Cearbhail:

Sorry it took me so long. I went on vacation and as soon as I got back, I got really sick. It was hard to think, hard to keep focused, and even as I recovered, my sister thought it would be a 'great' idea to drop off Harmony for the weekend so... then I was kind of didn't get a chance to work on this chapter. And now she's sick too. But anyway, I'm finally done and my cold's pretty much gone now. Just some cough issues.

=^^= Enjoy...

[Huir]

You ever have one of those days? Those days where you wake up, find your long lost wife, have sex with her on an operating table with wounded soldiers watching you with nurses on standby walking in at awkward moments, meet up with a rebel alliance and help them fight off the over-the-top dictator army all while trying to save your country's capital city from falling down all around you only to find out that you're facing an impossibly overpowered foe that literally can't die, and then when you're seconds from being overrun a woman from your past just happens to show up and not only save you but does it in style, oh… and then a giant projection of some enemy guy pops up on screen and then says 'hey, guess what. No more war.' Only to have that maniacal impossible to beat foe go rampant and try to kill everyone, including you? And to top it all off, you're now siding with that over-the-top dictator army to help destroy that impossible to beat foe? You ever have one of those days? You have? Wow… I thought it was just me.

I don't really remember what happened though. Last I checked I was kneeling on the ground when the Crusader just happened to show up at the right exact moment. That was a trait of hers though. She always popped up right when she was needed, or when she could be the most annoying. I've worked with her in the past, you know… back during the Oblivion Crisis five or six years ago. We've done a few missions together and I must say, she is quite the personality.

But anyway, like I was saying, I was kneeling on the ground when Jesselle the Crusader happens by. She threatens Nrillia and then goes to war with her knights. The nine of them started charging the Dominion when a giant projection of some Altmer popped up above us. The projection starts telling us about how the war with the Dominion is shut down, and to be honest I was thrilled to hear that. I'm so done with fighting. I just found my daughter and my wife. Let this war just stop already. Jesselle just stood there like she knew the whole time that the war with the Dominion would come to a close. Another annoying trait of hers. She just accepts things for what they are, and the Divines seem to tell her stuff too. Super annoying.

So, just as I'm getting ready to decide on my retirement party, I hear the several Nrillia proclaim that they're not stopping the way. And just like that, the Dominion decides to help us kill Nrillia, like the giant projection of the Dominion agent suggested we do. But that's when things get a little hazy. I get up and start to fight but a Nrillia that I was fighting blasted me with some wind. Next thing I know, I'm sitting against a building. My head is spinning, and I have Jesselle and Rena sitting next to me, both of them trying to treat my wounds.

"No, I will do it. He's my husband." I could hear my angel's voice through the thickness of my completely jumbled mind.

"Be that as it may, the Divines guide me. One touch with the blessed gauntlets will fill Huir with the blessings of the Divines and he shall walk again amongst us living. Arkay tells me so. I shall lay hands upon him and fill him with the holy art that is Restoration." That was Jesselle. See? Annoying.

"You wish to touch my husband? Not going to happen, missy. I'm the only one that can touch my husband."

"Mara loves and understands your frustration but I must inform you that Huir and I have…"

That's when I was able to push myself up. "Whoa!" I said, grabbing Jesselle's hand. "I'm awake. I don't need any help."

Rena looked slightly furious. "What? You and my husband what?" Rena glared at me, her face turning ever redder than usual. "Huir… what did you do with this… this… I don't even know what to call her!"

Jesselle crossed her arms. "We only kissed."

"Kissed… you… KISSED?" Rena was up on her feet, looking at me. "Huir… you… that's… UGH!" She screamed and started to walk away. She walked around a corner, leaving me completely alone with Jesselle. I would have to go apologize to her later.

I sighed. "Why did you have to say that?"

She shrugged. "Mara told me to. Besides, if we had not at the time, you may have died. I had to get the poison out of you somehow, and that meant getting inside you somehow."

"Please don't mention that part to her either." I think the less Rena knew about that encounter, the better off I was.

As the world finally started to settle around me, I could see that the battle was truly over. The Knights of the Nine were all over the place, healing whatever wounded there were. To my surprise, I could see Modryn standing over a lain out Vilena, who was being treated by one of the knights. She seemed to be alive still, holding Modryn's hand. Dominion agents were wandering around the remains of the battlefield, all talking through crystal balls. They were probably talking to other agents all across Tamriel.

I tried to stand up, but my legs were killing me. I groaned as I looked over at Jesselle. She had her helmet off, and I could tell she hadn't aged much since I last saw her. Bretons, am I right? Half elves don't age like normal humans do. They look pretty young for most of their life, but once they hit that age where it all falls apart, you can't tell they're the same person as before. They age horribly once they get really old. But Jesselle, she still had long crimson red hair pulled back in a tight braid, her bright blue eyes still glaring through me. "Are you ok?" She asked me as I sat back down.

I shook my head. "Still pretty sore. What happened?"

"The Divines happened. Nrillia tried to fight me; I called upon Talos. The light of Talos was too much for her and all her servants dissipated. She knows the true strength of the Divines now. There wasn't much of a fight." She said as she bent down to run her hand across my forehead. She muttered something and I felt an overwhelming feeling of warmth flow through me. It felt like all the love in the world just rushed into me, kissing every inch of my body with healing Restoration magicka. Jesselle was something else when she wanted to be. She's annoying half the time, the other half… I can live with that.

My bones felt good as new and my head stopped throbbing, but I still couldn't remember what happened to me. So, I thought I'd just ask her. "So, why did I miss the whole battle?"

"Well…" She looked away. "When I called upon Talos… the buildings all trembled from the might of his mightiness. His awesomeness was too much to be bound in form so… he kind of blew everything up. A large part of the White-Gold Tower may have fallen down right on top of you and may have nearly killed you." I looked away from Jesselle up to the White-Gold Tower. It wasn't there anymore. It was nothing more than rubble. Huh… you think I would have noticed that earlier.

"Ok… so, why am I still alive?"

She shrugged. "I am a healer. I may have laid hands upon you several times in several areas to make sure my healing was thorough and consistent. Some thicker areas of you needed more attention more often than others." I wonder what areas those were.

As I started to stand up, I heard an explosion nearby. "I thought the fight was over."

Jesselle shook her head, looking off in the direction of the nearby explosion. "I do believe those are the Argonian shadow warriors over there having their last fight. I can see by the look in your eyes that I should be out there doing something about the fight unfolding, but I do not know much about what their fight is about or who I should side with. Julianos says I should just stay out of it, that their fight was predestined. The Argonian gods are looking over them, and so… I shall turn my attention to our comrades, for the Divines wish of me to assist them." She turned around to go look back at me. Just like her… she won't fight unless it somehow is ordained by the Divines.

"Our comrades?" Does she mean 'our comrades' from the old days?

She nodded. "From the Oblivion Crisis. They are all in Black Marsh, fighting to beat this Nrillia woman, while trying to help the Princess take her role as Queen of Black Marsh."

I remember being on that squad for a while. So… Nexa was finally confronting her father and killing him? Good for her. "Are we going to go help?"

Jesselle shook her head. "We have other things we need to do."

"Like what?" She looked to the sky, as if she was answering my question by doing so. So, I looked up too. And I saw a wave of orange robes flying towards us. Were those Aedra coming towards us? "Oh…" I could not tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing. She wasn't reciting scripture, so I'm guessing it wasn't so bad.

…

[Julanza]

Today could not get any worse for me. Standing right beside me was a large crater that was still smoking with the remnants of a Shadow Bomb my ex-wife Riviella just tried to drop on me. I'm running out of steam, I'm fighting my ex-wife for the right to live, and my current girlfriend is being chased around by several other Shadowmasters. I had to keep everyone distracted though. I wanted to go help Nexa as much as possible, but I couldn't do that without Riviella or any of the other Shadowmasters hunting us go to find her. To make matters worse, Yuvenni and I are not just facing Riviella. We're facing every shadowmaster Black Reaper. Besides Yuvenni and I, there are three others: Riviella, our leader; Gashaviena; and Trianna. They were not as strong as me, but they could take Yuvenni if they worked together. And I'm too busy fighting my lovely ex-wife to go help her.

We got trapped in the Waterfront District part of the Imperial City when we tried to meet up with the Imperial Resistance. I was hoping that I could help them take the capital and then we'd just wait out the war for a couple days and see about invading Black Marsh. I did not know that everything would change so drastically. From what I heard from the Altmer projection above us, our war with the Dominion was already cut short, but I do not know how that changed the situation in Lilmoth. If Fiirnar was no longer our enemy, did he tell everyone that our Warlord was truly dead and that our queen was as well? Did he let Nexa take her place as the next queen? Somehow, I doubt things have gone so simply over there.

"Are you giving up, sappy?" Riviella asked me from the rooftop of a nearby shack.

I sneaked a peak to see Yuvenni holding her own against three other Shadowmasters. Gashaviena and Trianna were giving her hell, but Drasha was barely trying to fight. I think she just didn't want to get in the way of a Black Reaper like Yuvenni. Since Yuvenni was holding herself behind a bubble shield, I think I could buy some more time.

I looked up at Riviella. "And if I said 'yes?' Would you quit the fight as well?"

I think I took her by surprise. Riviella knew I didn't want to fight her, but to give up? She never thought I'd do something like that. I guess it intrigued her, because she knelt down on the rooftop, actually sitting. "Well… let's review what we know, dear sappy." She stuck up her middle finger. "One… I hate you." She stuck up her other middle finger. "And I promised Meesei I'd kill you."

I started to reach for my sword. "Ok, so… I'll take that as a 'no.' Should we get back to it, then?"

Riviella just glared at me for a few seconds. "I'm not done, dear sappy." She put her middle fingers away. "As you know, Order 13 is in act." Order 13. That sounds familiar, but I wasn't really good with the 10 digit rules. They varied so often that one order could mean 'kill everyone' and the one right above it would say 'switch your cart insurance to Argonia Plus'. Not true, by the way, but that's how different they are.

"And Order 13 dictates?" I shrugged at her question.

She scoffed, shaking her head. "You are such an idiot sometimes." She stood up, blowing a whistle through her fingers. The other shadowmasters attacking Yuvenni suddenly stopped. "Ok, everyone. The time has arrived. Order 13, established."

Shadowmaster Gashaviena sighed a relief as she slid her sword back in her sheath. "Good. I'm sick of pretending to be a bad guy."

I stood there, looking around at the shadowmasters all putting their weapons away. Even Yuvenni seemed more than ready to lower her guard. What was going on? I looked over at Yuvenni. She smiled at me, which must have been hard for her since she's a husk. "Did you forget about Order 13?"

I threw my arms up. "I missed that class, remember? I broke my arm in combat training the day before and I was still on the Sap, and that Sap was bad, I can tell. Things were pretty loopy." I looked back at Riviella. I half expected her to draw her blade and try to kill me, but she was still standing around and glaring at everyone else but me. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

Riviella smiled. "Order 13: Under suspicion of outside influence misguiding our leadership's command structure, or in the case of an outside influence somehow infiltrating our command structure, all Shadowmasters are required under Order 13 to ignore all commands from our command structure and do the opposite of what they demand while making it appear that they are still under control until such a time that we can safely establish a safe route to find out what's really going on. And…" She pointed up at the sky where the Dominion agent stood not too long ago. "now we know what's going on." She crossed her arms. "It would seem you have chosen correctly in whom to follow, sappy. You knew all along the Princess was in the right, and now we know for certain. I could clearly see Fiirnar in the war room with the Warlord, but after seeing that necromancer talk through an Argonian… and he talking about containing the War Council… It all connected to what the Princess said. It's time we head to Lilmoth and end this once and for all. It's time we correct the royal line."

I couldn't believe this whole time… it was all an act. Every second of it. "Were you ever trying to kill me?"

"Sappy, I would not order Yuvenni to assist you and conveniently carry anti-venom to a poison that takes two minutes to kill someone if I really wanted to kill you. I'm an expert assassin, as you should remember. And the Shadowmasters are not idiots. We are not tools. We're agents. Just because you were with the Princess all along, we felt it better to not tell you anything, since you would be watched like a hawk. And the Shadowmaster Corps can talk in the Shadows, so we coordinated every moment we could. Yuvenni requested to defect and protect you, I allowed it. I thought it would be nice to see her with you. I could communicate with her to learn of your actions, so tracking you would be easier. It made it too easy to find you actually. And now that we no longer need to pretend to fight… it's time to reclaim our true leadership."

By the Sap… I looked over at Yuvenni. "You've just been pretending to help me?"

She shook her head. "I wanted to make sure you would be safe, Julanza. I also wanted to be with you."

I guess that was a fair statement. And since she was under orders to keep me in the dark while Order 13 was underway, I guess she was just doing what was right. If Fiirnar or Nrillia learned about the Order's purpose, I guess we wouldn't be able to function anymore as a unit. But why not? They could have been helping us this whole time instead of hurting us. This fight would already be over. But, I guess it has to do with the suspicion part of treachery, not knowing for a fact that our Warlord was compromised. Killing a leader was wrong, unless you know without a doubt that they're being used.

I let out a long sigh as I slid my sword back into its sheath. "We should get moving then. Nexa is probably in a lot of trouble by now." I just hope she was ok.

…

[Nexa]

That was my blood. And that was my left forearm floating in front of my eyes, completely severed from my body. I could feel the burn already spreading through my body, my nerves screaming at me, my mind numbing me from feeling it another second. Adrenaline is a great thing, and being used to being tortured helps too. I was already shutting out the pain before it got even worse. I needed to focus. Seeing the glare in my father's eyes as he turned to slash at me with his bloodied blade, I realized that I couldn't lose myself. Not yet. I grit my teeth as I brought my right arm up and caught his slash with my enchanted forearm blade. He couldn't cut through this at least. Now, I had time to think.

Just seconds ago, I tried to attack my father with a lightning blast, and that required that I straighten my arm and let the lightning mana flow through my fingertips. Dad's not stupid; and he's one of the best shadowmasters when it comes to sword fighting. I'm honestly surprised that I've lasted this long. I wonder if a small part of Dad was resisting. He was acting slower than usual. I guess I had some time to figure this out.

When Dad started to pull his sword away from me, I figured I didn't have time to think about it. I glanced down at my arm, the one that's currently bleeding out. My purple blood was spilling out, and quickly too. I was already feeling woozy, and my legs were feeling weak. I had to do something or else I was dead. Before I could react, I felt a line draw across my stomach plate. My dad's katana almost ripped right through my scaly armor. That was close, I wasn't even paying attention. I had to do something. So… I did the only thing I could think of. I kicked him in the balls. I'm glad I did too. He tumbled right over, his face turning even darker than it usually was. He even dropped his katana to grab himself. Ha! I'm awesome. My wobbly feet would disagree with me though.

Instead of killing Dad, I reached for my belt with my only good arm. I pulled out some Miracle Sap, given to me by the Hist when they joined my war effort. It was in a clear bottle that Nakuma gave to me, and the Hist told me that this Sap would heal any wound except for my head getting cut off. So, I dived down to the ground, grabbing my arm. It hurt like hell to press it against my forearm and hold it there with my knees as I reached for the bottle. I took the whole thing, drinking it as quickly as possible. I felt the liquid gold rush through my body and I could already feel my arm's pain beginning to wither away.

I looked from my arm over to Dad. He was still groaning and rolling around, but he was trying to look over at me with his twitchy eyes and almost-exploding face. I looked down at my arm to see the scales beginning to cover the wound. Slowly, I could feel the numbness extend to the rest of my left arm. But… I couldn't get it to move. I guess the nerves weren't restored yet. I could feel myself touching my arm, like my arm was still there, but not quite better yet. Huh… I guess that will have to do for now. I reached for my weapon and tried to stand up. The amount of my blood on the floor made me slip though, and I ended up on my stomach again. My head spun, my breath was short and fast… oh… I'm still low on blood. Ok then. I think I'll just take a little nap.

The last thing I saw was Dad struggling to stand up. He actually reached out to grab his katana with a shaky hand, and grunted as he tried to shimmy himself over to me. I must have kicked him too good. He could barely move at all. It was almost funny to me before my vision faded away.

…

[Zergon Creishan]

I've spent the last five years trying to relax after everything that's happened. Besides the whole 'end of the world' thing that went down six years ago, I had to deal with some idiot that believed they could somehow destroy the Dark Brotherhood. It was a nearly successful goal though. Back then, I was surprised when one of Black Hand managed to successfully kill two other members of the Black Hand (the highest level in the Dark Brotherhood, an organization familiar with betrayal and killing people) AFTER giving a stupid bad man monologue. Seriously, everyone in that room should have killed him BEFORE he finished his stupid speech. And then two of them just stood there and waited until he stabbed them with a crappy knife. They deserved to die if they were that weak.

That's not the point though. I'm just saying that… after I killed the traitorous bitch and helped Adam defend Bruma and the Imperial City, I wanted nothing more than to kick back and relax. I helped Arquen, some random Altmer, rebuild the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. And now that we have some solid assassins to do the day-to-day, I get to sit back and listen to the Night Mother give me a list of people that need to die. Until she told me to go to the Lilmoth Café and kill Queen Ali-Jinasha. Nothing more to say on that, and now I knew why. Ali-Jinasha was already dead but being used by the necromancer Nrillia. Interesting day, I'll say the least.

And I guess Ali-Jinasha knows I'm here for her too. The way she looks at me with her knowing eyes, there can be no doubt that she knows my true reason for being here. I don't know what brought the other leaders of Cyrodiil here, but I was happy to see them. I thought I was going to have to fight all the War Council myself until Princess Nexauvia burst into the café with her own soldiers. And then Sosia and Adam? Talk about good luck. And I don't care if Zirien is wearing that ridiculous Gray Fox mask, I can still tell it's him. He's no stranger to me anyway. I wouldn't be the Listener if I was so easily misguided. Even so, I don't know why they're all here, but it's nice to have my friends back. Well, all but one; and I'm glad she's not here. The Crusader left a bad taste in my mouth when she tried to kill me, and I'd rather not see her ever again. If she weren't blessed by the gods, I would have killed her for Sithis, but… oh well.

So, standing here, my friends are all running around and doing their thing. Sosia was fighting every Nrillia bitch, giving it her all with those staves of hers. Sosia was one badass girl too. I was surprised she could fight off three of those bitches. I thought one would be enough. I guess having beaten Mannimarco before, she should be able to handle three of these lesser necromancers. Zirien and Roland were fighting the Dominion soldiers. Good for them. Zirien isn't much of a fighter, but he clings to the shadows as well as any shadowscale. He knows how to handle a few soldiers too. Roland is the Master of the Fighters Guild. He better be able to fight some weak soldiers. And since he has a bad habit of not dying… we should be just fine.

I turned my eyes back to Queen Ali-Jinasha, nodding to her. I slid my black hood back up, obscuring my face. "Are you ready to face Sithis, Queen Ali-Jinasha?"

She stood there for a few seconds. Then she finally nodded. "Of course I am, you fool." She sighed as her eyes started to glow black. "I have been ready since I first started my journey in Shadow. But… before you must kill me, there is one more thing I must do." She cupped her hands over her stomach. "And you must humor me one last time, dear Shadowmaster."

Shadowmaster? I wasn't a Shadowmaster! I was a Shadowblade. What kind of game was she trying to play? I should just kill her now before she can somehow escape and kill me. I flicked my wrist and let my Blade of Woe slid down my arm sheath into my hand. "Humor you? How so?"

She smirked as her body started to gather in black Shadow magicka. Her dark eyes reeked of the void, the empty abyss pulling in the pools of Shadow. "I shall give you a small lesson. Will you hear me out?" I was so long in her eyes that I couldn't resist. I honestly couldn't. I found myself nodding. "You see…one thousand years ago…"

…

[Nexa]

"Princess Nexauvia, you must get up to fight." That was a voice I did not expect to hear.

I tried my best to stand up, but my legs were still falling out from underneath me. "Grandmother?" I asked as I opened my eyes and look around. I could only see a room of nothing, it was all black. Standing right in front of me was Queen Ali-Jinasha… my grandmother.

Grandmother nodded to me as looked down at me. "Look at you, all grown up. I've watched you grow for a long time, granddaughter. From the happy toddler to the grieving child, to the hardworking bookworm of Yuvenni and Julanza. You were kind of like their child, the way they fought over you and your studies. But they raised you well; even though your father only ever used you for political reasons." She sighed as she paced around me.

I tried to stand up, but my body was feeling even more lifeless now. "What's happening? Am I dying?" I looked up at her. She was dead so… "Am I already dead?"

Grandmother scoffed at the thought. "Were it so easy." She shook her head in humor. "You lost too much blood, child." She continued to walk around me. "You are seconds away from death, I fear. And this is that moment where your life flashes before your eyes. And then you'll learn something. And then… you'll either die… or you'll live. If you live, you'll get a nice reward."

I tried to sit up. "And what reward would that be?"

She smirked. "The only reward that matters right now. My position as the Queen of Shadows, Princess Nexauvia."

I found myself nodding. "Ok, so… how does this work? Do I relive those moments or…"

"We'll get to that. First… a little history lesson. You will witness my life first. And then… you'll learn something." She replied. With a snap of her fingers, we were no longer standing in a black empty room. We were standing in the thickest part of Argonia, and there was a little girl sitting against a tree, crying in a fetal position. Grandmother looked at me. "This is the story of how the Shadowwraiths learned of Shadow. I was the creator of it, the original Shadowwraith."

Cearbhail:

Ok, so ... I know what everyone is thinking... Shadowwraiths are an age old thing. How can Queen Ali-Jinasha be that old? Good question. I have no idea yet. I'm thinking time-traveler maybe. Or a curse that leaves her age-less. Or perhaps she's really just that old. Maybe the last one. but I'm definitely trying to figure that part out. Now's the time for some out of the box suggestions.