-?-
The portal snaps shut leaving Talshaza and Shade in bitter cold and icy rain. "What?" Shade hisses as she shivers. She meant to take them someplace safe. Not...wherever here was. A glance around reveals darkness lit by the crimson light of the night, jagged rocks, and dirt. Shade tries to open another portal and then looks at the Dunmer woman. "I...do not know where we are. I cannot open another portal."
Talshaza is silent the overwhelming torture and grief written all over her face and then she too tries to open a portal and fails. "I cannot either," she whispers. "This place fights magic." And with that, she hangs her head down and it cannot be known if it is rain or tears running down her face.
Moments of silence until the silence is broken by growls in the shadows all around them and Shade hisses and draws out a short sword ready to fight. But a glance at her companion shows the Dunmer not reacting to the danger, just standing there as if she's given up. Right then Shade knows she must make a choice, as risky as it was. "We can change this."
"How?" Talshaza whispers. "My friends lost. All I know is lost. Beyond any hope of saving."
"The smallest smallest chance...," Shade replies moving in front of the Dunmer and looking her in the eyes. "That we can… undo all of this."
Shock crosses the Dunmer's eyes but not yet hope. "How is that possible?" Talshaza whispers.
How much to tell her… but if they were to fight together… "I...am guardian of something in Clockwork," Shade tells her. "Sotha Sil appointed me, had me trained. The thing I guard is unrelated but because of my training, my access to places most do not have access to, I know things about Clockwork that many do not, not even those who have lived there for so very long," Shade pauses and then continues. "It would go against Sotha Sil. Against the rules, against nature, against fate itself. But...someone ALREADY did that. It is why all this happened!"
Talshaza stares into Shade's eyes. Seeking for a lie, then searches for hope, and a tear falls from her eye. "W..we can save Leaps? Tervven, Rel'ihala, my brother? We can save the world from THIS?" she asks.
"Maybe," Shade says. "The smallest chance in all the world. A grain against a desert, a drop against the ocean. But we cannot TRY until we know who did this. To undo this...we must know who has the power to alter fate itself, who is not bound by any rules at all...and how."
The growls from the night grow louder as they get closer and Talshaza at last reaches for her staff a flicker of hope in her eyes. "For Leaps...for my brother...for all of the lost and damned, I will fight and try until my dying breath" the Dunmer swears.
A fierce grin crosses Shade's face. "Then let us not die here," the Khajiit says as the night comes alive with creatures from the shadows and nightmares. Durzogs...but twisted and wrong by the darkness and the battle is joined.
Shards of pain, splashes of blood, dead Durzogs upon the ground but more keep coming and the two women are pushed until their backs are to a sheer cliff wall. "Too many," Talshaza says as she slams her staff into the skull of another. "And I still cannot call by fire. Even at night, it should come...but this place…"
This place… was tainted. All the world was, but the darkness was all consuming here, it felt like drowning in an ocean of neverending black, even the last flashing clockwork device she had failed to stop the tide. "We...we cannot give up," Shade hisses as her sword slashes down another of the creature's neck.
Unearthly howls from the beasts as more come and just when all seems lost a figure leaps from the cliff into the mist of the Durzogs. Dressed in Reachman armor with a feathered helm and an enormous battle ax in his hands the stranger fells waves of the creatures opening a hole in the horde. "Follow," he tells the woman and turns and runs into the night, and with fresh growls growing closer the two have little choice but to follow the Reachman. The Durzog chase after them but once they pass strange totems the creatures stop as if thrown against a barrier the Reachman leads them to a small but tightly guarded enclave and the man barks a strange passphrase and a small window opens. "Brought back some company, Valkezo?" A voice leers.
"Mine," The Reachman says.
"Greedy bastard," the voice replies but opens the gate nonetheless. "You get bored of them let me know."
Valkezo turns his head to look at them and only the smallest glimpse of dark eyes can be seen. Eyes that tell them to trust him. "Keep close. Do not try to escape," he says.
Shade growls softly but Talshaza moves past her to follow. With little other option, they follow him into the enclave.
Valkezo leads them past the rest of the camp until they get to a hut set apart from the others and once inside he locks the door and sets candles alight. As he reaches for his battleaxe to hang it up his hand starts to shake and it drops to the ground with a clatter. "Damn it," he swears as he takes out a small vial and lifts his helm slightly to take a swig before putting it away and sitting in a chair and he gestures for the two women to do the same. "They cannot hear us in here."
Shade glances around. One door locked. No windows. A small one-room hut with a bed in the corner upon the ground and a few short chairs scattered. The Khajiit slowly sits down, followed by Talshaza. "You do not want them to hear?" Shade asks.
He turns his gaze to her. "You are not among friends," he says darkly, and as both women reach for weapons he holds up a hand. "I am not your enemy, but they are. They...worship The Werewolves Bane. They consider him a god. And you know where vampires come from." The meaning is clear. If not for his protection…what would happen to them would be worse than death.
"Then why are you dressed as they are?" Talshaza asks. She had cast careful glances around as they were led here. The Reachman all wore animal helms. Bear, fox, deer, and more. And this man is no different in his feathered helm.
Valkezo is silent for long moments regarding both before answering. "Think I am one of them. Think I brought you two here...for my entertainment." the last word filled with disgust, but even that is not enough to stop Shade from growling in threat. Again he holds up a hand and takes off his helm to reveal not a Reachman but a rugged Imperial face with sunken dark eyes a patchy beard and a scar down the side of his face.
Shade crosses her arms. "That is not enough. Other races are Reachman. And you said these are very bad. We need more."
Dark eyes look at her and then at Talshaza who's watching him carefully, one hand on her staff and he frowns slightly. "Gonna ask a question about that later," he says and then turns back to Shade. "Members of my...clan were taken by this clan of Reachman over a year ago. Tracked them down to the Reach."
The man's voice is emotionless, his eyes cold as he tells them this. But a glimmer of something else in those eyes catches Talshaza's eyes. "Someone you care for deeply," Talshaza breathes.
The Imperial swallows and changes the subject. "Why are you two foolish enough to be in Xahrshi's territory?" he asks.
"Accident," Shade says. "The portal misaligned."
"Should not have been foolish enough to open it at night then," he replies.
What would have happened if they had not? It is far too much for Talshaza and she stands and turns her back. Unwilling to let this stranger see the tears in her eyes. "She would have…," she whispers, and then all that has happened breaks something inside of her. "How can that be Leaps? HOW?"
The Imperial looks a tiny bit startled. "You ran into Xahrshi's crazed experiment and lived?" he says. "No one does that. No one. She's more than a little half mad and a damn fiend. Needs to be put down."
The Dunmer whirls on the man. "SHE WAS GOOD!" Talshaza snaps and then her face falls. "She was my friend. My best friend. I...I could not save her. Could not save anyone."
Shade glances at the Dunmer giving her a look. It is not wise to reveal too much information to a man they do not know, and cannot trust. But it is too late now and a knowing look crosses the Imperials eyes. "Your Talshaza," he says. "Destroyer of Khajiits prey. Alive not dead, as the world thinks."
"You know too much," Shade hisses.
The Dunmer looks at Shade. "The portal brought us here for a reason," she says and then turns back to the man. "I was...in a manner of speaking."
He studies her carefully before scowling. "Damn it," he swears. "Makes sense, but damn it."
"What makes sense?" Shade says.
The man leans back with a sigh and is quiet for long moments. "Know the truth. Known it for over a month. They don't take prisoners. I…" a lost look crosses his eyes. "She's gone. I just...was going to wait for the right moment. The last moment. Drink the whole bottle, call the bear one last time, and kill as many of these bastards as I could before I fell. But you two showed up. Damn it. Damn, fate."
Both Talshaza and Shade stare at him. The truth now revealed. He is one of Hircine's creatures. "How?" Shade asks. "I would not think that was possible"
"Little potion she made for me. Kept me going, not healthy, but going," he responds. "Was smart. Strong. Better than me by far, my Bjarva."
Talshaza moves to sit back down. "So many of those we love are gone. Or...or worse than gone," she whispers. "Part of me yearns to release and let my fire bloom and destroy all the darkness around me before it destroys me as well. But…" she glances at Shade. To trust this man, must be up to the Khajiit.
Shade studies the Imperial carefully. How hard he hides his emotions, but when he spoke the sorrow echoed. A man without hope, without anything left to live for but revenge. But a man who was also strong enough to live this long after the curse of Hircine became poison with the Moons shattering. Who recognized fate for what it was. Something had led them HERE, to him. "The smallest hope in this ocean of darkness," Shade whispers.
A strange look comes across the Imperials face. "Light in the dark even if it is just a drop," he breathes. "Enough to move worlds, enough to save the damned." A determined look crosses his face. "I am Tyranius Vivicus. You will not know that name, no one would." he says. "Had a pack once. We were lost in the dark. Liked it. Till this damn, Bosmer had the nerve to show us the light." A small faint smile. "She was not like us. Good...not pure like those stupid stories, but still a hero. Lost in different ways than us, willing to throw everything she had away for our Pack Leader. For her son." he stops and folds his arms. "You two got me talking. Do not do that," he says.
The story rings in Talshaza's mind bringing her thoughts to the past, of stories over campfires, before all was lost, before Leaps was lost. Stories the Argonian told of her future, an unusual family, and their past of darkness. Of their names, names forgotten from the world. "Jeziasi," the Dunmer breaths.
Tyranius startles. "How?"
A tear falls from her eye. "You...of course you do not know. Most do not. Leaps… she used to be Leaps-With-Wolves. She's from the future. At least...the future that should have been. She is Keerasi-Zish's daughter."
A brief glimmer of shock in his eyes and then he stands up. "Not gonna ask your plan," Tyranius says. "I owe Jeziasi everything. And Keerasi-Zish," a look crosses his face. "If what you are doing has the chance to save his daughter… you have my help, and my life until the end."
Shade rises and makes the choice for the second time. "We can undo this," she says. "The smallest imaginable chance, and we need much before we can do it but...Clockwork has something that can undo this. Something I should not know about. Something Sotha Sil would not want us to use. But I am going to."
A small smirk from the Imperial. "Less than zero chance Jeziasi could reach her son could change anything. Yet she did, and he rose up to save us all and undo what he and the darker part of him had wrought. What do you need?" Tyranius asks.
"To find out who did this," Shade says. "And how. They broke the rules, they are OUTSIDE the rules."
Tyranius moves and grabs his battle ax. "Dawns breaking. Open your portal and let's get going." A look at the door and a flash of rage. "Want to kill these bastards? But…" a look crosses his face. Undo all of this, and SHE will be alive again. His fiery Red-Headed Nord who had taken him in, despite his past, which he had told her the first moment they met. Revenge… never did get his pack anywhere but in the depths. So he turns his back on it.
Talshaza rises and her fingers sketch patterns into the air and a portal opens. "I do not know where we should start," she says. "So I will take us where I saw a hero, once upon a time. Even if...only sorrow lies down that road." she enters the portal followed by her two companions.