The Story of Iriisii Dovahkiin - Chapter 2

Iriisii's Story

                                                                       Chapter 2

     The night is cold, the sky is overcast and a steady rain is coming down. Iriisii is returning by horseback to the lair from a contract that took her farther than she had been away before. The Black Lotus's effect is diminishing although for as long as she has been taking it, it will not relinquish its iron grip on her for some time. Her horse is plodding along, cold rain being shed from its coat. She has been ridden long this day and is tired, seeking a warm place for the night and a measure of grain and hay for her empty stomach.

     Iriisii knows there is an Inn just a bit further where she can stay the night so she keeps her horse's head resolutely trained on the road ahead. She soon sees a hunched shape,  shivering on the side of the road up ahead, sensing no threat, she continues to approach.

As she closes in on the shape, she sees it is a young man, soaked to his skin by the rain. She starts to pass him by, not interested in him or his situation, for she has never had the experience of desire for a man flare up inside her heart. Truth be told she has never had a desire for either man or woman flare up inside her.

     Watching from a near distance, cloaked from sight, a figure watches the encounter that looks like it is about to be passed over. 

     Avatar of Dibella: "If so much were not at stake down the timeline, I would spare her the pain to come from this years from now."

     Avatar of Akatosh: "For this once, anyway I agree with you, but still it must happen, for there is no other way to free her from this trap, and if she is not freed..."

     Avatar of Dibella: "I know the cost to come, you do not have to convince me."

     Avatar of Akatosh: "I know this does not set well with you, but for all the pain she will suffer there will be ample recompense."

     Avatar of Dibella: "You know far more old man, than you are letting on. Why is she so important beyond the obvious that you had to go and do what you did to her. Even during the Dawn Times when so much interference was performed on the mortals, nothing to compare with this was ever attempted."

     Avatar of Akatosh: "Even I do not know the full extent of the path that will be hers to walk."

     Avatar of Dibella: "Then why for all of our sakes are you doing this if you cannot see the final outcome?"

     The Avatar of Dibella looks at the Avatar of Akatosh with many emotions, fear, amazement, loathing, and a little premonition. SHE showed you something didn't SHE. That is why you went to so much trouble to change her lifestream and set her on this path. You know what will happen!"

     Avatar of Akatosh: "What she showed me was in and of itself enough to do this. But even SHE does not see all of the possibilities."

     Avatar of Dibella: "Then who else...it was the Kel! No one else has the power to see farther than SHE does. What did they reveal to you to make you so resolute in this?"

     Avatar of Akatosh: "Even they do not see the entirety of what she will do, where she will go, what she will ultimately become, but the augurs they have read in the places they can see tell them this must happen, and it happens all from this one key chance encounter. If it does not happen, everything is lost, literally everything. All of us will pay the price, even Sithis, although he has no inkling of this."

     Avatar of Dibella: "Yet he fights against her, schemes, and plots to stop her."

     Avatar of Akatosh: "And he will lose and pay the price for his defiance."

     Avatar of Dibella: "What price will he pay?"

     Avatar of Akatosh: "I cannot say, I must remain silent on this until it happens."

     Avatar of Dibella: "Convenient that you must hold your silence."

     Avatar of Akatosh: "No, not convienient, necessary. Nothing must abort or hijack what is to come, nothing! She is the single greatest endeavor that will ever be attempted, for on her is the fate of everything! Here in Mundus, beyond in the greater Realm, in the Metaverse, in the Dreamworlds, in the Hells and the Abyss, in all of the different Existences, the past, present, and the future, everything rides on her success."

     Avatar of Dibella awed: "Then what is she to become that all will weigh upon her shoulders?"

     Avatar of Akatosh: "Something that until now has had no chance to come to fruition, something that should have been created in the very beginning of everything, but better now than too late."

     Avatar of Dibella: "Then who was responsible, who dropped the cup when they should have had a better hold of it?"

     Avatar of Akatosh: "We have no name for them, do not know if they even have a name for themselves. But perhaps if she succeeds, she will discover that knowledge, she will know what happened, why it happened, and set it right. Now you have a nudge to give her so she does not pass this by."

     Avatar of Dibella: "This is going to cost her dearly later, be prepared for me to repay  her pain out of your hide!"

     For some reason she does not know, she stops just past the rain-soaked, shivering young man. She turns her head to look at him and feels something move inside her. She does not know what she feels, just that she should not ignore it. She holds out a hand toward him and gestures with her fingers for him to come to her. As he comes close enough, she grabs hold of his hand, pulls him up onto the horse behind her, and then kicks her heels against the horse's rear hips. The horse responds as trained by moving into a canter down the road towards the Inn at the next town.

     When they arrive at the Inn and dismount, Iriisii hands the stableboy a silver coin and instructs him on how to care for the horse. As the stableboy leads the horse to the stable, Iriisii and the young man enter the Inn. Iriisii asks the innkeeper for a room for the night, pays him the required amount, and asks the young man to follow her. 

     As they enter the room, the innkeeper starts a fire in the fireplace. Once done, Iriisii gives him a silver as he leaves. She then strips off her surface clothes and spreads them out on the stone hearth to dry in the fire's heat. She then asks the young man to do the same. He looks somewhat sheepish at the request, and she tells him to strip and crawl under the warm blanket, that she would spread his clothes to dry.

     He does so, crawls under the blankets, and is soon drowsing in the warmth after being wet and cold. Iriisii is sitting in the one chair in the room watching the flickering flames as they gradually consume the wood logs. She still does not know why she is here with him, or what this feeling inside her wants her to do. But she senses she will get no rest until it is satisfied so she simply opens herself to it and lets it guide her actions.

     She looks over at him and sees he is lightly sleeping. She then gets up, finishes removing her clothes, and sets them out to dry. Then she quietly steps to the bed and slips inside next to the young man. He starts as he feels her cooler body next to his. As he starts to speak, she lays a finger across his lips, silencing him. Then she gently replaces her finger with her lips.

     The fire has not burned out but is diminished, Iriisii sees the light from the fire dancing around the warm room. The young man is deep asleep, exhausted from the cold and from the dance of their bodies and souls as the flickering firelight was trying to keep pace with them. She feels at peace now within herself but knows she cannot stay. She must be gone when he wakes, or he will try to follow her, and that could cost him his life.

     She gently moves out of bed and putting on her now-dry clothes, sits at the table. Gathering some paper, ink, and a writing quill she had paid the innkeeper for earlier, she began writing a letter to this nameless young man, in an effort to save his life on the morrow.

     To my young lover, please listen to me as I write this and do as I ask. You have made me feel something that I have never felt before in my life, and I will always remember this night with you because of that. But I cannot stay with you, and you cannot go with me, for either would mean your death. Do not ask anyone for my name, they will not tell you. Just rise and gather your things, then go on about your business. If you must, then remember this night in your dreams, and maybe if the Gods are kind we will share those dreams. For I am sorry that is all that we can share. I have no husband, no other mate, no one I have betrayed by being with you. But I still cannot explain why we must part and never seek the other, ever again.

     It is my wish for you to find yourself a wife, love her, raise a family, and forget that I exist. For I can never be yours, the chains I am bound with, you cannot break. And I would see you not sacrifice your life for me. I am not worth your life, my love, so please go, forget me, and if you cannot, then remember me in your dreams, as I will remember you.

     She sits, tears streaking down her face, falling to the letter, and threatening to smear her words. She carefully sets it aside to dry, gathers her belongings, and stops at the door. She turns to look at him one last time, to remember him as he dreams of her. She quietly opens the door, steps through, closes it as quietly as she opened it, and pads her way down the stairs and outside the Inn. Her horse is ready to go. She gives the sleepy-eyed stable boy a second silver coin, bidding him to go back to his bedroll. She mounts her horse and together they resume their journey.

     

     She bears her child in silence, not even a whimper escapes her lips. For to do so would signal weakness to the 'Seven' and validate every snide remark, every cruel comment that they have ever said of her. As they keep looking at her to find such a moment of weakness, they see only the cold radiating from her eyes when she looks at them. A few shiver at her gaze, feeling their own mortality should they ever challenge her. Only the 'Mother' seems immune to this, she is not, yet she knows as well as Iriisii the potential cost of appearing to be weak in the company which they both share.

     Father: "What of the child? What are your plans for him?"

     Mother: "I intend to return him to his father."

     Killing Frost: "WHAT! Why would you do that, kill him to punish Iriisii for her transgression, or keep him and train him as one of us!"

     Mother with menace in her voice: "Forget your place again and there will be an opening within the 'Seven' to be filled."

     Iriisii is silent and stoic as the verbal altercation and threats are issued. She hides behind the Black Lotus pollen, perhaps for the first time, glad to be under its influence. But she also feels subtly different, like there is someone else sharing her mind with her, helping her deal with this situation.

     Mother: "I have finally received confirmation of who the father is."

     Drowning Tide gives Iriisii a side glance: "And you intend to kill him? Send me, and I will do it!"

     Mother: "I take it you intend for there to be two openings among the 'Seven' then?"

     Drowning Tide backpedaled quickly, "No, no, I just thought..."

     Mother: "I tell you what to think, what to do, and when to do them. You tread on thin ice 'Tide', after that last near debacle when you thought to think instead of following orders."

     Drowning Tide hangs her head, "Yes Mother."

     The Killing Frost smirks as the Mother's hand lashes out against the Killing Frost's face.

     Mother: "What I told 'Tide' goes for you as well, Iriisii stepped out of line, yes, but it has been the only time since she has been with us. And other than that one time she has been the example to which all the acolytes model themselves to be. Do any of them seek to follow in your footsteps? I think not, for she does not seek to rise higher for her own aggrandizement, but rather she raises us all with her professionalism and the fear in which we are held among the people, not only here but in Skyrim, Cyrodiil, even Morrowind. The Morag Tong quiver in fear when we walk past them, and the Dark Brotherhood learned from the Morag Tong's error, for they make certain no contract of theirs crosses one of ours. This is as it should be, for we are the most feared and respected assassins on Nirn!"

     Father: "Who is the boy's father? There must be an advantage for us to send the boy to his father?"

     Mother: "Indeed there is. Long have we sought leverage within the High Palace, and now we have an inroad. The boy's father is the son of the King's High Councilor, and by returning the boy, we gain leverage against both father and grandfather. But we must move slowly and carefully, play our card too soon and it will work against us. So we take the long road and use this only when we need it most."

     Iriisii thinks within her mind, 'My son will live. I thank whichever of the Gods who placed me there on that night. Who nudged me in the direction they did, and now have allowed my son to live. Free me from this nightmare and I will gladly serve you in all things.'

     Even as the tiniest faintest of whispers speaks to her, 'Be careful what you ask for when asking for the favor of the Gods. The price may be more than you wish to pay.'

     Iriisii: 'Who?'

     Whisperer: 'Shhh, you will know who I am when the time comes for you to know. The answer lies within you but is buried deep until a time of most dire need will awaken the memory of my name. I look forward to seeing and speaking with you once again when that time comes. Now go and live your life, I will continue to watch over you.'

     Time marches onward and Iriisii's popularity with the acolytes steadily increases, making the rest of the 'Seven' nervous.

     Drowning Tide: "I do not know about the rest of you but something has to be done about 'her' popularity. I feel it is only a matter of time before she begins challenging us in the 'Pit', and I do not think much of our chances then."

     Killing Frost: "Don't worry so much, the 'Mother' will soon be taking one of her trips to the Capital City. When she does one of us will be left in charge."

     Volcano: "What good does that do us?"

     Killing Frost: "No wonder the 'Mother' thinks you are an idiot. The one left in charge will be taking care of the contracts. That person just creates a 'Dark' contract and sends Iriisii to fulfill it. The location in the contract will just happen to be the manor house where the boy's father lives, with his wife, son, and servants. She will per the contract kill everyone in the house. The killing of her son will break her. She will probably either kill herself or run. If she runs, we will track her down and she will have a most unfortunate accident. Alright lamebrain, what is your problem with this plan?"

     Volcano: "This is Darkstar you are planning on doing this to."

     Killing Frost: "And your point is?"

     Volcano: "She took on one hundred of the Morag Tong led by the 'Mute's' second in command and probably faced down the Mute as well."

     Killing Frost: "So what. What has your ruffles flared up?"

     Volcano: "She did it alone, no one helped her, and she came back without a scratch. None of us could have done the same. What makes you think everything will go according to your plan?"

     Killing Frost: "Who said she did it alone, we only have her word for it."

     Volcano: "No we do not. The Mother sent me to look over the outpost, and make sure the Morag Tong was gone and not coming back. I saw what she had left behind her. Over a hundred Morag Tong dead, many were killed in their sleep, and the guards walking patrol still had their weapons in hand. She killed them all without a single one raising an alarm. And the 'Mute's' second was still tied to one of the torturer's tables, his neck broken by twisting. The bones showed a quick sure snapping.

     She not only killed them all, but she denigrated the 'second' by using only her hands while he was still tied down. The traces of magic left behind by the 'blood curse' she built were still strong, and over half the inside walls showed signs of scorching. And there were traces of another magic there as well."

     Killing Frost: "Well, are you going to tell us what these other traces were from?"

     Volcano: "No, not what but who."

     Killing Frost: "Well, who then?"

     Volcano: "Put it together yourself, the answer is right in front of you. Who does the Morag Tong follow? That should be easy enough for you to answer. and if you either can not or do not wish to put it together that is on you, I am done with this."

     The 'Volcano' turns and walks out of the room to go and find something to take his mind off of this fiasco in the making.

     Killing Frost: 'Mother' should be halfway to the Capital City, time to get this show on the road. She carefully writes up a new contract, a 'dark' open contract. Containing only the location to go to and what to do once she gets there. She calls Darkstar into the 'Mothers' office and looking up at her from the chair behind the desk, hands the contract to Darkstar.

     Killing Frost: "This is a quite simple one, go to the location written, after dark sets in, enter the manor house and kill everyone inside, then get back here with no one outside the wiser. The client will know if it is done per instructions."

     Darkstar takes the contract, turns and silently walks out into the hallway and makes her way to the stables. She saddles her horse, mounts, and they move at a sedate pace. Setting their stride carefully to get to the target just after dark but not to appear hurried to anyone out on the road.

     The sun is down, but the moon has not yet risen. Darkstar watches the house from the shadows of the branches of an old oak tree, waiting for all to fall asleep. Hours later, near midnight, the last light from the house has been snuffed. She makes her way along the tree limb, dropping over the stone wall around the house and into the main courtyard. 

     She notices the placement of the hedges, the flower beds, a crushed stone walk, and even a small stream flowing across with a walking bridge spanning it. All this denotes an effort of love, planning, working one small part at a time, and patience. Like the patience she nurtures when she goes on a contract.

     The front door is simplicity itself to open, no one with serious intent has made their way through or this lock would have been changed and reworked long ago. She senses where the furniture sits, and the vases she locates by the scent of the flowers they hold. She feels the rugs with her fingertips, finding where the footfalls have pressed the fibers down, thus she knows where it is safe to walk.

     She begins with the servants, locating them by the scent of their work. The cook and the scullery maids die quickly and quietly, with only the gentlest of sighs to mark their passing. The gardener with the scent of freshly turned dirt, his neck muscles are wiry, so she slips a thin dagger straight into his heart. The housemaids she finds by the soaps used in washing clothes and wiping the dust from the furniture. Soon enough they join the others on their way to the Land of the Dead.

     Then she moves toward the master bedroom, she knows where it is because she watched it from the tree limb, memorizing how many other doors she would need to pass to reach it, using the soft sounds of the couple's breathing to home in on the right door. in just moments she stands next to the bed, deciding on which of the two she will send to Death first. An errant moonbeam shining as a cloud moves onward makes her decision for her as it passes across the male's face causing him to stir and shift his position.

     Darkstar firmly covers his mouth with her left hand, his eyes open as he feels the strange touch. Her dagger touches his throat and he sees and recognizes who is hovering above him as the dagger slices across opening both vein and artery. His last thought is whether she knew he was the one she took to the Inn on that cold and rainy night. Alas, he never got the answer to that question before he died. 

     She did not remember him from years before because it was Darkstar who drew the blade across his throat, Iriisii was buried deep into the depths of her fractured, drug-hazed mind, never knowing what it was that Darkstar had done when she was in control. The Lady of the house was next, and never knew what happened before the deed was done.

     And so Darkstar went to the last bedroom that was occupied. She stood over a young boy about six years of age. With no qualms at all, Darkstar carefully leans over the boy, positioning herself to make this as quick and silent as she could. As the blade touches his throat, another moonbeam peeks from around a cloud and shines in his face waking him. As his violet eyes brightly reflect the light of Secundus. Iriisii comes with a vengeance and takes control of her mind from Darkstar.

     She draws back the blade from the boy's throat, turns, and heaves, emptying her stomach onto the room's rug. She takes a few steps before collapsing to her knees unable to move. Somehow her mind knows she must regain her feet and flee or be caught by the changing of the guard when they discover the drugged and sleeping guards currently at their post. In desperation, a part of Iriisii that until now has remained in the quiet depths of her mind comes forward and shoves her aside. Taking control of their body, and forcing it to their feet and outside. They flee across the courtyard and over the wall before anything more can happen to upset this night's events.

     For the rest of the night, and all the next day, she runs. Trying to flee from the memory of what she did, what she almost did. The tears stopped flowing hours ago and it is sundown before she stops. She goes through the motions of setting up camp, her mind not on the actions she is doing, just trying so hard not to think, not to feel, not to hurt. Masser and Secundus are both risen, she is sitting at the fire, watching the flames as they reach for the sky. She hears a voice call out from the dark.

     Voice: "Hail the camp, will you share its light and warmth with a traveling priest?"

     Iriisii remembers the manners of the forest taught to her by her Grandfather.

     Iriisii: "The campfire shares itself with all who need its light and warmth. Come and sit with me, share in the bounties of the campfire."

     As the priest comes into the light and sits across from her, "May I ask who taught you the old ways of the forest?"

     Iriisii: "My Grandfather taught me all he knew of the old ways, and now I honor his teachings."

     Priest: "And what of your father?"

     Iriisii: "My mother died giving life to me, my father joined her later of a broken heart."

     Priest: "I am sorry for your loss, the pain still haunts you."

     Iriisii: "May I respectfully ask a question?"

     Priest: "Please do, my child. If I can answer you, be assured I will."

     Iriisii: "Why is it that the Gods allow such pain to be suffered by the innocent?"

     Priest: "A question that many ask, yet few really understand the answer."

     Iriisii: "I cannot say that I would do any better, but I would like to try."

     Priest: "Very well, the pain you say that is suffered by the innocent is real enough, but it is not within the purview of the Gods to deal with it. Theirs is the task to guide and shepherd the races through to the future as a whole, not as individuals. They see the greater tapestry of life, not the individual threads that make up that tapestry."

     Iriisii: "Then why do we feel that we need them, why worship them, call out upon them in our need?"

     Priest: "That is the true question that begs to be answered. Even as they look to the whole of the races, they do feel when the individual threads are hurt. They will when asked empower those threads to act to heal the pain, either directly if one prays at a shrine, or through the agency of one they act through."

     Iriisii: "Like a priest?"

     Priest: "Yes, or a hero sent to set right great wrongs that threaten many. Yet even then, the ones they seek to use are mortal and so flawed. They must be forged from time to time in the crucible of experience so that when they are called upon they will not break, as a poorly forged sword will break in a battle."

     Iriisii: "Strange as it may seem, I understand your words. They make sense to me and I feel the truth within them."

     Priest: "Tell me what troubles you my daughter, and perhaps the Gods will deign to answer you more directly."

     Iriisii tells him of what she remembers of her life, the things that happened, the things she suspects she did but has been somehow shielded from remembering. The priest listens to her with not a single moment of recrimination. At the end of her recitation of her life, the priest begins to speak what he is being led to say to her. He goes on for a bit before his voice changes and Iriisii realizes that someone else is speaking to her through him.

     Dibella: "Daughter of mine, I speak for more than myself when I say you have been chosen to be one who will become the greatest of heroes. The means have been given to you that you will need to acquire the skills to go forward. Your time with the 'Seven' is at an end and soon you will begin with a far different group. There are no words to describe what you will learn during your time with them."

     Iriisii: "Who is responsible for what was done to me?"

     Dibella: "Akatosh set it in motion. And if not for what we know of why he decided it had to be you, there would have been an open revolt in Aetherius over what he did. Please understand, you did nothing, and have done nothing to deserve what you will go through. But there will be recompense to you for your trials. What that recompense will be is up to you to decide."

     Iriisii: "This goes beyond Akatosh, does it not?"

     Dibella: "Yes, it does. How far beyond him, even he does not realize."

     Iriisii: "This is too much to withstand, and I suspect we have not even scratched the surface of what lies ahead."

     Dibella: "You are correct, my daughter, and so some of what we are speaking of will be buried in your memories. When you can accept the knowledge of what is happening, now and in the future, it will come to the surface for you to use as you see fit. But know that we will always stand with you, even should you choose to chastise Akatosh over his actions."

     Iriisii: "That decision will have to wait for the fullness of time. Once I know and understand why, then I can decide that one way or another. Until then it will wait. Who is this next group I am to go with?"

     Dibella: "Your Grandfather made arrangements with them to adopt you into their family, to teach you what they can, to add to your skills. Their reach is greater than any other now living on Nirn, and they can protect you from the 'Seven' until such time as you can stand alone against them. I will send this priest, to bring them to you and I will watch over you until he brings them back."

     Iriisii: "One last thing before you send him."

     Dibella: "Yes, child, I was the one who nudged you on that cold and raining night. I know full well the pain you have endured and will come to endure because of that. But it had to be or all would come to naught. Even so, I intend to hold Akatosh accountable for your pain and I will see you rewarded for what you endure. I must send him on now, he will return soon."

     The priest stands up and walks away into the dawn on his Gods given errand, leaving Iriisii to ponder the meaning of what Dibella has revealed to her.

     The next dawn and Iriisii is woken by voices approaching the campfire.

     Voice one: "Are you sure this is the place?"

     Voice two: "Yes, I am sure, I saw the light of a dwindling campfire and only someone on the run would camp so far back from the road."

     Voice three: "But is it her or a pack of brigands?"

     Voice four: "Either way we will deal with it. Looks like we got lucky, there is only a single figure by the campfire."

     Voice one: "Hail the campfire! We seek one called Iriisii, of the village of Mountainview. Are you she?"

     Iriisii: "Why do you ask?"

     Voice one: "She is the sole survivor of the destruction of the village. Our Matriarch, Sharra, made a promise to Iriisii's Grandfather, Tiusen, to take her into our Temple on her eighteenth birth year and complete her training."

     Iriisii pauses for a second, "I am she you seek, come to the campfire."

     A minute later and they all crowd around the campfire. 

     Voice two: "What happened? We have been searching for you ever since we went to your village and found it destroyed."

     A tear runs down her face as she answers, "The Sinister Seven."

     The first Temple scout to speak draws her in his arms, "It is over now, they will never more lay hands on you again. All of the Temple of the Ancient Order of the Blade Dancers will see to that. We will protect you with our lives."

     Iriisii breaks and collapses as the scout catches her, and calls for the healer when he feels her shaking.

     Scout: "Healer, quickly come to see to her, something is wrong."

     The healer rushes up and lays her next to the fire. As the scout helps, the healer begins examining Iriisii's tremors, also noticing that she begins to sweat even though the morning is cool. She looks at Iriisii's eyes and sees a faint clouding as her pupils expand.

     Healer: "By all the Gods! What have they been giving her?"

     Iriisii manages to brokenly whisper, "Bla..ck L..otu..s."

     Healer: "Quickly now, we need to make a litter for her. We must make all haste and get her to the Temple!"

     Scout: "What is it? What is wrong?"

     Healer: "Gods, how long have they been dosing her with Black Lotus?"

     When the scout hears this, he immediately takes off his tunic, "Here use my tunic to make the litter. Iriisii can barely hear what is going on now, but she feels it when they move her onto the litter. She feels it again as she is raised and begins moving as she drops into unconsciousness. The last thing she remembers is someone saying to douse and cover the campfire, then sweep their tracks.

                                                                             *

     The group manages to get back to the Blade Dancer's Temple without incident, mainly due to their exceptional tracking and avoidance skills. Iriisii is given quarters and placed within to get some sleep. The healers assign one of their own to watch over her through the night after giving her something to mitigate the withdrawal symptoms. The Elders would want to look at her in the morning to evaluate how much of the Black Lotus is still resident in her body and how best to get rid of it entirely. They also want to monitor her withdrawal, not all who take it suffer withdrawal greatly, but she is an unknown, someone who had been on it for years, most only use it sparingly with large amounts of time between uses. Luckily, she avoids the worst, but she does suffer some bouts of uncontrolled emotional outbursts and some minor aches. Things however go more smoothly once she discovers the training yard and she is able to immerse herself into hard training followed by meditation. 

     Watching her during one morning session, Sharra and the other Elders watch with interest as she moves through the movements taught her years ago as she started her early training with her Grandfather.

     Sharra: "There, did you see? She has incorporated the training she received from the 'Seven' into that which she learned from her Grandfather years ago. I almost missed where she went from one to the other, her shifts are so smooth they are almost effortless. It is no wonder the 'Mother' is still hard at work looking for her. If she can blend disparate styles of the fighting arts into a coherent whole, on a battlefield, she would be nearly unstoppable.

     The Sages say she has magicka reserves as to be almost unbelievable in a mortal, although they feel they know why she has such reserves. This must go no further than between us for now, I must have your agreement before I can continue."

     The Elders look among themselves and then come to a joint decision, the most senior looks to Sharra and nods his head in acquiescence. 

     Sharra: "Thank you for trusting me in this, I am sure once all is said, you will understand the need for secrecy at this time. If the Sages are right, she has multiple strands of magic coursing through her, although untaught for now, soon she will need training to learn control if nothing else. She has these multiple strands in part due to her unique heritage. 

     We know she is of the Aasimar race, the Scourge subrace. We now know, as we suspected, that her mother was one of the 'lost ones' who did not return from the 'trials'. Exactly who, we do not know yet, but we are closer to finding out. We also found something astonishing. We have long wondered which 'Gods' during the Dawn Times, were the ones who 'touched' them and changed them into what they now are. Sad that she may be the last unless there are others wandering Nirn somewhere. But as we discovered from talking to her during her meditation, we now know that the 'Gods' of Mundus were not the ones who created the Aasimar!

     That begs the question of 'who' did it, we think we may know a way to discover the answer to that question or at least rule out another possibility. We are also certain beyond doubt that she has dual souls! I know, how, why, who, all of the questions we could ask, and more. One of the dual souls is a Dragon soul!

     Yes, I know how that sounds. It would make her a 'Dovahkiin', Dragonborn, the first since Tiber Septim walked Nirn's ground. What that portends is unknown, but one thing we can be certain of, is that very important events are shaping. A Dovahkiin only shows when the need will be great when the fate of the entire world could be at stake. And her other soul, even though she is mortal, her second soul is Aetherial. By that, I mean that her second soul was conceived in Aetherius and placed in her at the moment of her conception along with the Dragon soul.

     The power inherent in such a combination is staggering in its implications, add to that her heritage as a Blade Dancer and whatever 'Gods' created her Aasimar part. The total belies all description if she can determine how to come into each part of her totality and then blend them together into a harmonious whole as she has blended our 'fighting' teachings with those of the 'Seven'. Would that kind of power dwarf even that of the 'Gods' as we know them and more importantly, what is she being groomed to 'fight'?

     I think that at the very least, we have to work to keep her out of the 'Seven's' hands. Beyond that, we should do all we can to strengthen her will and her moral structure. Help her maintain her balance, and discover all we can about her role in coming events, so as to be able to guide and counsel her. For if she sees us as standing with her, she will listen to us when what we say to her will mean the most. And she is truly a daughter of ours, lost but now found, homeless but now at home, alone but now with family.

     Let us show her that she can trust us, guide her but not use her, stand with her but not command her, and be ready to lend our aid but not ask for payment in return. For she is one of us, and these are things we would do for any of ours. Before you go, think about what we know, who we are, and what we stand for. For if we do not stand up now, support her, prepare her for what awaits, it may well be too late for all of us who live on Nirn, when she is needed and cannot act because we did not act now."

     Elder Josiah: "If I may interject?"

     Sharra: "Please Elder, you are always welcome to share your wisdom."

     Elder Josiah: "I speak for myself, the others will have to speak for themselves. I understand the things you speak of and their importance. I would add that when we elected to remain here on Nirn when the others left, we took on the task of watching and while not forcing change on the ways of the world, we could at least nudge things in a direction we felt it needed to move closer to. We took an oath, to uphold the balance of power, to work from the shadows as much as possible so as not to draw unwanted attention to ourselves. 

     But as I see things now, that time is coming to an end. With the coming of a new Dovahkiin, one that has been made known to us before the Greybeards of High Hrothgar, before even the Dovahkiin herself knows, should tell us that some force sees that what we can do to help this Dovahkiin, shape her, help her accept her fate, understand the power she will come to wield. Be what she needs us to be, in order to be of the greatest help to her.

     If that means we come out and make ourselves known again, then so be it. For we must be true to the oath we took, or all else will be lost in the mists of time. When you feel she needs to know what you have discovered, tell her, but also tell her that we believe in her and that we will be here to help her no matter the cost. For if we do nothing, the world will be lost, to one evil or another, it makes no difference, it will still be lost. And if we stand and do nothing, then we should be damned for our inaction."

     Sharra: "Thank you, Elder Josiah, you have given me much wisdom to consider, as always, your words ring with the light of truth. Once we know all of her inner nature, we will share it with her, and our willingness to aid her in understanding, and wielding that nature for the good of all."

     Sharra turns to observe Iriisii continuing her training, while the Elders quietly leave her to her thoughts. A couple of days later, Sharra comes to the training yard to collect Iriisii and takes her to their Library, to show her some of the most ancient of texts that they possess, in order to see if something might spark a memory deeply hidden, and bring it into the light of day.

     Sharra: "This is the Archive of our Library. Here, the oldest of what we have is stored and looked over to try and know what is written on them. We think maybe, something may spark a memory, or something may choose to reveal itself to you. We will start with these, they are our oldest. As you can see they are made of something different, it shines like metal, but is flexible like papyrus."

     Iriisii reaches for one of the sheets, as her hand nears the sheet it takes on a dim glow. Before anyone notices, her hand touches the 'metal' sheet, and the symbolic lettering starts to react. Iriisii stiffens as her eyes see the lettering change into something she can understand. Then her eyelids drop down and she is drawn into a dreamlike vision of a past occurrence. Somehow she knows the 'metal' sheet is doing this for her to better understand what it wishes to tell her.

     DREAM: She feels she is looking out through the eyes of another, as 'he' looks at a glass-covered wall, she sees his reflection. In an instant, she is horrified at his appearance. Tall, batrachian, winged, tentacles dropping from his face, features out of some horrible nightmare, she wishes to flee, yet she also sees and feels his inner self. At first, she cannot understand how something that looks so horrific can have a nature so peaceful, so much emotion, not evil, but not good as she knows it, but of the 'light' nonetheless. 

     She settles down to watch and listen to what is happening within this visionary memory. Then she sees another approach, totally different in appearance, more human, but still very large, very much a warrior in stance and walk, she senses he is some kind of Guardian, but of what she cannot tell.

     Kthanid: "Well met, Nodens. What news do you have for me?"

     Nodens: "Not good, my Lord Kthanid. The 'Lost' take the field and prepare for battle."

     Kthanid: "Damn them, can they not see the destruction they have already wrought."

     Nodens: "Yes, my lord, they see. They just do not care. They are too deep in their madness to care for the mortals who live here. If only they would follow us, we could draw them away from the mortals, but something about them has caught their eye. They will not leave now, and so we are the mortals' last hope of survival. I am sorry it has come to this, but we have tried everything else we know and nothing helps. If you do not allow us to bring about their demise, then we must defeat and imprison them for all time if need be. Only if their sanity can be restored can they ever be released, but we know not how to bring this about."

     Kthanid: "I know, my friend, it weighs upon me as well to be the one this decision falls to. But for some unknown, unknowable reason, I feel an answer exists, perhaps not now, at this time. Perhaps not for a long time to come, but I feel it will come if we just do not give up hope. We will do what we must, and keep going, for that is who we are. What separates us from all of the others who call themselves 'Gods'. LOOK! By the 'MAKER OF ALL', HE takes the field. My half-brother, Cthulhu shows himself at last!"

     Nodens looks at Lord Kthanid closely as if sensing something different about him. Using one of his gifts, he slows his time sense to converse with what he suspects is riding his 'Lord'.

     Nodens: "Please do not be alarmed, I wish only to speak with you. May I ask who you are, how you came to be here at this time, sharing the body of my Lord Kthanid, highest of the 'Gods of Eld'?"

     Iriisii: "I am Iriisii of the Blade Dancers, Scourge of the Aasimar Race. I found myself here after I held a curious metal-like page in our Library Archives, where our oldest scrolls and documents are kept. Our Matriarch felt that by examining our artifacts, something may trigger within me to allow me to see into my racial past. I think that is indeed what has happened. I saw the 'metal' page begin to glow as my hand approached, and as I touched it, I was drawn into this dream."

     Nodens: "I think I see what you speak of. You see it as a dream, but the truth of the matter is that your mind has been sent back along the traces of your past to, for a short while, share the body of one who is an ancestor to you. This bears much thought of how you could be a descendant of my 'Lord' but I believe I may have an answer to this.

     We have a great battle to fight here very soon and there will be a great many casualties among the mortals who live here. We wish this battle could take place elsewhere but alas, such is not to be. Therefore, by your presence here, I can take it that we will win and so imprison Cthulhu. Then we would do what we could aid the mortal survivors to endure the changes that will be wrought here as a result of our battle.

     In order to aid them, we will have to share with them some part of ourselves, to give them what they will need to resist the energies that will be released here and linger on. These parts of us will become a part of your people, thus to be passed down to your children, and their children. And so, I believe from the words you have spoken to me, the Aasimar race will be born as a result. And so you will inherit some of the gifts and heritage of my 'Lord Kthanid'.

     I do not know how far into the future you are from this moment, but I would guess that several millennia at least separate us. It is good to know that some of you still live that far, it is gratifying to us that our efforts will bear fruit at least in that regard."

     Iriisii: "I do not know how many of my race are left, I fear I may be the last. I pray this is not so."

     Nodens: "I feel your pain, may I see into you and so gain your life story. Perhaps there is some way I can be of help in your time by learning what you may need now in my time."

     Iriisii: "I sense the compassion within you to balance your status as a warrior. In this we are alike, so yes, I grant you permission to see into me. I open myself to your eyes, please tell me what you see within me that I have yet to see myself."

     Nodens: "By the MAKER OF ALL! Child, you have endured far more than any mortal should. And yet, you have not even begun to tread the path of your fate. You are no mere mortal, you have within you the 'Seeds of the Ultimate', I have heard of this but never before seen it with my own senses. Before you ask, let me tell you what I know about this.

     You have two souls, one is a Dragon Soul, one truly ancient and powerful, and the other is kin to the entities who inhabit this realm, that call themselves 'Gods'. You have the 'Blood of Eld' that was passed to you from this time when it was bestowed unto your forebears by my fellow 'Gods'. And I see the heritage given to you by the Blade Dancers, it is also from a Realm other than this one, and from a time soon after the 'MAKER OF ALL' began the Great Chain of Realms that is now all of Creation itself. For now, they are separate within you but they wish for you to blend them into harmony so that you can realize your full potential. And, yes, to do that you will require another 'key'."

     Iriisii: "What key will I need?"

     Nodens smiles: "Not what, but who, is the question you must ask yourself. The final key you require is not a thing but a person. Another mortal who holds the power to bind his/her soul to yours."

     Iriisii: "How can someone else bind their soul to mine?"

     Nodens: "The true 'Question of the Ages', by 'falling in love' my child. Only through that most mysterious of 'magics', though some say it is merely emotion, or alchemy, or whatever other words they use. It is still truly 'magic', so says Nodens, God of Eld, Lord of the Great Abyss. And no, I do not know who it will be, that you must discover for yourself. Trust me in this, for how can 'love' be anything but the greatest of 'magics' if it can even happen between 'Gods'.

     And so it has the power to bring all of that within you and make it whole. It will not be without supreme effort, but it is worth the price for what you can become. Many will work to subvert you, chain you, and turn you from this path, but you must resist and stray not from what lies ahead. The futures of untold numbers for good or for ill lie in your actions. For now, I have a battle to fight and so must leave you. We will meet again in the future, call me if you have the need and I will answer. The 'magic' that brought you here still has more for you to learn, so hold on to my 'Lord Kthanid' through the battle and see this through to its end. I bid you a good journey through your life, sister, keep your eyes on the 'light' and you will not go wrong."

     And Nodens releases her and withdraws from her mind, but before he turns to enter the battle, she swears she sees him 'wink' at her and then he is gone. Before her awareness returns to Kthanid, the 'magic' working through the 'metal' page renders an image of a scroll unwinding for her to read the title.

     SCROLL: "Seeds of the Ultimate". The scroll goes on to say, 'Almost nothing is known of the 'Seeds' save that they are a gift, given by the 'MAKER OF ALL', 'he' who is responsible for the act of creation that brought forth, within the 'void', the substance from which acted upon by the 'magic' of 'WILL' causes the substance of the 'void' to take physical form. The laws that govern that physical form are also a product of the 'WILL' that brought forth that which will become a 'Realm'.

     Then he acted upon the 'Void' with his 'Will' and caused the first 'Realm' to be born. This 'realm' became many as 'HE' continued the process, each one different from the previous one. He then placed 'Seeds' of himself in each 'Realm' and watched as life in all of its complexities began. Some of these 'lives' gained sentience and learned how to create 'Realms' of their own from the substance of the 'Void'. Even the 'Void' itself spawned 'life' of a kind, though not the same as the 'life' spawned in the 'Realms'. For the most part, the different forms of 'life' did not intrude one upon the other.

     At some point that changed, and why is not known? Just that it came to be. And so conflict came into being between some of the denizens of the 'Void' and some of the 'Realms'. Only a very few of these conflicts grew to include more than a single 'Realm'. And so the 'Ravenous Darkness' was born. 'Realm' after 'Realm' fell to the 'Ravenous Darkness', and it grew more and more powerful as it fed on the 'lives' in each 'Realm' it devoured. Until it entered the 'Realm' of the 'Gods of Eld'. 

     They fought the 'Ravenous Darkness', and used every form of power they could find or develop, but though they could wound it, and slow its advance, they could not stop it. They decided then that all they could do was to sacrifice their 'Realm' and imprison it. They used their skills to create 'Walls of Infinity' around their 'Realm'. These 'Walls' can only be formed at the edge of a 'Realm' where it meets with the 'Void', taking its power from both, to create a barrier outside both 'Realm' and 'Void'. A barrier a lifeform of either 'Void' or 'Realm' could not cross.

     The greatest of the 'Gods of Eld' stood in the breach that they made when the 'Walls' were made, and thus they fled into adjoining 'Realms'. When the last of those who fled were safely away, the 'greatest' turned to seal the breach, trapping the 'Ravenous Darkness' forever within their former home. The 'Ravenous Darkness' in a final strike against the 'Gods of Eld' revealed its true essence to those still holding the breach open. They then discovered it was possible for 'Gods' to go insane. The 'insane' ones scattered, even as the 'breach' closed and sealed itself, hopefully for eternity, but eternity is a long time. 

     The 'Gods of Eld' began the task of dealing with their insane brethren. Because of their nature, they could not kill or destroy them, but rather imprisoned them, holding out hope that one day their sanity may be restored. Thus did the 'MAKER OF ALL' create the 'Seeds of the Ultimate' and cast them out among the 'Realms'. If enough of these 'seeds' come together into a single life, that 'life' has the potential to become a figure beyond legend.

     A 'life' that could restore the sanity of the 'Great Old Ones' and return them whole once more to the 'Gods of Eld'. And then if the right combination of these 'seeds' are resident within this 'life'. It can go on to do battle with the 'Ravenous Darkness', deal with it, and bring balance back into the creation of the MAKER OF ALL.'

     As Iriisii reads the words written and displayed for her, she says, "This is all well and good. I see what happened and how it brought me into being. But what does it mean for me going on from here."

     The 'magic' is silent.

     Iriisii: "If you can not or will not answer that, then will you answer this? How did the 'MAKER OF ALL' start 'CREATION'?"

     SCROLL: 'By means of 'Soulfire', a force that engenders the very force of 'Creation' itself. It is capable of 'creating from nothing' or 'destroying anything back into nothing'. Apotheosis must be fulfilled twice to enable 'Soulfire' in a being of sufficient power. First, a being must learn to create or call 'Starfire' and use it to destroy, and second to create or call 'Rebirth' and use it to redeem a life. Only then will the wielder have to power to use the Soulfire within their own form, go onward, and then meet their next destiny.'

     Iriisii: "What next destiny? How many are there that are needed? Am I the one you speak of? What is, if any, the final Fate? Or is there even one?" 

     The 'scroll' is silent.

     Iriisii: "I guess I will have to go on and hope I can make sense of all of this later."

     The scroll fades from her view, and she watches from Kthanid's sight as the battle, which will ultimately become the beginning point of her race, starts.