//------------------------------// // 21: Azura's Star // Story: Nightmare Moon Crashes the Oblivion Crisis // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// There was an awkward silence as Nightmare revealed the real her to the rest of her companions, almost as if they hadn't expected that she could willingly transform like that. It was a simple matter in the end, as all she really had to do was contain the power, or rather her emotions that had caused the change in the first place. The price for channeling her Nightmare state back inside of her was that it actually weakened her, which was why her hair wasn't flowing at the moment. She rarely changed forms at will like this, as it was usually a burst of emotion and power that allowed her to change from Luna to Nightmare Moon, which was usually supplied by her sister. It would take her some time to regain enough power to be able to summon her Nightmare form again, but in the mean time she'd be able to aid her companions with her magical abilities... something that she had seriously missed when she was running through the Shivering Isles. "Well, I for one have no problem with this," Shadow eventually said, breaking the silence as he looked up at Nightmare, Luna he mentally corrected himself, "There have been rumors of warriors roaming the lands, looking for the Queen of Knights so they can test their mettle and then, as they say, 'put her in her place'. With your magic bound up it will be much easier for us to move past those that are looking for a warrior from the Arena, as they won't be expecting us to suddenly have a mage with us." "Especially if she's wearing an enchanted necklace to conceal her true identity," Martin commented, causing everyone to look at him, "What? If she crafted a special necklace that hid her wings and horn, or even just one of them, no one would be able to tell the difference between her and the Queen of Knights. They'd be looking for an alicorn, not a pegasus or a unicorn." "Plus the Mythic Dawn will be looking for you as well," Rend added, recalling how the cultists wanted her dead when they invaded their shrine, "I don't see a down side to wearing a disguise at all. The choice, however, is yours Nightma... I mean, Luna, so don't let us decide what's best for you." Luna sighed for a moment, mentally debating with herself about which said she should take, concealing or keeping herself in the open, before she and Nightmare came to a decision. She tapped her hand against the air and a small opening appeared before them, one that was barely large enough to hide a small chest of treasures inside. It was a secret that she had kept from her sister, where she could store her plans or her most treasured items without the fear of seeing them destroyed. She briefly opened the small chest, found the silver and emerald necklace she had hidden inside it, and closed the opening the moment the treasure was in her hands. There were some things that she could not tell her companions, such as the fact that they were truly traveling with Princess Luna of Equestria while her counterpart, Nightmare Moon, wanted to take a break and watch from the shadows. Rend and Shadow had accepted that she could change at will and had different names that were linked to each form, but she had no idea how they would react if she or Nightmare told them that they had two companions in the same body. Pandora was the only one who knew that secret and neither Luna nor Nightmare were planning on revealing it anytime soon, if they could help it. "This is a special necklace that I crafted a few years before... my imprisonment," Luna told them, not liking the whole her attacking her sister and being sealed on the moon for nearly a thousand years, "it was designed to mimic the powers of a changeling, though without meeting the Queen I could only do so much with it. The only ability it has is to conceal the part of me that I did not wish others to see, so that I could walk among them as an ordinary pony without raising suspicion. I'm glad I could summon it from this world, otherwise I would have had to craft another one and we simply do not have the time it would require to make one." "Is it hard to make?" Martin asked, curious as to how hard it could be to craft a simple silver and emerald necklace and enchant it with the desired enchantment. "Actually, it would be impossible in this world," Luna commented, looping it around her neck before its magic activated, causing her wings to disappear and her horn to shrink just a bit, "the key component to making one of these is the blood of a changeling. Now I did not go out into the night one evening to hunt down, tie up, and drain a changeling of some of his blood so I could make one of these for myself. Rather I was attacked by one of them in the Everfree Forest and merely defended myself, though I ended up using his blood to make a charm that not even my sister knew about. I had the feeling that she would destroy the necklace if she learned how I had made it, so I simply hid it away and called upon it whenever I needed it." Rend, Shadow, and Martin looked at her changes and the necklace with awe, clearly ignoring the majority of her story on how she gained the ability to make such a necklace, though she was glad to have told it anyway. She looked over at Martin and cleared her throat, hoping that he'd move on with what their next task was now that he had plenty of time to research the vile book they had taken from Dagon's shrine. "Ah, yes, sorry about that," Martin said, pulling out a book for the three of them to look at, "I've deciphered part of the ritual needed to open a portal to Camoran's Paradise. The Xarxes mentions four items needed for the ritual, but so far I have only deciphered one of them: the 'blood of a Daedra Lord'. In fact, daedric artifacts are known to be formed from the essence of a Daedric Lord, from whence they derive their great power. Not an easy thing to come by, obviously, but we will need a daedric artifact. Bring one to me when you have acquired one, though this should help you find one." Luna looked at the book and opened it up, her eyes rolling over the words as she looked for something that could tell them were to find one of the artifacts. It wasn't until she was nearly done that she discovered the location of one such relic, one that happened to reside high in the Jerall Mountains. She then beckoned to Rend and Shadow to show them her findings, where Shadow produced a map of Cyrodiil and slowly connected the clues together. Not a few minutes later they had the location of the shrine dedicated to the Daedric Prince of Dusk and Dawn, Azura, which happened to be a few hours ride to the east. With their destination in hand the trio departed from Jauffre and Martin, leaving the safety of the temple so they could reacquire their horses and be on their way. Luna was a little reluctant to ride a horse, but she decided to follow in her companion's examples so they be on their way without leaving a steed behind. She knew that if they left Pandora's horse behind the people of Bruma would become suspicious, which would lead to the Mythic Dawn hearing about it and come running as fast as they could. Soon the trio was leaving Bruma behind, though the three of them hoped that whatever enemies were around the city would follow them away from where they were hiding Martin. ----------------------------------------------- It took them some time, with several glances at the map to make sure that they were in the right place, before they found the statue that had been mentioned in the book. Getting up to it proved to me much tougher, though after some time they eventually found the pathway that would take them right up to the shrine, and to the cult that worshiped Azura. They all hoped that this cult would be easier to work with, as they didn't want a repeat of their encounter with the Mythic Dawn that would cause them to lose the only way to contact the Daedric Prince. As the trio started to approach the shrine Shadow pulled back, causing Rend and Luna to follow him back to where the fork in the road was for a moment. "Look, I'm a priest of the Nine Divines," Shadow reminded them, though he was mostly telling Luna everything, "and as such I would rather have nothing to do with one of the Daedric Princes. Personally I'd rather destroy the shrines and find another way to acquire one of their artifacts, but this is the only way at the moment. So the two of you will have to go to the shrine alone and ask what needs to be done to call upon Azura, which will likely involve killing something for her. I will wait here for you to return." Luna nodded and followed Rend back to the shrine, where they found a group of worshipers, which was led by a dunmer, sitting around the shrine and bickering among themselves. They dismounted and approached the shrine, causing everyone that was sitting down to turn and stare at them, as if they couldn't believe that outsiders were coming to their shrine. "You have entered a holy place," the dunmer told them, his eyes resting on them without missing a beat, "What is your business here, at the Shrine of Lady Azura?" "We wish to summon Azura," Rend confidently replied, standing his ground while his hands touched the handles of his swords for a moment, "we require her aid so we can stop Mehrunes Dagon from destroying Cyrodiil." The dunmer stared at him, as if he was considering having his followers attack the two of them in an attempt to drive them off, but the moment his eyes rested on his akaviri blades he knew they didn't stand much of a chance. He sighed for a moment and then beckoned them to walk towards him, so he could privately speak with them without the others hearing what he had to say. "If you wish to speak to the Lady," he eventually said, beckoning to the Shrine behind him for a moment, "visit her Shrine at dawn or dusk. Leave her an offering of glow dust, and perhaps she will deign to speak with you. This is all I can tell you I'm afraid." Rend nodded and turned back to his horse, causing Luna to follow behind him in confusion, wondering what they needed when they were so close to the time the dunmer specified. They traveled back to where Shadow was waiting, though they found him on his feet with his weapon drawn and a dead ball of energy resting on the road. "Darn Will-o-Wisp," Shadow commented, sheathing his blade as he returned to his horse, "came out of nowhere and attacked me. Only thing it had on it was the glow dust they all carry, though we can sell that when we get back to town." That was when Rend approached Shadow and had a small talk with him, apparently telling him how they actually needed some glow dust and he had just solved the problem for them. It saved them the trip of having to go to one of the nearby cities, find a shop that actually carried some of the dust, and then get back to the shrine at the required time they were told. This one act saved them so much time that he and Luna could call upon Azura, right now, and ask what needed to be done to acquire her artifact. Shadow sighed as he handed the dust over, watching the duo return, on foot this time, to the shrine and to its followers, much to the dunmer's surprise. Rend stepped up to the shrine, placed the glow dust upon it as the offering, as the dunmer had told him, and stepped back just once, waiting for a sign that it had worked. I have seen your name, Traveler, a voice said, causing Rend to look around for a moment, and heard it whispered in twilight. I ask a service, which holds promise of fame and reward. Many years ago, five followers slew the vampire Dratik and its kin, but all were infected by the foul creature. Knowing their fate, they sealed themselves up in the vampire's lair. Their suffering weighs heavily on me. Travel to the Gutted Mine. The door will open to you. Bring the peace of death to my followers, and you shall earn my gratitude. Rend returned to Shadow with Luna right behind him, though both she and Nightmare had heard Azura speak to Rend and had heard her request to recover her artifact. Though the two of them silently decided not to tell either of their companions that they had heard the Daedric Prince. "Gutted Mine is to the southwest," Shadow commented, once he had heard exactly what Rend had been told, "we should be able to get there in a few minutes. We get in, put down the poor people that were turned into vampires, and then return for the artifact. Then we get back to Martin and never speak of helping a Daedric Prince ever again." Finding the cave was easy enough, so the three of them got off their horses and stood outside the entrance, Rend and Shadow checking their weapons while Luna readied her magic. Once they were ready they entered the cave, though once they stepped inside they found a vampire that had been making his way towards the now open exit. They stared at each other for a moment, mostly because there was shock in the vampire's face, before their target turned to flee into the cave and escape them. Luna, not wanting to alert the other four, summoned the shadows and trapped the vampire before he could reach the intersection before him, giving Rend and Shadow plenty of time to hack him into pieces. Shadow nodded to the left passage and walked down it alone, promising that he would erase the vampires and make sure that neither of them escaped from him. Rend nodded and led Luna into the other passage, making sure that they walked passed any traps that their foes might have placed to hinder any intruders. As they turned the corner they found two more vampires, one male and one female, sitting at a table, though their heads snapped up the moment the duo entered the room. The vampires drew their weapons and charged forward, causing Rend and Luna to pull out their own weapons and parry the incoming attacks. Rend caught his foe's blade above his head, though he spun around and cut the vampire in the chest, causing him to back up and prepare another attack. Rend side stepped the next attack, which happened to be worse than the first swing, and quickly took the vampire's arm, while also taking his sword. The vampire growled and came at Rend again, swinging his left hand at him and trying to rake his claws against his foe, though Rend simply dodged until the opening presented itself. He spun his swords around and cut into the vampire's chest, causing him to back up for a moment before Rend delivered the final attack and took his foe's head. Luna, on the other hand, simply ducked out of the way of her foe's attacks, wrapping her shadows around her whenever the blade came close to hitting her. It was a simple tactic in her book, as it gave her plenty of time to consider her options with some constant feedback and tips from Nightmare. Her foe managed to slip through the magic for a moment, but she whipped her hand around and her magic smacked the vampire in the chest, knocking the wind out of her body. Then Nightmare, growing tired of watching the fight, directed Luna's next attack, so they whipped their magic around and took the vampire's weapon, before she plunged her longsword into the vampire's chest. Once they were both done with their foes they moved into the other side of the cave, where they found Shadow standing over the corpses of two vampires. Luna noted that he was quick to cover up his neck with the edge of his robes the moment they appeared, as if to hide something from them, but she had definitely seen the movement and was sure Rend had not. "The deed is done," Shadow commented, beginning the burial procedures of Arkay, "Give me a moment to deal with them and we'll go back to the shrine." Luna and Rend went outside, waiting for ten minutes in silence before Shadow appeared, carrying a small urn that the two of them assumed was filled with the ashes of the vampires. He quickly spread the ashes around and got onto his horse, choosing to remain silent as they rode back to the shrine of Azura, who Luna was sure would be pleased with their deed. When they arrived at the shrine ten to twenty minutes later Rend was the only was to get off his horse, walking forward as he waited for something, anything, to happen. Thank you, mortal. Rend heard, though he had been waiting for it, Their spirits are free, and henceforth, above my shrine, five bright candles shall burn forever in memory of their sacrifice. For your service, take this token, that your deeds might be entered in the Book of Fate. Rend looked in front of the shrine as a star appeared before him, though the light faded until a stone with eight tentacle like branches, with a smaller stone in the center, appeared before him. The cultists behind him gasped and bowed, telling him that the item before him was the artifact they had come to retrieve, the artifact known as Azura's Star. Rend pulled the star out of the air, thanked the dunmer for his aid in calling Azura, and then returned to his companions, ready to deliver their prize to Martin. -------------------------------------------- When the trio returned to Cloud Ruler Temple, on foot because they left their horses in Bruma, they were saluted by the Blades and they hurried inside. They entered the main area and found Martin reading from the book once more, clearly working to decode the rest of it so he could determine what else they needed to recover the Amulet of Kings. Martin looked up from the book and beckoned them over, clearly glad to have some time off from his attempts, while no doubt curious as to which artifact they recovered for him. "I'm glad to see that your alright," Martin said, though his eyes told that he was searching for the artifact, "but have you acquired a deadric artifact for us to use?" "Aye," Rend replied, pulling out the star and showing it to him, "Behind, Azura's Star." "Ah, Azura's Star..." Martin commented, taking the star into his hands and studying it, "it is as beautiful as all the tales tell. I shall keep this safe while I send you on your next task; I need you to retrieve an artifact from one of the Divines." "Say what?" Shadow said, stunned by the request.