Cearbhail: Yay, new chapter. It's short but it has its moments. Things are coming to a close soon and I promise you most likely will not be disappointed.

Bloodstain's journal, entry 8, 7 Morningstar(Mourning-star for me though) 4e423.

The attack on the 5th of Morningstar failed. I remember the town, how every elf looked at us in fear of what we might do. I did not consider their feelings in our war, of how they would be treated once we took our country back. Would we punish those who did not fight to protect us? Would we forgive them and find out that they would form a resistance to take what we took back? Isn't that how it all started? Would this world continue to be just one giant revenge match between elves and man? Questions, questions, questions. Never answers. Never solutions. Maybe this is for the best.

It's not like we have an army anymore. The final purge happened on the 5th. History books will tell of something different, but hear it now from one of the last Imperials, one of the last noble men of history. Councilor Fiirnar is really a vampire that first come into power during the start of the second Aldmeri Dominion. He claimed his throne during the Aedra Wars when he took an opportunity to kill several leaders of the war front. When the leaders of the world were eliminated, he marched his troops into the nations. By killing the leaders of the world, he created confusion that allowed his army to take over Black Marsh and Cyrodiil. By the time any resistance was formally formed, it was too late to combat.

Centuries past and he started seizing notes from Dwemer ruins, Mannimarco's private black soul gem capacitor journal, and the journal of Ancano from the College of Winterhold. With these notes and the corresponding items of which the notes talked about, he was able to fashion a massive magicka cannon capable of destroying whole cities in one blast. When he completed his designed, he started killing the last warriors of Skyrim, the Shoutmen. He counted on me fighting back to lure more willing men and women into a battle to take Solitude. Once we had emerged into one mass…he killed us all in that one blast. He used us, killed us, just so that he could live eternally as the ruler of Tamriel. He is evil and needs to rejoin the cycle of death.

Two days have passed since the final purge, I think. Any thoughts of escaping our prison have left my mind. The walls are barred up with special magicka-blocking malachite bars and walls. I can't feel anything at all, not even a slight breath of fire. My Thu'um are useless, primarily because they are in fact fake. While Summoner resides in a cell next to mine, we have yet to talk. It's been two days, and all we've discussed is how to escape. I wish to ask her if she is the princess, but I'm afraid of being overheard. I believe she feels the same way, or just wishes to ignore the question as long as possible.

I wish that I could formulate an escape, but I'm weak. They have been starving us, only feeding us rice, yucca, and pasta. I remember Alik'r prison camps hosted foods as such for a required three meals a day. You'd get one in the morning, another in the afternoon, and one at night. Our treatment is the same here. No meat, no vegetables, no strength. With all the vibrations from the malachite, I can barely stand anymore. The humming is getting into my head. I wish I could figure something out.

Bloodstain…

…

Time, distorted. The only thing that told me how many days pass is the amount of meals I received. I've had seven meals, so two days have passed.

The walls glowed with a dark green tint, vibrations hummed off the walls in a quiet relaxing way. It was trancing. By which I meant that it pacified the mind, making it easier for criminals to become docile and accepting of their fate. The crystal shamans of the Crimson Blades guild created these walls for just such an occasion. The guild itself was appointed by the Queen of Skyrim when there were no formal mage fighters to protect her hold. She did not think the Imperial Legion would be enough against a Thalmor threat. Because of this, the Queen appointed one of her most trusted Blades and crystal shamans to start a new guild, comprising the combat styles of magic, swords, and bard. The three strongest combat styles in existence.

My mind seemed to drift away because of the way the vibrations from the walls confused my mind. It took a lot of concentration to keep your track of mind inside these cells. I could not stand the silence anymore, I needed something to keep my mind busy. Even if we hadn't been speaking since we got captured, I had to say something at least.

"Hey…Scarlet." I said, calling Vivian by her mock name.

"Yeah?" I heard a soft drowsy voice call from the cell behind my back.

"Did I wake you up?" I called back. It felt nice to talk to her, comforting, warming. These were feelings that I had long forgotten. Although I had only known her for almost a week, we had plenty of time to bond into a tight team. I wondered how much longer we could continue being a team, how much longer before Fiirnar got bored with us. Bosmer blood and Nord blood tasted very different. I wondered if he would tell the difference. Hopefully the dragon blood inside her would distort any other differentiating taste.

"Something of the sort. My neck hurts." She called back. "It's hard…the feedings. I seem to…blank out during and after them." Her voice sounded weak.

I nodded. The feedings had been hard, but we were not the only ones inside these cells. Prisoners were locked in the same cages as well. A whole castle of vampires, the Aldmeri Dominion with the same living rulers forever. It was a sickening feeling. And we were here as personal snacks until they dried us up. I actually learned something about the slave camps. The kids that were rebellious, the parents that did not comply, the old men who decided to give up…were sent here as blood banks for the new elven vampire royalty. Vivian and I were like a 'dessert', sweet tasty eloquent blood that was very rare and dying off.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Scarlet." I called to her. I did feel sorry. She was living in peace and quiet. She was in hiding. And I had dragged her out just so that I could take the Thalmor out of their comfort zone. It didn't matter, though. They sought the last heir to the Battle-Born clan. They would have found her eventually, or her children. That thought sent angry chills down my back. I wanted to protect the royal throne. We failed a century ago; I would not allow it to continue any further.

I heard a soft chuckle from her cell. "It's fine. Here…" I heard her say. "Can you hold my hand?"

I smiled and nudged over to the edge of the cell. I stuck my hand out of the bars, finding her hand within seconds. I took hers into mine and we just sat there. This was it…the way the rest of our lives were going to live out. Until they got sick of us at least.

"What?" She started asking something but stopped. I could hear the desperate tone in her voice, the quiet resistance and fear of the unknown. "What's going to happen to us?"

I let out a breath that had been building in my chest. What was going to happen to us? Well, we would be fed upon until we died. I could not tell her that, though. "We'll find a way to escape. Then…we'll find a way to get the other necessary thing accomplished."

"Other necessary thing?" She questioned with a hazy voice. "What's that?"

I smiled as I shook my head. I kept forgetting that she was not used to being stealthy and hidden. She was a held away kid who didn't know the world outside her cave. I couldn't hold anything against her. "That's our secret." I said back to her, trying to emphasis the 'our' loud enough so that she might catch onto what both of us really knew.

I think she caught on because she squeezed my hand tighter. "If we're lucky, you mean." She said back. "I don't think we'll ever get out of here. Besides, I wasn't talking about us. I was talking about…the war. What's going to happen now that we've lost?"

My smile started to vanish as I started thinking. What was going to happen? The world was now owned fully by elves and whatever resistance of men had formed was wiped out in one afternoon. When the news spread that the Aldmeri Dominion had a super weapon…no one would ever raise a finger against them ever again. Their dominance would be infinite, even if the weapon ceased to function. Just the possibility that history could repeat itself would be enough to pacify any threats.

"What happens? What has been happening for 300 years. The Aldmeri Dominion will continue to rule everyone. They will make rules that favor the Altmer, Aldmer. And the other elves, while not in power, will be favored and placed in high society places, treated as common light royalty. While men will be treated as second-class petty workers, such as miners and farmers. They will produce all the food that the Altmer will eat, while not receiving money, only the option to live another day if they produce enough food. And even beneath that will be the beast races. They will be treated as slaves, pets, and sexual entertainment for the elves. That's how it was before in Morrowind and early Cyrodiil. That's how it will return now."

"Wow…" Vivian replied. "I wish we could do something to keep that from happening."

I chuckled and just felt the warm feeling in her hand. Her smooth soft hand. I rested my head against the smooth malachite wall and let my breath escape. "We will, Scarlet. We will."

…

[Madanach]

"We should charge"

"No, it's a trap."

"Not if your friend did his job."

Images flashed through my head. I was arguing with the resistance right before they charged up to Solitude. I rolled my eyes as I knew that something was going to go wrong. I wanted to take my own troops up the side of the cliff, fire arrows from above while the army charged the gate. Couldn't get us all in one shot that way. And that's exactly what happened. They took us in one shot.

I was still in the back, preparing to tell my troops to sneak away when I saw the bright light. A giant beam of brilliant blue energy suddenly flashed through the entire valley, incinerating the whole attacking front in one blast. The attack rolled over top of us, blowing the ground up around us. The next thing I remembered was snow flying up in my face, covering me in a burial ground. A screeching sound of a hundred wailing souls ripped through the ground, killing anyone it touched. A hard burning sensation rubbed through my body and I was sure I had been hit. After that, I…forget.

My body was starting to get track of what was going on. My body was freezing cold, my joints were horribly locked up, and my head was spinning violently. For some reason, I was still alive. When I tried to open my eyes, I could see only darkness. I tried to sit up but my body refused movement. Startled, I started screaming out, hoping that someone anyone, even the elves, would hear me and dig me out.

"Quiet." A soft feminine voice called out. "Your body is still healing. Relax and allow me to finish healing you."

My breathing started to quiet itself and my anxiety started calming. Ok, so I was not buried underneath a giant wall of snow, I was in someone's healing bed being tended to. Normally, I would be happy at receiving news of that, but for some reason, I felt a little more paranoid. I think Bloodstain was starting to rub off on me.

How did you find me? Who are you?" I asked, my voice sounding strained and cracked. Just by speaking those small sentences, my vocal cords cracked and I started coughing violently. I felt like the inside of my throat would start bleeding any second if I continued any sort of vocal work.

"Relax, Reachman. You are safe with me." She replied, walking over to me. "Now, just sit still and let me continue healing you." A warm feeling started spreading over my body, taking me into a blissful state of relaxation. The coldness surrounding my body dissipated, replaced with a feeling of butterflies walking on my skin. A strange numb but light feeling that tickled more than anything else.

I decided to just sit there and allowed the healer to do her job. I would not hurt to find out everything that had happened since I had passed out. How much time had passed? What ultimately happened? I wanted some answers. "May I ask a question?"

"You have been out for two days. Your army was all but destroyed by the Aldmeri Dominion's magicka cannon. A few of your Reachmen have survived and are out scouting for a new way to breach the wall. You cannot just 'storm the castle' now. You must be stealthy. Bloodstain and the Summoner are held up in the prison. They are the newest blood for the vampires that live inside the castle."

"Vampires?" I asked back in surprise. I could feel my toes starting to scrunch. Good, that was at least some feeling I had back. Too bad my legs were still too locked up to bend. I must have been partially frozen.

"Yes, vampires. The Aldmeri Dominion is being led by an immortal race of elven overlords. Your friends are now being held as bloods for the vampires to feast upon." The healer finally summed up. I could feel her hands hovering over my legs, feeding Restoration magic into my legs.

My mind started processing everything that I was just told. I was out-cold for two days and in that time, everything had gone to oblivion. The Aldmeri Dominion was being ruled by immortal Altmer, the Shoutmen was all but finished, and any chances of saving Skyrim let alone the world…were shot.

"Do not fear. There is still time, still a plan." The healer said as the feeling in my legs returned. "Once I get finished healing you, return to Solitude, seek your troops near the cliff. They have an entrance through the sewers that leads to the prisons. Free your friend and then…kill Fiirnar and anyone who poses a threat. From there…well…" she said, with a hint of a smile growing on her lips. "Bloodstain will tell you where to go from there."

Finally, I found my head shaking. "How do you know all this?" I asked, my voice finding some strength again.

"Let's just say…I see a lot of things." She replied, her voice filled with a growing laugh. "Now, just relax and allow me to finish healing you." Her voice carried a lighter tone and I found my body beginning to relax again. Before I heard anything else, a light humming noise covered my ears. She was healing my head now. "Sleep. You will need it for tomorrow."

Cearbhail: Two more chapters to go... or one. Most likely two though. Hope you have enjoyed the story so far even though in the middle it seemed to veer off my original idea. But that's how I write. I have an idea and my fingers disobey me and I don't question it. It usually leads to new ideas, new plots, new characters, and ... new possible endings.