Cearbhail: Ok, and I'm back from my break. I am a little beat, though. I was preparing this rose quartz for a friend. And because I don't usually work with crystals very much anymore, I had to prepare myself before I could prepare it. It took a lot out of me and I just didnt' feel like doing much afterwords. Anyway, I'm back. Enjoy.

[Hans Battle-Born]

"Take down the shield!" I yelled, raising my flaming fists into the air. I was on the other side of the massive wall that no one could teleport into or out of. The Altmer dressed in their ridiculous black leather overcoats stared at me like I was an idiot.

"Sir, there are orders to keep this bubble up until the Aedra are defeated." One of the elves said to me as he pushed more magic out of his hands.

I glanced into the bubble. There were so little Aedra it wouldn't matter if we let them leave. "I think it's safe, soldier. Besides…I want to talk to my troops and this bubble is keeping me away from them."

"Orders are…" I never let him finish. I slammed my fist so hard against the massive bubble with my magicka focused into one spot in my knuckle. My fist slammed hard against it, but it paused with no effect.

The Altmer looked shocked for a second before his face resolved into a bitter sneer. "Do you think you can best the magic of the Aldmeri Dominion? We created this bubble…no mere Nord can bust through it with brute force, even if it was reinforced with magicka."

As soon as he finished his little prattle, a giant crack burst across the entire bubble. Just like that, the bubble shattered and dissipated. The four Thalmor standing in front of me brought their fists up, hissing at me in their elven language. "On the orders of Councilor Fiirnar, die!" One of the elves screamed to me.

I stuck out my hand and threw a punch. It never reached him; it never needed to. The sheer force of my punch immobilized all four elves. They ran into the invisible wall of my magicka. Then with another punch, they flew back, hitting the ground. They were dead.

I stepped into the battlefield and watched as the Aedra started scattering away. This battle was over. I pulled out my crystal ball and brought up the war map system that we all used now. I could see enough of the battle to see that the Akaviri were retreating now that the wall was down. The Khajiit were standing-by, as were the Argonians. I had to meet my troops and get them out of here before the Aldmeri Dominion decided to tag us in battle. We didn't need more fighting. We needed to get away and get some reinforcements.

So, with this bubble down, I just had one thing to do. I pulled up every team leader I had on the crystal ball and said, "Attention, Battlemages! Retreat! Fall back to underground bunkers and await new orders. Do not allow any members of the Aldmeri Dominion or Argonians to follow. Treat them as hostiles for now, we are at war with both until further notice." I heard all leaders respond back to me with affirmatives. I sighed as I thought up someone else that I needed to talk to. He was the only person I could ask for guidance.

I called him up and he answered right as I called him. He always knew when I was going to call. "I want a full status report on just how much damage we've taken." That was all I had to say. He knew exactly what I wanted to hear.

The virtual image of one of my blind seers stared up at nothing, his wrapped face glaring at nothing. He stood there for a second; raising a hand to his forehead in an indication that he was processing my order. "I see that every one of our bases did not survive the explosions of their map systems. Your base was the only one to escape destruction." He paused for a second, frowning. "If you want numbers…I think it would be easier to tell you who survived the explosions rather than how many died. Out of 8 battlemages forts, the total surviving parties are…31. While a good number, it pales in reflection to the number of Thalmor beginning to surround them at their discarded locations. The highest number of battlemages in one spot is Fort Mafre, with the number of 7 battlemages, one healer, and a child sorcerer."

I nodded. "I want you to spread this to every battlemage still standing out in the open. Tell them to head to the closest underground bunker. We're at war and we don't have the numbers to commit an attack yet."

The seer nodded, already knowing what I had in mind. He was the son of one of the most powerful seers in Cyrodiil. His name was Eronor, named after his Uncle Eronor, who was a Dunmer. His mother was Dagail, who was the head mage at Leyawiin, was a Bosmer. The son looked like a cross between a Dunmer and a Bosmer, fit and dark like a Dunmer, but had the bright colored hair and colorful eyes of a Bosmer. He was one of best-trained seers. He was always one step ahead of me when it came to orders.

"I have already sent the word. I attempted to raise the alarm before the maps exploded but…there seemed to be a shift in the known universe, like it was never supposed to happen…or at least not so early. The maps blew up before I could respond, which has never happened. The entire future itself seems to be spinning backwards, against its own current. My seeing abilities seem pointless." He shook his head, and for the first time, he looked scared. "But I have sent the order to go underground. I have also taken the liberty to summon an old friend of my Mother's, Adam. He was taking a nap in a plane of Oblivion…but he's more than happy to come and help us."

"Adam?" I asked. "You don't mean…"

Eronor nodded. "Yes, the Champion of Cyrodiil: the one who bested the Daedra in Kvatch, Bruma, and the Imperial City. He is on his way to help us."

I found myself breaking out into a smile. "I've heard so much about him. I can't wait to meet him."

"You're going to meet me first!" I heard a young girl's voice call from behind me.

I spun my head around and watched as a…blind girl, dressed in battlemage armor so old in design that you'd think she'd just come from a cosplay party, started walking up to me. Honestly, no one wore mithril with blue fabric and golden runes anymore. It just wasn't in style anymore. That and we had too many complaints about the outfit showing too much skin in the middle of battle, or just at all. Most battlemages liked having iron or steel covering their whole body, not one mithril chest wrap.

I shook my head and found myself saying, "You are planning on dressing in something more modern, right?"

The blind girl with the eye-wrap froze on the spot. She stopped and looked down at herself, which I guess she could do, even though her eyes were wrapped up in that blindfold. "What? I look fine. This is traditional armor…isn't it?"

I found myself laughing outright as I shook my head. "Yeah, it's traditional…and so were platform boots and wands. But I don't see you strutting around in platformers." I found the other mages around me chuckling in response. Just seeing her made me forget that we were about to go to war with an army stronger than us and in greater numbers.

The blind girl forced a strong frown at me and crossed her arms. "Ok, old man. We can either stand here and mock my choice of armor, or I can tell you that the Aldmeri Dominion has taken over Black Marsh and is using their shadowscales to attack you. Now, you can stand there and insult my favorite armor, or I can tell you that the Shadow Squad is now harboring the only surviving heir to the Black Marsh throne, who happens to be on OUR side. That, and I could say that if we don't do something stupid, we can link up with the Akaviri Alliance, and the Lilmothiit forces as well. Which will give us an army strong enough to push back the Aldmeri Dominion and keep them from killing and enslaving us all."

I held my laughter and looked down at the girl. She had that look of seriousness. She seemed like a very capable person, like someone I could trust. She was a battlemage, after all. "Ok, battlemage. Which unit are you with?"

She smiled. "I'm in the Shadow Squad, which is linked with Battlemage Troop 6, if I'm not mistaken. Whichever one Erandur, Vatu, Davilia, and Primrose are in."

Ah, so she was the blind seer we were sent to find. Most seers weren't blind, some just wore blindfolds to focus their attention off their eyes and onto their 'special' eye. I wanted to know if she was really blind. "It's Battlemage Troop 4, not six. Can I see your eyes? I know this might not be the time but…I want to know if you are really blind."

The girl reached up and untied her blindfold. She pulled it off as she walked up to me. When the blindfold slid down, she opened her eyes and glared right at me. They were so white and glazed over. She looked just like a Moth Priest. So, it was true then. She was a blind seer. Just as quickly as she showed me her eyes, she reached up and tied her blindfold back on. "Sorry, but…I don't like exposing my eyes. I feel that people stare at me differently without the blindfold…like they treat me like a normal person. When I walk around without it on…people gawk at me like I'm a freak. For some reason, they don't do that when I'm wearing the blindfold." She stopped and then glanced at me, sticking out her hand. "I'm Lilly…um…Gray-Mane… Yeah, Lilly Gray-Mane."

"A Gray-Mane, huh?" I said, taking her hand. "Didn't hear that they had a blind seer, but…I guess they don't tell us Battle-Borns much anymore." Staring at her, she looked a lot like my daughter. They were about the same age and they looked so alike. The Gray-Manes don't resemble Battle-Borns, having more auburn hair than straight brownish-black. And this girl had hair so dark that it looked black, but could have just been a really dark brown. She looked like a Battle-Born. I wonder if someone from my family married a Gray-Mane. My sister did say something about it. Could this be my niece? I didn't know I had one. And to keep it hidden for what…17 years? No, I didn't see my sister hiding something like that. She must be a Gray-Mane then. "So, what do you want from me, Lilly? I'm guessing you aren't here to just tell me that you're insecure and like traditional armor."

She nodded and pointed behind her. I looked over her shoulder to see a bunch of Argonians running up to us. One of them was dressed in armor just as old-fashioned as hers. It was black obsidian with dark purple fabric sown into it, much like what old battlemage armor used to look like. Hey…it was the trend back then. We used to wear the colors of our units around us as identification markers. I shook my head as the Argonian ran up to me. Behind him was Battlemage Troop 4, Erandur pulling up behind them. Then my eyes looked down at the tiny girl…who smelled like a vampire. That was probably the Babette I was briefed on by Sosia then.

My eyes locked on the Argonian, who was reaching out for a handshake. I gladly took it. I paused as I let my aura read his. We stood locked for a second as our spirits blended together. We were absorbing information about each other. It was a sign of trust. I felt nothing malicious about him so I nodded a greeting. "Welcome, Shadowmaster Julanza?" I asked him. When he nodded, I smiled. "I've heard all about you. So, you're the leader of the Shadow Squad that's helping us find the device that will destroy the Aedra?"

He nodded again. "Yes, I am with the Shadow Squad, but I'm not the leader. The leader is Shadowblade Nexa Frazviani, the daughter of the Warlord, and granddaughter to the Queen. And since both are dead…she is now Princess Nexauvia, the only survivor of the Royal Throne."

I felt my heart pause for a second. I know exactly where this was going. "You are asking us for help, aren't you?"

"We are allies, are we not?" He said. "We have housed your wounded, your civilians. We have fought alongside you in this war. And now…that alliance may be broken because our Throne is in the hands of Councilor Fiirnar. And he's using our troops to kill the Princess. When she's dead…there will be nothing keeping him from killing you or anyone else."

"What do you recommend, then?" I asked. I know what he wanted. I just hoped we could pull it off.

"Once we get rid of the Aedra…I want to reclaim our throne for our Princess. One of my squad is with the Akaviri Alliance…"

"No she's not. She's lying in a pool of her own blood." Lilly said from beside the Shadowmaster. When we both paused to look at her, she only shrugged. "She's fine, just out of breath." She turned and looked at another Argonian. "Oleeme? Can you please go get Nakuma and Ram-Ku? They're over there." She pointed west of our location. The Argonian nodded and took off flashing down into the battlefield. She turned to look at us again. "It's fine, really. The Akaviri were warned ahead of time and they're retreating. I'm sure they'll help us when we meet with them."

The Shadowmaster nodded to her and turned to face me again. "We're allying with the Lilmothiit and the Akaviri. Together, we plan on fighting the Aldmeri Dominion and Black Marsh, to take back our throne…and then using what we have left, squash the Aldmeri Dominion."

Lilly smiled. "Once I see that Vatu and Nexa are ok…once I know that everyone can get away from this battle in one piece…I will be leaving for a few days. When I come back, I will bring an entire army with me some of the strongest fighters known throughout history. We'll take this war so quickly that Fiirnar will not know what hits him."

My head was spinning with the ideas that were popping up. "So, you are a Psijic then? Are you traveling through time and assembling a giant team of strong fighters and bringing them back here for a war?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm…well, I'm like a Psijic. And yeah, I'm going to bring an army of strong fighters from the future to come and kick the Aldmeri Dominion's ass." She smiled thickly as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I did not expect anyone to figure out my plan so easily." Then she paused and grabbed her mouth, like she was a toddler that just told a lie. "Oh no…what if Fiirnar heard that?"

…

[Councilor Fiirnar]

"Warlord, Former Shadowblade Nexa has escaped execution. The rest of Shadow Squad continues to elude us. We almost had the aided traitor Nakuma but that…shadowwraith somehow bested two of our shadowscales and escaped. The traitors have continued to spread the false lies that the Aldmeri Dominion has taken over Argonia's martial forces. The Akaviri Alliance has broken away from our war effort and has begun retreating back to their homelands. The battlemages are assisting the traitors as well. It's just us and…the Aldmeri Dominion, but I fear they might betray us next."

I nodded my head at the virtual head of Shadowmaster Yuvenni. "Excellent report, Shadowmaster. Inform the other Shadowmasters that we will be allying permanently with the Aldmeri Dominion. Now…I'm tired and heart-heavy after hearing that my daughter has betrayed me, and the Queen has retired to her chambers. All further orders until told otherwise will come from Councilor Fiirnar. Because of the treachery behind these lies, the War Room has already been evacuated. Councilor Fiirnar will remain behind to tend to the War Map…other than that, the remainder of the War Council will remain in hiding, only giving updates periodically. Understood?"

I had to think and ponder every single thing I could say and do to make sure that even if I was discovered that it would not look like the traitor daughter was right behind me killing the Warlord. I could program the scanners to present my body as the Warlord's, and that's how I was able to fool all the Shadowmasters into 'knowing' that the Warlord was still alive. One holographic image was all it took for them to believe that he was still alive, that and the fact that Nexa was a liar and a traitor.

I waited, watching the image of Shadowmaster Yuvenni. She was taking longer than I had hoped to give me an acknowledgement. Perhaps she was using that husk-brain of hers. From what I heard they were nothing but logical thinking. I could have forgotten something and she might be calculating the possibility that I wasn't the Warlord. But she finally nodded, saying, "Understood, Warlord."

I let my invisible breath seep out. "Ok, now I want you to deal with that rogue Shadowmaster, Julanza. Bring me his head on a pike.." Shit! Stupid turn of phrase. "No, wait. It might be a trap. He could use some sort of Illusion to make himself appear dead. Instead, roast his body until there is nothing left and then tell me. Kill all of Shadow Squad and report to Councilor Nrillia of the Aldmeri Dominion for your next orders. This is your assignment alone, Yuvenni. Kill Shadowmaster however you please but you must report it to the good Councilor, alone."

Yuvenni bowed to me and her image disappeared. I waited for a few seconds before dropping my illusion, looking like myself again. I pulled open the map open and looked for Councilor Nrillia. I found her icon near one of the walls of the massive bubble teleportation shield. I tapped it open, drawing her image into my globe. "Councilor Nrillia, I have orders."

Councilor Nrillia pulled out her crystal ball and started staring into it. She must have been away from her globe. It was a good thing she had that ball with her, otherwise I'd be forced to exterminate her on the grounds of incompetence. "Yes, Councilor Fiirnar?"

"There is a Shadowmaster Yuvenni coming to report to you the successful execution of the Shadowmaster Julanza. I do not know when she will arrive, or if she will. Chances are that this Shadowmaster Julanza might be too much of a challenge for her and might kill her. If she does report to you, I want you to make a choice. If you feel that she serves a purpose for the Aldmeri Dominion, spare her but kill all the other Shadowmasters. If you believe she might be a threat, kill her. If you believe she is an annoyance, kill her. If you, for whatever reason, don't care for her, kill her."

Councilor Nrillia smirked. "So, she's under my command then? She can be my personal assassin/slave?"

I nodded. "She is only a beast that knows how to kill. The other elves won't care what we do with her, not once the Aldmeri Dominion controls Black Marsh. And that is another problem. While our relationship with Elsweyr is nice, I do not believe we have sufficient relations to ask them to go to war with us against this nation. Nor will the Shadowmasters help us destroy and enslave their own race. Therefore, all the Shadowmasters are a liability. Don't get too attached to your toy, soon we'll have to throw her away."

Councilor Nrillia bowed to me before saying, "Yes, Councilor. I shall have some fun with her and then I'll break her before long." I let her image blink out. I didn't need to say anything else. I did have one more thing to pull up, however. Then, I get to see if the real fun begins.

I pulled the map far away from the battle. I scanned the entire planet to see if they were being set up. And I could see them at all the strategic points. The large towers that surrounded the world made a large smile spread across my face. Teleportation Blockers/magic jammers. Once these were activated, everyone not wearing the exclusionary wrist cuffs would be unable to teleport or use any magic. The little seer with her big advantage of leaving was no longer a problem. Once again, my globe had shown me everything I wanted to know.

I pulled up the recorded image of the seer talking to the Shadowblade Nexa. I wanted to make sure I had all this covered before I did this. I was going to regardless, but knowing my enemy is what makes this so easy.

. "Well…I'm a time-traveller. I'm from the future, like everyone knows. I already knew the outcome of this war. Fiirnar was never supposed to take over the War Council. Sure…he killed your father and replaced the Queen with an Argonian royal he bribed to work for him. Then it was a civil war within Black Marsh…you leading one side, Yuvenni leading the other. But…it never happened like this."

The seer scratched at her head in confusion. I found it mildly entertaining, but the way she spoke of it told me that I had somehow changed history. It was a glorious thing for me to witness. This world would be mine, but only if I managed to keep her where I could grab her. So, keep her inside the bubble. That was the plan before the Akaviri started killing my men, dropping the surrounding shield. The reminders of the Aedra had scattered off, as well as Shadow Squad and the Lilmothiit. Even the Sload were gone. Now, I had to track them all down and eliminate them all before a war spread between us all.

"But I can see what he did right now. Everyone inside the War Room is dead. The only one that escaped was Sosia Ernard…who was supposed to die. Everything is so screwed up! Now I have to deal with an evolving Fiirnar that has broken the timeline I could follow and track." She shook her head again, rubbing her hair in frustration. I was finding it so addictive, watching her squirm in pain. That will teach her to think she's better than me. "This makes fighting him so harder! I wished I could just go and kill him right now!"

"Why can't you?" The Shadowblade Nexa asked. I started chuckling to myself. This is my favorite line.

The seer crossed her arms and turned around in a huff. Aww, poor little seer is defeated, blind, and angry. "The shield surrounding both this battle…and the one surrounding Lilmoth keep anyone from teleporting in or out. I can't just teleport in, and I can't just teleport out of this battle…no, we have to infiltrate…and even then, the entire Argonian military will be waiting for us at the Shadowport." Will be now, thanks for the strategic tip. "We'll be killed on sight...not even all the shadowmasters could survive the onslaught waiting for us."

I let the recorded image drop. I got all the facts that I needed to know. I had to enact my plan and then…record the look on the girl's face when she finds out that I had outsmarted her. I looked down at the image of the seer. She was holding her mouth shut like she just said something that might have offended someone. I felt the need to rewind this moment and see what she said, but…even my technology couldn't do that yet. I could record, but I could not rewind…unless it was recorded first. I could still see the Shadow Squad not too far from the battlefield. They hadn't left yet because the precious Princess Nexa hadn't returned with the Khajiit yet. The reminders of what looked like the battlemages were gathering up, making a fortified perimeter against what remained of the Aedra.

I had to hurry. I knew the seer was waiting for the rest of her squad to link up before teleporting away to either my location or the lost ruin where all the Aedra would be defeated. I pulled up the map and scanned for the towering devices. They were all on standby. I just had to give the order. I tapped the open comms frequency for all upper level Councilors of the Aldmeri Dominion, specifically the ones operating the blocking towers. "Operation: Blind Seer is in effect. Activate all teleportation jammers. Silence this world."

One-by-one, I watched as the giant bubble that once covered the small battlefield of Cheydinhal started spreading across the whole planet. It took only a few seconds before the bubble connected with all the other towers, sealing off the world for good. "This is Blocking Tower 1, everything looks green, no problems on our end. Shield appears stable. All magicka lay lines are disrupted; magicka flow in all natural beings is halted. That should be the end of the battlemages, Councilor Fiirnar. The world is silenced."

I quickly pushed a button to see the seer crawling across the ground. "I'm…I'm blind!" She screamed. "I'm actually blind! Holy crap…I haven't been blind in…a long time!"

Hans was too busy studying his hands. "What sort of spell is this?" He looked up at the sky. "I can't summon any magicka to my hands!" He paused before looking around. "Isn't that the bubble I just shattered? The one that was used to keep everyone from teleporting out?"

Shadowmaster Julanza rubbed his chin in thought. I felt a smile brewing as I urged him to figure it out. Go on, keep thinking. Surely you can figure it out before I teleport out there and kill you all.

"I believe the Thalmor have created some sort of device that blocks out our magicka by the use of disrupting lay lines, and as for the shield…we probably can't teleport, which we can't do without magicka anyway."

I nodded to the virtual image of the Shadowmaster. When I found out that there was a seer from the future in our timeline, I quickly had the Aldmeri Dominion find a way to keep her from leaving…and to keep other Psijic Monks from coming in as well. If they were here to save this world from the Aedra, it could mean having an army strong enough to beat my soldiers. I would not have that. So, I had the engineers from Research and Development find a way to silence this world. It was already underway to keep the Aedra from blasting magicka at us, as well as summon weapons, but once we started creating things that could keep teleporters from coming in and going out…I found a way to keep our little Psijic from leaving. And now that I know that she's here to kill me…all the better for me to keep her blind and useless. Now, I just need to kill her first.

I smiled as the seer started lowering herself to the ground. She was use. She sat down on her knees, taking up a seiza position. "Which means, I can't travel through time, and I can't 'see' what's going to happen next, either." Nope, you're trapped here. I started laughing to myself as I watched them all squirm. Soon, they were all going to die. But…something wasn't right. The seer didn't look worried. She looked mildly impressed. She was standing up, brushing her white mithril battle-dress off. "Well, ok, then. I guess we'll just have to use some malachite to block out the interference. That will get us our magic back, give me back my sight, and as for the rest of the stuff that keeps me from leaving…we'll have to break it until I can."

No, no, no, no, no, NO! "Shadowmaster Yuvenni, I have found your rogue Shadowmaster, as well as the remainder of your Shadow Squad. They are one mile northwest of your camp, just east of the Imperial City. Go exterminate them."

"Yes, Councilor Fiirnar. My team of shadowmasters will be there shortly." Shadowmaster Yuvenni replied. "But we are without magic…it will take us a while to get there." Damn! I forgot that it worked both ways. And I couldn't send my agents in…oh wait…I could. "I'm sending backup. Do not engage any Aldmeri agents you come across."

Cearbhail: I cannot wait to get to the next chapter. It's going to be...bloody. Well, maybe. Shab, I don't know anymore. But the story's lifespan has grown. It won't end until Lilly can leave. And in the meantime, I expect plenty of battles to unfold. And romances.