Pandora, ironically the only one of the group who was familiar with the area of Cyrodiil, lead them across the wilderness, following whatever 'clues' she claimed to find. None of the others could make out the path she was following, but Rend trusted her instincts, which were already messed up thanks to Sheogorath's Madness, and that was enough for the others. Nightmare had to make the odd observation that none of the wildlife or the bandits were coming their way, though she had the feeling she'd get the chance to swing her weapon soon. Pandora only stopped them when they reached the spot on the map that the tomb had highlighted, having crossed miles of landscape to reach this destination.
"So how are we going to do this?" Shadow asked, staring at the cave opening, "Are we going to pretend that we're here to join the cult, or are we just going to..."
"BRING THEM MADNESS!" Pandora shouted, drawing her bow and charging inside the cave.
Nightmare and the rest of her companions followed Pandora inside, just in time to see her loose an arrow into the chest of one of the Mythic Dawn cultists, slaying him almost instantly. It was then that the other cultists, apparently hearing the arrow hit their comrade in the chest, activated their protective wards and summoned their dremoras. Nightmare honestly didn't care which path they actually took, with her skill with the shadows should could have cloaked them all and gotten them past all of the Mythic Dawn's defenses with ease. She was, however, glad that she could draw her weapon and do some fighting, no matter how much Rend wished they didn't have to literally kill everything they came across.
The first chamber of the cavern became a war zone, as Pandora pulled out her arrows and loosed them in the direction of their enemies, pinning several of them in various places on their bodies. The cultists, seeking to return the favor, called upon their magic and threw it towards the entrance, blasting the walls and tearing holes around them. Shadow and Rend, neither carrying a long ranged weapon at the moment, searched for the perfect way to get behind their enemies so they could properly fight them. They didn't want to relay on Pandora fighting their battles for them, though there wasn't much they could do against the barrage of magic coming their way.
Nightmare, on the other hand, slipped her battleaxe out and spun it around, passing where her companions were hiding as she silently approached the cultists.
"Its the Queen of Knights!" one of the cultists shouted, turning his gaze towards her while a few more joined him, "Take her down!"
The large group of cultists summoned a wave of dremora warriors to do their bidding, though the moment they saw Nightmare coming their way they drew their weapons and approached her. Nightmare, not one to waste time, spun around and planted her battleaxe in the chest of an enemy, only to twist around and throw a punch in one of their faces. She backed up as two of the dremoras came after her, but she whipped her mane around and her specter daggers shot out, stabbing her enemies in the heart. As they fell she collected the daggers, which disappeared into her mane, and lifted her battleaxe before she faced the cultists that just stared at her in shock.
Rend and Shadow, seeing their chance, dashed towards Nightmare and passed her, their weapons swinging towards the cultists that just stood there. Some of the cultists realized that they were still under attack and drew their weapons, trying to block the fury of the two warriors that stood before them. They also forgot that Pandora was behind the group at that point, as arrows flew out of the shadows and knocked several of them off of their feet in seconds. Nightmare sighed and continued forward, her battleaxe swinging at one of the cultists that dared to stand in her way, taking his hands within seconds before separating his head from his body.
Those that were smart to retreat lived to tell the cultists in the next chamber that there were intruders invading their shrine, giving them the chance to summon their dremora warriors. Nightmare stepped into the next chamber and cocked her head, counting at least twenty warriors standing in her way and twenty cultists standing behind them. She chuckled and raised her battleaxe, beckoning for one of her enemies to come at her, causing one warrior to roar a battle cry and charge at her. She used the handle of her weapon and caught the attack before it could even reach her, but then she twisted it around, separated the warrior's hands and weapons from his body, and then smashed him to the ground.
The rest of the warriors came her way, their weapons reaching for her as she spun around, her battleaxe flowing around her as she smashed an enemy right into the nearby wall, before separating another warrior's head from its body. Two warriors swung at her, but she used her iron boot and smashed one of their knees in, shattering the bone under the armor as if it was merely made of twigs. She arched herself back and swung her battleaxe, letting it travel through the air and take the heads of several warriors and three cultists in the process. One warrior, seeing her throw her weapon away like that, came at her and punched her right in the jaw, knocking her back while the rest of the dremora began to chuckle.
Shadow, seeing his companion actually take damage for once, wanted to run over to help her immediately, but he was stopped by Rend, who held his hand out to prevent them from getting any closer.
"What's wrong with you?" Shadow asked, his eyes focused on Nightmare, "She needs our help!"
"Something's wrong," Rend replied, watching Nightmare the entire time, "I'm just not sure what that something is."
Nightmare corrected her stance and raised her right thumb to her mouth, wetting it with her blood, before she moved it towards her left gauntlet and drew a rune on top of it. She then raised her left thumb to her mouth and repeated the process, creating the same rune on her right gauntlet and gently brought the two of them to her sides. Then she charged forward, swing her left arm towards one of the warriors, but before it reached its target a black and silver sword materialized in her hand, which she used to cut the warrior down. She spun around and the second sword appeared, allowing her to spin around and continue hacking her opponents apart, their limbs disappearing back to Oblivion before she dispatched them completely.
The cultists started to run, but Nightmare appeared next to them and threw many of them back, allowing her companions to have their fun until the entire chamber they were in was cleared.
"What was that?" Rend asked, standing beside Nightmare as she drew closer to her battleaxe.
"Some of my other weapons," Nightmare replied, making the swords disappear before she heaved her battleaxe up once more, "Come on, we've got to find their leader. They still have the Amulet after all."
Rend chuckled and followed his companion into the caverns, Shadow and Pandora following while keeping their eyes opened for anymore enemies. A guard appeared further down the tunnel they were in, but before he had a chance to flee and warn the others Pandora pulled an arrow out and pinned him to the wall. Save for that one little hiccup they didn't come across anymore foes, at least, that was until Nightmare approached a wooden door and stopped them. Before any of the others could ask why they heard it as well, the chanting and calling for a sacrifice from the other side that told them that they were close to their target.
Nightmare shrouded them all in shadows as they entered the new area, making sure that they didn't trip any alarms while they drew closer to the shrine. Then she heard the leader, Mankar Camoran she assumed, speaking about helping Mehrunes Dagon bring destruction to this world so they could all ascend to their 'Paradise'. She peeked her head around the corner and spotted someone on the stand above the rest of the cultists, though in front of him rested a large tome of some kind. She assumed it had to be the Mysterium Xarxes, but as she pulled her head back she beckoned for Pandora to come forward and prepare one of her arrows.
"Mankar Camoran is right there," Nightmare whispered into her ear, causing Pandora to nod, "put an arrow in his black heart and end this insanity before he goes too far."
Pandora pulled an arrow into the bowstring, took a deep breath, pulled the string back, and moved out into the open, taking aim at the middle of the altar and loosing her arrow right at their enemy. As the arrow neared Mankar Camoran time seemed to slow down as he dematerialized, disappearing to whatever plan his 'Paradise' existed on and taking the Amulet of Kings with him. The arrow hit the state square in the chest and broke it, though the cultists realized they were under attack and zeroed in on where the group was located.
"CHEATER!" Pandora screamed, pulling out a pair of arrows and slaying a pair of cultists before they could get near them, "I HAD YOU MANKAR CAMORAN AND YOU KNOW IT!"
Nightmare stayed back as Pandora continued to rain death on her enemies, clearly fuming that her target had teleported out of the chamber and caused her to miss. She didn't blame Pandora for being upset, but she let her go to town on the cultists, using each and every arrow that she seemed to have in her possession. As she did that Nightmare made her way to the altar, surprised that any member of the Mythic Dawn would leave their most valuable book behind for someone to take. As the other three began to make their way outside Nightmare grabbed the book and ran after them, slipping past all the dead cultists until she caught up with them.
"I'd say we've set them back a bit," Rend commented, sheathing his swords, "Let's get back to Martin and inform them on what happened here. Maybe Martin or Jauffre can make heads or tails of this."
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"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what to make of this tome," Jauffre told them, the moment they returned from the cultists' cave and showed him the book, "but we should destroy it before..."
"No, we need that book," Martin said, taking the book and flipping through the pages, "Yes, I can see what our enemy has done. We're going to need a few items, but give me some time and I might be able to decipher a part of this."
"So what are we supposed to do while we wait?" Shadow asked.
"I'm staying here to guard the Emperor," Rend said, patting his blades as he spoke, "I'll make sure that he's safe and that the Mythic Dawn doesn't open up any Oblivion Gates."
"Now that you mention it, I should stay back and look into our enemies," Shadow commented, after realizing what Rend was saying, "What about you Pandora? What will you do?"
"The Shivering Isles," Pandora nearly shouted, walking up to Nightmare's face, "Come on, if you carry me we can get there in record time and investigate the strange happenings."
The Blades that knew Nightmare's reputation turned their heads and stared at Pandora, as if she had actually lost her mind by asking Nightmare to do such a thing. Several of them placed their hands on their weapons, worried that they'd have to draw and fight the Queen of Knights if she attacked one of the Emperor's chosen warriors. Jauffre looked horrified that a fight might erupt inside their peaceful temple and Martin seemed like he was merely curious as to what would happen. Rend and Shadow clearly stood there, looking at Pandora and Nightmare while they waited for one of them to do something.
Then Nightmare did something that none of them would have expected her to do, she laughed so hard that she was sure the people of the nearby town could hear her.
"Very well then Pandora," Nightmare said, banishing her battleaxe and grabbing her companion by the back of her armor, "You want to visit Sheogorath's realm so badly? You shall have your wish."
Before anyone could react to what she was saying Nightmare flared her wings and took off, tearing Pandora from the ground and heading in the direction of the strange door they were told about.
"They're mad," Jauffre said, watching them disappear into the distance.
"That may be so," Rend commented, a smile appearing on his face, "but this means that Pandora can finally deal with the madness that's been plaguing her for so long."
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Gaius Prentus was tired of trying to stop people from approaching the strange magical door he had been sent to guard, though he was equally tired of killing insane people who didn't listen to him when they returned. So far he wasn't seeing many of the strange realm's creatures trying to come out and hurt them, but he never knew when that could change. He was lucky that someone came by boat every now and then to deliver his weekly rations and speak with him about how the city was doing, otherwise he was sure he would have gone mad as well a long time ago.
He considered opening his bottle of wine and taking a swing, but then something landed in the water near the stone ramp and he grabbed his sword, ready to face whatever was coming.
"That...was...AWESOME!" a voice shouted, as a breton leapt out of the water and landed on the ramp, "Jeez Nightmare, now I understand why you like the fly so much."
"I'm glad I could share the experience," a second voice said, causing Gaius to stare as the Queen of Knights landed beside him, "Stand aside guardsman, we've got an appointment with the lord of this door."
Before Gaius could even make a response the two women walked up the ramp, approached the strange magical door, and slew the insane creature that emerged from it, likely because it attacked them. Then they entered the door and left him to wonder if he really had seen the Queen of Knights or if he was imagining it because of all the wine he was drinking lately.
"Ah, welcome one and all," a breton, one wearing a black suit with a red neck piece, welcomed them, just as they appeared in a large black room, "What can I do for the three of you?"
"Three?" Pandora asked, curious as to what the man meant, "There's only two of us."
"Really?" the man said, pointing towards Nightmare, "Then why is there two of her, if I may ask?"
Nightmare glanced to her right and her eyes widened in surprise, standing next to her was another version of herself, only this one was the one that existed before she became what she was at the moment. Somehow, by some strange magic, Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna had been separated into two separate bodies. Luna glanced up at the taller, and much eviler, version of herself and gulped, because the both of them knew exactly what was coming.
Both Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon screamed at the exact same instance.