Alright then, decision made: MORE IMMEDIATE VIOLENCE! *pant pant pant* So, last chapter: Night Mother defeated, Black Hand defeated, Seed-Neeus killed, Rhiihaaj crippled, Sehiiri crippled, Padfoot=vampire and fallen off of a cliff, Amori has one hand, and Ka-Mala was disemboweled, but has recovered since (that sounded wierd 0_0). Yes, I know the Black Hand fell pretty easily, and that it seemed like they would take a bit more killing, but they teach a moral: NEVER underestimate an enemy! When you fight, always think of your enemy as being stronger than yourself; that way if they are, you're prepared, if they're your equal, you just put yourself in a state of heightened reflexes and have the advantage, and if you're better than they are, then you have no chance of losing whatsoever. Anyways, this chapter is titled Sithis for a reason, try and guess before it's revealed! Also, I would like to thank Vine Sliver for reading and reviewing my story from the beginning. His support has been very helpful, and possibly vital, to the continuation of this plotline. Thank you VineSliver!

And now, we return to our feature presentation...

Delchkahn stared mutely at the stump where his hand used to be. Blood poured from the wound, dripping to the ground in a red puddle. The pain was excruciating beyond belief. Every nerve in his wrist cried out in agony, overloading his brain with pain signals. He watched in horror as the wound began to change color: first from red, then to green, and finally, to black. The color change began to creep along the veins in his arm, slowly spreading through his limb. The next few moments, everything was ablur of motion, color, and sound. He heard Dar-Ma scream, he heard Seed-Neeus call out, he saw a dark blur fall to the ground. He felt himself tumble to the ground, heard his body thud against the stone floor, as though he were a mile away. He saw Soul-Swimmer running over to him, casting her blade to the ground. He heard her crying, faint, and saw glistening tears in her eyes. He saw her kneel over him, and his vision went black.

"AMORI!" Soul-Swimmer cried as her lover's eyes closed. Already, his face and body was tinted black from the dark magic that was in Soloth's blade. His breathing was ragged, coming in rapid, short gasps, and his pulse was wild. She heard a faint hum behind her, and turned to see Song, its blade glowing brightly, a blue light emanating from the magical sword. It seemed like it was calling her, drawing her to it. She snatched Song from the ground, and was shocked at what she had done afterwards. She looked at her hands, and saw Song embedded in Amori's chest. She almost screamed, but she saw something odd happening: the black substance tinting Delchkahn's veins was flowing into Song, being drawn out of his body. The adge of the blade began to turn black, and with a pulse, the dark magic was expelled. Soul-Swimmer drew Song out of Delchkahn's body, and as the blade left his chest, the wound over his heart healed over. His breathing and pulse returned to normal, but something was wrong: he wasn't waking up. All of his wounds were healed over, and the dark magic was gone, but he wasn't waking up. Suddenly, Soul-Swimmer became awar of her surroundings. She looked around Morimath, and saw the Night Mother and her five sons lying dead on the stone floor, and near the Night Mother's body, a family of Argonians crouched over something. The mother was holding her child close to her, and was weeping bitterly, the father holding her in his arms. As they shifted, Soul-Swimmer saw what they had been crouched over, and gasped: it was Seed-Neeus' body. The Argonian woman had died to kill the Night Mother, and to save this family. Suddenly, Soul-Swimmer realized who the mother was: she was Dar-Ma, Seed-Neeus' daughter. Just as she was about to go over to them, however, she saw a furred form lying near where the pyramid used to be. It was Padfoot, who had fallen from the stone platform after killing Kazaka. Soul-Swimmer's heart nearly stopped: Padfoot had saved Amori's life. She ran over to the young Khajiit's side, and to her relief, found that she was still breathing. She pulled back Padfoot's eyelid, and saw that her irises were crimson. Slowly, Soul-Swimmer pulled back Padfoot's upper lip, and to her horror, saw the telltale elongated canines. There was no doubing it now: Padfoot was a vampire. Slowly, Soul-Swimmer backed away from the Khajiit vampire, not sure what she should do. But then she stopped, ashamed of herself: yes, the Khajiit girl was a vampire, but she had saved Amori's life. She looked down at the girl's pitiful form, her bones easily visible under her skin. Her fur was a dirty brown, so stained by the dust from the forced march she had had to endure that its original color was impossible to discern. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Ka-Mala leaning on her, looking like she was going to throw up. Soul-Swimmer helped her to a stable position. "What happened to you?" she asked Ka-Mala looked up at her.

"To be honest? I was disemboweled." Soul-Swimmer looked at her like she was crazy, and Ka-Mala began to explain. "I was fighting a member of the Black Hand, and he, quite literally, disemboweled me. Before I died, I used a spell that I had invented a while ago on him. I placed my hand over his face, liquefied his innards, drew them into my own body, and used their matter to reconstruct my missing organs and muscle." Ka-Mala chuckled; she could have sworn she saw Soul-Swimmer turning green. Suddenly, Soul-Swimmer got an idea.

"Do you think you can use that spell to transfer matter from a corpse to another person?" Ka-Mala shrugged.

"I don't see why not," she said. Soul-Swimmer dragged Soluth's corpse to the Khajiit girl's side, and Ka-Mala began the spell. Soluth's corpse withered to a husk, and the Khajiit's body filled out, her muscles reforming, returning her body to the state it had been in before she had been starved. As her body fleshed out, Soul-Swimmer saw just how debilitating starvation could be: when she had first seen the girl, she was a ragged husk. Now, she was a beautiful young woman. The girl's eyes slid open, and she groaned.

"Hey," said Soul-Swimmer softly. "What's your name?"

"P…Padfoot," the girl replied. Soul-Swimmer was relieved that she was okay. She was grateful that Padfoot had saved Amori… Amori! Soul-Swimmer got up, and ran to her lover's side. He was still unconscious, and it was obvious it was going to take a lot to wake him up.

The group sat sadly outside the entrance to Miscarcand. Because of the Black Hand's enchanted blades, Ka-Mala couldn't heal the wounds of the others. Rhiihaaj supported himself on crutches, while Sehiiri barely had use of her arms. Amori lay unconscious on a bedroll, and Dar-Ma sat sullenly next to her mother's body. Padfoot stared into a small puddle in the moonlight, staring at her reflection, wondering if she would ever be able to return to the world of sunlight. Soul-Swimmer paced anxiously, and Ka-Mala was shocked that for the first time in a long time, she could do nothing to help. She thought back to the time that she had been invited into the Mages Guild, and how she had accepted the invitation. She also remembered the day she had been expelled. She thought about the invention of the spell that had gotten her expelled from the Guild, the one that she had used on Doruth in Miscarcand. The spell had been deemed Necromantic, and Archmage Traven had ordered her to be put to death. She panicked, and used the spell on an Initiate. After seeing its effects, the Imperial Council backed Traven. She remembered wating in the dank cell, only 18, not ready to pass into the void. She remembered the now deceased Mr. Lachance infiltrating her cell and inviting her to join the Brotherhood. He had freed her from the Imperial Prison, and by sheer luck, she had been stationed in the Anvil sanctuary, saving her from the Cleansing. Anvil… So many friends were there, a good deal of Guild Members who had disagreed with Traven's sentence on the grounds that the creation of the spell had been accidental. Suddenly, her eyes widened: the Anvil Mage's Guild specialized in restoration! She got up, and ran to Soul-Swimmer. The rest of the group stared at her in confusion. "Soul-Swimmer!" she said excitedly. "I know somewhere where someone might be able to help Amori and the others!" At this, Soul-Swimmer, Rhiihaaj, and Sehiiri all turned towards her. "I'm a former Mage's Guild member, and I was stationed in Anvil. Anvil mages specialize in restoration! If anyone can counteract the effects of the Black Hand's swords, they can!" Rhiihaaj pulled himself onto his feet with his crutches.

"I'm glad that you have a solution," he said, sounding skeptical, "but how are we supposed to get to the coast with one unconscious person, a dead person, an infant, and a vampire? I don't mean to sound insensitive, but those unable to travel on their own will slow us down, and Padfoot prevents us from travelling during the night." The group looked disheartened, and Ka-Mala fiddled with her hands nervously.

"I… I still have access to the Guild teleportation network. I've been banned from its use, but I can still access it."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Soul-Swimmer demanded, angry that Ka-Mala would endanger her wounded friends for the sake of a rule. "Use the network!" Ka-Mala shrank before her, her timid complexion returning.

"Well, you see, I'm more than just 'on probation'." She paused, preparing herself for sharing the news. "I've been sentenced to death."

Amori floated in a black void, stars twinkling in the distance. All he wore was a pair of white shorts, and in his hand, he clutched FrostFire. He marveled at the vastness of the Cosmos: the entire world of Nirn was tiny by comparison. He saw comets fly past, and in the distance, saw ancient suns explode into nothingness. He saw entire Realms forming in clouds of blue or purple mist, only to dissolve once more into the darkness. He turned around, and saw a dark figure striding toward him, waliking on a trail of stardust. It wore dark robes, and its body was made of shadow. "I see you're enjoying my realm, then," it whispered, its ethereal voice sending shivers down his spine. In horror, Delchkahn realized that he was talking to Sithis, lord of Chaos and Death, ruler of the Night.

"Am… Am I dead?" he asked, terrified at the possibility that he could have found all he could have wanted only to have it snatched away by the black veil of Sithis. Sithis laughed, his laughter a cascade of stones tumbling down a well, of chimes ringing in the wind, and of a breeze rustling through a field of grass, all rolled into one. It was a beautiful and terrible sound.

"No, Delchkahn Amori, you are not dead," he said, his voice seeming to pierce Amori's very soul. "You could call this a dream, but it is far more than that. You have traveled to my Realm, the Ǽther, in a spiritual form. Your body lies sleeping back in the mortal realm of Lorkhan, named Thamriel by you mortals." Sithis chuckled to himself. "I have to remember to stop calling it Lorkhan… when the mortals defeated Dagon, the realm truly became Thamriel. As I was saying, this is your spiritual self; if you want proof, look at your left wrist." Amori slowly shifted his gaze to his left wrist, and was amazed when he saw that his hand was still there. He turned it from side to side in amazement, and watched as a shield appeared in the space next to him. The space in which he and Sithis were standing shifted into the Pyramid of Morimath, and the stairs and floor fell away, leaving a pillar that stretched down forever. Sithis just stood there, what seemed to be a smile tugging his dark face. He drew two swords from the depths of his robes. Amori backed away, and nearly fell off the edge of the cliff. He slowly drew FrostFire, and picked up the shield.

"What do you want?" he asked. Sithis laughed again, his voice echoing in the void.

"I know what you want, Amori. You want to return to the mortal world, to your friends. I'll tell you this: Seed-Neeus died to kill the Night Mother, and both Rhiihaaj and Sehiiri were grievously wounded. Your lover nearly died at the hands of my son Solok. Now, Ka-Mala is contemplating risking her life to take your friends to the Anvil Mages Guild." Sithis paused, assuming a combat stance. "Kazaka warned you, and I will tell you this: They are coming, and the only way you can return to the mortal world is to defeat me in combat. Well, then, my young student, shall we dance?" Amori readied himself, and charged the ancient god of Death, and the progenitor of the Realms.

Yes, I did just have Amori begin training with Sithis. Yes, Sithis is supposed to be scary. Yes, Sithis is slightly insane, yet completely sane at the same time. Yes, he is both frightening and comforting. This is how I percieve the god of Chaos. I say that Chaotic (I'm going to continue capitalizing that word, by the way. Chaos!) entities should contradict themselves, and yet have somewhat of a higher knowledge than mere mortals. Sithis is the father of time and all the realms (one of the many stories about him states that the universe/multiverse was born from his world), and I am going to have a lot of fun with him! Thanks for reading this chapter, and try to guess what's going to happen next! What will? Only time may tell...

The winds of time blow on, shifting the sands of reality into ever changing patterns.

The quote is back!

-Baeowulf