Cearbhail:
Wow... I never expected this to be the outcome of this little story that I started so long ago. It's amazing how I start something, expecting maybe a little love tail (hehe) about Nexa and Vatu as they fall in love while protecting him from a bunch of Shadowscales trying to kill him for being what he was. I never thought of the whole war, past, and love triangle between Vatu, Primrose, or Nexa, as well as the whole past including how Shadow was created. Or Shadowscales for that matter. Jeez... why can't I just do simple stuff?
=^^= Enjoy...
[Ali-Jinasha, moments away from her 13th birthday] 2e 560, 18th First Seed
So…
"Ever been to Stormhold? It's quite the city. It's Ayleid in design. A lot of stone pillars and elven structures. There's also this big wall that spreads around half the town, but the Ayleids built it to keep the slaves in, and not to keep others out." A white sash said from beside me as she led me into the town. "The Ayleids used to keep the Kothringi and us Argonians as slaves before the Aedra invaded a few centuries ago. In the midst of war between the elves and the Aedra, we managed to fight our slavers and drive them out of the town. Ever since, we've been trying our best to keep the town away from the Ayleids."
No, I've never been to Stormhold. And I'm not sure I'm better off for seeing it now. It was a trashy town. Sure, there were a lot of elven structures sitting around, and a lot of pillars, but… they're overgrown in vines and sunken in the black marshes that make up the majority of Argonia. Instead of Stormhold being made up of elven architecture, it was made more out of huts, most of it on the ground, but there was a stretch of walkways and huts up in the trees overlooking the ground level. I could see some Lilmothiit walking above the trees, as well as some Argonians. But, on the ground level were the dark silver-skinned humans. I've never really seen them before. They dressed just like us, wearing leather outfits with feathers around their necks. Families walked around the town, mostly minding their own business. Was I really going to be the death of them?
I turned to the white sash. "Do they know their fate?"
The white sash turned to me, nodding. "The majority have accepted it as prophecy. Some…well…" She looked around the crowd of Kothringi. I tried my best to catch what she was looking at. I could see in the shadows of the marshes a few crouching Kothringi. They had bows and arrows out and aimed right at me. Right at me? I froze in my spot as I spotted them. And the Kothringi released their arrows right at me.
The white sash walking in front of me jumped in the way of the arrows. "Protect the Mage!" She cried as she took an arrow to her chest. I watched in horror as she cried out in pain, falling almost on top of me. Another white sash tackled her before she could crash into me. And that's when all oblivion broke loose. Argonians from everywhere suddenly grabbed whatever they could find. They rushed to the white sashes. They looked angry. I thought they were going to kill me, but as the others started swarming around me with makeshift shields, I realized that the other Argonians were surrounding me to protect me from any other attempts. I looked around for any Lilmothiit, half expecting them to jump down to fight as well, but they were all gone.
"Get her to the temple." A white sash said from beside me. "No touching her; she is marked. Any disturbance will mess up the ritual." She turned to look at me. "Come with me, Jinasha. Quickly now!"
More Kothringi came out of the shadows, all screaming in murder as they charged the Argonians trying to protect me. Somewhere off to my right I heard a loud explosion, loud enough to deafen me. It was strong enough to almost knock me over. Dirt rained down all around me, but a white sash jumped to my side to shield me.
"Alchemist Fire!" A Tower guard screamed. "White sashes! We need white sashes!" I looked around my white sash to see Argonians on my side all lying motionless in the thick black marshes. Sitting in the middle of the gaggle of motionless Argonians was whatever was left of a Kothringi. His chest was blown open, his body scorched beyond recognition. His body was slowly burning away. Any Argonians close to him were burning alive, screaming in agony as they tried to roll in the marshes to put out the fires clinging to their bodies.
A white sash gently grabbed my arm in a way that didn't interfere with my set up runes. "We need to move, Jinasha." I didn't protest as he led me down the road.
I looked above me to see a bunch Lilmothiit following me on the walkways. They were clinging to the shadows just like the Kothringi were a second ago. Oh no… were they going to try attacking me too? "The Lilmothiit…"
"I know." The white sash said as he pulled me to follow him. "We don't know their plans yet. They know the prophecy as well as any Star Reader or Kothringi shaman. But it has to be Stormhold. And it has to be tonight."
I looked around to other people as the white sash led me down the road. I could see more Kothringi, but they weren't preparing to attack me. I could see a few families that just… stared at me. Some parents were clinging to their children tightly, like they knew this was their last day on nirn. The children seemed apprehensive, like they knew something bad was going to happen but they couldn't figure out what.
We rounded another corner. The elven structures were starting to become more prevalent. The marshland was starting to disappear into paved roads. Of course, I had been kept on a patch of land that didn't sink into the ground. They could risk the runes washing off my legs. After seeing a bunch of Argonians blow up around me, I expected my dress or my runes to be affected, but I was still as clean as I was after my bath. I hadn't noticed it before, but the bath had been enchanted. I had a small aura surrounding me, keeping my body protected. The runes written on me would not smudge easily, nor would my dress ruin. I guess that was something good. Everyone was doing so much to keep me safe. The least I could do to repay for all the lives that were lost tonight would be to see this to the end.
"We're were." The white sash said as he let go of my arm. The temple was of Ayleid design. The temple was in shambles though. Vines grew all around it and half of it looked like the swamp had claimed it. And right in the middle of the temple, you could see that the ceiling had caved in. Growing in the middle of the temple was a large weeping willow. I think it was a Hist. Most Hist looked like weeping willows.
Behind us, I could hear more screams as fighting broke out. I made the mistake of turning around and seeing a wave of Kothringi running through the marshlands, all trying to make their way over to me. I stood there frozen as I saw the Lilmothiit all beginning to surround me from above. They had bows out, all aimed right at me as well. Was this it? Was I going to die?
The white sash rushed to stand in front of me. "Run inside, Jinasha. I will buy you the time you need." I stood there as I tried to convince myself to move. Finally, my foot began to slide back. I turned and ran for the doorway, arrows raining down all around me, all being shot by the Lilmothiit. More arrows soared all around as Towers rushed to my aid. I thought I was going to die as the arrows began whizzing past my head; I could even hear the light whistle as I barely missed my earhole. A nearby Tower running straight at me brought his shield up and threw his like a disk over my head, which I guess took an arrow coming right at me. I could hear the arrow clang against the shield as it flew overhead of me. I couldn't believe the Lilmothiit had tried to kill me. There were Lilmothiit helping me get here. If they wanted me dead, they could have killed me on the way down here. Since no one knew when my birthday was, it was harder to find out who I was or when I would arrive in town. The fact I was dressed in this stupid robe with a squad of white sashes surrounding me pretty much told everyone who I was and why I was here. The fact that tonight was a new moon kinda gave it away too.
A different tower finally caught up with me, raising his shield over my head. "Keep running, girl! We'll keep you covered!" More Towers formed around me, all surrounding me with shields. I could hear tings against the shields as arrows tried to hit me. I ran like mad to the temple door, which was being propped open by a Tower. He was waving his arm, signaling me to run faster into the temple. I tried to sprint but my legs wouldn't let me. I saw a flicker of movement above and saw Lilmothiit gathering on the walkway leading to the temple doorway. Oh no… they were planning to kill me as I walked into the temple. As I got closer, the Lilmothiit all jumped off the walkway, falling right on top of us.
My Tower guards tried their best to intercept the Lilmothiit for me, but they can't do much about falling bodies strapped with alchemist fires. And those bombs went off mid-fall. Alchemist fire rained down on top of us. I screamed as I wrapped my hands around my head, trying to curl up into a ball.
No… I never wanted this. I never wanted to be a symbol of death. I never wanted his prophecy. I just wanted to live with my family. I just wanted a normal life. I never wanted to see this stuff. I never wanted to be the cause of this war. And as I looked around, I could see Towers screaming in agony as their leather armor melted away, their bodies fully engulfed with flames. Two Towers stood above me, shielding me from the falling flames, and the falling body parts from the Lilmothiit. By now, I was curled up on the ground, basically motionless. My two guards had linked each other's arms so that they formed a cocoon around me. The top of their bodies were on fire, and I could tell that they had already died. Their eyes glared down at me with conviction; they knew they were going to die the moment they formed a shield around me. Even now, even dead, they were protecting me as the Lilmothiit above us tried to shoot arrows down at me. Their bodies were taking the arrows that were trying to hit me, and there were a lot of them raining down on me.
I looked for the doorway. It was just a few feet away. A solid stream of arrows seemed to shoot towards the doorway, but I couldn't let that deter me. I couldn't let all these good Argonians die for nothing. I was their salvation, I guess. I had to do this. For a second, I contemplated just standing up and letting the Lilmothiit and the Kothringi kill me. But… I couldn't let myself do that. Not only was I scared of dying, but I couldn't deny the fact that a lot of Argonians were dying just for the chance of letting our race have our own form of magicka. We couldn't do anything in magicka unless one worked hard for most of their life to accomplish what elven children could do.
So… I ran for the door. Arrows were already landing ahead of me, sinking into the thick spongy ground that had almost consumed the stone walkway. I didn't want to step on any arrows so as soon as I broke away from my Tower shields, I jumped into the air, pushing toward the door as much as possible. I flew through the air, covering my tiny head and expecting to be hit by an arrow. The Tower guarding the doorway reached out for me. I reached out, feeling him snatch my arm. With a quick jerk I flew into the temple, nearly crashing into the stone floor. But… at least I was safe. Two white sashes waiting inside managed to grab me before I hit the ground.
My heart was pounding. I didn't know that getting here would be so scary. I should have really opted for that second round of hide-and-seek after all. I tried to calm down while the white sashes went to work as they made sure my body was still prepared for the ritual. I looked around the temple to see a lot of Argonians waiting inside the temple for my arrival. In the middle of the Argonians was a very large tree, the Great Hist, I guess. Three faces I never expected to see again were waiting right by the Hist. My mom, my dad, and my little brother Nexazeera.
My pounding heart began to quiet down as I looked into my parents' eyes. They looked proud to see me here. It made me smile too. The Tower guarding the doorway slammed the door shut, pressing his back to it. "There's a mass of Kothringi rushing the temple. We need to get this thing going!"
The white sashes checking my body out for any mishaps hurried as they looked over my wrists and legs, as well as my tail. My dress still looked good as new, which I couldn't believe after having two dead Towers leaning over me, blood and guts flying everywhere. "She's ready." A white sash said as he turned to lead me down the aisle.
"So… what do I do?" I asked the white sash as I followed behind him. The other white sash walked right behind me.
The white sash leading me down the aisle gestured to the giant Hist. "The Hist will present his vine, and you will drink from it. And that's it. You will become the first Mage among the Argonians." Huh… that sounded too easy.
I looked around at all the hopeful faces of Argonians as I walked down the aisle. Some of the faces I recognized, but most of them looked more like studious mage-wanabees than anything else. As I met the eyes of some of the Argonians, I saw them smile at me, nodding to me like I was doing the right thing. I tried to nod back as I looked back toward my parents and the Hist. As I came up to the Hist, my parents said hello to me, nodding their welcome as they gestured me to sit down on the cushion that they brought from home. It was one of my favorite cushions. I sat down on the cushion as I looked for the weeping willow's vine.
I could see the tree move, a vine unrolling from near the top of the Hist. It slowly unraveled, reaching its way down to me. There was a loud pound on the door and I heard the Tower guarding the door grunt as he tried to keep the doorway shut. I looked up to see more Lilmothiit trying to get around the Hist to climb down the holes in the temple's roof. Oh no… they were going to kill everyone!
I looked to the vine, willing it to get closer. It was only a few inches away. A few Argonians watching the ceremony rushed to the doorway, helping the Tower keep it closed. I don't think anyone could do anything against the Lilmothiit gathering on the roof.
I snatched the vine as it came close enough to me. A few arrows clanged next to my cushion, missing me entirely. My parents stepped in front of me, offering to become a shield. I couldn't let them. So… I brought the vine to my mouth and sucked the crap out of the thing. There was this… sap, I think? It tasted like maple syrup. It quickly rushed down my throat. My body tensed up, my mind began to spin and… that's it. My vision blurred for a few seconds, becoming darker and darker. I knew I had to have some sort of vision or something like that. I had to learn of the destiny of the Argonians.
As soon as I was surrounded by darkness, I felt like I was able to stand up. Only, I couldn't stand either. I was just… floating there. There was nothing but myself. Just me and the void. Was this the destiny of the Argonians? A giant void? We fought so hard to get here and this is what we get? A void?
The Void. A vibration passed through me. I am your father, the father of creation. I am Sithis.
Sithis? Wasn't he the father of Daedra or something like that? I heard tales that he fought the Aedra and created the Daedra or something like that.
I am half the Lord of Creation. I am the order sprung from chaos. I am the death that gives way for life. I am the destruction that bring forth creation. I am the essence of Lorkhan, the creator of nature. I am the shadows that encompass the universe. I am the cold in your heart, the empty calm before the storm.
Wow, that was quite the introduction. "Um… ok. So… why am I here?"
Destruction… before creation. He whispered to me.
That made no sense to me. What did that mean? "What's the destiny of the Argonians?"
Destruction before creation. He repeated the same phrase. Was he a broken record? I came all the way over here to learn what I needed to do to bring magicka to the Argonians, and all I get is 'destruction before creation'?
"Well… why am I here?" I gestured to the Void all around me. "I was told that I will bring magicka to the Argonians. That our destiny as a race would be explained. Why am I here?!" I screamed as loud as I could.
Through creation… I will bring destruction. Sithis said simply. It didn't sound like a threat; it didn't sound like he enjoyed the thought. It just sounded like a fact, a simple fact that could not be ignored or changed even if he wanted it to.
"You mind explaining that?" He gave me such a wonderful speech earlier, why was he just repeating the same stuff over and over again? "And I get the whole… to make stuff some stuff needs to break. Can you explain it another way?"
Images flashed in the Void. There was an image of dying Lilmothiit and Kothringi dying in the streets. A thick black cloud swarmed over them. The cloud infected them and the Kothringi grew sick. More and more of them started falling down, all dying. Meanwhile, the Argonians and a few Lilmothiit were accepting the black cloud, becoming more than what they were. In in the middle of the cloud was me… I was excreting the cloud. My eyes black as the Void itself. I was the Void…
Creation of magicka… will bring destruction of life. Balance through chaos. I felt chills run down my arms. This was my destiny? I was honestly going to cause the death of all those people? I knew it was going to be bad… but this bad? I could see the bodies of Lilmothiit and Kothringi lining the streets. Argonians bowed in prayer to those who had died to give them magicka. The Mages I saw in the temple with me were experimenting with their magicka, a black soulless fire that could be manipulated into any form. It was the energy of the Void, of Sithis. I could feel his presence in the energy.
"So… we're using your energy? You're hosting our magicka?" I looked around the Void for any sign of him. I think he was the Void surrounding me.
You're already born with my energy. All nature is born of Shadow, of the Void. It has always existed in you, since before you lived within the Hist. You only needed to understand the connection of Shadow, the existence of my nature. Nature exists in competition with itself. It exists as a whole but also as a separate entity. Nature works to bring life, but lives to fight. Trees grow tall to absorb all the sunlight to live. The other trees must fight to grow big enough to live, while all the other plants fight to get whatever they can. Always competing with each other to grow. Animals fight to eat, fight to mate, fight to fight. War is natural, death is natural, and life is natural. Such is the Void, life… death… chaos… order… everything's nothing. That is Shadow. That is the destiny of all nature… of the Hist, of my Argonians. Argonians are out of balance, no essence of their own to give. I will bring theirs to light… by bringing it in the dead of night, when the shadows are the thickest.
So… our destiny was to live like nature? Just to be alive and die like anything else in the world? That was the lamest destiny ever. Hi! Your destiny is to be completely and utterly normal. Oh… by the way, hundreds of people have to die for you to live naturally. Ok? Thought so. That was not what I was expecting when I was told of this ritual. "So… are we done here?" Just as I asked, I felt the Void starting to crash down on top of me. I felt the chills run through me. It crushed me and I felt my lungs give out. I felt the essence of the Void wrap all around me. I closed my eyes and screamed for air.
So, next thing I knew, I was spitting out the vine filling me with that syrup stuff. My parents were lying in front of me, both of them filled with arrows. My younger brother was cradled in my mother's arms, bawling his eyes out as he tried to wake her up. Just seeing that made my heart stop. My parents were dead? My eyes snapped up to the Lilmothiit on the roof of the temple, loading their bows to shoot down at me. I could feel the coldness rise inside me. My hands turned numb as a deep black fire started to form around them. It was a burning coldness.
As the Lilmothiit launched their arrows at me, I threw my hands up to protect me. The coldness spread out into a thick shield, catching the arrows mid-flight. I couldn't believe I had just accomplished that. I had successfully used magicka.
I felt so powerful. And I'd lost everything I cared about to get this stupid crap. And these Lilmothiit had taken my family from me. My brother and I were going to be on our own because of this. I screamed as I threw my arms up at the Lilmothiit standing up there. A thick cloud of black fire raced up to the ceiling. The Lilmothiit screamed as they tried to get away. My flames were too strong though. I smashed up the whole roof, bringing the whole thing down.
Lilmothiit and Argonians screamed in horror as the temple started to fall down all around us. I willed all the falling debris to disappear, and just like that, portals started to rip open all around us. The falling debris fell into the portals, disappearing. The Lilmothiit that killed my parents disappeared into the same portals. I don't know what became of them, but wherever they ended up, they'd be buried under the debris. I can live with that.
Argonians all around me started to bow in respect to me. My brother looked up from Mom's body, his eyes wide and filled with tears. "Sister…"
I turned around, looking for someone else to hurt. This whole town was against me when I showed up. Everyone tried to kill me so that they could survive. Nature is always fighting itself to exist. Competition, right? Fight to live, and live to fight. Sithis taught me that. The Lilmothiit and the Kothringi showed me it firsthand. And now… I will bring the destruction of everyone that tried to kill me, so that I can create a new age. One where Argonians are on top. We will rule this planet and bring glory to the true path of nature. To dominate all around us and become the top lizards.
A row of Towers were trying to keep a mob of Kothringi away from rushing me. I turned to them, sticking my hand out. I willed all my dark glory to flow through me as a giant cloud. Time to teach them the way of nature. With a loud scream, a large cloud of black mist flowed out of me. It swarmed everything. Mages and white sashes rushed into the cloud, happily accepting it. Other Argonians worried as the wave of blackness descended upon them. The cloud seemed to envelope them like a warm blanket. Mages suddenly started creating the same wave of blackness, like it was becoming part of them. The cloud moved on, crashing into the Lilmothiit standing above on the platforms overlooking the town. Most of the Lilmothiit started coughing as the cloud fell upon them. I watched as they turned frail, most of them falling to their deaths from the upper level.
I turned my attention to the Kothringi that tried their best to kill me earlier. I forced my black fury to fall on them. It consumed them on contact. The Kothringi that tried to kill me clutched their throats as they choked on the same force I choked on. They all fell one by one, slowly gagging to death. When the last mob member lied motionless on the ground, I tried to call off the cloud, but it wouldn't listen to me. It continued to grow and spread, flowing out to the rest of the town. The Shadow had a mission of its own. To fill every Argonian with the same power I now possessed. And kill all those who could not contain the same power. I wonder just how many innocent Kothringi and Lilmothiit would die because of this.
I looked down at my parents. Too bad I couldn't reverse time and save their lives. I reached down to take my brother's hand. "Zeera?"
He looked up at me with sad eyes. "Mom's not waking up, is she?"
I shook my head. "I don't think she will." I turned to look at a white sash. "Hey, you! Can you save my parents?"
The white sash hurried as she raced over to my mom. The new black energy rolled off her hands as she did something to Mom. "Um… I'm not sure I'm doing this right. Just…give me a second." The arrows started popping out of Mom's chest and arms. The black energy was flowing out of her, sealing her wounds.
I watched as the black energy did what it could for Mom and Dad. Finally, I heard Mom take a deep breath. Dad grumbled as he reached up to his head. My heart practically stopped as they both opened their eyes. The white sash did it! She managed to save my parents. I reached over, wrapping my arms around Nexazeera. "Zeera! Look! They're ok!"
He flew out of my arms, crashing right on top of Mom. "Mommy!"
I looked away as I watched people all around us choking on the black cloud. I killed possibly thousands of families just to save my own. What kind of monster had I become? And I did it willingly. It wasn't just a byproduct; I actually willed this death upon them. I took a deep breath as I stood up. Seeing the other Argonians happy to have black energy radiate from their bodies, I couldn't decide if I should be happy or not. What kind of crap was this?
I looked over to a Star Reader that watched the ceremony. It was the same one that escorted me here. "So… what happens next?"
He looked up at the stars. "In the darkness of the new moon, the Shadow of the night will spread to all the Argonians who don't have Shadow. They will breathe in the cloud that will unlock the energy within them. Those unworthy of the cloud will perish. War is approaching, Chosen One. We need to be ready. We should start teaching others how to perform this new energy, while also teaching ourselves how to use conventional magicka."
"We haven't been able to though. Most of my well-known Mages can't even summon a proper flame." We just sucked at magicka; that's why this prophecy was so important in the first place.
The Star Reader took a deep breath. A bright orange flame opened up in his hand. "We just need to summon it from with ourselves, that's all. We're not elves, we can't work mana like they can. But we can work soulic energy, being so tightly tied to nature. Shadow is but an extension of ourselves, not the gods."
"Shadow is everything's nothing." I said to him, smiling. "Sithis taught me that."
The Star Reader smiled. "Do you know what that means?"
I shook my head. "Means nothing to me."
"Exactly." He looked at the stars. "The existence of Shadow is what we make it. We can shape it to be everything, but until then it's nothing." That sounded just as crazy. "We have a lot of work to do, Chosen One. We must prepare. The elves will not take this sitting down."
"And the dark elves have taken our people as slaves for far too long. We need to change that as well." Now, we had the power to bring the destiny we deserved. We are the Shadow. We can shape our own fates because that's all Shadow is. It's nothing until you make it into something. And I needed people that can do that. I need a bunch of Shadows to make me everything I need. "Gather up all the Argonians born under the Shadow. I have a plan…"
Cearbhail:
What did you all think of that chapter? I'm a little uncertain of it myself. But I think I like it. I like the message, kinda. It seems shifty (hehe) to me though. I honestly don't know if I presented this representation of Sithis and Shadow adequately enough. Or the connection with nature and the nature of competition. Oh well, I'm sorry for this chapter.