-Somewhere in the Rift-
The faint crackle of thunder has Tyranius looking up at the lightning flashing in the distance, the Imperial is sitting on a log, helm on the ground and his face is drawn. Once that battle would have been nothing to him. But with Hircine's blessing cursed… A thoughtful look crosses his face. If he had known...he would not have changed it. The bear had helped him. The first time that faithful last battle. And then in his new life.
"Is it wise to let them be alone?" Shade asks him. The cat is as worn out as he, still recovering from the injury that had nearly sent her into the depths, and as for the others Talshaza had moved inside a cave as soon as the portal closed and Zirasha had run off into the storm, terrified screams of mammoths following in her wake.
"Girl needs to let off steam," Tyranius responds. "As for," he pauses and seems to give it some thought. "Fire mage, girls lost her friends to worse than death. Let them be kitty." And with that, he gets up and walks off into the storm as well.
Shade watches him go with a troubled look across her face. They seemed to be safe for now...the sun was up, even hidden by the storm. But… and then her eyes start to fall and she curls up under a tree. Something had brought them here. She had to trust this was a moment of safety...and in truth, she could no longer keep her eyes open.
Tyranius leans against a tree as he watches the scion tear rip and feast on mammoths. He should have let her be, but he found himself following her regardless. She was the last link to his past. To their pack, at least for now and so he keeps his eyes on her until at last she wears herself out and curls up next to one of the beast's carcasses falling asleep even as the rain starts to fall. The sight sends a pain through the grizzled warrior's heart. She was so close to a wild animal, so far from the Zirasha he had known and memories pulled at him, drawing him back to the past not too long after Wolfy had woken from her catatonic state and joined them in their mad war.
The roar of battle, the clash of steel, screams, and undead surging, glorious. A pause in the battle has Tyranius back to back with Jeziasi and his eyes fall on Pup, surrounded by undead eyes glowing blue as the Argonian raised the fallen enemies to his name and cause.
"You are his champion," Jeziasi says with a hint of vicious rage. He shrugs silently, he knows she knows this, just as they all know they are all bound to the Lord of Domination in one way or another. All of this, this war, may be Viperish Night's but The Prince was the source of it all. "And yet," she continues, "You fight for my son."
A stillness takes him at her words. They carry depths to them, and he understands their meaning and his gaze falls back to Pup. He had been ordered by his Prince to help Viperish Night, protect him, and carry out his will and war. But this was not...why? The Argonian had such power, able to bring the war he craved down to his marrow. THE war to eclipse all others. The last war, perhaps. But...Viperish Night, was also lost. Lost in darkness, in depths, in every way a being can be lost. A lost pup...and then this fierce Bosmer, who also was so very broken, came and thought to find him. And when she saw that saving him, was perhaps impossible, she did the unthinkable and turned her back on all she knew, all she WAS to stand by his side. To kill and slaughter, to wage war against all she once sought to protect, for HIM. She was willing to do anything for her son. It made Tyranius look harder, it made him… "Yes," he at last answers her. One single word but it carries so much. Somehow knowing Pup and Wolfy had changed something in him. Something he thought unchangeable. Yes, he had fought for Bal, once. For war, once. Yes, he still was the Daedric Prince's champion but his loyalty had shifted, so quietly that he almost did not notice it. But now...yes. He fought for Viperish Night, for THIS pack, Pup, Wolf, and Girl. And if he ever had to choose between Bal and them...well. A small smile under his helm. Damn the Prince to Oblivion if it ever came to that.
Jeziasi turned her head to look at him her fierce eyes holding understanding, she had heard the depths in that simple answer. In that moment trust was cemented between the two, a trust that would forever be unbroken.
He opens his eyes to the storm and this reality once more. "Damn it Wolfy, the goddamn rules are broken. Where are you and Pup?" he says, the crash of thunder the only answer to a question that was very nearly a plea.
Inside the cave, a small fire burns and Talshaza stares into it as if she could find answers in the flames. The flames that ensnared her, brought her to this fate and one of her hands drifts to the staff in front of her as if it can steady her. One moment in time she had Leaps, the hope of finding her other friends. The next, all had been lost. Five years gone in a blink as she slept. As she fell closer to death because she could not bear to wake as if a part of her knew… the Dunmer's eyes closed. The world had fallen, but still...hope. It had been her and Leaps against the world. Searching for their friends, fighting against the dark, and holding onto hope despite it all. And then the hellish night in which all was lost. Cast in deathless sleep...to wake up to a world where hope was all but lost. Where all her friends were lost in the dark. Beyond reach, beyond saving...at least in this reality. This future. If they could...it was the only hope left. The only thing that kept her going and slowly she lowered her head. Trying to be strong despite the blows that kept coming. She had to be strong now, had to lock her emotions away lest they drown her. Be more the flame and fire than she had ever let herself BE. And then as if hearing her commitment flames burst into life all around her and a voice echoes from them. "It is not so easy, is it?"
Her eyes snap open. It is not the long lost voice of Iveryni, but something else and she rises as a figure appears in the flames, crimson eyes glowing from a daedric face and she snatches her staff and leaps up, and then her eyes widen as a jolt passes through her. "It knows you," she breathes.
"It knows me, for I trained the original bearer of that staff," the Daedra says and then his face contorts with pain as the flames pulse and he fades from from view for a moment before returning.
Talshaza thinks for a moment. All the things the spirit of Iveryni taught her and told her. Memories of the fallen hero as well. "Deimyite," she says.
"Who I am matters not," Deimyite responds. "What I must impart to you, is what matters," he pauses as another flash of pain crosses his face. "Nirn and Oblivion have been linked since time immortal, perhaps always. Beyond memory even of beings such as I. But what mere mortals did… when they shattered the moons it shattered the links between Nirn and Oblivion. Fragments remain, powers wax and wane, some of the realms are farther from Nirn than others, although not by distance...just putting it in words you might understand."
Understanding dawns on her face. Why there had been no interference from any Prince, why…, "But three of the ones who did this are bound to Princes," she says with a small frown.
"Bound?" The Daedra laughs. "Xahrshi was a mere peon, Lyssavi's only master is his curiosity, and Spiders was drawn to Lorkhaj more than the one who remade him. Bal, Namira, and Peryite had no part in what their mortals did. And now…," his arms move apart, "Now they are living gods in their own right. Just as those three Dunmer did. Is it no wonder they hide? If they were not taken out." A look of fury crosses his face. "There is TOO much we do not know."
She steps closer to the flames. "Oblivion in some ways needs Nirn," she says. "To worship, to play, to…" a frown on her face.
"I would not go THAT far," he says. "Not yet. But you are correct. As much as mortals hate it, our realms are linked. But Nirn could exist without Oblivion. My Prince is not so certain Oblivion could exist without Nirn. It would be...so much less fun at any rate."
Confusion crosses her face. "This is not something any Prince would want," she says. "Then how did the Scourges and Kinlord Vasuki DO all of this?"
An approving look on his face that she knew the final player of this game, "They are mere mortals. Or was in the case of the scourges," he responds. "There are...artifacts from Oblivion and stranger places upon Nirn. Some with the power to shift the balance of the world. Such as what the Mad Necromancer had thanks to Bal."
"But it is not that simple," she responds. "There is always something to stop people like that. Fate, heroes, Princes interfering, and more."
"Yes," he says with a grim smile. "So how did a mortal upend the board? How did a mortal stay fate's hand, how did a mortal escape notice from the Princes? HOW."
"You do not know," she responds. "Neither do we." she frowns. "So why are you here? Just to tell me the paths are gone? That no Prince had a hand in this?"
"That would not be worth the cost my Prince has asked me to pay," he responds. "And my time is almost up. Head me, Talshaza Dralith, bearer of Iveryni Rathnil's power, unconsumed by the dark that took your allies, the LAST there ever will be of fates chosen. Hermaeus Mora KNOWS something. Something you must know. Something WE do not know. His watcher came to the Deadlands for even though you are free of the binds that held Iveryni and her power, your power comes from us. Only one of Dagon's could reach you. A cave deep in the rift under the large body of water. A link to Apocrypha exists still, but not for much longer. It is costing the Prince of Knowledge much to keep it open." And with those words, the Daedra throws his head back and roars as the flames consume all he is and he ceases to be forevermore.
As the flames die down she stares at the spot the Daedra had been. At all, he had told her and then she turned and ran out of the cave.
Like a silent shade, Rufico walks past the slaughtered mammoths until he reaches the scion curled up against the furry body of her prey, her eyes open but turned inward and he stills not getting too close and takes a look around notices Tyranius nearby sleeping against a tree before returning his gaze to Zirasha. "Before you could call us. Pact with us, and the Void and Sithis would follow," Rufico whispers and then glances up at the dark clouds and the rain that still falls from them. "We both want her dead. Again and again, as many times as it takes, until the Void devours her soul. Even though...the act will never bring back my light. And will not bring back whatever she took from you." Zirasha shudders slightly at his words and lowers her head her head falling to cover her eyes as her claws rake the ground then clench digging into her flesh. "Too strong," Rufico continues. "My blade failed. Your claws failed." a dark look crosses his eyes. "They will have us follow them in some abysmal chance this can be undone?" his hand clenches. "For now I follow, a shade of who I was. Darkness without end or light. But if I get the chance, SHE DIES, no matter what." a small smirk crosses his face without a trace of mirth. "We are on the same page on this, are we not?" The vampire glances up at him eyes filled with despair and blood-lust and she slowly nods. Rufico returns it before vanishing once more into the shadows.
Zirasha turns back to her prey as he vanishes and runs her claws through the mammoth's fur as her eyes clench shut and she bows her head. Slashes of memory assault her, crimson fog and night, screams, blood heavy in the air. Pain...and then the agony that followed. With a toss of her head, she opens her eyes and screams up at the sky, at the day that hides the crimson moon. It had not been enough, it NEVER was enough to reach through the broken shards and crimson. The way was closed and she could never follow. All she could do was scream and rage and fall ever further into the monster, for at least then the memories faded on a tide of blood and wildness.
Tyranius bolts up and gazes helplessly at the vampire. The raw pain and despair in her voice. Leaps-With-Bats had taken something from her. Just as the Reachmen had taken from him. The agony in her...that was why he had not told her, could not tell her. Just who Leaps-With-Bat's had been before being captured and drowned in the depths. Just who her father was. "Damn it," he swears as he turns and walks back to the camp, and after long moments, Zirasha follows.
Talshaza and Shade are waiting for them back at camp, Shade with a sleepy look on her face. "I know where to go," Talshaza says and proceeds to tell them what has happened. What Deimyite had told her. Long moments pass as her companions take it in.
"Makes sense," Tyranius says with arms folded. "Some of it. Not sure how this damn Altmer got the power to do all of that. Figured he had a Prince's backing."
"Are we sure he does not?" Shade asks.
The Dunmer nods. "It would not benefit any Prince to lose Nirn. But to the how of it…" she glances around. "We need to speak to Mora. We need to get to the bottom of the lake before the way closes. We cannot change anything if we do not know how Kinlord broke unbreakable rules." A haunted look crosses her eyes as Deimyite's words echo back to her. The Last of Fates chosen. As if fate...had fallen even before the moons shattering."
Shade's whiskers twitch and she looks at Tyranius. "I have not been out in the world as long as you after the shattering. It took so long to find a way out of my prison and even longer to find Talshaza. I...heard talk in my travels from others. That...it is not JUST the Prince that has gone silent. Some say that the Nines had abandoned Nirn."
"Same thing," Tyranius answers. "The Nine was always the quiet sort, compared to the Prince's but…" he trails off for a moment. "Don't put much thought into them, but others did. Talked to one, once on my way to the Reach. Claimed he could always feel Kyne's presence. But after the Moons shatter." he shrugs. "Gone."
A chilling silence. Enough that the paths between the planes of Oblivion and Nirn had been shattered, but if even the Nine Divines blocked from Nirn? A look crosses Shade's face. "The...Living Gods. They were not cast away too were they? If they were...How will we EVER get to Clockwork City?"
"By…," Talshaza trails off. "Shade, you know how to get back."
Shade looks down then takes out a small orb. "It used to shine with stars," she whispers. "But it has been dark since the shattering. It would have taken us back."
"Damn it Shade," Tyranius swears. "When were you going to tell us?"
She raises her gaze to the Imperial. "There are other paths back. I know them. One HAS to work. It has to," Shade responds.
"And if it does not, all this is for naught," a voice comes as Rufico steps from the shadows a dark look upon his face. "I will not help you if it keeps me from my vengeance," his gaze turns to Tyranius. "You cannot trust in this, can you?
The Imperial meets his gaze with steel. "I chose them over my revenge," he answers.
"Tell me you are not regretting that," the assassin hisses.
Tyranius glances at Zirasha. "Found one of my pack. Never would have if I made a different choice," he responds. Unspoken is his hope...that perhaps they will find Pup and Wolfy as well. "If we fail, we die. But I'll die with pack. Old and new."
"I remember when you were as cold-blooded as they come," Rufico spits and then turns his gaze upon the rest of them. "Do what you want. But if your path splits from mine, I will not make the same choice HE did." and with that, the assassin fades into the shadows once more.
Silence for a moment then Tyranius grabs his battle-ax and turns. "Lakes this way," he says and starts walking. Shade and Talshaza follow right away but Zirasha looks back at the shadows for a long moment before she too follows.