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1 - The Begining2,998 words
2 - The Arrival4,948 words
3 - The Battle4,960 words
4 - The First Introductions4,172 words
5 - The Second Introductions6,547 words
6 - The Day Before4,346 words
One last word1 words

2 - The Arrival

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Chapter Two

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What? You question why this one can speak in the first person while telling the story but not during conversation? Well, just let us have a moment. Ahem!

In the end, I can speak normally to people, but this one- pardon me, I, find it easier to converse in third person. It’s a trait many khajiit have, although many do overcome it. For the sake of this story, I will be using first person, but don’t expect me to do so elsewhere.

Now, will this one be allowed to continue its tale, for we assures you, it has only just begun.

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I was nowhere near Black Marsh, that much was certain. The landscape was nothing like what Black Marsh was, the swampy forest was similar, it’s true, but there are no plains or mountains in Black Marsh, nor any cities built into them. No I was somewhere else entirely.

But where?

I couldn’t be in Cyrodil, the only mountain ranges there are to the north, and the weather there is a constant snow. Nor was I in Morrowind, after the Red Mountain eruption, the land was nowhere near as alive as this, having been suffocated in a layer of ash.

Looking around myself, I couldn’t help but let a sense of worry overcome me. Throughout all of my adventures in Skyrim and beyond, nothing had come close to this. The more I looked from my perch on the tree, the more confused I became.

Eventually, I subdued my confusion. I returned my thoughts to the matter at hand, and I began to once again scan the environment, once again looking for anything of note. Primarily a sign of civilisation, other than the giant city in the distance. It stood at a remarkably far distance from me, looking little more than a dot in my vision. The fact that I could even see it was a testament to its sheer size.

And so I started to look for other signs of life. I didn’t see anything of note while I scanned the woods around me, the foliage being too thick to see through, but as I looked towards the fields, I spotted something, far off, though not nearly so far as the Mountain. It took me a moment to realize that I was looking at was a village, small, maybe a, hour walk from where I was, plus the climb down the tree that I still had to make.

I didn’t stop my search with the village though, I continued to study the land for several minutes, making note of the stone quarry in the far distance, and the vast rows of tree’s, probably a farm of some sort, that stood near the village proper.

Eventually though, I decided that I had made enough discoveries to make a goal. It was rather simple. I didn’t know where I was, and without the guidance, my hope of traveling home anytime soon was slim. I decided to head towards the town, and from there ask about my whereabouts. I would decide the rest after.

With my goal settled, I thought up a mental map of the path I would have to take to exit the forest. In the end, the route would be rather scenic, first I had to cross a nearby river, which raged uncontrollably, and then there was an indent in the land, a nice place for something to make a nest. I made a note to loosen my blades while traveling through there.

Then I started down the tree. It was even easier than before. The branches that aligned the trunk were thick enough to withstand my weight and more, so all I had to do was drop down, branch by branch, until I reached the last couple meters, which I simply leapt down, landing straight on the forest floor with a ‘whoomph’.

I turned away from the tree, and went to the hollow for my equipment. Luckily, nothing had happened by, and it all sat in the hollow where I left it. I tossed the blades and sheaths onto my back in an X formation, but put all my armor in my pack, leaving me in my black tunic and trousers. I neglected shoes, preferring the feeling of walking over the soil in my bare paws that with the clunky dragonscale boots of mine.

The only things I wore beside my clothes, was my necklace. It was of simple make, no more than a mound of silver that had been shaped into a smooth oval. It carried a very simple enchantment of luck. It was the only actual worldly possession I truly cared for.

I straightened the swords on my back as I began to walk northward, cutting through the thick forestry before me. As I walked, I contemplated the possibilities of where I was. There was no doubt this wasn’t Black Marsh or Cyrodil. No mountain matched that sheer scale, nor even neared it. This could have been Valenwood, the land of the wood elves; I hadn’t been there, so I wouldn’t know what it was like, but that just didn’t seem right. The bosmer held their forests above all, and they wouldn’t have any plains, the province almost completely covered in foliage.

As I racked over the facts, my mind thought of another possibilty.

I could be in a realm of Oblivion. The deadra princes always loved to play tricks and games with the mortals of Nirn; some would say that was their greatest joy actually. I had played the servant to several, and boasted their gifts as a reward, but they weren’t so much for gratitude as much for symbolism. I doubt any of the gods truly thought my deeds worthy of substantial note, but if I had gotten nothing then they would have been known as ungrateful, or greedy. Perhaps it was merely easier to give me an artifact of theirs than to deal without doing so.

Either way, perhaps one of them, Sheogorath most likely, had brought me here as a game. A trick. Maybe there was no way home aside from satisfying the prince itself. That was a very real possibility; the Prince of Madness himself pulled me into the mind of a long dead emperor for the exact same reason, and only in doing what he asked did I escape, with the Wabbajack in hand as well. If so however, then why hadn’t he already shown himself. Why didn’t he just jump down from the sky and tell me his task.

But if that was true then how did Pargrove get involved? It was his spell that brought me here, not that of a deadra. Was he merely an avatar for one of them, did he even have a hand in this? There were too many possibilities to separate anything, and this whole event stunk of strangeness.

I must have gotten carried away in my assessment, for soon before me, flowed a raging river, larger than any I had seen in Skyrim. To attempt to swim through would end with even the best swimmer being carried downstream, to a watery death.

And as I khajiit, and a feline, I hated water of all forms. My fur took hours to dry, and I was never the strongest swimmer. I could swim mind you, but in such a situation as this, I would prefer to avoid it if possible.

Fortunately, there was.

To the far left, several stepping, or rather, several jumping stones made forth a path across, each one barely above the water, but far enough to stand on without emerging your toes. They looked shiny with moisture, and obviously rather slippery on the foot, but if I took myself slowly then I figured I would be fine.

I bee lined toward them, only stopping when the closest, a large grey slab, lay half submerged in front of me, and I stood on the shore. There was however, slight problem. The nearest, while still relatively close by, was still a fair distance in front of me, farther than my jumping distance. I doubted the tide was strong enough to carry me away should I attempt to walk to it, but I didn’t want to take the chance. Either way, odds are I was going to get wet, either from missing my jump and falling into the river, or by having to wade through the shallow but still fast water and climb up myself.

Not wanting to get my feet wet, I decided to attempt the former.

Taking up position, the stone ahead of me, I breathed inwards and outwards for several seconds. I didn’t want to get too excited, lest I panic and miss my target. Straightening my body, I began to run towards the river, but moments away from the shore.

Then I stopped dead in my tracks.

I didn’t have to do any of this. I still had my dragon shouts, in particular, I still had whirlwind sprint, and using all three of the words of power would be far more than enough to carry me across the water. I doubted I would even get wet.

Once again taking up position on the shore, I stepped forward, slowly, clearing my throat as I formed the words needed.

“WULD NA KEST!”

They carried me across the water at the speed of a hurricane, only touching me to the water once, during which I skipped off wards, landing on the shore, leaving a deep indent as I did so. It took some self-restraint not to laugh in victory then, but I held it back as I stood upwards and once again began my trek through the deep foliage, happy in the thought that I would soon be free of this forest.

In the trees above me, I became aware of the sun, slowly setting downwards. Night was coming, and soon the forest would come alive with the sounds of nocturnal life. I wanted to be free of this place by then, so I hurried my pace.

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In Ponyville, Spike stirred.

He had snuck off for a quick nape while Twilight performed some sort of experiment or other. It didn’t really matter to him. Owlicious was helping her anyway (damn that owl twice fold) and he wasn’t needed at the time.

So what better way to pass the time then by sleeping? Twilight made him stay up nearly all night previously, helping her by taking notes while she peered through a telescope. Most times he would have been annoyed, or passed put halfway, a baby dragon needs it’s sleep after all, but she seemed so determined and serious. Gone was her casual approach to most things. She was acting like the time she traveled back in time to warn herself about the future. Or when she lost her list of lists she made. Either or, both had the same effect. She was focused, almost too much so, and the rings around her eyes showed the length of her ordeal.

It almost scared him, to be honest. He hadn’t seen her so stirred up. When he spoke to her, she made almost no sense, merely muttering different phrases and equations to him. Her notes made little sense either and seemed to be nothing more than the same endless and complicated equations, as well as the positions of dozens, near hundreds of stars. He could almost remember the name of them all by the night was done, and even then she didn’t stop, only dismissing him for rest before recruiting Owlicious as a temporary replacement.

He couldn’t argue, he deserved this nap. Let Owlicious help her, he didn’t care. So long as he got his sleep, which he desperately needed, then he was fine with whatever was going on in that room.

And so he found himself on his bed, half passed out before he even fell on it. Sleep came easily to him, as well as dreams. He soon found himself on a date with Rarity, on a quest to slay some monster in a far off land, and several other such fantasies.

His last dream had him on a knight’s quest. He was to find the three shards of the sword of power and return it to the shrine of strength to save the land. He often enjoyed such dreams; they made him out to be a manly and strong figure, often the opposite of his real life self.

At the time, he was fighting a wrath, which held one of the shards. It was large, gloomy and dark, but he defeated it by hitting over the head with his lance multiple times. Then it fell to the floor and dropped the shard. He practically beamed with joy as he leaned down and grabbed the shard. But when he pulled up, the wrath clutched his arm, leaned forward and screamed “WULD NA KEST!”

The words shook him, terrified him, and worse of all, woke him. He jumped upwards from his bed in fright, and emitted a loud screech. When he calmed himself down, he began to think over the what the wrath had said.

It was loud, unnaturally so, even for a dream. The three words that he heard matched none that he knew. They seemed familiar though, so close yet so far from his mind. They seemed to shake the entire room, yet at the same time his base perception told him otherwise. It was he, who was shaking, still feeling the aftershocks of the noise.

And then all was still. He stood up on his bed, disorientated and confused, wondering what had just happened, when Twilight burst into the room, her face lit up in a flurry of emotions. Spike would have contemplated them, but no sooner had she entered, then she ran straight up to Spike, looked down at him, and said “Spike, I need you to take a letter, now!”

She seemed just as disorientated as he did, except it was added onto her already conflicted thoughts, and her lack of sleep. She shook, not from the voice, but from her lack of nourishment, and the sudden excitement. Not wanting her to get upset, or do something drastic, Spike walked over to a cupboard, pulled out a parchment and quill, and sat himself on a nearby stool.

Then she began to speak, and he began to write.

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The forest was strange.

From my viewpoint at the top of the tree, it seemed rather small, the exit looked to be a few minutes’ walk from where I was, but as the minutes wore on, the forest seemed to be getting thicker and thicker around me, and I became acutely aware of just how much time I had spent hiking forward; the moon had risen completely, the sun had set, and darkness had fallen all around me.

I had to admit, the dark of the woods was unsettling. In Skyrim, full forests were spacious and open, but this, this was different. The tree’s themselves almost seemed to grow around me, when I double backed to recover my orientation; the paths I once took had filled up. It was as if the forest itself was alive.

As the hours wore on, fatigue kicked in. Before going on my venture to slay Pargrove, I had neglected the need for food, at least until I returned. I regretted my decision, the energy food would have given me would have helped me as I made my way through the forest. I could have hunted on my own there, but no matter where I looked, in the hollows of trees and burrows in the ground, I saw not one animal. No squirrel or boars, no lizards or toads. Nothing.

The lack of life created a dull silence, which only added to the gloom of night. Fortunately, my feline eyes adapted to the environment quickly, and I was able to see, or at least see well enough to make out what was in front of me, but to the sides of my vision, shadows played games with my mind. Every time I glanced right or left, I could swear I saw something moving, dancing along the forest floor for just a moment before moving, and try as I might, nothing could shake the feeling that I was being watched.

Feeling, for the first time in many months, scared, I loosened Dragonbane in its sheath, and stretched out my claws in caution. I didn’t really fear any known creature, although I had seen my fair share of the worst of them. What frightened me was that if this was a deadric prince’s realm, then the normal laws didn’t apply. What I would normally pass off as harmless in Tamriel could tear me asunder here, especially if that was the deadra’s wish.

So I proceeded cautiously and slowly, wafting my way through the mud and grime. Up ahead, I could see the tree’s beginning to clear; the entrance to the indent I had seen previously. That meant that if the forest followed basic rules of distance, I would be about halfway out soon. Once again however, there was no guarantee of that. I could be almost out, or I could have several days’ worth of hiking ahead of me, I couldn’t tell.

Eventually though, I reached the indent in the land, a small canyon, tightly packed with woods around it. Under normal circumstances, I would probably have gone around it, but I needed a rest, and I hoped to find a cave somewhere near, so I walked downwards, entering the canyon. To my sides, the walls rose quickly, leaving me caged inside the tunnel like crevice. I turned around and looked backwards, momentarily, before once again resuming my course.

Thinking over it, I found the hope of finding a cave or shelter both foolish and unlikely. This place did look like a good candidate, from afar, but up close, I saw no indents or hollows in the walls, which only sunk my morale ever so lower. It seemed to me that I would have to either find somewhere else to camp the night, or continue onwards with my trek in the hopes that the forest would end soon.

I didn’t want to take chances though. Pausing momentarily, I studied my surroundings. The walls of the canyon, both left and right, were bare, and lacked any noticeable shelter. For me however, that wasn’t necessarily essential. Anything out of the forest proper was better, and this place lacked the shadows that plagued the forest. I figured that simply laying down on the floor here would suffice, at least until dawn, and it would give me the energy I needed to get to the town.

The place I chose was simple; a flat and dry spot right up against the right wall. It wasn’t overly comfortable, but I was too tired to find anywhere else, and I needed this rest. I tossed both my swords off my back as I laid myself on the ground. All around me bugs were flying, I found myself getting bitten by multiple mosquitoes while I tried to find a comfortable position. When I did, I wasted no time in closing my eyes, ignoring the chirps and creaks of the creatures around me, and falling asleep, hoping that nothing would disturb my rest.

I was never known for my luck however.

My disturbance came in the form of several sounds, footsteps, making their way towards me. My ears picked them up, reverberating them down to me in my dreams. A normal man or beast wouldn’t have woken, or even noticed the noises, but I was no normal khajiit. I woke myself up, forcibly, and jumped off the ground, my claws stretching outwards in attack.

But the creature in front of me boasted far larger claws.

Its front looked like a mountain lion, but with a larger mane. Its body also followed such a shape, but that is where the similarities ended. From its shoulder sprouted a pair of huge bat like wings, and on its back, a massive scorpion tale stretched outwards, as if anticipating attack. Its appearance startled me, but not so much as it’s roar, which it did soon after.

I found myself at a disadvantage. My two swords were at my feet, meaning I would have to bend over or crouch to get them. The creature was right in front of me, which meant trying to do that would probably end with my death. This meant fighting with either magic, which I was very novice at, like most khajiit, or with my claws, something I didn’t look forward to doing.

The creature, which I realized to be a manticore, didn’t seem particularly rushed. It stood, crouched on its back legs, but it neither jumped nor stood, as if waiting for me to do something. I figured my best bets were to try to get my hands on my swords, hoping it wouldn’t attack until I had them.

I crouched down, holding both my hands forward, claws out. The manticore didn’t change its position. When I lowered both my hands however, it pounced.

I barely had my swords out before it sent them flying away with a single mighty swipe of its paw. After, it locked both its eyes on me and began to slowly walk towards me. I stood up, quickly, just before it slammed the tip of its scorpion tale at the ground I was just on. This shocked me, but gave me the opportunity to swipe at it once, giving it a deep scratch with my razor sharp claws. It turned its head and growled at me in response, before running at me and slamming me with its head, knocking me off my feet and sprawling me across the ground. It ran at me again, stretching out its wings to give itself better speed, it lifted its tail once more, and brought it down on me.

This time I barely managed to move in time. The tail hit the floor with a tremendous force, knocking up a cloud of dirt. Before I could give it another scratch, it reared its head and roared with its wide open mouth right in my face, filling my nostrils with the smell of putrefied flesh and death. I gagged momentarily before it lifted a claw and swiped it across my chest, giving me a series of deep scratches, far outshining the one I gave it. The pain winded me, and I fell to the ground, clutching my chest as it walked forward, once again lifting its tail. I doubted I would be able to move this time, I was in too much pain. When it began to bring the tail down, I was almost out of hope. Then I let my mind wander to three words in my mind, I transferred them to my mouth but moments before the tip would have slammed into my chest.

“FUS RO DAH!” I screamed at the manticore, the words picking up power and wind as they left my mouth, until they reached the manticore, knocking the creature off its feet, slamming it into the canyon wall, before it fell to the ground, one of its wings twisted in an odd fashion. The creature seemed stunned, pained. It let out a deep howl as I used the opportunity to retrieve my swords.

Pulling out Dragonbane, I approached it, a smug smile on my face, hiding the agonising pain in my chest. When it realized its situation, it began to let out a cry, and began to howl silently. The sight was maddening for me. It was once a majestic creature, king of predators, and now, it was weakened, and about to die for picking a fight with a creature it had no idea of being its better. I found my sword arm shaking, I didn’t want to kill it, but if I left it alone it would surely just finish me off. There was only one solution. One I would probably regret.

I lifted my blade high over my head, and brought it down as quickly as I could, quick as lighting - right into the ground.

The manticore seemed taken aback. It looked upwards at me, its face still full of pain, in confusion. This only increased when I kneeled in front of it, letting my guard down. Before it could do anything, I dropped my sword and filled my hands with a bright light, magic, although fairly weak. I approached the injured wing, and when it tried to pull away I grabbed it closely and let the light shine over it. Slowly, and painfully, the bones in the wing began to mend, and the creature reacted to this, primarily by shrieking and shaking when the bones straightened themselves out, but soon began to purr in relief as the light dealt with the pain. When I was done, my energy was spent, and I could no longer keep myself awake. Before I let my consciousness fade, I muttered , mostly in jest “You owe us one, we will not forget it."

I didn’t bother to see if it responded.

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Spike was half way through Twilight’s letter when he heard the voice again. “Fus Ro Dah.” he said aloud, forgetting about his task for but a a moment.

“Fus Ro Dah?” Tilight said in an confused voice.

“What? Twilight what is-“ Spike tried to say before Twilight cut him off.

“Oh, sorry. I just…hmm.” Twilight said. “Listen Spike, I need to check up on something. Why don’t you just, um…” Twilight never finished her sentence, she ran off back into her room, once again leaving Spike alone, this time with a half written letter. The purple dragon raised his left eye in confusion before dropping the parchment neatly on the floor, and curling back up into a ball, preparing to go back to sleep.

That’s when Twilight re-entered.

She seemed shocked, scared. She ran over to him, shook him from his sleep. “Spike, we need to go. Now!” Twilight said her tone more serious than Spike had ever seen. The dragon was up faster than she thought possible, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

“Twilight, what is going on?” Spike asked, obviously confused.

“I don’t know, but there is something strange happening. The stars are changed Spike. They have all literally changed position overnight. And worse yet, magic is acting differently. Spells that teleport things have failed, and some spells are acting differently.” Twilight answered. “And after checking up on every book and reference I could, I think I know what is going on, if only in theory.

“What?” Spike once again asked. He had managed to both gather his belongings and several pieces of parchment, and several quills with an inkpot in case he would need them.

“I think that several split dimensions or planes are crossing over. I know, it sounds odd, but I wouldn’t say this unless I knew.”

“So what? What does this have to do with anything?” Spike asked. By then eh was fully packed.

“Everything Spike. These dimensions could be full of evil creatures. We are blessed with a peaceful world, but what if these are dangerous ones. Spike, we have to get to Canterlot and present our case to Celestia. She has to know of this.”

“Why don’t you send a letter?”

“Because for some reason, no long range message spells are working. I tried to send a message to Applejack, with a spell similar to yours, but with a shorter range. It didn’t work. Something is tampering with magic, and if Celestia is going to learn about this then we need to tell her ourselves.”

Spike seemed confused. “What about everyone else, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, what about them?”

Twilight shook her head, “I already sent Rainbow Dash a message with Owlicious. They’re all going to meet us by the town square in ten minutes. I can’t leave them behind; if we need the elements then we have to stay together.”

Twilight and Spike began their trip downstairs, Twilight levitating a pair of saddlebags onto her back while they did so. Soon after they ended up at the front door. “But Twilight, what could possibly go wrong?” Spike asked Twilight. He opened the door while speaking.

“Well Spike” Twilight said before she cut herself off and stared straight ahead at town center. In the middle, where kiosks and shops normally stood, a huge faint red glow was outlining itself in a circle. Soon after, the glow materialized into stone, and a wall of fire filled the center. ‘A gate!’ Twilight realized, ‘That’s a gate!”

Twilight watched, mouth wide open, and a figure stepped out, clad in red armor, his face distorted and ugly, with a pair of horns on his head, and a large sword slung over his back. He looked at her, then around at their surroundings, before laughing. It turned around and barked something through the flame gate before unsheathing his sword. He lifted his head in pride, showing off the size of his horns as he ran towards Twilight; too shocked to say anything.

From the flaming gate, hundreds more similar figures followed, and the night soon came alive with the screams of ponies.

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