A/N: Warning, this chapter and the next one will include discussion of child endangerment and infanticide.

A DARKNESS SO DESERVING

The Listener

I thought I would fade away. Last time I was here, I was surrounded by a darkness so foul and a cold so bone chilling, I felt like my body was melting in the very fabric of the Void. Now, I just stumble out into a vast forest of wheat.

It's so numerous and vast, I can barely see over the golden tops to the land beyond. The sky is a clear baby blue, as if a storm just came through and rained down on this valley below. Only thing to border this area and rise in the distance are towering peaks. It doesn't really look like the mountains in Skyrim. They're bare of any snow and covered in greenery.

I stop before we can go further. Cicero smacks right into my back. "Listener? What is this?"

"I don't know." I turn in a circle to get the whole picture. The inky dark forest we just emerged from is gone. Instead, the sun-kissed valley spreads on into infinity. Yet, something in the middle stands. It's a small, modest, cabin sitting in the great clearing. The cool bite of an autumn wind blows though, rustling the tall wheat just enough for it to glisten in the mid-afternoon sun.

"There you are. I wondered where you would come out to. It appears we start here, first." The tall, menacing voice speaks behind me. I glance up in the sky and see Hermaeus Mora. It's easier to see all the tendrils and strands to his form when he's paired with a sky so blue. It reminds me of spilled ink.

"What is this place?" I ask. I'm certainly not complaining that we're here and not the other place.

"The Void. The land of the Dread Father. Sithis. Anui-El, whatever name you have of him. He has created this just for us. He has many things to say but it is best without words." His looming eye blinks.

I bristle. There's something wrong here. Based on the terror I feel sinking into Cicero behind me, he feels it too.

"I will follow along, diligently. But in order for Sithis to show you what he wants to, you need a guide." The shadows move, creating a black portal that opens up in the center of the wheat and out comes a creature only nightmares from a daedra could produce.

He's a tall and very imposing creature. Ebony black skin, littered with tiny scales and a long body. Kind of looking like a centipede almost but seven feet in length if I were to guess. The thing was also humanoid. Three pairs of arms reach out from the torso to hold it up, the humanlike legs at the back were probably helping with stability. Everything seemed human except for the abnormally long body and the face, it was almost non-existent. No eyes that I could see of, no nose, just a row of very sharp teeth. As anticipated.

"You may call him the Shadow. He will be your guide. Good luck on your journey." The black cloud begins to fade, but instead of disappearing completely, his eye remains high up in the sky, like a moon showing during the day. Faded and muted in color but always looming over us.

The jester's breathing rivals the breeze blowing past. "Listener? Should we kill it?" Cicero tentatively whispers behind me.

The humanoid creature, excuse me, the Shadow moves before me. He stands back on his human-like legs which are now crouched, all his arms come up to float before us. He says nothing, despite that large mouth filled with fangs. He does nothing. Only holds one large hand out to show us the newly formed path in the dirt.

"He wants us to go this way." I grab Cicero's hand in a vice grip and drag him with me. "If anything happens go for the back of the head." I whisper, so softly the sound of wheat smacking into us must drown it out. But with Cicero's newly improved hearing he understands.

A quick nod is all I get. Behind Cicero the looming figure of the Shadow follows. He's nearly double the size of the wheat, so no doubt the poor schmucks down in the house below will see us coming. I keep my feelings open, if you would call it that, and feel Cicero is strangely starting to get more comfortable.

"By Sithis. Mother! I remember this." He says before bounding off ahead of me. He gets lost in the sea of rich farmland. His red hat is the only thing I can make of him for what seems like miles. The crimson spot waves this way and that as he races down the path at max speed. I take my time. My palms brush the edges of the willowy wisps while I take in the sight.

This place is beautiful. Almost too beautiful. All the colors and scents were heightened. I glance around and try to see if there's any wrinkle in this illusion. Maybe a crack in the sky. A few misplaced wheat strands. Hell, even something like a lost dwemer artifact blocking my path.

I pause for a moment when I do spot it. It's another figure moving through the golden sea. I can't make out who it is though. A rough hand prods my back. I want to stay, I turn around to almost say it. But that row of sharp teeth bearing down on me has me changing my mind.

A few rough strands of wheat smack into my face when I make my way through. But once I break through the field and step into the clearing, I see this land with perfect clarity. The house before me is small and modest, it has a lot of cracks, but I can tell the people living here have given it a lot of love. Fresh brown paint had been applied this past summer with green trimmings. Making it look cute in its tininess. Two solitary windows allow someone to peek out to the front yard, two smaller windows sit on the top, showing this place has two stories. Outside, I see many colorful flowerbeds and hear a small, almost non-existent steam running behind the back of the house.

Nearby the only tall oak that seems to be here, I see a large black stallion munching on a bucket of carrots. And man, is it beautiful. It's almost twice my height and the black coat shines gorgeously under the set of armor covering him. His hair is braided, his tail swishes happily, and his hooves appear nice and manicured.

Next to him, a very tall, probably nearing seven-foot Nord man is swinging an axe. He's older. I can tell based on his long white beard and hair. But his body doesn't show it, it's still tanned from a full summer outside and filled with enough muscle to feed a small village.

His axe comes down again with a sickening crack. It splits another piece of wood into two, giving him probably a month's worth of firewood. This doesn't hold my attention long. To his right, on one of the large logs, sits a very bored Dunmer woman. She's trying to keep awake, resting her chin on her hand, and failing. She slips from it a few times with very tired eyes.

I stand frozen, watching her. Not even the pressure of the human-like hand behind me can make me move. Cicero's grasp loosens. "It's her." He whispers to me.

This isn't Mother like I know her, no, it's some sort of memory of her. She's not glaring at me and turning to bitch me out so it must mean she can't see us. But based on her expression, the way she holds herself, and her sharp eyes, this is definitely her.

Cicero puts my hand in a death lock. He pulls me to the side when he sees the Shadow beckoning us. We move so we stand closer to the tall Nord and the Dunmer woman. My skin tingles being so close to her. I feel like I need to run.

"What is this?" I look to the Shadow. Saliva drips off his fangs, something is making him hungry.

He doesn't say a word, but Hermaeus Mora does as loudly and as intrusively as he can. "This is where the Night Mother spent her days when she was nearing the end of her service for the Morag Tong. After she wed Sithis. They lived for a short period of time, away from the hustle of the great city of Bravil, in order to enjoy peace together."

I look back at the muscled Nord. "That's Sithis?" I ask incredulously.

The Shadow barks out a laugh. I have to resist the urge to cover my ears, it sounds grating. Like nails on a chalkboard.

"His human skin, yes." Hermaeus Mora laughs, then fades away. I look up to be reminded of his ever-present eye on us.

"Yes, Listener, it's okay. Cicero knows the lore from here." He moves closer to whisper to me and not interfere on the Night Mother and Sithis's private moment. He had abandoned the wood chopping and was cupping her cheek, whispering into her ear. She leans against him with a look of calmness on her face. I've never seen it on her before.

"Sithis married the Night Mother, spoke to her while she was still with the Morag Tong, a guild of assassins in Morrowind. The Dark Brotherhood's origins. Allegedly. That little history is sometimes disputed." He gets out in a hurried breath. His eyes are wide and nearly brimming with tears as he watches the two lovebirds before us. "How beautiful is this moment?" He whispers only to me.

I shrug but he doesn't see it. I'd make some smart-ass remark but based on his rigid posture, he'd probably gut me for ruining his voyeurism.

A sudden smacking sound brings my attention to the wheat near us. At first, I think it's the figure that I saw further away from me. Instead, a small kid, no more than two or three years old, leaps out. "Aug!" He squeals as he belly flops on the dirt. The strong Nord turns from his lover to tend to the crying child.

He stands the boy up, brushes the dirt from him, and ruffles his curly dark hair, "Don't be making mistakes like that. It's dangerous." Sithis tells him sharply. The child nods then his attention is solely on the Dunmer off to the side. He races over to have his hair combed out by his mother.

I say that because his skin tone looks ashy, but he could pass for a Nord if he wanted to. Soon, we hear laughter and two more kids, a girl and a boy come racing out of the grass to climb all over the Dunmer woman. She smiles briefly at the intrusion but promptly sets them to the ground. "Father is leaving. We must be ready." She tells them, in as harsh a tone as she would talk to me.

I don't look at her. I only look to the man who watches them with a sorrowful expression. "I will be back over the ridge in three months' time. This wood should last you the early part of the winter."

The woman looks to him with a beaming smile. He scoops her up from where she was sitting and hugs her so tightly. It's one of those lingering hugs. He holds her lovingly, sways her body around now that her feet are off the ground. She clutches him before giving him a kiss anyone would be jealous of.

After their passionate embrace, he kisses her forehead. "You know what to do, love. My Flower. I will be home soon." He murmurs against her. He lets her go. Climbs up on the heroic looking horse and soon they are braving the sea of wheat, all the way up the path.

We all sit in silence. I feel Cicero's growing anticipation next to me, which is weird because all I see is the beautiful black horse receding into the distance. Galloping behind the mountain passes. Then something catches my attention. Two more children spill out of the house…all a mix of Nord and Dunmer features. They squeal, push and shove each other but crowd around their mother when she says so.

The Dark Elf woman stands, her figure now stiff as a board, tall and imposing, like I'm used to. "Inside, children, I have something to show you." She plasters a fake smile on her face when they begin to bounce around and cheer.

My heart begins to sink when I see it. She picks up one of the girls, who has impossibly long dark pigtails tied up in pink ribbons, to keep on her hip, and grasps the hand of one of the others. The thinner boy grabs his larger brother's hand, then that one grabs his blonde headed sister's. Soon the other four are linked hand to hand.

I count five.

Five children.

Five children killed by the bride of Sithis to become the Night Mother.

"Oh, Listener, we are in for a treat." Cicero crows next to me. "This is how it was done. How she became it! Our Unholy Matron! A Dunmer, living near the coast and wife and mother to Sithis's children. Oh, how I will bask in this moment…" He breaks free of my grasp and races to follow her form.

The shadows move and the door slams shut in his face, locked up tight. Stopping him before he can advance further. "You cannot disturb them." Hermaeus Mora booms from above.

I'm breathing heavily. The sounds from inside, clanging of pots and pans, children screaming over one another for the treat they think they deserve, they're normal. For now. But I know what happens next. I read the fact in Hermaeus Mora's book. I can't let it happen.

"Mother will be back soon. You stay and eat your cupcakes. Mother must prepare for the ritual." I hear her say. I race over to where Cicero is and peer through the window. Inside, I find a basic kitchen table with all the kids surrounding it. On top is a tray of chocolate cupcakes. Of course, she had to lure them in somehow. I watch her form move to the kitchen area as she looks around the utensils. Only I see the knife she hides among the folds of her dress.

I can't let this happen. I know once she disappears with one of those children, they're as good as dead. "Listener! Aren't you enjoying the show?" Cicero beams near me. His gloved hands rest on the windowsill with mine. Curling around it in stark anticipation. "What would it be like to feel that moment with her? When the children are all slain by her hand? The moment their hearts cease, and she is given over to the Void?" He asks. It's like he's asking what flavor cake I'd want for my fucking birthday.

My heart constricts again with dread. I won't let this happen. I begin to pry at the window, try to open it however I can.

"What? What are you doing?" Cicero puzzles.

"Trying to get in. Try the door." I grunt as I pull again. This damn thing should have broken off a few times by now.

"Oh! Wanting to watch with Cicero? I knew you couldn't resist!" He gleefully races to the door to try and barge in.

He tries a few times, but nothing happens. "It's not working." He groans and kicks one more time.

I push my hands into the glass, try to break it this way, but then I see the Night Mother come down the staircase, she holds out her hands and two children, the thin boy and the pigtailed girl, run to her.

"Should we come with?" one of the boys asks from his place at the table. His face is smeared with chocolate frosting. Like he tried to aim for his mouth and missed a few thousand times.

I hear Mother groan with that sight. "Not yet, but soon, child. This shall only take a few minutes." She pulls her other two children up the stairs by their little hands.

I back up. There's no way in hell I'll be able to open this window the old-fashioned way. It's time to try another tactic. I bounce on the balls of my feet, then barrel through it.

The stubborn glass finally gives, shoving outwards before shattering. I hear the squealing sounds of terrified children when I land roughly on the ground. Little do they know I'm not the one to fear.

It's their Mother, and now she's watching me with a knowing gaze. Before she can say anything to me, I fall into the room. It's like the wood splintered into a person sized hole and swallowed me whole. It all fades to black.

I'm in freefall. My stomach is being pulled from me with the force I feel from gravity. I scream and close my eyes, not that it matters. I don't see anything. Feel anything. Just this endless nothingness.

I smack right on the ground of the forest floor. The same underbrush I woke up on when Hermaeus Mora brought us here. My teeth still rattle from the impact, and I surely have a few bones broken. I'm just getting my bearings when I hear a distinct rustle in the trees. My instincts say to get the hell out of here, but I ignore it and stay still. If I stop breathing, maybe they won't hear me.

I pull back, folding into myself and rising to my trembling knees. Something is here with me.

I hear a human groan. It's a gurgling sound. It's not a nice sound, it's the voice of someone who's had their throat torn out and they're trying to speak through nothing but a gaping hole. I move back when I see it. It's a literal walking adult corpse, like the draugr but still riddled in burial wraps. Its skin is white with red eyes, elongated limbs, they're reaching out for me. It's barely-there face is turning to a grimace.

I move back so quickly I smack into one of the black trees. I try to pry further to climb up it, but it's no use.

It groans again as it walks with that long, stumbling gait. I see it's trying to form words, but nothing comes out, just more spit and blood. Behind it I see more corpses emerging from the shadows.

That's it. I've been in this very situation before, but then, I just had Mother to deal with. I remember that fever dream where her mottled corpse overcame me just to tear my head off. If my brain were working right, I'd run like hell. But survival instincts can be a bitch sometimes. I rise and begin to climb the tree.

I'm either not fast enough, or this tree is working against me. Any hold I get in the rough bark falls away before I can reach for another with my cold hands. Something wraps around my ankles and pulls.

I scream when they do. They pull me back down to the dark floor and begin slashing at me. Their sharp nails dig into my skin and draw blood with each cut. I'm literally being sliced open by a million papercuts, that's what if feels like. I twist and turn, kick out at them. It's no use. They're stronger than I had thought.

They pull me further until they're towering over me. I see their mouths open in this muted light. The whites of their teeth. Saliva drips on me. They don't appear to be vampires so there shouldn't be any way they are hungry for my flesh.

I stiffen, prepare myself for that first bite. It's going to hurt. Instead, I watch the demonic thing lowering itself to my shoulder when it's head blows clean off. The others shriek. Try to run but not without losing a few limbs in the process. It's hard to see in this darkness and through all the commotion but I look around at the forest and see them scurrying on all fours into the shadows.

My heart is beating out of my chest. I try to roll over but then something looms over me. It grabs me by the ankles and pulls.

"No! Not again!" I yell desperately and kick out at it. That doesn't stop its grip. Who the hell knew this thing would save me from those creeps all to eat me by itself?

I kick again while the dirty forest floor cuts me up with each footstep. It's branches and underbrush tangle into my hair and over my armor, caressing me, as if to say, stay with us. The whole damn forest is alive. I begin to panic. I don't want to stay here but I don't want to go wherever this thing is taking me. I'm dragged over a tree stump, it feels like, away from the assaulting floor with the strange hands. Then the light pierces through. It's so sharp and disorienting I can do nothing but scream. I hold my hands over my eyes as they sear, a stupid thing to do, but as I said before, instinct is a bitch.

My ankles drop. I scurry myself up to a standing position, still hyperventilating to whatever the hell happened back there. I smell the scent of freshly drying wheat just changing for the seasons, see the cloudless blue sky and the Shadow before me. He pants as well, a harsh sound. If he had eyes, I'd say they'd be throwing daggers at me.

Don't do that again. It growls in my head.

I whimper with the sound. It's been so long since someone talked to me, and this is a terrifying voice, not something soft and musical like Mother's or the Daedric Princes. When they wanted to be charismatic.

I hear a sudden slamming in the distance, following it is a harsh pull over the land. It's like a wind, but something else, it flutters over the field, blowing back all the wheat and exposing the animals hiding below, only for a second. Black birds rise from the fields, scared off by it. I duck as they fly over my head. There's so many of them and they have no control so a few nearly smack into my face.

The Shadow turns his head, slowly, towards the house in the center. I stand there trembling after the last bird soars over my shoulder, his feet almost tangled in my hair. "What?" I ask him.

He sinks to the ground on all feet and slithers off. The wheat parts with the path he makes. I still stand there, not sure what the I should be doing.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering what happened to you." Hermaeus Mora croons from above. It's like I'm reliving our first moments here. I look up to his now animated eye. "You fell through the Void, not something I would recommend. There are…unfavorable characters around these parts."

I spit out some blood that was just welling in my mouth. Looks like I accidently bit my tongue sometime. "Yeah, I noticed. Thanks for the heads up. I met some of the creepy crawlies down in the forest back there. They look like they wanted to eat me."

The cloud up above seems to laugh, but it sounds malicious as ever. "You met them then. Did you count how many there were?"

My brow furrows, "No. I was trying to get my ass away from them."

"Then you would not have noticed the sweet irony. You met the Children. Once the Night Mother slaid her five children, thus giving them to the Void, they remain here. They are the most potent of souls. The ones who like to hang on when Sithis creates worlds like these. Like a show of sorts, they like to come out and meddle with him. I would not be surprised if we see them again on our journey." His eye blinks in the ever-lengthening tendrils of smoke.

My heart constricts again. "Does that mean?"

"Yes. You missed the bloodshed. I'm sure you heard the aftereffects. They are dead by her hand." The cloud roils in the passing moments. "Do not fear or look so glum. This is only an illusion. An inscribing of the past. This is not the present."

I want to fall to my knees. The birds. That weird pull on the earth. That signaled those final moments for the poor children. "I couldn't have saved them?"

"Save a piece of a memory? That would be something…I commend you for your efforts." The cloud of ink moves with his voice. It's like he's excited about the whole thing.

"Why do that? Why kill something so innocent? They didn't do anything." I nearly choke on my tears, wondering what it would have been like to be a child myself and just…die. At least when Harkon came to our residence I was old enough to know what the hell was going on.

"It was owed. Payment for what she wanted. Eternal life in service to the Dread Lord himself. Sithis wasn't a saint in this either, if you remember, he gave her the choice." The clouds keep moving, "It was the Night Mother's will to slay them. Without this daedric act, there would be no Night Mother."

"But why them? Why not anyone else?" I scream at the sky. "Why not the Emperor? Someone older, who had more life behind them? More important?"

The cloud is silent for a moment, the eye dips closer to me. "You are not heeding my words. It doesn't matter if she wanted the Emperor dead, as you saw yourself, many of those very figures would be slayed throughout the centuries. Her Children were the first and most abhorrent of acts. She earned her place."

Those words knock it into me. It was all a test. To see if she could go through with an eternity of death and destruction. Because if you could kill your own children…then you wouldn't have a passing thought for anyone else.

I stand in silence. Hermaeus Mora still roils in the sky, but he lets me have it.

Nothing really consoles me. It's like a void opening up in my chest. I wasn't fast enough, nor strong enough. All I saw were her eyes glaring down at me after she made the decision to lead them upstairs.

My thoughts are broken when the wheat parts again, and I hear that slithering sound of a body close to the ground. Inky black arms emerge and soon the Shadow rises again before me. His head tilts downwards. I feel that I am the only one to hear his voice. I've always been the only one to hear this shit.

She is here with us.

I look over the swaying wheat. It sure doesn't look like anyone else is here.

The Daedric Lord up above chuckles. "The Blood Flower. You have gotten your wish, Eve. She is now here with us in the Void, and she has just found out the memory she sometimes dreads. This won't make her happy. Her or you…but for me. To see this all will be the most interesting thing I've witnessed in eons."

I want to flip him off. I scream in frustration and start literally tugging at my hair. She's here. I should be happy. She's not anywhere in Skyrim. And I have nothing but the Blade on my back to kill her with.

Come with me. There is more to be seen.

Through the festering tears I see the Shadow raise his hand out to me. I don't have another choice, not unless I want to slum around with the spirits of the Children. So, I put mine in his and follow him to whatever horrors await us next.

Cicero's Journal Entry

Cicero doesn't know the date or the time. He's too frazzled. Things are different now. So miraculous. Cicero heard all their screams in that house. He tried to climb it to peek through the windows but there was nothing to grab hold of. He just laid in the cool grass and reveled at the sounds.

How wonderful! He felt it. The moment the Dunmer woman, a nobody, a passing thought to strangers, became the most powerful figure to grace our time. When the last screams faded…the silence remained. It was the first silence to reign. Listener ran off before she could see this. She fell through the floor! The window reanimated itself before Cicero could follow. How foolish! She's missing everything. Everything! This was Mother's moment. Cicero is grateful, not many people get this opportunity. He wonders what will happen next…

But for now, he will keep those screams close to his heart. That, that is the moment Mother was truly freed.