Cearbhail:

Hello. Welcome to Fat Burger, home of the Fat Burger, can I take your order?

[Davilia]

Dear journal, 4e 004, 20th Mid Year

Sorry I got the date wrong on the last entry. It's not 003, it's 004. Oh well. Anyway, we're already past the outer wall, past most of the turrets. The Sload have a really nice zombie army. Their zombies just bulrush into the turrets and draw most of the fire while we hammer the battlements with our magicka. Because of the Sload, we've made it up to Alinor Institute. Now, all we have to do is get inside and find this ethereal room. We can travel to the global mapping device and shut it down. Once we're done bringing it down, the Dominion won't have any advantage over anyone ever again. They'll be as uncoordinated as the rest of us. And that will give us a fair advantage. After all, we can't keep the Soul Separation surrounding us forever. Before we blow anything up, however, we're going to use the moon's towers to find our friends and get some revenge. Might as well use this machine for our advantage while we have it.

Davilia Oreyn.

…

After a couple hours of continuous combat, I was surprised that we hadn't suffered any further casualties. We met wave after wave of combatants, but Primrose was quick on pulling out everything she had as a healer. And I did the same. I tend to forget that I can do the same thing she can do, if not just as grand. There was a second where everyone was knocked down by an explosive rune, and people were bleeding pretty badly. Primrose just walked out, clasped her hands and started humming a soothing song. Her body started glowing with Restoration magicka and the entire ground just filled with Restoration bubbles. Everyone was on their feet within a few seconds of confusion. Just watching Primrose do what she does best made me want to try harder to be an effective healer. The two of us pretty much took care of everyone. I'm not ashamed that I've missed all the real combat. I saved lives.

Once we pushed through all the battlements and into the town of Alinor, we started switching to urban warfare. We tried our best to ignore the buildings and the civilians running for their lives. Some civilians decided to fight us. We knocked them out without really wounding them. Illusion magic is great for that. We finally found ourselves at a small mall complex where we set ourselves into one of the fast food restaurants. We threw up some defensive barriers to protect ourselves while we dined for a couple minutes. Hey, say what you want about our priorities, but blasting magicka takes it out of you. The best way to recover from using magicka is to eat something really fattening, and fast food is perfect fuel for on-the-go magicka blasting. Except Taco Bellow. You'll be doing some blasting but it won't be magicka-based.

"Ok, everyone." Erandur called out to everyone, waving us to him. He took a bite from his Big Mc, nodding his head in delight as he looked at us all. "This is it." He waved his hand over to the map of the town. The massive building on the map was where we were, but right beyond the mall was a few collection of bigger buildings. "That's the Alinor Institute. Inside will be a room that can take us to the moon base that houses the global mapping device." He ran his finger across the map. "This building will have the room I saw as a child."

"How do we know it's up there?" Pra'ja asked as she walked up to us. The blue-scaled Argonian looked up at the tower, resting her non-bleeding arm on her hips. Her other arm was tied up in a makeshift sling. She reached down and started munching on some fries. "Oh gods, I love these things…" She sighed as she struggled to keep her other arm from squirming. I could tell she was hurting, but we didn't have time to fix her arm. None of us had enough magicka right now to do much of anything anyway. That's why we're eating anyway.

I looked out the window of the restaurant up at the purple skyline. The world was still covered in the giant Silence spell, but you'd never know if you didn't see it for yourself. Everyone one of us felt the explosion of magicka that overwhelmed us. Our magicka was back, and boy did it make this invasion so much easier. The Sload suddenly had more zombies to attack Alinor with, and we had more concentrated attacks on the battlements. Overall, we breezed through the Dominion like they were nothing. We'd continue to do so until we reached the moon base. Until then, we needed a small break to catch our breath.

Erandur turned to look at Pra'ja. He sighed as he looked towards the institute. "Did you know that my father… Ersandar Ocato… worked on a secret project for the Alinor Institute of Magicka Development?" Everyone shook their heads. Erandur nodded. He took another bite of his burger before continuing. "Yeah, my father used to work for this Institute. Showed me around a few times. There is a room in the School of Mysticism building that was designed to teleport researchers into portal protected areas… like the moon. I bet they could have set up a breathing dome up there and started teleporting supplies up there to build their moon base. So… we hit the institute, find the room I saw as a child, and teleport ourselves to the moon. Easy."

Hans walked up to us, rubbing his thick beard. He was carrying a milkshake in his other hand. "Sounds easy enough. Think they'll just let us walk in?" He asked before taking a loud slurp of his chocolate milkshake.

Erandur shook his head. "No, I do not." He reached for a bundle of fries and shoved them in his mouth.

I looked down at my small burger. I'd already eaten half of it, but I was still feeling so hungry. I quickly took a bite, finishing my burger.

Hans nodded, reaching over his back and drawing his huge greatsword. "Let's end this." He was the first one to step over to the door leading outside. "Are we all finished?"

I looked back at the server that had cooked all our orders. "Do you wish for a to-go bag?"

I looked over at Pra'ja. "Pra'ja? Do you want to stay here? Fast food restaurants are neutral territory after all."

She shook her head. "No. I'll be fine as long as I don't use my right arm so much. Speaking of which, mind if we heal it a little?"

Primrose shook her head as she walked up with her salad. "We're tired enough as it is. Whatever magicka we have left has to be used for taking the Institute. Inside, everyone will be a spellcaster. And I'm willing to bet the students there won't just sit by and watch us invade their college campus."

Pra'ja sighed. "Ok, fine. Maybe we should wait a few more minutes to gather enough magicka before we death charge out into the fight."

Hans nodded. "That gives me plenty of time to order another Big Mc."

"Sir…" Erandur called from the window. "We don't have time for that now." He waved us over to the window. I put down my box of fries and joined Erandur by the window. When he pointed out the window, I could see Altmer dressed in black robes beginning to gather around the restaurant. They were all female, all the same size, and looked like identical twins.

"Dammit." Hans said over my shoulder. "That necromancer is back." He looked at us, sighing. "We don't have time to dawdle now. Gather your things, string up your programmed warding bracelets, attach your enhancing rings, and follow me outside." He gripped his giant claymore and started for the exit. He looked back at the serving staff and nodded. "Thank you for serving us."

The woman nodded back. "Thank you for choosing Fat Burger for you dining experience."

I hurried as I grabbed my staff. I checked all my enchanted crystal bracelets. The malachite that helped negate magicka attacks and effects, the clear quartz that helped enhance my own spells, and the labradorite that helped draw more energy for me to use for magicka. I checked the dagger strapped to my belt. Since I couldn't call any of my bound daggers to my side thanks to the giant Silence bubble, I had to use a couple daggers with my Telekinesis instead.

I looked at Erandur, nodding to him. "Are you ready?"

He unsheathed two katanas that sparkled with Shock magicka. "This is it, everyone!" He screamed across the restaurant. "We're taking that room! Let's show this Dominion that they cannot compare to the Imperial Battlemage Corps!"

Everyone inside in the restaurants, including the Altmer from the College studying for their final exams all raised their hands in cheer. One of the Altmer students stood from his table and jogged over to us. "Excuse me." He said as he approached Erandur. "Mind if I help?"

Erandur shook his head. "I do not want civilians getting hurt for us. If you wish to assist, I cannot stop you from doing so, but I do ask that if you feel overpowered and want to retreat to a safe area that you do so immediately. You are not one of my soldiers. You do not need to fight, we do. Understand?"

The Altmer nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok with that." Fire sprung from his hands. "I planned on joining the Imperial Battlemages when I got older. Let's consider this my resume. My name is Aurishi Ourdan."

Erandur smirked. "Welcome to Battlemage Troop 4." He looked over at me. "Dav? You ready?"

I nodded. The three of us walked out of the restaurant with the rest of the battlemages behind us. When we got to the island it was a sunny day, but as I looked up at the sky, I could see the dark clouds gathering around us. There were flashes of lightning overhead and I knew that it was leading to a thunderstorm. I remembered studying this phenomenon in the Arcane University. When powerful mages gathered and prepared for battle, it charged and changed the sky above them to storms. It was a magicka created tension storm. As the battlemages gathered behind Hans, I looked around. That necromancer wasn't the only one standing in the hundreds. There were other Thalmor gathered around. Ballistas were set up, all aimed at us.

"You shall not harm this restaurant!" Hans roared. As he slammed his foot on the ground, a giant ward appeared over the Fat Burger we just ate at.

The necromancer smiled as she approached us. "Puny mortals, you cannot stand up to Nrillia and her Dominion. Today is the day the Empire dies. Today is the day the Dominion stands alone as the world government."

Hans smirked and readied his claymore. Shock started to spring off the claymore spraying right into the ground. I watched as the ground ripped open just by the claymore's lightning flowing off it. "Today is the day the Dominion falls." He roared back. He raised his claymore as he roared. "Battlemages, charge!"

…

[Jurard]

Watching the two Altmers setting up the world map was interesting. They worked together in perfect sync as they set up electronics I'd never even thought existed. They yammered in their own language, understanding each other as if they were twins or something. Within an hour, we had the whole thing set up. Outside, we had new problems setting up. Dominion soldiers were lining up to the town to take it. It wasn't just Nrillia either. Since she couldn't get past the circles set up, she ordered normal soldiers to march up here from Black Marsh. They were trying to march into the town, but our circles hindered their progress too. And if they made it inside, they had Telvanni mages and Redoran soldiers waiting for them. So far, we were keeping everyone out of Blacklight. I wonder how long we can keep it up for.

"Sir, we have news." I heard a Redoran call into Lord Redoran's crystal ball. "More Dominion soldiers in golden armor are marching in. They have ballistas."

Lord Redoran looked from the crystal ball over to Archmagister Telvanni. "Can your circles resist ballistics?"

She shook her head. "Not unless they're enchanted ballistics, and if that's the case, the circles will strip the ballistics of their enchantments instead of repelling the actual ballistic itself."

Lord Redoran shook his head, grabbing his temples with his free hand. "Ok, here's what I want. Tell the Magisters and the Guard to target those ballistas. Destroy them."

I looked at Lord Redoran. "Do you want us to go out and engage the enemy?"

He shook his head. "You are needed here to encourage the Imperial Legion to listen to the Altmer. I doubt the Legion will listen to two Dominion agents about ceasing fire. They need to hear it from an Imperial agent as well. Besides," He looked to the door. "if the Dominion is able to reach this place, we need all the help we can get."

I nodded. "Ok." I looked over to the Altmers setting up the map. It looked like it was ready to go. I could see a giant projection of the town. "Are we ready?"

The Altmers approached the globe and reached out with their hands. "Encryption Code: D 136. Decryption Code: 267. Login user: Rascia Runesetter." The girl said to the map.

"Login user: Huniir Runesetter." The boy said. It was then that I noticed that they both had the same last name. I got a closer look at the two of them. They looked identical except that the girl had bigger eyes, longer hair, and breasts. Other than that, they could be the same person. So, they were twins after all.

The map opened up and a bunch of dots opened up on the screen. "We need to begin by activating the Illusion Projection Screening System implanted on Masser Dominion Base."

"Masser Dominion Base?" I asked the twins. "You mean the moon Masser?"

Rascia nodded. "Yes, we built the Global Mapping System up there. It's how we're able to project the entire world onto an illusionary map. We're just a few of maybe 20 logged in users that can operate all functions of the mapping device. Being technicians on the mapping system, it only makes sense to use the technicians as analysts. We can do things with this map that no one else can. Like this." She directed her hand over to her brother.

Huniir was digging through his backpack, pulling out a flat disk. He pulled it out and showed it to me. "This device will take our auric field and use it to make a projection of our bodies. Watch." He set it down on the ground and pressed a few buttons. He waited for a second until I saw a giant circle of white light spring from it. He cleared his throat as he stood on top of the device. "Bring up Projector 8."

"Bringing up Projector 8." Rascia confirmed. She started tapping away at some illusionary screen and then the world on the map disappeared. I could see Huniir standing where the global map was just a second ago.

Huniir looked around the room, and his perfect image moved around with him. "Testing." He said. I heard his image repeat it. He turned and nodded to Rascia.

Rascia turned her attention back to the keyboard. "Activating Imagining Systems on Masser. Ten seconds to warm up." Circles started appearing over the map. "Locating all locations under attack. Imperial City, Blacklight, Lilmoth, Winterhold, Alinor, Akavir, Valenwood, Elsweyr, and High Rock." She turned to us. "Projection System warmed up and ready to fire. Beginning transmission."

Not a moment too soon because I could hear impacts of giant ballistas crashing around us. I sure hope this worked. I looked at Huniir as he looked cleared his throat. "Citizens of the world…"

…

[Davilia]

I brought up my arms as my warding spell took a massive Shock hit from one of the Dominion soldiers attacking us. He was right in front of me. If I just kept running for him, I'd get to him soon enough that I could stab him with one of my daggers. Right as I got close enough to shoulder-ram him I saw a bright flash of light. It crashed over all of us and the fighting just stopped.

I saw everyone looking up at the sky, so I reluctantly took my eyes from the Dominion soldier in front of me to look up at the sky. Up there, floating in the air, was a giant illusion of an Altmer. He looked like a Psijic projection, like the one Erandur often gave to me when he needed to tell me something. "What is that?" I found myself saying.

"Emergency Broadcasting." The Dominion agent said as he looked down at me. "We'll resume our fight after we know what this is about. It's important enough to interrupt our fight."

"Citizens of the world." The Altmer said from up in the sky with a voice loud enough to sound over the whole country. For all I knew everyone in the country could see him. "Under Dominion Law, we are initiating Article 12, Section 90, Paragraph B."

"And what's that?" I asked the Dominion agent.

"In short…" The voice called, "All active battles against the Dominion's enemies are hereby cancelled. There will be an immediate cease fire between all parties. The reason being is that we are about to face a greater enemy than any of us could hope to face alone. These orders come from Councilor Fiirnar himself and are not to be ignored. Councilor Nrillia is also to stand down, but she had elected to attack Councilor Fiirnar and has become a rogue agent no longer associated with the Dominion. If she persists in her attacks, all Dominion agents are urged to take her down at all costs. We will now begin explaining the cause of our cease fire."

The giant illusion ripped open to three screen videos. One had Lilly looking up at the sky, one had a group of Aedra gathering in a room, and one had Councilor Fiirnar looking at a screen with both on his. "This is what occurred." I could hear the Altmer's voice in the air.

The screen with the Aedra started playing first. I watched as the guy dressed in Aedra armor paced around the room with Aedra of so many variations that it made my head spin. The man pacing around the Aedra took a deep breath before saying, "So, to repeat what I've just said for anyone just now paying attention to me. The gods have told me that our war with the men and mer is over. They have given us a stronger army so that we may fight against the threat of the Dwemer. Here, let me show you exactly what Akatosh showed me. In exact detail."

The entire screen shifted and I could see what appeared to be the Imperial City. It was almost completely destroyed. Giant Dwemer machines were breaking the place down while shooting Fire magicka at everything that moved. "This is the threat we will face. The Dwemer are coming, there is no stopping them. It is because of this that I will seek out the armies of this world. We will band together or we will fall. And together, Akatosh says that we will come out alive."

The screen stopped and the one playing Lilly, and the one playing Fiirnar opened up. "Ok, Fiirnar." Lilly said up to the sky. "Are you ready to put the future behind us and work together?"

The projection of Fiirnar sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "There is so much wrong with that statement, but… yes. Let us call a truce. We will need all fighting to cease immediately."

The screens froze and morphed into one giant screen. It was Fiirnar standing in the map room. A loud screechy voice called over his global map. "WARLORD, HIST HAVE ATTACKED LILMOTH. PERMISSION TO AID YOU?"

Fiirnar looked up at the globe and nodded. "Defend our borders, push the enemy away. If you spot the Princess, capture her and bring her to me unharmed."

Then there was a whole scene where an Argonian was arguing with Fiirnar about the reasons for keeping the Princess alive instead of killing her. He told her that he was ending the way and bringing the nations together in order to have a unified world. The conversation went on until I heard Fiirnar call the Argonian Nrillia, which means she was controlling the body. The two of them went on as Nrillia stated that she could fight the Dwemer herself and kill the Legion. Fiirnar resisted the idea. It ended with Fiirnar being grabbed from behind while Nrillia turned her attention to the Altmers, one of which was the one giving our situation report. They teleported away. After that they had more back and forth about taking over the world instead of unifying it.

The screen stood there for a second while Nrillia looked at Fiirnar. "You will see things my way, Fiirnar. You'll see. Once I kill the Princess and order the Queen to surrender all her troops to the Dominion, you will see. The Dwemer will not survive my Dominion. And then…when I have the Seer, I'll take her body, and we'll be together again."

"Nrillia.." Fiirnar said, shaking his head. "You can't do this. We can't take on the Dwemer alone. We need everyone to work together." And that's when the recording ended.

The image of the Altmer returned. "Today the Dominion calls an official end to the war and stands ready to assist the Aedra, the Empire, and all other nations. We need to ban together to face this enemy. But first, a message to the Seer." He cleared his throat. "We have no idea where to start once you've accomplished your already mentioned mission. But I expect we'll be in communication shortly." And with that, the image blinked out.

I looked down from the sky over to the Altmer standing in front of me. He looked down at me and shrugged. "Well, war's over." He looked around. "So, what are we going to do next?"

That's when an explosion near me threw all of us to the ground. "The war is not over!" Nrillia screamed. "I'll destroy you all!"

"Dominion, to arms!" Some Altmer far away screamed. Oh no… we're they going to go back to fighting us. "You heard our Great Fiirnar. Nrillia has defied his orders. Take her down!"

Screams of challenge roared through the battlefield. And like that, we had new allies.

Cearbhail:

Ok everyone. And just like that, the Dominion is now on their side. And by the end of the book, Nrillia will be dead. Well, one Nrillia anyway. The other Nrillia that we love so much in the later Chronicles Series (you know, the one that's reformed) will make her appearance in Changing Fates. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now, back to the attack on Lilmoth.