Hasir, Nanaki, Inigo and Sereyne fell onto a stretch of volcanic ash while ash particles floated all about them upon the air as if they were shells of
fallen comrades of some forgottenbattle. The truope ventured forth. Hasir stopped just shy of the turnoff to Urshilaku camp. The other companions bumped into him, grumbling indignantly.
Inigo was the first to break the silence, voicing thought that the entire group was thinking.
"My friend, why have we stopped? We've still got a few feet to go yet."
Hasir turned and apologized then glanced at the sky. The ashen gray sky suddenly flashed with a bluish-black ring filled with otherworldy light.
"Sorry, I just-Look out!" Hasir rolled to the side just as a bluish-black structure came crashing down like a fallen angel, using its wings to hold steadfast to the ground. Sereyne and Inigo looked at this, wide-eyed and circumnavigated the structure. They took note of its sinister looking taloned feet sunk deep into the ground and the equally sinister chains binding it between worlds. A shock like a further bolt of lightning pulsed through the devilishly diaobolical anchor.
Hasir saw this and ran to help the two khajiit.
"Inigo, Sereyne get away from that thing!" He shouted. "I've never seen or read about these things but, just from the look of them and the meterological anomaly they cause tells me it is uswise to temper with them."
Heeding his warning, Inigo backed away from it, but Sereyne, ever curious, got blasted by the massive electric shock that radiated through the achor. The Argonian picked up the foolish feline, only to find her stiff as a board. He cursed himself for not being more proactive. Feeling the afiq's chest, he felt no heartbeat and, likewise, no pulse when he inspected her wrist.
Frustrated, Hasir unsheathed his axes and struck the structures as hard as he could. The blow shattered the anchor's heart, making it disappear back into the 'waters' of Coldharbor.
With the achor detroyed, a voice sounded from the silence.
"You dastardly reptile, how dare you foil my plans! I will just have to try harder in the future. I aiming to take you out but, well, boom goes to dynamite or, in this case, the lightning. It turned that annoying Afiq into quite the lightning rod. As for your precious high elf girlfriend, She is..."
Hasir sighed and rolled his eyes. He despised being told what he already knew.
"In your foul keep where you plan to add her to your garrison of the night, I know that already. Unlike blood, love cannot be sucked from a living being. Clearly it has been from you, Stonefire. So why do that to another?"
The voice in the sky faltered for a bit and then boomed back at full strength.
"How do you know of what Meridia has done? Did you know she used Mehrunes Dagon's own weapon, Mehrune's dagger, against me? Now, I will spread my revenge over Mundus. I WILL right the wrong that she has done to me. The unholy union was just the straw that broke the camel's back!"
Hasir scoffed at this, thinking it a dumb reason for revenge.
"You lusted after Kynareth and her brother, Hircine stole her from you and you, what, want revenge all because some aedra pricked you with a needle and stole the pitchfork away from the farmer? That is low, Stonefire, even for you."
The voice in the sky blazed with anger, making Hasir shudder.
"You know nothing of my plight!"
Hasir raised a spikey eyebrow in disbelief.
"Really? Then tell me, why is the Doomstrider seeking to free himself of your tyranny? I know he once served you. Perhaps 'served' is the wrong word. Hmmm... I got it, 'enslaved', yes, that's it. That what you do, you enslave people to build your own, sick, twisted version of Nirn, to spurn the one who got away and make her, no, force her to see your twisted image as beautiful, thereby making you whole one more and reestoring your place in Aetherius." Hasir snorted in derision, "By Oblivion, even the Doomstrider gave up the ghost once he saw your 'plan' was falling apart. He was smart enough to leave so why don't you daedra up and follow his example?"
The voice in the sky paused and then faded away all together. With that, Hasir hefted Sereyne's corpse over his shoulder and followed Nanaki as he neared Urshilaku camp. Hasir'd only heard of this place from one of Kassamae's stories. Upon entering the camp, Hasir immediately took note of the khajiit and Argonians outfitted in hooded Silver cloaks but, upon closer inspection, Hasir saw they weren't cloaks but wolf pelt, complete with paws and head, worn as cloaks. He, Nanaki and Inigo meandered through the camp; the sweet aroma of something cooked over the fire thick on the air.
The argonian and the two khajiit saw two tents bathing in the warm firey light and ducked under the brown flap of the largest one. Upon seeing them, the dark elf made to shoo them out of their tent calling them 'unclean' but his father and mother chastized him for his rudeness.
Hasir broke free of the confused furstock that consisted of the two khajiit and politely introduced himself to the Ashkhan.
"Greetings. My name is Hasir," He said and gestured to the two khajiit, "these are my friends, Inigo of Elsweyr and Nanaki, I-i don't know where he's from, we found him, I guess."
The ashkhan screwed his face up in disgust. He did not like seeing 'slaves' roam free as they please.
"Who let the slaves loose?" He asked looking over at his parents. "Make sure they report the Dren plantation straight away."
His mother reprimanded him and promptly apologized to the newcomers.
"Forgive my son. Thoran can be a bit... wary of newcomers. He forgets that slavery is abolished on Morrowind." She looked over her shoulder at the insolent dunmer. "You know that slavery is banned haven't you, Thoran?" The dunmer huffed in defiance. His mother scoffed at this rude vocalization. "Ignore him. He may be a bit rough around the edges, but he has a good, if often, misplaced heart."
Before voicing their concerns, The elderly Argonian walked toward the bluish-purple khajiit, her tail flapping about excitedly like a dog greeting a new face.
"Where are my manners? My name is Cetori. That, over there," "She gestured to a khajiit that looked like he's seen many a battle. "That is my husband Cheveyo. Wee, unlike our son, are thrilled to have new faces around here. Due to the numerous ashstorms that ravage this region, we rarely, if ever, get new visitors. Come, sit and stay for a while. Do you want something to eat or drink? My husband and I are curious as to where you came from as well as what you are doing here."
They did as the old lizard bade them; sitting on the ashen floor of the brown and tan tent. They all agreed to the Argonian's offer for sustinance. Cetori went to the rear of the tent, invited her husband to join her in the newcomer's stories just before she put a pot on to boil over a small fire near the rear flap of the tent. When the brew was ready, she got a few wooden cups from a sack she kept near the firepit, pour a generous amount of drink into each cup and brought them to the newcomers.
She beamed as the Argonian and khajiits accepted their drinks. The newcomers looked at their cups and at each other in confusion.
"Excuse me, but... er, what is this?" Hasir asked
Cetori began to answer, but her husband, Ceveyo broke the miasma of confusion.
"This is Cryodillic Brandy. Puts hair on your chest. Though, I must admit. You khajiit and I have enough to go around, hmm?" The three khajiit burst out laughing, leaving Hasir out of the loop.
Ceveyo stopped dead as he saw the confused look on Hasir's face.
"Right, not one for jokes, I see. By Azura, I forgot, erm, I am Ceveyo. I am sure you have, no doubt, met my wife Cetori?" They nodded. "Well, then, have you met our son, Thoran?" Again they nodded. "I am not sure what fantasies wormed its way into his head, but, you can rest easy knowing we did not raise him to be a racist. I can't think of where he got that. Must be those new friends he hangs out with, the Camonna Tong. Degenerates, the lot of 'em." He said, shaking his head. "For the love of Mara, I cannot understand where on Nirn they pick this stuff up. We brought him to Urshilaku with us to hopefully see the other side of the cloud."
Again, he tried it and, liking the black gelatinous liquid, done the whole lot. He turned to Cetori and said what he want to hear.
"That's good." Cetori grinned back in thanks. "As to where I'm from and my purpose here, I come from a land of tribal ways and swamp water. I've come here because the threat of Molag Bal is growing more and more dire. I even saw it as one of his vile anchors nearly gave me an uncomfortable haircut. He kidnapped one of our own, an Altmer who was, until recently, part of our party. I have a hunch she may be holed up in Wolfthorn castle in the desolate land of Coldharbor."
After hearing this, the elderly Argonian shook his head thus making Hasir groaned with equal parts fatigue and dread.
"I'm sorry. The princess is in another castle. " He shrugged, "she isn't here. To ascertain her whereabouts, you will have to seek out a vulpine-like Lilmothiit that lives in the heartland of Tamriel. Her cottage is just off the road that leads to Cloud Ruler Temple. She moved shortly after her home got desroyed by similar foul anchors."
Hasir gestured for Inigo to leave the tent which the khajiit did with expendiency. Hasir thanked Cetori, bade him, Ceveyo and Thorin farewell and followed the khajiit out of the tent. He, Nanaki and Inigo put the unfortunate afiq on the unlit fire outside. Hasir looked on with sadness. He, Nanaki and Inigo said words of farewell and the Argonian lit up the pit like a makeshift pyre.
Nanaki conjured a portal where blues skies and green hills could be seen and the three stepped through. Hasir cast one sorrowful glance at the fire which had nearly consumed the corpse.
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