Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Written by Holly Mitchell (Zhar The Mad)

Co-written by Bruce Mitchell

Chapter 6: A Visit to Hell

At first she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her; she was surrounded by wildly dancing flames, towering spires, crimson skies, and other horrifying abominations that most minds could not even conjure up.

"This looks like something from out of a nightmare," she said, trembling, her statement and the scenery syncronizing in perfect harmony. There were hideous monsters, rotting dead bodies, and odd fleshy looking. . . things. "I suppose after this adventure I'm done. Retirement sounds like a mighty fine idea."

She continued along the planes of Oblivion and spotted a soldier from afar, who appeared to be in a losing battle with a Daedra. She crouched behind the cover of a boulder, readying her bow, taking dead aim at the monster. As she pulled back the arrow, the bow arched almost as if it was going to snap suddenly between the fine string. Her muscles quivered in her arms and sweat began beading upon her brow. She took one last breath before letting go; it soared like an ariel predator seemingly through the heavens, darting through the ominous clouds and almost threatening to shatter the stars into a million tiny pieces. The silver tip of the delicate weapon pierced its' rib, causing the beast to wail in agonizing pain. Upon seeing this, the young man's eyes grew as large as saucers, and his heart almost seemed as if it was going to leap from his chest. He stood, motionless, with his arms limp at his sides and his mouth ajar. Reign lowered her bow and walked over to the emaciated body as it lay writhing on the barren land. She crouched by the side of the repulsive creature, pulling her dagger from a leather holster and, without a moments hesitation, driving it into the heart of the Daedra.

"Are you alright?" she turned to the man, putting away her weapon.

"Yes," he slouched over "just exhausted. Thank you for intervening, I might not have made it if not for you."

"I couldn't just stand by and watch you die. Stranger or not, you are still a human being." She looked down at the emaciated creature "What in the world is that?"

"It is called a Scamp, nasty little thing." He commenced to kick it.

"The land here seems quite treacherous." She glanced around them.

"Indeed. We should leave. Now quickly, we must hurry out of this hellish place!"

"I still have a job to do. However, I prefer to venture alone. You should go back to your captain."

He simply nodded and ran off towards the gate portal that led back to Cyrodill.

She checked her surroundings, looking for a weak spot in these unholy lands. She thought that maybe it would be the tallest point… like a tower. She set off cautiously towards her goal.

The tower was an intimidating ebony color and it's contours appeared to be razor-sharp. As soon she stepped up to the door, it opened by itself. She crouched so her presence wouldn't be so conspicuous. Fortunately, the Daedra inside did not seem to notice her. She crept inside; the first thing she saw was a demonic cesspool of flames in the center of the room. It had an ominous crimson light leading to the top of the tower. 'That has to lead to it's source of power.'

Before she could ascend the tower, she had to get past the two Daedra blocking her way. One she recognized as a Scamp, but the other was unfamiliar; it bore a beaklike mouth, rough scales and a shield-like protrusion on it's head. The obvious first-kill choice for her would be the unfamiliar creature –Since she already knows how a Scamp fights- then shoot the Scamp next. But no, she shot the Scamp first. This sent the unfamiliar creature into a frenzy; it charged her. She panicked, frantically trying to load her arrow, it ricocheted off it's rock-hard skull. The creature rammed her with it's head, causing her to collapse to the ground. It then made a u-turn charging her again, but this time Reign had her back up plan ready, she stabbed it from the bottom of it's head straight though it's eyeball. She exhaled as she rose to her feet "Ahh-" she gasped clutching her ribs. When the creature rammed her, it's tiny horns punctured her torso. She tore pieces of her dress to fashion a few bandages. 'It would suck if Daedra could smell blood.' She looked toward the top of the tower, seeing that she still had a long way to go before she reached the top 'Damn, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.' She limped to a door that led to the next door up. The sound it made as it opened sounding someone being literally torn open. As she cautiously crept through, she noticed the edges of the door were jagged.

Until she got to the 3rd floor, she had been almost completely unscathed. A Dremora charged her from the top of a twisting corridor. A giant serrated blade fell from the ceiling, slicing the Daedra in two. Blood spattered everywhere, she tried to think happy thoughts 'Objective number one after getting home; a bath.' She wiped the blood off her face. When she got to the end of the corridor, there was a room. A pillar stood in the middle of it. Suddenly, the top of it began to spin. It spit a fireball at her and she barely dodged. She ran as fast as she could to the other end of the room, the fireballs catching up to her 'Not good, not good!' she realized that the doors opened to slowly and she would be burned to a crisp "Open you stupid door!"

The door began opening before she was close enough to it. A Daedra stepped out. "Shit!" she jumped, sliding between it's legs. Before it could raise it's sword to kill her; a fireball disintegrated it. She moved out of the pillar's line of fire "Good thing I'm small, after all. She glanced at the vaporized demon, "I might not have fit.

"Okay, objective number two; take a break from anything adventurous." She noted to herself as soon as she reached the top tower. Once she was at the top of the tower, she was engaged by several Daedra. After taking down two of them, she ran out of arrows "One thing after another in this infernal place!" She ran as fast as she could to the very top of the area, only killing enemies that stood in her path.

An almost ebony colored sphere floated in the center of the room. She ran to it as fast as she could, taking it into her hands. The world of Oblivion instantly began to dissolve.

"Argh!!!" one of the Dremora screeched, tackling her.

They fell through the beam of light toward the bottom floor. Before they hit the ground, Reign closed her eyes.

"Reign!" a voice called to her "Reign, open your eyes!" the voice belonged to Lucien.

She opened her eyes to see that she was back in Cyrodill "Lucien!" she hugged him, just glad to see a familiar face "What are you doing here?"

"Truth be told; Ocheeva scolded me for letting you go alone. She said it wouldn't have mattered to anyone there if we both just disappeared, since the matter was so crucial..." he noticed that she was coated in a thin layer of blood "You're injured?!"

"No, I'm fine, it's just a scratch…" her vision became blurry and she mumbled to herself "Damn…I jinxed myself, after all." She crouched over in pain.

Lucien touched her shoulder "Where are you hurt?"

She pushed against him, clutching her bleeding torso "I'm fine."

"We need to get you home, Reign."

"No, I still have to retrieve Martin…" she staggered to her feet.