Cearbhail: It's been almost a month, yes. Got a new chapter for you, hope you like it. I get to introduce some new minor characters that I don't know if I'll ever use again. Most likely since I like them. Well, I might just make a new series just for these charaters. The Chronicles of Kill Squad Alchemist. Sounds nice. I might do that someday. Anyway, enjoy this emotional rollercoaster.

[Ruulan]

I took a sharp breath as I jumped forward. The ground behind me shattered into multiple colors of light and fire. I covered my head as blood rained down on top of me, but it wasn't mine. My heart pumped quickly as I struggled to get up. My feet felt light as a feather as I rolled back up to my heels, pounding my way forward. More sounds of explosions roared behind me, the ground exploding from underneath me. I thought I would have had more time to escape the magicka spring before it exploded. I set the timer for two minutes…not ten seconds. A problem I continually ran into these days. Never enough time to get away.

The weapons factory behind me was now a giant mushroom cloud of rainbow magicka. The liches had planned on making something called a 'magicka cannon'. My team and I were called in to destroy all their magicka-based weapons and to silence all who were associated with the project. We did it, but I lost one of my specters. I knew it was worth the cost, however. Those liches were going to use the cannon to destroy the central government of Summerset Isle. I could not let that happen. Not if it led to the destabilization of the entire nation of High Elves. M y team and I were sent in so that the little incident could be avoided. After all, if the central government of Summerset Isle was destroyed, there would be a lot of chaotic elves running around. And that was bad news for everyone else when they would start throwing blame around the other nations. They had the most magicka of us all; they could crush us if they put their minds to it.

The ground underneath me blossomed into a giant stream of rainbow mist. I threw my hands in front of my face to protect myself, but it was no help at all. I was taken off my feet as the cloud consumed me. I held my breath and closed my eyes as the stream of magicka pushed me off my feet and into the air. The ground below me was now flying up into my face. I could hear as the ground all around me continued to explode. I thought this was the end, the end of my unnatural good luck.

I opened my eyes to see that I was lying in a cot. I felt sharp pain all over my body, so sharp that breathing felt impossible. I started calming my body as I started realizing that I was still alive. My mind started whirring back and forth, trying to remember what had happened to me. Images of me doing so many dangerous missions filled my mind. I tried to filter between them all. The one with the magicka cannon happened three years ago. I was still young back then, at the top of my game. I was 27, getting pretty old now. My luck would eventually wear out. It had to happen eventually. But…here I still was. So, which mission was it this time that nearly killed me?

I decided to look around the medical tent for clues as to what happened to me. I seemed to have memory loss. My lungs were burning and I was hooked up to what appeared to be a breathing device. It was pumping oxygen into my lungs for me. I sure hoped whatever happened to my lungs healed. I looked down at my body. Almost every inch of my body was wrapped up in medical gauze and tape. I tried to lift my right arm, and it begrudgingly started pushing itself up. The pain emitting from my arm caused me to cry out in pain.

That's when a Dunmer rushed into the room. She ran right up to me and pushed lightly against me. "You need to rest. You've been badly burnt from an acid leak."

"What happened?" I managed to croak out of my covered mouth.

"Try not to speak." She replied. "You were on a rescue mission to save some of my friends. You were carrying some type of alchemist fire that was damaged. It sprang a leak and it started burning your body. My friend Babette grabbed you right before it exploded and killed you. She flew away with you as fast as she could. She brought your body back here and I began healing it. I'm not the best healer in the world but…you're still alive." The Dunmer smiled as she patted my hand. "Now, sit back and relax. I have other patients to tend to until my friend wakes up from her nap. After which…I will send her your way."

The Dunmer spun around and away from me. I sat my head back down on the pillow and took a deep breath that burned so deeply in my lungs that my whole body cried out in horror. So, I will live to fight another day. I wonder if the battle was finally over, or if we had another assignment to do. I wanted to get back up and finish this fight if I had the chance to. It didn't matter that I was almost dead, I still had limbs. It didn't matter that I couldn't breathe; I'd just hold my breath. I'm Sparvia, a warrior from birth to death, trained in: stealth, sabotage, assassination, and insurrection. I was a one man army. But even we operated in squads. I was the leader for the Haruulanta Tor, or known as the Killer Squad, the finest warriors of the Lilmothiit tribes. My name was Ruulan, which was the root word for 'kill'. Every Sparvia was named after a word for kill in some way shape or form. I was named 'Kill' because it's what I did best. I killed…and a lot.

I closed my eyes and forced my body to relax. I'd been in worse spots. I remember a week where I lied flat with a sheet of leaves covering my body, my bow pulled back and locked. I had been waiting for some Cyrodiilian aristocrat that was contacting the Dark Brotherhood. I had orders to kill him before he made contact. He was funding their operations, giving them items that could destroy towns. The Dreamstride was a tool to never be used by murderers. Just one poison from that text could wipe out entire countries. I killed the aristocrat and the assassin that met up with him for the ancient text. Then I gave the text to some monks that lived in Skyrim. No one ever goes to Skyrim, especially not for Daedra worship.

"So, you're finally awake." I heard Mnaling's voice whisper to me. Her voice carried her usual quiet amusement. "We thought you died….again."

I opened my eyes and gazed over to her. All four of my teammates were here. Mnaling; she was our healer, also our primary mage. She was headstrong and expressive, but she seemed too quiet for her personality. She was also one of the youngest of our group. Only 18, and her healing training was advanced enough for her to be placed within the special forces, not to mention her Destruction skill set was impressive. She was a natural healer, but her physical combative skills were not so great. But, we trained her. And now she could hold her own as one of my squadmates. I wouldn't mind if she saw to my healing. I'd be out of this bed by the end of the day, if not sooner.

Gtuja was a young male, barely in his twenties. He had a strong head on his shoulders but his immaturity and impatience cost us some lives before. He was usually put on overwatch, a position that was usually associated with sniping. With his impatience, I thought it was a bad call to have him sniping with a crossbow. But it seemed that when he was staring through a scope, his mind seemed to focus. In the last mission he was the only Haruulanta ready to go. So, I chose him to come with me for the up close battle. I felt he was perfect for protecting the healers while they gathered up the wounded. I would have liked to have him behind us with his crossbow, covering us with exploding bolts. That's where he belonged but…he did well. He got everyone out alive, so I heard.

Behind them were the alchemist expert and combat engineer: Tryana. Tryana was part of the word "iva'tryana", which meant Burnt One. She was named Burnt. She was almost as old as I was, only 25. She was also a Sparvia, but she was one of the weakest ones of us trained. She lost her right arm and her right eye one day when she accidentally popped the lid to one of her alchemist bombs. As she was preparing to throw it away from her when she realized what had happened, it exploded in her arm. The splash of instant fire burnt her arm to the bone, and the fumes lit her eye on fire. Now she wore an eye patch over her charred hole and her arm was amputated and replaced with a Dwemer-inspired mechanical arm. We found the designs at that Lich base that housed the magicka cannon. We could recreate entire bodies using combinations of Mysticism and Alteration magic with crystals and precious metal. That was year after she lost her arm, though. She was still trying to get the hang of using her arm. Some days she actually had emotional breakdowns if she accidentally tweaked her arm. She was a very emotional person, very easily depressed.

And finally, we had my stealth specialist: Cyanna. She was the one that always infiltrated the best-guarded bases, set up the alchemist bombs Tryana created, and created as much sabotage as possible. I wish she had been part of the team when I destroyed the magicka cannon. We might not have lost Praling. I did miss Praling; he was a good soldier, one of my best infiltrators. He just couldn't get away fast enough. I almost couldn't. Anyway, Cyanna was the quiet bookworm of the group. She was also the weapons expert as well. She had a very difficult past that I don't really want to get into with her. Every time I ask her about her past, I learn some new thing that happened to her as a child that would silence an entire room. But, she's a very dedicated member of my team and I respect her much needed boundaries. She was one of our younger stealthers, only 19. She was nearly the same age as Gtuja, only younger by three months, but she was still more mature than he'll ever be. Well, mature might not be the word, more like silent and deadly.

After my eyes drifted over everyone, I found myself smiling. "I'm just glad you're all alive." And I was very happy. I'd lost so many teammates over the course of this war. Many of the Sparvia were slaughtered during the early days of the Aedra invasion. Some of them were in Bravil when the bridge collapsed and the city ravaged for six days without end. I don't think I'd keep fighting if more of my squad had died today. Well, I would keep fighting, but only for them. I'd fight to make sure they died for something, so that their deaths were not in vain. That and I'd keep fighting so that more of my friends and families would not be killed as well. I'd probably die fighting; it's what I was bred to do.

Tryana smiled at me and walked up to me. She scanned my body with her glowing eye patch, saying, "You look well enough. Your legs look mangled, however." She turned to look over at Mnaling. "Think you can fix his legs? They're heavily burnt. That acid leak did a real number on his legs and lungs."

Mnaling nodded to Tryana. "Of course I can fix him." She said as she brushed past Tryana and up to me. She stuck out her hands and started running them over what I think was the aura of my legs. She hovered her arms several inches away from me, her eyes snapped shut. "Wow!" She breathed. She shook her head to the side, her frown growing. "Wooow…" She almost chuckled before turning over to look at Tryana. "So…you can make legs like your arm…right?" She half chuckled to her.

"I'm right here." I tried to say but my lungs didn't pull in enough air to squeeze it out.

Tryana smirked and winked at me…I think it was a wink. She only has one eye so it's hard to tell sometimes. I think this was a forced wink. "Don't worry, I'll have your legs fixed up." She began pulling up the sheets and stopped before she pulled them too low. She looked back at Mnaling and Cyanna. "You two…avert your eyes." They both turned around, and Tryana went back to pulling the sheet down. It was then that I could see just how bad my legs were. They were practically eaten through. I could see down to the bone on one of them, the other looked mostly melted. How in the Oblivion had I survived this?

Tryana whistled in appreciation. "You were always the hardest of us all, weren't you Ruulan?" She shook her head and said, "The good news is that your bones are still intact. With a little of Mnaling's Restoration magic, I should be able to add some Dwemer components to the leg to replace your missing blood vessels. Your legs will have some cybernetics inside them to replace your missing knee cap, your missing ankles…and feet. But…you'll walk again. In a day's time, I'm sure." She nodded to me and patted me on the stomach. "At least you still have your little soldier."

I sighed with relief. "Can you cover him before he gets cold?" I asked her nicely. She pulled the covers back up my waist and nodded. I looked over at the other two members of my squad and said, "Ok, you can turn around now. Mnaling, I'll need your help with Tryana's implants. Looks like I'm getting newer legs."

…

[Nakuma]

This wasn't what I was expecting. I was lying on the ground, my favorite robe covered in my own blood. Ten feet away from me, Ram-ku was lying unconscious. All around us was a giant fire that I had created to corner Meesei when she stole my only protection from Mannimarco. The amethyst was back on my head and the rush I got from using blood magic had worn off. My body was fully recovered but I was so exhausted from using my soulic energy that my body was pretty useless right now. If Meesei returned to kill me, I wouldn't be able to stop her for a second. My heart was still pounding at seeing Meesei kissing Ram-ku. I looked over at his unconscious body and felt my heart snap again. I hated seeing that. That really hurt me worse than having seven knives plunged in my chest.

The biggest issue was that I…I really liked Ram-ku. He was nice to me, he was charming, and he actually valued my opinion when it came to magical affairs. But, I guess that was all an act. He was with Meesei, the one person who wanted me dead, and not just because I was an outcast now. I felt bad that I did like him, however. It felt like I had betrayed Oleeme, who I had loved until he lost his emotions. Well, that was more like loved once he lost his emotions and then forced to silently care for him even though he no longer had emotional capacity to care for anything. I was in love with a husk. I think that's why I started liking Ram-ku. He was someone that could return my feelings, someone I could actually have a loving relationship with. Well, I guess that wasn't going to happen now.

His body continued to lie there, making me worried. He wouldn't be out-cold for much longer. When he woke up…would he kill me? Leave me? Mock me? I didn't know, but all those options would only hurt me more. I think him leaving me would hurt worse than killing me. Because I would live with that pain for so much longer. It didn't seem fair, though. I never asked for any of this. I never asked to be in the Shadow Squad. I never asked to be part of a betrayal to the other Argonians. I mean, I understand that I wasn't really a betrayer, I was doing what was necessary since the Warlord was dead. I was one of the only ones that knew the truth…but knowing the truth while others only knew the lies was still very painful. I was seen as a traitor, while everyone else was being led by an imposter. And me fighting my closest friends wasn't what I signed up for. I didn't know that I would have to fight Meesei and Ram-ku someday. If I had known…I wouldn't have bothered getting to know them.

My worst fear was starting to come true. Ram-ku's head bobbed to the side and I heard him groan. He pushed his hand out and started pushing himself up onto his knees. He shook his head lightly and started gazing around the battlefield. He spotted me almost instantly and started coming up to his feet. He looked down at the ground for his sword, which he grabbed while groaning in pain, rubbing his left eye. He looked over at me, squinting almost. The fire burned behind him, which only made him look more evil as he started shuffling over to me, his right leg almost dragging. I must have hit him with a paralysis spell because half of his body seemed stunned still.

I tried to move my body but my arms refused to move. I was unable to move myself at all. I could only lift my head and watch as he glided up to me. He was breathing heavily, like walking towards me was a task all on its own. He paused about halfway to me and collapsed to his forward knee. He clutched at his chest for a moment, taking deep breaths as he did so. During that time, he glanced at me with his one good eye. "Where's Meesei?"

Really? That was the first thing he was going to say to me after nearly trying to kill me earlier. I tried to call out to him, to tell him exactly what he wanted to know, but I found myself breathless. I groaned at my own inability to talk and looked over at him. He was still studying me with his eye.

"What did you do to Meesei?" He asked again, this time pushing off his knee and slowly clambering himself up to me. I started holding my breath as Ram-ku stood just above me, his sword aimed weakly at my chest. His knee buckled and he practically fell on top of me, his sword only inches away from me the whole time. He leaned forward, catching his breath, placing his sword up to my throat. "I won't ask again…" He paused, his face paled. "What did you do to Meesei?"

"I…" My voice began to croak out. "She ran away." That was all I could say. My head was spinning from that effort alone.

Ram-ku glared down at me, non-moving. He finally stabbed the ground next to my neck with his sword and began pushing himself off my body with it. He wobbled for a second before he caught himself. He exhaled as he pushed himself away from me, wobbling off. He stopped to turn back to me. "I'll let you go this one time. The next time…Nakuma…" He paused there and nodded to me. "I think you know." He started to waddle away, but he paused one more time. "And…she was never with me. She just said that to make you suffer."

I watched as Ram-ku disappeared through the fire. I found myself almost laughing that I had not only survived two shadowscales, but that Ram-ku wasn't with Meesei. He hadn't been toying with my emotions. It was just Meesei. Figures. I should have realized that earlier. That kiss seemed to surprise him as much as it did me.

"Fellow Shadowwraith Nakuma." Oleeme's monotone voice called from in front of me. I looked down to see him standing not too far away from me. "I am here to bring you back to the medical tent set up two miles from here. The rest of Shadow Squad will rendezvous with us when they can arrive there." He walked over to me and began to pick me up. He paused for a second, scanning my bloody robes. "Is it safe to carry you?" He asked….with a hint of concern. Did…did I imagine that? I looked up at his eyes to see that they weren't glowing anymore. That and he did look worried. I thought he was a husk! I thought they didn't have emotions.

I managed to nod to him. "Yeah, safe." I squeaked out. "Healed." He bent down to pick me up and I saw the faintest smile poke through. "I find that uplifting to hear." He said as he started carrying me away. "However, I will not flash due to the fact that wounds can easily be reopened. We will walk."

I looked over at Oleeme to see that his face had gone back to being impassive and his eyes back to being glowing lights. Maybe I had imagined it after all. But then I saw his lips curl into a small smile. I had almost missed it. Maybe…maybe he was becoming normal again. If that was true…I couldn't give up on him yet. He said he loved me. If I could bring him back to life…perhaps he and I could have a future after all.

Cearbhail: Oleeme and Nakuma hovering over a tree, something something ending with -ing..