A HAUNTED LABYRINTH
The Listener
We made a good effort, but as usual, it wasn't enough. The Divines never answered when we asked. I sat with Gabriel in the pews up in the Temple of Mara for hours. We prayed and prayed, even told the priests mulling about why we were there. They were skeptical that the divines would actually talk to us. Just that we "had to believe in the blessings" and directed us to a shrine to pray to and a little bowl for offerings.
It was getting us nowhere. But Gabriel kept insisting. So, for his sake, I kept praying. Soon, someone would talk to me surely. Soon, someone would hear my calls. It wasn't until a hand laid on my shoulder that I knew it was time to move on.
"Trouble downstairs, if you're done trying to talk to the goody-two-shoes." I look up with frustrated eyes to Sheogorath showing a crooked smile.
"Keep going, girl." Gabriel whispers. He's a good Nord. Hands clasped in front of him and praying repeated mantras under his breath. I take one last look at the statue of Mara. Her hands are outstretched, and her face is lifted to the heavens as if someone were speaking to her. Not whispering in her ear but crooning from above.
"Yes, well too bad for you, you're stuck with the heathens. Come now, trouble is afoot! The Blood Flower finally got the gall to show her face." Sheogorath squeezes my shoulder.
I nearly choke on my own breath. I hear Gabriel pause before going back to praying fervently. I have a decision to make. I either ignore the Prince of Madness and continue to talk to someone who might not even be listening. Or I venture to the sewers to see if she's returned. If she has and we are unprepared…
Bryn and the others are still down there. "You're sure?" I whisper.
"Afraid so, lass." Sheogorath says in a calm tone.
I stand slowly. "Stay here, Gabriel. Maybe she'll come out of hiding soon."
The man glances up at me with worry in his eyes. "I will girl, be safe." I memorize his face for once, a little pudgy from extra weight. Dark brown eyes. A mustache that sits cleanly above the lip and balding gray hair. A nice man and a good companion.
"I will, you too. Come back when you're ready and use the graveyard entrance." I tell him again. He was very squeamish in the Ratways so it was better to take him down the back exit.
However, if the Night Mother is wreaking havoc in the Ragged Flaggon, as I am told, then it would be best to take the long entrance. That way, I could see what I was getting myself into. Sheogorath led the way. We wandered down the familiar Ratways, passing each room I remember from my first time here so clearly.
"Careful there, lassie." Sheogorath glances down at me when I nearly trip over one of the exposed stones. We are almost to the final room.
"Sorry, getting lost in my thoughts." I grumble. That is an understatement.
Every room we pass is another room I traversed once with her. Every doorway and cranny is another place she tried to keep me from. She had me beaten to nearly an inch of my life before saving me and making matters worse for months to come. And now I was about to face her.
I suck in a shaky breath. These past few months have been so blissful. Even though she was taking over Holds and sending the Dark Brotherhood to do her bidding it was like…I could tune it all out. There was distance between us for once. But maybe as Bryn said: it was making me lazy.
I was really only following the Princes because that's what they said I had to do. Oh, I wanted the Night Mother dead as much as anyone else…but for a few good weeks there I could forget about her. And that was a luxury I hadn't had since the day I stepped into prison.
My hands are shaking. No, my whole body is trembling. Sheogorath lays a calming hand on my shoulder as I stand before the final door into the Flaggon.
"I'll be right behind you, just go give her a taste of what's to come." I hear the amusement in his voice but his body language is showing me something else.
Hesitation. He wonders if I can pull this off. Well, now that makes two of us. Truth be told I'm not sure what I'll find behind this door and I have absolutely no idea how I'll handle it. Maybe to buy time I lean my ear against the cold wood.
With my sharper hearing, the conversations melt through the door. Arguing. Gasping. She's there alright and she has all my friends cornered. Only way to save them is to move forwards. I suck up the courage and finally pull the door open.
Inside I find silence. Fitting. I keep my head down as I make my way around the lake. If I look up, I feel I'll lose my nerve. I hear all their heartbeats. All my friends and two more. One is stronger than the other, a vampire no doubt.
Right when I hit the docks, I have to do it. I look up.
I'm greeted with the lovely image of all my friends with their weapons at the ready. Some guy taking a dirt nap. Cicero, bloody as ever, watching me with bright eyes. I look away instantly to find her. She's staring with a smug sort of amusement. It certainly doesn't fit the bloodied state of her appearance, but it never had to. She was always in control.
My eyes prick with tears at the thought of it. That memory of being in those chains in the Castle will haunt me for the rest of my life. That wall I put in place never really was strong enough.
She's standing off to the side of the room, away from the crowd and is towering over Cicero. Her bloodied form is like a whispmother in the flesh. A once beautiful and dangerous person. "Hello, Eve." She smiles. It's angelic and perfectly symmetrical in her rounded, gorgeous face. A face that isn't hers.
I bristle at that. This poor girl was not only killed at a young age. Not only desecrated as a corpse and changed over into a vampire. But now she is a vessel for the vilest of creatures.
"I wasn't expecting our family reunion to go this way, but these are unprecedented times." She keeps that fake smile on her face.
My hands are itching for the Ebony Blade. I glance over at Bryn who is watching me with a certain intensity. So are the others. But more importantly behind them Nocturnal is sitting at the table filled with Artifacts. She holds a finger up to her full lips.
"Careful, lassie. She is outnumbered but now isn't the time." Sheogorath whispers in my ear.
"Why not?" I whisper. The sight of them, all torn up from being down the Vaults is making me feel better. I have no doubt we can all take them on and win.
"Because the dragons are still on the loose." He reminds me.
Right. And if we kill her now, we can kiss our world goodbye. Not necessarily a bad thing, at least she wouldn't be tormenting us anymore.
"And how are your invisible friends?" She purrs. Based on her expression she knows I've been having that silent conversation.
"Fine. How's the flying lizard population?" I step out from under Sheogorath's calming hand and onto the platform to face her. Might as well act confident.
"They won't be airborne for long." She responds. The silence is tense before Cicero breaks out into laughter.
"AHAHAH." He points at me. "Mother! Look at her! Being away from you has never been so good or so bad! She's not skin and bones anymore but she lacks a purpose!" Don't know why that's funny.
"Hm, purpose. That is a good start to the conversation." She lazily steps over the nearly dead guy to sit properly in a nearby chair.
"Conversation? All I have to say to you is good riddance. Don't you have a Castle you need to go warm?" I cross my arms but the glares from the others is overwhelming. They're extremely fearful. It's like we're cornered by a rabid saber tooth.
"Castle. Listener, don't you miss it?" Cicero questions as he begins to the drag the guy's body over to where the Night Mother is. Her legs are crossed over one another and she leans back as if she has all the time in the world. I sneak a look at Nocturnal to find her sinking into her chair but never taking her eyes off our adversary.
"Not really." I admit. I never want to be fifty feet from that thing again.
"That's too bad. We miss you." The Night Mother pouts.
"Yeah? Well, you let me go. I have a good life and I don't need you anymore." My arms are tight. Anyone, even the untrained eye, could see my façade cracking. Slowly, the desperation and fear beneath the surface will come trickling out.
"Are you sure about that?" She asks. No dancing around the subject. No more niceties. Must be a good motivator to have no more than fifteen people all with their weapons out.
"Yes." I say. I nearly shout it at her. Anything to get the message through.
"Hm. That is too bad. Because we need you." Her golden eyes are piercing. So terrifying that I almost have to look away. But I won't.
A moment later her statement hits. I've been avoiding thinking about why she might be here. And it turns out we don't need a full-blown conversation to get to the meat of it. We never did. "I thought you might be picking up new cargo here." I nod to the man on the ground. After we cleared the Vaults a few weeks ago I was sure there weren't other squatters down there besides the usual. I met almost all of them, so this guy has to be the solitary one.
"We were. But why not kill two birds with one stone?" Her fangs peek out at her next smile. She actually thinks she's being funny.
I swallow. "Or you take what you can get and blow this popsicle stand."
Cicero begins to laugh hysterically. "Listener! AHAHA. I forgot how fun you were! It's been so long…" He sighs.
The room is still simmering to a boil. I glance at the others. The wolves are barely keeping it together. I see all their jaws set on edge. I could say the same about the other thieves. A few hands are trembling but the ones keeping it together are the ones who will lead the charge. Bryn is assessing the options, glancing at all the exits. Nocturnal is just watching me.
How do we get out of this? I think to her, praying that telepathy works.
She closes her eyes for a few moments and my heart sinks. Memories of her leaving me begin to flood me. The last day she talked to me outside of the portal to Evergloam. How she never helped with Vorstag. A familiar pang in my heart rings. I have to remind myself he's okay. We made him go home to check on Serana. He's a vampire now and is playing the lute at the Bee and Barb as we speak.
Thank the gods he's nowhere near here.
"We could sit for hours in silence. I don't mind it." The Night Mother continues, "But our time is precious, Eve. I'm going to state it to you clearly. The dragons are powerful creatures, and we could use some help from the Listener. So, why don't you come with us? And whoever else wants to." She adds with a cursory glance at the crowd.
Yeah, right. That's why she wants me. Not to keep me under her thumb again to make sure I'm not in league with the Daedric Princes.
What do we do? I ask again.
Silence.
"You leave with us, no questions asked, Eve. Or, we will have to take you by force." The Night Mother states clearly.
Instantly, I pull on the Ebony Blade. Metal rings out to break the silence. The Night Mother just smiles in amusement.
"Eve." Nocturnal whispers inches from my ear, "We cannot fight her now. Alduin is still on the loose and without the Dragonborn there is no way he will be defeated."
"So? I'm not going with her anywhere, ever again." I spit.
"We won't allow it." She says next to me. "But I don't see another way out…"
"Easy. We fight until she has no choice but to run." Mjoll says suddenly. She bares her teeth when the Night Mother gives her a sharp glance.
"Good enough for me." I say. Against better judgment, against all judgement, actually, I race across the room and sweep the Ebony Blade. It's been begging for a taste of these two for so long.
Cicero comes to meet me. He raises his daggers and my Blade clangs on them. I snarl in his face to which he only grins. The others race behind me. I don't have to turn to know everyone with a weapon in their hands is intruding on her.
She doesn't have to do much. Just a flick of the wrist and electricity flares out in the room. Horrible, guttural screams and gurgles echo in the cavern. I try to ignore them, just keep slashing with the sword. But when Cicero defends against each blow, I lunge.
My teeth are inches from his throat when the Night Mother's deft hands pull me back. I scream as I'm thrown to the ground and a delicate but strong foot lands on the square of my back. Unfortunately for her I'm not as weak as I used to be. I flip, taking her leg down and roll so I'm almost above her. Then I could choke her…it won't do much for a vampire but if I could dig my nails into her soft and fragile flesh, I could then tear…
That same power I dealt with for years flies out at me. My chest is taking the worst of the blow and I sail backwards, over most of the people still strong enough to fight and into the lake. I always wondered how deep this thing was. Now was the time to find out.
I sink like a rock, still trying to get my bearings from that colossal blow, when my vision fades. Damn it. Of course, it would be this way. Passing out at the wrong moment. I want to fight back, launch myself out of this watery cocoon and back into the game. But truth be told, I'm terrified. That is my last thought before the water swallows me.
I open my eyes and find I'm sitting on one of those long fainting chairs. Looks like Sheogorath updated his office.
"There you are! Good as new and no worse for wear, right?" Sheogorath passes me a cup of tea, which I just wave away. He's sitting forwards on the long couch that he got for the fireplace, but he's turned it around. Behind him are all the faces I've met on my adventures and some I'm less familiar with.
"Weakling." Molag Bal growls from the corner.
"Quiet." Nocturnal snaps. She's now hovering over me.
"What happened?" I ask. My throat is raw, as expected but I don't need rest. I shoot up and look at each face. They're angry and disappointed.
"The Night Mother took you and some others to the Castle." Nocturnal says.
Panic rises in my chest. It's like a hummingbird that can't get out of my ribs. "What? Why? Why didn't you stop her?"
"We can't." She state, "You need to. She is in your plane now. We have some control there, but it is best to let our champions take on the physical tasks."
I'm shaking. I know why they didn't do anything and why I wasn't allowed to deal the killing blow just then. Whatever that is.
"You need to make sure Alduin is dead before you move on her." Nocturnal grabs my face so I can't look away.
I can't stop shaking. "I know." I say. For the past few months this has all been a dream. An easy fix after we got all the Artifacts, well how easy is it now?
"Your companion has Spellbreaker and the Wabbajack. You have the Ebony Blade. You need more of the Artifacts before anything else. We will retrieve them and bring them to you soon."
My heart beats faster. "I'm leaving? Can you bring them to me now?" I'm starting to panic. Once they're gone, there's no telling when they'll be back. I see the room fading in the periphery of my vision.
"Soon. Be safe and be patient." She kisses me on the forehead. And I wake up.
The carriage is slowly rocking. It's never usually this rough but then again, I'm usually not bound and gagged, laying on the floor of it. I try to pull my arms free but whoever bound them did and impeccable job. My mouth is completely tied up, just like that guy Ulfric was the day of my almost execution. So, it makes it harder to breathe.
I don't need to, not really, most vampires have to take in the minimal amount of oxygen to survive. We do have beating hearts, after all. But I can't help the panic response my body is taking. I feel like I'm frosted over with cold, my hands are shaking so bad. I'm not sure why no one mentions it.
It's a feat just to breathe right. I was hyperventilating there for a second. Almost like I can't get in enough air. But I tell myself to try. Breathe in, then breathe out. Nice and slow. I'd forgive you if you thought I was overreacting, but if you think I'm that bad you should see the guy next to me.
Airhead, or Aerin, whatever his name is, is absolutely about to lose his mind. He's thrashing against the restraints, some sort of metal that looks painful. I see large welts snaking up his arms now that his armor has been ripped off, leaving him in a basic shirt and pants that only reach his knees.
His bright eyes find mine and they are absolutely terrified. I have to be brave, even if it's just for him. So, I lay there, still and content and keep my gaze on him. If I can help calm him, then maybe he can change over into his wolf mode and hustle it on out of here.
"Coming up with plans, Listener? Thinking of ways to escape? I wouldn't if I were you!" Cicero yells from the front of the carriage where he had the reigns. He snaps them to make the horse go faster. The carriage lunges forwards with the momentum.
My control shatters, all those little details I took in about my companion aren't helpful anymore. I look the wrong way, just up to the nearest bench and find her smiling down at me. She leans down to stroke some loose hair out of my face.
"These braids aren't very useful anymore. We might want to think of a better hairstyle for fighting and leisure." The Night Mother murmurs. "A bun perhaps?"
I turn my eyes away. She mistakes that. "If one of your little friends are here, you tell them you are mine." Her hand curls on my head, nearly clawing at the hair there to pull my head up further. I freeze and the hand leaves.
"We are almost there." She sighs, her frosty breath evaporates, showing we are at a higher elevation now.
I'm scrambling. Thinking of anything to calm myself and calm the man next to me. But all that changes when we hear the roar overhead.
The Night Mother looks up sharply. A great shadow passes over us, followed by the form of a green dragon. I shrink back into the carriage further when it suddenly stops.
She smiles down at me, "Stay here, I will be right back." Then she leaps over the edge of the carriage, leaving me and Aerin to fend for ourselves.
I take advantage of the opportunity. I roll and try to cut my incredibly strong rope bindings on Airhead's metal ones. He tries to help by holding his hands out as far as he can. But sawing it does nothing. I feel at the rope further, it's almost like there's a steel chord in the center of it. I wouldn't be surprised.
Instead, I sit up on my knees in time to see the Night Mother sending a ball of electricity at the dragon who dodges it. She screams out, mad as hell and I smile at that. Haven't heard that in a while.
Moaning brings me back to the present. I move back so I'm behind Airhead, maybe I can push him so he can roll off this thing. Once on the ground he should be able to change. What am I thinking? I can just shift into a Vampire Lord and be done with them…
"Listener. I wouldn't do that if I were you." I snap my head around to see Cicero above me. He brings down the hilt of his dagger right on my head. I go down dazed.
"That took longer than the last time." She says as she approaches.
"Mother, it's as if they're getting stronger!" Cicero exclaims.
I roll around, delirious in the pain. Damn that hurt. And I haven't had blood in awhile so it will be harder to recover. Ice fills my core at that thought. That's how they tortured me last time, left me in chains for days without any sort of sustenance. It's probably how they can keep me from changing into the beast.
Aerin finally calms down, reading the room and knowing any more struggle will bring on more lashings. I move so I'm next to him, his body heat warms me a little bit. It's enough to keep me sane.
"Stronger, yes." The Night Mother sits across from me and gives me a simmering stare. "They're getting stronger because they've heard of me. They know who they're dealing with now. They're also more fearful. These are lessons you've surely learned, Child."
I think she's talking to Cicero when she nudges me with her foot. So, instead, I close my eyes and sit tight. We'd have another opportunity for escape soon enough. I just have to be ready for it.
"Carry on, Cicero! We have only a mile or two now. Can you not wait for the Castle, Eve? Can you not wait to see your Family again? We've been missing you more than you can imagine."
I keep my eyes squeezed shut. The taunts eventually stop before the bickering begins between the two. I let them tear into each other over shortcomings and mistakes, all the while keeping an ear out for one of the Princes. One was bound to come soon enough.
Cicero's Journal Entry
27th of Sun's Height 4E, 202
Listener wasn't grateful! She wasn't happy or smiling when she saw us! Maybe Cicero should lower his expectations…
But no matter! We are fast on the heels of the southerly winds and headed straight to the Castle! Listener will finally be home.