Light through Darkness, You asked for it, so here you go. Options

[Thomas Kaira]

It's getting close to Christmas, and I'll be away on Holiday to New York for a few days, so I decided to post this now so that you know I am at work. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Black and White

The suffocating darkness was broken only by the soft blue glows of unnaturally luminescent crystals. The high vaulted ceilings may have leant a feeling of grandeur before, but now felt strangely claustrophobic, as if the walls would close in and crush you at any moment. I was gliding softly through the blackness, guided only by the winking blue lights, following them through what seemed a maze of corridors and passageways.

Suddenly, the walls opened, and in front of me stood a grand chamber, it would have been spectacular had it not been so sinister. The entire chamber was bathed in red light, and strange, black figures were moving about, neither knowing nor caring where their feet carried them. In the center stood a high raised platform, and there another figure stood, emblazoned in armor that seemed sucked the light in from around him, and I was moving towards him. Try as I might, I could not fight the savage need to know whom this man was. I wanted to cry out, scream for help, but my tongue had become iron.

Closer…closer…ever closer I inched, feeling the icy metal flood to my limbs. The figure turned to face me, his eyes glowed a fiery red…


----



Ice cold sweat drenched my face as my head soared from my pillow, my breathing shallow and ragged. Feeling something in my hand, I looked down to see my steel dagger in my hand… how did it get there? Did I pull it out of my pack in my slumber?

I dropped the dagger to the floor, returning my head to the pillow. All a dream, I thought, just a dream, another dream. Calm down Derelas, it’s nothing to worry about. Old news.


----


The Imperial City was only half a day’s journey from Wawnet Inn, as the publican told me over breakfast. Just follow the high street out of town to the Great West Bridge over Lake Rumare, and follow the road from there straight to the gates. It was a lovely clear day outside, and the bridge was not hard to find when I left, the white marble spires framing the road practically burned new holes in my eyes.

The morning bustle was only just beginning as I made my way forth. A balding fisherman was making his way home with his morning catch of some of the biggest Slaughterfish I’ve ever seen. Many of the travelers who slept the night here were gathering their horses and pack mules to continue on to wherever it was they were going. Many others still were filing into the small stores nearby. It was a simple, yet elegant, vista of pastoral harmony.

Forcing my eyes away from the scene, I directed my feet toward the Great Blinding Bridge and made a silent note to thank Y’ffre if I could still see after crossing.

The bridge led to a switchback road up the steep incline of the Imperial Isle, many rocks blocking my view of the city proper. It was just after midday when I finally crested the hill. I was greeted with… more whitewashed walls. It might have been an awe-inspiring sight had I been able to see anything at all, but I ended up having to walk the whole rest of the way with my arm up shielding my eyes because of how brightly polished the marble was. I know this city is supposed to be the shining beacon of the Empire and all, but wow... you think you might be taking this a bit too far? I was quite thankful to finally reach the gates proper, just to be able to see again.

Once I closed distance with the walls, though, the blinding marble gave way to gray granite. Still not to be outdone, the stone was impeccably carved and rose into an imposing Gothic archway housing a raised portcullis and a well-polished bronze gate flanked by two men in flashy steel armor, flaming red feather plumes rising from their helmets… Imperial Legion Centurions.

“Welcome to Cyrodiil City.” One of them voiced to me. They then marched in unison to the great bronze doors and threw them open with an impressive flourish. “Enjoy your stay, citizen.”

I passed through the gates to a scene unlike I’d ever seen before. Instead of the peaceful maritime bustle of Weye, here it was an outright cacophony of voices, footsteps, shrieks, and hoof beats as people large and small jostled this way and that about their daily lives. The huge crowd, from the super-rich in fine linens to the street urchins with no more than stained sack cloth, pattered every which way you could think of past white marble buildings so tall they seemed to wall away the sky. Such a dizzying sight made me begin to wonder if I could ever find the Arcane at all, so I ducked into a shaded back street to pull out my map.

“Looking for something, citizen?” A passing legionary inquired.

“Yes, I’m looking for the Arcane University.” I responded, hoping this guy might be able to make some sense out of this madhouse.

“You’re in Talos Plaza," the legionary told me, indicating a gold sign nearby:

“Talos Plaza. IMPERIVM AD VITAM AETERNAM”

“Just follow Septim Way through Talos Plaza, take a right on Green Emperor Way, follow it around until you reach Stendarr Loop, and it will take you straight to the University.”

Follow who-da, take a right on what-da until I reach where-da? Thankfully, the guard noticed my blank look and handed me a new map, this time of the city itself, and noted everything he told me on it.

“Thanks.”

“We’re here to serve.” The guard brought two fingers to his helmet in salute before clanking away. I started to wonder why guards weren’t this helpful all the time, given my experience at the customs office on my way in from Valenwood, but soon did a double take. This was the Imperial City, after all. The Empire does have an image to maintain.

It took another hour just to find Green Emperor Way. I got lost twice in the crowds and at one point found myself filing my way down Septim Ave. rather than Septim Way, causing me to mumble curses under my breath for the Empire’s shameless lack of originality as I turned back. I eventually fought my way through the chaos of Talos Plaza, and the astounding noise of the crowd died instantly as I crossed the threshold of Green Emperor Way, giving way to a subdued, formal silence, and I felt a strange, liquid-like sensation pass over my skin, probably a spell to help keep the noise out.

“Please show your respect for the Imperial Palace by keeping your voice down.” A guard in blazing white armor decorated with dragons told me as I entered, and I joined the now near-silent crowd making their way along the road. Most of the time my view of White Gold Tower was blocked by the many high-rising buildings, mostly fine hotels and apartments for the city’s wealthiest citizens surrounding the Palace Road, but every so often I would pass a colossal iron gate barring the way to the Palace proper, and was able to steal a glance of the immense structure beyond the veil. It seemed to rise forever towards the heavens, perhaps ascending to touch the face of Aetherius itself, the marble walls were so well polished and maintained it was no wonder I was blinded on my way in, and almost completely blocked by the rest of the city, I could make out the royal graves. Such a sight, already breathtaking from here, must inspire awe when seen from outside the walls; a way of saying: “We are the most powerful society in this land today. To challenge us is to challenge the will of the Nine themselves.”

I felt myself smiling faintly as I turned onto Stendarr Loop.


----


Two shrouded figures crested a flight of stairs bathed in crimson light, where another shadowy figure sat upon a throne of black stone signaled them halt. They obeyed, and then sunk into a low bow.

“What news?” His voice rang with command as he spoke.

“Derelas just arrived yesterday.”

“And now?”

“He left for the Imperial City this morning.”

The cloaked man frowned, this might complicate things a bit; our kind is not welcome there. But no matter, he won’t stay forever.

“What else did you discover?”

“He’s searching for them, and he wants the Mages Guild’s help.”

Mages Guild? The shadowed man smiled, his red eyes lit aflame with amusement at the very idea. The Mages were fools. They had no idea what they were allowing to happen under their very noses. To think they could keep us at bay locked away like dogs. They would be in for a rude awakening, and soon.

“Good. Keep an eye on him. I want to know the instant he leaves.”

“As you wish, Lord.”

The two shrouded figures bowed again, then turned to leave themselves. The red-eyed man smiled to himself. Soon the pieces would be in place. The 433rd Year of the Third Era would soon become forever etched in history.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Dec 31 2010, 06:44 AM

[Thomas Kaira]

@SubRosa: There be plenty of creepy-crawlies out there for you in this one. If you would wish it, I can warn you in the future if there might be some arachnophobic segments so you can be prepared for them.

@rider: Have you been reading dirty literature again? Naughty Haute!

@Acadian: The bear-woman is rather central to this set of chapters, as you will soon find out.

@Volendrung: The mod in question is MMM. If spiders freak you out, you can also turn them off if you wish. Yes, the F-word (as I learned in middle school) definitely contains hidden, but obvious meaning. Never trust a man or woman who uses it too much.

@mALX: Have you been eavesdropping on my PMs again, you minx?

@Rick: Again, if enough people wish it, I will post warnings for when there is a spider-heavy chapter in the works. Please let me know if I should.

@all: I believe it is time we brushed up on a bit of the lore involved in this story. I did my best to ensure it would connect and play nice to all the other Bosmeri stories already posted, so I hope you enjoy it.

next: We meet two new very important figures... and a bear.

Chapter 4-4: The Horse and the Bear

*ROAR*

My reverie of boredom was shattered by a glass-shattering guttural noise. I turned to a paralyzing sight. A giant bear was stood upon his hind legs, dwarfing the ashen-skinned woman who’s hand now instinctively swung to her hip for her blade.

“The nature-hater has slain our kin. Teddy will eat sweetly tonight!” a cackling voice rang through as the bear came crashing back to all fours. The sheer weight of his landing caused Faith to stagger back skittishly. With another loud roar of indescribable rage, the great mammal swung his paw upwards, claws gleaming in the fire’s dying glow.

“STOP!” I cried out instinctively. I then watched in utter amazement as the bear gave pause, turning to blink in my direction. Then, miraculously, he lowered his paw to the ground and stood stark still. A young woman dressed in furs then appeared from around the creature’s hindquarters, a look of confusion upon her shadowed face.

“The Tree-Lover has commanded Teddy still,” she began, her voice matching her face, though oddly bearing with it no vestiges of insanity. “Why does he deny me vengeance?”

“Vengeance?” I repeated bemusedly, my eyes darting to Faith. She had done a very good job of turning herself into statue, as she was now standing just as still as that bear. She still hadn’t bothered to even lower her dagger.

“My darling scuttle-bugs,” she replied tearfully, “They were murdered by this one’s feather-bolts and robbed of their glitter!”

“Wait, those giant spiders were your pets?” Came Faith’s astonished voice at last.

“Be silent, Ash-Breather,” the strange animal-woman snapped coldly, “you are a thief and a murderer. You deserve not the life that was given to you.”

A low growl was beginning to emanate from the bear’s raised hackles, informing me that he was fast losing interest in his complacency. I would need to think fast if I wanted to keep things from becoming any messier.

“Listen, miss,” I began feverishly, desperately racking my thoughts so I might head off the woman’s rage. “She obviously didn’t know those spiders meant something to you. We’re just two travelers lost in the woods, driven into hiding by a troll. Believe me, we want to leave here as much as you want us gone.”

“Someone must pay for my scuttle-bugs!” The woman cried out. “Their glitter is robbed! They have no hope for survival in the next world!”

“Glitter?” came Faith’s bemused response, “what do you mean, glitter?”

“Their venom, you fool!” The woman almost screamed back, pointing an accusing finger at the Dunmer, “How do you expect a spider to survive without venom?!”

“Here,” Faith quickly and somewhat fearfully replied. She pulled a small, glass flask out of her pocket, “Their venom is in here. You can have it if you want it.”

“Did I not tell you hush?” The woman scathed, sending Faith’s jaw snapping closed once again. The bear-woman then approached Faith slowly, a hand reaching out for the bottle. When Faith made no protest, she snatched it from her hand and clasped it lovingly in her own. She then turned back to me, the fires of anger in her eyes now dispelled.

“Perhaps the Ash-Breather has some humility,” she said, gently caressing the bottle of venom. She then slipped it into the folds of her furs and turned to face me. “Very well, Bosmer. I will let her be… for now.”

“Wait, that’s it?” I then asked apprehensively.

“Not in the slightest,” she responded, “But if you wish it, she will be spared.”

“Thank you,” I replied, my body fighting the urge to soar away with difficulty as the bear retreated into the shadows. Now that I wasn’t so focused on that furry monstrosity, I could get a proper look at the woman who commanded his respect. Her hair was long and brown. She wore it lank and though it bore no sophisticated styling, was not unkempt. Her deep brown eyes seemed to bore into your soul with their intense gaze, one I was fairly certain kept that bear docile. Her face bore no markings of age, and her body was well toned and bristled with feminine strength.

“My name is Sibylla Draconis,” she then introduced herself to me. Her voice now much calmer and more concise. “I am a shepherd to the many creatures of Kynareth in these woodlands. I have devoted my life to His will, and so bear no worldly possessions one might call ‘civilized.’”

“Well met, Sibylla,” I returned holding my open hand forward with my palm facing her in the traditional Bosmer greeting. She then reached forward in the same way and touched her hand to mine, thus declaring herself friend. “I hope you can forgive the misgivings of my friend here, she does tend to think with her tongue before her brain.”

Faith responded to this with a blatant scoff, but earned a chuckle from Sibylla.

“Anyways, what brought you up here?” I continued, “Did you hear the argument?”

“Teddy heard,” Sibylla replied, returning to the bear’s side and leaning up against his massive hindquarters, “And when we were on the way up I found my darling scuttle-bugs… well, you call them spiders, had been killed. I don’t like that word, by the way, ‘spider’,” she then veered off, her gaze drifting. “Too vicious, too fearful a word.”

She then turned back to me. “I apologize, I may have come off a bit loopy when we first met,” she turned her gaze downward. She might have been blushing from embarrassment, but it was hard to tell by the dimly flickering light of our small fire. “I tend to get that way when people kill my woodland creatures.”

“I understand,” I replied, “it’s hard to lose a pet.”

“As it is your family?” Sibylla then revealed, quietly so that only I might hear her words. Her response startled me half to death. She knew?

“How do you know that?” I asked indignantly, shock heavy on my tongue.

“It would seem your guide deigned to tell,” she responded. “He must have been expecting us to meet.”

“My guide?” came my confused reply.

“Your spirit guide; every Bosmer has one.” She explained, “Usually they take the form of an animal such as a raven or lion, but you can occasionally find a few with a human guide, though they are rare.”

“So who is mine?” I asked.

“Does your birthsign not tell all?” She responded in a mysterious tone.

“The Steed?”

“Equine,” Sibylla corrected, “Spirit of the Horses. He has blessed you with his heart and lungs, and to this day has guided your footsteps. I believe he wanted us to meet, what else might have drawn you here into this accursed grove?”

“How did you speak to him, then, if he is my guide?” I then asked, still very perplexed. My gaze met Faith’s and she seemed to be just as lost as I was over all this.

“Why don’t you ask him?” was her only reply. I had to restrain rolling my eyes with immense difficulty. How was I supposed to know how to communicate with someone who, until now, I didn’t even know existed?

"Really now, it’s a lot easier than you think," I jumped almost a foot into the air when I heard the response. The voice sounded so familiar, faintly nagging… no, more like a mild whinny behind the vocals. This must be him.

"Equine," I thought, "is that you?"

"Yes, it is," came the response. "I believe this is not the first time we spoke, as well."

My mind streamed backwards. A dead Khajiit, blood spilling upon the sun-kissed stone road. The keen steel edge in my hand bathed in the weeping red sorrow of stolen life. The feeling of my very soul being rent in two. "I remember," I told him.

"Very good, and it would seem you have," Equine returned. "I hope you’re visit to Cheydinhal was fruitful?"

"I got what I went there for, so I would believe so," I answered. Even if it was a rather unpleasant stay. Silence then followed. Faith was still rooted in place, likely extraordinarily confused as to what was going on. Sibylla, on the other hand, was smiling.

“See?” she broke the silence with a voice filled with approval, “He always listens, you need only ask.”

“That was incredible,” was all I could muster up in reply, my voice still rather shaky. There was still one question on my mind for Equine though: 'why did Sibylla allow Faith to live?'

"You may think her not much more than a creepy stalker right now, but she is much more than that," Equine quickly responded. "Things will become clearer once you leave the Yews. Sibylla knows this, as I have told her just how important she will become to your life. She respects those who love and live with nature."

“Now come, both of you,” Sibylla then commanded. “If you are going to live to find your way out, you will need my assistance.” I was quick to follow, but Faith still needed some time to figure out she wasn’t a stalagmite before she came along.




----




“You can rest in here for tonight,” Sibylla directed us to lay our bedrolls down by the fire built within her cavernous living chamber, smoke streaming through a small hole dug into the ceiling nearby. “We will discuss your travel options come morning. Oh, and by the way, Ash-Breather,” she turned to Faith with a scathing look in her eye, “try not to kill any more of my flock while you are here.”

“I resent that name, you know,” Faith mumbled to herself, dropping her bedroll. Sibylla ignored her. She proceeded to continue her silent treatment as she flung herself into the folds. I however, couldn’t hope to sleep, not with all the questions I had for my newfound guide. Why did you want me to meet Sibylla? Did you have anything to do with me coming to Cyrodiil? Does this have something to do with my parents? And what about those strange dreams with the red-eyed man?

"Calm yourself, young Elf," came the soft whinny of Equine’s voice in my head, "you have twelve human lifetimes ahead of you still. We have always been connected, but you rarely found the moments where you would actually reach out and speak to me. I guided you to Sibylla so you might understand our link better. It is very important that you do."

"Why didn’t my parents tell me about you," I then asked. "Why did they keep your existence from me?"

"They didn’t. They were taken from you before they had the chance to forge the bond."

"What do you mean, forge the bond?"

"Our bonds are forged through the hunt," Equine explained, "When a Bosmer makes his first kill, he opens the door to his guide. You’ve done this already, with the Khajiit. Most do not meet their guides for the first time until they are of twenty-five years upon Mundus. The First Hunt is a rite of passage for all Bosmer, opening the doors to their guides and showing the world that they have grown. I do regret that this opportunity was stolen from you, but I am glad you found your way to me nonetheless. Even if it was by a path most might never follow."

"And what did Sibylla have to do with that," I then wondered. "How did she communicate with you if you’re my guide?"

"Nothing," Equine responded, "she just… showed you the way. Her affinity with Kynareth makes her a friend of Y’ffre. In fact, Kynareth is Y’ffre, or rather the Bosmeri version of Him; all Tamrielic deities take the form of the Aedra. I can speak to her through him, and that is also how she knows my name."

"And she can hear you? I thought the only people who can hear the guides were their Bosmer companions?"

"We are not exclusive, we simply choose one to follow. Any can communicate with us if they wish it. By the same coin, we may communicate with any we wish. However, only those who understand the ways of nature, such as Sibylla, might understand our words. To others, we simply sound like any other animal."

"Just one more question, then. What about the red-eyed man I’ve dreamt of since my arrival?"

"Ah, that I know nothing about, but that Sera Dresdan is deeply involved. As I said, bear with her until you have left the Yews. Things will become clearer then. Sleep now, Derelas of Elder Root. You need your rest as much as she does now."

________________________________________________________________________________



Post Script: Kynareth is normally depicted as being female in the game, but not here. Kynareth is male in this Fic, and this is due to my specific lore that all of the Tamrielic deities that have been created by the races of Mundus refer back to the eight Aedra who created Nirn.

However, if you would, the gender of Kynareth will actually be disputed in this fic. Nature lovers, such as the Bosmer and Sibylla, depict Kynareth (AKA Y'ffre) as male. The Imperial sect (I refuse to call it the Imperial cult), however, depicts Kynareth (incorrectly) as female.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 25 2011, 05:55 AM