed the texts from Ram-ku's hands. I quickly checked the old books and notes for any mud and water damage. It wasn't so bad. If I let them dry naturally, they should hold up just fine. They've seen worse. Sooner or later, I was going to have to recreate these texts in new books so that they wouldn't be lost to time. Well, at least for another six centuries.

Ram-ku smiled at me and nodded. "No problem. We just have…an anomaly that we need you to check out. Shadowmaster hasn't spoken to us since Nexa left. I guess he's taking his watcher role seriously."

"An anomaly?" I repeated. "What kind?"

Meesei walked up, her arms crossed. "The magical kind. Come, we need you to check it out. We have the little kitten and the Dunmer checking it out, as well as that blood-rager, but they're all scratching their heads."

So, I stood up and brushed the dirt off my robes as I followed behind Ram-ku and Meesei. Meesei kept looking back at me, her eyes fixed and disgusted. Her body was tense, her hands scrunched up into a tight ball. Streams of auratic energy poured off her shoulders and legs, visible for someone like me. Every time she looked back at me, I could see her staring at my perfectly clean robes, unscarred body, the lengthy yellow feathers that I let grow out.

Meesei's feathers were shorted, cropped. It was a shame because they were a beautiful deep orange that worked well with her purple scales. Her armor was dinged, scratched; her face covered in all sorts of scars. Part of her eyebrow was missing, as was a part of her lip. She and I were the same size, but I felt so small compared to her. I only suffered mental damage; she suffered physical and mental damage. It was no wonder why she hated me.

Ram-ku, on the other hand, did not look so banged up. His scales were a darker blue with black feathers that grew out just a little longer than Meesei's. He looked more relaxed and didn't glare at me with the intensity that Meesei did. He actually seemed to smile at me, which made it a little easier to be around him. He caught me looking at him and smiled at me. "Will you relax? We're not leading you away from the other to kill you…or something like that." He said that with a twisted grin and winked.

Meesei only grunted and looked away. "Speak for yourself. I already plan on poisoning her later."

"Poisons will not work on most Argonians. You have to resort to very potent poisons for us, and with the shadowwraith and shadowscale training camps, each of us have our own ways of neutralizing poisons. There is no poison in this world that can kill me." I said robotically. I didn't think before I opened my mouth. It just happened.

Meesei stopped for a second and looked back at me. "Are you kidding me? If I stab you with a knife laced in Khajiit blood…I'm sure you're going to die."

I found myself crossing my arms and stepping up to her. "You think I'm afraid of a little blood and a knife? Do you have any idea what I am capable of producing with a thought? I have mastery in the most sensitive mystical arts. I can unwind you particle by particle without a second thought." I said through gritted teeth.

Meesei rushed up to me, beginning to unsheathe her dagger. "You little…"

Ram-ku ran in front of her and me, pushing us both back. "Hey…you two. We're on the same team!" He pushed us back and said, "So relax!" He leaned over to Meesei and said, "No more threats." He leaned over to me and said, "Stop with the whole 'I'm a master of magic' crap." He shook his head and started walking away. "Now come on. There's still this whole magical anomaly that we need you to fix."

The rest of the way was quiet. Ram-ku walked in front of us, pissed off at us both. Meesei walked slightly behind him and to the right, still uptight, but no longer glancing back at me. I took that as a victory all on its own. I, on the other hand, was feeling like a jackass for my own behavior. I should not have resorted to threatening Meesei with my magical ability. Sure, I could do everything that I started, but I didn't like to resort to it. I couldn't help it when I felt pushed. I didn't like being pushed around and that's exactly what shadowscales did to us. I was sick of it. I wanted nothing more than to put them in their place. If they could see that we're just as good as them, only trained different, maybe they wouldn't push us around.

I allowed that growing feeling of smashing Meesei's head into ground to simmer for a while before I forced it away. Someday, if I needed to, I would do it. My body was still shaking just from beginning to contemplate taking her life. I couldn't get it to calm down. I wasn't sure why I was so worked up.

"Right over there." Ram-ku called from the front, forcing me to snap back to their world. I crashed into his back as I started focusing again. Ram-ku fell forward, but caught himself before he fell over. He glanced back at me and smiled again. "Welcome back."

I glanced up at him. "Sorry, contemplating magic stuff."

He directed my gaze to the collection of mages. "The thing is right there. We're not sure what it is. But it's giving off magicka readings."

I stepped away from Ram-ku and Meesei and joined the two Khajiits standing there with the Dunmer. They were standing around a crack in the ground. A crack that was glowing bright red with a stream of red magic pouring up into the air. I leaned in and sniffed the air. It stank. It smelled like rotten eggs and sulfur. Brimstone.

I coughed as I pulled myself back. The younger Khajiit snickered to herself and said, "Oh, welcome, Argonian. I guess we should have warned you about the smell."

My eyes were tearing up and I looked away, afraid I might start crying if I didn't. "That's ok. Any idea what this is?"

Vatu, the blood-rager, nodded looking down at the crack. "These roots that are pulling out of the ground around the crack are Daedric roots. Harrada roots, and this is bloodgrass. I can see both here." He sat up and looked over at me. He nodded and said, "This was a site for an Oblivion Gate during the war."

I nodded, concluding the same thing. "Ok, so why is there residual brimstone leaking through the ground?"

The Dunmer answered that. "I believe that the gate rested here through the entire course of the war. If that's correct, this site was collecting Daedric energy for a while and it probably all collected underneath this ground. Now that it's starting to break up, it's causing the ground to slit. Now's it's seeping through this crack, dissipating into the air."

I nodded, scratching my chin. "And if that's correct, we can't do anything about it. We could make a portal for Daedra to come pouring out of the Deadlands. Add to our forces. But doing so will be problematic. Aedra might feel that portal ripping open and rush over to attack us."

The Dunmer nodded again. "Yes, exactly. So, we agree. This is a potential Daedric portal. It's hard enough to summon our comrades and we could use more. Think we could just open a new portal for them to come through?"

Vatu hissed at the idea. "And then what? It will be the Oblivion Crisis all over again. We should just leave this alone."

The Dunmer sighed and turned to face him. "The Oblivion Crisis was about Daedra being able to open their own portals. If we open this one, we can also close it. Not to mention, Mehrunes Dagon cannot just walk into our realm anymore. Akatosh took care of that. Trust me, we'll be fine."

The smaller Khajiit looked over at me. "What do you think we should do?" She asked as she started scratching her ears.

I shrugged. "I think we should seal it." I closed my eyes and placed my hand down onto the ground. I was familiar with Daedric magic. I had a few pacts with some Daedric creatures to summon at my will, a few Flame Atronachs, one Storm Atronach, and two Frost Atronachs. As well as a couple animal familiars.

With my eyes closed all the background noise silenced, I could feel the ground breathing. I could feel the earth's heartbeat, the subtle shift of the world soul. And here underneath it was an unnatural bruise. A wart on the earth's soul. It shouldn't be here. It was building and building and now was compacted and ready to blow. This crack was the only thing keeping this site from blowing its top off. If I even forced some Conjuration magic into the wound, I was sure this entire place would light up in a Daedric explosion of fire.

I slowly let myself come back into my own body, slowly hearing the people around me talking. "So, we agree then. We mark this site on a map and use it to open a portal to Daedric reinforcements when the time is needed." The Dunmer said as she crossed her arms and shifted away.

I shook my head and pulled my hand off the dirt. "No. This entire place is a brewing ground of Daedric magic, like we thought. But it's compacted and ready to explode. If we attempt any type of magic on it, it will explode into a magical explosion. I saw we mark it with a giant Silence and Shield surrounding it. That will subdue any magic that goes in or out. It if blows, it blows within the shield."

Vatu and his little sister seemed to smile at that suggestion. "Sounds good to me." He looked over at the Dunmer and said, "Well, Davilia? I think she's right on this."

Davilia nodded, brushing some of her dark blue hair out of her eyes. "Ok, sounds good. I didn't realize that it was compacted." She smiled down at me and stuck out her hand. "Thanks for the help. What's your name?"

I looked at her hand for a second before I cautiously stuck mine out. I grasped her hand and started to shake it. "Nakuma. And you're Davilia, right?" She nodded. I looked over at Vatu and his little sister. I still felt uneasy around him. I mean…when you hear tales about the blood-raging Khajiits that carved through us without hesitation, about the war we had with them, all the bad blood. When you're around all that talk growing up, it kind of sticks with you. The blood-ragers were our boogeymen. But, here were two right in front of me.

I stood up and walked over to Vatu. He glanced at me, his face neither friendly or threatening. His little sister clung to him as tight as she could, but she didn't look scared or worried. Khajiits and their poker faces. It was something I had to get used to. I stuck my hand out to Vatu and said, "I am sorry for last time. My name is Nakuma Vaqonala." When he took my hand, I bowed to him. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

He smiled back at me. "Vatu (no-last-name). This is my little sister, Nisha (same-no-last-name)."

His sister pushed off his leg and clamped onto both of mine. "Nice to meet you." She screamed, high-pitched.

I actually meant to continue talking to them but some noise called my attention away from them. Ram-ku and Meesei were already ahead me. They were taking up positions behind trees, both of them readying their weapons.

I squinted and looked closer. Through the bushes I could see a Bosmer dressed in iron armor. He wore the arm-wrapping that Erandur's squad wore. I looked over at Meesei and screamed, "Don't attack. It's one of Erandur's juggernauts."

They both stayed hidden behind the trees. Maybe they saw something I didn't. I looked closer and could see a group of bears chasing after him. I pulled Nisha off my leg and pulled out my wand programmed with shock magic. I didn't need bother. The Bosmer was just fine.

Once he spotted us, he nodded a welcome and reached for a bottle of ale strapped to his belt. He turned around and popped the lid. He shoved a leaf into the opening and lit it on fire with his fire magic. He then tossed it into the group of bears. It shattered into a giant light of shattering glass and alcohol. In that second the bears were stunned. The Bosmer then, faster than my eye could track, pulled out his bow and launched a series of arrows into the throats and skulls of the beasts. In a few seconds, they were all dead.

The Bosmer smirked and nodded to the dead bears and approached us. He bowed deeper to me and said, "Why 'ello. Thought I'd bring some lunch for everyone. Hope they like honey-tasting bear." He smirked as he slipped the bow over his back, looking at all of us. "Oh, by the way. We found the girl we were after, and much more. There's a whole colony underneath the city of Cheydinhal and an entire army of Aedra circling above it. We need to create a distraction so that they can escape."

I looked at the giant crack of leaking Daedric magic and suddenly a plan formed. I smiled and looked at the Bosmer. "I think I know just what we need to do."

Cearbhail: And now, I get to do what I do best. Giant Big-ass explosions.