Chapter 20: Clueless

Nightshade had fallen asleep in the clearing they had been in before, but when she opened her eyes, she was somewhere different entirely. She recognized the place as an Oblivion tower, but she had never been exactly there before. It was a room with four pillars and a sort of shrine in the middle, along with two curved benches. She noticed that she wasn't actually in the room but was in a hallway right next to the doorway. And she heard raspy voices.

"I can't believe Kynmarcher Eclixirz failed."She peered over the doorframe to see two Dremora, one in full body armor and the other in a blue robe. The robed one was eating something as his college spoke. "I can. I knew he was unreliable. He simply attacks without a strategy. He has no brains. I hope He eats him alive."

The other snickered. "That will be very amusing to watch."

"If I was sent out there I would make my attacks sneaky. I agree with one thing that Eclixirz did, though."

"What?"

"He separated one of them. If there was a way to separate all of them, it would truly work."

"I like that idea," the one in blue finished eating. "How?"

The other shook his head. "I don't know."

Suddenly, the armored Dremora looked in Nightshade's direction, and she woke up.

Skingrad was exactly as Nightshade had left it except for the fact that there was a huge, flaming Oblivion gate right in front of the east entrance.

"Great," Ice's sarcasm reflected the group's tiredness and irritability that afternoon. They had trekked since sunrise and had to fight numerous imps on the way along with a bear and a bandit, where Nightshade showed her hatred for the people by saying, "If I ever meet another bandit I swear I will blow them up." She had forgotten her odd dream by then and hadn't told anyone about it.

"I hope we don't have to close that," Nightshade looked up at it. Ice snorted in displeasure. "Don't get your hopes up."

They went into the city, wondering where the castle was. Ice suddenly realized something. "Hey, where's Richu and Silver?"

"Back in Bruma. It's too dangerous here," Elyon spotted a guard. "Hey, where's the castle?"

"The castle is to the south, or just make a turn left and keep going until you reach a gate," she said. "You just came in, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Ice chimed in. "That's one big Oblivion gate in front of your gate."

A passerby carrying bags of food suddenly dropped all of it on the floor. "There's an Oblivion gate?!"

"No, no," the guard looked flustered, "he was just joking, weren't you?" She glared at him and he nodded. "Oh, yeah, I was."

"Don't joke about things like that," the passerby started to pick up all the food as the guard pulled them aside. "Don't talk about that," she hissed.

"Why not?" Elyon looked bewildered.

"Count Hassildor doesn't want everyone to panic. If word gets out there will be a mob of people storming out of here, and that isn't good."

"What about the people outside?"

"No one lives near the East Gate, and we've told people that the Gold Road is blocked."

"So, we'd better get going," Ice tugged at Elyon's sleeve like a little kid.

Nightshade raised an eyebrow. "What's the hurry?"

"It's just that I have a bad feeling about this."

They reached the castle in little under an hour and, instead of finding the count, they came face-to-face with an Argonian lady.

"Excuse us, but we're here to see Count Hassildor," Elyon put on her most cheery of smiles for the old, grumpy lady.

She merely snorted. "The Count will not see anyone and never has."

"But we're here from Jauffre about business against the Oblivion gates."

With this, the steward grinned. "I'll summon him right away."

They waited a while before she came back with Count Hassildor. Nightshade looked at him curiously. He looked—odd, like his face was too pale and his eyes—they were red. However, she didn't get a chance to say anything about it.

"Count Hassildor?" Elyon decided to take charge. "We're from the Blades and we need protection in Bruma if we stand a chance against Mehrunes Dagon in the future—"

"Out of the question," the count shook his head sternly. "I need all my men here to protect us from the Oblivion gate outside."

"But—"

"No 'buts'. That's my final word." The Count turned to leave and muttered something about sleep when Nightshade realized what she had to do. "Count Hassildor, sir, what if we got rid of it? Would you send troops then?"

He narrowed his eyes at her in thought. "Of course I would."

"And then can we start telling people that there is—or was—a gate?" Ice seemed perturbed about that.

The Imperial nodded. "But only until after you've closed it. People can be dangerous if they catch word about there being an Oblivion gate."

"Got it," Elyon grinned. "Then we'll just close the gate. Thanks for your time, Count."

He nodded and left back up the stairs where he had came, with his steward behind him. Nightshade watched him. "What a weird guy."

Elyon shrugged, and the four headed out towards the gate.

There were five guards, not including the guard captain, standing watch at the gate. They looked worried and shaken, but besides that they looked okay.

"No Daedra?" Ice looked up at a guard, who shook his head. "Hardly. Only one Daedroth and two Clannfears so far."

"Well, that's not too bad," Elyon's optimism was starting to get on Ice's nerves as they trudged up to the flaming gate. Crow went in first, followed by Nightshade. While she stepped onto the red, dusty ground, she didn't see Crow around at all. Confused, she turned, only to see a sea of lava consume a fallen tower instead of the gate back to Skingrad.

Great. She was separated from her friends again. This, of course, could only be the work of those Dremora in her dream. Now she wished she had told them about it.

Sighing in frustration, she unsheathed her Goldbrand and started to walk towards the towers in front of her. There were three towers this time, all set up in a triangle. Two loomed in front of her with three Dremora patrolling the entrance to one. She made another mental note to ask Ice to teach her an invisibility spell—if they got out alive.

She knew she was no match for three at once, and really not feeling up to fighting today, she decided to sneak by as silently as possible. Waiting for the right opportunity, Nightshade crouched down and quickly ran across without being seen. She pushed the door open and jumped through, noiselessly praying to no one in particular.

Inside, there were no Daedra at all in the tower. There was a torture pit in the middle of the floor, but this time there was no body stuck on a spike. There was no ramp leading upwards, either, but there were two doors, one to her left and another to her right. She chose the one on her right and opened it with a creaking sound. There was the ramp she was looking for, leading steeply upwards. Cautious and slow, Nightshade walked up, hoping there was nothing waiting for her at the top.

"Kynmarcher Hynkath, sir!" a Caitiff with a bloody wound to his cheek saluted the Dremora at the top of the citadel. The armored Kynmarcher was staring into the fiery beam shooting upwards into the sky. "Hmm?"

"Kynval Yukaxi has captured a human!"

Hynkath suddenly looked alert and interested. "What kind?"

"Male Elf, sir. Attacked us at the base of the Sorrow Keep."

"Of course he was no match for six Dremora?"

The Caitiff hesitated. "He killed the three watching the entrance by the time Yukaxi and his Kynaz noticed they were gone. He says he could've sworn he heard someone creeping around behind him."

He hissed a curse and snarled, "Why didn't he just kill the human?"

"He figures there are others on the island."

Hynkath exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself. "Good tactics, I suppose. Send them in."

Nightshade reached the top of the tower in thirty minutes after almost getting killed by three Dremora Churl scattered about the place. Luckily, Elyon had taught her a minor healing spell and continued using it on her shoulder where she had been wacked twice. It stung badly but that was the worst of her wounds.

At the top was a switch. The switch caused the cogs behind it to turn, and she could hear something distant rumble. Swiftly and stealthily she ran, eager to get out of there as soon as possible, and came across a black and yellow door. It led outside, where a narrow, rail-less bridge gradually extended to the citadel next door. She looked to her left where, across the lava, was the Main Citadel with the beam firing up into the molten sky. She withdrew, feeling a little woozy from the height, and tried to cross. Arms flailing, she practically ran across the bridge. She didn't remember much about the last time she had to cross a bridge like this, but she figured she didn't look down.

When Nightshade arrived to the second citadel, she opened the door, keeping her balance, swung inside, and almost ran into something fleshy. Acting on instincts, she slashed her blade to realize she had almost hit the Wood Elf in front of her.

"Elyon!" Nightshade hugged her tightly. "I can't believe we were separated again."

"Thank the Nine you're all right," Elyon patted her on the head. "This place is creepy enough with everyone here, but when you're alone, it's just plain scary."

Nightshade looked up at her. "What do you mean? Isn't Crow and Ice with you?"

"I'm afraid not. It seems we are all separated. I came up this tower, hoping to find something, and then I heard something hit the tower."

"Yeah, I extended a bridge over here from the other tower using a switch on the top. There aren't that many Dremora around like the last time."

Elyon shook her head. "I've ran into a Churl and Kynval; I think they're all in the Main Citadel."

"Have any idea how to get there?"

Elyon thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose there are more bridges that extend across the lava. I haven't gone to the top of the tower yet. I bet there's another switch."

The two proceeded to climbing higher into the tower and only ran into a reptile-like creature that blew fire at them that Elyon called a Daedroth.

At the top, she was right. Another switch was attached to the wall with many cogs behind it, so when Nightshade pulled it down, the tower rumbled slightly. They made their way down again and found a door that led outside, across the lava. It looked so much longer and much more dangerous than the last bridge that Nightshade almost felt like fainting and throwing up at the same time. "Just don't think about it," Elyon instructed as they balanced for their lives. "Where do you think the boys are?"

"Hopefully safe," Nightshade shouted back, but doubt crept into her voice.

She heard the doubt. "Don't worry; they can take care of themselves. With any luck they found each other like we did."

Finally, the dunmer grabbed the door, ready to open it, when Elyon shouted "Wait!" She turned to see her lean on the wall, gripping to the large, vertical grooves engraved on it. "There might be loads of Daedra in there. We should be cautious."

Slowly, she opened the door, ready to punch a Dremora in the face. And she did. A Kynreeve received a hard blow in the face, causing him to reel backwards in pain and shock. Elyon didn't stop there. She continued to punch him violently until he couldn't move.

Nightshade watched, both in fascination and horror. "I didn't realize you were so…strong…"

"It is okay, Nightshade," Elyon tried comforting her, "Dremora can't die. Once they leave this world they go back to Mehrunes Dagon. Plus, they're made for fighting, so it's okay."

Not entirely convinced, Nightshade still nodded, and took out her Goldbrand. "Let's go."

"Anything out of the human yet?" Kynmarcher Hyncath impatiently asked his subordinate Caitiff. He shook his head. "Kynval Yukaxi complains that it is hard to get anything out of him because he cannot understand our language. What do you suggest he do, sir?"

He sighed frustratingly. "I don't know. Tell him to use his imagination. Draw pictures if he has to. And after you send that, go down to the Kynreeve in charge of the Brooding Fortress. He should be just below us."

"Ah, about that…."

"What?"

"A Churl came up and said how the bridges connecting the citadels are all out, sir."

"What?! And you neglect to tell me this earlier?!"

The Caitiff winced. "Well, you had me running between here and Kynval—"

"Kynval Yukaxi is nothing compared to this news! Alert the Kyn outside and tell Yukaxi to come here with the human. And Caitiff?"

"Yes?"

"You are very lucky that I don't hack your head off right now."

"Thank you, sir."

Ice muttered a curse under his breath as he hid behind a bolder facing the open lava sea.

The young dunmer had been wandering around, having been deposited on a south-eastern strip of land unconnected to the citadels across the lava. He could see the bridges slowly connect the triangle of towers and was trying to figure out a way across the lava without being burned to a crisp when a Dremora appeared out of nowhere. Bewildered, he had hid behind the bolder, hoping not to get caught.

The Dremora hissed something in its tongue, perhaps some sort insult. It looked powerful with its muscular armor and his mask hiding his face, and he brandished a long sword in his right hand. Ice, in response, slowly took out his two daggers from his robe and scooted to his left, preparing to jump out at the Daedra, but before he made his pounce he recited an incantation to do what he did best—turn invisible.

He wacked at the Dremora four times before his spell wore off and hardly gave him the time to think. He slashed and swirled numerous times before he killed the beast with one final blow.

Satisfied and proud of his handy blade-work, Ice went back to pondering about his predicament.

"That is a lot of Dremora," Elyon glanced over the corner of the wall where, on the other side, was a line of about ten Dremora guarding the entrance of the Sigillum Sanguis where the Sigil Stone floated more than a story above them on the pedestal hovering on the fiery beam and near an overhang connected to the floor below by odd stair-like claws protruding from the walls. At the moment, all Elyon could really see were the Daedra.

"What do we do?" Nightshade whispered. "What about Crow and Ice?"

"Hopefully they haven't been killed and will appear back at Skingrad with us after you take the stone."

"Well, what now?"

Elyon sighed. "I'll distract them, see if I can divert them without getting killed. You sneak past them—Ice has been telling me you're getting better at it—and get the stone without getting caught. Okay?"

"Okay. Good luck."

She inhaled. "Please, be fast and be careful." And in a heartbeat Elyon ran at them, shooting a white spell at the one in the front. Five of them came at her, so she turned to run backwards down the hall where the floor dipped back down to the floor below. Only two Dremora remained at the entrance where the rest of the platoon, backs turned, were trying to kill Elyon. She dodged and smashed gracefully, but Nightshade didn't have the time to watch. She snuck up on the two and slashed at their sides by twirling from the shadows of the wall. They cringed and didn't have enough time to shout to the others for she slashed at their heads, trying her hardest to ignore the blood.

Nightshade knew what she had to do. Running past any Dremora that saw her, she sprinted up the stair-like claws and skidded to a halt at what she saw.

The Kynmarcher guarding the Sigil Stone had an unconscious Crow next to him with a blade to his throat. "Come any closer and the human is Clannfear food."

She froze. "Don't kill him."

"Then put the sword down."

It fell with a clang.

Below, she could see Elyon being overwhelmed by a sea of Dremora out of the corner of her eye.

"Now, kick it over here."

Nightshade could hear Elyon scream something like "Don't do it!" but it seemed like it was miles away. She did as he told.

"Good human," he smirked, "For beating Eclixirz you sure are stupid. But, then again, you weren't alone, like now."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll kill all of you humans and then proceed to taking over the human city outside of the gate. And then, who knows, maybe I'll be promoted to Markynaz."

At this point Nightshade was clueless on what to do and gave up hope. Well, it was time to die… again.

Before either of them could think, Elyon, all cut up and bruised and bloody, came running up with a storm of Dremora behind her and pushed Kynmarcher Hynkath so hard on his side that he fell into the fiery beam and was burned to death instantly. "Quick, grab the stone!"

She shot at it, picking up her sword in the process, and pulled it towards her, and Oblivion began to swirl into nothingness.