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Saras gave a simple nod towards Fendros. "I am glad I do not have to convince you of that. We are in a pivotal time, and we cannot afford controversy. To stain the reputation of your pack now, so close to the invasion, could compromise the morale of our armies."

Again, a silence hung in the air as Saras' eyes settled on Ahnasha. He did not show anger, nor was his tone particularly threatening, but it did carry a cold lack of emotion. "If there is a punishment, it will have to wait until after the invasion has concluded. But, that still does not leave us a resolution to this matter. Our people will want our answer for why our dead have been disturbed."

From the center of the room, Hal-Neesa sat with her arms crossed, chuckling lightly. "Graverobbing...what a petty and superstitious 'crime' that the ignorant get so worked up over. Granted, I am many centuries beyond being willing to sully myself digging around in the dirt, but...that's what servants are for. But, if you care so much about your vaunted 'reputation', just tell them the mean, scary vampire stole their corpses. They already hate me. What are they going to do? Hate me more?"

Neesa did not seem to care about any negative repercussions of accepting the blame for the graverobbing, or indeed, even acknowledge that they might exist at all. Nor did she address the fact that she would be doing them a favor in doing so. "If there is one silver lining to these adventures, it's that they do give me something to laugh at occasionally."
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Fendros looked down and wrapped a hand around his mouth in thought. When he lowered his fingers from his lips, he did not sound convinced. "While that would be an easy solution, that risks clansfolk looking for revenge. This could spiral into something...difficult, if we're not careful."

"They can just challenge Hal-Neesa, right?" Sabine cautiously said.

"It's not that simple," Fendros responded. "They know they cannot defeat you, Hal-Neesa, and you are also an outsider to them. They'll either expect us to make an example of you or band together to try the same thing." He sighed and met Hal-Neesa's eyes, mulling over another possibility. "Look, Hal-Neesa, Ahna has told me about what you agreed upon. I trust she has demonstrated her skill and commitment. Would it be too much to ask to retrieve just this one missing body to put this situation to rest quickly? We can work out some story about a rogue Falmer necromancer or something."
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Hal-Neesa leaned in towards Fendros, locking eyes with him without a hint of any of her former amusement. "I do not suffer fools, nor foolish beliefs. And I will not inconvenience myself for them. This thrall will be my property, and I will not be parting with it. Make up whatever story you like, if you fear your people hurting themselves trying to seek revenge on me. Tell them the body was lost, or whatever else you feel like. Just don't trouble me with it. And speaking of thralls..."

Neesa turned her head towards Ahnasha. "Have you prepared my thralls for inspection, or do you still have work to do?"

Ahnasha let out a quick breath. "Right. I will go raise them from the ground. It will just be a few minutes."

Ahnasha stepped outside without delay, leaving the others with Neesa. She paused, taking a sip of the tea Sabine had prepared, then pushing one of the other cups along the table towards Fendros. "Find something to sit down on. It's irritating to have everyone standing around and staring awkwardly. Your wife speaks of you as someone exceptional, Fendros, but if you are, then you're quite good at hiding it. Even in this place, far removed from 'proper' civilization, I find myself annoyed by close-minded fools. It actually confuses me, in a way. The ways of your people, Hircine's followers, are so...close to actually being something respectable. Influence through merit, individual strength and skill, yet still in service to the whole...you know, we are not as different as you may think. I have to admit, there are some among you, like your wife, that have that certain...spark. The potential to be something more. It is something I look for in people, and do find from time to time. They are the types of people I occasionally bring into my court to...foster their potential."
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Fendros did have too much disappointment to hide. Even if his was a reasonable request, he knew Hal-Neesa's pride was reliably stubborn.

Looking around, he found a wooden crate up against a wall that he was strong enough to lift and place down by the table. He sat just high enough to need to lean forward uncomfortably when reach the tea cup offered to him. Sabine took the initiative to find herself a small barrel, which placed her uncomfortably low compared to a chair.

At first, Fendros was not sure how to respond, except to at least give the impression that he was listening. "Ahnasha says you're also not as bad as first impressions would indicate," he finally said, though without the confidence to look Hal-Neesa in the eyes. Sipping his tea gave enough of an excuse while he spoke, though when he placed his cup back on the table, he betrayed a little concern.

"It's been a while since I spoke with anyone in your Xanmeer," Fendros continued with a neutral frown. "What exactly comes of those who you foster? If you do not mind me asking."
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At least at first, Hal-Neesa matched Fendros' expression as she answered. "What, are you concerned for them? Do you suspect me to enslave or enthrall them when they fail me? Do you think that I slay them without thought when they are of no more use to me?" She asked, pausing briefly for a sip of tea as a grin crept across her face. "How many would say the same of a den of werewolves?"

Neesa leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, now speaking more plainly and clearly. "No, the truth is that to earn a place in my court is to earn the right to leave. If someone decides that they no longer want to be in my service, then they may simply leave. No one will stop them, and many have done so through the centuries. If someone consistently fails me and is no longer of use to my court, then they must leave, but unless they betrayed me in some way, then they are not harmed. As difficult as it may be for you to accept it, I do care about my own. The people who serve me have shown that spark of potential to become something...so much greater than most mortals can even conceive of. Something infinitely greater than even myself, at the moment. That potential is...beautiful, honestly. More beautiful than anything else I have seen in my lifetime. I may be an ancient being of near-divine power, but no god nor Daedra can even come close to that potential in every single mortal soul. That is what is going to become of us."
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Fendros' expression did not change much. He quickly reminded himself that there was no reason to trust Hal-Neesa, though it was not difficult to stay wary with how nonspecific she was being.

After a quiet pause, Fendros tried to frame his mistrust more politely. "Most people only know Hircine as a daedra for feral people. Those who behave like animals and abhor any kind of civilisation." Fendros stared at the table. "There are some like that, I could never deny it. But, for us, the truth is more complex. You already know that by now."

He looked over to Neesa again. "Take this question from one who is aware that things can be more nuanced: How does Molag Bal fit into the philosophy of your...court?"
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Hal-Neesa chuckled ever so briefly, still keeping her eyes locked on Fendros'. For the moment, at least, she was not acting as if she was annoyed by Fendros' questioning, though one could never know what might prompt her to abruptly change her mood. "How perceptive. He does not fit with my court. At least, not in our philosophy. I do not worship Molag Bal. I deal with him. Service, for knowledge. I gained my superior Vampiric form long before I entered Molag Bal's service. I have every reason to believe that he possesses information that could help a mortal achieve their perfection and surpass the gods, much as the likes of Vivec or Talos. The lord I currently serve may hold the secret to a power that he, ironically, may not possess by his very nature as a divine being. Only mortalkind has that potential."

"Your wife has an open mind, a strong will, and the power to delve deeply into the study of Aurbis. She would be well-suited to my court; It is a life of far greater purpose than any other you could possibly hope to have. Of course, there are many others like her among those in my service. She is not a unique person, and I am far from 'needing' her, but she would fare well in my court, regardless." Neesa paused, taking the final sip of her tea, then placing the cup down gently next to the half-rotten head of the soon-to-be thrall. "I just wonder...would you?"
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Fendros could not help but find all of Hal-Neesa's words awfully convenient. The Daedric prince of domination and slavery providing the means to grow more powerful than him was about as plausible as Neesa 'caring' about anyone but herself.

He almost sipped his tea again, but put it down before he could say something rash. "I'm sure that will become clearer to both of us as the situation requires," he settled for saying. "For now, I have an invasion to coordinate, a family to support, and a lycan corpse to explain away. Godhood, or whatever your talking about, can wait."
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"Yes...probably the most unintentionally wise statement you've made thusfar. Considering the overwhelming dangers of the Walking Ways, it can wait." Hal-Neesa commented, standing to her feet. "For now, I have thralls to inspect. I expect your wife is done with her preparations by this point."

Regardless of any response Fendros might have had, Hal-Neesa headed outside, followed shortly by Ahnasha returning inside with a brief, but unmistakable look of anxiety in her expression. Alhough by the way she was looking at Fendros and the others, it might have been them, rather than Neesa, who were the source of her worries. She was absentmindedly rubbing her hands together, giving nervous glances to both Saras and Fendros before she finally spoke. "Listen...I know none of this is ideal, but you don't have to worry about anything else after this that might upset the clan. I'm not going to be needing any more thralls, and I'm going to be focusing on conjuration training up to the invasion. After this is dealt with, you can just put this all to rest and focus on more important things."
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Fendros was more than happy to leave his tea unfinished and stand up from the table. He did not appear to spare Ahnasha any forgiveness, rather keeping a small, uncomfortable frown as she spoke.

"Thank you, Ahna," he responded.

Sabine cautiously stood up and was about to make motions to generate a portal for them.

"A moment, Sabine," Fendros interrupted, lifting a hand. "Ahna, would you mind if I saw these thralls you made as well?"
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"Okay, very well." Ahnasha replied cautiously. "Just...let's be careful not to get in Neesa's way of doing whatever it is she's doing." She warned.

Ahnasha had not expected Fendros to actually want to see the results of her work, and she was not sure if she should be worried about his intentions, or what he hoped to learn from it. She supposed that seeing the thralls would show him that she had been honest, but it did not seemed to her like he much liked the truth, regardless.

Nevertheless, Ahnasha led Fendros outside, and they did not need to do any more than round the corner towards the back of her hideaway for Fendros to see what she had been hiding all this time. On their approach, Fendros would have seen a fairly plain, open area with a few clusters of mushrooms, but there had been far more than that just under the surface. Now, the dirt was riddled with holes from the small army of thralls that had dug themselves out from the ground. Now, there were almost two hundred undead thralls standing like soldiers in formation in front of Hal-Neesa. The vampire was standing with a glowing violet hand raised high, scanning her eyes from one end of the formation to the other. Just as Ahnasha had described before, the majority of the undead were either Falmer or chaurus, along with a small variety of animals, and more than a few humanoid forms. Some were zombies of dead flesh, wrapped in linen like draugr, while others were entirely skeletal. It would be difficult to tell without closer inspection, but some may have even been collections of flesh and bone pieced together from different creatures and given life through Ahnasha's necromantic enchantments. At the moment, though, all of them were bending to Hal-Neesa's command.
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Sabine quietly followed behind Fendros with her hand around her other fingers. Several things were said out of her earshot and her curiosity got the better of her. Seeing the number of walking corpses around the corner made her gasp, but Fendros' reaction was much calmer.

At first, Fendros simply scanned his eyes over the formation with a face that was difficult to read. As per Ahnasha's request, he did not make any motion to disturb Hal-Neesa, instead staying beside Ahnasha taking in a slow breath. "And you kept all this a secret," he stated quietly.

A moment passed where Fendros' face subtly twinged with pain, but he swallowed it before turning his head to Ahnasha. "I...said it before, Ahna," he said. "I trust your judgement. You've been working so hard. You keep surpassing yourself day by day. But if I am not worthy of your trust..." He pressed his mouth shut for a moment. He spoke more clearly. "I want to be worthy of your trust. That's all, right now."
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"It's not about trust, Fendros." Ahnasha answered. At least by appearances, she did not appear to be regretful nor remorseful, and she did not hesitate to reply. "I stand by everything I've done, all I've accomplished. But, I know what it could mean for me if all this was discovered by the wrong people. That's why I go through all the trouble of hiding it. Multiple hideaways, burying the thralls, scattering around Falmer totems. I know I have been a bit reckless in the past about showing my abilities, and I can only thank Hircine that it hasn't yet come back to bite me. And if you and the others didn't know about it, then you couldn't be blamed if I was found out. All this was to protect you, and I hope it does end up helping us when we end up facing down Vile's daedra."

Ahnasha turned towards Fendros and slowly wrapped her arms around him. "Just think about it. After all this is over, after we win, we won't have to worry about all this fighting and...planning a war. We'll all make it back from this, and finally be able to just live as a family. You're the second to the most influential Champion that Hircine has ever had; we can give Rhazii a better life than any lycan could ever hope for. I'm sure there will still be plenty of work for us, but we'll be able to have so much more time to ourselves. We could go explore all new parts of Tamriel, or go re-visit ones we never had a chance to really appreciate. We could go back to Elsweyr and visit old friends, maybe show Rhazii some of his cultural heritage. Then we could go to Morrowind and do the same for your side of his family. We won't have to rush, or have impending death looming over our heads. We can finally just...live, together. So, please don't fault me too much for wanting to make sure that will happen."
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Fendros was already shaking his head and bringing a finger up to Ahnasha's lips by the time she was done. "If you get found out, if the worst happens, it will not matter how much blame I get. Rhazii, you, and I are staying alive and staying together." He rested his hands on her sides. "Now, you don't have to tell me every detail. If it's a matter of keeping us safe or preventing some kind of leverage, I understand. But I do want to know that you are safe. If you're stepping into something...potentially bigger than the both of us like this again, at least let me know enough that I can be there to help you." He took a hesitant breath. "I know I've...not been a perfect husband, but I'm still your husband. We still look out for each other."
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"Maybe you're right...or maybe I was, but it doesn't matter now. What's done is done." Ahnasha answered. "I'm safe; we both are. You know about all this now, so we just have to hope no one else ends up finding out. Like you said, we'll always be together. Let's just hope we get to keep the lives we already have. You have to admit, for all their faults, the lives we have are pretty good ones, all things considered."

Ahnasha was distracted enough that she almost did not notice Hal-Neesa step up alongside them. She avoided appearing too startled, though Neesa showed no qualms about interrupting anything they might have been talking about. "Your craftsmanship has some flaws, but I'll judge it acceptable to fulfill our deal, once you're done with that one inside. Your training will continue tomorrow. Now, I have other things to do, so I expect you can find your own way back."

While Ahnasha could certainly head back to the city with Sabine, Neesa clearly did not actually care about the response, as she immediately cast her spell to teleport away. It was as if her body disintegrated away in seconds, leaving no opportunity for anyone to hold her up.

"Well...at least that part of the deal went as well as it could have." Ahnasha shrugged.




A string of graverobbings was not exactly an easy matter to sweep under the rug, especially for the affected parties, but there was simply no way to disprove the story Fendros told. In calmer times, the clan might have paid closer attention to it, but with the invasion preparations rapidly nearing completion, there was always something else for them to worry about. Aside from a long, private conversation with Meesei that left Ahnasha surprisingly shaken, she did seem to get away with her crime.

The better part of two months had passed, but as much as the clan may have been dreading it, there was no denying how close at hand the invasion really was. The cavern had never been as crowded as it was now, with all of the invasions assets from each faction finally in place and ready. Once their portals were ready, there would be nothing stopping them from launching the attack, and today was the day that their first portal would be assembled and ready.

The portal was being built in sight of the Silent City, albeit still far away. It was located in as open of an area as they could find, close enough to one of the Dwemer roads to make it easier to transport supplies to it. Originally, they had designed the portal to emulate an Oblivion gate, but the issues they ran into when trying to craft the enchantments for the portal did force some design alterations. Their portal was not constructed from one or two large, enchanted stones like the Daedra’s gates. Their portal, or at least the one that would be connecting them to the Hunting Grounds, was about the same size as an Oblivion gate, but was made from multiple, man-sized stone blocks that would levitate into the shape of an archway, bound together by their enchantments. Their second portal, which would breach into Vile’s realm, was much larger, though all of its pieces were already complete and would not take but a few days to assemble within Hircine’s realm. The difficult part about creating the portals had been the research, along with the trial and error in refining the enchantments. The actual assembly was trivial by comparison.

At the moment, the pieces of the first portal were being moved into position for the activation of their binding enchantments. Doing so would not activate the portal right away, but would allow the portal’s stones to levitate in place on their own. Currently, all of the stones, apart from one, were being held in their positions by the scaffolding they had built up around it. The final stone was the one that would connect in the middle of the two sides of the archway, and was laying on the ground underneath it, ready to be lifted up into position.

There were a dozen mages and scholars from the clan currently at the portal site, though many more than that had been working on the project at various points for the last few months. Currently, Meesei had placed Sabine in charge of the team, or at least all of those from the clan. The Empire and Dominion did, of course, have their own mages on-site, which did little for their productivity. Before activating the binding, the Imperial mage had insisted on double-checking all of the enchantments in the stones already in place, which meant that the Dominion mage had to check the Imperial’s checks. It was a process that repeated itself for half an hour, during which time neither of them discovered anything wrong.

Ahnasha only barely managed to avoid pulling her own fur out listening to the Imperial and Thalmor argue about which of their identical results were more correct, but they were finally ready to complete the construction. Ahnasha was at the top of the scaffolding, and would be the one to activate the binding enchantments. The enchantments themselves were complete and could be activated by any mage of moderate ability, but the liminal connections between the separate stones needed to be perfectly aligned to allow the flow of energy in the right patterns for the portal to be stable, which was a task perfectly suited for a conjurer.

Ahnasha looked down over the edge of the scaffolding, down at Sabine. “Okay, I’m ready, and if there are no arguments…” Ahnasha began, giving a quick, irritated glance over at the Imperial and Thalmor mages. “…you can levitate the stone into position now.”

The stones were heavy, but Sabine’s magic would be powerful enough to lift them with little risk. Meesei, who had also been working closely on the project, originally was going to be present for the activation of the bindings, but had changed her plans just a day before. Currently, Meesei was away from the clan entirely, though she had not been entirely clear when she told Sabine what she would be doing. All she had said was that she had something of great importance to her that she needed to do before the start of the invasion.




Meesei breathed in deeply, opening her eyes slowly to give them time to adjust to the almost overwhelmingly bright sun directly above her. It was a near perfectly clear day, with hardly a hint of a cloud in the sky, allowing the sun to bathe everything beneath it in its heat. It was hot enough to make even an Argonian uncomfortable…when actively moving around and working. Meesei, however, was laying back naked on a nice, smooth rock in clear view of the sky like a basking lizard. Indeed, that was precisely what she was doing. It could be difficult in Black Marsh to find a suitable stone not covered by the swamp’s canopy, but to lay back on a well-heated rock felt simply divine to most Argonians.

Of course, Meesei was not in Skyrim, or anywhere remotely close to it. She was on a fairly tiny tropical island far off of the southern coast of Elsweyr. It was a place from Lunise’s memory: a minor smuggler’s outpost she had been to during her time serving the Thalmor in Elsweyr, and one that had, by this point, been abandoned for many decades. It was one of many such forgettable islands south of Tamriel, and to Meesei, the perfect place for a nice, private retreat for just the two of them.

Meesei listened to the sea birds and the waves gently caressing the beach for a few minutes, then finally stretched out her arms above her head and turned onto her side to look at Lunise, simply smiling.

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With every week leading up to the invasion, life became noisier and more complicated for the Silent City. Logistics moved at greater volume. New faces arrived every day from around Tamriel. But, what started as a brief taste of the cosmopolitan turned rapidly into the stringent order of a military encampment.

There was some cordial intermingling between the Legion, the Dominion, and the Clan. The Legion and the Dominion always crossed paths in a suitably tense manner, but on their own they were surprisingly professional individuals. No amount of rudeness, condescension, or fear added up to anything tangibly disruptive while the officers had oversight.

There was even some trade and social interaction between clanspeople and the soldiers. Only one or two incidents caused by bad eggs on either side turned into scuffles. On both occasions, the complicit parties were properly punished as examples to the rest. Fendros found himself mediating in these incidents, but he was relieved to find the tasks easier than many others he had overseen: Legate General Gro-Tagnud and Commander Teroiah may not have seen eye-to-eye, but they were just as much in competition as to the discipline of their forces.

Sabine wished it were so easy to bring into line the mages assigned to the clan's tasks. The constant bickering resulted in her having to butt in to correct both of them in their knowledge, and while Sabine's social confidence was much better than years before, she derived no joy from being forced out of her conflict-adverse personality. The push and pull between such matters and the anxiety-inducing demands from Hal-Neesa had left her much more tense than usual. On the upside, she had gained much more practical experience with her portal magic while travelling around so frantically.

Funnily enough for Sabine, lifting heavy stones with magic had something of a grounding effect on her body. Ready at the base of the arch, she nodded affirmatively up to Ahnasha. "Ready." Her high voice was gravely with fatigue, though the construction environment had made raising her voice more than usual a necessity. "Everyone step away from under the archway, please."

Sabine's hands roiled with powerful alteration magic that spun with strange, shifting geometric shapes. She brought her hands forward, breathed in, and with the slow and determined movement of her arms hovered the keystone of the arch out from the soil. Upward it slowly crept towards its destination.



Lunise, ever consistent to keeping up appearances in both modesty and fashion, had arrived prior with Meesei garbed in a sun hat and a fine white summer dress. The dress itself was ornate with tiny pleats and embroideries around the torso interwoven with sparking silver threads. In spite of Meesei's relative devotion to her own wardrobes, even she could appreciate how the dress flattered Lunise's form to a surprisingly effective degree.

Of course, sun bathing on the stone had soon encouraged Lunise to relax as Meesei was. Where she lay, her skirt was hiked over her lifted knee and she had undone the buttons around her sleeves to allow her arms and shoulders to freely take in the sun. The back of her head rested on the brim of her sun hat for comfort as she, too, faced towards the sky with a light smile.

Sensing Meesei's look, Lunise opened one brightly coloured eye halfway to look across at her. "So much time spent in that cavern. Hmm, my skin was going so pale it was getting soggy." Her chest rose as she took in a luxurious breath in through her nose. "But if I burn to a crisp out on this island, you shan't be without blame." Her face drifted to look back at Meesei with both eyes as she spoke. They were both familiar with their tendency to be unable break eye contact.
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Most everyone had already cleared away from the archway, though some took a few more steps back when Sabine gave her warning. Ahnasha waited until Sabine brought the stone to a complete stop before placing her hand gently upon it. She applied just a slight amount of force to nudge it into its proper orientation. She did not want to waste time, so as to save Sabine from having to maintain her spell for uncomfortably long, but she took care to go through each step properly. A mistake now would not exactly be disastrous, but it would mean another day or more of delays to reset the enchantments.

Merely by being in their positions, the stones were already weakly connected by non-visible currents of magicka between the runes on their ends. With her hands on the stone, Ahnasha could feel the connection the objects that would charge the stones' binding enchantments, which were two varla stones at either side of the archway. Ahnasha would not be opening the portal itself now, but activating the bindings would officially put them in a time constraint. The stones would hold their charge for a few weeks, after which point the bindings would break down and the stones would become inert. It gave them plenty of time to work with, but if there were any unexpected delays, then they would have to re-enchant an entire new set of stones.

Taking in a deep breath, Ahnasha applied the small amount of magicka needed to spark the activation of the enchantments, which immediately drew in all of the power held within the varla stones and poured it through the whole of the archway. Although the stones were separate pieces, the enchantments were designed to all behave as a single unit. Ahnasha's role was to make sure that, as those connections strengthened, they did not contort any of the liminal connections in a way that would inhibit a stable portal. While difficult to describe in words to a layman, it was nothing too complex for an experienced conjurer.

It only took a few seconds for bright violet beams of light to form between each of the portal's stones, and the stones themselves started to glow slightly in the same color. As the bindings activated, Sabine would find herself no longer able to manipulate the keystone telekinetically, but rather, the whole portal felt like a single object from a magical perspective. At that point, it was being held up under its own power. The varla stones, which were previously glowing in a brilliant white, were now just plain, lifeless crystals.

"Okaaay, I think we're good." Ahnasha remarked as she slowly moved her hand away from the glowing stone. "All of the connections seem stable, and the bindings are fully powered. When we activate the sigil stone, the portal should be perfectly stable. Now, I guess we should get this scaffolding taken down."

Their construction team were already mostly looking to Sabine to confirm their instructions, but Sabine may have found herself distracted by the person who suddenly walked up beside her. It was uncertain if she had only just arrived, or had been waiting out of sight until they were done, but even Ahnasha up on the scaffolding had not noticed Hal-Neesa until now. "It is time. Gather up your military leaders, my project is done."




There was a short pause while Meesei soon lost herself staring at Lunise. It was no small urge within her to throw her arms around her with a kiss, but she did have to remind herself that she had more of a purpose to their outing today than just spending quality time together. Although, she had certainly been enjoying every moment they had been able to have together thusfar. "I just love being able to see the sky again. The cave's mushrooms are certainly beautiful in their own way, but it's not quite the same as a clear, blue sky. Maybe we can come out here again later tonight and see the stars?"

Meesei sat herself up and moved over closer to Lunise. She rested one hand on hers, then gave her a kiss on the cheek. The idea of going farther was tantalizing, but again, there was something else she wanted to do. "We have to take these moments while we can. I am guessing it will only be a few more days at most before we open the portal to Hircine's realm, and I will not be able to avoid work at that point. I think the rest of my pack is ready, for the most part. Most of them have been reconnecting with family these last few months; doing things they would rather not leave undone. I don't have those kinds of old connections to...revisit, though. Both of my parents died before I left my village, and I did not have any siblings, or even close friends, really. There were people I cared about there, of course, but nothing that would be worth the risk of revisiting. What I do have, though...is you. I will be honest when I say that romance was not something I expected to find for as long as I was serving as Hircine's Champion. And certainly not something I was looking for. But, it was something that I found anyway, and you do not know how glad I am that I did. You have made me so, incredibly happy in the time we have been together. There is something I would rather not leave undone, not for me, but rather for you."

At this point, in a rare display, Meesei was actually showing some visible nervousness. She was fully expecting some objections, and was already lining up the rebuttals she had been preparing in her head for the last few weeks. "I plan on coming back from this invasion alive, but if I don't, then there is one gift I would like to have left you with. I want to bring you to Artaeum."
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A happy smile spread across Sabine's face once Ahnasha gave the all-clear. She was halfway through swinging her arms roll the effort out of her muscles before she spotted Hal-Neesa in her peripheral vision. Everything slowed to a halt.

What she said was a relief. Sabine had expected some new extra detail she had not considered to be tasked to the rest of her day. The thought that the effort might finally be over gave her a new buzz of cautious energy.

"It-? Uh, right." She turned to the construction team. "The archway will hold itself up now! Carefully take apart the scaffolding and we will be complete until we are ready to open the portal. Thank you, everyone."

She was tempted to give further instructions but Neesa's patience had been trained into her mind. She turned back to Hal-Neesa. "Meesei is outside today, I do not know where. But I can find out where everyone else is. I will go tell them at once."



Lunise sat up and listened on with interest, though the only betrayal of any nervousness was how she held onto Meesei's hand. However, what was finally said caused her small smile to fade and her grip to loosen.

"Artaeum?" She echoed carefully. "Meesei, you have done quite enough impossible things without needing to say something so fanciful. Why are you saying it so seriously?"
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Neesa was evidently unfazed by Meesei being absent, likely because she did not tend to be involved with large-scale military planning. Meesei's pack had largely transitioned into a role as a battlefield vanguard, rather than strategic planning. "See that you do. Now that your portal is done, there cannot be many more delays, and if all of the effort I have put into this project ends up going to waste, then I am going to be bleeding someone dry. Make sure that everyone who is involved in the large-scale deployment and maneuvering of your soldiers is present for this." As was usual for Neesa, she did not waste time before teleporting away, having said what she came to say.

Few people had been inside the tower of Mzark since Neesa had started her project. Deliveries of supplies were usually just left near the lift at the bottom of the tower. Neesa had also, evidently, appropriated several more Dwemer automatons to carry out any manual labor that was needed. Only Sabine had actually been up to the oculory itself since Neesa started, and only a handful of times. Based on the few summaries of her progress that Neesa had given to Sabine, Neesa had needed to replace many of the oculory's parts in order to re-purpose it for its new task. While a normal Dwemer oculory was designed to, in basic terms, observe the stars, this particular one was a modified version of the device that was meant to read an Elder Scroll without any of the side effects. Neesa's goal had been to convert it back into a "normal" oculory, and apparently, she had finally succeeded.

When Sabine did finally arrive with the others, they would find the oculory in a rather disorganized state, with Dwemer scrap and unused parts scattered around on the floor away from the mechanism. If Neesa did have any system of organization, it was certainly not obvious to look at. Her automatons, at least, were all dormant up against the walls, out of the way, so they were less likely to trip over them. Neesa herself was standing at the controls to the mechanism, waiting with a dubious degree of patience for their arrival.




"I would not be so quick to call it impossible." Meesei answered quickly. "How much would you say you really know about the Psijic Order? Their magic and culture are mysterious; intentionally hidden from outsiders, even the Altmer of Summerset. I know that you were closer than most, given that your mother was a member of the order, but there is still quite a lot you may not know about them. I know that a Psijic would not tend to share those kinds of details, even with family."

In contrast to Lunise, Meesei took a hold of her hand even more tightly. "My point being, you may have the wrong idea of what it would mean to go to Artaeum. The Psijic order are not a vindictive or aggressive group. The very core tenants of their order call for altruism, and serve to the well-being of Mundus. But, they are observers first and foremost, and do not like to become directly involved in events on Tamriel. Their goals are noble, but who knows for how long they are going to remain apart from Tamriel? Given everything I know about the Psijics, it is very possible that, even within an Elven lifetime, you may never get to see your mother again. Not unless I can help you see her. At the very least, I want to try. One of the most significant parts of Artaeum's defenses is that the realm the island inhabits can easily move between different parts of the void. So, even if you are able to find its exact location, that information will not be accurate forever. But, I know of a spell to...attune one's self to Artaeum, which ensures that any portal to the island that I use would always be able to find its true location. The island does have other defenses as well, of course, but the spell luckily takes care of those."

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While Sabine did not take especially long to find and gather up Ri'vashi, Teroiah, Gro-Tagnud, and any other relevant parties or entourages thereof, each minute extra required to convince them to attend personally and at once made her show a little more stress. Her patience mercifully held out as it turned out that a means to spy on the enemy from within Mundus was intriguing even at the busiest of times.

Sabine deposited them at the entrance via her portals for relative speed. Her stomach felt queasy by the time she was able to lead them through the front doors from all the magicka potions she took to get everyone together in such a quick time.

Much to Sabine's chagrin, Commander Teroiah was not careful with her comments on the ramp leading up to the main mechanism. "So the immortal savant has discovered some Dwemer curiosity. Are you certain what she has...meddled together performs as you described it, Miss Montgrave?"

Sabine sighed. "I have not seen it work yet. But she has been working on it a lot and she knows more about it than anyone."

"Why so sceptical, Teroiah?" Legate General Gro-Tagnud dryly asked. "We wouldn't be here if this was nothing valuable."

"I simply think it convenient that after all this time-"

"-It is just up ahead," Sabine interrupted, even though the sentiments were already abundantly clear to Hal-Neesa listening on.

They all emerged before Teroiah could resume. Sabine stopped partially into the chamber, prompting the others to stop behind her.



Lunise took a moment to process it all. A glimmer of sadness showed in her eyes, but was quickly replaced by a hardened look back at Meesei. "Have you done this before, Meesei?" She asked. "Do you know? Or is this just something you read somewhere?"

Either answer had elements Lunise did not want to hear, she expected.
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