-Six Months Later-
-Reaper's March-
A shattered scream, unearthly growls that sound frenzied and sick. The stench of offal and blood thickens in the air and two pairs of footsteps run toward the danger. A streak of gray runs from the carnage.
"Too late."
The speaker is a Dunmer woman in battle mage armor holding a Daedric staff. The runes on her skin glow as bright as an inferno casting the freshly healed scars on her right arm in stark contest. The glow slowly fades as she stares at the campground, the ruined mess as it is.
"The infected wolf ran away, Talshaza."
A second voice, this one with an Argonian's hiss. Grey-blue scales clad in tight fighting armor that offers protection and a wide range of motion in combat, and a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. The Argonian's eyes sweep the camp and hiss. Blood and more splatter the site and the Senche-Raht who lay amidst the carnage, the target of the attack.
"Let them be dead," Talshaza whispers and glances at Leaps-With-Wolves, and the expression on the Argonian's face makes her heart fall.
A moment later the Senche-Raht struggles to their feet, the cat changing before their eyes. Intelligence fades to be replaced by a bloodthirsty stare, drool dips in foamy froths and the cat now sees only one thing, prey. Prey that must be bit and torn into. Prey that will either die in the violence or live to become what it now is. With a sickly roar, the cat jumps at Leaps who catches the lunge on her shield and tosses them back to crash into the ground. Talshaza's eyes glimmer with fire as she casts a spell that engulfs the cat in fire until there is nothing but ash left.
Silence falls. "They did not deserve this end," The Dunmer whispers. Killing that which was perhaps innocent once. there was only pain in this.
Leap's stares into the distance, at the way the infected wolf ran. "It runs with others," Leaps hisses. "An infected pack. A large infected pack."
"Too big?" Talshaza asks.
"I could…," Leaps trails off a look of agony across her face. "If I still could." A sense of profound loss crosses her face.
Talshaza closes her eyes briefly then opens them and places a hand on her friend's arm. "Let us return to Rawl'kha for the night then. We are no use to anyone dead. Or...or worse."
Leaps growls softly then nods in agreement. It would be all too easy to throw herself into battle. To try and push it all away...but she would fall then and her friend perhaps along with her. As the Dunmer opens a portal Leaps turns her head to watch the moon rise, a shard of pain in her spine.
The dusky twilight turns crimson and a moon of dark and shadows rises, a ring of glowing dust surrounding it. It represents so very much. Failure so profound it cleaves the soul, the river of hopelessness that threatens to drown. The end of all they knew, all everyone knew, started not long after Talshaza and Leaps had parted ways six months ago. Quakes, more violent by the day, and then one night as she stared up at the moons...they shattered into countless shimmering shards and the dark third moon took its place in the night sky, heralding in a time of nightmares on Nirn. First, the disasters that followed the moons destruction, quakes that tore the earth apart, tsunamis that ripped the coast to splinters, and massive unpredictable storms. And that was just the start. The shadows grew teeth and claws, and a plague of rabid creatures swept across Tamriel, infected and undying and incredibly infectious. One bite and you were lost...and that was just the tip of it all. Leaps shudders and follows through the portal.
-Imperial City-
The crimson glow of the new night, the third moon hovering venomously above the city. All who are wise are inside barricaded against the horrors of the dark. But one Imperial woman is running through the city. Her clothes are dirty and torn and her hair is ragged and unkempt. She glances behind her and then darts down an alleyway and behind a building leaning against it, barely daring to breathe, hoping the shadows conceal her. As her fingernails run down the stone building she tries to control her raged breath. "Rel'ihala get a grip on yourself," she whispers. Once she would not run. Once her daggers would bite into flesh and blood, once she was fearless, strong. Once. But now… now she is being hunted, and who is to know if this was real or just in her mind? Slowly she looks around the corner to see the figure pausing outside the ally. At least… at least this one was what they should be. A cat. They should not be people! Or Mers! Or… a shudder runs down her spine and she tries to push it away. It was simple. All she had to do was kill everything that hunted her. The one within, the ones without. Surely she can still do that? Be strong, kill. But even as she thinks such a thing her hand shakes, betraying her. With a furious and despite look in her eyes she races at the Khajiit taking it by surprise it falls to her knife and as it falls a single thought crosses her mind, the demon may not be dead, it may come back and she stabs it again and again blood splattering. Slowly she stands breathing hard barely able to understand the ruin before her.
A soft hiss behind her, so quiet, so deadly. "Your song, more and more disjointed. More and more delicious."
Rel'ihala spins around as her breath quickens and as she backs up she nearly falls over the dead cat. That which hunted her without was HERE.
Watching her a brute of an Argonian, his azure eyes locked onto hers, a frightening hunger within. Scales as dark as a nightmare, azure lightning coursing through them. Their very image of a demon, of a Dro-m'Athra. The one who hunts her, the one whose song causes the weak to succumb and be lost to the insidious beat and be lost forevermore, reborn as Dro-m'Athra. The song that tries to worm its way into her skull, into her fractured mind, but with the other girl in there, there is simply no room. A moment to decide what to do and then it is gone and so is she, turning to run from the nightmare that has hunted her for months untold. Within the girl haunts her, without Spiders-In-Scales.
Spiders watches her run off and laughs. "Run little girl. Run from spiders. But know you run from yourself in truth." he hisses and with a demented grin he moves to the ruin she made of his demon cat. He could catch her now...but she was not yet ready to be caught.
-Somewhere in Altmer-
Kinlord's eyes flicker open and he stares up at an unfamiliar ceiling. A small frown graces his face as he puzzles over this fact. Where is he? Is this a dream? If so it is a rather vivid one. The air has a heavy feel to it, and the bed under him is hard, unlike his lovely soft one. His thoughts move to the last thing he remembered, sleeping in his chair as he often did these days, and then a bright flash of light. Slowly he rises from the bed and is truly astonished to see bars glowing with magical runes before him. Is...is he in prison? Another frown as he rises and glances around. Dark, foreboding. Someplace where they would keep the most fiendish of foes. His gaze snaps passed the bars to a door being opened and two guards walk in followed by an Altmer. "What is the meaning of this?" Kinlord demands.
The Altmer folds his arms behind his back and meets the Kinlord's gaze with one just as powerful. "Do not pretend. You are charged with murdering a number of your retainers, suspected reason practicing illicit magic."
The Kinlord looks confused. "I...do not understand. I would…," he trails off and closes his eyes.
The Altmer frowns. "Do you deny the charges then? I warn you before answering there is evidence against you. This whole process will go easier for you if you cooperate and explain in detail the how and why of what you have done."
Long moments pass in silence and at last Kinlord Vasuki opens his eyes and as he stares at the Altmer a smile graces his face. "You wish to know why? Very simply put, I needed blood and sacrifice to contain what I imprisoned. Before the moons shatter it was all too easy to lure in outsiders for this. Non-Altmers hardly will be missed, no? But after...well. Containment is of the essence, so I used my staff. You can hardly blame me for using what is at hand, can you?" Vasuki says.
The Altmer looks startled. "You...You freely admit what you have done then, Kinlord…,"
Vasuki interrupts him. "Shhh. Enough talk. Let me out unless you wish to perish."
The Altmer regains his composure and frowns unphased by the thread. "How many have made such empty threats such as yours? This prison was made for Altmer who step out of the lines of what is acceptable and pursue magic that they should not. You are going nowhere, and should you be found guilty, which I assure you, you will, you will spend the rest of your life here."
The Kinlord's smile turns ghastly. "Altmer like me?" Vasuki says and then throws his head back and laughs. "So amusing. I am unlike any Altmer you know. Let me...demonstrate!" Vasuki throws his arms to each side and the air turns heavy with power. With a snap and the smell of ozone the bars break, the shattered pieces hovering in midair. "Die now!" he hisses and thrusts his hands forward the shards exploding in all directions impaling the Altmer and the guards dozens of times over splattering blood in all directions, and all three are dead before they hit the ground.
Silence falls as Vasuki stares at the dead bodies. "Fools," he hisses. "Do you think me a fool? You are the fools! I took measures to ensure I could not be caught, or caged! I WILL NOT BE TRAPPED!" A breath after this outburst and then his eyes turn toward the door. More guards between him and the exit. Should this concern him? On the contrary, his lips turn up in a savage smile and he throws his head back and laughs and then he steps into the blood and gore, and with a jaunty hum, he dances in circles in the blood, his arms and hands raised to the blood dripping from the ceiling. With a final laugh he at last heads out the door, happy thoughts of murdering all the guards who get in his way on his mind.
-Shadowfen-
For the last six months, Tervven has been following hints, rumors, anything. How he ended up in this backwater swamp. A ruin time forgotten, locked from mortals and elements. Books unread for so long… every book a lead...and then a dead end. With a furious growl, the Dunmer throws it against the wall. "Fetching Damn it!" Tervven swears and then screams, "I DENY ALL OF THIS!" His outburst sparks fury, which once would have brought out the beast, but now all it does is send shards of agony through his body and he falls to his knees. "Accused lizard," he hisses."Accursed everything!" His anger taking full hold causes scales to briefly appear on his hands before fading and he shudders. Cursed...and now far worse than merely cursed. Since the moons shattering his beast has been nothing more than shadow and whisper as if the calamity had damaged the Daedric virus and its connection to Hircine and the Hunting Grounds. "Damn it to Oblivion," he whispers as he fumbles for his journal, much like the one he lost months ago and his eyes move over the words as if they perhaps had changed, but such a thing is beyond impossible. The words written are truth and certainty. Doom. In time the curse of Hircine would be no more. But this was a cure dripped in the vilest of poisons. It meant death. The pain would grow and consume until the heart ruptured...agonizing prolonged death for all were creatures. It would almost be a mercy to fall prey to the Werewolf's Bane...at least death would be quick by the vampire Khajiit's claws. Perhaps...he should just give up. He's scoured every book, every scroll, done things to find ones beyond his grasp he rather not think of. And the only result was an abject utter failure. With a small swallow, Tervven admits the truth he would never utter to another living soul. He had lost everything. Lost House when bit, lost...those would not care of house or curse. Could they have stopped this? If he had only chosen another path? With a lost look, he leans against the wall, head resting against the cool stone. He is as lost and doomed as this world. All he wants to do is deny everything, but everything will never be denied. And when it seems as if he has truly given up, his eyes happen upon the book he threw and the letter that has fallen out of it. With a frown, he moves picks it up, and reads it his brow furrowed.
~Might have an idea…
Might.
...Not a cure...but a path to a possible cure. A path to...power. Need to find out one thing first. Should not be hard. I will find you soon.~
Tervven blinks and rereads the letter. A trap? Lies? Who wrote this? Who could know what he sought, where he would be going? And yet… a small smile crosses his face. A thread of hope in the dark.
- Alik'r desert-
It is dark and cool in the cave, a respite from the unrelenting heat of the sun. He should stay in this cave until nothing is left. "Getting worse," he whispers as his eyes move to his clawed hand. Orange scales splattered with so much gore and blood. Slowly he raises his head to the one who found him. The one who keeps finding him. "Licks...you should...you should…," Cheese hisses and trails off and gestures to his friend. To say a word, to end this all, to end him.
Licks stares at Cheese with an intense stare. The carnage left behind out in the desert...it was not the first...it would not be the last. He could do what his friend had asked. It would save many...unless his curse back-lashed and caused more pain then it ended. Was it worth it? Would it be a mercy to try? But a second thing stays the Argonian's hand and as he shakes his head no, Cheese sees truth in his eyes.
"Tervven is not all the way lost," Cheese whispers. "But I cannot find him. The times I get close…" he shudders softly and looks at Licks.
What is in Lick's eyes is try. And the heartbreaking pain behind such a request, Licks is all too aware of what he is asking Cheese to do. To keep going, despite it all. To know that shadows chased him, tangled his path. Tangled both their paths. And to know it is more than he must do. His charge is not lost, but she moved at times too quickly for him to track for the Destroyer of Khajiits hunted the Dunmer woman without mercy, and almost caught her once. The Reachman's vengeance and thirst for her power knew no bounds. What he had done in Vvardenfell…Licks had feared he had lost her that day. But Talshaza was not the same woman she was six months ago. Forged into something else by the moons shatter, by the pursuit of an enemy who knew no limits or bounds, she was as strong as an inferno. But would it be enough? Licks shakes himself out of his thoughts and rises, offering a hand to Cheese who takes it and rises as well, once more, a shadow of the knight he once was in his shattered eyes.
Cheese moves to the cave entrance and stares out into the desert then back at Licks. "Books?" he asks.
Licks shakes his head, he had lost her trail over a month ago, but he knew she still searched for Rel'ihala. Her charge was not yet lost, but her charge was in just as much danger, hunted for reasons unknown by the Nightmare Caller. A sigh from Cheese and he sets out once more.
-Skyrim-
A soft low hiss from the Argonian with scales of jet black that seem to shimmer in the light. Books stares at the snow as if it is the most hated thing in all the world. Snow on the ground. Snow falling from the sky. Ice flows with the soft hiss of ice wraiths. "I hate snow now!" Books hisses and then weary looks around, trying to find any hint of where to go, of civilization. She had been SO close to finding Rel'ihala, and damn the rules, she was going to do more than guide her charge. Damn the rules, there were no rules! Stratos said that, those many months ago. Books blinks softly as sorrow wells in her eyes. The Imperial, so lost, so hunted. Her friends scattered to the winds, doing all they could to keep track of their butterflies. Even as the world imploded, even as the storm threatened to tear the butterflies to bloody ribbons. Even as the curse grew worse, and if it was this bad for her, how bad for Cheese? The gentle strong knight, whose curse caused him to slaughter in a berserk blind rage. "How much more can we bear?" she whispers. The world had fallen. And yet, one step in front of the other. Books starts to trudge through the ice and snow. Thinking back on how close she had been. Not for the first time. She had grown fiercer. The demon spawns that got in her way felt her knives, her claws, and fangs. But the one thing she could never escape was the Shadow Khajiit. Every time she got close, that thing appeared out of nowhere and threw a portal to consume her, to send her far far away. The last time had been an island during a hurricane. The time before the desert. Now this? "I will find her," Books vows. She has already found her way back before. Being a thief had its advantages, even with the curse.
-Rawl'kha-
Leaps and Talshaza sit by a small campfire. The town is so different than when they had last been here before moons shatter. Then an open small town filled with the joys of life. Now barriers guard against the terrors of night and day and there is no joy and far fewer inhabitants...and even worse the Khajiit that remain were mere shadows of their previous selves. The one race that relied so much on the moons, from birth till past death itself, it was in all aspects of their lives. Leaps looks around. She had been so busy trying to find their friends, trying to survive in this new world and so she looked to the Dunmer woman a question in her eyes.
"There are far fewer kits now," Talshaza quietly says. "All born now would be born under the third moon. Destined...no doomed to be Dro-m'Athra," The Dunmer falls silent the rest unspoken. It needs not be spoken, the calamity spells an end for the race...a slow crawl to extinction. The sorrow in the Dunmer's eyes suddenly shifts to rage. "Ri'Zakar…," she says. "To have such hatred that this is the desired result. He is a monster. If only I could bring forth enough power to end him. If I was stronger!"
Leap's looks startled by the anger. The two had kept in touch but had lost contact for a month. As they found each other in Reaper's March and hunted the rabid creatures, Leaps knew something had happened. The freshly healed scars, the flashes of jagged pain in the Dunmer's eyes. Leaps gently lies her claws on her friend's arm. "What happened?" she asks.
Talshaza looks away agony written across her face and she abruptly stands. "Are we lost, Leaps? As lost as Tervven and Rel'ihala? As lost as this world? As lost as…," she trails off and places a hand on her pendant.
Leaps rises. "As lost as what?" Leaps asks.
The Dunmer is silent for long moments then she takes off the necklace and places it on the table. "I know you want to visit the Shrine. You will be safer with it. Just...do not linger long out there." At Leaps protest she shakes her head. "I learned how to open portals myself recently." she starts to walk away.
"Talshaza," Leaps says.
The Dunmer woman looks back at her. "Not now Leaps. I cannot...to speak would be to make it real. I want...to pretend it is a nightmare for just a little longer." Talshaza says and then walks away.
Leaps stares after her then takes the pendent and places it around her head. Knowing that where she goes, is risky, foolish, idiotic. And yet...she must. One last time, perhaps. And so she opens a portal and steps through.
-?-
It could be moments, it could be a lifetime. How long has she been trapped in here? Shade sits cross-legged on the ground eyes closed. As if she could shut it all out and be home again, or any place but this dark void. She would almost wish it...if she did not know what was beyond this night. A small shiver runs through her. Shadow-Whiskers had been here more than once. Parting the darkness for brief moments to show Shade nightmares. What had become of the world, what had become of her race? Lost without the moons, even here beyond Nirn Shade felt the loss of Jone and Jode. Like daggers through her soul, agony transcends any physical pain. Slowly her head dips as a tear traces down her fur. She never had a chance to guide her butterflies. Never had a chance to watch them change this horror of a future. And now she was trapped here, lost. Lost forevermore. And then suddenly the world shifts and Shade is someplace else. Her eyes snap shut and then close. Light...so bright after so long. Slowly she opens them and rises. A cave, runes on the wall, dark powers at work, and then her eyes fall on the center of the cave, the two Senche-Raht chained and trapped. Slowly she moves toward them and her eyes fall on the book and she reaches her paw out only to have it go through the book.
~Not...here~
Her attention is drawn back to the cats and she studies them carefully. They talked...did they not? But the voice was in her head, and it sounded weak and strained. As if every word was a struggle.
~Do...not give up...~
Her eyes lock onto the golden cat's gaze and her eyes widen. "I need to find you. This one needs to find you. Somehow. I need to be free."
A look of understanding and the cave fades leaving Shade back in her bleak reality. She had been ready to give up. But now...a small sad smile crosses her face. She had seen what she had seen. Enough to fill her with hope. Shadow-whiskers had MADE this prison. And Shadow-Whiskers was a part of her, once. So the secret to breaking it lurked within her. If only she could find it...and she would. No matter how long it took. Months, years, she would break free. She would find her butterflies...not to guide, but to help. The rules were broken. If Shadow was not bound by them, then neither was she.
-Rawl'kha-
Talshaza sits on the ground, back against a tree. Away from the fire, away from anyone else...including Leaps. The questions in her friend's eyes, what she could not bear to put into words. "How...how did it come to this?" she whispers. Just a simple Dunmer. If she had turned her back on the staff, turned her back on the pull of what lay beyond the farm, would things be different, or would the world still be broken? But even if it was still THIS, would she still have… The Dunmer's eyes close and her hand moves to the scars on her arms. She had been so stupid. If she had kept to places unknown, perhaps…
As much as she tries to push the thoughts away, the memories play behind her closed eyes. Of how close she came to dying. Of how much one mistake had cost her.
~Vvvardenfell~
It had been months since she'd been in her homeland. She was here when the moons shattered. The moment was clear in her mind, being on her family farm with her brother, moving outside that infamous night, after a hard day of training with the spirit of Iveryni. Gazing up at the night sky only to see it break. The moons that had always been there, gone in a blink of an eye. Shattered to dust and shattering all she knew with it. The days that followed, terror. The Red Mountain almost erupted, what stopped it, perhaps Vivec, perhaps something else, no one would ever know since the city of Vivec had vanished that day along with the meteor that hung over the city. And then came the moment of choice. Should she hide from it? Stay with her brother...or should she find Leaps and her friends? They had failed, but then again they had never been given the chance to try, had they? A moment in which she almost stayed. Almost. But The shade of Iveryni cried out that day. Run. Run before he finds out where you are, for he will. And so she ran. Found Leaps once more, and then the search started for their friends. But it was soon evident how real the warning had been. The one known as the Devourer of Khajiits had become the Destroyer of them. And he wanted her and the staff. Their power, their blood, all of it. And the chase started. But Talshaza had more than she had before moons shatter. A grasp on the staff's power, and it was becoming HER power. The runes on her skin grew more vivid as she came into her own. But even when she stood against Ri'Zakar, it was still not enough, and she retreated each time.
It...was draining. Being apart from all she knew. Hunting her friends, even when no trace was found, of being hunted. Knowing death was a breath away. And then came a time of...not peace but as close as one could get in this world. It seems as if she had managed to lose the Reachman. A distant volcano, a sleight of hand and magic. She thought she tricked him into thinking her dead. Hid her magic, hid anything that would reveal the truth. She scarcely dared to breathe for a time. But a month passed. The longest period that ever had in the chase. And in that month she could breathe, but she could also despair. Leap's had gone someplace she could not track, and she was so very much alone. And so...she went home. Home to the farm, to her brother. Just for a little while. Peace, for a little while.
By then, the staff had grown silent. Each day since the moons shatter Iveryni grew quieter and quieter until one day she was gone. So this time, there was no warning. Talshaza had gone to help another small house. A plague of infected creatures. More than farmers could fight, but no match for Talshaza. She had hunted and killed them and then returned home.
Twilight covered the land and Talshaza walked up to the farm and then stopped. It is quiet. Too quiet. Not a sound from the Guar, from the nighttime insects. Nothing. And their house, the door standing open. The Dunmer woman steps toward it and then stops her hand moving for her staff.
"Why do you not come in? Your brother is waiting for you."
The voice is a familiar nightmare. The purr of a cat, laced with the power of a dragon and the intones of a Reachman. A voice she has become all too familiar with. "What have you done?" Talshaza says.
The glimmer of those eyes, filled with hate and darkness. They move from the doorway into the house and she follows. Knowing she should run, but knowing she cannot run and so she follows Ri'Zakar.
The house is in ruin and the coppery scent of blood is heavy. Talshaza moves faster and then what is left of her world shatters. Blood splattered on the walls, and her brother was prone on the kitchen table. Claw marks welled with blood. Lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling. The world swims and she stumbles backward. Should run. Should attack. Should do something, but the horror of all of this, knowing it is her fault, if she had never come home he never would have found her, never knew she had a brother. Had.
"Give up," Ri'Zakar growls as he moves toward her. "Your world is gone, your brother too. He did give up a fight, but what match is he for once such as me?" The lamplight shines on his eyes, more dragon than cat. Fur and scales intermix as if the dragon within is rising more each day.
She stares into those eyes and stumbles backward and he lunges his claws glimmering in the light. They are death. Will it be quick, or will he make it suffer? Should she just...surrender? But something in her reacts and fire blooms. Fire even that makes the dragon cat pause. Talshaza screams with all the pain in fury in her and the world erupts into an inferno that consumes both of them and the farm. A flash of pain as claws rake her arm and then she knows nothing more.-
Talshaza's eyes slowly open. When she awoke she was someplace else. The amulet, or her will, had taken her away. Saved her...what could be saved? She knew Ri'Zakar still lived, all her power was not enough to defeat the monster he had become. And because she dared breathe, dared hope, dared go home when she never should have, she had lost Alvenniu. Became the last living member of the house of Dralith.
-Reaper's March-
Leaps moves through the night as quiet as a wrath. The only sound is the rabbit's squeal as she hunts it. Not with claws or fangs, but with blade and wits. It is with the utmost caution she approaches the shrine. To be werewolf, was to be hunted, and the thought has Leaps shuddering slightly. To be hunted and unable to take your beast form. To have the very last thing you see be eyes filled with ice-cold hatred. The Werewolves Bane had made himself well known. Not content to let them slip into extinction, he hunted them for the sheer pleasure of it. Leaps growls softly. If she ever saw him again, she would rip his face off, wolf or no wolf. As she studies her surroundings, all is quiet and the Argonian approaches it and lays the rabbit on the shrine. A prickle of pain, a sense of loss. There is no longer any power in this place, no longer could she feel Hircine. How could a Daedric Prince be so cut off from Nirn by all of this? Leaps briefly closes her eyes. "Come back," she whispers. No answer, perhaps no answer ever again and her eyes slowly open. How could this be? She WAS from the future. A future with moons in the sky, a future of wolves and pack. A future where this NEVER happened. She could believe that she was meant to stop this outcome. That it was the way she was taken from pack and home. But something had gone so very wrong. Something had changed the game. Altered the outcome. But what could be powerful enough to alter fate itself? With a sigh, she turns from the shrine and her claws move to the pendent before falling. She will walk back. Through the night and the dangers. Out here, she could still hear the faintest whisper of her wolf. Out here she could pretend, for a little while, that the wolf inside her was not dying. That the pain was in her imagination. That all this was a terrible nightmare.
-Imperial City Sewers-
Icy cold and dark. Still traces of the Plane-Meld from many years ago. Perhaps this is why she came here. Because it felt like home, just a little bit. Rel'ihala sits against a wall, arms wrapped around herself.
~It's not home, you know. Home is warm. Home is with mommy and daddy.~ The faint image of a young girl. Not really there, but they're just the same.
"Go away," Rel'ihala growls. The girl again. Always the girl. Haunting her. Once just in dreams, now in nearly every waking moment as well. "My home is in Coldharbour. With Zen'la, Xahrshi."
The girl looks ready to cry. ~The Daedra bad~
"LIES!" Rel'ihala hisses. "They are HOME. Cold and ice are home. Strength and power are home. NOTHING ELSE IS."
~Not even friends?~
A look of devastating loss crosses the Imperial's face before she buries her face in her arms. Friends was a weakness, she had barely time to know them before it all fell apart. But...when she was with them, a stirring of something long since buried. A ray of sun, warmth. Things she should not need or want. But now, here. Alone and haunted, breaking more each day...a part of her wanted that warmth again. "Just...go away. It's too late. I just...I just want to go home now."
~We can't go home.~ the girl says. ~Home is gone.~
"Not gone!" Rel'ihala snarls and then raises her head and stares up at the ceiling. "Zen'la! LET ME GO HOME!" No answer. Just as there has been no answer every time she's tried she she rises and races through the sewers.
An hour later she finds what she was looking for. The very depths of it, the veil is still thin here, even after so long and there are so many bones of the fallen all around. She can force her power to rise as she never has wanted to before. Force a way back HOME. As the necromantic energy flows from her the illusion of the girl jumps in front of her spreading her arms out. ~Stop~
"Why should I?," Rel'ihala snarls. "I will go back. If they kill me for it, FINE. At least I will be HOME."
The girl stares at her and it is as if something snaps in that moment. Something that was never meant to snap. The world around Rel'ihala and the girl fades to be replaced by an Imperial house. Startled the power fades from her as she whirls around. The scene before her is a family at the table. The girl, the accursed girl, and two adults. ~Mommy and Daddy. Daddy is a soldier. He always keeps his promises. Cept…,"
Someplace she never could have been, and yet it is familiar. Rel'ihala backs away and whirls around trying to escape but once more the world shifts. Same house, but darker now. The female adult getting the girl ready. A soldier at the door. "We need to go now. The Daedra are coming. They will kill you both."
~So scared….~
"Sto...stop this!," Rel'ihala says. "TAKE ME BACK!"
Again the shift. This time inside a large house in the country. Many Imperials here, afraid. The girl is here with her mom. And then suddenly outside. Rain pouring from the sky, Daedra everywhere, people screaming, dying. And the same scene plays out. The one that kept her from accepting her mentor's offer. A Daedra plunging a sword in the woman's back.
The ghostly image of the girl appears by Rel'ihala. ~They killed Mommy. Daddy never came back. He promised. He never came back.~
"This has NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!" Rel'ihala growls.
The girl vanishes and the world changes. Night now, the rain is just a drizzle. The bodies are left to rot, the Daedra checking to make sure everyone is dead. And then one finds the girl. Alive, hiding. He raises his sword but a voice calls out for him to stop and a Dremora moves into view.
Rel'ihala stills. "Zen'la…," she whispers
Zen'la moves to the girl and kneels. "You are strong to survive, are you not?" she says to the girl. The girl tries to scoot back terror in her eyes. "Shhh. No need to fear. You are strong. I like you, little one. Your name?"
The girl is silent before answering. "Nelina. You...bad things...mommy…"
The Dremora gathers the girl in her arms, and Nelina full of terror and loss resists only briefly. "Shhh. This is just a dream, little one. Weak dreams will fade, come tomorrow I promise you, you will not even remember this." A smile on her lips. "I think your name fails to suit you. So soft and weak. You are nothing like that. I think your name is Rel'ihala now. You will be one of my charges. Wait until you see my other. He's a cat. You'll like him I think. He will make you strong." A portal opens and she walks through with the girl.
The vision fades leaving Rel'ihala back in the sewer. With a broken look on her face, she stumbles back and falls to her knees on the floor her fists hitting the cold ground. Lies...truth...lies….truth...this cannot be the TRUTH. And yet in her shattered soul, she knows it is. The ghost haunting her, Nelina. The girl she used to be. Before Daedra murdered all she knew. Before one took her away and made her forget all of it. Made her into Rel'ihala. If she could forget this and go back home. But the damn has broken, the memories returned, and there will never be forgotten, never a way back and she throws her head back and screams as all she is and knows shatters into countless pieces.
From the shadows, a Dro-m'Athra Khajiit watches and then vanishes into the shadows.
-Kragenhome-
A town divided into two areas. One was the Dunmer, the other used to be for slaves. Until the Ebonheart pack. Kragenhome seems simple from the outside. Dunmer, small. But inside it is a far different matter. Blood splattered on the walls and floors. Tools of torture of every kind. Chains and cages with spikes. A place of despair and agony. Here is where Spiders has taken his latest catch, A Dunmer of noble standing. He hangs half naked from his wrists and Spiders is slowly peeling his skin off. The screams have long since stopped, all there is is pitiful whimpers. "Spiders is disappointed," Spiders hisses. "I heard you took slaves and did things to them. Lovely things that made them scream. But you are not worthy of Spiders song." A glimmer of red in his azure eyes and he tears the skinning blade across the Dunmer's throat, blood splattering on his scales. "Not for you." he turns from the corpse, throwing the knife in the corner and leaving the house to be in the night. The night that sings with Lorkhaj's song, is now his. The night that is close to his lady. A small smile crosses his fangs. The Dark Cat whispered such things to them. Taught them how to do infernal things, taught them how to shatter the moons. The night it happened, Spiders could hear the song he sought clearer than ever. And then the Dark Cat showed him how to claim It. A trip into darkness even darker than Namira's. Agony as the song threatened to split his skull asunder. Torn apart mind body and soul to be reformed as Dro-m'Athra, and MORE than Dro-m'Athra. He was the Nightmare Singer, the Dread caller. His song caused not just Khajiit, but any mortal who fell under its sway to be demon. To be HIS. And yet, one thing eluded him. The song that was disjointed, agonizing, pure bliss to his ears. He could capture her at any time. But she was not yet ready. She had not yet shattered.
"Master,"
Spiders turns to see the Dro-m'Athra walk from the shadows and the demon cat needs not say a word and a ghastly grin crosses his face. "She has shattered," Spiders hisses. "She will hear Spiders song now. I will drive it into her skull." and with that, he vanishes into the shadows.
-Telvanni Peninsula-
A flying screeching thing swoops from the ruin wall heading toward a Nord lost in thought staring at an unremarkable wall. It is inches away and then a flash of green and a massive creature snaps bone-shattering jaws around it. The creature is bear-like with a scorpion tail, ebony black griffin wings, and black fur that intermingles with patches of glowing green. The Nord glances over. He's dressed in black leather with vivid toxic green straps and a belt, executioner style sword at the belt, and Spell-breaker on his back. "Good boy…," Lyssavi says. This creature of his was so much more interesting than a dog. All he had to do was put it together from one of the rabid bears. A small side project...a smile crosses his face. He had finished his masterpiece, after all. He had decided to call it rabies and it was too much fun to set it loose upon the land and see what happened. It was perfection in form and function. An infected creature became a rabid beast whose sole purpose was to infect more creatures. It did not die and it went forth on its deadly mission with a single-minded focus. One bite, one scratch, and the infection spread. And sometimes...a new thing would be born from the infection. Not merely another carrier but something all altogether NEW. He had a thought perhaps it was Peryite's will incarnate upon Nirn in a way. But today, at least, it is not new variations that he is looking for. "Ahh…," Lyssavi at last says as his fingers race a near invisible pattern on the wall. The way opens and he starts to descend into the secret passage revealed but then he pauses head tilted eyes slightly shut. A few moments later another small smile crosses his face. One thing few knew, was he was connected to his creations. He knew what they knew if he wanted to know. And yes, he wanted to know this. His very best friend would be so pleased by this. Once more his creations had found Ri'Zakar's prey and he turned toward his creature. "Gummy, go visit Ri'Zakar. Tell him his prey and her Argonian friend have killed some of the infected in Reaper's March." Gummy growls in agreement and in a burst of green energy vanishes. Lyssavi turns back to the passage and starts to descend. If he's right what he seeks is here. And if he's right...it should be fascinating to see what the results are.
-Bangkorai-
A Reachman stronghold long abandoned. Now home to Ri'Zakar. The Reachman Khajiit stands on the roof staring out at the night. The third moon in the sky the crimson that mixes with the shadows. All is darkness and blood. So far has he come from his roots. Unwanted and abused cub, too proud Reachmen. His clan had once meant everything to him. Even beyond his simmering hate for his heart-kin. But now, that life with his family and clan in the Reach seems like a distant dream, one that fades more each day. As if he is becoming something else, little by little. "At times… I think I should fly into the night sky. Our sky. I can feel the wind beneath my wings, even now…," Ri'Zakar says and then turns to look at Xahrshi. Knowing he has no wings, yet still...
The vampire stands in the shadows, his eyes glimmering orange in the dark. Clad in sinister Daedric armor, fur a dark ashen gray, he too had changed over the last few months. "You think you are a dragon now?" Xahrshi asks.
Silent for a moment, Ri'Zakar at last speaks. "I am Ri'Zakar. Once Devourour of Khajiits, now Destroyer. Not Nirthaarnkras. And yet…" he holds up a hand, the claws longer than they once were, scales intermingling with fur. "Nirthaarnkras's power swells within me. Every Khajiit that falls, even if I do not devour their heart, makes the beat of the dragon soul inside me stronger." A savage grin. "The power...beyond any I could have ever imagined."
"And yet you want her power as well," The vampire replies. "I will never understand the obsession you and Spiders have with those little almost heroes."
His words are met with a soft growl. "You know hate, Xahrshi. So potent it consumes. Hate enough to bring ruin to the world. We share that. We always have. Lyssavi is curiosity without morals or boundaries. Spiders is psychotic urges mixed with the desire to taint all with screams, pain, and darkness. But us…," he trails off.
"Truth," The vampire admits. "But also true that it goes beyond hatred with you and the Dunmer woman. You want to hurt her, consume all that she is," Xahrshi says and then smiles and stops the next growl from his ally. "You enjoy the hunt. Do not deny such a thing."
Before Ri'Zakar can answer the air shimmers and Gummy pops into existence and stares hard into the Reachman's eyes before vanishing once more. Ri'Zakar huffs and shakes his head. "So disquieting how that creature puts images in my head," he says and then a fanged grin. "Lyssavi makes the most interesting of things, one must admit." At Xahrshi's questing gaze he answers, "Lyssavi's creatures know where my prey is. Both she and her Argonian friend are in Reaper's March. This time, she will die and I will have her power and her heart." he turns and opens a portal and is gone.
Alone now, Xahrshi frowns. He is not altogether certain that such obsessions will be beneficial in the long run. And then all thoughts of such evaporate as the shadows gather and Shadow Whiskers steps out. The vampire growls softly, vampiric teeth bared at the intruder.
The cat stares at him. "See into Shadow Whisker's eyes. Here this one's voice," Shadow Whiskers says.
Xahrshi's eyes widen slightly. The whispers that lead them to victory, to impossible goals. This was the same purr. Seeing that he understands Shadow smiles. "My master would like to speak to you," she tells him. "A small favor, for all that has been given to you." She turns and the shadows form a portal which she enters, followed closely by the vampire.
-Summerset-
Kinlord Vasuki sits in a chair deep under his home, still in his blood-splattered clothes. Above, his home, or rather former now, was nothing smoke and ash, having gone up in a blaze. Magic gone ary, or so everyone would believe. A scowl crosses his face. The damn Altmer had found the bodies, the blood, and traces of "banned" magics. But they had not found THIS place, and they never would, he made sure of that. A shimmer of darkness interrupts his thoughts as a portal opens and Shadow Whiskers and Xahrshi step out. The Shadow Khajiit nods at her master and vanishes leaving the two alone.
"You," Xahrshi says, looking with surprise and a bit of amusement at the Kinlord's gruesome state.
Vasuki smiles and spreads his hands out. "Me," he replies.
The vampire studies the mer that gave them the book, gave them the means to shatter the moons and change the fate of Nirn forever. "We asked you why before," Xahrshi says.
"You wish my true answer this time?" the Kinlord asks with a small smile. "Very well. Hatred. Revenge. Wanting all of Nirn to burn in fire, in dark, in plagues and pestilence, in blood."
"Then why not do it yourself?" the vampire asks.
The Kinlord pauses a long moment before answering. "My means...are limited due to factors I cannot yet control. It has placed limitations on me, which vex me to no end." Vasuki answers. "And there were many ways to do what I wished. You four...unique in such ways. United in such ways, was the perfect choice out of all of them for this."
Xahrshi crosses his arms. "I suppose the favor you wish is to free you from such things that vex?" he responds.
"If only…," Vasuki says. "If only it was that simple. All of you can do so much. But even all together, you could not do THAT thing. Vexing…," he trails off and then brushes it away. "What I want is something else," he says and then studies the vampire very closely.
Xahrshi meets the intense gaze with one of his own. "Spit it out," the vampire growls.
"It took me a bit to figure out how to get around this loophole. I am so very good at such things. You have no idea… but this one was a knot and a half." A pause and the Kinlord gestures at Xahrshi and all he is. "You were once servant to Molag Bal. Vampire spawn, and a unique one that was transmuted from a werewolf. But what you have done...you somehow absorb the power of the werewolves you kill. Absorb...a small bit of Hircine's power in a way. You are no longer bound to Coldharbour, to your Prince, despite being a vampire. Only the second one that has managed to become unbound from such a thing."
This revelation sets the vampire's fur bristling and he growls in threat. "How do you KNOW this?" Xahrshi hisses.
The Kinlord holds up a hand. "A little kitty told me," And at the vampire's new growl he adds, "We are all aligned in our desires. I am no threat to you. I am content to watch you and your allies carve a path of ruin across the face of Nirn. With a smile, I might add."
Slowly Xahrshi settles down. Of course, this Mer knew of their ally. The dark Senche-Raht that rose from the book. The same cat that told him months ago of ways to gain more power...ways to take from his prey more than their lives. Power….such power, and the vampire smiled at the thought of it before getting back on track. "What do you want?"
A smile from the Kinlord full of murderous promise. "I want you to hunt a werewolf. What you do best. But instead of absorbing and killing this one...I want you to do to them what was done to you. What you choose willingly, force upon them."
Xahrshi is silent for long moments. "Why?" he at last asks.
The Kinlord folds his hands together. "For the reasons I listed. For reasons beyond. For agony beyond measure," Vaskuki answers.
The vampire slowly smiles. "Tell me my prey then."
-Shadowfen-
Tervven sits on a rock in the dark, unaware of the dangers. Uncaring of very much at all. The note is clutched in his hands. Another false lead. Who in this world would care to help him, or could? A shudder of pain down his spine. All his future holds. Pain and death. No house, no redemption, no friends, nothing but a dark yawning void that swallows him whole. And once dead will he just be nothing? So far from his homeland, an outcast from his house. Or would his soul be claimed by that forsaken Daedric Prince Hircine...if that was even a possibility any longer? A brief thought of the freedom of the hunt, which he pushes away. He does not want that! He just wants to be free of this curse. Free to …. do what? Even if free what could he DO in this broken world?
A pop and suddenly the Dunmer is staring into a strange bear's eyes. With a shriek, he falls off the rock onto his back. The bear moves to Tervven until he is nose-to-nose with the Dunmer. A huff and another shriek from Tervven. "What IS THIS FETCHING THING!" he shrieks.
"Gummy…," a voice says and the bear turns and huffs and moves to his master.
Tervven sits up and his eyes widen slightly before returning to their near-defeated state. "So come to dissect me? I am not even sure I'll try to stop you," Tervven says as he gestures at the Nord that has appeared. The Nord he last saw six months ago, the Nord who was one of the four who DID all of this. The one they now call Rabies Scourge.
Lyssavi tilts his head. "Bitten by a werewolf, but you became a werelizard instead. To know how THAT works…," a wistful look comes over the Nord's face. "But….no."
Tervven looks puzzled for a moment and then throws his head back and laughs. "So I am too pathetic to even dissect now. Perfect! Fetching perfect."
The Nord studies the surly Dunmer. "You act stupid. But… not stupid." he reaches into a bag at his side and takes out a battered notebook.
Another puzzled look from Tervven. "How did you get that? I lost it…," he trails off. The answer is obvious. That day in Reaper's March. The last day he had seen those people...who might have been friends. "Fetching damn it. What do you WANT?"
The Nord comes closer to Tervven. "My very best friend is fascinating. I do sometimes want to cut him up...my other friends too. But sometimes, just sometimes, people can be MORE interesting if you do not cut them up," Lyssavi says and then he opens the book. "Ideas, dreams, and thought. You wanted to be Telvanni. You do not seem smart enough but…," he waves the book. "This is...fascinating. The things you kept hidden. The things...you could have done."
"Could have," Tervven admits. "Before my Father. Before the fetching lizard bit me. Before you people blew up the moons and cursed me to death. Now what do you fetching want?"
Gummy huffs at Tervven and Lyssavi smiles. "Not dinner Gummy," he says then turns back to the Dunmer. "I cut up my father… maybe you need to do the same. But what I want is to see what you will become. You are Dres, you are were-lizard, but you could be something ELSE. You got my letter...I want to see."
Tervven stares up at Lyssavi at a loss for words. This man had damned the world to a fate worse than Oblivion. Caused a plague of creatures upon the world. Done so much WRONG. And yet...he offered hope. Impossible hope. It was not like he could change what he had done. Change the world back to the way it was. Change anything. Slowly the Dunmer rises. "I have searched all I know, which...is more than I let others see. I have looked everywhere I know to look, and done things to get where I needed to do, what I needed. Nothing. No hope, no escape, NOTHING. How can there be anything else?"
A small smile from Lyssavi. "Sometimes...we look in the wrong spots. Forget there are so MANY avenues of research. I found something...it may lead to a cure. It may lead to power. Or it may lead to death," the Nord says and then he reaches into his bag and takes out a book."
Tervven stares at it. The book is black and dark brown. Ancient beyond words, with a symbol on the front. "Tha…that is one of the black books of Hermaus Mora," Tervven breathes softly. All his youth comes back to him then. Being a typical Dres child, then accidentally finding a shrine to the Daedric Prince of Knowledge. How it had fascinated him. Upon returning home he had found anything he could on the subject and then started branching out into other paths of knowledge. Why he told his Father what he wanted...why when he was denied his dream he did his best to be just a lazy idiotic Dunmer. Rebellion of a sort against his Father. The book...represents everything he denied for so long...and hope...and something with darker currents. Power, and he finds his hand reaching for it. Only one thought pauses him. "What do you want?"
Lyssavi blinks. "Told you want I want. To see what you become. You were to be our enemy. But you could be a friend instead. Or tentacle food. Not sure which. Want to know," he responds and holds out the book to Tervven.
The Dunmer's hands wrap around it and he stares at it for long moments. Not the path his father wanted. Not the path his former allies would have wanted. But he wants this. Knowledge could be the only thing that could save him, but all the mortal knowledge had failed him. This...was beyond mortal, and after only a few moments pause he opens the book.
Lyssavi watches as the Dunmer screams, as inky black tentacles wrap around Tervven and pull him into its depths. With a pop, the book fades from existence and the Nord smiles.
From the shadows Shadow-Whisker watches, a smile of her own on her face. The smallest chance that the heroes could change what has happened. Her master had warned her of this. But now one had fallen completely, leaving only three left to fall. With the smile still on her fangs she fades away into the shadows.
-Alik'r, Bergama-
Cheese wakes with a start. The last thing he remembered was a sandstorm bursting into life. The sting of sharp grains against his scales, and then nothing at all. With a chill in his spine, he realizes he's in a town. A town...a town...where he should never be, not anymore. Not since the curse got worse and he leaps up and then tries to breathe. Eyes shut, if he cannot see cheese, he cannot eat it, he cannot lose it. He will leave this way, he has done it before. But before he can take more than a step a jagged pain strikes his spine and he falls to his knees, claws hitting the floor with a jar. "T...Tervven…," Cheese hisses. It feels as if shards of glass are shredding his spine. Stratos said they were bound. That it had to be this way. But then everything went wrong. Everything went SO very wrong. And deep in his spine, Cheese knows the Dunmer is lost. Dead, fallen, he knows not. Only that he has failed to find him. Failed to help him out of the darkness. And now worse than darkness will take Cheese for it is as if he can smell the golden tasty forbidden food. It is here, close. His eyes turn blood-red and all that was left of Cheese, of the Knight he was before the curse, is swallowed up and gone. A cry enough to shake the bravest to their core, Bergama and all who live here...have not long left to live.
-Rawl'ikha-
A scream abruptly cut off has Talshaza leaping off of the ground. She had been dozing, waiting for Leaps to return. But now...her hand closes around her staff and she races through Rawl'ikha, toward the sound of the scream. And what she sees stills her. More horror, more death. Khajiit bodies on the ground. "Damn it," she swears softly as she starts to step backward. Hearts ripped out, he is HERE.
"Fire witch."
A soft growl behind her and she spins, memories of Vvardenfell flashing through her head. Ri'Zakar is standing on a table, but this time he is not alone. Surrounded by a score of rabid beasts, she at last puts the pieces together. She killed one of them earlier today. And every time he has found her, including Vvardenfell, was after she had encounters with the rabid creatures. "That is how…," she whispers
A feral grin from the Reachman. "The Rabies Scourge is my very best friend. You think he would not help me find my prey?" his eyes glimmer as he leaps from the table. "Come, little fire witch. Die for me, so I can have all you are. It is that, or everything in this pathetic town will DIE."
The instinct to run is in her. Beating faster and faster, but this time she is NOT alone. Leaps will return soon. Perhaps the two of them can do what she could not do alone and end this monster. All she had to do was survive until then. The runes on her arms glow bright in the night and fire swirls around her. "Monster," she hisses. "For my brother, for the countless you have killed, for the countless who will die because of what you did, I will end you!" she cries and the battle between the two begins.
-Reaper's March-
Leaps walks through the night back to the town. The sounds of the night are so different than they used to be. Everything is. And as the days progress she finds herself wondering more and more how can she go on? How can she be MORE like her Grandmother? Her Grandmother always seemed to know what to do, how to be. But how is Leaps to be? All the bravery in the world failed to save her future. All the hope failed to find her friends. "I want to go home…," she whispers. But the truth is...home no longer exists. The future had changed. There was no home to return to, and there would never be again. And how long would she last, the pain at times threatened to drive her to her knees. How bad would it get? Could she survive it? And then as if summoned it comes again. Shards of agony down her arm and she hisses and grabs it.
"How...pathetic you are. Like all were beasts, once their fur and claws are gone."
Leaps eyes widen and she leaps around, claws wrapping around her sword and shield. "You," she whispers
Out of the shadows steps Xahrshi. Once he looked more like a vampire, but now he looks altogether different. Still vampire, but something much darker, much more. The werewolf bane...and he has come for her. If only she had returned to town. Perhaps she should, but the vampire gives her no time to use the amulet and he is on her in an instant. Too fast, much too fast and she tumbles to the ground with the Khajiit on top of her, shield and sword flying off into the dark.
-Rawl'ikha-
A ring of fire encircles Talshaza and Ri'Zakar. It was all the Dunmer woman could think of to do to try and protect the innocent, for her emotions were a hairbreadth of becoming out of control. If she lost control, she would be the one to hurt -Rawl'ikha, not the Reachman.
"Give up," Ri'Zakar snarls. "You do not have the power to take me. Perhaps once, but no longer. I am stronger than the first fire witch, I am stronger than you now!" A savage grin crosses his face. "One day, perhaps I will be stronger than the Mad necromancer." He lunges at her claws flashing and the two crash into the ground.
Talshaza rolls free and slams a fist on the ground, fire erupts and moves toward him. "I will not give up!" she cries. "You think I would just because you killed my brother? That only has made me more determined to STOP YOU."
The fire slams into the Khajiit and he growls as lightning bursts from his claws slamming into the fire. "You will lose. And if that was not enough…," a savage grin crosses his face. "Perhaps this will be enough for you to surrender. Your Argonian friend is not coming. Xahrshi hunts her. And all were beasts he hunts, die."
Talshaza freezes horror in her eyes. "Leaps," she breathes and then slams her staff against the ground causing a wave of fire between her and Ri'Zakar. She has to save her friend. Even if it means leaving the town to the beast's mercy the portal opens but before she can enter something leaps past the fire and she feels claws wrap around her neck.
"Hightide Hallow," a voice says as it drags her into the portal. The portal should take her to Leaps but she feels her will being twisted, feels the path change to someplace else.
-Reaper's March-
Leaps is crouched on the ground claws on her sword her eyes on the vampire. "Will not surrender," she hisses and with a growl, she jumps at the vampire, blade swinging.
The vampire smiles, and his eyes glow. An inhuman cry and Khajiit skeletons burst from the ground and latch onto her limbs, One's jaws lock onto her arm and she cries out and drops the sword. "Give in, beast," Xahrishi hisses and then looks at his skeletons. "Tear into her scales and flesh. But do not kill her."
The Khajiit skeleton's claws and jaws rip and tear as Leaps struggles to get free. But there are too many, and they are far stronger than they should be, as if they are the vampires will incarcerate. Blood splatters on the ground and at last it is too much for the Argonian and she throws her head back and howls. Her screams of pain only drive the skeletons to cause more damage, more pain. At last, the vampire holds up his hand and the skeletons sink back into the ground. Leaps falls onto her belly, eyes barely open, countless wounds oozing blood, and all the strength she has left. Death is a hairs-breath away, and yet she still claws at the dirt. Not wanting to give up, not even when she has not even the strength to rise.
"Strong," Xahrshi says as he stalks closer to her. "That will serve you well. You may yet survive what is to come, Leaps-With-Wolves." he opens a portal and grabs her tail.
Shards of fear course down her spine as an icy cold wind blows from the portal and her claws latch onto the ground for all she's worth. "You cannot take me there!" she hisses.
Xahrshi laughs as he drags her, her pale efforts useless in the face of his strength. "I am not bound to Coldharbour any longer, wolf. I will take you where I want." A glance back at her, near pity in those icy cold eyes of his. "I wanted this. But you...little wolf. You do not. Your mind will shatter. I wonder what will be left."
Leaps does not know all what his words mean, but she fights with all she has left to hold onto Nirn. To STAY in Nirn, but at last, the blood loss and pain overwhelm her, and her eyes slip closed. The last thing she hears is Xahrshi's laughter, the last thing she feels is the ice of Coldharbour.
-Imperial Sewers-
The ice of the depths no longer felt like home. Rel'ihala stumbled away from there, running until she found a small secluded room. Inside she collapses against the wall arms wrapped around her legs and head buried in her arms. The girl was gone because the girl was her, but she was Rel'ihala, not Nelina. But she was Nelina, and….but she could not be both! Both could not be true. Home was Coldharbour. Home was Imperial City. Both could not be true! The Daedra was her family, the Daedra murdered her family...both COULD NOT BE TRUE! "Goawaystopgoaway," Rel'ihala whispers. The assault of memories of two opposite truths was tearing her mind apart, and once more she throws her head back and screams.
Out of the shadows, a nightmare steps out, Spiders-In-Scales. The Argonian's eyes move over Rel'ihala and a fanged grin crosses his face as he reveals in her disjointed song. "Little girl," Spiders hisses. "Two songs so different cannot become one. All they can do is war against each other in jagged agony."
Rel'ihala stares at Spiders eyes wide. Within and without, she has been destroyed, caught, she is lost. "J...just kill me then," she whispers. "It is what you want."
Spiders moves to her and reach down to roughly pull Rel'ihala up, claws gripped tight enough on her arm to draw blood. "If Spiders wanted you dead, you would be," he hisses. "Silly little girl, your song would fall silent then. Spiders likes it. Such jagged disjointed harmony. Such bliss."
Rel'ihala stares into Spider's azure eyes, they seem to glow brighter, drawing her fear into them. "J..just go away!" she says.
The Argonian beast grips her arm tighter and his other hand moves to her neck, claws nearly breaking the skin. "You need to scream for Spiders. Show me all the jagged shattered bits," he hisses.
Fear grows in the Imperial's eyes as she tries to break free of his iron grip, but her struggles are weak and there is no chance of escape. All there is now...is agony and crimson blood.
-Skyrim-
Books knows she's headed toward Solitude, for she has emerged out of the ice fields into the grassy plains. Solitude...The place...part of her past, but all too familiar. A pang of loss in her spine which she pushes away. No time for the past. It has taken her most of the night to get this far, and there is still further yet to go. She must get back to Imperial City, she must find Rel'ihala and so she sets off, one foot in front of the other, until she's struck by shards of pain in her spine, enough to drop her to her knees. "Nonono," she hisses as she stares at her hand. The scales were vivid red, then glowing pink, now shimmering white. In horror, she knows what is happening. Rel'ihala is close to being lost...killed or worse. "Rel'ihala," Books whispers. Knowing she will never find her, never reach her in time. "I am sorry…"
-Imperial Sewers-
Still and dark. Quiet for time unknown. This is all Rel'ihala knows and then she wakes up. Shards of agony throughout her body, blood pooled under her body. Slowly she pushes herself up.
"You wake."
In panic, Rel'ihala tries to get up but she stumbles and falls against the wall sliding to the floor and staring up at her torturer. Spider's eyes are on her, her blood is on him. The world spins. "G...go away," Rel'ihala whispers.
Spiders smiles. "Tell me, what do you hear?" he asks her.
Rel'ihala opens her mouth and then closes it confusion written across her face. The world seems only shards of agony and fear but...gone is the screams in her mind, gone is the clash of disjointed truths. "I...I do not...understand," she whispers. "Ho..how is it quiet?" and then she struggles briefly and at last rises, back pressed to the wall.
The Argonian moves closer to her. "Pain is a delicious melody. Agony can drown out the noise," he replies. "I used to use it to hear Lorkhaj's song better, before."
The monster before her. Dread wrapped in agony. But it is so quiet in her head for the first time in what seems like forever, and a tear rolls down her cheek. She knows it cannot last. The pain will fade and then the war within will start anew. It has already shattered her, more will destroy her. Another tear, for she does not want to end that way. All she wants to do is BE Rel'ihala. "H…," she starts before stopping. Fear so profound, loss so utter, the void waiting to snatch her away again. To a place of screaming, of impossible truths, of annihilation of all she is. "H...help me," Rel'ihala whispers.
Spiders stills for a moment, satisfaction clear in his eyes and then he moves slowly toward her until he's close enough to touch and she flinches as his claws reach toward her face, catching a single tear in the tip. "Spiders can help. Help to show you a new song, help to forget," he hisses.
A shiver courses through her body and she winces as the quiet in her head starts to break apart. "Y..you have to hurt me to make it stop," she whispers. "Please...make it stop. I just want it to stop. I just want to be."
"So close to shattering into even more pieces," he responds. "If you do, you will never be free of it. But yes, Spiders can help. Say my name, Rel'ihala. Say you are Spiders."
Those azure eyes. Depths of agony and darkness that will swallow her whole. But the alternative is worse. To lose all she is to the broken bits of her heart and soul. "Spiders-In-Scales," Rel'ihala breathes. "Help me. I...I will be yours."
"The fear in your voice is melody itself," Spiders responds as he moves even closer to her, and his arms wrap around her and she feels the agony of his claws ripping into her back and she gasps in pain and whimpers. Spiders leans close to her ear and whispers so softly she can hardly hear it, "Pain and pleasure can be one and the same," he whispers. "Spiders will give you both. Over and over again until all your screams die, all your hated memories fade, and you will become anew, just as Spiders was. You will be free."
Rel'ihala arches back as once more pain envelops all she is and this time she welcomes it. It chases away the truths, the broken shards, all the swirling madness in her head, and just when she thinks agony is all there is, something new joins it. A different form of pain that swiftly turns into pleasure and she grasps Spiders back, her jagged fingernails biting into his scales as pain and pleasure mix and drown her utterly.
-Skyrim-
So close to Solitude, and yet so far away. But the pain strikes again, worse than before and Books falls to the ground. She tries to rise again, she really does. But shards of agony scales changing too fast to comprehend. She knows that Rel'ihala is lost. Knows failure. Knows despair. And then they come for her. Dunmer, Dres. Why here, why not? This is the Shadow Cats doing. It must be...but the will to fight is gone. Books closes her eyes and the last thing she feels is the sting of a dart and then nothing more.
-Stonefalls-
A cave filled with Assassin Beetles and lava. The rumbles of Ash Mountain. Talshaza tears herself away from her kidnapper and turns to face them, a look of fury on her face and then bewilderment. "You!?" she cries, staring at the Argonian. The same one she encountered six months ago in Reaper's March. The silent one, with a look of infinite loss in his eyes. "WHY?" she yells. "I need to help Leaps! She...she is all I have left."
Licks stares at her and shakes his head, the truth in his eyes. It is too late to save Leaps.
"No...NO," the Dunmer yells. "I do not believe you! I will go back to Reaper's March, I will find her, I will find Tervven and Rel'ihala too!"
Again the shake, again the same look the same truth. Too late to save them.
Talshaza stares at Lick's, tears welling in her eyes. She wants to scream, to deny everything...but the devastating truth is all too clear in the Argonian's eyes and she backs up until she hits the stone wall. "Why did this happen," she whispers. "How did I lose everything, everyone?"
Licks moves closer to her and rests a claw on her forehead the sounds of the cave still and she can hear his thoughts. ~Something...someone...that should not be broke things. Broke rules. Broke fate. Broke...everything.~
"So there is no more hope?" Talshaza whispers, unable to stop her tears.
~Very little. The rest are lost. We tried to save them. Shadows at every turn, we tried. We failed. If you are lost too...hope dies and this world is all there ever will be.~
A look of loss crosses the Dunmer's face. "I cannot do this. I...I am not strong enough. Not alone. And I am alone," Talshaza whispers.
~I know. And as long as Ri'Zakar hunts you, all is lost. He must stop his hunt.~
"He never will," she responds. "As long as I live, he will never stop."
A look of utter profane regret and sorrow crosses his face. ~Then...for a time, you must not live.~
Talshaza looks startled and then pushes the Argonian away, breaking the connection. "You were to help us! Not…," she trails off. They tried...just as she tried. Just as Leap's tried. Failed. Utterly.
Licks shakes his head and then opens his jaws. "Be not alive, be not truly dead. Still and cold as stone, until Ri'Zakar surrenders his hunt."
Talshaza has only a moment to stare into the Argonian's eyes before the power of his words takes her. The stone of the cave wraps around her body and her flesh becomes stone itself, her heartbeat stills, the life fades from her eyes and Lick's words become truth.
A moment passes and Licks gently wipes a tear from the stone statue that once was Talshaza. Forgive me, his eyes say and then he turns and opens a portal and steps through.
-Ash Mountain-
The portal opens onto the slopes of the volcano and Licks tilts his head back to stare at it. The pain in his spine is growing, by his own words, Talshaza is lost, and soon he will be lost too, he can hardly keep his jaws shut. If only...he could have used this power on them. The breakers of the world….he had tried once. Tried to command Lyssavi's infected creatures to halt, and when the Rabies Scourge showed up his power rebounded...and what happened not only was nightmarish, it had almost destroyed him. What he had done today, was the only way he knew of to save one of them, and all for the barest sliver of hope that somehow, someday… he closes his eyes and stands there for a moment. And then at last he can resit the curse no longer. He knows innocents will die now, but this will bury the cave that Talshaza rests in. No one will accidentally find her, and on the day she wakes, she will have the power enough to free herself. "Erupt," Licks says. One word, with all the power of destruction behind it, and the volcano obeys. A mighty crack and a roar and Licks is swallowed by the calamity his words have hearled in.
-Summerset-
Kinlord stands in front of the two Senche-Raht, hands behind his back. The two cats are shadows of their former self. Their fur was dull and molted, their eyes glazed, the glow gone. Alive but drained. Dying by slow agonizing incriminates. A moment later another Senche-Raht emerges from the shadows, fur as black as a moonless night, cunning and evil eyes. The cat circles the enclosure that traps the other two a feline grin on his face. "How far you have fallen. All that you are, shattered. Bright and Blessed, you are nothing any longer. The Hollow Dark is the only one free now. The only one that will BE," Hollow Dark gloats. "This one is now lord of the heavens, the only moon left. Soon you will be dust and bones, and soon so will your Khajiit."
Kinlord Vasuki smiles slightly. "To think such books existed to bring the heavens into corporal form. To think someone or something would make something that could leave them SO vulnerable," Vasuki remarks.
"If they had not been bound upon release they would not be such," Hollow Dark tells him. "They would be free like me. To be like THIS, or to cast their spirits to the heavens.
"That was per our agreement," The Altmer says.
Hollow Dark turns to circle the Kinlord and then stops in front of him. "Such a strange bargain. You released me and then asked for one thing, and agreed to doom my accursed brethren even if I could not grant it," the Senche-Raht says.
"I enjoy watching this world suffer," Vasuki replies. "And I know what I ask for is perhaps impossible," a small frown from the Altmer.
"For the moment, it is," Hollow Dark tells him. "To do what you ask, would very likely end up with this one destroyed or worse. But this one's power grows, and the four scourges of Nirn's power also grows. The Hollow Dark has made sure of this. So not now, no. But in the future…," he trails off. Not a promise, but a possibility.
"I can wait," Vasuki responds. "Years, decades, centuries if need be. I have managed this much in my current state, after all."
The Senche-Raht growls in agreement and then fades into the shadows. Moments later another cat emerges from them, Shadow-Whiskers, and she moves to the Kinlord and he glances at her. "Did you find them?" Vasuki asks her.
"Deep in the Cyrodiil mountains," the Khajiit responds with a purr. "What do you want me to do, now that I have found the little mice?"
The Kinlord is still and silent for long moments before answering. "So many things," he says at last. "And...nothing at all."
Shadow tilts her head in curiosity.
"Keep watch on them. Do not lose them, but do not let them know they are being followed. Plans...have been put into place," Vasuki says with a smile that promises pain.
"It will be done. Shadow-Whiskers shadows will watch them. No one ever sees the shadows...unless this one wants them to," she purrs.
Kinlord nods and then turns to look at Bright and Blessed. "Onto other matters, is it done?"
Shadow-Whiskers smiles a twisted dark smile. "All are lost. One...this one does not know how, but lost all the same. Without the chosen heroes, the fate of this world is at last fully sealed in darkness and agony, my Lord," she hisses happily. "The would-be saviors of Nirn never had a chance. You broke the rules, so this one could play with the mice," a delighted grin across her face. "This world, this future is all there ever will be now. No peace, no light, just darkness, pain, and despair."
Kinlord Vasuki has but one response to this, he throws his head back and laughs.
-Act One, Fin-
