The Gemstone of Dark Desires

 The Gemstone of Dark Desires

     They all gather around Iriisii and the Gemstone, giving her space to work on accessing it. She starts by simply opening her awareness to it, not trying to pierce its vibrant skin, but listening to what rides the radiance being emitted from deeper within. At first, it is no different from any other light, but slowly she begins to sense something that she has until now been blind and deaf to. That light from whatever source is far more than what physics says it is. It has a voice all its own, and it speaks to anyone if only they will hear.

     Hearing with the brightness shining in their eyes, hearing with the touch of warmth against their skin, hearing the Song of Creation as it touches their soul. As she now for the first time in her life, truly listens to the light. It knows her, who she is, what she is, knows what drives and guides her, and is willing to show her all of this and so much more. To give unto her the keys to her own soul, to let her see with truth shining in its brilliance. She wonders why this thing is called the 'Gemstone of Dark Desires' if it offers so much of light to her.

     And then she sees why, because those who named it so, saw only the shadows and darkness within themselves. Could not see that only when the darkness is balanced by the light, does true harmony blossom forth. And this is what she sees and feels, the harmony that so many seek and never find for they ignore the duality that is true harmony. For true harmony can only occur in one who sees and knows the balance of opposites. A point Iriisii has been edging ever closer to until now when she sees it for the first time.

     Iriisii: "So beautiful! I never imagined it could be this way!"

     Rigmor: "What is beautiful? What do you see?"

     Iriisii: "The Harmony within the Balance. I see what Creation was meant and is meant to be. What it can be when all is in Balance. It is what the Ageless Ones intended when the Song of Creation was first sung, and those who did not wish to hear what could be reached out and corrupted the song. What Creation itself has been striving to return to, and those who cannot see it, continue to stand in the way."

     Rigmor: "Who are the Ageless Ones?"

     Iriisii: "They stand at the Heart of the Balance, they are the Balance."

     Rigmor: "Are they Gods?"

     Iriisii: "No. They are beyond Gods, as Gods are beyond mortals. The highest of the Immortal Gods are but thoughts and dreams of the Ageless Ones. Incomplete parts and pieces wherefore do Good and Evil come, seeking to return but unable to see the way. And lost because they cannot find the way back. And forever in anguish because they are lost. And if I prove strong enough, resilient enough, merciful enough, compassionate enough, then perhaps one day..."

     Rigmor: "One day, what? What will you do one day?"

     Iriisii: "Show them the way home."

     Rigmor takes a shaky hand and placing it against Iriisii's cheek, turns Iriisii's head to look into hers. What Rigmor sees reflected from Iriisii's eyes draws tears from her and in total silence leans over Iriisii and kisses her on the top of her head. Then she whispers, I'm sorry, sorry I did not believe you when you spoke of the Balance. Even when you did all these seemingly impossible things, I did not truly believe. Now I see I was wrong and you were right all along."

     Iriisii reaches out her hand and stops Rigmor from moving away.

     Iriisii: "Stay with me. Love me as I love you, and nothing will ever tear us apart, I promise. Stay with me and I will help you rise above the limits you have put before yourself. You are far more than you know, you just need to be shown the way to reach it."

     Rigmor: "You want me to stay? Even when I would not, could not believe in you, see what you saw, hear what you heard?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, stay with me. You are a part of me, and I am of you. We need each other, all of us in some way or another need each other. I see this clearly now, whereas before I felt it but could not see it."

     Iriisii turns toward Dettlaff.

     Iriisii: "Dettlaff, the words I spoke to Rigmor are for you as well. Nothing in how I feel for you has changed. I will always want and need you, I know this in my heart. So please stay with me."

     Dettlaff: "Why would I ever leave you?"

     Iriisii: "Dealing with what will come will strain all of us. There will be things I must do alone, and so may send you away to do other things. It is because I love and care for all of you that I will have to act in that manner. I know not all of what may come, but some has been shown to me and so I must keep my silence on these things for the sake of all existence. You, Rigmor, and the others will understand after the events are concluded. Until then, please trust me."

     Dettlaff: "Of course, I will. Worry not on my account."

     Rigmor: "And I also will trust you. Do you know how to summon Titus' heart?"

     Iriisii: "I do, this will not be easy for I have never attempted anything like this before. I must call what remains of Meria and draw from those remains her essential salts. Then use them to call her soul and become a revenant. Then I must do the same with Titus, but if Meria is still somehow alive, I will do what I can for them both."

     Rigmor: "What exactly is a revenant?"

     Iriisii: "Done correctly, these two will be indistinguishable from normal humans, except that they will not age. They will retain all their memories, emotions, and abilities from when they were alive. They could stay alive in that form for eternity if they wished. Or they can release their souls, their bodies will return to essential salts and as long as the ritual is not performed again their souls will be together."

     Rigmor: "But you don't intend to leave it like that do you?"

     Iriisii: "No, I will ask Death to take them beyond the Final Gate, and then I will scatter their salts so they can never be recalled again."

     Iriisii looks to the Pickman, "what say you, Pickman. Do you approve of what I intend?"

     Pickman: "It is not for me to say yea or nay, this is your decision to make. The responsibility for it yours to bear."

     Iriisii: "I understand. There is yet something that must be done before I can call them. If it is not, they could become corrupted. That is something I will not risk."

     Rigmor: "What is it that needs to be done?"

     Iriisii: "The original purpose of the pillars was to serve as a beacon, a guiding light for the Balance. That which came and used it to create the Saurians corrupted that purpose and used it to suit themselves. It must be restored to its proper pattern, a pattern that now must reflect our involvement in its future."

     Rigmor: "How will you do that?"

     Iriisii: "We must go back to the surface, and set the stage for a confrontation. Then the path will open up before us to begin a new pattern. We may have to fight once again, maybe we will not, that remains to be seen."

     Rigmor: "If we have to fight, who will we be fighting?"

     Iriisii: "Avatars of those who stand against us. But even their avatars will be dangerous. They have minions they can summon, but then so do we, and ours will be dragons! Let us go, we have work to do."

     They walk back out of the Necropolis and soon are standing upon the sands. The sky is dark, three moons are on the horizon, two rising, one setting. Iriisii can sense the spirits still roaming this place, tied to the pillars they were sacrificed next to. Also near are entities, beings, and creatures buried underneath the sands. A few roam the surface seeking prey. They feel the presence of these new intruders and all find deep holes to hide in until they leave.

     Iriisii guides them to the central complex, a ring of stones, each one weighing tons, delicately balanced, held in place by the power still reigning in this place. As Iriisii places a foot within the stone ring, a glimmer of light and shadow begins to crawl up from the sands onto the stones, to the capstones, and begins slowly moving around the ring. The interplay between the light and the shadows creates a pulse effect, mirrored in the twin moons rising up.

     As she reaches the center of the ring, she kneels in the sand. Clasps her hands in front of her, and her fingers move, intertwining, forming delicate and complex forms. As each is completed, the pulsing grows in intensity and speed. Power, long dormant around this place, awakens her calling.

     Iriisii: "The desert sands hide that which lies under, this must not be! WIND!"

     And the desert winds blow in from every direction picking up the grains of sand and taking them away. Soon the area is bare of sand, and revealed underneath is a mammoth, level plain of stone, the pillars outside the ring, their bases now can be seen rising up into the sky. Some still have bones at their base, though the bones that were around many have been scoured into dust long ago.

     They are too close to discern the dual pattern made by the pillars. But they can feel the uneven disparity, the imbalance within the pattern. Iriisii can see it in her mind's eye, and feel the deep vibration in her bones. She hears the cries of the sacrificed echoing across time, and even now the spirits of those sacrifices move to the pillars where their lives were spent.

     Iriisii: "I am Iriisii Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, and Mother of Dragons. I am the Champion of the Balance. As Guardian of its Fount, I have come to renew the pact made at the beginning of this place. The pact from which the Balance was created, as Existence itself, was brought into being, and Time was forged into its fabric.

     The Balance is now upset, Existence subverted, and Time shudders at the footfalls of Destruction. I have come to make things right once more, as it once was, and as they will be again. Let those who would stand against me let themselves be known and revealed."

     Three shadowy figures seem to form out of nothing, and stand some ways away from Iriisii.

She knows who they are, even as they try desperately to hide their faces from being visible.

     Iriisii: "To prove to those who stand before me now, that I am who I say I am. LET MY CHILDREN COME!"

     There is a fluttering of leathery wings heard on the winds above the pillars. And on each and every pillar a dragon lands and sits watching what is going to be done here. None of these dragons are recognizable to Rigmor. For none of them are from Nirn, rather they represent all of those scattered across all of existence. But they, each and everyone knows who Iriisii is, knows that Rigmor and Dettlaff are her mates, knows who Kthanid is, and knows who the Pickman is as well.

     Iriisii: "There is no need to hide your faces, you are known to me. Lord Foul, the Despiser, Morgoth of Middle Nirn, and finally you, Hermaeus Mora, Gardener of Men. But do even the three of you know who sits behind you, gently pulling the threads that guide your actions."

     Morgoth: "You know who he is? Why have you not called for him to be here as well as us? Are you afraid of him?"

     Iriisii: "I am not afraid of the 'Blind Dreamer', but he is not the one I speak of this day. No there is another that I speak of, his 'Son' hunts me across existence, seeking to stop me from thwarting the return of his 'Father' into this Existence. His 'Father' who has no name known to us, who roamed here before Existence as we know it was created. Do you think he will allow you to exist once he makes his return?

     I do not think so, none of you could come into being until he was exiled, and so should he return, so then you will be consumed, for he would brook no competition from lessers such as yourselves."

     Hermaeus Mora: "You know not what you speak of, Dragonborn! I have watched and seen all along the streams of time and nothing have I seen of what you speak of! There is no other pulling our threads. You are simply attempting to sow doubt and fear among us."

     Iriisii: "And how many times did you seek to bring me to your side? How many baseless threats did you issue to attempt to sway me to follow you? And yet it was I who threw you back into Apocrypha and slammed the gates shut! Yes, you stand here today, but by my sufferance, for if I could send you back once surely I could do so a second time. A second time and make it far more difficult to slip out once more.

     Just because you cannot see him who guides your actions does not mean he does not exist. For do you think that if he revealed himself to you that you would bend the knee to him and serve him? I do not believe so for a heartbeat. He knows you far too well to let you see him or feel his presence. Just as he knows if he stays in your blindness, you will never know him until you are sliding down his gullet and into his stomach. Then to be forever more a part of him, lost within him until you lose all that is you and you become fully him.

     And what of you, Lord Foul? Do you have any inane words to speak before my ears? Or perhaps your hubris is not so strong as to override your senses?"

     Lord Foul: "Much as I despise you and all you stand for, you are not a liar or a deceiver. What you have said this day gives me cause for concern. You are perhaps the first worthy adversary I have encountered, for you are willing to bend in whatever direction you must to achieve your goals. You accept Dark and Light, Good and Evil as allies equally without distinction between them.

     I must applaud this of you, for no other before has even attempted to do this. Yet you have done it and made it work for you. So I will take your words at face value, and seek to find the truth of them. But I will not stop standing against you. For I believe in the course I take as you do yours."

     Iriisii: "Would that you truly see existence and the Balance as I do. You are here, you exist because there is a place for you, a role to play if you will. You are needed just as your counterparts are needed. Soon enough they will see this, yet I expect no different a conversation from them as I am receiving from you now. But I will also give them a chance as I will give you a chance.

     A chance to avoid what will come for you, a chance to secure a place in the new Existence to come, rather than be cast aside in favor of another. For there will be Dark and Light, Good and Evil, it just does not have to be you who are its expressions."

     Lord Foul: "And the same can be said for you."

     Iriisii: "If another came to take from me this burden and responsibility that I bear, I would welcome them to do so. For it continues to weigh heavily upon me without surcease. I would then be free to go on with my life, without the pain, turmoil, doubt, and even the unending madness of not knowing from one moment to the next where I must go, what I must do, and what I must suffer.

     Yet I see no one on the horizon, coming to free me from this path. Alas, what will you do now, for I will complete what must be done here? You can step aside, or stand in the way and watch while all that you send to stop me is ground into the sands that covered this place before I came, and will do so again after I leave."

     Before the three can reply to what she has said, she turns her head toward something she hears. The three also hear something but do not know what it is.

     Iriisii: "It seems the choice for you has been taken from your hands by another."

     Lord Foul: "What do you mean?"

     Iriisii: "The one I spoke about has taken matters into his own hands. He sends a massive force down upon us to stop me from reworking the pattern. The choice before you now is do you join with him who will later devour you, or will you stand aside while I deal with his forces? Since you have made your positions clear, I will not ask that you join with me and fight them."

     Lord Foul looks at the other two, makes up his own mind, and vanishes. Morgoth then does the same. Hermaeus Mora looks like he wishes to join the advancing force but in the end turns and with a growl vanishes. Iriisii then looks to the Dragons, "our opposition comes, my children, will you fight with me?"

     The dragons give a roar of approval and take to the skies.

     Iriisii looks at the Pickman, "please go back to the Necropolis and seal the doors into it." The Pickman looks at her, nods his head, and lopes off toward the entrance. Then Iriisii looks at Rigmor, Dettlaff, and Elric, "I know your minds on this, I will create Avatars for Darkstar and Shivista, then we will go and see what comes to stop us. If any seek to strike with what they can spew from their mouths, as the Afflicted on Nirn would do, avoid it at all cost."

     Iriisii then pulls some sand from crevices and cracks, forming two bodies, one for Darkstar, and one for Shivista. She then calls them all close to her as she finds a shadow to use and then 'shadow walks' coming up from a shadow cast by a boulder, just forward of the dragons and in sight of the horde coming their way.

     At least these do not look like a slimy mass of tentacles, claws, teeth, and everything else. As she begins a casting, she calls to the others, "wait for my casting then follow behind it!" She goes for a dual cast, using the Thu'um to enhance her 'Cyclone' shout while empowering it with 'Conflagration', creating a line of fire cyclones that race to the front lines of the enemy.

     They rip through them grabbing any in range, setting the bodies on fire, and then throwing the bodies and burning ash outward to ignite still more. Iriisii's voice booms out over the battlefield, "they are already dead! No mercy or quarter cut them down and burn the bodies to ash!" She lets an 'Unrelenting Force' shout rip from her voice. As it tears through more enemies, they crumble into ash. The dragons above hearing her words, send those whose weapons are Frost and Ice through first to slow down the enemy, then follow with sustained blasts of Fire, and the bodies go up like trees in a raging forest fire.

     Shivista causes the sand beneath the enemy's feet to melt into a glass that hardens and traps them within its mass. Darkstar ducks and weaves through crushing leg bones and spines, sending them to the sand for the dragons to set ablaze. Rigmor, armed with her favorite two-handed blade, turns into a howling whirlwind of death, cutting the bodies in two as she keeps going deeper and deeper into the mass. Dettlaff has released his beast, and they both revel in the carnage they inflict. Elric and Stormbringer slice and chop, hack and stab. And then Iriisii reaches out to Elric and Stormbringer and shouts, Storm Call, giving control of the storm's lightning bolts to the pair who proceed to use them with devastating effect.

     Then in a moment of inspiration, Iriisii remembers a spell she learned while in the Fifth Era, and dual wields 'Greater Pulveriser Beam'. Immediately a near-solid beam of red energy pounding forth like an arcane hammer strikes the enemy in front of her. As they go down into ash, she sweeps it from side to side leaving an ever-deepening trail of glowing ash.

     Just when it seems the end to this mob is in sight, another even larger horde comes over a giant sand dune. Iriisii's rage has now grown until it takes control of her. She commands everyone to assemble behind her. Once they are back far enough, she summons her Sand Wyrm form.

Her morphing body grows larger and longer and keeps growing until she is some three thousand feet in length, and hundreds of feet in width.

     She digs into the sand, and her body disappears, all that can be seen is a trembling wave crossing the sand. Then she comes straight up out of the sand, at least a few hundred enemies sliding down her throat into the inferno that is a Sand Wyrm's stomach. She falls outstretched onto the sand crushing thousands under her massive weight. And then she moves to gulp down, even more, to be immolated in her stomach. Back and forth, tracking them by their movements, the vibrations of their steps in the sands.

     She whittles down their numbers until she can crush the last ones. As much as they tried to wound her, her Sand Wyrm skin is tougher than steel. To withstand the abrasive sands as fast as she can travel under the surface, it has to be tough. She makes her way back to the pillars and then morphs back into human form. The others crowd around her to make sure she is all right.

     Iriisii: "I am fine, my Sand Wyrm metabolism is more than enough to handle the poisoned bodies. We must be seriously close to something for him to send so many against us. Let us finish this before he decides to send more."

     The dragons all return to where they were perched on the pillars, Iriisii finds the place where she felt she should be to recast the pattern, but then she feels something else is needed. And after a moment realizes what that is. She needs another pillar in the spot where she is now, which also means she will need another dragon to sit on top during the ritual. First things first, another pillar is to be placed here.

     She reaches out to the others and looks at how they are made. She then gathers sand grains and converts them, rearranging their crystalline structure until they match that of the pillars. Once she has the new one made and settled into the stone floor, she calls Alduin. Soon she feels the portal open and Alduin enters this world's space. He looks around and sees where he is needed and what he is to do. As he settles himself on top of the new pillar, he greets Iriisii.

     Alduin: "Greetings Mother, how may I assist today?"

     Iriisii: "I need you right where you are. I intend to recast this pattern, to bring it back into balance. It will go far to correcting the imbalance elsewhere, for this is one of the primal patterns, built when Existence itself was young. Its purpose is to guide the primal energies, to channel them according to the pattern, and in so doing help bring existence into balance within itself."

     Alduin: "If it will help in your task then I will do as I can to help."

     Iriisii: "Thank you, my son, I will begin momentarily."

     She expands her awareness outward until the entire field of pillars is encompassed. She delves into the dream memories of this place back to when it was first created, looking at the pattern before it was corrupted. She sees how the power flows through the pillars to extend into existence and guide the first formations of power that will later become Gods. She notes the balanced waves coming one after another, adjusting the flow to where both Good and Evil are drawn into a harmonious balance, neither one stronger than the other.

     Then Light and Dark begin to be seen appearing in the Realms. She keeps watching to see when the corrupting event begins so that she can see what was changed and how it occurred. She patiently waits, how long she does not know for time is still young and adventurous, running at its own pace and course. Existence itself is not set in its path for she sees events happening that she only knows as dragon breaks, but there are as yet no dragons, her children do not yet exist and this saddens her.

     Still, things proceed along, chaotic, yes but everything has not found its course yet and time is still flexing itself. Whether it is thousands of years, millions of years, or billions, she has no idea for it all feels the same. Time is multidimensional at this point spreading its wings in glory at what it can do. Then far off, perhaps in a parallel dimension to this one, yes that is it. A parallel time stream merges with this one, and time becomes just a little bit more concise and less chaotic. But what caused the merge for there are still no dragons.

     Then she sees how those who created the Saurians arrived, and more pieces of the puzzle fall into place. There are no words to describe them, at least none she knows. They seem to exist in more than one reality at the same moment in time. Each reality determines their appearance. They are both supremely beautiful and agonizingly horrible. They did not just appear or arrive in some manner, they were thrown here and arrived in a meteor storm.

     They hit the sands and buried themselves deep, some did not break out of the glass encasing them, melted around them from the heat of their landing. Only a relative few of their number survived to make their way to the surface. She wants to know why this happened to them, how did it happen, and who did it, for this was no happenstance event. The answer came as the survivors gathered together on the surface and discovered the Plain of Pillars. They were the ones who built what was later called Alhazred's Necronomicon as Irem, the City of Pillars.

     The 'Others' as she has come to think of them, look around their surroundings. They feel the power of the pillars but cannot access them. The reason being they are too different to be able to grasp what that power is, and what its purpose is. They only know one thing right now and that is vengeance against the one who cast them down here in this place far from where they once held sway. In order to attain that vengeance, they must first survive, then gain the use of power to shape their vengeance and send it against their enemy.

     But they cannot access the vast power running through the pillars. One among them comes forth with an idea. If we cannot grasp it, perhaps another life form native to this world can. And if we control that lifeform, we can channel that power through them for our purpose. They search everywhere, in every possible place but find no sentient life here. But the one who gave them the first answer has one for this problem as well.

     He tells them if there is not a species that can do as we wish, this lets us make one. We can use one living here and evolve it to do as we wish. We need to do this in any case due to our few numbers. And so they chose a simple reptile, for within its coding were parts that could be manipulated to bring them to where they could be of use. And so was the Saurian race born.

     She witnessed their birth and growth into slaves, workers, fodder, and tools. Everything the 'Others' needed, they were molded to become. Until one went too far and made a change within the Saurians that could not be undone. It spread through them like wildfire, and as a result, they turned on the 'Others' in a revolt that sent the last remaining of the 'Others' on a desperate path for safety. They activated an experiment that had been shelved for quite some time due to not being able to completely control where or when it would reach.

     The experiment was a space/time portal gate, one they hoped to use to return to their home and begin restoring themselves. But it relied on concepts and energies foreign to that of the pillars, and their presence made it unstable. But it was do it or die, so they opened it and left. Where they went even Iriisii was unable to see, just that it was very far away, not just in space or time, but beyond the fringes of this existence.

     The Saurians were livid that the 'Others' escaped, for they had an unbearable debt that needed to be paid. They found they could sense and touch the power flowing through the pillars, but had no sense of how to control or use it. And so they went on with their new lives, with nothing but the example of the 'Others' to go by, they emulated them. And slowly through trial and error, came to find how to access the pillars.

     The power was still far beyond their ken, but that did not stop them from trying to exact their vengeance. Vengeance was long overdue. They accumulated victims from those who walked the spaces between, who came upon this world following the traces of power, and were caught in the web. The Saurians created a ritual to use the sacrifice of all the souls they had kept as captives, channel it into the pillars, and send it to seek the 'Others'.

     She sees the preparations just as she previously saw when she first looked at the City of Pillars. When the sacrifices are made the power flowing through the pillars is disrupted. It gathers running around the pillars and growing in intensity until the one leading the ritual directs it outward. A beam of energy drives outward into the skies, but instead of reaching out for the 'Others', it is instead hijacked by another entity who rides it back down to the City of Pillars.

     What rode that beam back down to the City could only be described in the most terrifying of nightmares, and then just barely. Large in size, it would take three Saurians standing atop each other to equal it in height. Its physical form was bipedal with four long arms tipped with claws that dripped venom. As the venom dripped on the stone floor it hissed and small pockmarks could be noticed. Its body was black as the space between stars, shot through with red streaks.

     It looked around at the Saurians, who scampered from its path in abject fear. Some were not fast enough and were squashed under its clawed feet. Strangely as it moved on, there was no sign of the squashed bodies, no flesh, no bone, no blood seen or found on its trail. It reached the central pillar and placing a clawed hand around it, power flowed from it into the pillar. That power spread out to all the Saurians involved in the ritual, and they froze where they stood, some in midstride.

     Iriisii felt the change come over the pillars as the power flowing through them was corrupted, the carefully maintained balance distorted by the change. As she continued to watch the events, she saw the Saurians corrupted by what came down. All the things detailed in the basreliefs on the wall below the Necropolis came about from this being. It was able to consume the negativity that was generated, further corrupting the pillars and the power emitted from them. This is what started the slide into destruction, this is what began the process.

     And so she sees why she was brought here. Dealing with the corrupt force in her Creation would only delay things unless this was corrected here first. Correcting the pillars' power flow would ease things a bit, but Creation was too far gone down the path for just correcting things here to solve the problem. She needed to finish viewing the story to see all that happened and then she can tell what she can do.

     How much time passes, she has no idea. She sees beings and entities come and go, some come and are driven off, and others simply look around and leave of their own volition. She even sees when Abdul Alhazred showed up and wrote of what he saw in the Necronomicon. The book seemed to resonate with the corruption now pulsing through the pillars. And she wonders just what that book really is, for it is not just a book anymore if it ever really was.

     And finally, perhaps the most important answer to the most important question on her mind comes blowing on the winds of change. A feeling grows in the air, everyone is restless, milling about as if waiting for something monumental to happen. The sunlight begins to dim as if a solar eclipse is occurring. As she looks up toward the sun, there is something obscuring it, causing shadows to be cast everywhere.

     The Saurians are running back and forth, looking for cover, anything to hide from what comes. The monstrous entity strides forth, takes a good look at what has hidden the sun, and walks to the central pillar. And then she realizes, that pillar was not there when she first arrived, because the entity stands before it, and merges itself with it. Then entity and pillar transform into a streak of energy that disappears into the sky and is gone.

     A storm of epic proportions forms over the city as lightning bolts drop down leaving glowing glass in the sand where they hit. Then they see the bones stored in the Necropolis come walking out onto the surface. They seek the Saurians wherever they can be found, and are dragged into those still-glowing patches of molten sand. The screeches and screams of the Saurians echo everywhere, only broken by the crack of another lightning bolt as it hits a patch of sand.

     A sickness forms in the pit of her stomach as evil consumes evil, madness consumes terror, and hatred consumes fear. This is so like the Ravenous Darkness that she faced long ago, but it cannot be the same one, for she knows how that one came into being and where it was cast out from the wormhole she had lured it into. But this...this thing is different. It is not insane, not as she understands insanity. What this is, and where it came from, she only knows it does have a purpose, but what is its' purpose? And what drew it here, for as quickly as it appeared it now disappears.

     The sand settles as the wind dies down. The heat of the sun consumes the cold, the frost, and the ice that came with the storm. Then she sees the patches of glass are gone as well. The Saurians and the bones of the risen dead are all gone. And silence once more lies like a blanket across the sands. She returns her awareness to the pillars and what she wants to begin.

     Iriisii: "I have seen what happened in the past of this place, a past so distant it beggars the mind to consider it. I believe we can return the pillars back to what they were intended to do without interruption or attention from the outside. But we will have to remain vigilant to see that none come in our absence to undo what we do here this day."

     She takes the Gemstone of Dark Desire in her hands and begins to gaze into it. Feeling its connection to the pillars and willing to use that connection to twist the pillars back into the alignment they once had. She links to each of the dragons sitting on top of a pillar, and then to each pillar under them. Once she has them all in her mind, she projects the first pattern the pillars held after they had been turned on.

     She feels the shift in the power flowing through them. They fight to go back to their corrupted state, but with the dragons sitting on them, she can use that to reach into the pillars and keep them moving toward the new alignment. One by one, the pillars reach their new place and are locked into it. Once the last one with Alduin sitting on it locks down, she asks all the dragons to direct their Thu'um into the pillars, as she empowers them all with her own.

     This seals the bases against the floor, joining them such that only that same power can release them again, and without her Thu'um as well as the dragons that will not happen again. She and the dragons can feel the difference in the power flow now. She looks toward the Gemstone and notes that it too has changed in response. She then considers what if the one who caused this change should return, what can she do to protect the pillars?

     An idea presents itself in her mind for consideration and she likes what she sees. She extends her power out to the sands and constructs tall spear-like obelisks, each twice as tall as the pillars. One obelisk per pillar is arranged equidistantly around the pillars. She then asks her dragons to direct their Thu'um once more, but this time into the obelisks. Once done she empowers the obelisks and they send an energy tap down to the very core of this world.

      Drawing up energy into them and spreading a field around the entire area. The field becomes a dome, barely visible and then only as the barest waver, easily mistaken for the beginning of a mirage. But nothing with intent beyond the bounds of the balance will even see the pillars now, much less be able to approach them. She thanks the dragons for their help and sends them back on their previous way. She asks Alduin if he would like to stay a bit and watch what comes next. He graciously accepts for he is interested in seeing for himself how far she has come.

     She and everyone return down to the Necropolis, where Titus Crowe's body lies. She prepares to 'call' the remains of Meria, and reduce her body down to essential salts for the transformation into a revenant. She stands at the head of Titus' body, to gather from his history, what she needs to know of Meria. She enters the mind of Titus Crowe, like the way Sheogorath entered the mind of Pelagius III. 

     She looks around and sees the inside of an older but well-kept house. A warm fire in the fireplace, elegant but soft and functional furniture. An atmosphere around the place that spoke of the search for wisdom and knowledge. And an undercurrent of the mind of a Great Dreamer. She sees a pair of legs, clothed in wool pants, sitting in a chair facing the fire. Then the sitting figure becomes aware of a visitor, and he carefully looks around the wing of the chair to see just who has come seeking him, stands, and holds out his hand in greeting.

     As Iriisii reaches to take his hand, he gently grasps her fingers and raises the back of her hand into a gentle kiss.

     Titus Crowe: "Hello beautiful lady, may I ask who you are?"

     Iriisii is impressed first with his manners, second with his confidence in himself, that even under these circumstances, he maintains his personal dignity.

     Iriisii: "Of course, I am called Iriisii Dovahkiin, and do I have the honor of speaking with Titus Crowe?"

     Titus Crowe: "You do indeed, my lady. I apologize that I have so little to offer in the way of refreshments."

     Iriisii: "It is no bother at all, may I?"

     Titus Crowe: "I do not know what you may do that I have not already tried but by all means."

     Iriisii: "Thank you."

     Iriisii waves a hand, and with her thought creates a sideboard with dishes from her memory that she knows he should find acceptable, along with some Surille Brothers Wine and Cyrodiilic Brandy.

     Titus Crowe: "How in the world...?"

     Iriisii: "I am no stranger to constructs of the mind. Even ones in your particular circumstances."

     While filling up a plate and sampling some of the brandy, "I see. May I ask just what these circumstances I find myself in are?"

     Iriisii: "Please sit, this may be a bit difficult to take in at first."

     They take their seats with their respective plates.

     Iriisii: "Now may I first ask a question of you, to ascertain what you know and I know where to fill in the missing information."

     Titus Crowe: "You wish to know my last memory and what I believe of my current situation?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, please understand that I had nothing to do with either, in fact, I only recently became aware of your name at all. It is mainly because we have acquaintances in common that I am here, but that we can go into later."

     Titus Crowe: "My last memory was of Meria. I had gone into Ithaqua's Borean Fortress to rescue her, even though she is his daughter, she is also my wife. And she wanted nothing to do with her father after binding herself to me. I had taken some dire wounds in getting her free and was imploring her to leave before his Wendigos caught up with us. She kept refusing to leave me as my sight began fading. I awoke here and have been here ever since. I have no knowledge whatsoever of what happened afterward, how I came to be here, or even what this place is. Although it seems that you do."

     Iriisii: "I have had prior experience of this sort of thing, although in a totally different situation. How can I say this..."

     Titus Crowe: "Just come out and say it, I can take it, I assure you."

     Iriisii: "Very well, you did not survive your wounds. You are in fact dead. As to this place, you are a Great Dreamer and so the Dream Magic created this place for you when you died. Here resides your mind and personality. Your soul is being held in safekeeping elsewhere. And your body is inside a crystal sarcophagus in the Necropolis underneath Irem. I think that just about sums up your current situation. I am here to discuss your future."

     Titus Crowe: "Oh my, I am in a bit of a pickle, aren't I."

     Iriisii: "Yes, but it is not insurmountable."

     Titus Crowe: "How or rather who told you of me. And why have you sought me out?"

     Iriisii: "I am friends with the Pickman, of whom you are also a good friend."

     Titus Crowe: "So he is still around then?"

     Iriisii: "Oh yes. He spoke very highly of you when your name came up in a conversation I had with him. You see, I once did a service for him by freeing a number of his ghouls from being enslaved by moonbeasts in Inquanok. In the course of that, I was able to retrieve the skull of Randolph Carter from the possession of the 'King in Yellow, returning it to him for safekeeping."

     Titus Crowe: "Well done, indeed, but how did..."

     Iriisii: "How did I manage to take it away from one of the 'Great Old Ones'?"

     Titus Crowe: "Actually, yes."

     Iriisii: "Because I myself am one of the Gods of Eld, what you know as the Elder Gods. I am of the Line of Kthanid. He is one of my Ancestral Fathers."

     Titus Crowe: "You are of Kthanid's Line?! Please excuse me, it is just you do not look very much like him."

     Iriisii: "No offense taken, there are a lot of years between him and myself. My mortal ancestors were caught up in a battle between him and his half-brother Cthulhu. Once the battle was over, the land was direly poisoned. Kthanid and others shared their flesh and blood to help my ancestors cope with living on the poisoned land until time allowed the land to heal itself. The genetics were passed down the mortal branches, and I was the one who received them.

     It is somewhat difficult to explain, but I also received other similar lines from my mortal side that were passed down from the Gods that watched over my world, specifically dragonblood lines, passed to me by my first parents, who at my conception were ascended Gods themselves. I was born mortal according to the laws of Metaphysics that governed the Realm I was born into. They raised me until my eighteenth birth year, when as part of an agreement between the head of my Pantheon 'Akatosh' and the 'Mother of the Cosmos'. 

     The 'Mother' took me and physically regressed me back far enough to place me in the womb of another mortal woman. This was done to partly hide me from certain entities until I could be trained to take on certain responsibilities. Once I had undergone the needed training, I was sent back to Skyrim to begin the tasks that Akatosh had awakened the dragonblood within me to empower me to undertake. It was not until I completed all of those tasks that the ones that the 'Mother' had for me began. I believe it was the activation of my dragonblood that awakened Kthanid's genetics within me."

     Titus Crowe: "What does the 'dragonblood' do for you?"

     Iriisii: "It enabled me to use my voice as a weapon as the dragons use theirs. I also learn as they do, when I was forced to kill one, I absorbed its soul into myself. And so learned all that he knew in his life, and also added his power to my own. I could upon finding any written words of the Rotmulag, or 'words of power', learn the meaning of that word and its use. As I have ascended and gained Celestial power, I can now physically morph my body into that of a dragon, complementing my Dragonborn battle skills."

     Titus Crowe: "I suspect all of this makes you a rather formidable opponent."

     Iriisii: "Yes, as I too am a Great Dreamer as you are. My first wed mate is also a Great Dreamer. And when we reach out to combine our skills, well, we have accomplished things never known to have been done within the Realm of Dreams before now."

     Titus Crowe: "What is it that brought you here to me?"

     Iriisii explains what brought her to him, what she intends to do, why she needs to do this in this manner, and what she is willing to do for him in return for his help.

     Titus Crowe: "This is a lot to take in. I believe you are telling me the truth. But still, it is..."

     Iriisii: "a lot to make sense of, I know. I have had the benefit of coming into all of this a little at a time. You are getting it dumped on you in one massive load. I know you have reservations about becoming a revenant, I understand completely. The ritual as written in the Necronomicon is not the ritual I intend to use though. In the course of my life to this point, I have learned that there is much more, even to the Necromantic Arts, than what is written in that blasphemous tome. No, I would not put you and Meria at risk by calling on those mentioned in the Necronomicon ritual."

     Titus Crowe: "There are others of different stripes them?"

     Iriisii: "Oh yes, I am capable of doing it myself, completely alone. In fact, it works better for us if I do."

     Titus Crowe: "How is that?"

     Iriisii: "I do not need to bargain with any others to release your souls when I intend to give you over to Death, for he to take you and Meria to the Final Gate. From there, the two of you will pass beyond, and be forever out of reach of the Great Old Ones, for one day I will take care of them.

      Once on the other side, you can forge a new life for yourself and Meria. There are indeed many there who know me and of me, who will help in any way they can."

      Titus Crowe: "You can pull her from her father's grasp?"

      Iriisii: "Yes, I can. I have already proven that I can restore their true minds, as I did this to the 'Messenger'. Yes, you heard me right, Nyarlathotep no longer exists. His true mind was restored as I removed the insanity from him and sealed it away into a Mantella. Then I gave the Mantella to Lord Insanity, for Nyarlathotep owes a huge debt to Lord Insanity. As for the others, I will employ a different strategy, one I came to understand while having a conversation with Yog Sothoth.

     And yes, I am aware of exactly who he is and what happened when you encountered him. The situation has changed a bit from then until now. The 'Blind Dreamer' has shown his hand. He is not the gibbering, drooling, insane mass sitting at the center of Creation as it is written and spoken of him. But rather he is so much different from who we are that those who wrote of him could not find the concepts in their own minds to accurately portray him. For he is not of the Great Old Ones, he is from an entirely different place, following rules of physical values and logic that we cannot understand.

     He even cannot use his full power here because it is so different it does not interact with our metaphysics effectively. So he seeks a surrogate to act through, to be his channeler."

     Titus Crowe: "You know who this channeler is, don't you?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, me. He suborned Nyarlathotep, turned him into his servant, then sent him after me. For three attempts, I fought his efforts to take me before the 'Blind Dreamer'. I won those attempts, the first with Nodens help, and the next two I won on my own. The fourth one, I captured him and removed his insanity while restoring his true mind."

     Titus Crowe: "To be allied with one who finally possesses the power to right all the wrongs done by the Great Old Ones. Even to heal their minds of insanity and bring them back into the fold. I can think of no greater way to end my existence here and begin anew somewhere else. And to be reunited with Meria as well. What do I have to do?"

     Iriisii: "I will need to locate what remains of Meria, whether alive, dead or suspended. I will then know how to proceed."

     Titus Crowe: "If she is still alive, how will my being a revenant affect the two of us?"

     Iriisii: "Not at all. You will be in a state of resurrection while you are summoned as a revenant. After everything I need your assistance for is done, then we can look at the situation at that point and see what our options are."

     Titus Crowe: "Could you not completely resurrect me without my being a revenant?"

     Iriisii: "That is a possibility, but it would take considerably more risk on your part.

     Titus Crowe: "Why?"

     Iriisii: "I know you have no knowledge of Celestial Metaphysics, so I will try to help you understand what is entailed. There are three forms of resurrection that I am aware of, revenant being one, it is possible through the use of a body's essential salts and the use of Celestial power by ritual invocation. Because it can be reversed, whether it is or not, allows it to circumvent the Laws of Life and Death.

     Another that I would not countenance is simple Necromantic Resurrection. You would be brought back to inhabit your old body, using my personal power to maintain it in a viable condition. If for any reason my link to you would be disrupted, well, I think you can see where that is going. It would not be a good situation as your soul would be trapped in your decaying body if my power was not keeping it rebuilt.

     The last way I know of is Full Resurrection. I cannot yet do that on my own. I would have to ask higher entities to intercede and either take or mitigate to cost to me. The cost of violating the Law of Life and Death would be high, even for me. And it would come into play because it would make you partially immortal."

     Titus Crowe: "How can it be partial?"

     Iriisii: "You would be immune to disease and poisons. You would not age either. But through severe accidents or direct bodily damage, if your brain is damaged, or your spine is either severed or severely damaged, no form of healing could be applied soon enough. Your body would become locked in that state, and you would be forced to suffer in that condition."

     Titus Crowe: "For how long, eternity?"

     Iriisii: "Unless one of enough power could either release you from your body or..."

     Titus Crowe: "Or what?"

     Iriisii: "Your body is totally destoyed. And there is only one way I know for that to happen. Any other way would merely change it from one form into another. Fire would convert it into ash, but it would still exist as ash. Any other normal means would do the same, whatever form it was changed into, you would still inhabit that form."

     Titus Crowe: "And what is the only way than to free me by destroying my body?"

     Iriisii: "Convert it back into the quantum particles that all matter was first made from. But that would also destroy your soul, it would be as if you had never existed, from that point onward. All knowledge of you would vanish going forward, the past would remain inviolable, but the timeline you existed in would undergo a specific kind of break. There would be a barrier erected that would prevent any traveler from going past and discovering any knowledge of you. It has to be that way, or the paradox created would destroy the timeline."

     Titus Crowe: "That is heavy indeed. I had no idea of these kinds of possibilities, I can see why you would choose the one you have."

     Iriisii: "There may be one last possibility, but I would rather not say of what that is right now, if Meria is not alive, then it would not be needed, bringing both of you back as revenants would solve the problem. So let us see what develops and then we will know more of what is possible."

     Titus Crowe: "So you need to find Meria, in order to call my soul back?"

     Iriisii: "Yes."

     Titus Crowe: "What do you need from me, then?"

     Iriisii: "I want you to gather all that you remember of her, your feelings for her, your hopes and dreams of her, about her, for her. Gather them together and allow me to touch them. I can then use that to send a 'seeking' to find where she is. Then I can determine what her status is and how I need to proceed."

     Titus begins doing as Iriisii has requested. It is difficult at first because of all that has been said and what the possible outcomes could be. But he comes more and more to trust her because he trusted Kthanid when he led the Elder Gods and if Iriisii is of his line, and he trusts her along with all of the others in that they elected her Harbinger and Battle Mistress, then he would put his trust in her as well.

     Soon enough he feels her touch his mind, touch all that he has, knows, and feels toward Meria. And he feels the 'seeking' that she creates from that, then the 'seeking' is gone, gone in search of his Meria. And he sends his hopes and his blessing that the 'seeking' finds her, wherever she is, alive, dead, or suspended, he does not care. He only wants it to find her so that he can once more be by her side.