Cearbhail:

So... we're coming up on the end. Not yet, but very close now.

=^^= Enjoy...

[Zergon Creishan]

"And that is how I came to be the first Shadowwraith of Argonia." Queen Ali-Jinasha finished her little tale of her childhood with me.

That had been a lot to take in. She explained every aspect of how she had been chosen as a conduit for the energy of Sithis to flow through the Argonians and unlock their true potential as a magicka using species. I had no idea that Shadow had been the cause of the many deaths of Kothringi and Khajiits during the 2nd Era. I had no idea that our Queen of Shadows had been the first shadowwraith ever created. No one really knew how Shadow had been created; what we learned in the history of the Shadowscale was that the first Queen of Shadows ordered the creation of the Shadowscale, as well as the Shadowwraith. Both began at the same time and they quickly grew to become some of the most important roles of Argonia's defense against the Akaviri, the Empire, and the elves of Morrowind. After a while, even as peace began to take hold, our practices remained the same. During the time of the Oblivion Crisis, many of our Shadow Masters were called in to action to take a small infiltration team into the Gates of Oblivion to take them out. I was in Cyrodiil at the time and did my best to help defend the country while also doing my duties as an assassin, both for the Dark Brotherhood and Argonia.

And now… it has come to this. My orders from the Night Mother are to kill the original Queen of Shadows, the one who started it all… the woman that gave us the ability to become the nation we had become. I was being ordered to pick a side between Argonia and the Dark Brotherhood. The Queen had to die; she was nothing more than a puppet of Nrillia, and yet… she acted so much like herself that I couldn't fully bring myself to kill her again.

The Queen seemed to notice my hesitation. "Do you know why Argonia gives up its Shadowscales to the Dark Brotherhood?"

I had never actually stopped to think about it, but I guessed it had a lot to do with the fact that shadowscales were expert assassins; we were the masterful combat class in Argonia. Sure, there weren't a lot of us, maybe 100 at max, but we knew how to get a job done. Those of us that became shadowblades were even more exceptional. And there were maybe 30 of those at the most. And then the Shadowmasters… only 10. Sure, there were more and more all the time, but more and more were retiring. More were dying. There are probably more shadowblades and scales or masters than I probably perceive there actually being, but it goes without saying that we're small in number but when put to a battle, one of us equals 10 of normal soldiers.

The Queen continued to stare at me, covered behind her veil of Shadow. "You see, after I became the first Wraith… the Chosen One to bring Argonia to a new age… we were at war with the elves: the Wild Elves, and the elves of Morrowind. We were just beginning to get ourselves together while dealing with the outbursts from the Lilmothiit and the Kothringi. Every day was a battle, and many tried to kill me for what I had brought to our world. Everyone that was not Argonian was slowly dying off. Until that time, the Kothringi and the Lilmothiit lived among us as equals. Now, you barely ever see a Lilmothiit. Some found a way to survive, by using a simple plant as a mask. They became a newer breed of Lilmothiit, becoming more connected to nature than they had before. Their shaman saved their species, while the Kothringi died out before they could find a way to survive."

"And… while you were dealing with all that… what happened?"

She shrugged at the question. "We turned to the Dark Brotherhood for help. A few of their members came up to us with an offer. They heard about my order to bring all the Argonians born under Shadow together. They knew I wanted these Argonians to become our elite strike force. They offered to train our new Shadowscales in exchange for our loyalty and servitude to the Brotherhood. Both the Argonians and the Dark Brotherhood worshipped Sithis, after all, and that made us family of the Void. So… that's when the Dark Brotherhood and Argonia began their relationship. And our days of suffering to the elves had abruptly come to an end. The Brotherhood family assisting us quickly mopped up with our protestors, the ones attacking us relentlessly. And while the family was protecting us, the Speaker of their family trained our newest Scales. It took a few months before our first platoon of 16 Scales were trained, but as soon as they arrived, the tide of war shifted. We quickly overcame any attackers and Argonia saw some amount of peace that we had never really experienced. The armies withdrew from our borders and we quickly turned to rebuilding our society. We've never stopped improving. We've had 800 years of magicka study, building our military might, and improving our relations with the other nations. They still see us as old-fashioned, young and inexperienced in the ways of cultured living, but it is our way to live with nature, with Sithis, as He truly is."

I couldn't really stop myself from nodding. "Thank you for the history lesson, but why are you telling me all this?"

The Queen smirked, stepping closer to me. She reached out for my Blade of Woe, and I almost pulled it away from her, afraid she might try to use it against me. Her hand snatched mine faster than I could predict. She brought the knife straight to her chest. She paused to look up at me. "Because…when I die, there will be no one who will know about my past… of how our world was created. Only my daughter will know, and you will serve her as well as the Dark Brotherhood. In my chambers you will find a Shadow Journal, one of the first in fact. It is mine. Preserve it; share it; and make sure everyone knows the truth. With my passing, you will become a Shadowmaster, and here's why. You will not kill me… not fully. You will stab me with your little knife, and I will transport all I know… all I have become… into you. You will be the greatest Shadowmaster ever created. I do this because I know one thing: you will protect my granddaughter. Julanza is still very naïve when it comes to his duty, but he has plenty of heart to make up for his shortcomings. But you've done nothing but your duty since you were hatched, and you have just as much heart as him. I've watched you closely, and a Listener makes a great protector. You've rebuilt the Dark Brotherhood into something great, and you will train the newest generation of Shadowscales into something even grander. With my knowledge of all I've learned within you… generations of Shadow within you… I doubt you will ever fail. And this is why I willing will give it to you. Because you will use it correctly."

So, that's what this was all about. The Queen was choosing her successor. She didn't really teach much in the Shadow Academy, but it was known that she would sit down with the occasional prodigy shadowwraith or shadowblade. I guess she was choosing to train me then. But, I still had to kill her. "You ready to meet Sithis?" I scanned her eyes to see if she was really ready to let go.

"Make sure to cut out the whole heart, and a quick snap to the back of the skull with your knife. You will sever whatever energy Nrillia is sending to me." The Queen pointed to the back of her head where she wanted me to stab her.

"Won't she just resurrect you again?" That was a serious problem with necromancers. I would know. I had to help Sosia fight a few one time.

The Queen shook her head. "I have it on good authority that Nrillia will be incapable to doing anything in a few minutes." She smirked. "Let's just say… this fight is as good as over." She clasped her hand over mine. "Good bye, Shadowmaster Creishan. Take care of my granddaughter. She will need more training and I fear Julanza will be far too busy with the Shadow Squad to continue his teaching. I appoint you this duty, do you understand?" I nodded. The Queen sighed contently as she released her hand from me, spreading her arms out so that her chest was completely exposed. "Do it quick before Nrillia's sub-soul pushes for more control over me."

I shoved the knife right into the Queen's chest, right where her heart lied. The Queen let out a single cough of pain. Blood spat out of her mouth. She was quick to put her shaky hands on my chest. "With my final breath, I relinquish all I am to the newly promoted Shadowmaster, so mote it be." A large fire of Shadow roared out of her and crashed into me. It was like feeling the whole planet crashing into me. The Queen stood there as the fire flowed from her to me, and I felt like I would be blasted off my feet if she moved her hand off me. That hand was the only thing that was keeping me up.

Flashes of memories flowed through my eyelids. Hundreds of years of combat training, meditation, and everything that went into discovering a lost magicka build through a connection with nature flowed into my head. It was a calm flow, not as bad as I thought it would have been. It had to have last only a second or two, but it felt like years had passed by. The Queen was watching me intently as the information flowed into me. As soon as the fire roaring over her body died off, she let her eyes close, her arms drop, and she crumpled to the floor.

I fell to my knees, still trying to come to terms with the energy flowing in my veins. I was adept with Shadow magicka, don't get me wrong. I'm no Shadowwraith, but I knew how to Shadowport like most shadowscales. It felt like I had attended a few hundred years of intense study at the Shadow Academy. I could see all the memories of the Queen's life, including the scene of her becoming the living embodiment of Shadow.

As soon as her memories began to fade into mine, I reached to pull my Blade of Woe out of the Queen's chest. I quickly pulled the knife out and stabbed it into the back of her head. I cut her head off for good measure, making quite the mess on the floor. Too bad I didn't get to fight her. That might have made quite the fight. The Listener against the Queen of Shadows. Man… that fight would have been epic. Too bad we would have ended up blowing up all of Lilmoth while doing it.

I looked up from the decapitated Queen's corpse over to Sosia. She was still fighting three Nrillias with the Battle-Born girl by her side. They were holding their own against the Nrillias. I wish I could join them in their fight, but I think I was needed somewhere else. Even as I turned my head, I could see Nexa lying motionless on the ground. Her father was struggling to stand right over top of her, getting ready to finish her. He was struggling to stay up on his feet. If I didn't do something right now, our new Queen of Shadows would be dead before her reign could even begin.

I brought my Blade of Woe up and flashed over to the Warlord. I caught his falling strike on my little knife, catching it in the curve. The Warlord looked confused. "You would interfere with my fight?"

I nodded. "The Queen of Shadows is incapable of fighting you right now. It is my duty as her Shadowmaster to protect her."

"Shadowmaster, huh?" Warlord Zeelius smirked. "You think you're a Shadowmaster? You have any idea what I was before I was the Warlord?"

"A spoiled prince?"

That caught his ire. Shadows erupted through his body as he screamed. I felt a similar pulse of energy as I felt from Ali-Jinasha the moment she passed her energy on to me. I had a flash of a memory that told me that Zeelius and Julanza had the same energy flowing through them, passed along from her side of the family. They were special for a reason. They were the royal family for a reason. Being the heirs to the Chosen One, the original source of Shadow, they had a stronger connection to it. They were one with Shadow. And it showed in their training. Never sent to the Shadow Academy or the few Shadowscale training facilities across Argonia. They trained their own children to become what they were. And no matter how weak they were, they always ended up being the strongest Argonians ever known. They were their own class. There was no title for the royal family of Frazviani. They were Shadow, plain and simple. And now… I'm going to fight that very aspect with my newly uploaded concept of Shadow. Time for the real epic showdown.

"You plan on fighting my brother?" That was something I didn't think I'd ever hear. I turned my head back long enough to see the five Black Reapers; Julanza standing at the front. He looked angry. I hope he wasn't angry at me. I looked at all of them, and they looked ready for a fight. I couldn't take them all on. I'm good, but not that good.

"Um…" I was about to answer, but Julanza answered for me.

"The answer is 'no'. Zeelius is my brother, and he is my responsibility. I will fight him." He pointed over his shoulder to Nexa. "You grab my niece, take her out of this combat zone, and keep her safe."

"No…" Princess Nexa groaned. We all looked down at her as she struggled to sit up. She looked from the ground, up to Julanza, over to me, and then over to Zeelius. She looked exhausted, but once she looked at Zeelius, her eyes sharpened. "I will end my fight with Dad. Everyone will stand and keep all the Nrillias and her Dominion off me. Help the others with their fight. And let me finish mine."

Riviella, the leader of the Black Reapers, sighed. "You're so stubborn." She reached for a blade. With a flash faster than I could track, she threw the blade at Zeelius. Before the blade could reach him, the blade froze in a wrapping of Shadow barely an inch from his forehead.

Nexa's eyes were glowing black. "Like I said… this is my fight. Not yours!" She glared back at Riviella. "Let me do this! I have to do this!"

I looked over at Julanza. He looked regretful that he was considering what he was considering, but he ended up nodding. "Very well, Queen Nexauvia. We will default to your orders."

Riviella groaned but lowered her arms. "Ok, whatever. If she dies our Meesei becomes the next Queen of Shadows anyway."

I let a breath escape my lungs at the thought that I wouldn't have to fight Zeelius after all. I looked around for something to do. Seeing Roland fighting a whole army of magicka blasting elves by himself… I think I found out what I would be doing for the rest of the battle. I wrapped my hands with Shadow magicka and prepared to Shadowport right into the middle of the Dominion army. I was going to enjoy this a little too much.

…

[Davilia]

Ever fight alongside your sworn enemies to take the very same enemy's capital control center? I would certainly hope not. It gets weird. Hey, I'm not complaining. I'd rather have an entire army on my side than having to fight them along the way to the command center. I'd glad we have new allies. Just minutes ago, our two armies were poised and ready to destroy each other, and trust me one of two governments was at least going to be wiped off the planet today. If my side lost, the Empire was as good as gone. And if the opposing army lost, the Aldmeri Dominion was destroyed. And now… we're both on the same side. Our enemy: Nrillia the Corpsemaster. And she's an army all on her own. And here's why.

"Second Platoon, ready the mass wards!" Justiciar Riilong screamed from ahead of us.

Justiciar Riilong was the Head of the Dominion agents here in Alinor. He was one of Fiirnar's first trained battlemages. And he was very powerful. He could probably take on the entire Battlemage Troop 4 on his own… with the exclusion of Hans the Hardy. They would probably have a battle that none of us could follow. I know I'm making it sound like I think my Troop is weak or something, but… we're still teenagers. We've only been battlemages for less than a year, and our training was only a month long. Half of us are a quarter as strong as the graduates from normal battlemage training. We were rushed to meet the war. We have survived, but barely. We've grown stronger, but barely. And we cannot compare to years upon years of experience. I know we can't. And there's wisdom in that. Makes us cautious, makes us practice, and makes us rely on teamwork and recon to get our jobs done.

"Sir, we're pushing as hard as we can…" One of Riilong's soldiers turned to look back at him. He was holding a section of a giant wall of Warding magicka. Behind the wall was a swarm of Nrillias. Yes, a swarm of them. They just kept jumping out of the ground to fight us. They were getting weaker though. I think Nrillia was struggling to keep them all fighting. She had to be fighting a few hundred battles right now, and it had to be putting a strain on her collective consciousness, not to mention her pull on magicka reserves. How was she even still going? Any normal mage, even Mannimarco, would have burned out by now. It was beginning to show though. Her normal epic level forms were no better than the Dominion soldiers fighting her off. Having the entire Institute of Alinor helping us fight was also helping.

Erandur, this whole time, was trying to contact Lilly on his crystal ball. Since everything was changing and our enemy was no longer the Aldmeri Dominion, he was trying to find out what he should be doing. Right now, we were just trying to hold off the Nrillia Horde. I could see Erandur's face turning red at the frustration of seeing a static screen on his crystal ball. "Oh, come on, Lilly. I know you can see me trying to call you. Just answer your…"

"Crystal ball?" Lilly's face popped up on the crystal ball. Hearing her voice and seeing her face made Erandur exhale sharply, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"It's about time, Lilly. I've been trying to contact you."

She shrugged at the statement. "I'm sorry, but I was busy saving the lives of some Khajiit children. You know… normal hero stuff. So, what do you need?"

"Our new orders. Obviously, we're not going to try to take out the moon base. But, it would still make a great tactical advantage for our upcoming war." Erandur was already going into his tactical mode.

"And the moon magicka cannon will make a great weapon against the Dominion." Lilly nodded.

Justiciar Riilong looked over at the crystal ball. "How did you know of our latest project?" He walked over to Erandur, snatching the ball from his hand. "Who told you of our secret project?"

I could see Lilly rolling her eyes. "I'm a seer… no one has to tell me anything. I just… see it. You know?"

Riilong almost growled, which I thought only Vatu could do. "Very well, Seer." He passed the orb back to Erandur. "If you need me, I'll be keeping us alive for the next three seconds while you waste time getting orders from a blind idiot."

Erandur looked back down at the orb. "So, how about it Lilly? Any suggestions?"

Lilly actually tapped her chin. "Oh, Eran. I'm glad you're asking me for advice, but… I always like that side of you that always knew what to do, what plan to use. Let me help talk you through it since I did kind of mess up the game plan by joining with the Dominion. So… the Dominion is on our side, and the moon base with the projection screen will still be very valuable tech when it comes time to knowing where the Dwemer will be, and when they'll be, and how many they will have. I'm sure you can stay up there and plan out our every move. With you watching from the sky and coordinating our new army, I know we'll make quite the impact. Especially with the magicka cannon. But, that's later on. Right now, we have one problem on our hands. And her name is…"

"Nrillia." Erandur looked up from the orb. "We have to find and kill the original Nrillia, the one that supplying the energy for the other Nrillias."

"And she's located where?" Lilly prodded Erandur telepathically.

Erandur sighed. "She's in the command center located in the center of the institute, where the River of Magicka flows through the campus."

Lilly nodded. "Yup. And that's what you should do. March in and kill her. And then… we'll finish off the rest of her incarnates. Just remember one thing: Don't physically touch her. She can and WILL use your auric and soulic connection to grab onto your soul and pull it out of your body. With your body empty, she'll just jump into your body and use it to fight. She can only really do it once before she has to wait a few centuries to do it again though. Takes time for that soul to grow strong enough to bypass the body's defenses."

Erandur looked over at me when Lilly mention Nrillia taking people's souls upon contact. His soft gaze looked over me and I knew exactly what was passing through his head. At the end of our training, the Arch Mage predicted the deaths of Hans, herself, and me before the end of the war. I don't know if that meant the war with the Dominion, the war with the Aedra, or the new war with the Dwemer. Jeez… what a horrible five years this has been. Nearly lose our world to the Daedra, then Aedra come in and try to extinct us, and then the Dominion tried to dominate our weakened Empire. And now the Dwemer were coming to blow everything up. Can we please get one break? ONE? I just want to sit down and read one book without hearing explosions off somewhere in the distance. Maybe snuggle up to Erandur and just enjoy being wrapped up in his arms. Maybe get married and have children. Grow old and have parties with Vatu and his girlfriend… whether it's Primrose or that Shadow girl. I don't care which. Prim's my sister now no matter what. We're a family; and we'll never leave each other. No matter what happens. Even if we all die; we'll just hang out in the next life and laugh it off.

"Eran…" I started to say.

Eran sighed. "Dav. You know what I'm going to say."

I nodded. "If it means that much to you. I'll just wait out here."

He shook his head. "No, we're a team. If you're willing, we'll face this together."

"I'm coming too!" Primrose said as she ran up to us.

"And you're not leaving me behind." Hans announced. "I'm your leader, and this is my mission. You're just tagging along for experience."

I looked at everyone starting to form up around us. The entire Battlemage Troop was starting to form around us. Pra'ja, with her slung arm, looked ready to finish this. "So… we just going to stand here like a bunch of jackasses, or are we doing to do this?"

Erandur smiled. He started pointing to everyone. "Ok, everyone form up. Defensive Formation 5, everyone. Warders keep to the sides; healers in the middle. Keep up the magicka flow. Blasters at the front, diverters at the back. Let's do this, people! We're killing Nrillia." Everyone cheered. I had to cover my ears from the sheer volume of everyone behind me. A few Nords that studied how to Shout were Shouting fire and lightning into the sky. Hans included.

Hans patted Erandur on the shoulder. "You're one hellova leader, Erandur. I know you'll lead this new generation to something grand. Just leave the rest to me."

Erandur turned to look at Hans. "You're not dying on me. We need you for the war."

Hans smirked. "Not my call, but I don't plan on dying today. Just expressing my proudness of you."

The sound of Nrillias blasting the wall suddenly grew silent. They all stopped fighting for a second as they all turned to look at us. And in one, they all said, "This has gone on long enough. You will never reach me, I will make sure of that." The ground around us started to shake. "If you plan on killing me, I'm taking this whole planet with me!"

Cearbhail:

Next chapter... We kill the unkillable.