- Talshaza -
Reveal. The word uttered by the Argonian, the word that bristled with power, and then there was the portal, ripped open in desperation in the night that warps magic. One moment there was blinding light, her hand gripping Shade, and then her grip was ripped away and she fell into darkness.
When Talshaza opens her eyes she finds herself in a meadow with vivid green grass and flowers, the sun high in the sky, warm and inviting. As her hand moves over the grass a sense of familiarity flows over her and as she rises a butterfly passes by and when she reaches for the creature it makes no notice of her at all. "This… is a dream," she says. Recognizing the peace of it, the impossibility of it.
Soft laughter drifts in the wind and she finds herself moving towards it. When she reaches the sound she sees an Altmer couple sitting together on a blanket, a picnic lunch spread out around them. The female has a small bird perched on her hand eating seeds in her palm. "Neran, look. He is so cute."
With a start, Talshaza moves closer. The two are unaware of her presence as she moves closer as her eyes take in the male Altmer. His features are the same, and yet he seems so different in this moment. At peace, without a hint of malice on his face. "Do not tell me you want one, Niryion," he responds. "Last week, it was a Gryphon you desired."
"I love them, Neran" Niryion declares. "So mighty, and so graceful."
Neran pretends to pout. "More than me?"
Her soft laughter sends the small bird flying away as she turns to her husband. "Never more than you, my perfect love," she tells him. "So mighty, so graceful," and she leans in the two sharing a kiss in the soft sunlight.
The moment pauses and the sunlight brightens, and Talshaza shuts her eyes from the brightness. When it fades she finds herself in Shimmershine. The bustle of the city, and yet to Neran and Niryion they might as well be alone. Walking along the path, fingers at times intertwined, and as she follows them she notices a glance here and there at the two. At last, they sit on a bench. "I once sought what they did," Neran musses. "Our concept of perfection. But then, you. My sunbeam, my love." He smiles fondly. "How they disapproved of I breaking off the engament of the one they picked for me."
"It caused quite a scandal," Niryion says as she looks up at him.
He returns her gaze. "Never once did I regret it. Never once, my love."
Silence for a moment and then she speaks. Quietly, almost hesitating. "We are different than most of our kin," she says. "Love over perfection, over the ideal of the Altmer race. I want to...share this love."
He stills understanding her meaning and then a soft smile comes over his face. "I would hate to share you, but I think I can handle it," he says.
Again the sunlight seems blinding, and again the dream shifts. In one of the lower rooms of the Kinlord's mansion, filled with tombs and magical artifacts, Neran paces as Niryion stands at the entrance, a hand on the door. A case that holds a book is the cause of the distress. The book with a dark moon on it. Brimming with unknown magic, magic that should not be. "You must destroy it," Niryion whispers. "It feels wrong, Neran. It should not exist."
"I thought it to be a find. I did not know what they brought me. They do not know what they brought me!" Neran says and he turns to look at his wife. "If it was such a simple matter. It is not something that can be destroyed by normal means. I will find a way. You are right. If this fell in the wrong hands…," he pales at the thought. "The world could be brought to ruin."
Once more the dream shifts, and this time Talshaza finds herself in the Kinlord bedroom. He's kneeling in front of his wife, her hands in his, a look of wonder on his face. "Truly?" he asks her.
"Truly," Niryion tells him. "It is early, but I feel it. Warmth, new life. Made out of love, not the ideal of what we should be."
The Kinlord laughs, a sound of joy. "Should you still go then?"
She laughs, "My love, it is early. And it is a simple trip to Lillandril by carriage. As much as our parents disapproved of our union, I wish to tell mine the news," she looks at him. "And you, Neran?"
A shadowed look crosses his face and he shakes his head. "They all but disowned me," and at her look, he smiles. "It was perhaps a good thing I had made enough of a name for myself when they did. I kept my title, and more importantly, I gained you," he rises and cups her face in his palm, the two kiss.
When the dream shifts again it is with a clap of thunder, a bolt of lightning. When the flash fades Talshaza finds herself in the Kinlord's study in the early evening as a storm rages outside. The study is in ruin, books thrown in all directions, glass shattered against the walls, and Neran is at the window hands clenched against the railing, hair and clothes disheveled. "No, no no," he whispers. "Niryion, my love. You cannot be...you cannot be gone." his eyes clench shut as he fights against the truth, agony written in every line of his face. And then he turns and screams, "YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE! I should be with her, NOT IN THIS MOMENT. Never in this moment!"
A shattering boom of thunder is followed by a blinding bolt of lightning and when it fades the room is cast in darkness a crimson bolt of lighting outside reveals Kinlord sitting in his chair, his malevolent eyes locked onto her as the storm rages outside, the third moon faintly seen behind the dark clouds. "You should not be here, Talshaza," he says, as his hands grip the chair. "I do not know how you came here, but you will regret it. But perhaps if you tell me how, and tell me how you and your friends managed to escape your gruesome fates perhaps I will rend you perminly unconscious so when Ri'Zakar takes your heart you will be beyond pain. Perhaps."
This was the Kinlord she knew, one with darkness swirling in their eyes, one with no mercy, one who would send all into the dark, and she stared back. Trying not to show emotion, despite the revelation that something had happened during the battle. Zirasha one moment full of nothing but rage and vengeance the next saving them all as if she knew...saw something they did not. "This is not real," Talshaza responds. "I know a dream. I lived in one for so long."
"A dream can feel so real, though," he responds. "But I think you know that too. You have not run, which means you cannot wake, which means you are mine. After all, you did so intrude. Now, tell me what I want to know."
Her heartbeat quickens. It is true, she cannot wake, for the Argonian did this. And for all she knows, the others are in dreams of their own, or dreams of another, as she was. "I do not know," she says. Truth, of a sort. "Why?" she adds.
His expression changes and he leans back in the chair. "A single word and yet it reveals you know more about me than I thought," he says. "How much I wonder?"
He was treating this as if it was a game, a deadly match of chess. What he knows, what she knows. What they did not know. And so she takes a gamble. "You broke fate. Orchestrated all of this," she responds.
An eyebrow raised at her statement. "Four like-minded individuals that would have gone on to do small evil things and be taken down by small heroes. But if they were guided…," a small evil smile. "The only thing standing in their way would be fate." he studies her. "So something out there knows what I stole. Interesting. And yet, it is too late. What is done is done," and with these words, he rises from the chair. "You want to know why? Since you seem to know so much about me, you must already have guessed the reason."
She thinks back to all she has seen in this dream. Thinks perhaps he does not know how much into the memories she has glimpsed. He speaks of what she knows from Arc, he must. And she thinks back to Niryion. It was the obvious answer. But the Argonian'sword reverberates through her. Reveal. She already knew about his wife before this dream. Something was missing. "For her," she responds giving the obvious answer. "For revenge against the world. But…,"
Another small smile. "That seems to be the crux of this," he responds. "And yet from your face, you question it. The obvious answer is the incorrect one. Revenge is not what was wanted for Niryion's death. No, something else was desired and acquired for that."
Confusion floods her. She had suspected it was not the answer or not the full answer, but this was…, "Then why do all of this?" she asks, anger tinting the question. Anger she can no longer hide.
Kinlord stalks closer to her like a predator on a hunt. "For revenge, to watch the world burn, drown, scream."
Talshaza takes in the words. Studies the mer who says them. They are a contradiction. He says he wants revenge, but said it was not what was wanted. None of this makes sense, and yet she sees no hint of madness in his eyes, just malice and darkness and also a sense of wrongness that has her stepping away from him.
"You know a drop of the truth, little mage," he taunts her. "There is an ocean of things you do not know. And by the time you do, it will be far too late. I am close to my ultimate desire and once I have it," he snaps his fingers, "Nothing you or your friends do will matter any longer. "he laughs. "If Ri'Zakar devours you before then, trust me when I say it WILL be a mercy. Now…," his eyes bore into hers. "You will answer my questions now, or suffer for it. This is my world."
~Wake~
A single world vibrates with power and the dream shatters as her eyes open and she sits up one hand gripping her staff. Dawn greets her, as do the giant mushrooms of Vvardenfell. The Argonian is by her side looking haggard. Her thoughts race at all she saw and heard, but what is missing guides her question "Where…where are the others?" she asks, not expecting an answer.
And yet to her surprise, she gets one. "In other dreams. In other parts of Tamriel," he says, and at her startled look he adds, "My power is bound. I forced two words from the bindings. There...there is no more left." he rises and turns to the sun. "You...first to hear my voice and not my power. For...so long."
Something in his voice has her rising to stand beside him, and she notices something a crystal clutched so tightly in claws. "What is that?" she asks.
"They...have my friends. They have me. I...died. The Werewolves Scourge will find me in time. I die, this happens again," long moments of quiet and then he turns to her thrusting the crystal in her hand. "Kill me with your fire, Talshaza. Trap my soul in this and bind it to your power. So they cannot call me again."
The gem glitters darkly in her hands. "I cannot do this," she says.
His eyes glitter in the morning sun. "Next time they will send the Scourges after you, not their pets." At her silence, he moves closer. "I sought to save my clan. My family. I sought dark power to do so. And in doing so corrupted the Hist and killed them all."
His words have her looking into his eyes. Regret, sorrow deeper than the void, and steely resolve. "I do not even know your name," she whispers.
He is silent a moment then says, "My clan knew me as Xeilus-Keer," he says.
Talshaza takes his hand in hers. The scales are cool to the touch, animated by dark power. Bound to a scourge. Cursed in life and death. And willing to die to save them, to save HER a second time. "Xeilus-Keer," she says as she looks into his eyes and calls forth the fire, her runes starting to glow. "We will change all of this," she promises and then there are no more words, just purifying fire, hotter than a volcano. When it fades nothing is left of Xeilus-Keer but a shimmering spark in the soul gem she holds in her hand. "You saved me. You saved all of us. I will save you, one day." she binds the gem to her staff the glowing crystal melting into it.
-Shade-Whiskers-
So tired...for all she tries, Shade cannot force her eyes open. One moment all was flames and darkness, the frantic rush to the portal and then the blinding flash of light, the crash of a word of power and she lost her grip and fell into the dark and for a time there was nothing and then at last her consciousness returned only everything was...off. Her strength was gone, and her body felt strange. All she wants to do is return to the nothingness but then a presence presses against her side giving her the strength to rally and she opens her eyes.
Glowing runes and walls of magic greet her and in a panic, she tries to rise but fails. Her limbs are weighted, and her body feels heavier than it should. A soft chuff next to her has her turning her head and her heart stops. Eyes as ancient as the stars, a faint glow, familiarity. And in those eyes are reflections….but not her reflection. A Senche-Raht glowing with fading light. Jone...and it is Jode she is gazing at. ~Be still, be quiet~ A voice whispers to her. Not Jode, but familiar all the same. A memory of a Redguard, who speaks for the lost Gods. ~You are merely an observer here, nothing more. What is transpiring, has already transpired. When you wake, you will be safe.~ The voice soothes her and Shade relaxes. This is not the moment of change, that is still in the uncertain future. But she was brought here for a reason. Reveal. And the whisper of her guide that lit the path to follow.
Moments pass, or perhaps it is longer. There is no way to tell, no sky above, nothing changing to mark the tick of time but at last something changes. Soft pad steps and a Senche-Raht of darkness walks into view. Hollow Dark. The name appears in her mind, and then there is more. As Jone and Jode are the moons, as they are these Senche-Raht trapped in mortal form, this Hollow Dark is of the Third Moon...although unlike them he is not fully the moon but a part of it. Born in darkness, of Lorkhaj, of forces unknown. Given form as Jone and Jode was forced in form, by a book created eons ago by those who worshiped the dark moon and wanted it to reign supreme. Those villains were stopped long ago, but the book remained. Hidden until a treasure hunter found it and sold it to an Altmer Kinlord. Shade's mind swims with the swirls of knowledge, so much information in a moment she almost misses the second set of paws. Shadow-Whiskers. If she could hiss, she would, but bound in this dream memory all she can do is watch and listen as her Shadow meets with the Dark Senche-Raht.
"Shadow-Whiskers," Hollow Dark greets the Shadow Khajiit.
Clad in black and purple robes she stops before him. "Kinlord Vasuki has been captured," she says with an angry hiss. "He should have torn them to SHREDS. This one knows he can. Easily! Even with…," she trails off.
Hollow Dark chuffs at her. "If he did that they would search much more carefully. Perhaps find this hidden place. He is not that impatient, not a fool," and as Shadow hisses again he adds, "He will bide his time and then escape."
At last, she calms, "We need to do our part," she says. "He prepared a secondary base for this possibility. The runes are in place, all we need to do is intact the spell to move Jone and Jode to their new cage." she moves to the middle of the room and starts writing runes around the cage in crimson blood and once it is done she starts to chant and the world burns white for long moments and when it fades the cavern is replaced with an underground room somewhat smaller but with the same runes, the same cage that seems to sap the strength of the Gods within.
Shadow inspects her work and then sits with a tired sigh. The magic wrot took its toll and she glances at Hollow Dark as he moves to sit next to her. "Hollow Dark," she purrs.
His head turns toward her and his eyes stare into hers. "Trying to turn your charm upon this one?" he chuffs.
"You are as they are in a way," she responds.
"So that is where your thoughts are going," he says. "Testing Hollow Dark's loyalty are we?"
Shadow's eyes narrow. "He has yet to get what he wants," she says, "This one must make sure nothing threatens him. Nothing stops him."
In response, Hollow Dark's eyes seem to glow. "He created you, he set this one free. Different and yet simler. It ties us to him. Binds our loyalties. But make no mistake. This one is his own cat. That said, will not go against him...unless," he pauses.
"Unless what?" Shadow snaps a threat looming in her eyes.
"Unless he decides to stop what could be considered madness to most," Hollow Dark says. "If he stops and returns Bright and Blessed to the heavens above."
Shadow laughs at this. "He will never stop. You do not know what drives him in all of this."
"And you do?" Hollow Dark says. His words are a challenge. A need to trust that the Kinlord will not falter in his path.
Shadow is silent for a moment. She knows more than most. And her loyalty is unquestionable. She also knows they need Hollow Dark. "He is so careful, so secretive," she slowly answers. "To the world, he is a heartbroken Altmer with a wasting illness. Or at least he was before they caught on to the servant sacrifices. But there is more than that. Trust that is why he will not falter."
Silence for a moment and then Hollow Dark rises and moves closer to Jone and Jode. "Bright and Blessed," he hisses his claws tensing against the stone. "They ruled for so very long. This one needs to know it will continue to be the Dark Moon's time. Not just your word that he will not falter. Until their essence is fully absorbed they could return to the heavens and set the moons ablaze once more!" Hollow Dusk turns to Shadow. "This one is of the dark. This one knows the depths mortals can fall, what they can become. But this one cannot see how the death of a wife drove him to this extreme. This one needs to know."
She is silent for a moment. Thinking what Kinlord Vasuki would want. And she knew in a moment. Hollow Dark's unquestioned loyalty. "He ordered this one to kill Niryion and her unborn. To make it seem as if it was an accident."
Shock runs through Hollow Dark's eyes and he opens his jaws then shuts them as he puzzles over that bit of information and then a small cunning smile as if he's unlocked a puzzle. "It makes more sense now. This one has faith in what you said about him. He never will stop." A shimmering curiosity shines in his eyes but he asks no more questions and then the memory fades to black.
Shade opens her eyes and slowly sits up. Feeling her familiar body, with the pains of last night's battle. A quick glance around shows she's in a place nearly devoid of life and as she rises she gets the unnerving feeling that this place is cursed. And yet as she looks closer she can see small traces of life existing as if battling against the desolation. A small grasshopper the color of ash. A small sprig of grass attempting to reach the sky.
~There are ghosts in this place.~
Whispers appears before Shade, the Redguard glowing as the sun rises, though its rays do nothing to lift the cold of this place. "I…," Shade trails off. Unable to put all she saw and heard into words. Uncertain if it makes any sense at all. But knowing it is truth. "Where are my friends?" she settles on instead.
~In dreams of their own and far from here,~ Whispers tells her. ~I guided you to Jone and Jode's dream, their memory. The others walk in different dreams and different memories.~
Shade takes it in and then closes her eyes. The others were beyond her grasp, for now. And a realization that causes her to shudder has her opening her eyes to ask the next question. "I was in Jone. But I felt so weak. As if I was fading into nothingness," she swallows, "How long do they have?"
Silence is the response and then Whispers walks to stand before her. ~Many things had to be done to shatter the moons. To ascend new living gods. To create this nightmare of a world. The life force of Jone and Jode was one of the things needed.~
"How long?" Shade snaps.
Whispers eyes close. ~When the sun fully rises upon this day, The last of Jone and Jode will fade from this world, and the moons never will blaze in the sky again.~
All thoughts of finding her friends, all thoughts of why she was in this cursed place fade as Shade slowly walks past Whispers to gaze upon the rising sun. Willing it to stop, willing it not to be so. Remembering looking into Jode's eyes, being in Jone. Wanting to find them, wanting to stop this, wanting all of this not to be. But time moves forward and all she can do is watch the sun rise, and grieve for her lost Gods.