The Adventures of Lysanna the Nord

1

Lysanna clenched her teeth. The Daedroth had been relatively quickly dispatched, but not before it had plunged its massive claw into her side. And now this: above her stood the Dremora Lord, grinning and lifting his axe to deliver a fatal blow to the young woman on the ground. Lysanna managed to roll to her side just in time to feel the displacement of air next to her ear when the axe came down. Its massive head struck sparks on the stone floor of the dungeon of Vas with a loud clang.

Lysanna tried to get back on her feet, but the Dremora Lord grabbed her by the hair and she slipped on the black pool of her own blood. She landed hard on her backside, but she was so hard on adrenaline that she didn't even feel her tailbone break. Again the axe cleft the air, this time the Fiend swung it with one hand, the other holding a knotted tangle of her hair. It went straight for her neck. Lysanna grunted and pulled herself downward with all her might. She felt a ripping sensation in her scalp and the axe missed her head just barely.

The Demon absently shook the strand of hair off his hand and regained his balance, giving Lysanna enough time to regain her footing. This time the demon went for her legs, slicing low. She tried to step outside the arc of the swing, but too late. Her right leg got out of the axe's reach, but her left leg was caught in the swipe of the massive cleaver and she felt her knee being crushed by the blow. She screamed and went to the ground again. Her Imperial greaves had saved her leg from being severed at the knee, but the pain was white-hot nevertheless. She could feel the jagged shards of bone grinding together as blackness crept out from the corners of her eyes and was driven back by pure adrenaline. Through all her pain, she realized she had managed to hold on to her sword. She grunted.

The Dremora once again stood over her, eyes blazing with bloodlust. But before the axe could come down, Lysanna had swung her sword with all her might towards his shins. There was a dry snapping sound, and the Demon's left leg turned to jelly, sending him crashing to the ground next to Lysanna. Before the creature fully realized what was happening, Lysanna had gotten to her knees and plunged Icicle straight through his ribs, exploding the foul heart beneath. The Dremora gurgled, and was still. Lysanna collapsed on the stone floor, breathing hard, and the pain sent tears streaking down her cheeks. She raised her hands to cast a Mother's Kiss Spell, which would hopefully allow her to limp (or at least crawl) back to the nearest settlement.

2

Glen was exploring some regions in the wasteland area. Well not as much as exploring as he originally intended, now it was more of being lost and looking for his way again. Glen was a healthy looking Nord. Being a very acomplished thief and warrior, he was looking for rich spoils. As he rode his faithful Guar, named Guarchie, the sandy wind of the redmountain stung against his face. The storm grew harder, lightning striking the earth with a temper a ways off. Not seeing any calming in the storm, he decided to look for shelter instead.

"Guarchie!" he screamed over the wind. "We need to get out of this before we get even more lost!" He found a big rock facing the opposite way as the blistering winds. After resting there for a moment it was apperent that Guarchie didn't benefit as much as Glen, and stood there still getting hit by the stinging sand. "Ok boy, lets find a wall or something." They made their way over a hill to find some daedric ruins below. Glen knew of daedric ruins, they harbored demons of all sizes. Seeing no other real choice he decended the hill towards the ruins. These ruins didn't have any demons around for some reason.

"Looks safe enough, maybe the demons are down below in the dungeons? I guess they hate these storms as much as we do huh boy?" Guarchie looked back waving his tail. "Ok, lets make camp near those ruins built into the hill. That should provide us with enough protection from the wind to maybe even start a fire. Lets just be sure to get out as soon as the wind dies down." After making it to the ruins, Glen set up a small fire and he started cooking some cliff racer meat for him and guarchie to eat. After the meal, the door to the ruins started making Glen curious. He went to them, and after a little bit he built up the courage and opened the door.

The door opened slowly starting from the center opening outwards in a circle pattern with a rush of wind coming out. He stood there in the doorway peering into the dark, seeing some stairs leading down.

3

"No...," Lysanna groaned weakly as her Mother's Kiss spell dissipated in a shimmer of useless energy. She sobbed loudly and closed her eyes. The pain slowly subsided as she felt unconsciousness creeping over her. Her wearied mind faintly registered a warm stain in her crotch where she'd wet herself in the battle with the Dremora.

Distantly, she felt her blood running out of her. Her knee was throbbing vaguely, but the pain was unreal. Distant. She felt like nothing was real. The small protion of her mind which was still active registered that this sensation was the same as the feeling she had when she dreamt: she was now her astral body, her real body was far away, millions of miles above her. She felt herself slide ever downward in a descending spiral, into the black.

Suddenly her astral form was violently jerked upward, and the clutches of Death snatched idly in the dark. All the pain returned in its burning hate as a sound brought her back from Death's Door, away from the numbing darkness and back onto the cold stone floor. She was snapped back into her body, her eyes knocked open by the blow. Footsteps! She heard footsteps on the stairs! She tried to call out, but only a wheeze escaped her lips. The footsteps came closer. This time she could manage a whisper.

"Help me..."
Glen froze in his tracks as he heard the hushed whisper. A woman! he thought, and rushed to the source of the sound. His heart quickened. A damsel in distress! What an interesting experience! He darted cautiously down the stairs and drew his dirk in a quick motion, hiding it in his sleeve. His katanas would not be needed, but it was still best to be on the safe side... he had heard stories of so-called Winged Twilights, who posed as a woman in need and then slew their rescuers. "In that case, I have a surprise for you..." Glen whispered, grinning as he neared the end of the stairs.



He slowed and peered round the doorway. There she was, trembling and sobbing, bleeding from more than a few wounds. A black pool had already spread under her. She was more than hurt, she was dying. Glen decided to risk it. He ran over to her. She was looking at him wide-eyedly, tears streaking down her face, her neck straining to turn her head so she could see him. She tried to speak but could only whisper: "Pl- please d-don't hurt me any more..." Fear stuck out sharply on her delicate features. "Don't worry," Glen smiled warmly (he hoped) and spoke quietly, "I wouldn't dream of hurting a pretty lady like you... Who did this to you?" But as he saw the Dremora Lord's dead body, he immediately understood. The girl wheezed again: "I feel so cold...". "Shh... try not to talk any more. The cold is because all the blood's running out of you. I'll help you, don't worry. I won't let you die." He shrugged off his pack and dug in it, producing a small green glass bottle. He lay her head in his lap and placed the rim of the bottle on her lips. "This'll keep you around a little longer. Drink up." He saw the woman's throat strain, trying to swallow.



Lysanna tried to drink down the potion the stranger had offered her, but her throat seemed unwilling. It was as if it were lined with sandpaper. She strained herself and finally she felt her throat open up and accept the drink. The world blurred for a second as she felt the potion do its wondrous magic. The pain dulled momentarily, but gradually came back in harsh pulses. Still, the potion had postponed her death for a few precious moments. The face of the stranger went from blurred back to sharp, although the red haze was still there, at the edge of her vision. Suddenly the drink was forced back upward, the muscles of her abdomen contracting to drive the alien liquid out. She felt the stuff being pushed out of her mouth with a horrible retching sound, and saw it fly into the face of the stranger. Pain lanced out from every corner of her body as she went into a fit of coughing and retching.



The potion flew right back into Glen's face, accompanied by a horrible retching sound from the woman. He jerked his head away and wiped the stuff off him. The woman in his lap convulsed and spasmed, coughing. He tried to hold her still and stroked her bloody platinum-blonde hair.
"Don't worry," he told the woman, "I must have made a mistake when I put this stuff together. But don't worry, it did what it had to do." The coughing subsided and the woman went back to trembling and shaking.
"I'm going to cast a healing spell on you now. Don't be afraid, this may feel strange." He extended his hands toward her chest. "What's your name, dear?" He asked, to distract her from her injuries. "Ly-... Lysanna" the woman breathed. "Well, Lysanna," Glen replied with an attempt at unflagging confidence, "I'm not letting you die here, so don't you worry, you'll be fine."
He smiled down at her, still building up energy for the Heal spell. Her chin was sticky with the potion she had vomited up, and her cheeks were wet with tears. He suddenly smelled an acrid, salty odour and realized she must be wet somewhere else as well. He pushed the thought away, winked at her and discharged the Heal spell.



A force like an orgasm surged through Lysanna. She felt her muscles stiffen up, and her body spasmed with the energy blasting through her. The pain was instantly swept away and she could feel the broken bones realigning themselves back into place. She heard a moan escape her lips. Then blackness swept over her.



Glen stood up from Lysanna's unconscious body, and waited for her to awaken. She would be back within a few minutes. The energy from his spell had caused her body to shut itself down for a few minutes to regain its strength. He looked down at her face and wondered who she was. And smiled thinking about how grateful she would be.

Glen picked up Lysanna and started to head for the stairs but before he could make it a soft wind came from behind in the sound of a moan. Glen looked back as the Dremora got back to its feet and looked around for what had change. It spotted Glen lurching forwads. It dragged its axe along the ground while using the wall as support. The chest wound was still bleeding, but the blood was cooling off and crusting over like cold lava. "What the Hell! I thought... it was defeated." The Dremora still lurched forward staring with its cold eyes at the Nord who was holding its previous victim in his arms. Glen walked to the base of the stairs and hurridly sat her down leaning against the wall.

"Ok demon, defend yourself!" Glen rushed forward ducking under the Dremora's overhead chop, tackling him and thrusting his dirk into its midsection. Just as the demon stepped back slightly from the force, Glen ran up the front of the demon using the dirk as a stepping stone with the speed from before and kicked off the demons face. The demon fell back as Glen flipped through the air. He pulled the lock in his crossbow bracers and they snapped into position. Glen landed with a crouch and aimed instantly on the demon as he fired each of them hitting the demon in his weakened knee and through the eye. The Dremora hit the floor again with a echoing thud throwing a small amount of dust into the air around it.

"Well... I'm pretty sure that takes care of it. It was kind of unfair and all though... he was already weakened. I'm kind of wishing I can fight one that actually isn't already almost dead, but I'm glad that I didn't. Anyway, on to taking that lady back up out of this forsaken place, after I get my dirk that is." Glen walked back over to the demon and reached for his dirk. The blood had cooled around it and it was hard taking it out, it reminded him of the story of the sword and the stone. Glen had to put one foot and step down on the dremora to dig it out of it. The blade had blood around it and was cooling off quickly. "Aww man..." Glen said pulling out a cloth and getting as much off as he could.

The dirk wasnt completly saved, along the sharpened edge of the dirk it had a small layer of rock around it and also certain spots on both sides. Over all it was good though and he could chisel off the rock later. Glen was just about to bend over to put away the dirk in his boot again when the Dremora shifted and spasmed. "What the... there's no way." The Dremoras head suddenly jerked around and stared at Glen with his one eye. The sight of the dremoras face scared the hell out of Glen as he jumped back slamming into the wall behind him. The sight of the bolt in its eye made him throw up. "Agh gross. You're not supposed to be alive! That was one of my best moves! There's no way!"

The Dremora ignored him as it jerked the bolts out of its knee and face. The sight of the bolt coming out of its face made Glen even sicker as he stumbled towards the hallway to get Lysanna and escape. Glen was on his way but his foot didn't move and he plumeted toward the rock floor. Glens head made a thud against the floor turning everything slightly darker to him. He looked at his foot to see the Dremora had grabbed his foot causing him to trip. The Ddremora thrust up its axe and began to hack downwards at Glens chest. "No you don't!" Glen screamed as he rolled over, dodging the attack. "Let go of me!" He hollered while kicking the demon in the head, making him let go of his foot. He jumped back and fired his crossbows. Nothing happened.

"What the...!? Dammit!" He had forgotten to reload his crossbows after firing earlier. Well no problem, he thought while searching his pockets and pouches hanging around his belt. "DAMMIT!" He had left his ammo with Guarchie. What a time for no ammo! Glen hated being unprepared. The Dremora was on his feet again and swung sideways at Glen. He quickly dodged swing but the dremora had feinted and thrust the axe, hitting him in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him. The Dremora kicked Glen knocking him on his backside and lurched over to Glen about to finish him off. Glen could swear the Dremora was smiling at him as it brought the axe down. But just as it did, Glen thrust his shining green hand grabbing the Dremoras hand.

The Dremora stood perfectly still as the green light swarmed over it flashing brightly. Glen slowly stood up unsheathing one of his katanas and flipped it backwards showing its blade. The frozen surprised look on the Dremoras face was horrifing in its own way. Especially with the rock covered hole that used to be an eye. "Well demon... I take back what I said earlier. Im glad I didn't have to fight you un-injured. I think I owe you some gratitude for pointing that out to me," Glen said bowing.
"But this fight ends here." Glen slashed as hard as he could in its chest sideways. He thought he could cut it in half but the armour proved much harder than he first thought. He pulled the sword out of it and thinking for a second, decided to go for the neck instead. His second strike held true as he sliced right through with much less problem.

The demon still stood there frozen as the green light still circled it. "Hmmm..." Glen said aloud. He sliced crazily at it through both the shoulders arms and legs. He slashed more and more and more, until the green light started fading. "Oh crap... this isn't going to end well... but I thought ebony could hurt demons and ghosts. There shouldn't be any problems... maybe its made out of some cheap materials or something. Anyway ,I think I'm pretty screwed now, it probably isn't happy with me now." The green light faded away as the Dremora stood there, still not moving. It looked over at Glen and took almost a half a step before falling to pieces on the floor. Blood spewed out all over it, drying up and sticking all the pieces to the floor.

"Ooo... so the paralising spell held it in place even after I cut it up. Well whatever works I guess." Glen went back to Lysanna at the staircase to check on her condition.

4

The first thing Lysanna heard as the world spun back into existence was a wet flopping sound. She opened her eyes and saw the stranger standing over a dismembered carcass. Slowly, a dull spear of pain rose up from her backside. That was when she noticed she was sitting upright against a wall. The pain was coming from her tailbone, which had not been entirely healed by the stranger's spell, just like her other wounds in fact, but now they were at least bearable. She let herself slide down sideways so she was horizontal again. "Wh... what was that?" she whispered at the panting stranger's back.

Glen was very sore now, holding his ribs with his arm and slightly limping over to his companion, who was still in pain. "That was just that Daedroth... those suckers don't give up easily do they?" He turned his attention on her now. "Are you okay? I figured you would have been fine, let me have another go at it." Glens kneeled slowly in some pain and held out his hands in the form of a triangle. His aura shone a bright pulsing blue and a light flashed brilliantly around her. She floated in the air slightly as her body reshaped itself to what it was before, the cuts bruises and scrathes seemingly melting away.

Glen looked at her, his eyes shining brightly as blue lightning left his fingertips and swirled around her. She grew slightly stronger in every way than she was before. And then the show was over, the light faded and the energy stopped as she floated back to the ground. Glen smiled as he slowly got back up in pain, exhausted. The lighting was still in her, appearing every so often around her body and flowing softly out of her eyes. She looked much better now, and somehow, younger than she did before.

"Well milady... its done. I didn't want to completely drain myself, but I don't belive in a job half done. You're good to go now, that is the most powerful healing spell I know. You should be fine now, maybe next time youll even be able to take out that Daedroth with less problem. Whatever you came here to do in the first place, by all means finish it. If you need me I will be resting at the entrance. Im now very tired... and I need to rest." He faded out and slowly made his way to the stairs.

He kind of wished now that he had saved a little healing magic for himself. His ribs were almost certainly broken from the force of the axe. They hurt badly and his lungs burned when he inhaled, and the rest of his body was sore from exertion. At least he had some good healing potions with Guarchie to help him mend his wounds. Glen was never one for being unprepared, and with his talent for thievery he always had the means to get what he needed. His exclusive potions of healing would ease his pain, of that he was sure. He stopped and sat down heavily on the stairs in pain looking back at her.

Oh, and could you do me a favor, Lysanna? Whenever your done could you meet up with me at the entrance? I have a favor to ask you and I'm in need of your help. He turned around to hide the worried look on his face and thought to himself: that is, if that jackal waiting for me up there doesn't feel like getting revenge right now. He slowly rose again and wobbled, almost falling, down the stairs in his dizziness. "Okay, I'll meet you when you're done with your errands, but be careful though," he called back as he started making his way up the stairs again.

Lysanna sighed.
"Wait." The stranger turned around. She sighed again and smiled. "That was the worst example of laying on the guilt that I've ever seen. Give me a second to grab my gear and I'll go with you." She noticed the stranger's limp and asked: "Are you feeling all right?"
"Oh it's nothing," replied the other.
"Nothing? You're bleeding! Why didn't you save some healing energy for yourself?" She sighed again. "You sure can make a girl feel in your debt," she said with another smile. "Let me help you up the stairs, it's the least I can do." The other started protesting, but she cut him short. "None of that macho-stuff. You're hurt, and you were good enough to use your Heal spell on me, instead of yourself. Now lean on me, if not for yourself then for my conscience's sake. What's your name by the way?"
"Glen," replied the other.
"Lysanna. Glad to meet you. Oh, and... thank you for saving me," she kissed him lightly on the mouth. "I don't know how I can thank you enough... but let's start with that favour you had to ask of me."

5

Glen stopped in his tracks, stunned from the forwardness of Lysanna. "No, I'm sorry to come off like I did, I didn't mean to make you feel guilty. I'm serious, after I make it to the entrance you can finish whatever business you have in there. I could use a rest anyway." Glen leaned heavily on Lysanna as they made it to the top of the stairs and limped his way to Guarchie. He started digging through some sacks hanging on him and got a exclusive healing potion out of the sack. After drinking it all down quickly, he put away the bottle and got his bolts.

He reloaded his bracers and locked them into a safe positon quickly almost without thinking. Glen could already feel the potions effects making him feel a little better. But it was slow acting and probably would be a while before he would be in shape for any stressful activities. He sat down carefully near the fire letting the blood from his arm trickle on the ground. The flow was slowing steadily but the soreness still remained

Glen looked over at Lysanna to answer her questioning look. "All I need from you is some directions really. And I think that can wait for now as I could use a breather. If you don't feel like going down there anymore I can understand why, I don't feel like staying down there anymore either. If that's the case, I wouldn't mind if you graced me with your presence. Once I'm there I'll probably restock on supplies and go off somewhere else. I'm always looking for adventure and I don't have anything to do right now. You wouldn't have heard any stories or rumours or anything have you?"

Lysanna stood leaning against the doorway and laughed, an honest and refreshing sound as it echoed down the dank corridors of Vas. "Grace you with my presence? Well, I just might do that. I'm a bit lonely for company as well. Well, not in a desperate sort of way, of course," she added quickly, "but it's always nice not to have to run around on this island all alone. Besides, nothing keeps me here, I've done what I had to do. Chalk up one dead necromancer for the Fighter's Guild. Now I just have to collect my reward over in Ald'Ruhn - you know where that is, right? - and then I'm all yours... well, up to a certain point that is," she added with a chuckle.

"So you can always come with me and restock on supplies in Ald'Ruhn? And as for stories and rumours, we can always get some there. But let's take a break for a moment first. I think we both need a few minutes of rest."

She flung herself to the ground on her back and sighed, closing her eyes and spreading her arms. "'sides, I owe you half of that money. Without you I wouldn't even have been around to collect it. I know it still doesn't repay you for saving my life, but it's a start, I guess. Wake me up if I fall asleep, okay?" But she drifted off almost instantly.

Lysanna quickly fell asleep. Glen looked at her awkwardly. "Well... she told me to make sure she stayed up..." Glen shoved her a little, momentarily waking her up. "Hey Glen... what?" "Oh, nothing". Glen sat back again and watched her quickly fall off to sleep again. "Man... she seems really tired. Maybe I put her through too much healing earlier? Well, I'll give her spirit a little more time to recover then, I guess." Glen grabbed another exclusive healing potion and started taking sips at it. He hated that wierd sweet chalky taste. It wasn't near as bad as any of the other healing potions, but it always left a wierd after-taste in his mouth.

He swallowed a little more, dryly, and couldn't take anymore. Getting out some shien he drank some, then some more potion, then some more shien, and so on. He was intent on taking guard and staying awake to make sure nothing happened to Lysanna while she was sleeping. He could get enough sleep riding Guarchie with her leading. And if not there would be enough time when reached town. He started feeling a little tipsy and stopped with the shien for now, and got out some scrib jerky and some meats.

Glen loved scrib jerky, any jerky for that matter. It was his favorite snack and would hold him over until he got his meat cooked.

6

The Dremora once again stood over her, but now it was even larger than the first time. Its were living fire and its face was contorted in a mad grin. Lysanna tried to move, but couldn't. A freezing cold kept her firmly into place. Her eyes went wide as the axe came down on her. She lifted her arm to ward off the blow and saw the axe chop right through it, painlessly severing her arm at the wrist, leaving a stump of bloody sinew and splintered bone, without slowing its descent. She screamed soundlessly as the axe crushed her skull.

Her eyes flew open and he scrambled in panic. The axe was gone, replaced by the dusky sky. The sun had apparently set an hour or two ago. Sweat trickled down her face and into the collar of her Silver Duke's Guard Cuirass. She tried to get her panting to slow and to her amazement, she succeeded. Then she saw Glen giving her a puzzled look.

"It's alright," she breathed. "Bad dream." She looked around one more time, as if to make sure the dream was really over, and said: "You should get some sleep now. I'll stand guard for the rest of the night. We'll make for Ald'Ruhn in the morning." She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I know I asked you to wake me up, but I'm actually glad you didn't. I was more tired than I thought, it seems. Now go on, get some sleep."

Glen looked at her groggily as she awoke with a fright. He still felt drunk and that was perhaps why he wasn't sleepy. "I'm not tired, if your ready let's go now. I can sleep on the road or whenever we get to town. Which is the closest town anyway?" he asked while looking around some ruins over the next hill. "I know you said you were headed toward Ald'Ruhn but if theres somewhere closer I think we should go there."

Glen got up wearily and put out the fire with some dirt. He walked back over to Guarchie and walked him out a couple feet and stoped him standing beside him, dizzily leaning on him. He forgot his drink and went back to pick it up almost tripping in the process and then almost slipping on his empty healing bottle. He bent down slowly again, picking it up and stuck both of them in the riding saddles of Guarchie.

"Here ya go milady," he said trying to sound polite but it ended up sounding garbled. "You can ride my ole pal Guarchie. Just be sure to take of your armour so ya don't accidentally hurt him. He doesnt like people in armour riding him. She walked up to Guarchie and stopped suddenly as Guarchie snorted at her. "Hey Guarchie! You be nice to the lady now," Glen said slapping gaurchie on the nose. "He's just playing with ya, really, he's a nice guar."

Lysanna raised an eyebrow. "I'm... sure he is. But I'd just as soon walk. If he's *your* old pal, then you should ride him. Maybe you can even get some sleep on his back. Not to be blunt, but you look like you could use some rest. And I still owe you, remember?" She paused and looked around. "I think Gnisis is closest actually. I'm a member of the Imperial Legion, so we can rest for free at the Fort. Then we can take a silt strider to Ald'Ruhn when we had some sleep, a meal and a bath." She looked down at herself. "And some clean clothes."

She looked at him suspiciously, but with a hint of a grin on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. "Are you drunk?"

"Me? Drunk? Neeever." Glen said wobbly, smiling widely. "I can drink like a slaughterfish and still retain my senses. Lick... err, it doesnt affect me. Nope, no sirree. Well let's get going. If you insist on walking who am I to... ugh.. whats the word? Not let you... yea. Well we should get going then, did I already say that?"
He looked around a little confused. He tried to hop up on Guarchie and ended up stumbling back and off him. He looked over to Lysanna for some help. "Ok, maaaybe Im just a little tipsy. Can you help me on him? I can't seem to keep my balance." After she helped into the saddle, he started riding Guarchie a little ways leaving her behind. He turned back to see her not with him.

"Hey! I thought we were going?" He could see her trying to scream something over to him waving her hands at him. He couldn't quite pick it up so he made his way back to her. "Whats the problem here?"
"Glen...Gnisis is over this way."
"Ohhh... okay then, you can lead. Hey weren't you supposed to be leading anyway? Why am I leading? Here's Gaurchie's reins, just grab hold of these and lead him wherever you want him to go. And if you don't want to carry something on you just stick it into one of his bags he's carrying." He looked at Guarchie. "And you mister, you be nice to the lady. Oh any Lysanna, you can put anything you don't want to carry... oh, I already said that, duh!" Glen said scratching his head awkwardly.

Lysanna laughed again and took the reins. "Right!" She started walking towards Gnisis. When she turned around a few minutes later, she saw Glen had already fallen asleep, a line of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. She grinned and shook her head. "Looks like it's going to be just you and me Guarchie... And it's not like you are what people call entertaining company." She grinned again muttering "...drink like a slaughterfish..." and snorted in derision. She walked with Guarchie beside her in the cool night sky, singing softly.

7

Glens head bobbed up and down as Guarchie walked with Lysanna. The world blurred, contorted and faded, slowly turning to a deep endless black. His wife Kesly awoke him from the bed with a gentle nudge. "Hmmm? Kesly... did I kick you in my slumbers again dear?" She giggled shaking her head, then headed out the door. He felt compelled to follow her but didn't. Instead, he got a linen shirt on from the dresser and walked outside on his balcony looking over his fields. His many workers farming the lands for him, tending the rich crops. Kesly came back into the room, talking to him as she walked. The world suddenly started shaking violently for him only, not affecting anyone else. Then a burst of light.

Glen bounced back hitting his head on something hard. He looked back and found that he hit the pack Guarchie was carrying that was placed behind the ridding saddle. "Owww..." Glen said rubbing his head. He looked at the sky, still dark and quiet. Obviously not much time had passed since he drifted off to sleep. He still sat on Guarchies comfy saddle bobbing slowly with each of Guarchies steps. "Lysanna, how long's it been? Doesnt seem like long, seems I was more tired than I thought. You want something to drink?" Glen said while leaning over and shuffling around in the riding sack below him off to the side.

Lysanna didn't look around. "No thanks, I'm fine." She was silent for a moment, then turned her head. "Why did you just call me Kesly?"

Suddenly, Glen saw her tense up. "Wait! Listen!" she hissed. "There it is again! Do you hear it?" A faint ristling sound was audible behind the Stoneflower bushes. "Three, maybe four," she hissed. "I hope you haven't got a hangover, because I think there's going to be a fight, and the odds will not be in our favour!" Glen saw that Lysanna, though obviously looking like a seasoned adventurer, was shaking. Was she scared? She hissed again: "Get your weapon ready, the footsteps are coming closer! They know we saw them!"

Glen wearily looked over to see Guarchie bounding toward them. "Guarchie! No, don't come over here, you'll be a target, boy!" He jumped over the rock drawing the fire in instinct, sprinting across the path and diving into the bushes. Guarchie stopped and turned around tilting his head and started coming towards him again. "Stop! Bad! Go back and wait behind the rock Guarchie!" Guarchie didnt move. "Now boy!" After Guarchie was safe Glen called over to Lysanna.

"You mean to tell me you don't know who is after us? I know damn straight they aren't after me! You must have done something!" The excitement was obviously starting to sober him up a little. "Which way did the arrows come from? I didnt notice. If I could just... Lysanna? Lysanna! Where are you?" He noticed she wasn't behind the rock with Guarchie. That would explain why he wasn't getting any answers. Great. What had he gotten himself into...

Lysanna saw the four black-garbed figures charge disorderly out of the bushes, straight to the rock she and Glen were behind. At the same moment, from the corner of her eye, she saw Glen get up and heard him holler something.

"Great," she muttered. She gritted her teeth and bounded over the rock, charging straight at the four, giving them no time to use their bows on her. She brought her sword down on the first and he collapsed, a frozen slash over his chest. The second, a Dark Elf woman, stabbed at her with a dagger. The dagger flicked just past her face and she saw that the dagger was coated with a black liquid. She drove her sword forward, ignoring the horrid feeling of her sword sliding through insides and freezing them. The woman let out a surprised gurgle and vomited up a gout of blood. The Dunmer fell.

Two left. They had been stupid to charge her so foolishly. Had they clung together, Lysanna wouldn't have had a chance. She brought her blade down again and saw her strike being parried by her opponent, a burly wood elf with a harelip. She tried to bring her sword back under control, but a blast of agonizing heat lifted her off her feet and sent her sprawling.
"A mage," she thought incoherently as the wood elf advanced on her, self-assured by the presence of his mage friend. She got to one knee and thrust the blade up, thrusting the icy sliver of metal through the elf's chin and out of his skull. The elf shook and spasmed on her sword, and lumps of half-frozen blood and brain tissue slid down his face. She shivered and tried to look away, but the image held her fast. At last, the elf fell down, and the sight of his body was replaced by the sight of the mage raising his hands and grinning. She heard Glen yell her name far away, but couldn't spare the moment to turn her head. She saw that beneath his cowl, the mage had a catlike face. Her mind told her proudly that this must be one of the so-called Khajiit, cat-like people living in the land of Elsweyr. She told her mind to shut up. The cat-man grinned obscenely as a globe of purple energy appeared within his hands. "Another one to add to my collection." He purred as he released the energy if the spell. Lysanna screamed as the world melted and the spell took her away... far away. She closed her eyes and didn't reopen them until she could feel a cold stone floor under her.

"Lysanna? Lysanna! Where are you?" Glen called... and saw nothing except three dead bodies (none of them was Lysanna, luckily) and a slowly fading purple portal...

Glen saw the portal slowly disappearing and inched his way over to it, thinking of jumping in to see where it went. But he was afraid of it closing off with him still inside. He had heard rumors of people being lost forever in these devices. He wasn't to thrilled about being lost in between dimensions for eternity, and even if he did make it through, he had no idea where it would lead. Most certainly where this sorcerer had quite an advantage and was luring him into a trap.
He'd also be leaving Guarchie, his loyal and faithful comrade he had raised from a guar pup, alone out here lost in the wilderness. All for a woman who he just met, he couldn't do it. She was on her own now and Glen had to accept that. Finally the portal closed softly stirring the grass around it.

"Well... guess I'm screwed now. Lysanna is gone, and I'm still lost... guess I'll just take advantage of this situation." Glen looted the bodies for anything of worth. The most valuable of the loot being Lysanna's enchanted ice sword, still stuck in the wood elf's skull. After jerking it out and cleaning it off, he strapped it to his side for safe keeping. Glen sighed heavily, thinking at least he'd have something to remind him of her even though her company with him was brief. He walked over to guarchie, packing the loot he found off the dead. Leaving the bodies behind him, Glen continued down the road in hope that this road Lysanna was leading him down would lead to a town.



Lysanna and Glen are separated, and are back on their own... ► READ PART 2




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