-Blackwood-
Talshaza is the first to wake and as she sits up she notices a pendent on top of the book carefully she reaches for it turning it over in her hands. ~Teleportation charm,~ the staff whispers to her. ~You seem to have someone helping you from the shadows.~
"We need all the help we can get," Talshaza softly says as she looks at her companions who have now started to wake. The mysterious Leaps-With-Wolves and Rel'ihala, the nearly impossible Tervven. And her, a simple farm girl. These are whom fate picked? "Something has a sense of humor," she says wryly as she rises as well.
-Reaper's March-
The night had been a busy one and the sun rose on blood-soaked ground around a small camp. Ri'Zakar is dozing against a small rock, Spiders-In-Scales is curled up in a shadow with a contented fanged smile on his mouth as he dreams, and Xahrshi is watching as Lyssavi dissects one of the dead werewolves they had drug back to camp. A thought puzzles the vampire. "The foul beast did not change back," Xahrshi notes.
"Poisoned him," Lyssavi says distractedly. "Needed to know how a werewolf worked not whatever else it is." the Nord pauses. "Some of it is the same as a dog! Some...so different!"
The Khajiit blinks. "You have cut up dogs too?" he asks.
"The very first thing I did," the Nord answers happily. "So fascinating. My idiotic father kicked me out over it. I found out how he worked later when I went back. Damaged organs… due to overindulgence of drink."
The vampire starts then laughs. "You do not seem like the rest of us at first, Lyssavi. But you would destroy the world for what you want, would you not?"
Lyssavi thinks about this. "If I could find out how the world works like that, yes. I must know everything so I can make what I want. And more." he says and then continues his grisly work.
The vampire smiles and settles back to watch. The Nord was quiet….fascinating.
The portal opens and the heroes step out and look around. "What are we looking for?" Rel'ihala asks as she looks around squinting in the bright sunlight. "Too bright," the Imperial says as an afterthought.
Leaps looks thoughtful as she studies her surroundings. She had never been to Reaper's March but she knew this was a land where werewolves gathered, even in her time. "We are lost with little guidance, perhaps since I need to take Tervven to Hircine's Shrine I can ask my Prince," the Argonian says.
"Ask...a Daedric Prince?" Talshaza asks. "I...is that wise?"
"Never wise," Leaps says and looks over at Tervven who has his arms folded looking grumpy. "I may be a special case. I sought this life out. Tervven are you sure? Refusing what Hircine sees as a gift...it can go horribly wrong asking such a thing."
The Dres glares at Leaps. "Yes! You said you would fix this. I can not go home a filthy flea-bitten mutt!"
Leaps growls softly and then closes her eyes. The mer was insufferable...but this was still her fault. "We will head toward the shrine, it should be at the far end of Reaper's March…," she trails off as she tilts her head and turns her gaze toward the female Dunmer. "That amulet placed us near the shrine," she says. "This must be our path." she turns and heads toward the shrine. Rel'ihala stays still a moment staring at the backs of her unexpected allies. So apprehensive about dealing with a Prince they were. It kind of confused her. The Imperial yawns tiredly and follows. The night had not been kind, unwanted dreams that belonged to the other girl continued to plague her. Would following these people, fighting that beast Argonian truly bring her answers? At last, she starts to follow the rest.
As the four head toward the shrine, Shade-Whiskers watches them from the shadows, cloaked. They still struck her as so young, but she could see the fragile bonds that were forming from most. Rel'ihala and Tervven just needed a little more time. They could be who they were meant to be, needed to be. Shade quietly follows once more.
"This, oh and that, and…," Lyssavi goes into great detail about his findings before taking a breath. "It is all so fascinating. This could be but a piece, but yes yes yes! So much closer!"
Ri'Zakar opens his eyes and lazily stretches in the hot sun. "Need more wolves?" Ri'Zakar asks.
Lyssavi thinks about this and shakes his head. "This should be enough, we can leave Reaper's March I think," Lyssavi responds.
Spiders-In-Scales is dreaming. Dreaming of dark whispers and melodies of agony. He had fun torturing one of the werewolves he found. The screams the beast emitted before he lost his wolf form were wild and untamed. Not the song he was seeking but delicious all the same. And it gave him ideas...ideas for when he had his claws onto what he sought. Slowly he starts to wake but before he can the whispers snare him. Not of his Lady but the strange force that had been guiding them. ~Further into Reaper's March,~ the whispers hiss, ~Lyssavi may be done with his work, but you must travel further. It will be amusing….and you will find a familiar melody there.~
Spiders wakes and rise his eyes glowing violet. "More," Spiders hisses and starts to walk in the direction the whispers are guiding him in. The jagged melody...he would like to hear it again. At the other's hesitation, he glances back. "The whispers told Spiders to go this way." That seems to be that is all that is needed and the others quickly gather their things and follow the Argonian.
A short rest for lunch has Leaps trying to counsel Tervven on the ways to handle a meeting with a Prince. He's listening...a little at least. "I can be polite!" Tervven says and it is all Leaps can do not to roll her eyes as she continues to prepare him.
This leaves the other two girls to their own devices. Talshaza studies the Imperial woman. She was...unusual and even more secretive than the Argonian. The Dunmer woman thinks of what to ask, imminently dismissing any questions of family. Too many in this world had painful stories...as she did. "What is it like back home?" Talshaza at last asks.
Rel'ihala glances at the Dunmer with a small frown on her face and it seems as if she may not respond but at last, she does. "Cold, but it is bracing. Makes one stronger," the Imperial answers. "The landscape is...different than here. It is so warm and soft here. And bright."
The Dunmer blinks, it is not what she was expecting to hear and she starts to add something but pauses remembering how Tervven had gotten snapped at. She could not be from the city, perhaps further north. "You miss it," Talshaza says. Not a question.
Rel'ihala is quiet for long moments. "Never wanted to leave but my guardian insisted," she says quietly and at the Dunmer's look, she glares. "Not your business why."
A moment of truth and then the Imperial got defensive again. Talshaza wisely lets it go and changes the subject slightly. "We all seem to have been cast from home," she says. "Guardian?"
A small smile from the Imperial at last. "She can be harsh at times but she makes me stronger. I was so young and so alone, thrown away. She took me in."
Orphaned then. Something she knows all too well, but at least she had her parents growing up. She wants to ask more, but the last words… she changes the subject once more not wanting to risk this fragile moment when friendship is still new and so uncertain. "You want to be a warrior then?" she asks. All this talk of being strong, and she leans against the rock and says before the Imperial can answer, "I thought I wanted to be a simple farmer, but an urge to look beyond started to call to me. Leading me away from all I knew," she says.
Rel'ihala wrinkles her nose at the simple dream but answers the question regardless, "Yes. I want to be the strongest I can be. Perhaps one day...I can best even my mentor. He's very good. So strong. A little…" she pauses and thinks. "He should be more his own cat. And in turn, he thinks I should be less than my own person that I am. I cannot help that!" Rel'ihala looks thoughtful at that and then returns to eating and the Dunmer takes the hint. Enough sharing for now. This is not a girl that can be pushed. But she surprises Talshaza by placing the apple down a few moments later. "...I cannot imagine being a farmer. Or anything like that," she quietly says. "Why?"
"It was what my family did," Talshaza. "Dunmer are very much our houses, even if they are small ones. Some venture into new houses or new paths. But many stay. I thought I would stay...but the yearning for something more came over me. Perhaps because I lost nearly everything. Perhaps because somewhere deep down I knew fate was calling me."
A long pause and then Rel'ihala pointed to her head. "Is unwanted dreams a calling? A way to force one on the path of fate? That… is why I was sent from home. Dreams that distracted me that might have…" She stops and picks up the apple again. "I do not like the method. I might want to shear the flesh from whoever thought that was a good idea."
Talshaza starts then laughs a little at the strange sense of humor the Imperial seems to have, she cannot be serious. "All we can do is move forward, but we are together now. We'll rise or fall together."
Rel'ihala stares at the Dunmer woman for a long moment. "I think I can...do that. For now."
"Enough!" Tervven finally snaps. "I get it, I do. Do not call Hircine a fleabag. Do not call his mutts flea-bitten hounds. Be polite, and deferential, I GET IT! I am not an idiot." with that outburst he grabs the rest of his lunch and moves away from the group to eat in peace.
Leaps sighs and moves to the girls. "This must be right," Leaps says. "For his sake and all of ours."
"He will be stronger for this," Rel'ihala says. "The sooner he accepts it, the better it will be."
"It is not easy for a Dunmer to bend," Talshaza cautions. "Give him time, that is all that can be done."
Tervven frowns at this, still within earshot. He turns his back on the group and takes out a small journal, writing furiously in it.
Spiders are lost in thought as they walk. Thoughts of the song he chased, of shadows and darkness...and another melody. Jagged, distorted, unlike any he had heard before. It sent a thrill of pleasure down his spine. He wanted to hear it scream again. Scream for Spiders and his claws twitch at the thought of it, a demented grin spreading across his scaled face.
Lyssavi is walking around Ri'Zakar even as they walk. "I see no difference," he says as he inspects his best friend. "Have they spread at all? In places, you will not let me see?"
Ri'Zakar glances at the Nord and chokes back a laugh. He knows why Lyssavi has asked, because last night one of the wolves that changed back had been a Khajiit, and he had drug him away to perform the ritual and devour the heart. "Power, as always," he says with a feral grin. "But it did not cause the scales to spread further." At the Nord's puzzled expression he explains further, "I never turned into a dragon by devouring heart-blood," he explains. "Something else caused it.
The Nord thinks on this before speaking, "Someday I want that power. To turn one thing into another. My current project is just the start of it. But…" Lyssavi trails off thinking. "The Dragon Soul you absorbed must have been there for ages. The dragon blood I gave you to fix you was from recent, living dragons. Perhaps it was a catalyst."
"Perhaps," Ri'Zakar says. "Or perhaps the dragon soul did not want me to die yet. It wanted to live...through this Reachman if no other way." he falls into thought. Only once had he spoken to Nirthaarnkras. Before it had become one with him.
The Nord smiles happily. "I am glad you exist my best friend," he says. "The samples I got from you, the werewolf, and Xahrshi! All beings who were one thing, then another!"
Xahrshi's head snaps up at this "What? How?" the vampire says flabbergasted.
Ri'Zakar laughs. "I told you not to underestimate him," he says.
The vampire huffs and stalks away moving closer to Spiders. Lyssavi blinks. "Is he mad at me? I cannot always tell… people get upset about the strangest things. Like if you mention cutting up people to see how they work. How else would you find out?"
The Reachman smirks. "Just ruffled his fur a mortal plundered his vampiric hairs without him being any the wiser," Ri'Zakar replies. "He'll get over it."
The Nord perks up. "More than that! Blood, skin, a whisker." Ri'Zakar just stares at his friend for a moment before laughing loudly.
The vampire huffs again. "This one will grab a bit to eat then catch up. I smell helpless merchants," Xahrshi says and is gone in a flash.
As they continue on in silence the shadows move closer to the Nord. ~There will be so many fascinating things ahead. But sometimes it is the smallest things that shed the most light. If you should see a journal lying around...be sure to take it.~
The four adventures pause as they reach the shrine. It seems small at first, tucked into a small hollow at the base of cliffs. Three rocks were carved with Daedric writing, the largest covered in bones and a large skull and a small altar with a ram's skull on it, eternally burning torches to either side, but the power it emits can easily be felt. Leaps turns to Talshaza and Rel'ihala. "Stay here," Leaps instructs. "Under no circumstances are you to approach the shrine no matter how long we are gone."
"Gone?" Tervven asks. "I thought we'd offer something nice, talk, and be done with it."
Leaps shakes her head. "Nothing is that simple with a Prince. Nothing," she says and turns to the shrine looking nervous. "Even I have never met Lord Hircine. I sought to be a wolf through my Grandmother, and that was enough to satisfy any conditions. He never felt the need to speak to me. I found my wolf pack easily...I thought that is all life would entail." A look of sadness crosses her eyes before she pushes it away.
"Another lizard wolf?" Tervven says. "I thought you'd turn into giant lizards. Not wolves."
Leaps turns her head to him an odd expression on her face but she says nothing to correct him. "There are strains of lycanthropy. Wolf is the most common, bear after. Lizard and Cat...just myths and stories. My Grandmother never ran into anything but the first two, and she is as traveled as my father." Leaps takes a deep breath turning back to the shrine. "I ask again, Tervven, are you sure?"
"Yes, damn it!" Tervven snaps. "I want to go home after this adventure is done. I cannot return to my house like this."
Leaps nods and moves to the shrine with the Dres in tow and produces a rabbit she hunted on the way here, placing it on the shrine. "Lord Hircine, Prince of the hunt, of wild beasts, we seek an audience," she says.
A powerful unfathomable voice echos. ~One of my wolves...so out of place. And a weak meowing prey who is on the verge of becoming. Very well, my young wolf.~ A portal opens and Leaps enters followed by Tervven and it closes behind them.
-Hunting Grounds-
The portal opens in a forest, like Nirn in some ways, and in others very much unlike Nirn. Animal cries familiar and unfamiliar cause the Dunmer to jump and turn back to the portal, which has already closed. "Too late to go back now," Leaps says as she looks around in awe. Her grandmother made her wolf, but she had never been to the Hunting Grounds before. This was where her Grandmother would someday be, when her long strange life came to a close.
Two wolves appear before the two, one as silver as the moons, one as black as the darkest night, they stare at Leaps and Tervven biding them to follow before they turn and move deeper into the Hunting Grounds.
"Follow closely, lest you become prey," Leaps cautions Tervven as she starts after the wolves, and Tervven obeys, following close enough to nearly step on her tail.
The wolves lead them to a clearing and high above Hircine watches them curiously. Leaps moves into the clearing and kneels. "Lord Hircine," she whispers then hisses at the Dunmer who is standing at the edge of the clearing staring up at Hircine with wide eyes and an open mouth. At her hiss he quickly moves to her and after a pause and a foul look kneels as well.
Hircine looks down at them for long moments before his form shimmers and adapts a smaller size, he moves around the two looking them over carefully and it is clear Leaps is the reason he has chosen to speak to them. "One of my wolves...yet you should not be wolf yet. You should not even be yet," he says and then he turns his attention to the Dres. "And this one… prey that bows out of fear and the desire to have his way, not for any other reason at all," he moves in front of them and motions for them to rise his attention back upon Leaps. "You remind me of my Champion. Your name?"
Leaps rises. "Once Kal-Reiki, now Leaps-With-Wolves," she says.
"Your chosen name…," Hircine says. "I understand. Unlike many of my wolves, you chose this path." a small laugh, "You are most curious, and you also remind me of another. One I was also curious about." As Leaps moves to talk he holds up his hand. "What is or what will need not be spoken, It is not why you are here." Hircine moves to a throne made out of vines and bone and sits and turns his powerful gaze onto Tervven. "If not for your companion I would not spare a moment for you mortal. Weak sniveling prey as you are."
The Dunmer's fist clenches in rage and a bestial growl echos from his chest. Leaps glances back at him and hisses a warning, "Our wolves are close to the surface here, change and your fate is forever sealed."
Tervven rises, anger in his eyes. "She made this mistake not I," Tervven growls. "Take this curse from me. I'll reward you if you wish when I return home."
The forest falls dead silent around them as Hircine rises in anger. "You dare?" the Prince says. "Tell me, prey, what would you offer me? Slaves, you did not hunt yourself? Gold you did not earn through your own methods? What could someone like you offer the Prince of the Hunt?" Leaps starts to speak but a stare from Hircine stops her. Reminds her there will be no mercy even for her if she interferes in this.
"I...I…," Tervven stampers then stomps his foot on the ground. "I did not ask for this unlike that fetching lizard," he spits. "I was meant for more than this pathetic curse!"
Leap's eyes go wide in shock. "Tervven…," she whispers in horror. The Dres have ignored her advice and gone too far. Too far to ever come back from.
A deadly silence from the Prince of the Hunt before he speaks again. "You insult my wolf. You insult my blessing," Hircine says, voice dangerously low and nearly painful so great is his rage. "If not for one simple fact I would have my wolves hunt you and rip you apart prey...then when you return here, since you ARE mine, I would have you hunted again and again until it pleased me to stop the hunt." A feral look in his eyes, "And I never stop the hunt."
Tervven at last knows he's crossed a line so great he can never go back and he slowly backs away. "I...I...sorry did not...mean too," he says weakly.
"But you did, little foolish prey," Hircine says. "Why such as you were chosen...It is the only reason I will stay my hand. But still...perhaps I should not. Perhaps a new chosen will rise once you are nothing but scraps." The Dres squeaks and backs up till he hits a tree as Hircine turns towards Leaps. "This thing is who you would trust in, fight alongside? Answer truthfully little wolf."
Leaps turns to look at her companion. He had shown no regard for any save himself, seemed Dres down to the spine. The answer seems clear and yet her eyes are drawn to a notebook on the ground and she finds her claws reaching for it without asking she opens it and flips through the pages her eyes blinking rapidly and then she turns to Tervven. "...You do not want to be Dres," she says.
"That is...Private!" Tervven says and then looks away. "Not for the reason you would hope for," he mutters.
"Little wolf, my patience is not endless, and neither is your time," Hircine reminds her.
Leaps turns to face her Prince. "He is my responsibility, and he is our companion. I do not know if he can be better, but I know from my family's past people can be better. Can come back from the darkest abyss if they have lights to guide them back." Leaps says firmly.
Hircine carefully regards Leap's words and then turns to Tervven. "You are very much still prey in my eyes but the little wolf has spoken on your behalf, enough for me to spare your life." At the Dres's hopeful look the Prince growls. "I spare you from the hunt...for now, but my blessing remains, and since you have such disdain for the one who would go to such lengths to help you, save you…" The prince's eyes glow. "Take your other form mortal, let us see if you can become anything more than prey."
Tervven drops to his knees and screams, it feels as if his very blood has turned to acid. As pain courses through his body he has no choice but to surrender utterly to it and the change that rips through his body. Fingernails become long wicked claws, teeth morph into needle-sharp fangs, a tail lashes out and scales replace skin. Once the change is complete the were-lizard raises his head, eyes completely wild and with a fierce roar, he runs into the forest.
Leaps blinks rapidly. Prince Hircine had changed the curse into something she had only ever heard stories of, a were beast, but one Argonian-like and not wolf or bear. "Is he…" she trails off unsure how to ask.
"He will be as he was in mortal form," Hircine tells her. "Now go hunt with him until his reason returns, then leave my realm." At her look, he adds, "I know why else you are here. I cannot interfere...but trust you are on the right path. But beware of what lurks beneath and in the shadows little wolf of my champion."
Leaps bows her head to her prince and then her wolf flows over her and she races after Tervven.
-Reaper's March-
Rel'ihala and Talshaza are waiting by the cliff near the shrine and after some time Talshaza starts to pace, the Imperial watches her for a moment before rising from the dirt. "Worrying when you can do nothing is a weakness," Rel'ihala tells her. "Focus your mind on something else."
The Dunmer blinks. "Worrying about our friends is weak?" Talshaza asks. A strange look passes over the Imperials face causing the Dunmer to change the question. "You do have friends, do you not?"
Rel'ihala just looks at her. Friends…? They were a weakness. There was no such thing… not where he was from. But she cannot just say that. "Do you know how to fight at all?" she says, abruptly changing the subject.
"...Not much," the Dunmer admits. "My brother had a tutor out after our parents died in the war to teach basic self-defense. But...I know nothing beyond that." ~I will teach you mage craft~ the staff whispers. ~When you have free time when you sleep.~
"You paused," Rel'ihala says.
Talshaza thinks for a moment then lightly touches the staff. "A shade of memory exists in this. She can teach me how to use magic."
The Imperial looks at the staff. Daedric, though she knows the Dunmer has little to no personal experience with such. She is...by all counts...weak. But the spark in her eyes...anything but. "Come," she tells the Dunmer. "I'll teach you some things the tutor would have never thought to teach you."
A small smile graces Talshaza's face and she takes up her companion's offer. It is a way to kill time and to be better than she is for what is to come.
Xahrshi studies the sealed letter before his eyes move back to the courier who delivered it. Dead merchants lay around them, neatly drained of blood. The Courier seems nonplussed and with the job done he gives a curt nod to the vampire before leaving. Xahrshi stares after him a moment before turning his gaze to the letter and he breaks the seal and reads it. A fanged smile graces his face and he tucks the letter away and starts to open a portal back to the others. ~Wait~ The whisper again and his eyes dart around. "Why?" ~Not a portal, move as a vampire. Trust this one on this...~ He considers the odd request and then bursts into mist and moves back to the others. It will take longer this way but there must be a reason….the shadowy whispers had not led them astray yet.
Talshaza leans against the cliff breathing hard. The Imperial knew how to fight. "Your...very good," she says.
Rel'ihala grins. "That is only a bit of what I know how to do!" she responds. "I was taught… well that might not be for you. But I can show you the rest." she falls silent a moment. "And ways to center the mind. That Argonian will not overwhelm me again." a frown. "Was not prepared."
"I would like that," the Dunmer says. "I…" she trails off as a shadow leaps from cliff to land in front of them, the very devil they had been speaking of.
"You are not werewolves," hisses Spiders-In-Scales, flexing his claws. "Perhaps something...better." His eyes lock onto Rel'ihala's. "Spiders remembers you, little girl. Spiders remember your screams." His eyes turn to liquid gold. "You seem slightly more composed today. For now."
The Imperial's hands tighten around the daggers she has taken out as a dangerous look crosses her eyes. No one made her weak, and yet this monster…
Talshaza's eyes dart between the two. Knowing the danger is very real, and her friend seems ready to lunge at a moment's notice. "Why do you want a werewolf?" she asks.
Spiders turns his frightful gaze upon the Dunmer. "Your Argonian friend would do," he hisses. "And...it is not for Spiders. It is for my friend."
Another figure leaps from the cliff. Lyssavi stares curiously at the two women. "Seen how an Imperial works… but I never cut up a Dunmer yet. I wonder how you work…"
"There are two of them now?" Rel'ihala says. "Fine!" Her eyes turn dangerous. "We end this now, I can go home."
"Rel'ihala," Talshaza says trying to caution her. Their other two companions are still in Hircine's realm and there is no telling when they will return.
"We can take them," the Imperial insists. "Two of them, two of us. I'll take the Argonian," a feral grin, "I will not let him in my head again...I will not be weak and fall again!" And without waiting for the Dunmer to agree she charges right at Spiders and the two begin their deadly dance the fight taking them away from the shrine.
"Damn it," the Dunmer swears softly and turns to the Nord. ~Do not let fear take hold. Trust in the power and yourself~ A whisper from the staff and she tries to listen to it. Tries to be more than a simple farm girl out of her depth.
The Nord studies her. "Uncertain footsteps… fear in your eyes…," he tells her and then frowns and starts patting his pants. "Did I remember a weapon? I do not think my dissection tools would be good for this…"
~Strike~ At Talshaza's hesitation another whisper ~He wants to murder your friend. Cut her up as if she was an animal. Strike him now. He is no innocent.~ The Dunmer's eyes narrow and she trusts in the words and holds out the staff and a burst of fiery elemental might erupts and heads for the Nord.
"Huh…," Lyssavi says before the blast engulfs him, but instead of rendering him to so much ash a blinding green light bursts into existence and a shield appears on the Nord's arms, golden, intricate, and Dwarven-like. As the fire hits the shield it turns a sickly green and the shield reflects it toward Talshaza, the magic no longer hers but something else entirely and she dives to the side landing in the dirt and the energy slams into the cliff leaving part of it a melted ruin dripping with acid.
"Huh…," Lyssavi says curiously as he examines the shield.
~...That Nord...That shield...~ The staff whispers. ~That is Spellbreaker. This man is one of Peryite's acolytes...or something far worse. Be very careful. He's far more dangerous than he seems~ Talshaza slowly rises and backs away slightly. Not sure how to handle this, but she must find a way.
Out in the dried-up lake bed, Rel'ihala and Spiders are locked in combat, blades in hand, both out for each other's blood, and already crimson drops stain the dirt. "Little girl," Spiders hisses.
Once more that unholy fear was directed at her. But Rel'ihala is expecting it this time. Even if it makes her skin crawl, and makes the other girl so very afraid, she can push past it now, to settle in the depths of what she was taught back at home by her Mentor. Bones burst from the ground and condense into a tornado of razor-sharp splinters that surround her foe. "I am NOT a little girl," Rel'ihala snarls. "I will cut you into pieces and stomp on them."
Spider's eyes dart to the danger around him and then back to the Imperial. "But you are," he hisses. "Spiders hears your songs. One of ice and strength, and one of a scared little girl."
"I AM NOT HER!" Rel'ihala screams and abandons all control and training as she lunges at Spiders in a blind rage. "I will rip her asunder out of my head if I have to! But first I'll kill you!" As she rushes him the shards spin faster and start to slice the Argonian beast. Spiders just laughs at the pain and lunges at her and both are engulfed in bloodlust and the storm of bone shards.
Every fire blast blocked and reflected. Talshaza's strength is waning and once more the staff speaks to her, ~Let go...briefly. It is the only way. Your friends are far away, there is no one here... you can hurt.~ A note of regret and sadness is in the voice causing the Dunmer to pause. To let go….frightens her. The power in the staff...frightens her. But what other way is there? Her eyes move to the Nord who's watching her, Spellbreaker in hand, curiosity in his eyes. Talshaza steps forward breathing deeply and raises the staff once more, preparing to do what she must but before she can a heavy thud behind her as someone leaps from the cliff. A growl from them, filled with such vivid hatred. She turns but all she sees is a blur of fur as a clawed hand grabs her neck and slams her against the cliff, the other hand quickly pinning the hand she holds the staff into the cliff. "You…" Ri'Zakar growls.
Talshaza stares into eyes that seem more than feline, and those eyes are filled to the depths with hate and venom. "I...do not….know you…" she whispers struggling in his iron grip. And then she is blinded by a vision from the staff. A burning camp, screams of the dying, the smell of charred flesh. So many bodies on the ground, not just Reachman warriors but elderly, children. This Khajiit stands amidst it all trying to kill the one who did it...Iveryni… The vision fades and Talshaza stares at Ri'Zakar in shock and horror. How had Iveryni done such a thing? ~...Darkness took us all during the Mad Necromancers war….we did whatever we had to to stop him. Including decimating all his allies.~ The staff whispers. This...all of this is too much for Talshaza. Talshaza the farm girl. Gentle, kind, unknowing of horrors till that night during the war. Her hand goes limp and the staff falls from her hand to hit the ground with a thud.
Ri'Zakar releases her and snatches the staff only to roar in pain at the bite it gives him. He throws it and turns back to the young Dunmer woman. "I will have this power, and I will devour the heart of the one who wields it. I will have vengeance for my clan," he hisses. "To me, you and the fire witch are one and the same."
Rel'ihala stumbles back breathing hard, her blood dripping on the ground. Perhaps leaping into her own storm at Spiders had not been wise. For Spiders too is injured, but unlike her seems to delight in the pain and he advances on her again as she inches backward looking for any weakness in him and finding none. "Little girl," Spiders hisses at her again. "You and she share threads of the same song. Different melody, different rivers, jagged and sharp, they do not fit together...but they…are...the...same."
"No!," Rel'ihala snarls, "She is not me. I was never weak, never needing love family, or warmth. All that just makes you weak and soft. There is JUST me, Rel'ihala!"
Spiders laughs and stalks her, slow and purposeful, enjoying her agony and anger. "Sing for Spiders," he hisses. "Your melody is like disjointed glass. It feels…so broken, so good."
A lost expression crosses the Imperials face, how can this monster make her feel...so weak? No matter how hard she has tried to fight it...she turns and runs back toward the shrine.
-Hunting Grounds-
"I...I ATE A BEAR!?" Tervven says. "A bear? Really?" A strange un-Tervven-like expression crosses his face. "I...I...do not know if I want to puke or...have more. Damn it!"
The smallest smile crosses Leap's face. Somehow some of the venom has leeched out of the Dres's voice. The hunt had been...fun. She had expected the were-lizard to go after one of the great elks, or perhaps a razorback, but he had gone straight for a giant bear and the hunt had been fierce, but in the end, the two were creatures had taken down the bear and feasted before returning to their normal forms. "Bear is a rare treat," Leaps says. "But we should return to the others. We do not wish to test Prince Hircine's hospitality. Not after…" she trails off. Not wanting to poke at it, not during this strange moment of...peace between the two of them.
The Dunmer looks away. "I... I still deny this," he says quietly.
Not a single trace of anger in his statement, not like before. "You will get used to it," she says. "It is not the life you wanted, but we will help you. All of us were thrown from our rivers. But all of us are now together." Leaps says and then turns to head back to the clearing.
Tervven thinks a moment, then reaches into his pocket. His family crest, taken off his old clothes. With one final look at it, he tosses it to the ground and follows after the Argonian.
Upon entering the clearing the two wolves are waiting for them by an open portal. Hircine is no longer in view, though his presence is still felt. Leaps picks up Tervven's notebook and hands it to him, he tucks it into a pocket and the two enter the portal.
-?-
A shard of unease spikes through Leap's spine and she tumbles out of the portal and it snaps shut behind her. Tervven is nowhere in sight and she is somewhere else. A soft growl echos throughout her. What is going on? This is not Prince Hircine's doing...but he did warn her of shadows.
-Reaper's March-
It is all Shade can do not to help. To have to watch them struggle...but then her fur stands on end. The portal flickers open then shuts and her eyes narrow. Someone is interfering with it and she slips in unnoticed her claws tracing a pattern in the air and an unstable portal opens and sucks her in.
-?-
Leaps turns around at the light but the portal is gone before she can take a single claw step. With a small sniff, she stares. Someone is cloaked. "Did you do this? Why?" she hisses. "What is going on? Where is Tervven?"
Shade pauses. Unsure of what to do, of what is going on. Something is very wrong here. "...Not this one," she whispers. "I will find him. Return to your friends, they need you. I will get you as close as possible." She opens a portal and after a short hesitation, the Argonian dives into it, her form merging into the wolf. As the portal closes Shade hisses to herself. It must be the Shadow Khajiit. It must. But this goes beyond guiding the villains, she was told they cannot interfere directly, so how is the shadow cat doing it? Why? Shade closes her eyes. A question for later. She must find Tervven. She opens another portal and leaps inside.
-Darkness-
The portal flashes as Tervven crosses into it and it throws him out into total darkness. The Dunmer falls to his knees and then leaps up growling. "What is this?! I demand you turn on the lights!"
Laughter. ~Giving in so easily Dunmer?~ the darkness whispers. ~I wonder, can you still call yourself a Dunmer when you sprout scales?~
"I deny it," Tervven says.
More laughter. ~And yet...so much less anger in your voice. Have you have accepted your fate so readily?~
The Dunmer crosses his arms and he glares at the darkness. "I...cannot do anything about it. I cannot go home...cannot do that other thing either," he pauses, "Not that I ever could in the first place."
~But what...if you could? Find an answer, a way to undo what has been done to you and get revenge on the one who did it to you?~
"Impossible!" Tervven snaps and then looks away. "It...was just an accident. She did not mean to. She's helping me."
More dark laughter. ~An accident? Truly? Do you truly believe this? The sweet innocent lizard who's a wolf as well. Has she spoken her truths to you? You know the things Hircine said. Does this not puzzle you?~
"I...it does not matter!" The Dunmer answers.
~Truly? So you do not mind she is from a time yet to be written, do not mind that she is the Mad Necromancers daughter and the granddaughter of the Prince of Domination?~
Tervven's mouth drops open. "The... what? That is impossible! Lies!"
~Is it? Is it also a lie that she lead you straight into another Prince's grasp? That it was a coincidence that Hircine made you not into a wolf, but a were-lizard, a were-argonian, the very creatures YOUR house enslaves so readily?"
Tervven starts to back up looking uncertain. "It… she...wants… Lies! I DENY ALL OF THIS!"
Once more the dark laughter. ~You know the truth inside. And if you doubt, ask her. Ask her to deny all of what I have said.~ The voice laughs and darkness grabs the Dunmer and thrusts him through a portal and back to Reaper's March.
-?-
A place of gloom and shadows is where the portal deposits Shade-Whiskers. She looks around confused. This is not where she sought to go. Tervven was never here, so why is she? She finds she cannot open a portal and for what feels like forever but in only moments in time she searches for a way out. Her thoughts return to Clockwork City, the most intricate creation ever made, created by Sotha Sil. The thing about Clockwork was if one thing was off-kilter, you could hear it. A gear jammed, steam at uneven intervals, ungainly hisses. A sense of something being off. And that is what Shade had been feeling all day. As if something was off-kilter, wrong. Not as it should be in any way shape or form. Things...should not be happening this way. At last, she comes to an invisible wall and she rests a paw upon it. Solid, nothing she can break. Someone has trapped her here in this place of twilight. "Who did this?" she hisses.
Laughter behind her and she spins as the Shadow Khajiit appears and moves toward her. "Little cat, so very trapped," the Shadow Khajiit whispers.
Again Shade hisses. "You cannot do this! There are rules. You said so, Stratos said so!"
"Yes rules," Shadow Khajiit purrs. "Such inane rules. But my master whispers secrets in my ears. This one can do such things now, now nothing is off limits, now I can keep you here out of the way...you cannot guide your butterflies, you cannot save them. All you can do is...watch." Shadow Khajiit laughs and vanishes leaving Shade alone and lost in a place beyond her escape.
-Reaper's March-
Leaps appears away from the shrine, but close enough to see things are not as they left them. Rel'ihala catches her eyes first, chased by the monstrous Argonian from Blackwood and she roars and charges the Argonian. A portal opens and spits Tervven out next into the chaos. He looks around for Leaps but his eyes find Talshaza cornered by a vicious-looking Khajiit. Uncertainty clouds his face and then he swears and lets his beast take him.
Talshaza stares up at her doom, the eyes of the Reachman Khajiit that are so full of pain and hate. But a mighty roar breaks the moment and Ri'Zakar has only a moment to look toward the sound before a giant mass of scales and fury hits him sending him crashing away from the female Dunmer.
Lyssavi has been calmly watching, letting his best friend have fun with the Dunmer, but now things have shifted. "Should I help my best friend…" he softly says moving past the female Dunmer toward the were-lizard that is trying to eat his very best friend. "I want to see how that works," he says to himself. A were-lizard? He had never even heard of that and the desire to know how that works slowly takes hold. But as if understanding the Nord's desires Tervven's mighty tail slaps the Nord to the ground and the were-lizard turns his head in his direction uttering a bone-chilling hiss. Ri'Zakar takes the pause and withdraws his staff and calls upon the storm magic within, lightning starts to crackle around the staff but before he can unleash it Tervven turns his head back around and lunges, snapping his jaws around the staff and breaks it in two and then slamming his heavy body into the Khajiit sending him crashing into the cliff. With a hiss, the were-lizard moves in to finish his prey but then blood mist streams all around him, and the were-lizard howls as the mist slices into scales and flesh. Angrily he snaps his jaws at the mist, and at last, the mist forms into Xahrshi, who slams a fist into the beast's head sending him crashing into the cliff. Dazzled and dripping with blood from dozens of cuts Tervven slumps to the ground transforming back.
Talshaza at last moves, snapping her staff up and leaping in front of her companion. "BACK!," she hisses and at last gives in and a wall of flame erupts around the two Dunmers protecting them from the monsters without.
Rel'ihala stumbles on a rock and then turns as an unearthly howl erupts. Leaps has returned and has crashed into Spiders, using the full force of her wolf form against the beast. Seeing someone come to her aid stills the Imperial. "Why…," she whispers, then narrows her eyes and pushes the fear away, and reaches down into the ground with her power. More long-dead things, more bones she can shatter and send against the enemy. They erupt and do as she commands and at last, Spiders backs off, as he faces the full might of both. "I will end you," the Imperial hisses and raises her hand but a single word stops her.
"Rel'ihala."
A familiar voice and the Imperial turns toward the shrine and her eyes lock onto the vampires. "Mentor," she breathes softly.
Curiosity and confusion reflected in Xahrshi's eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asks.
"I could ask you the same thing…," Rel'ihala says, confused. Her mentor would never leave...not unless. "Zen'la send you away too…" she trails off. Remembering that she had been distracted during their lessons...but so too had the vampire. Just not for the same reason. She puts it together fast. He's with the Argonian beast. "Why?"
"This one could ask you the same thing," Xahrshi says. "But we can discuss this later," and with that, he opens a portal and gestures for the others to go, and at Ri'Zakar's angry growl, he says, "Trust me if you can...something interesting has come up. Something we cannot pass up."
Lyssavi lights up at this and he starts to head toward the portal but pauses. A notebook on the ground. Remembering the shadows words he grabs it and heads into the portal followed by Ri'Zakar and Spiders. The vampire's eyes turn back to Rel'ihala and he holds out a clawed hand. "Come. You do not belong with these...things. Zen'la would have never sent you away from Coldharbour had she known you'd be misled like this."
He reminds her of home...of strength...and she takes a step forward before the girl's memories once more intrude, but this one is one she's never seen. Daedra standing over dead bodies, ground covered in blood, a woman on the ground her hand reaching for the girl, before a Daedra plunges a sword through her back. The vision ends and Rel'ihala steps back confused and shakes her head no.
The vampire frowns. "Find me when you change your mind, Rel'ihala. Know where your loyalties lie." he turns and vanishes in the portal and it closes behind him.
Talshaza drops the fire and Tervven staggers to his feet and moves away from the shrine. "You…," he says to Rel'ihala then turns to Leaps who's assumed her normal form and is also looking confused. "If she's keeping secrets…," he says thinking back to the darkness and the secrets it whispered. Lies...or truth? "You!" he says to Leaps. "Even Hircine said you are not from our time. Is what that thing in the shadows said true? Are you that fetching necromancers spawn?"
Talshaza had been staring at Rel'ihala but she looks at the Dres and Leaps now. "What necromancer?"
"What other one is there? The mad one," Tervven answers.
"That is impossible…" The Dunmer woman says looking lost. She hears the interaction between Rel'ihala and the vampire but her mind is swimming. Iveryni's revelation, the Imperials secrets, now this?
Leaps looks confused. "What shadows?"
Tervven growls. "Answer me! It is a lie, is it not?"
Leaps looks lost. "I...am not from this time. Something brought me here. I cannot return. And…" she swallows. "Yes, it...it is true. I… it is complicated. And he's different now. Not like that monster."
The blood drains from Talshaza's face and she takes a step back memories of the war too fresh too painful still. She stares at Leaps then at Rel'ihala. She had started to trust these two. But now..." Rel'ihala…" she says weakly. "You…"
The Imperial looks away and Leaps blinks rapidly. Remembering the fight, the bone shards. "Necromancer.. Coldharbour.." Leaps whispers glancing over at at the Imperial. Hoping she can explain her secrets...better than Leaps did.
"He's my mentor. I did not know he was working for that monster," Rel'ihala says. "I...am from Coldharbour. Zen'la adopted me. I serve…" she trails off. "I mean not right now. I was briefly sent away…"
Leaps hisses loudly at the very thought of THAT Prince and Tervven looks at her. "What's wrong? You ARE related to her Prince. You two should be best buddies."
All of this has become too much for Talshaza. "Who are you people? I thought…" A confused look crosses her face. "I thought we...but…"
"...Talshaza," Rel'ihala says softly and the Dunmer turns to her.
One word rings in her ears. Leap's word. "Necromancer…" Talshaza says a bit of horror in her voice. "You are not that...are you? Or a vampire…"
"I am not a vampire like my mentor," Rel'ihala says. "And what if I am? I do not go around raising dead things to fight me. I can fight myself."
At last something breaks. Iveryni's truth, her companion's truth, the Dunmer woman backs away. "I cannot do this…," she whispers and turns and runs into Reaper's March.
Rel'ihala stares after her then meets Leap's gaze and her eyes fill with anger. "Who are you to judge me? I do not need to explain anything to any of you. I did not ask for any of this! I just wanted to go home!" She turns and also runs into the twilight.
Leaps reaches out and then drops her claws. Gone just like that. "Who told you these things?" Leaps hisses at Tervven. "Please tell me."
"Tell you?" Tervven spits as his eyes fill with anger and hate. "You tricked me! You did this on purpose and then lied and said it was an accident. Damn you to Oblivion!," he curses, "I believed you when you said you'd fix this. When you said you'd help me! I should have never believed a fetching lizard. Do you have any idea what you did? I can never go home! Never join my house or any other again! I...I hate you!" And then he too runs into the twilight.
Leaps stumbles backward until her back hits the cliff. "I...I did not mean for this to happen," she whispers, and then as twilight turns to night she howls at the night and takes wolf form and runs from it all.
-Summerset-
The Shadow Khajiit walks through the manor unseen and makes her way to the bedroom, she walks in and stands in front of the Altmer who sleeps in a chair. He starts awake soon after and seems to ask a question before pausing. After a few moments, he speaks. "It is done then?"
The Shadow Khajiit nods." The pieces have been nudged in directions they never should have been in the first place," she purrs a small smile seen through the shadows. "And my counterpart has been contained. What of the third one? You gave no orders on that one."
The Altmer smiles. "That one has escaped his curse far too long. With things so unstable, it will start to devour him. And his butterflies...trust me. They will cease to be an issue soon enough. They will try, of course. Let them. Without Shade and with the board misalignment, they will fail."
The Khajiit nods then asks a question, "This one still fails to understand how all this is allowed."
Another wicked smile. "It is not. But there are always ways around the rules. Let us say I found a way. You know I should not be on the board, correct? Just a little Altmer doing what an Altmer does. Nothing like this. So I am not bound to rules. So if I find out things I should not know and give you hints on how to upset the board, well that goes around the rules, correct?" A laugh. "Go and watch. And play with Shade if you desire."
Once more the Shadow Khajiit bows her head and vanishes into the shadows.