Tyermaillin stabs the dragon's head repeatedly but is thrown off and hits a tree before his short blade follows and stabs him through the shoulder, pinning him to the tree. Nisfar and Elone throws a net made out of the fireproof rope at Ahbiilok as he flails in pain. "My arm!" Tyermaillin cried in pain. "Are you okay? Well, besides your arm." Nisfar asked. "Yes, nothing a restore health spell won't fix, except that I was trained in medicinal healing and I don't have restore health. This still hurts and my shoulder is bleeding. I'm just going to pass out now." Tyermaillin hissed in pain as he tries to remove the short blade but passes out.
"Don't worry, friend. We did it, thanks to you." Nisfar thanked Tyermaillin before turning to Ahbiilok. "What were you doing in Morrowind?" Nisfar interrogated. "I was hiding within Morrowind and Vvardenfell. I killed anything I came across, including witnesses. That is all I did for Akatosh knows how long until you damnned Blades found me. I had nowhere else to flee except Dovahnor, or how you from Tamriel call Akavir." Ahbiilok explained. "Why didn't you return in the first place?" asked Nisfar. "Dov have very few fears, one being the Tsaesci. Though smaller than Dov, they enslaved most dragons and aimed to consume the rest. So we fled to Tamriel, as well as your predecessors the Dragonguard. The war between the Tsaesci and the Ka Po' Tun still rages." explained Ahbiilok.
"Wait, you lured us here, destroyed our ship, and knew of an ongoing war in this land? You lured us into a trap! You're counting on the war to kill us!" Nisfar realized in fear. "If I cannot kill you myself, then the ongoing conflict will!" Ahbiilok laughed. Red dragons suddenly dot the sky and start burning the trees before landing and revealing their Tsaesci riders; creatures with human-like torsos and a long snake tail bottom half that wrapped around the dragons' necks. Someone who appears to be the leader wearing black Akavir-style armour commands his troops to capture Ahbiilok and the Blades in a different Akaviri tongue. The Tsaesci are attacked by flaming arrows from within the forest as figures in dark robe-like outfits and masks throw purple smoke bombs at the Blades and Ahbiilok.
When the purple smoke cleared the Blades and Ahbiilok disappeared as the Tsaesci searched for them. The Tsaesci leader ordered his men to scout the area and take flight. The Blades and Ahbiilok are teleported into a cave via a purple sphere. "Where are we?" Nine-Toes wondered. "Hey, where did Tyermaillin go?" asked Nisfar.
"Your Elven friend is safe in the hands of our shamans." a powerful voice boomed. "Who said that?!" Elone asked in caution as she brandished her sword. "We are the remnants of the Akavir civilization. We have waited for the Dragonguard to return with the fabled Dragonborn. But as we waited the return of the Dragonguard, we were caught in the crossfire of the Ka Po' Tun and the Tsaesci and were killed, enslaved so we hid underground." the voice answerd. "Well, aren't you going to show yourself?" asked Elone threateningly. An elderly man with yellowish skin, squinted eyes and an unusually long, pointed white beard wearing black robes with dragons decorating the fabric, approached them with an escort of men in black masks and robes.
"I am Elder Tachibana Yoshi, councilman of Shin Akavir. Many thought we had become extinct, but we fled underground for centuries. We sent our spies watch you then rescue you when you were in danger of capture." Yoshi explained. "Why is Ahbiilok here, then?" Nisfar asked. "He was accidentally teleported here. Luckily his plan to rid you will not come to fruition because of our intervention." Yoshi replied. "And I could have been rid of witnesses if they didn't come!" Ahbiilok exclaimed angrily. "Back in Vvardenfell, why did you attack me out of the blue when you were hiding?" Nisfar asked Ahbiilok.
"I spied on you for many years and I knew if I killed you I would be known as the Dovah who ended the life of the Nerevarine. All Dov would fear me as you have escaped death many times; I have seen all of them." Ahbiilok explained. "Wait, what? You have seen me die before? How is that even possible?" Nisfar asked. "That is enough, we will detain the dragon and we will teleport you back to your large mushroom. Take this spell tome: it is a teleportation spell that allows teleportation to Shin Akavir. We will take care of your friend and the dragon. You can visit them anytime." Yoshi said as he handed Nisfar an aquamarine book. Without a single word the Blades are teleported back to the mushroom base by the purple smoke bombs.
"We should really get some sleep. Nine-Toes, you and Gildan are on lookout." Nisfar commanded tiredly. "Yes sir, I'll be the…" Nine-Toes said before he dozed off. "Grand Spymaster Nisfar Adlathil, since Journeyman Nine-Toes is not fit for the duty, shall I take his place as lookout?" Elone asked. "Request *YAWNS* accepted." Nisfar confirmed. Excluding Elone and a Bosmer woman, the Blades enter the mushroom base as the unconscious Nine-Toes is carried in by Nisfar and the other Redguard woman.
The next day the Blades are woken up by Gildan at around dawn before they find Nisfar is reading through the spell tome in front of a window. "Grand Spymaster, have you been reading that all night?" asked Elone. "No, just when I heard Nine-Toes suddenly waking up with his crossbow out and then I decided to read this book the Elder gave me. This is amazing; weeks or maybe even years of magic training all put into into one book. I wonder what they think of next." Nisfar explained in awe as he flipped to another page. When Nisfar finished the book it destroyed itself, leaving behind no remains whatsoever, not even a speck of ash.
To be continued…
