[i]Night, 7th of Last Seed, 4E205
Smuggler's Cove
Aboard the Kyne's Tear[/i]

The sky thundered and roared with the fury of the tempest that rocked it, the ship swayed as the sea slammed into it time and time again and the heavy rains battered against Niernen’s face with unrelenting force. These weren’t exactly ideal fighting conditions. She struck down one of the dreugh with a volley of fireballs, their concussive impacts driving the creature off the ship and into the abyss below, while Narzul had evidently regained his composure and scored his second kill of the evening by splitting open a sea-monster’s head with the rim of his shield -- his incandescent rage was evident in the blistering speed and strength of his movements. The Redoran warlord was sick and tired of being wounded and humiliated in combat and all of his indignation and shame had joined forces to fuel a wrath the likes of which the rest of the crew could only imagine. 

[i]Good, brother,[/i] she thought. Narzul was excessively dangerous when he was angry and that was exactly what they needed right now. 

Niernen spotted Maj and Sevine trying to cut their way through the dreugh to get to them and she actually managed to conjure up a smile in relief at the sight. They had not been left to fend for themselves after all. The fact that Sevine, of all people, was trying her damn hardest to save their lives was cause for her to be even more grateful, and touched. Do’Karth had picked his woman well. But as their allies approached, slowly, fighting for every inch of ground, the dreughs pressed in around them once more, and Niernen felt that she was nearing the end of her magicka reserves. Her eyes turned to Narzul’s armored form and the foreboding black blade in his right hand. Would his skills be enough? 

All form of coherent thought had left Narzul’s mind and been replaced by a singular, ravenous purpose -- [i]kill.[/i] His years of training and experience took over and his emotions overpowered the signals his wounded limbs were sending, giving him the power necessary to confront these crustacean demons and pay them back for his near-death experience. The ebony sword cut down another dreugh in a series of powerful strikes and thrusts that it was far too slow to defend itself against, and Narzul effortlessly caught the blow of another dreugh on his shield before slicing it up, moving so fast that his black sword became nearly invisible in the gloom of the stormy night. His teeth were bared and he was practically foaming at the mouth, crimson eyes spitting fire, and an animalistic roar escaped his throat as he kicked over the corpse of his latest victim. He, too, saw through the red murder-haze that had made itself master of him that Maj, her enormous Atronach and Sevine were trying to clear a path to them, but when they turned their heads to look at something behind them Narzul followed their gaze and saw the ballista turning their way. 

“Oh, gods,” he stammered. 

A painful, piercing howl suddenly made him whirl around just in time to see Niernen collapse to the deck, bleeding profusely from her back -- one of the dreugh had cut her down from behind while Narzul had been distracted and he had failed to hear her calls for help. Narzul opened his mouth to say, or scream, something, but then a lot of things began to happen all at once. Something fell down from the airship above them and slammed into the [i]Kyne’s Tear[/i], the impact of which almost knocked Narzul off his feet. Before he was even able to regain his footing, the ballista let loose with a loud [i]snap[/i] and the explosive arrow whistled through the air briefly before burying itself in the main deck. Narzul dove forward as far as he could, trying to leap on top of Niernen to shield her, when an enormous explosion lit up the night like a supernova and its shockwave knocked him off trajectory, nearly throwing him off the ship. 

In what can only be considered a stroke of cruel luck, Niernen’s prone position after being seriously wounded by the dreugh actually conveniently protected her from the worst of the explosion, though she could still feel the intense heat of the flames as they rolled over her. Her screams of agony caught in her throat -- wait a second. Fire? 

[i]I am fire.[/i]

She raised her arms and, like a prophet from another world, split the sea of flames in twain so that the inferno thundered past her and Narzul on either side, leaving the Dunmer siblings unharmed. Narzul raised his head just in time to see Niernen’s outstretched arms caught in sharp relief against the hellscape that merely sailed by instead of engulfing him entirely -- instead, the dreugh were the ones that were cooked alive in their shells, their death-screams fighting to overpower the immense, rushing noise of the explosion. It was, bar none, the most spectacular thing he had ever seen. 

After the worst of the explosion had passed, Narzul scrambled to his feet and dashed towards his sister, bending over to gather her limp form in his arms. She had expended the last of her energy to save their lives from the flames and Narzul knew that it was now his turn to carry the burden of her survival. His head whipped around towards where he had seen Maj, Sevine and the Atronach, and he was immensely relieved to see that they had also survived the explosion in one piece. In fact, their combined efforts followed by the purifying flames meant that there was nothing standing in his way from rejoining their allies, and Narzul stumbled towards them as fast as his injured legs would allow. A terrible, sharp pain stabbed into his shoulders from carrying Niernen’s weight, but he ignored it with iron willpower. “Help! Medic!” he yelled, his throat hoarse. 

As if on cue, a golden glow spread across the deck and the night was lit up again. Narzul could feel his injuries begin to slowly knit together and he realized what it was -- a grand healing spell. “Ayem’s mercy,” he whispered, awestruck despite himself, especially when he saw who was at the center of the incantation. He looked down at the bloody, scrappy mess in his arms and saw Niernen’s coppery eyes flutter beneath her eyelids. She was alive. 

They were alive.