//------------------------------// // 51: Pride // Story: Sunset's Adventure in Skyrim // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Sunset moaned as she pulled herself from her bed, stretching her arms as she touched the stone floor before rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes. The moment that Fear had been defeated she and her friends had returned to Fort Frostmoth with the good news, to which Delphine had eagerly suggested that she rest up so she could be ready for her next fight. Delphine then assured her that she would make sure that no one would awaken her until noon the following day, the third day that Hermaeus Mora said she would have to defeat her emotions, but Sunset had told her that she would most likely awaken before then. She was definitely sure that it was before noon, as she hadn't been awakened by a pounding on her door, but she knew her friends and allies were anxious for her battle with Pride. Truth be told she wasn't as anxious as they were for the fight, as Fear had pulled some interesting abilities on her during their fight, so she wondered what powers Pride would bring to the table. She sighed as she straightened her armor for a few minutes, making sure that she was somewhat presentable for her friends and allies when she walked out the door, before walking over to the room's exit and opened the door. The guards that Delphine had posted at her door, the ones that were supposed to awaken her at noon if she didn't get up before that point, saluted her as she walked out into the hall. She nodded to them and the trio of them quickly walked to the room where Delphine and the other Captains would be waiting for her, along with Miraak and her friends. She supposed that Neloth and the Dragon Priests might have arrived as well, as Neloth wanted the Black Book she still carried, and she was eager to hear what Vahlok had to say about her alliance with Miraak. When she opened the door to the main chamber of the fortress she found her Commander and Captains pointing at the map once more, no doubt trying to determine if they could convince any of the locals to come with them when they departed from the island. She didn't need to ask them what they were doing, as she had also determined that it was only a matter of time until Tirek attacked the whole of Nirn and they needed very able body person to fight against him. She also knew that if Tirek came to Solstheim he would have shattered the landmass already, so there was no reason for her to worry about that at the moment. "Ah, Dragonborn, your awake," Delphine commented, looking up from the map as the door opened, before she, Orak, and Tullius walked over to Sunset, "Dukaan and the other Dragon Priests, including the one called Vahlok, have returned to the fortress, though they seemed to make it clear that they wanted to talk with you before you ventured into the final Black Book. In other news Neloth and his apprentice arrived a few minutes ago, though they are patiently waiting out in the courtyard with the rest of your friends... where he's been trying to convince them to let him touch one of your spheres. Bjorn's been telling Neloth that the only way he'd get his hands on one of those spheres is by asking you once your done with your trails, which I am glad to say are almost over." "You and me both," Sunset replied, though she didn't tell Delphine that she had no idea how long it would take to defeat her final emotion, nor did she have any idea what powers Pride commanded. The group walked out into the courtyard, where Sunset found her friends sitting in the middle of the area, trying to entertain Neloth and his apprentice until she arrived. She also noticed that the three Dragon Priests had indeed returned from their venture into Vahlok's tomb, as she noted that there was another Priest floating along side them. She case her eyes to the barrier she had created for a moment, making sure that it was still holding up to the harsh ash that the locals had warned her and her Captains about, though she was pleased to find that it was still holding strong. Once she was done with that she returned her gaze to the Dragon Priests, where she nodded her head and swiftly approached the four of them. As she walked up to them she could tell that Vahlok, the only Priest that wasn't wearing a mask at all, had some powerful magic around him, which she expected to find since he had bested Miraak so long ago. "Lord Vahlok," Sunset said, switching to the Dragon Tongue, as the Dragon Priests rarely spoke in English or anything else, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you." "Likewise Warlord," Vahlok replied, though she immediately noticed that his eyes zeroed in on where Miraak was standing, as if he didn't trust the former Priest at all, "I was informed that we have entered into a temporary alliance with the Traitor... though it seems that the news was correct, despite how much we hate each other. I have been told that there is a creature, called both a demon and a dremora, that is reshaping the whole of Skyrim and that you have been raising an army to fight him... though even I can tell that this is a mere fraction of the soldiers that are under your command." "Our main forces are back in Skyrim, waiting for us to return," Sunset told the Priest, thankful that he understood what was at stake at the moment, "I'll be heading into the final Black Book soon to deal with the last trial that Hermaeus Mora has set for me, so when I finish we'll be packing up and heading back to the mainland." "Good, I eagerly await the coming battle with this demon," Vahlok said, giving off a sound that Sunset assumed was a chuckle of some kind, before returning to the other Dragon Priests. Before Sunset could even move Neloth approached her, though she could tell that his apprentice was annoyed about something and knew that he'd likely be asking her about the spheres once more. "Good to see that you are up and about once more," Neloth commented, his eyes scanning over her body as if he was checking for signs that would indicate that she should still be in bed, "Before you delve into the last of Hermaeus Mora's Black Books I have a question to ask you; might I have one of the spheres to study while your busy fighting this pride of yours?" And there it was, out in the open, something that Sunset knew was coming from the moment that Delphine had told her that the wizard was asking Bjorn about the issue. It seemed that no matter how many times she told him that she'd get back to him when she was done with the trials he just didn't seem to listen to her. "Once I'm done with Hermaeus Mora's trial I'll get back to you on that," Sunset told the wizard, noting that he seemed annoyed about the entire thing, "besides, that barrier is the only thing keeping the ash out of the fortress at the moment. One sphere would filter half of the ash to the area around the fort, while the other half came inside and started covering everything once more, so you'll just have to wait." "Fine, get on with it then," Neloth sighed, beckoning to the area around them, as if he had no idea where Sunset would open the final book, "I guess I can settle for learning the secrets of Hermaeus Mora and the secrets of one of your spheres at the same time... provided you pass the trial and beat the demon your at war with." Sunset sighed for a moment before walking up to the middle of the courtyard, where her friends had been waiting for her arrival the entire time. They had prepared a small sitting area for her, where she could cross her legs and read the book, though she as glad that they had done something like that to begin with. She took a deep breath before she sat down in the prepared area, where she noticed that her Captains, her soldiers, her friends, and the rest of her allies gathered around her. She had no idea if this last fight was going to be broadcast to the fortress, how she had absolutely no idea, or if they were simply watching over her while she fought her last emotion. She cast one last look around the courtyard before reaching into her pack and withdrawing the last Black Book, which she gently placed on the ground before her and touched the cover, allowing the magic to happen once more. -------------------------------------------------- When Sunset came to she found that she was standing in the area where she had met Miraak and learned that her true purpose on Solstheim was to best her own emotions. She looked around her immediate area, looking for anything that might indicate whether she was going to be escorted to the summit or if she was going to have to walk there herself. She waited for a few minutes, to be sure that she gave the High Seeker enough time to realize that she had returned once more, before she sighed and determined that she would be venturing through the last area of Apocrypha by herself. Once she had come to the conclusion that she was supposed to venture onward by herself she sighed for a moment before getting underway, where she walked up the staircase that her emotions had landed on when Hermaeus Mora had released them. Resting at the top of it was a pedestal that she knew would take her deeper into the book, so she walked up the massive book and teleported to another area. She then found an area that had several Seekers floating around, though they merely glanced at her as she approached and went back to what they were doing, allowing her to continue on her way. After a few minutes she discovered a ledge that also appeared to be a staircase of some kind, but before she could begin to ponder how to open the way she spotted a large book that seemed out of place. She quickly walked over to the book's pedestal and grabbed it, causing the staircase to slide out and open the way for her to continue once more. At the top of the staircase she discovered another book, one that took her to an area that seemed to be filled with a winding passageway that was her only way forward. She followed the route for a few minutes, finding more Seekers that wanted nothing to do with her, before she discovered another book that was out of place and added it to her growing pile as the way forward opened itself. The next passageway ended up being a dead end, as both routes she could take ended up shrinking back into the wall she had chosen to travel down, but when she used the exit she discovered that it had actually taken her deeper into the book. She repeated this method for a time, where she was ignored by the Seekers that floated around her, the Lurkers never came out to fight her, and she found two more large books that she knew had to be important in some way, otherwise they wouldn't have been left out in the open like they had been. She eventually came to an area that had five pedestals, four of which were arranged in a circle around the one in the middle, and she also happened to have four books, so she knew that she had found the puzzle the books belonged to. She walked around the circle and stared at the four pedestals, finding that one had a tentacle symbol, one had a pincer symbol, one had an eye symbol, and one had a fang symbol. She quickly glanced at the titles of the four books she was carrying, carefully reading them before figuring out that they were the keys to the puzzle before her. Boneless Limbs, the first one she collected, she decided to place on the pedestal with the tentacle symbol, while Delving Pincers went on the pedestal with the pincer symbol. She then turned to the pedestal with the eye symbol and placed Prying Orbs on top of it, before turning to the pedestal with the fang symbol and gently placed the final book, Gnashing Blades, in its proper place. With the four pedestals now having a book on top of them Sunset watched as the pedestal in the middle of the chamber phased for a moment, before a book appeared on top of it. She grinned to herself and approached the new book, allowing it to teleport her even deeper into the Black Book, where she appeared before an open area that had two Seekers floating before a Word Wall. Behind the Wall stood the summit, the tallest point of the Plane of Oblivion, where she knew Pride would be waiting for her arrival so they could start their fight. She glanced around for a moment, finding that there was actually no book to take her up to the summit, before she sighed and allowed her magic to flow around her for a second. She burst into the air and sailed over the eerie water, heading right towards the largest tower, but when she arrived at the base of the tower she merely redirected herself and sailed up the side of the tower. The instant she reached the top of the tower she broke off her magic and landed on a walkway, where she didn't have to look very hard to find her final emotion. The only strange thing was that Pride was looking more like a red version of Sunset, minus all of the demonic features she had the last time they had seen each other. "I'm must say, I'm impressed that you got here in twenty minutes," Pride said, crossing her arms as she looked at Sunset for a moment, "but that's to be expected when none of the Seekers and Lurkers are willing to fight against you. Honestly, I expected one of the other emotions to kill you before I got a chance to do it, but this is one instance where I'm glad that my original assumption was proven wrong. This means that I can defeat you myself... and then deal with that demon before I resume our conquest of Equus." "You know you'd never win, right?" Sunset asked, causing Pride to frown at her for a moment, as if she was annoyed by the very idea of losing, "Even if you somehow managed to defeat me in battle, which I highly doubt, then Tirek will likely crush you into the ground and destroy both Nirn and Equus. And even if, by some miracle, you managed to defeat the demon then none of the Princesses would let you get very far before your either banished or sealed in stone. Only together can we stand a chance at defeating Tirek, but it seems that we'll have to fight each other before that can even come close to happening." "I will enjoy defeating you, Sunset Shimmer," Pride replied, holding her right hand out with her fingers pointing right at Sunset, "but before we get started I had better cancel this illusion spell and show you the demon once more." Sunset watched as Pride's armor, a mockery of the Dragon Priest armor she was wearing, morphed into the flaming dress she had worn when she had tainted the Element of Magic, which was followed by her hair catching fire. Pride's wings erupted from her back and settled back into place, while her ears lengthened to what they had been like when she had assumed this form. Sunset then watched as Pride's gloves and shoes were ripped to shreds, as she now had clawed hands and feet in place of her ordinary hands and feet. It was odd seeing something new happen to her demonic side, but then Sunset noticed a small hole, roughly the size of her fist, form above Pride's chest, giving her the ability to see all the way through the demon's body. Once Pride's magic had settled down Sunset knew that she was gazing upon the true form of her demonic nature, though it made her wonder what powers Pride had to show her. "It is good to be free once more," Pride said, stretching her arms as her gaze shifted away from Sunset for a moment, as if she was looking towards wherever Hermaeus Mora was located, "I was told to contain my power until you arrived, otherwise I could have destroyed this entire tower in anticipation of your arrival, so you can thank the Lord of this realm for that. Now then, we had better get started." Sunset drew her daedric sword as Pride moved her legs out and pressed one of her hands against the ground, though Sunset recognized the motion as she had seen several pegasi do the same thing when they wanted to get an extra burst of speed when they took off. Before she had time to prepare either a condensed magical wave or sphere Pride burst into the air, though Sunset quickly found Pride's hand gripping her face before she was thrown backwards. She sailed through the air for a few moments, but when she spotted herself nearing another tower she engaged her magic and corrected her course as she flashed to the top of the new tower. As she gathered herself and formed a plan of attack she couldn't believe how much power Pride had put into that one motion, as she had been thrown quite the distance from the top of the tower. From that one attack she knew that her final emotion was strong, so she knew that she had to come up with a plan of attack that would actually work against this foe. "Too slow," a voice behind her said, causing her to turn around and Pride standing right behind her, who proceeded to slam her fist into Sunset's stomach before kicking her off of the tower, "Now I'm starting to wonder how you managed to defeat any of your emotions." Sunset growled and thrust her sword into the side of the tower, catching it after a few seconds and stopping her fall at the moment, giving her the opportunity to prepare for anything else Pride might throw at her. As she waited for a moment she noticed Pride leap off the top of the tower, heading right towards her no less, so Sunset yanked her sword out of the tower and tapped into her magic. She burst into the air and sailed right up towards her emotion, though this time she allowed her sword to gather energy as she drew ever closer to Pride. Once she was close enough Sunset pulled her arm back for a moment and then swung her sword towards Pride, allowing the energy stored in the blade to erupt outwards in a torrent of magical power. The explosion that followed tore a massive hole into the tower, but as Sunset flashed to the top of a nearby tower she turned back to see if she could spot Pride, though she worried that the attack had done nothing to her emotion. Before she had time to really do anything Pride landed in front of her and swung her fist at her, though this time Sunset was ready as she used the sword to parry the attack as she ducked under her emotion's arm to get a better shot. Pride, realizing what was coming next, leapt into the air as another energy wave rippled through the air, barely missing her as it sailed through the air and collided with another tower, blowing the top of it to pieces. Once the attack was out of the way Pride landed behind Sunset and kicked her in the back, knocking her to the ground for a moment, but to be sure that nothing else happened she picked her up by the neck and threw her down towards the eerie water below. As Sunset fell she noticed Pride leap into the air and hold her right palm towards her, though as she noticed magic gathering in front of Pride's palm she paled as she realized what was coming next. Pride began to release a rapid succession of energy beams, small charges designed to either hurt Sunset or tear anything else they hit apart, down towards her, though Sunset had enough time to raise a shield before one of them collided with the wall, knocking her into the water. She kept the shield up as the water surrounded her, which began to result in her sinking into the eerie water while Pride looked down at her and prepared a powerful energy beam. As Sunset sunk into the water she could not believe the power that her emotion commanded, and she was painfully sure that this wasn't all of it, and she started to wonder if she could actually win this fight. After a moment of consideration she sank into a sitting position, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes, just as the rest of her spherical shield was swallowed by the water. ---- Back at the summit Miraak, having touched the book Sunset was holding to come and watch the fight, stepped towards the edge of his tower and watched the fight unfold. A large eye surrounded by an eerie darkness appeared beside him, telling him that his Lord was eager to see which one of the two survived the fight. Suffice to say that Miraak was not pleased to find that Sunset was already bested by her emotion, as she had sunk into the water and had merely given up when she realized that Pride was too much for her to handle. He knew that she had bested the other emotions already and was fully prepared for this right, but everything he saw made him reconsider that fact that he had believed that she could best Pride in battle. "With the Warlord dead her army will separate into a horde of people acting like chickens with their heads cut off," Miraak commented, his gaze fixed on Pride at the moment, who was still holding onto the spell she hadn't gotten to use, "though that emotion of hers might actually be able to defeat this demon she warned us about." Now Miraak, you might be right about Pride being able to defeat Tirek, Hermaeus Mora said, his voice stretching as the former Priest turned to look at his master, but when did I say that the Dragonborn was dead and that Pride had won the battle? Before Miraak could reply he suddenly felt the entire tower shake under the pressure of an intense magical signature, causing him to turn back to where Pride was and find that the area Sunset had sunk into was bubbling. He did not understand how Sunset could still be alive, as he was sure that the water would have eventually crushed the barrier and swallowed her whole. Then, as he tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing, the tower shook again, though this time it was even stronger than the previous one. Whatever was happening between Sunset and her emotion was allowing Sunset to awaken her true power, which he slowly realized was why his master had set up this entire set of trials for her. She is learning to use her instincts and her defeated emotions, Hermaeus Mora said, his eyes staring at the tower the two were currently at, though he was enjoying the notes he was making on what he saw, The real fight is coming. ---- The water around Sunset turned into a vortex as she looked up at her emotion, who seemed pleased that she hadn't given up after being wrecked in such a manner. Sunset had no intention on allowing the She-Demon to win this fight, so she was determined to face Pride and use every ounce of power she had to defeat her final emotion. She braced herself as she flashed through the air, causing Pride to discharge the beam she had been preparing and blasted the water Sunset had been standing in. Sunset, on the other hand, came to a stop right behind Pride, who barely had time to turn around as she planted her foot so hard in Pride's chest that she knocked her into the air. She growled as she flexed her wings and corrected herself, somewhat surprised that Sunset had found the power to actually become faster than her and deliver a blow at the same time. She suspected that she was finally tapping into her true power once again, something that would be incomplete until she was defeated in battle, but Pride had no notions of allowing herself to fall here. She grinned for a moment as she held her right arm back, energy gathering into the shape of a dark green lance that was made of pure magical energy. Sunset stared at her for a moment, as if she was studying the attack that she was using, but made no attempt to stop her from crating it or using it. Pride swung her arm and let the lance go, allowing it to fly through the air towards Sunset, who barely moved as the lance literally missed her by several inches and flew into the distance behind her. The moment the lance hit the tower behind her it exploded, releasing a massive wave of power that shook the entire area around them while destroying most of the structure it had come into contact with. Pride would have been annoyed with that result if it had been any other attack, because no mater how strong she was the lance spell was actually one of the toughest to control. Instead of trying the spell again she flapped her wings and headed straight towards Sunset, who looked at her for a moment before flashing into the air in front of her and swinging her sword at her. Pride had enough time to use her claws as a shield, causing sparks to fly between the meeting of them and the sword, before the two of them were opposite of where they started. Sunset turned around and flashed up to Pride, rapidly swinging her sword at her emotion, who had enough time to use her claws to barely block each attack before she spotted an opening. She swung her arm at Sunset, but instead of it hitting her target Sunset's left arm shot up and grabbed her hand out of the air, blocking the attack. Before Sunset could strike Pride her emotion ripped her arm out of her grasp and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying through the air as she neared another tower, though this time she spotted Pride flying after her. Sunset grinned for a moment and swung her sword, allowing the pressure of her attack to instantly stop her movement and shatter the tower she was passing. As the pieces fell on the two of them Sunset flashed up to her emotion, but instead of landing a blow Pride burst into the air and climbed to the top of the wreckage, only turning back to watch for Sunset. That was seconds before Sunset flashed into the area behind Pride, but as the emotion turned to face her she grabbed onto her left arm and swung her sword downwards, severing both Pride's left wing and the majority of her left arm, before kicking her in the side and sending her sailing into the top of a not yet destroyed tower. As Pride picked herself up she glared at Sunset, who merely landed on a tower that was close by, though she was annoyed with how powerful her opponent was now. She had been kicked Sunset's ass the entire time, but then she suddenly got a massive power boost that was allowing her to dominate the entire fight. She suspected that it was because of the fact that she had bested the other six emotions, giving her the ability to see how she could have defeated enemies like Hatred and Fear. As she stared at Sunset she grunted and focused her magic, forcing a new arm and wing to be created from the magic around her, which she flexed to be sure that it was in working order. "You... bitch!" Pride shouted in anger, her magic flaring as another lance materialized in her right hand, this one pulsing more than the previous one, "I'm going to enjoy tearing you to pieces!" As she prepared to loose the lance she spotted something that she wasn't expecting; energy was gathering in front of Sunset's horn, as if she was preparing one of her condensed magical beams. Pride had no idea how much power she could possibly be pulling into the one attack, but judging by the strands of magic that were being pulled into it she knew that it might be able to equal her own attack. She growled as she pulled her arm back for a moment and then threw the lance towards Sunset as hard as she could, letting it sail through the air towards her opponent. Sunset, on the other hand, merely stood there for a moment before releasing the magic, allowing a beam of red energy to roar through the air. The instant the two attacks met there was an explosion that tore the area they were both standing on to pieces, while also producing a smoke cloud that was far greater than what Pride was expecting to find. Before Pride could even move to another area she was knocked out of the air, but she instantly found Sunset's left hand gripping her neck as she was pushed backwards. Then Sunset spun around, bringing herself to a normal standing position, before she threw Pride through the air, making her travel at speeds that even her wings couldn't counter, before she crashed into the side of another tower. Before Pride even had a chance to pull herself out of the crater she had made, and get to safety so she could plan a new course of action, she looked up and found another beam heading her way, to which she paled at it impacted her in the chest and destroyed the tower she had been thrown into. Sunset calmly walked through the air as she kept her gaze on the tower she had thrown Pride into, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that would tell her that her emotion was still kicking. As the smoke cleared she found that, even with the amount of power she had used in her last attack, Pride was definitely alive, but as she approached the top of the ruined tower she found that the lower half of Pride's body had been destroyed by her attack. Even her wings were damaged, as the right one had been completely obliterated, along with the majority of the arm again, and the left wing was bent out of shape. "It looks like... you've won..." Pride coughed, though she was breathing heavily as she stared up at Sunset, "I never thought that... it would end this way. I always thought... that I would be... the victor. I guess there's... one last thing I need to do..." Sunset was caught off guard when Pride extended her left hand, not in an attempt to attack her once more, but in the sense that she was trying to shake hands. Sunset sighed and gripped her emotion's hand, though when she did she could feel the power that Pride had flowing into her body, removing the last of the barrier that was keeping her from using her full potential. Pride managed to get a smile on her face as what remained of her body slowly broke apart, joining the void that had been left inside Sunset when her emotions had been ripped out of her. "One more thing!" Pride snapped, as if she was issuing a command to Sunset before she completely disappeared, "Use our full power and destroy that foul demon..." Sunset smiled as Pride stated at she shared her desire to end Tirek, something that she hadn't been sure on when the emotions had been released, but now had confirmation on. "Don't worry Pride," Sunset said, staring into the eyes of her emotion as she continued to fade away, "I don't plan on letting Tirek destroy anything else, though I'll settle for making him pay for what he's already done." Pride smiled as the last of her body broke into pieces, joining the magical stream and returning to the place she had been ripped from, until there was nothing left of her. Sunset stood there for a moment, letting her power settle down now that she had full reign over it all once again, before she turned to the tower that was Apocrypha's summit. She immediately spotted both Miraak and Hermaeus Mora standing on the top of the tower, or floating in the Prince's case, so she engaged her magic and leapt into the air. Seconds later she disappeared before their eyes, only to reappear behind the pair not a few seconds later, to which she turned to face them. "I see that you succeeded in defeating Pride," Miraak commented, though it was clear that he was making an effort to hind the fact that he had believed that she had lost at one point, "which means that you now have complete control over your magic once again." "Yes, I'm now as powerful as I had been when I left Equus," Sunset remarked, not bothering to mention her visit to Earth to the former Priest, "I might not be as powerful as an alicorn, but with this power I will be able to confront Tirek and give him quite the thrashing. Oh, and I'm sorry for destroying most of this part of Apocrypha, Lord Hermaeus Mora." In time Apocrypha can be rebuilt, Hermaeus Mora told her, as if the destruction of his realm didn't matter to him, however, the same cannot be said for Nirn. I have given you all the time you needed to prepare for you fight with Tirek, but the demon is nothing but persistent. He has tried to call me to Nirn for some time now, but I have been able to resist the call and focus on preparing you... though now it seems that he'll finally get what he wants. You know what I mean. "Unfortunately, I do," Sunset replied, as she had known that it was a matter of time until Tirek called on Hermaeus Mora, "Then I shall gather my forces and head back to Skyrim, so we can put an end to him once and for all." You have two, maybe three, hours before he arrives, Hermaeus informed her, causing Miraak to turn to him in confusion while Sunset stared at him, He will have felt the battle between you and Pride, so once he has drained me he'll come here to investigate. In that small window I can provide you and your allies must leave this island... or it shall become your grave. That was the news that Sunset had been dreading, that despite her efforts Tirek would follow her to Solstheim and destroy the entire island to get at her... and she only had two to three hours to get everyone away before it became a reality. She glanced to the middle of the floor they were on and found the copy of the Black Book that would take her back to Fort Frostmoth, to which she hurried over to it. She wasted no time it touching the book, allowing the magic to surround her as she hurried back to her friends and allies that were waiting on news of her success. -------------------------------------------------- When Sunset opened her eyes she found that she was still in the middle of the fortress, but as she looked around she found that those that could sense magical energy were staring at her. Even those that couldn't sense her power knew that something was up, as they kept their eyes peeled for anything that could go wrong now that she had returned to them. She knew it was because of her full power, something that was now going to bring the complete and utter destruction of Solstheim on them all. She sighed and pulled herself up onto her feet, to which she was rapidly approached by Neloth and his apprentice, though she had no time for him asking her for the spheres. "Here," Sunset said, tossing the last Black Book to Neloth, who caught it almost immediately, "I have no need for it anymore." "Pride is defeated? Delphine asked, to which Sunset nodded her head, "Then we had better get packing and get back to Skyrim, because there's no telling when our enemy will try to break the world." "He's coming here in two to three hours," Sunset informed Delphine, and both her friends and Neloth at the same time, "Hermaeus Mora told me that my fight with Pride has reached Tirek and he'll be coming here... though he'll end up destroying all of Solstheim when he arrives. Delphine, we need to evacuate everyone from the island, meaning the Skaal and the residents of Raven Rock, before Tirek arrives and finds that we're not here anymore." Delphine cursed and started shouting orders, to which her soldiers started running around and began collecting everything that they had taken from the ships. Sunset snapped her fingers and the barrier around the fortress came down, to which the spheres floated over to her and she returned them to where they had been hidden. As things were slowly returned to their places on the ships she began to wonder if they'd manage to get everyone off the island before Tirek arrived, though she knew that they had to try. She only hoped that the Skaal and the residents of Raven Rock were willing to listen to her and her Commander, otherwise they'd go down when Tirek showed up. Either way the final confrontation would be happening on Skyrim, though she silently wondered how much of it she and the demon would ruin before one of them was defeated. -------------------------------------------------- Tirek walked around the small base he had made the dwarven storeroom, as that was the only thing he could call the place, into the location that he could call the final Prince of Oblivion to. After his first failed attempt, and the appearance of one of the Prince's underlings, he had tried a second time and met only failure along the way. In his anger he had traveled to the location of the Dawnguard and shattered the fortress, just to cool off as he showed Sunset's allies what would happen to them if they continued to aid her. Now that he had returned to the storeroom he was ready to try the summoning ritual once more, only this time he hoped that the Prince would come so he could drain him dry. Floating before him was the Oghma Infinium, the artifact of the Prince known as Hermaeus Mora, though it had been suspended in the air as he went to cool off, though he was prepared this time. "I call forth Hermaeus Mora," Tirek intoned once again, allowing the magic to surround the book as the portal to Oblivion opened before his eyes, "the Daedric Prince of Knowledge and Fate!" The portal rippled for a moment before a grotesque green void of tentacles and eyes appeared before him, though as he prepared to fight he noticed that the creature made no move towards him. He thought it was strange, considering that the last few Princes had put up quite the fight before he had managed to grab onto them and steal their powers. Why one of them wasn't attacking struck him as odd, but he made sure to keep his defenses up in the off chance that this was a trick to have him lower his guard. I am Hermaeus Mora, the being said, his voice stretching as he spoke, how Tirek had no idea, Ah, the demon known as Tirek has finally gotten what he desires. Tell me, why have you not drained me yet? "Your making me lower my guard," Tirek growled back, as he wanted to be sure that there was no attack before he got what he wanted from the Prince, "You won't trick me that easily!" It is my fate to have my power drained, though even I have fought against that in my own way, Hermaeus told him, still floating in the spot he had arrived in, Claim the prize that you crave and get on with your pitiful war, though you will pay the price for draining all sixteen Princes of Oblivion. Tirek, still not sure why the final Prince had simply given up as he did, moved in and grabbed onto one of the tentacles that was waiting near where he was standing, allowing the energy to flow into his body. He had no idea what price the Prince had been talking about, but he knew that he would use his full power and crush Sunset Shimmer... before he shattered the world that she was trying to protect. Then, once all of Nirn was burning, all of Equus would be his to do whatever he wanted, without having to worry about anyone getting in the way of his victory.