Cearbhail:

whoa, everyone. Just whoa. You have got to imagine the possibilities of this entire thing. Just... whoa.

[Nexa]

Dear Father,

Today is my 16th birthday. I'm no longer an apprentice to Uncle Julanza. So, I'm heading to the Imperial City to learn more about traditional magicka. Shadow's cool and all, but I want to learn more about what the other races know about magicka. Not to mention, I want to find that blood-rager that killed Mother. I swear that if I find him, I will kill him and ship his head back to you. I think we both need this. Anyway, before I leave for the Imperial City, I thought I'd just say to you that… you know… I don't hate you for the stuff you put me through. The intense training, the strict rules you've put me through… all of it. I understand. Mother was killed by a Khajiit, and you only wanted to protect me. I'm your only daughter, and you didn't want to lose me like you did her.

With that in mind, I am an adult now. If you try for even one second to keep me from being my own person, I will disown you. My future is not behind these walls. I want to see the world, and I will see it on my own terms. I'm not your little dragon anymore; I'm the Princess of Argonia. And if I'm going to spend the rest of my life behind these walls, I'd better see the world before Grandma dies. I'll see you in a couple years, you know… after I see what the world is like.

Princess Nexauvia Frazviani.

…

"You think you people can defeat a God?" Nrillia screamed as black flames started sprouting from her body. Even as I watched, more bodies started climbing out of the floor, all looking just like Nrillia. Hundreds of her bodies started sprouting up beside her.

I looked around at the Argonians just watching the Nrillias popping up. "Get out of here!" I screamed to the Argonians. When they didn't start moving, I looked over at the Shadowwraiths. "Initiate Order 32!"

The shadowwraiths looked at me like they were confused for a second, but one of the more seasoned shadowwraiths nodded to me. "Right away, Princess." His eyes flashed with Shadow and he stuck his hand out. Argonians started disappearing into portals of Shadow that formed around them. It took a few seconds for the other shadowwraiths to get the message. They started shadowporting other Argonians away. In a matter of three or four seconds, the room was clear of any non-combatants. The only ones still remaining were the shadowscales and the shadowwraiths… not to mention the shadowmasters.

"Why not?" Adam smirked at Nrillia as a few hundred of her started walking over to his team. "We already beat a god. Heard of Mehrunes Dagon? He's a god… and we shut him down." He took a fighting stance. "We'll shut you down too."

The Arch Mage looked at me. She smiled as she ran over, hugging her baby close to her. She placed her baby in my hands, winking at me. "Watch Lysara for me?"

I didn't get a chance to say no as the baby was shoved in my hands. "Uhh…" I said as the Arch Mage reached for the staff resting over her shoulder.

The Arch Mage winked at me as she pulled the staff up. "Thanks, hun." She turned to face the only battlemage in the building. The one with long black hair. "Hey, Battle-Born! You ready?"

The girl nodded. She unsheathed her sword, one that shone with lightning. "I'll get her back for what she did to the Imperial City."

Adam smirked as he unsheathed his own Akaviri katana. "So… we doing this thing or what?" He asked the hundreds of Nrillias that just stood there.

Nrillia looked at my father and nudged her head towards me. "Go kill the Princess."

Father turned to look at me. "Gladly."

I looked back at Oleeme and Nakuma. I handed Lysara, the Arch Mage's daughter, over to them as I reached for my own weapons. "Sorry, guys. I have to fight my dad now."

"I understand." Oleeme stated as he took the baby from me. He looked over at Nakuma. "Shall we practice caring for this infant?"

Nakuma nearly blushed at the thought. "Umm… sure." They ran for the exits as I turned to face my father.

My father pulled out his longsword. He took one step forward and was suddenly in front of me. He had moved so quickly that I could barely track his movements. I just barely had enough time to bring my own forearm blades up fast enough to catch his slash. If I had even hesitated for a fraction of a second, I could have lost my arm. I looked at my father's blood red eyes. "So… this is it then? You're just going to kill your own daughter?"

He didn't blink as he spun around and slashed his tail at me. His tail slammed against my cheek pretty hard and next thing I knew, his sword was slashing deep into my chest plate. He moved so quickly that I didn't have time to react. He was in front of me, reaching out with his hand. He grabbed me by my throat. I looked him in the eye as he started squeezing me. "Princess!" The head shadowwraith screamed. He launched an orb of Shadow at my father, hitting him hard enough that he loosened his grip. As soon as he hit my father, the shadowscales watching turned to shadowwraiths.

"Treason!" A couple shadowscales screamed and unsheathed their swords.

"You're a bunch of idiots if you truly believe that this man attacking the Princess is really the Warlord!" A couple of shadowwraiths screamed back. And that led to a war between the shadowscales and the shadowwraiths. The two armies charged at each other flinging magicka and Shadow everywhere. The shadowblades were still sitting on the sidelines, trying to figure out where their allegiances lay. I couldn't blame them. They were smart enough to know that something was up, but some of them were also shadowscales… trained to do as ordered by their Warlord.

"So… we're finally doing this?" I heard Adam say as the Grandmaster of the Blades slowly walked up to him. The old man with a top knot was dressed in his Akaviri armor, holding a daikatana that glowed with the mastery craftsmanship of a true sword forger. Adam chuckled as he brought his own Akaviri katana up.

"You were always the fool." The Grandmaster said as he disappeared into a flash. Adam disappeared too and next thing I saw were a bunch of explosions of energy as they slashed at each other mid-flash. I wished I could have watched the fight, but I had my own fight going on.

I turned my attention back to my dad as he tried to thrust his blade at me. He missed me be just a feather. His face was still burning from the Shadow attack and it showed on his features. As he slashed at me again, I threw my sword up, intercepting his attack. I stuck two fingers out and tried to warm up something like a lightning bolt. Magicka was something I grew up doing, so I didn't have to cook up the lightning too long before I launched it at his face. Too bad Dad was just as fast as he always was. He dodged the flash of lightning, and in that very second, grabbed my outstretched arm. There was a flash of movement and a splash of blood in the air. My blood.

…

[Nakuma]

We couldn't get out of the center plaza fast enough. Magicka was exploding everywhere inside. Shadowwraiths were fighting shadowscales. Shadowblades were fighting each other. I think it was the ones raised as shadowwraiths fighting the ones raised as shadowscales. It had finally happened. Our private grudges against each other had led to a full war. The shadowscales were loyal to the Warlord, and the shadowwraiths were loyal to the Princess. The Shadowmasters were loyal to the Queen. It was bound to lead to a war if any of those three got in a private war.

The Redguard fighter busy hammering away at the Dominion soldiers rushing into the battlefield. He moved with such speed and ferocity that I couldn't believe he was pure human. Maybe he had some Daedra blood in him somewhere. Beside him was the Dunmer wearing the weird mask. They worked well together. The Dominion soldiers might as well lie down and give up. Whatever they tried was quickly shut down by them.

That Adam guy was busy fighting the old man with the Akaviri armor. I think he was a Blade, but I couldn't be sure of that. The two moved like a blur around the room, and I couldn't track them. I could hear the clash of their swords though, and every once in a while, I could see the two standing still as their blades met. They'd just disappear as fast as they popped up though.

I looked over to the mother of the baby. She was facing off against all the Nrillia coming at her. She was so adept at magicka that she was able to push the necromancer away. While the woman handled the horde of Nrillia, the battlemage was busy fighting the rest of the War Council. She would dodge attacks from the slithering Tsaesci and the slow Sload, and blast fireballs at Khajiit warrior charging at her. The only person I didn't see fighting anyone was the Queen of Argonia. She just stood there with her eyes closed. She trembled heavily though, like she was getting ready to do something.

The coo of the baby drew my eyes from the battle back down to her. She kept pressing against my chest, reaching for my breast. She must be hungry. I looked over at Oleeme. "We should get as far away from this fight as possible, and find her some formula."

Oleeme nodded. "I think that is a wonderful idea." He said as he started leading the way down the hallway. As we left, I heard footsteps behind us. I turned around to see the three shadowscales of our squad running up to us.

"Hey!" Onastvee said as she ran up to us. When the shadowscales caught up to us, Onastvee nodded to me. "We'll come too." She looked back at the unfolding battle. "I think we'd just get in the way."

I looked at Nexa fighting her father. "Shouldn't you help her?"

"Nexa told us that if she ended up fighting her father that we shouldn't interfere." Neetsa said as he rubbed the back of his head. He shrugged. "I would love to help her, but the way she's moving… I'd only get in the way."

"I totes know how you feel, Neetsa." Onastvee said as she wrapped her arm around his, pulling him close to her. "It's like our brains are connected or something."

"Or something." Deejena stated while looking over at Onastvee.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Onastvee asked as she turned to look at Deejena.

I sighed as I looked at the three shadowscales. "Umm… can we move this conversation to somewhere less dangerous?"

"Well, well, well…" I heard a sickening voice behind me. My scales ran cold as I snapped my head around. Meesei stood at the end of the hallway, her arms crossed. I could see that half of her face was nothing more than a giant black scar mark. Her eye was whiter than it used to be. I wondered if it was glazed over. Was she blind in one eye? And if that wasn't enough, behind Meesei was Ram-ku and Vistha. They stood next to her, their weapons out and ready.

"Meesei!" I said as I reached for my wands. I had to fumble for a second because I was still holding a baby. And I was too slow. Before I could switch the baby to my other hand so that I could reach my weapon, Meesei was already in my face with a blade at my throat. I thought I was going to die, but the look on Meesei's face was priceless. She was obviously afraid of something. I stepped back as Meesei was suddenly thrown away from me. Deejena stepped past me, holding onto Meesei's knife arm as she did so. Deejena had essentially saved my life.

"You will not hurt my friend." Deejena stated as she slashed at Meesei with her free hand. Her sword was met with shadowscale armor and the two broke apart from each other. Meesei hissed a challenge as she charged at Deejena. While the two of them started fighting, Vistha and Ram-ku moved in to help Meesei. And while those two were moving in, Onastvee and Neetsa moved in to help Deejena. I couldn't hope but stand there as the baby started crying in my arms.

The six shadowscales started fighting each other, swords flashing and shadowports everywhere. I didn't even know where to begin. The room ahead of us was nothing but pockets of Shadow mist. If I even tried to blast someone with magicka, I might hinder one of my own friends while trying to attack Meesei or Vistha. "Get out of here!" Neetsa's voice came from somewhere inside the Shadow mist battlefield.

I didn't move until Oleeme grabbed my free hand and pulled me to follow him. "We will shadowport to the other side of the hallway." I only had time to nod before we vanished into a shadowport, reappearing on the other side of the hallway. I looked behind us to see the six shadowscales still fighting each other. I nodded my thanks to my new friends as I took off in a sprint down the hall. I looked down at the baby in my arms. Were we doing this because we had the baby? Or was this part of something more? I had no idea. I wondered if we would run into Meesei again. It seemed like one of those things that couldn't be avoided. I'm just glad that I didn't have to fight her. Last time we tried that, I was on the ground dying while she mocked my love for Ram-ku.

Just thinking of Ram-ku made my chest hurt. Seeing him made my heart stop. I didn't really know him that well, but… there was something there. And our eyes met. When I looked at him behind Meesei, he was already looking at me with fixed eyes. He was frowning, like he had hoped that he wouldn't have run into me or something. Surely they were on orders to kill the Shadow Squad. Luckily, our new three shadowscales were with us. They could handle Vistha and Ram-ku, I was sure. And Deejena was no pushover either. She was an expert swordsman. I've seen her train in the morning. She puts other sword users to shame.

Oleeme led me down a series of hallways until we ended up in one of our laboratories. He looked back at me as we walked into the room. "There should be some baby formula in here."

I looked around the room as the baby started crying even louder. Oleeme was quick as he searched the room for anything he could use to feed the baby. I started bouncing the baby on my hip as I looked around too. I found a table and a chair nearby where I could sit and play with the baby while Oleeme searched the lab for any baby formula. It wasn't uncommon for Apprentices to bring their babies to the labs with them. So, there was usually some formula in each lab in case it was feeding time.

As I bounced the baby on my lap, I could see Mannimarco pacing in front of me. "You have a strong magic user right in your lap. You could enthrall her now, make her your slave. You could turn her mind against her mother and turn her into a weapon to kill the Arch Mage."

I looked over at the shifting Mannimarco. "I will never do that." I said to the moving specter.

Oleeme looked over at me for a second before he returned to searching for the formula. "Mannimarco speaking to you again?" He asked me with his head in a refrigerator.

"Yeah. He wants me to enthrall the baby and use it to kill the Arch Mage." I said to Oleeme as he pulled out a container of milk.

"Keep fighting him." Oleeme said as he started pouring the milk into a bottle.

Mannimarco smirked as he looked over at me. "Fine. You have resisted for far too long. It's about time I showed you what I am truly capable of."

I laughed as I put the baby on the table and stood up. I looked at Mannimarco and stuck my arms out, welcoming him to try. "What are you going to do? You're just a figment of my imagination."

He smirked. "And yet… you seem to forget something." He turned his attention to the doorway. The door shifted open and I was surprised by what I saw. My brother, Biluuz, was walking into the room.

I felt my heart stop as I got a good look at him. His robes were covered in blood; his arms looked like they had been cut into several times the past few days. He looked tired and drained. His aura was pure black though, his eyes glowing blood red. And right behind him was Mannimarco, pure physical in appearance. My specter of Mannimarco floated over to the real Mannimarco, fusing with his body.

"Biluuz?" I almost screamed as I looked over at him.

He looked over at me, his eyes glazed over. He muttered to himself, scratching his talons against his arms, raking himself as he turned to look at me. "I can't – I can't – I can't…" He shook his head as he raised his hand to me. "I can't… I can't ignore him!" He finally screamed as he formed a ball of Shadow in his hands.

I raised my own hands as he launched the ball of Shadow at me. I managed to catch the orb of Shadow and throw it away from me. Oleeme was suddenly beside me, grabbing the baby. He jumped back just in time. The real Mannimarco had made a move for the baby, trying to snatch him from the table.

"Give me the baby!" Mannimarco screamed as he raced after Oleeme.

"I would rather die." Oleeme screamed right back, full of real emotion. I cast a glance at him to see that his eyes were no longer glowing white. His eyes were back to their normal color. He had somehow broken out of his Husk state.

I turned my attention away from Oleeme back to my brother. "Brother… I don't want to fight you."

He scratched at his neck, digging into scales, peeling them away as his eyes twitched uncontrollably. "It's all your fault." He screamed as he stepped towards me. "That stupid journal you forced me to help you translate. You brought him into my mind. You… he did things to me… made me see things. And it's all your fault. You and that stupid mission of yours."

He started throwing more balls of Shadow at me. I threw my own defenses up and the balls exploded on my Shield. "I never wanted you to help me!" I shouted to him. "And I didn't know Mannimarco would manifest in our heads! If I had known, I would have never let you help me!"

"You think I'm weak! You always thought I was weak!" He shouted as flames surrounded his body. "You were always the star child. Mom liked you the best. You were always the stronger one, the one more adept in magicka. You're nothing but a gnat to the power Mannimarco showed to me. I will finally teach you your place, dear sister." Oh no… he sounded like a true necromancer now.

Cearbhail:

The old Shadow Squad fighting the new Shadow Squad. Nakuma fighting her brother... Oleeme fighting a reborn Mannimarco... the Arch Mage fighting the greatest necromancer ever known... Adam fighting the Grandmaster of the Blades... just... everything. And Nexa fighting her father. The Queen fighting herself... and Zergon. You will see. This will be amazing.