-Blackwood-
Twilight has long since passed, but still, Spiders-In-Scales walks. The dark is more at home than the light. More fitting for what he is now and as the moons rise, not yet full but still bright he glances up at them, his eyes shifting to ebony black as he stares at them and slowly comes to a halt. The moons...they should be... he hisses under his breath. No, not the moons. Something is wrong and with a single motion of his claw, a spider wreathed in shadows appears. "Spiders is being followed," he hisses softly. "Go find them. Tell me where they are so I can ask them..." a ghastly grin crosses his scaled face. "Ask them why they dare." The spider melts into the shadows at his words.
Rel'ihala quickly kneels in the grass as soon as the strange Argonian pauses. Had he noticed her following him? She had been very quiet, very careful. Long moments pass and then at last the Argonian continues on his way and after a time she rises and continues to follow him, her curiosity unabiding. Why did she feel the need to follow this creature? Her attention solely focused on him, she does not notice the shadows moving behind her as the shadowy spider appears and follows her.
-?-
A house, long since abandoned. Dust covers every corner, and the furniture is broken and scattered. Insects and spiders crawl in the dark corners, and one spider dares to scuttle near one of the three sleeping Argonians. Cheese's orange hand shoots out and grabs it, and stuffs it in his mouth, where it is devoured. Books rolls over in her sleep nearby, her scales having changed to a vivid glowing pink as soon as she fell asleep, and Licks sleeps on his belly with a strap across his snout.
In the corner cross-legged and unsleeping, is Stratos Firn. An amused smile crosses his face at Eats-Sheogoraths-Cheese's desire to devour things, even as he sleeps. And then the smile falls and a look of puzzlement crosses his face as he tilts his head. "The butterflies scream," he quietly says.
Cheese and Books remain asleep, but Licks-Dagon-Horns eyes bolt open and he rises and approaches the crazy Breton. The two's eyes lock for long moments before Licks removes the strap from his snout and nods. Stratos flicks his fingers and a blue portal opens and without a sound, the silent Argonian passes through.
-Blackwood-
The ebony black of his eyes shifts to a glowing red as Spiders-In-Scales walks. All his shadow creation sees, he sees. Another sinister smile crosses his face as he approaches a turn in the road. Such a young woman that follows him. Imperial...oddly enough dressed in Saxhleel armor...and foolish enough to follow him. As he walks around the bend he quickly moves behind a tree. "Let her see you soon," he hisses at the shadow spider.
Rel'ihala moves carefully around the turn in the road and pauses when there is no sign of the Argonian. Puzzlement in her eyes and then a chitter behind her and she spins around taking in the sight of the shadowy spider, it's many eyes glowing crimson red. A low spine chilling hiss behind her has her head turning as Spiders-In-Scales moves from behind the tree.
"You follow Spiders," Spiders-In-Scales hisses. "I could ask why. But you may lie. Pain first, then you will tell me." A swift motion has him withdrawing a blade with serrated edges. Rel'ihala withdraws her blade and the moonlight illuminates the blue-silver blade, and the strange bands that cover both arms, and Spider's tilts his head staring at them. "Bones. You are strange, girl. Let's play."
-Shadowfen Southern Border-
The fire is fading embers and the three sleep around it as the sounds of night and marsh echo around them. A soft blue glow some distance away appears and Licks-Dagon-Horns steps out of the portal before it closes. Silently he approaches the camp and stops a few paces away studying the group around the fire. Leaps-With-Wolves is the first to awake and she stares at him in shock. How had he gotten so close without her wolf knowing? Slowly she starts to hiss awakening the others. Talshaza sits up slowly, her hand moving to her staff as she blinks sleepily. Tervven grumbles without opening his eyes, "Could you keep your animistic noises to yourself?" Leaps hisses only get louder and he, at last, opens his eyes and starts up only to fall backward. Licks watches them all then slowly starts walking toward them.
-Blackwood-
A blur of movement and Spiders-In-Scales springs at Rel'ihala. A jagged slash a splash of blood and she leaps back in shock. Their blades clash with such force the Imperial's blade is knocked out of her hands and she retreats slightly. "So fast," she hisses as she stares at him. The moment their blades crossed fear coursed down her arm. Why she lost the blade. That must be why, but she does not fear anything. With a angry growl she adds, "But do not think me weak! I have more then a sword at my command!" The bone armbands rattle and necromantic flash of blue have them flowing down from her arms onto her hands, forming wicked claws. At Spider's shock, she surges forward, this time it is his blood that splatters to the ground. The two then circle each other, much warier now. "Who are you?" she asks. "What are you?"
The Argonian laughs and his eyes shift to deep violet. "What. I like that. Spiders are not like the other Argonians. Spiders are THIS!" He dashes at her again and serrated edges meet bone as the two clashes in the moonlight, their blood black in the night.
-Shadowfen Southern Border-
Leaps-With-Wolves has risen and faces the silent intruder. "What do you want?" she hisses in question.
In response, Licks-Dagon-Horns raises his claws and a portal opens behind the group. With a gesture of his claws, he indicates they should enter. But before Leaps can respond, Tervven leaps up and withdraws his ax. "NO! Do you think I am idiotic enough to do what a lizard tells me to? I AM HOUSE DRES AND I DO NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM FETCHERS."
Lick's eyes never leave leaps, utterly ignoring Tervven's outburst and threat. Again, he gestures. Talshaza turns her head to regard the portal. Remembering the moment she fell from the cliff. Before she closed her eyes in fear, she saw a flash of blue light.
"Why?" Leaps asks him. "We must have reason, for we have no reason to trust you."
A look of impatience crosses Licks' face and once more he gestures.
-Blackwood-
Rel'ihala backs away from Spider's, breath ragged. Many cuts, but one is deep enough to coat her arm with blood. Both bone claws shattered to pieces. This Argonian is strong, too strong. Unnaturally strong. And it is not only that. As they fought a sense of utter terror wars with her fighting nature to such a degree that it makes strength vanish, knowledge of her unusual mage-craft to vanish. "What...kind of name is Spiders?" she asks, trying to stall him until she can think of a way to fight this terror he oozes like poison.
"Spiders-In-Scales," The Argonian hisses. "My Lady named me thus. She took away Dulls, and made me this. THIS monster that hears the song of shadows, of the dark!" A laugh follows this as he stalks towards her.
The words do not make much sense to her. But the brief moment it bought her is enough to grasp a fraction of the will within her. With a burst of energy, bones erupt from the ground and glow with unholy fire as she throws them at him in jagged shards.
Spider's laughs again as his eyes change to burning orange and he charges into the barrage knocking the bones away with sword and hand, seemingly uncaring of the wounds inflicted upon him by the shards. She backs up but with a burst of speed and he's in front of her, claws wrapping around her throat as he slams her against a tree. "Little girl," he hisses. "Thought to be curious about Spiders? Thought I would not see you, hear your song of curiosity? " he asks and then laughs as she struggles in his grip. "I hear everything," and then he tilts his head. "At times the songs clash and scream but I find my way through."
Rel'ihala digs her fingernails into his scaled hands struggling, even as the strength slowly fades from her. How can this thing be this strong? She fought against so many in her training. But this...how could have all the training she had, all the strength she had, vanish? Tremors pass through her. She thought she had faced nightmares before, but this Argonian, or whatever he truly was, was something else utterly. Something that had managed to cause unknown fear to course through her, sapping her strength. "What... do you want?" she asks and then falls silent. That is not what she meant to ask.
"Curious until your last breath," Spiders hisses. "Spider's will grant your last wish, little girl." His claws tighten in promise as he leans in closer to her. "Spiders wishes to hear the melody of your screams. Then perhaps I can find that one melody I hear in the dark that the one with azure eyes sings. Spiders needs that song. I want it so I can make them dance to that melody, drown in it. The melody of the dark, that will be my crescendo." At the fear in the eyes he laughs and raises the knife with his other hand. "Now scream, little girl, until you die and fade into Oblivion!"
-Shadowfen Southern Border-
"No!" Tervven once more says. At Leap's hiss he growls back at her. "Damn Lizard cannot even talk! You want to do what he suggests?"
"Perhaps we should," Talshaza says. "The blue light... the same as the portal. Maybe he saved me."
"NO!" Tervven snaps again.
Licks-Dagon-Horns eyes fill with anger as he, at last, focuses on the angry Dres and then he turns back to Leaps and his eyes start glowing and she stills utterly, entranced. Slowly he opens his snout. "Hunt," he commands, his voice dripping with cursed power.
Leaps throws her head back and screams, the scream quickly turning into a howl as she transforms into the wolf and turns on the two Dunmer. With a ferocious growl, she leaps at Talshaza who is frozen in place in shock. Tervven turns and grabs the female Dunmer and the two fall back into the portal, the werewolf leaping back on them. The portal then snaps shut and Licks turns his back silently and fades into the swamp.
-Blackwood-
The knife halts in midair as the portal opens spilling two Dunmer out on the grass near the tree, a werewolf close behind. Spiders tilts his head and then lets go of Rel'ihala who sinks to her knees. Slowly he steps toward the werewolf who has turned on both of them, enticed by the scent of fresh blood. "More screams for Spiders?" he hisses and then tilts his head and lowers his blade. "My Lady says not to fight you. Not now." And with that, he turns as a dark portal opens and swallows him.
The werewolf turns on the Imperial next and Rel'ihala staggers to her feet. This was a monster she knew how to fight, even in her weakened state. Flashes of memories of her mentor, how to stun a werewolf for a brief amount of time. And so as the werewolf leaps for her, she raises her fist and slams it into the wolf's muzzle sending it staggering backward. What remains of her bone bands forms a dagger.
"Stop! Please." Talshaza cries out as she staggers up and moves closer.
The Imperial hesitates. Something she never does. Something she knows better to do. But something stays her hand and as the dagger falls to pieces the wolf falls back, fur melting until just an Argonian remains. Leaps sinks to the ground breathing raggedly and then falls to her side, claws clutching at the grass as she whimpers slightly. Talshaza races to her side, kneeling beside her.
"Who are you people?" Rel'ihala whispers before she backs up and sinks to the ground leaning against the tree as the world spins around her.
Tervven spent the whole time staring in a daze at the conflict. And then his eyes move upwards, to the moons above. "So bright," he says and then he grunts and falls to his hands and knees.
Talshaza turns to Tervven but it is Leaps that staggers up. "Go to the woman. I will help Tervven," Leaps hisses as she moves to the Dres.
The Dres's hands grip the grass as he shakes. "No!," he says with a strangled cry. "I...deny this. I DENY THIS!" The last word more of an animalistic growl then mer as his hands clench the ground fighting the change that wants to devour him body and soul.
Leaps kneels in front of him. "Not now, It is not yet time to change," she says. "Calm. Be calm and move from the wild river."
Tremors course through him till at last, they stop, and the change retreats. With a strangled gasp he falls to his side. "You...," he whispers. "You have to fix this. Please. I will not, I can not be this!"
Leaps eyes close as pain wracks her spine. The Dres are the stuff of nightmares for Argonians. Brutal, so sure in their right to enslave others. But this young man...he was Dres, but the pain and despair in his voice cut through everything else as he asked, no begged her to undo her mistake upon him. "We... will find a shrine to Prince Hircine. Perhaps if we ask... perhaps." she, at last, says, knowing in her spine that Hircine, Lord of the wild hunt is merciless. The chances he would undo this are less than a drop in the river. But if she can ease this mer's pain for a moment...it is all she can think of to do.
After some snarling Rel'ihala at last lets the female Dunmer bind her wounds and when she is done, the Dunmer's eyes fall upon her friends, the Imperial's eyes following. "You are...not a werebeast too are you?" Rel'ihala asks. At Talshaza's shake of the head, her expression turns puzzled. "Then why? They are dangerous. My mentor taught me as much. Taught me to be wary of them, taught me how to..." she trails off.
The Dunmer turns back to her studying the Imperial more carefully. The woman had a lost look in her eyes, the same look they all shared. Knocked asunder from their course in life, to be put on an utterly different road. With no road map, no way to know why. "We are all lost," Talshaza says at last, "All being guided towards something. We were brought to you."
The Imperial looks at her. "What? So you.. just want me to be lost with you?" Rel'ihala says. "I do not even know you!"
The Dunmer rises and looks down at her. "Then you will return home? If you are lost, that is what one does." Talshaza says. Not adding that is only if one can return home.
Anger flashes across the Imperials face and she staggers up and turns towards the other two then back at Talshaza. The strange feeling that got her exiled from home, that made her follow the monstrous Argonian, that made her still her hand with the werewolf. "I...Zen'la sent me away. The damn dreams that are not mine that plague me. The damn feeling inside of me that told me to leave. What am I to do?" Rel'ihala says and then leans against the tree eyes closed. "I am Rel'ihala. For all I know and do not know, for lack of any other path before me, I will come with you."
Leaps walks up to the two, studying their new ally and then turning to Talshaza. "We must find a safe place for the night. Help Tervvan. He would not accept it as well from me." Leaps says. "I will help..." she tilts her head, hearing the Imperials name, and finding it very unusual. "Rel'ihala."
Talshaza nods and moves to Tervvan helping him up. He leans on her heavily. "This...never happened," Tervvan says, eyes half-closed.
"I do not need help!" Rel'ihala spits when Leaps comes to help her. "I am strong enough to walk on my own." And then with a stumble her eyes close and she nearly falls, Leap's barely managing to catch her.
"Yes," Leaps agrees as the Imperial leans against her. "You are walking on your own. Perhaps I am the one that needs the help." And with that, the four walk off into the moonlight.