Chapter 23: Nightmares Revisited

The fiery gate to hell closed behind Nightshade, baffled and bewildered, with a sound between crashing boulders and a lion's roar. However, the others had already started heading back towards Anvil, especially Ice, whom was several meters away.

As she struggled to catch up, too many questions formed in her head. What had just happened? Were those dreams, or hallucinations, or real? What had Elyon and Crow seen? Who was that gigantic lady? Where were the Daedra? What sort of gate was that?

She trotted through the grass and reached Elyon. The Wood Elf was staring straight ahead, not looking at Nightshade, biting her lip in what seemed to be hard concentration. Crow, walking briskly, had his hood practically covering his whole face while looking at his feet. Ice was too far away. The silence over them was strangely eerie and tense. The only noises heard were their footsteps, the rattling swaying of the dry grass, and the distant lapping of the waves on the shore.

"Elyon," Nightshade seemed actually nervous to ask, "what just happened?"

For a moment she thought the alchemist didn't hear her and was going to repeat herself when the bosmer shook her head. "I don't fucking know."

This was the first time the Dark Elf had ever heard her curse like that. She decided that this was a delicate matter which needed time.

The band was greeted by a cheering crowd in the setting twilight, but they hardly reacted. Nightshade seemed to be taking all the phrase and would've expected at least Ice to say something. However, she saw her friends automatically heading for the Count's Arms, and quickly followed.

Ice was furiously stomping up the stairs, and a few seconds later slammed the door of his and Nightshade's room. Elyon and Crow had already disappeared out of sight, presumably to get ready to leave. Nightshade was fairly sure no one was especially tired.

She sighed, checked her sword, and began to think about what had happened. Those zombies… she was scared of them at first, but she had overcome them and actually felt good about herself. Sure, they were her friends, but for some reason it hardly had mattered. And it still didn't matter. It felt… weird. It made her frown at her own contentment.

They left Anvil after visiting Count Regulus Terentius unexcitingly. The stars seemed brighter that night, either that or Nightshade had never bothered noticing the stars before. It was mesmerizing to look at the sparkling night lights. The two moons were crossing each other's path, the smaller purple moon in front of the larger, gray one. She wondered what it would be like, to live on the moon. It looked so desolate up there. That was one place Mehrunes Dagon couldn't get to.

It was then she was the first to see the large creature fling itself off the top of a rock, its gigantic paws spread open to reveal sharp, narrow claws that could slice anything in half. She yelped in surprise and ducked, the creature skimming the top of her head and landing behind her onto the cobblestone road.

Everyone turned around to see Nightshade staring into the eyes of a lioness. The creature's head, when on all fours, reached her hip, and its jaws could snap a person in half.

Elyon was the first to react. She ran up to Nightshade, took her sword, and faced the creature with ferocity. Ice and Crow both stood off to the side, rather indifferently.

She slashed the Goldbrand right when the lioness sprang at her. The sword hit its face with such a force that its head twisted sideways and its neck made a horrible cracking noise. It fell, not moving, blood spilling onto the cobblestone road. Nightshade stared, almost in horror, not at it but at Elyon, who stood there, clearly in horror as well.

Crow went towards Ice and dropped the backpack with all their supplies. Without saying anything, a mutual agreement spread through them that they would camp there for the night.

The campfire flickered in the fresh, marine breeze, causing Nightshade to poke it with a stick. Crow was already in his sleeping bag, asleep, but even Elyon and Ice were too hungry to sleep. They were cooking mushrooms and vegetables on the fire with a frying pan. Tension was clearly visible.

"That's it," Nightshade took the pan off the fire, none of the vegetables cooked yet, and placed it on the dirt. Ice whimpered with hunger.

"Now, what the hell is wrong with everyone?"

"That… that nightmare…" Elyon stared into the flickering flames. "It was so real, so painful…"

"Maybe you should talk about it," she put her arm around her in comfort. "They weren't real."

"Maybe not for you," her choked whisper was almost a hiss, "but it was for me."

"What was it?"

She turned away. "The worst day of my life." Out of nowhere Elyon burst into tears, her face in her hands. "I just can't talk about it right now."

Silence came upon them until Nightshade turned to Ice. "What about you?"

"What about me?" he snapped. "It felt pretty real to me."

"That's impossible. Magic can't do that."

"Daedra magic," he took the stick and practically wacked the fire, "it pit us against our worst fears."

"You fear a giant lady?"

His pale azure face began to flush. "She's ten times worse than any Daedra. And she's not a giant."

"Well, I died in my dream and I ended up with you."

"What was your fear?"

"You guys turned into zombie and I let you kill me. That was the only way out."

"Facing your fears made you get out of your nightmare," Elyon had stopped crying, her face stained with tears. "That's how we came into Ice's dream."

Nightshade looked curiously at her. "You and Crow had the same dream?"

"No, Crow came into mine. I didn't need to be there to know what his dream was about, though."

"What?"

"Sayura, of course."

The silence settled on them again, the rustle of the grass and trees riding on the breeze. "I don't want to go into another gate," Ice took the pan from Nightshade and put the vegetables back on the fire even though his appetite was gone. "What if it happens again?"

"We'll have to go in no matter what," Elyon stared at the fire again. "We're not cowards, and the world means more than my fears."

Ice sighed. "Fine, but if it happens again, I'm leaving."

Nightshade smiled, and everything was back to normal.

They were all happy again; Crow back to practicing spells, Elyon gathering ingredients while walking, Ice trying to learn new magic, and Nightshade throwing fireballs into the air.

Bravil took all day to get to. They passed through Skingrad, not bothering to stop, and continued to walk the several miles it took to get to Bravil. Twilight was beginning to arrive, causing the shadows to grow long on the ground.

The town was an eye sore. It was wet, being right on the Niben Bay. The buildings were made of what looked to be rotting wood, except for the castle to the southeast and the Great Chapel of Mara. The houses were basically shacks stacked up on one another, and even the dirt didn't have the decency to be dry.

But before Nightshade could take it all in she was surprised to see two familiar faces in front of the gate, and two familiar creatures. Richu came running up to Elyon, tail wagging, and she responded with a tight hug. Silver whinnied at her master, who petted her on the snout, and then the bosmer turned to Baurus. "What brings you two here?"

Nightshade and Ice were saying their hellos to the young emperor Martin, still adorned in rather common clothes, while Crow nodded at Baurus in greetings. The Redguard replied, "He was getting tired in Cloud Ruler Temple, so he ordered Jauffre to let him join you guys at Bravil. However, he's not allowed to go into the Oblivion gate."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Nightshade asked, but Martin shook his head. "I've been improving my skills. I can fight with a sword almost as good as Baurus can, and I'm getting better with my magic. You guys look like you've been through a lot, though."

"Oblivion gates are no picnics," Ice snorted. "Especially the last one."

"Oh, what happened there?"

The young adolescents began to recall their story as they all entered Bravil, their troubles melting away, and only friendship was with them.

There were two figures watching the group of them enter the town, one in red and the other in black, both oblivious to each other. The figure in black frowned, clearly distressed, and almost growled in frustration at what she was going to have to do. She moved swiftly in the grass and hid behind a tree. She knew this was her last chance or she'd be reassigned, her reputation in the murdering world ruined. But she didn't want to go back there, the old prison of her childhood.

Dalkai Laneth sighed, without a choice, and began to prepare for the kill ahead, while the other, meters away, watched them disappear into Bravil. The dark dunmer grinned. What luck it was to kill two birds with one stone. The Heroes of Kvatch and the future emperor right in front of his eyes, all for him to take the lives of. Harrow snickered to himself; finally, after following them for almost a week they were in his grasp. He disappeared into the Nibenay Valley and began to prepare for the day ahead.

A Word from Haunt: I not only wrote this chapter but redid the prologue too, so don't forget about that.