Chapter 26: Woodland Man's Realm
Ancano pov:
"Where is my son..." The white Elven woman said to me in a voice that made my spine shiver.
'How is she alive?! The report said she was dead!'
The Snow Elf woman, Faireth, ignored me as I retreated in my steps from her.
She took a look past me, and I did the same, in the corner of my eye I saw a Talisman of sorts on the ground where the Snow Prince's body once was.
I felt a even deeper chill filled with murderous intent, shakily looking back she was more terrifying than whatever dark and twisted creatures lurked in the Daedric Prince Vaermina's Realm of Oblivion.
"What have you done to Sivreth!" She roared at me.
"I-I, n-no! It was Hermaeous Mora! He swallowed him whole just there moments ago!"
"I suggest you to revise your answer. The Talisman over there is something I had given him. Should his life ever be endangered I would know where he is and would be able to teleport to him in an instant. Had the barrier, that prevented me from teleporting inside, weren't present I'd have gotten here sooner. But it was evident he was wounded by Magic. A Daedric Prince has no authority to cross over Mundus unless it is to make a deal with Mortals. In fact, it doesn't matter, your life is forfeit for having harmed him. I'll find him myself then to trust the words of a Thalmor agent."
My heart was filled with terror at having to face this Elf! She knew Dawn Magic, and though I don't know how she survived but it is clear she has regained her diminished strength on that time.
I need to escape!
I commanded my Atronachs to attack her as I summoned a Storm and Flame Atronach as well.
The two Frost, one Fire and one Storm Atronach all attacked her with different abilities, meanwhile I fled around her as she was distracted with the onslaught of attacks.
*zzzt*
*crackle*
Ignoring the sounds, I had already reached the ladder and taken a few steps up.
*fwhip*
A rope like object was wrapped around around my leg before I was pulled down, crashing to the ground my leg had bent in a unnatural direction as I cried and howled in pain.
Gazing around me I was met with the sight of my Strom Atronach completely petrified into a statue with the lighting, that omce coursed throughout its body, also having turned to stone and the dissolving bodies of the other Atronachs with only a single hole through the heads of each of them.
Whipping my head around to find the Snow Elf, I felt a gentle touch of a safe hand on my cheek.
"May the Gods judge you in the afterlife."
With those last words, Faireth's gentle touch would be the last thing he would ever feel as his body was completely disintegrated starting from his cheek where her hand had held.
***********************
Oblivion
Apocrypha - Realm of Hermaeous Mora
Sivreth pov:
My eyes feel heavy...
Was there...something tha...
Wait!
I jerked upstraight from whatever position I was in previously as I quickly began inspecting my body and abdomen for the injuries that should be there...but there weren't any?
My clothes are torn in the places my injuries should be, even the blood is on my damaged clothes, but no wound or scar was upon my body.
*inhale*
*exhale*
*inhale*
*exhale*
Taking deep breaths to calm myself, my heartbeat began to slow down to a somewhat normal pace.
Ancano!
Fuck!
He got away!
Lucky shit!
Mark my words when I make a Magic infused Atom Bomb I'll drop it on the capital of Alinor!
The death of civilian casualties in order to wipe out the head of the Thalmor is well worth the sacrifice!
...
...
I should calm down...
I am leaning towards the thought process of genocidal psychopath, all because i am clouded by rage and a need for revenge.
After a few moments of lying still that's when it hit me...why am I so calm, wait!
Where the Fuck am I?!?!
"Oh no..."
All I needed to do was to lift my head, instantly my gaze landed on the emerald green sky with larhe black tendrils that spans the length of possibly hundreds of miles, floating pages carried by magical wind, and the Black Sea of endless eldritch tendrils.
The walls and structures all around me were made of a mixture of stone, metal and daedric architecture, but 97% of it was made from books and pages of lost forbidden tomes of knowledge and countless secrets.
No!
Don't be seduced by it!
The Grimore has everything I ever need!
But it's incomplete, future me already said so, I need to add the knowledge to it and then it'll show me anything related to said knowledge.
No! I can't!
Remember!
[Doors of Oblivion]!
The author himself had travelled to every Realm of all the Daedric Princes, but Apocrypha, the Realm of Hermaeous Mora was his final one.
He was someone who had set up and made counter measures against Daedric influence of the Oblivion Realms, even Vaermina's Realm is considered the most dangerous and he was able to enter and leave it with ease.
Yet, when he travelled to Apocrypha, he would frequently document his discoveries and transmit it via a custom communication spell of some sort back to his assistant who was still on Nirn.
The assistant said in the [Doors of Oblivion] book that his master had sent normal messages at first but then it became less frequent.
The final message from his master was nothing but incoherent scribbles and nonsensical words of what can only be described as a madman writings.
The truth is that the Master and original author, before his assistant became the co-aurhor by publishing the [Doors of Oblivion] book, was lured by the temptation of knowledge that Apocrypha has.
He refused to leave and spent more time in Apocrypha than on Nirn, he slowly was consumed by Hermaeous Mora's influence and became mad just like Ahzidaal and the other Dragon Priests of Solstheim had, except Vahlok and Miraak.
It has been theorised that the original author had been slowly transformed into a Seeker.
Seeker is the name of one of the Daedric creatures that Hermaeous Mora rules over.
Shit!
If someone as prepared as he is became a Seeker in a matter of months, what will happen to me in a few hours!
I have no defences! I was not prepared!
I need to leave Apocrypha before I succumb to the power of Apocrypha!
As I began trying to make my waybthrough Apocrypha, I stood still with fear as a deep echoing roar resounded in the distance.
Looking to its source I saw its point of origin.
The Summit of Apocrypha!
I'm way too close!
Miraak is there!
I'm a decade too early to be this close to him!
!
Feeling the change in my environment I came face to face with a Seeker!
These are nothing like Atronachs, they are at 100% of their full power while Atronachs are at approximately 33% of their true power while they are summoned to Nirn from Oblivion.
I can't hold back against these things!
Maybe it can tell me where a book on Yakodun Sword Singing is?
Enough!
Who cares about that!
Kill the thing in front of you idiot!
Fuck Books!
My life is more important!
********************
Elika pov:
It's been a few hours since I had followed Sivreth...
Nothing....
Nowhere...
He's gone missing.
I came across a place near a ladder exit and there seemed to have been a battle of some kinds.
There were a few traces of blood, but a spot in the ground that seems to have been drenched in some kind of liquid, but it was completely dry to the touch.
There was also a large pile of ashes, but the few rings and the necklace in the pile of ashes was enough for me to know it was Ancano who Sivreth had chased after.
They were the same I had seen him wearing even before back at the academy.
I tried using Divination using the blood and it was Sivreth's!
I can't find him, this has never happened before!
It means he is either casting an Anti-Divination spell on himself or he is in a place with a barrier in place.
He could have been captured!
I don't know what to do!
I cried as I hugged by legs sitting on the stone floor of Sivreth's secrat basement beneath his home.
"Honestly! You can find just about anything laying around the place! Oi! Lizard breath! I'm talking to you!"
The sudden and unexpected voice of an unknown person caught me off guard, no one other than me and Siv knows about his secret basement!
I reflexivity went on guard as I created a ball of fire with one hand and a ball of ice in the other.
It was my most destructive technique that Siv taught me.
Utilising two opposing elements in a singular attack would cause a great deal of damage to anything that is unfortunate to be in its path.
Looking at the origin of the voice I saw...a cat...with a purple and orange suit...what?
"Oi! I'm not a cat! Learn your place Lizard Breath! Wait! Stop!"
The cat began staring at its own body while licking its paw and outstretched leg.
"Nope! Your correct! I am a cat. Maybe Cat-Raht? Cat-Rat? Honestly, the whole wax on, wax off thing is so confusing!
Isn't it Wax and Wane?
Wait a second!
"W-who are you! Why are you here? How are you here?"
"Hmm, right down to business I see. your no fun. Booo~...Anyway, pleasure to make your acquaintance Lizard Breath, I am the Daedric Prince of Madness, the one and only Sheogorath!"
"..."
"...meow?"
*thud*
"Honestly, why is it always the girl's that feint when I say my name?! First that Mane girl he found, and now Lizard Breath here!"
****
After having woken up, Elika was in denial of the identity of the Alfiq form of the Skooma Cat God of the Khajiit, aka Sheogorath.
However, Sheogorath had been able to convince Elika of his true identity and that he knew of Sivreth.
"D-do you know where he is? B-because your a G-God." I nervously squeaked out.
Regardless of anything else, before me stood a living God while I am no older than two decades.
"Hmm, what was that? Oh yeah, sorry, this yarn ball is amazing! How come he was hiding it from me all this time! How dare he! He must be punished! Well, that is if he doesn't die that is."
"DIE?!?!?! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO HIM?!"
"Oh good, you're not stuttering anymore. Well, Elf boy who your infatuated with made an unconscious and unwilling deal with Heramous Mora."
"What?! H-how? Why?!"
"Calm down will you, it was the best thing for him at the time anyway. That Ancano guy you know almost killed him, but Elf Boy made a unconscious deal with old Mora to save his life. So Mora brought him into his Realm until Sivy can finalise the deal with Mora by giving something that is equivalent to his own life. Which might I say, is very hard to do, and Mora knows it. Chances are that he'll be stuck there for Eternity."
I fell to my knees in disbelief.
'He's gone...he won't survive in Oblivion alone...'
"Come now, cheer up. Y'know, if you make a deal with me then I could send you to Apocrypha to help him yourself. Old Mora would get pissed if I went there, it'd cause alot of problems for me too."
"W-what deal?" I croaked out, with a faint glimmer of hope that a deal with Sheogorath won't be as bad as others would think.
"Nothing much, just a favour from you many years from now."
A favour...a favour...
So that I can save Siv!
"I accept!"
I said without hesitantion!
He had saved me twice before, he is my best friend, a-and I have feelings for him!
Something like this I would gladly do for him!
He had frisked his life to save me and now it's my turn!
"Splendid! Oh, one thing, you should find him quickly. He won't look so handsome to you if he becomes a squid face maniac. Bye~"
And with a snap of the Skooma Cat's fingers?
Elika vanished from the face of Nirn and Mundus, only to reappear with one of the many Planes of Oblivion, Apocrypha...
***********
Ancano's dead...
Savos Aren won't die...
Rip Mage's Guild Questline...
...or is it????
Dun! Dun! Duuuun!
***********
Author Note answer to Faireth's power in Chaptet 1:
Some people have been saying how weak Faireth was in the first chapter despite having over 4000 years since the Merethic Era to the present day.
Faireth knows Dawn Magic, which is something not even Arch Mage Shalidor had.
On the other hand, as I stated through Ancano pov, they had weakened her over a long time on non stop pursuit, finally Faireth had to deal with Commander Rella Ashenclaw.
Rella Ashenclaw is a descendent of an Ascendent Lord.
The Ascendent Lords are apart of the Ascendent Order during the invasion of Molag Bal in his plans for the planemeld.
The three factions tried to begin peace talks but the Ascendent Order interfered since their objective is to prolong the three banner war, thereby resulting in no singular Faction the chance to claim the Ruby Throne.
I have tweaked this ever so slightly since their additional goals were unknown, thus I made it so the Ascendent Order wanted to prolong the three banner war in order to prevent anyone from claiming the Ruby Throne (cannon reason), but also to defend Cyrodil from the foreign factions as I want to have it where the Ascendent Order founders are Imperials common folk wanting freedom and the rightful Septim heir to return to power or at least those that will carry their rule.
At ESO timeline, there is no Septim ruler thus there was an elected ruler who had to marry a powerful well known figure's daughter (spoiler name) and thereby gaining that family's support to rule Cyrodil without being a Septim for a time.
Rella is a descendent of an Ascendent Lord, and those guys were OPAF, I mean one of them literally 1 vs 3 the Nord, Altmer, Breton Hero's in the trailer.
That is one of the contributing factors to how Rella was physically able to compete against a weakened and an exhausted Faireth.
...
sorry for taking so long, I was researching ESO new DLC Nokron which centres around Hermaeous Mora and Apocrypha.
do note that during ESO, Miraak is obviously still alive, so I really wanted to see if there is anything to learn about Mora and Miraak before writing this chapter since they are two of the most interesting beings in TES in my opinion.
ps, the Woodland Man is a name which the Bosmer gave to describe Hermaeous Mora in their own culture. hence why the title of the chapter is called "Woodland Man's Realm"