Cearbhail:

And we have the last battle for Jurard. She didn't have a lot of screen time in this series, but, I just want to stress how much I wanted to keep her included. I don't know how much of a role she will have in Changing Fates, but i will try something at least. I know that she will be a prominent character in Legends of Cyrodiil with Sosia's storyline, and some for Adam as well, but... for now, she holds her own. Enjoy.

=^^= Enjoy...

[Jurard]

I was getting pretty tired of just standing in this council room with my team. The entire town was under siege by the Dominion, well, mostly Nrillia, but still. I can hear screaming of orders, ballistas falling down all around the town, and I can hear them crashing near the council building where we were housed. House Redoran and Telvanni were doing what they could to help fight, while the other House leadership was doing what they could to evacuate everyone out of the warzone that was Blacklight.

And here I am… not fighting, not helping evacuate anyone… I'm just standing here. My fellow battlemages are all sitting around in the comfy chairs in the council room, sharpening their swords, enchanting their armor with numerous enchantments. They're all on edge. Every crash we hear, we think it will be the enemy smashing down our doors and getting into our building. Of course, the enemy can't get past the town's protective circle. The creatures made out of necromancy can't get into the town.

Even if that was not the case, the Redoran army could easily keep everything under control. They survived the Oblivion Crisis by being smart, not… not like our Imperial Legion. Not that I give them smack, but when push came to shove, they stretched too thin, put their forces in uncontrollable situations, and let key points get taken over. They let one random bun thief break out of prison and basically save the whole world on his own. Yeah, I'm talking about Adam. I've met him once or twice. Bit of a dick, actually.

"We have serious power fluctuation unfolding in Alinor." Rascia Runesetter said from behind her little screen. "Analyzing…."

Oh yeah. The only reason we're in this room to begin with is to make sure our new allies have protection in case something actually happens. I'm getting bored, but having an entire world map to gaze upon will become very important later on, I'm sure. Some little seer girl made sure to call me to make sure this place is still up and running for some important battle later on. I guess I'll just stay here and watch it then. Make sure our little analysts survive long enough to do whatever it is they need to do in the coming war. Whatever war that is. Come to think of it… I remember the transmission. The Dwemer. That's some serious shit right there. First the war with the Worm Cult… now this? Jeez. I can't wait to retire. Maybe find a boyfriend. Gods know how long it's been since I had one. Wonder if there will even be enough guys left to find one.

"Analysis complete." Her twin announced. "Nrillia the Original has begun World Destruction Protocol."

"World Destruction Protocol?" I echoed. What the heck was that? That did not sound good. When I looked up at the giant illusionary map of the world, I swear I don't know how I didn't notice it sooner. There was this… giant vortex of magicka coming from Alinor, swirling around and gathering as it was slowly spreading across the globe. More points were beginning to swell with the same energy, one site up in Winterhold, for whatever reason I don't know. "What the heck is going on?"

"Nrillia is beginning her last resort." Rascia said as she turned to look at me.

"Localized battlemages are pushing to her position." Her twin said as he kept typing away.

The ceiling in our building exploded. I had years of training under my belt, so as soon as it happened, I was jumping out of the way trying to find a place of cover. A large ballista bolt landed somewhere in the corner of the council room, but that didn't stop the debris from raining down on us. That bolt pierced the end of the building, so luckily nothing was disturbed other than some benches of chairs and whatnot.

The twins kept on tapping on their keyboards like nothing was going on. "Battle in Imperial City has concluded. General Victorious is flying to Imperial City currently. He should meet up with the Imperial Resistance shortly." Rascia reported.

"Battle in Valenwood concluded. …" Our building started to shift, the ground underneath us shaking. I don't really know what was going on… but… I felt a lot lighter… and a lot heavier at the same time.

The doors to the building exploded open. Archmagister Telvanni rushed into the room, her robes torn and burnt. She looked like she just walked out of a tornado of anything possible, and yet… she did not even look fazed by it. Reminds me of Hans in that respect. She looked directly at me, nodding. "You, Battlemage. Come join us outside."

Was something going on? I couldn't wait. I nodded to my team of battlemages formed up all around the building with some Redoran guards. "Ok, battlemages. Time to do what we do."

Archmagister Telvanni smirked. "You might want to keep that in mind when you step outside." That sounded… foreboding.

I rushed out with my team behind me, Archmagister Telvanni leading us. When I stepped through the large double doors leading to the courtyard… I was too stunned to move. The sky… it was bright red, clouds running black stretching across the sky. The ground all around the town was starting to split, pillars of sharp rocks starting to pull out of the ground. "What… in the nine hells…"

Telvanni looked back at me. "Our world chakra has gone unstable. It's imploding… destroying our town. The Nrillias have all turned to dust… her dominion defectors disoriented and scrambling for orders. House Redoran is finishing up their fight with her forces but… if we don't do something about our world chakra… we're all going up in a cloud of ethereal dust."

"You have escaped my justice for too long." A loud voice echoed through the air. The very gravity around me started to intensify, pulling me straight to the ground. I had to use every bit of magicka I had to continue holding myself up. My teammates were falling to the ground, reaching for their heads or hearts. I watched as Iver and Yuki clutched each other's hands as they took a knee. As I struggled to stand there, the ground near the middle of the town exploded. There was a giant wave of air that turned into a vortex of destruction. I could only barely bring up my arms to create a Shield around me. I managed to protect my team from being blasted back by the giant torrent of dust and ash. It took everything I had though.

Everywhere in town, I could see council members crashing into buildings from the explosion. House Redoran guards were tossed aside like nothing. The only person standing up like me was Archmagister Telvanni. She batted the gale of ash aside like it was nothing. She didn't even look inconvenienced by it. "It would seem our attempts to keep the Necromage out of our town were in vain. She must have dispelled her forces to focus her attention on us specifically. Getting through our barriers must have been exhausting though. I doubt she has much magicka remaining to continue combat with a Telvanni Lord."

I nodded to that conclusion, but only because I wanted her to be right. I could feel the very air thick with that sickening magicka I felt so many times during the war with the Worm Cult. How many times I felt this energy from Mannimarco's little friends, I could not begin to fathom just how much stronger this one feeling was. I was shaking in my mithril boots. I never shook in my armor. I was a true battlemage. I even fought a blood-rager in full contact sparring, never batting an eye at him as he tried to kill me. And yet… I was frozen in fear of the overwhelming energy I felt rising from the pit in the middle of the town. Just praying that Nrillia had somehow exhausted herself by coming into this town would mean we have a chance against her. However… I doubt that I did.

There was a giant pulse of blue energy coming from the giant hole in the middle of the town, one that continued to grow brighter as something started to rise from the center. Archmagister Telvanni seemed impressed with whatever it is. "Is that? … It is." She looked over at me. "Oh, I see you're still up, Battlemage. Good for you. I might need your assistance." She pointed to the rising blue orb of… whatever it was. "That is our world chakra, and…" I watched as the world chakra continued to rise out of the hole in the ground. Underneath is was one Nrillia, dressed in bright glowing blue robes. Her body was engulfed in the energy of the orb. " … it would seem that our enemy was harnessed the power of the world chakra. This is only a guess… but if she has harnessed the power of the world chakras, she could use them to blow up the planet, make it pull itself into a thousand pieces. We need to stop her before she destroys our town… or all of Morrowind."

I found myself nodding. I still couldn't get myself to move my legs, but she was right. "Of course. So… how?"

Archmagister Telvanni flicked her wrists, three staves that looked old as the Merethic Era. "First… we kill that bitch. Then… we have to calm down the world chakra, attach ourselves to its core, and then spread the calming energy amongst the other chakras. The way they're running, the chakras will only continue to deteriorate before it's too late to stop their self-destruction. If we lose them, we'll lose our planet. Understand?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I get it." This was bad, this was very bad. Oh well, time to save the world… again.

"Gaze upon me and bow before your mistress, Goddess of Rebirth… Nrillia." The voice of Nrillia rung through the air.

Telvanni looked back at me, the gale of energy only growing more sinister. "You better be as good as the battlemages proclaim they are." She passed me one of her staves, the one with a rounded swirling carving traveling through the pummel. "You better know what to do with this when I give you the opening."

I studied the staff. I've spent years enchanting my own gear, enchanting my own weapons, and inspecting other enchantments. I think I know a magicka draining staff when I see one. Pretty standard, actually. Reminds me of my earlier work. Studying the staff closer… it was one of my earlier staves. And Lord Telvanni had it? I… wow. I felt pretty honored by that.

I smirked as I looked up at her. "I better… I'm the one that made this."

Lord Telvanni smirked. "I think we'll get along just fine, battlemage." She turned around to face Nrillia. "You think you're a goddess? You Altmer are always spouting such trivialities. To become a god…" She shook her head. "I feel for you, to embrace such… limitations." Her body exploded into magicka, such that I hadn't felt since… well… I fought Hans as my promotion test. "The real test is becoming more than a god. Gods can die… legends cannot."

Nrillia continued to float up in the air with her hand up the world chakra's ass. "You cannot stand to a goddess like me." She pulled her hand out, drifting to the ground. She stuck her hand out towards Telvanni. A ball of bright light warmed up in her hand, which quickly spread out into three separate balls of energy. They looked like a summoning portal magicka balls. "All the portals to Oblivion might be closed, but… I still have three that I can summon from Aetherius. Prepare yourselves for your doom."

She launched the orbs at us, landing on the ground. "Kyuute, Tatianna, Urrissaia. I choose you."

Three portals ripped open right in front of us. And… man… they were huge. Three giant white and blue portals to Aetherius opened up all around us, and… I was shocked at what was coming out of them. Three massive creatures all climbed out of them, each of them menacing to glance at. The first was a flaming woman about my size. She had elven ears, looked like an Altmer, but with pixie wings, flaming hair, and a bright orange and black dress that looked like flames. The second one to appear was a… a fox? A building-sized fox with fangs as menacing-looking as Daedric swords and nine long tails that snapped around like tornados ripping at the air. And the third was… a dragon. A real-life dragon, only bright white with blue glowing sigils on his shoulders and tail. The fox had them too, but they were in his fur and not on his scales.

"The gods…" Lord Telvanni said, shaking her head. "A Vermeister?" She looked at Nrillia. "You… summoned a Vermeister?"

Nrillia laughed maniacally. "A goddess can summon whomever she wishes from Aetherius."

A Vermeister? I didn't really know what that was, but I'm guessing it was the giant dragon that loomed over us in the sky. The fox looked just as violent, just as threatening.

Lord Telvanni looked at me. "We need a game plan. I… I will fight these beasts, you will take on Nrillia. Can you handle that?"

I looked over at Nrillia. She looked unhinged, ready to snap at the drop of a dagger. I've seen people go over the deep end when they got too far into their research. She couldn't control her urges anymore. I knew how to exploit that. I've fought plenty of monsters like her. I've always won too. I looked back at Lord Telvanni. She probably knew as much about these monsters as I did necromancers. She could probably stand a better chance against them than her. So… I nodded. "I got her. You got this?"

She nodded. "I assume your confidence radiates my own in this regard. This Vermeister will not be my first to take down. I hope it will be my last. I doubt I can kill it, however, but I will buy you as much time as possible. Kill the summoner… and her summons will be forced back. So… get cracking."

I spun my magicka-draining staff around my hand. Yeah… cracking. I'm going to crack this staff up across her ugly face and then shove it where the sun refuses to shine.

I looked back at my teammates. They were still knocked out cold by whatever pressure Nrillia released earlier. I couldn't rely on their help this time but… at the very least I could help them by killing Nrillia. Oh well, I've been pretty busy lately, so… might as well enjoy this.

"So… you're like, what? A Mannimarco copycat?" I asked Nrillia as I walked away from Lord Telvanni. The spirits watched me as I walked around them.

"Shouldn't we kill her or something?" The human-sized firefly asked.

The building-sized fox shrugged. "We haven't been ordered to yet."

Nrillia looked toward her summoned creatures. "Focus your efforts on the Telvanni Lord. Let me deal with this…" She looked me over. "well, I'm sure I'd come up with a proper insult… but… it's rude to talk ill of the dead."

"Can we fight now?" I'm so sick of villains constantly making stupid monologue threats. She's just another idiot with too much power, thinking they can do what they want because they have it. Just another person to put under the ground… and hope they stay there for once.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine."

And just like that, our epic battle began. I was lucky I had time to get my armor back and my confiscated weapons. Having a whole belt filled with magicka-weaved daggers filled with as many different enchantments as possible really opened up my combat strategy to almost any possibility. I knew I was going to be fighting some necromancer at some point or another, so Silence was my primary dagger enchantment. Soul Separation and Invisibility were also important. I can only hold two at a time so… that makes it limited in what I can do until I do something. Luckily, I only needed to get close and then shove a Silence into her chest. After that… she won't be able to use her magicka. But that's a problem, this is just one doll… like the rest. If I shoved a Silenced dagger in her chest, I just take away her doll; I don't kill the real Nrillia.

The three creatures all charged for Lord Telvanni. She smiled as she brought out her staves. "We shall take this to a different… space." She tapped the staff on the ground and suddenly… all three creatures and she were gone in a quick portal. Must have been a portal to Aetherius because no one can summon portals to Oblivion right now.

I reached for my belt, looking back at Nrillia. Nrillia looked too… ready. Too… calm. I had to rile her up, make her make the first mistake. Without Lord Telvanni here to watch my back, I had to do this myself. I've survived a lot of battles, not by being strong, not by being smart. Only by being a crappy leader. I lost the man I loved… lost my entire squad to necromancers… and I was nothing but a crumpled shell of a mage hiding in the corner of a ruin, waiting for a rescue. I've changed a lot since then. Five years of training, studying, preparing… and now… it's about damn time I show the world what I can do. Time to show that I am a capable leader, a capable mage… a hero.

I had to sneak a glance back at my current team. Everyone had passed out after being hit by Nrillia's presence. So far I've managed to keep them alive, but… did it really matter? They weren't trained like I was. Only Iver was as strong as me, and he spent more time in a Guild prison/armory watching things over than training and going on assignments like I did. He didn't really improve after the war, he more like folded and let himself relax. I couldn't ask him to fight this necromage, no… I was the only one that could truly stand up to her.

So… plan rile up. "So, tell me. How many people did you have to kill to make you that one body?"

"Only one." She replied. "Her name used to be Thalfin. Ever heard of her?"

Oh… oh, that was the wrong thing to say to me. And she did it on purpose too. She knew Thalfin was my friend, and one of the only ones I had left with the exceptions of Iver and Merete. I reached for my belt and pulled out my first dagger. "You will regret that."

"I already do. She's so… hmm… what's the word? Mortal, she's so mortal." Nrillia mused as she looked at her hands.

Plan rile up was not working, and she was using it against me. Figures, you can't rile up a goddess… wait… yes you can. She called herself the Goddess of Rebirth, so… what would rile her up? "So… you're a god now, right?"

Nrillia's eyes narrowed as she looked down at me from the sky. "I'm done talking to you, worm."

"Some god." I scoffed. "I've met a few myself, you know… Daedra Lords and all that. And… if they could come into our world, I'm sure one would toss you aside like a piece of trash. Oh man… I can see you and Sheogorath really hitting it off though. Ever met Adam? You know… that guy that saved our world? He became Sheogorath… well, a part of him anyway. They kind of split into two people. Even as a mortal… I'm sure Adam would kill you in only a few seconds. Just imagine what his hyped up Sheogorath form, the madgod, could do."

The look on Nrillia's face spoke for itself. I heard about that battle in Cheydinhal. Adam came in at the last minute and carved through the Nrillias like they were nothing. I bet that really flustered her. "If I ever see him, I'll harvest his body."

"Lein, Sil, uznahgaar…" A whisper cried from nowhere. Nrillia's face broke apart. She reached for her chest, leaning over like she was just stabbed with a knife.

This was it. She was distracted and in pain. So… I did what I knew needed to be done. I readied three knives. I threw one straight at Nrillia, one down at my feet, and one up into the air above Nrillia; and then I reached for two new ones, clutching them close to me. The one I threw at Nrillia was a spark, just a giant flash that would blind her; the one I threw at my feet created a projection of myself just standing here; and the two I was holding were of course Soul Separation and Invisibility.

I readied myself, pushing magicka into my feet. I took off into a flash to the right side of Nrillia. I couldn't fly, but I could just jump up to her. She was standing there, clutching her chest like she didn't know if she was still in pain or not. It didn't matter to me. She was distracted, and that's all I needed to know. I looked up above her to see that dagger I tossed up still hovering above her. Time to get to work. I activated my daggers. The one flying towards her exploded into a bright light in her face. Nrillia screeched, reaching up at her now blinded eyes. The one above her started glowing bright red. And… a giant wad of lightning came crashing down right on top of her. It hit her so strongly that it broke her connection with the world chakra. The lightning slammed her right into the ground, right where my double was standing. My plan had worked perfectly.

I flashed up to her, keeping me to her right side. Everyone expects ambushes from behind… me… I'm different. Every time I survived an ambush with necromancers, I had always been to their right. For some reason, they drop their guard on their right sides or something. Either way, I was racing right up to her, silent… invisible… and undetectable by any sensory spell.

"You… insolent mage." She mumbled to my double, who stood there like I would, moving her shoulders around as she kept her daggers up to face her. "You think you could beat me with a little lightning?" She blasted my double with lightning of her own. She was surprised when my double just absorbed it, shattering into a thousand little bits.

I was already thrusting my Silenced dagger into her chest via her blind spot on the right side. As soon as I made contact with her 'heart' with my knife, my invisibility snapped off. I gotta say, she was surprised. She didn't even expect me to be standing right next to her, knife snapped in her heart. When she looked over at me with wide, shocked eyes, I nodded a welcome to her. "Sup. Oh… and… yeah. You were outsmarted… by me. A mortal. Fuck off." I plunged the knife further into her heart, pushing her off her feet. "That was for Thalfin, bitch." That was probably the last thing she heard before her fake body hit the ground.

A portal ripped open near the entrance to the building. Lord Telvanni walked out, her robes ruffled even further, but she still looked surprisingly clean. She looked from me to the dead Nrillia. "Well, you handled that pretty quickly. I'm surprised, actually. She seemed like a competent foe, someone that would have taken longer to best."

I shrugged. "I knew her weakness… ego. That and she was hurt by something, and it distracted her. So, I took that time to get in close and knife her with Silence. Always works against mages."

She nodded. "Good plan, battlemage." She looked from me to the floating world chakra. "Now, we have to balance this thing." She nodded to the staff I dropped onto the ground. "We will need that." Yeah, now the real fun begins. If we don't balance these chakras, the entire world could end up one giant mess.

Cearbhail:

So, Jurard doesn't have a big huge finale like some other characters, because she knows better. She knows what to do, and when to do it. My little stealth mage.