Rakel and Moonman saw the events that unfolded after they had heard the introductory conversation between Inigo and Hasir.
They stepped out from behind the pillar that stood five feet from Inigo's cell, approached the cell and were about to open the
cell door when the cell door exploded outwards. With the cell door came an tsaesci body that, Rakel saw, had a boot mark
on his chest. They winced when they heard a loud 'CRASH' when the scaled body along with the iron bars hit the brick wall
that stood across from the cell in which the argonian and khajiit stood.
Where there was a pristine brick wall before was now a brick wall with an tsaesci-sized dent in it. Rakel and Moonman stared at the
crumpled form of the tsaesci for a second longer than was needed. They snapped their eyes over to the bed and saw a horrible sight,
a white-furred khajiit laying on the bed that Hasir occupied minutes before with her eyes closed.
Her labored breathing gave Moonman goose bumps. The two nords stepped through the hole that once held the cell door that was
now face down in the dirt several feet away. They approached the bed. They saw a purplish-blue khajiit sleeping on the bed by the
khajiit's head, stroking her white fur. Moonman found another chair that was pushed into the table which contained the dragonfly
and brought it over to the bed and sat down. Rakel turned away from the bed and saw a green argonian laying on the dirt floor,
she walked around the lizard to see that his eyes were staring blankly in front of him. Rakel returned to the bed and tapped the
khajiit on the shoulder. The khajiit stirred from a deep slumber.
"Huh? Waappened?" He stammered
As the khajiit's eyes began to focus after hours of his eyes being unused, he saw an outline of a woman standing over him. A
beautiful nord standing inches away from him. He saw that the woman was smiling and extending her hand in friendship.
"My name is Rakel," She said. "May I ask yours?"
The blue khajjit's cheeks flushed with crimson,
"I-Inigo," He stammered, "pleasure to meet you."
Rakel's brow furrowed as if to inquire the sutuation that transpired.
"What happened... if I may ask... I hope I am not intruding on anything." Inigo smiled and shook his head, "it is no intrusion, come
sit and I will tell you."
After ten minutes of recanting the events of what led to this unfortunate turn of events, Rakel held up her hand signalling that
she heard plenty. She pointed to the scaly argonian who lay unconscious by the bed. Inigo's eye followed her finger. He shook
his head, indicating he had no clue how he came to be in that predicament. Hasir never told him of his involvement with
Molag Bal. Inigo only knew of his partnership with Hircine, the god of wolves.
Rakel told Inigo that she had a crush on Hasir ever since she first laid eyes on him. She said that he was like a reptilian cupid
whose slime-filled arrows penetrated her tough armor and found her soft heart.
She stopped talking and thought for a moment before asking Inigo something.
"Inigo, What force of nature or malevolence is doing this?"
Inigo said he had no idea, but, he hoped they would snap out of their hypnotic-like states soon. Just then, an idea struck him.
He called over to Quinchal. The golden-skinned lizard came over.
"Yes, what is it furred one?" He inquired.
Inigo sat up and leaned against the headboard of the bed.
"Quinchal, can you enter the minds of your victims?" Inigo asked. Quinchal nodded and said that is how they feed, or at least it was
until he was turned into a hybrid.
Inigo groaned and sat up so fast that Hasir nearly fell out of his chair.
"Well, can you enter Ma'kara's mind to find out who or what we are dealing with?" He asked, face screwed up in exhaserbation
Quinchal nodded, snapped his fingers, transformed into gold mist and drifted up Ma'kara's nose into her brain. After a few minutes
of drifting though gray matter. he found the section of the brain he was seeking and entered the folds of information. He fell
through darkness and eventually found himself on a blue foor interlaced with gray dirt. He transformed out of his mist form and into
his gray and black wolf form. He sniffed the air; it smelled of sweat, fear and a hint of wet cat. He padded across the blue and gray
floor; his nose,following the scent until he came to a wrought iron cage with huge spikes jutting out of it.
He had a strong sense of smell and the smell of wet cat became overwhelmingly strong as he sniffed the cage. Where he
expected to find a khajiit he instead found a red wolf with black and white markings set into her fur. He frantically pawed at the
door, trying to open it. He huffed in anger when he realized that his paws had no posable thumbs. He instead backed up
several feet before running head first into the cage. To his amazement, the cage buckled and fell onto its side with a crash.
The red wolf licked the gray wolf's face in thanks. They transformed back into their humanoid forms.
Quinchal turned to Ma'kara and raise a scaly eyebrow.
"Any idea how to get out of here?"
Ma'kara said she saw little when the guards dragged her body in here. She, however, did tell Quinchal of a path she saw in her
drug-induced state. "by inhaling bluish-purple dust?"
Ma'kara's train of thought got derailed. He was not yet on that page of whatever book she was reading.
"What?" He said, shcoked. "Did you reach this place by ingesting bluish-purple dust, after eating which, you fell unconscious?"
Ma'kara nodded as they approached the door, lockpicked it and stepped outside. Quinchal's heart sank. He had never been in a place
as depressing as this before. In fact, he had never been to Oblivion before, either in his dreams or while awake. If he had thought he
would find Dagon's deadlands to be cheery when comparing it to coldharbour, which is what this place was known as, he would be
right.
Ma'kara went over to the door perpendicular to them and started tapping on the door. When Quinchal went over and asked what she
was doing, she responded that she was testing for weak spots. After a short while, Quinchal joined and together they found a weak
spot in the metal. Quinchal spouted fire from his mhands and the weak spot crumpled, leaving an exit large enough for both of them
to fit into.
They entered the tunnel. The tsaesci turned to her, his tail whipped around in agitation.
"Remind me again...why are we doing this?" He asked
Ma'kara sighed in disgust; hinting that she wanted to exit the gloomy realm as much as he did.
"In order to find the exit from this place. When one of Molag Bal's goons dragged Ma'kara into that cell." she pointed four miles
behind her. He mentioned something about a light in a small hole that is connected with her cell. Oh, He also did say a 'great
shadow' only he can control is guarding the portal.
After hours of traversing the tunnel, They could see a small house coming into view. After fifteen feet, they were free from the
claustrophobic tunnel. Just in front of the portal was a formless black mist that attacked them as soon as it saw them. It flowed up
their noses and into their brains. It gathered information from the two heroes and exited their nasal passages. Once outside, it
it transformed into a huge black wolf.
The two heroes rushed at the black wolf, swords raised, poised to strike. The wolf easily dodged their attacks.
"Fools, you cannot hurt the element of shadow, I am beyond your skill."
Ma'kara and Quinchal both yelled for the wolf to get out of their heads.
"Why would I leave now? I was just getting started, Ma'kara, is that fear I smell? Delicious."
Ma'kara clutched at her head, tears in her eyes. She pleaded for bloodfang to get out of her head. The wolf, however, did not
listen to her cries for help. Quinchal's eyes went wide as he turned and saw Ma'kara coming straight at him. In her left hand was
a sharp, deadly axe that she, or rather, Bloodfang had picked up from the many weapon racks that lined the shack. Ma'kara
swiped at Quichal but he dodged out of the way; grabbing a steel sword from a rack.
"Ma'kara, your mind in not your own. There is a demon controlling you, listen to me!" With every word he spoke he dodged
swings from the crazed khajiit's battleaxe. When Ma'kara was a foot away from him, he brought his left foot behind him quickly
in a circular motion, causing Ma''kara to be blasted into a nearby pillar.
"Hmm, impressive, but, watch this!" Ma'kara brought up her left leg and kicked outward with her heel, expecting to hit Quinchal.
Instead, her momentum sent her flying past him to get her foot stuck in a plank of wood. She wrenched her foot free and redoubled
her efforts. The tsaesci beat her to the punch. He summoned Akaviri winds in his hands and flung them at the khajiit. This attack
caught her offguard and, to Quinchal's amazement, the demon was exorcized.
Both of them made for the portal and they were about to enter it when a shadowy mass rose up behind Ma'kara and shot a beam of
dark energy through her heart with deadly precision.
Her heart exploded, spewing guts everywhere; painting the walls with her blood. The khajiit fell to the floor, dead.
"NO! How dare you, you bastard! You will not get away with this." Quinchal warned
He then, out of anger, shot, in quick succession, three fire bolts at the wolf. The formless shape dodged the attack effortlessly.
Outraged, the tsaesci said next time he will not be so lucky. He stepped through the portal.
Quinchal did not intend to return to Riften, instead, he teleported to the halls of torment, where he knew Molag Bal held Hasir
prisoner. What he'd failed to realize to realize, however, was that Hasir wanted to enter Coldharbour.
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