A New Life VII - The Test Of Self

Kriella smiled as Tenaka carried her along the passageways of the
Labyrinth. Her strength had returned long ago, but she was far too
comfortable to mention it. Tenaka looked up at the sun – Kriella had about
half an hour left, him a little more. He hoped that they were close. He
could still see the tower, rising tall against the landscape, black as
ebony, but now he could pick out parts of the city. Here a chimney pot
poked up against the skyline, there the second storey of an inn could be
seen in the red glow of morning.

He turned a corner and stopped. They had come up against another dead end.
This would not normally had bothered him, but he could see the city close
behind. He was betting that it was just behind the wall before him. He
pushed his hand against the wall – after getting so close to the city,
surely they wouldn't send him back. But he had no luck. The wall remained a
wall. Turning round he prepared to go back.

"Heh! Wait a minute!" called out a voice. Tenaka looked at the floor,
expecting another head, but there was nothing there.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Over here," replied the voice. Kriella pushed his head back around to the
wall he had tried to push through. In it was a head, similar to the earlier
one, but stuck in the wall.

"You were not there a moment ago," said Tenaka.

"Things aren't always what they seem in this place. You shouldn't take
anything for granted."

"So I have noticed. What do you want? We have only a little time left and
are in no mood for games."

"Do not worry about the time. Time is suspended whilst you talk to me. Just
one gift given to the Great Lord by Akatosh."

"You still have not answered my question."

"You are not here to ask questions. You are here to take the final test."

"Final test?"

"You have worked your way to the centre of the Labyrinth. This wall in
which I sit is the doorway into Geddon. You must simply pass one more test
before I open it for you."

"And what is that?"

"The Test of Self."

"Together there is nothing we cannot handle," said Kriella.

"Ah," replied the head. "That is the problem. You will not be together. You
will be alone. You must take the Test of Self individually. Are you
prepared?"

"No," answered Tenaka.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Then go." As the head spoke, Tenaka saw the familiar Windows opening
again behind them. "Little advice can I give. I am to tell you two
things. Remember yourself, and be steadfast in your cause. Remember, the
cause of the Dreadknight is to destroy the Daedra hordes."

The two Dark Elves walked to the Windows. Each of them entered the one of
their choice.

Kriella emerged from the Window into a beautiful woodland. A little way
before her was Tenaka, her husband. She was dressed in Ebony armour, black
as pitch with a dark cloak draping along her back. In her hands she held
two Daedric Katanas and behind her walked a hundred men and women, all
dressed in Orcish armour and carrying long blades with great tower shields.
Her Fist. She commanded these hundred knights. She looked across and saw
other men and women in armour similar to her own, and behind each of these
were a hundred men, all in green. She commanded her hundred and she knew
that Tenaka commanded her and the other commanders.

Tenaka was marching onward before her and she saw that he had a deep blue
stone around his neck. It glowed with a fierce intensity and the blue light
that it emanated radiated out around the man she knew to be the Dreadlord.
Her husband. Before her she could see dark shapes, and at their head a
Daedra Count. Recognition stirred as she saw him – the green hair, the
handsome, nay beautiful, face, the emerald on his finger. She knew him to
be Emerald Vex. They had fought before, and he was hungry for revenge.

This Count, Vex, led the Daedra Hordes. He walked purposely towards
Tenaka, his army following close behind. The Dreadseekers were all around,
watching the battleground and telepathically reporting back to the
Dreadlord, as he instructed the Dreadmasters the same way, and they
instructed their Dreadknights. If needed the Seekers would fight, but they
were mainly scouts. She remembered the new rank created after Tenaka had
brought back a number of people from a quest and they had passed the
Labyrinth. Their skills had been too great for many of the Dreadmasters to
train them, but they lacked the discipline to be Dreadmasters. This new
rank had given them the same task as the Dreadlord. The seeking of heroes.

She watched Tenaka approach Vex and she ordered her Fist to follow as she
also got closer. Soon battle would be joined. She did not know if Vex had
seen her, but he would know that she was there. He would be hungry for his
revenge against her, but his immediate task seemed to be reaching the
Dreadlord. The man raised his arm and one of his lieutenants, seemingly a
Daedra Lord, made to stand at his side. Tenaka telepathically signaled to
Kriella and she walked to stand at his. Her Fist remained where she left
them. Vex looked at her and she saw recognition pass his attractive
features. He remembered her!

She watched as the Daedra Count lowered his arm and thought that she saw
movement within the Hordes which had stopped approaching now the two
leaders had come together. She saw a quick flash of metal and time seemed
to slow down. Tenaka had not seen this and was talking with Vex. She could
not hear the words, but she could see their lips moving slowly. The metal
glint moved in the morass of blackness and the Dreadmaster saw that it was
the head of an arrow. It flew towards four people: Dreadlord, Dreadmaster,
Count and Lord. It sped towards Tenaka – he was now holding up the deep
blue stone. Kriella knew that the stone was the key to winning the war and
that, should Vex take it, the Dreadarmies would be unable to use their
magic.

She made her decision. She watched the arrow speed ever closer and then, at
the last minute, she leapt before her husband. She grabbed hold of Emerald
Vex and spun him around so that the arrow would go into him. But she was
too late. As she spun, the arrow thundered into her side. She felt herself
fall to the ground within that beautiful forest. Vex had his revenge, but
at least Tenaka still lived. The stone could still fulfil its purpose. The
world could still be saved.

The images that passed from her eyes to her brain seemed to be fading,
growing less distinct. She imagined that she saw a Window opening, but this
was not a strange thing. The lowest of the Dreadknights could make them.
She realised that if she had thought about it for longer she could have
deflected the arrow with a Window of her own. Darkness was closing in now.
She could only barely see Tenaka's form above her. She could tell that Vex
had returned to his own forces. She hoped that Tenaka was proud of her.
That was all she wanted. She hoped that he thought that she was a heroine.
'How does an assassin become a hero?' he had asked. How indeed, she now
wondered.

She awoke back in the Labyrinth. Still dizzy, she sat up and saw that the
head was looking at her from the wall.

"What is this?" she asked. "I am dead."

"What you saw was merely a vision from the future. You have passed the Test
of Self. You put the cause before your own life. You have passed all
obstacles. If you still wish it, you can become a Dreadknight."

"A vision from the future? So, all of that will happen?"

"Not necessarily. It is but one of an infinite number of possible futures.
It may happen. It may not. But you will never know. The memory will fade
and within a few days, the test will be forgotten."

"Where is Tenaka?"

"He has not yet passed the test."

"Will he?"

"I don't know."

Tenaka emerged from the Window into a beautiful forest. He looked
down and saw that he was dressed in Daedric armour with a deep black cloak.
Around his neck hung a deep blue stone – the Breath of Heaven he knew it to
be called. Behind him he could sense many people. He looked around briefly
and saw many people dressed in black armour – the Dreadmasters. One of them
he recognised, his wife Kriella. Behind the ranks of Dreadmasters he could
see the Dreadknights standing in their Fists. Each dressed in green he
could tell that all were nervous of the battle ahead.

He looked ahead and felt a familiar feeling in his mind. One of the
Dreadseekers was contacting him. He did not know where they were, only that
they were there and would come if needed. Ahead of him he saw the Daedra
Hordes advance. At their head he saw a Daedra Count. He recognised the man
– they had fought once before. His name was Emerald Vex. The Count was
coming towards him. The two of them walked to meet in the centre of the
woodland clearing that would soon become a battlefield. Here terms of
battle would be discussed. He would offer no quarter, and request none.
This was the Final Battle.

They met each other in the centre of the field and Vex raised his arm. One
of his Lieutenants walked over to the two of them and Tenaka silently
signalled Kriella to stand by his side.

"We meet again, Dreadlord," said Vex.

"Indeed we do. However, this time you will die."

"I think not. No Daedra ever truly dies."

"You do when you die from the power of the Breath of Heaven." As he spoke he
lifted up the blue stone.

Vex looked briefly worried at this but it soon passed. Abruptly, Kriella
dived to stand before him and he watched as she grabbed hold of Vex. She
spun him around, but as the two of them turned, an arrow thudded into her
side. She loosed her grip on the Count and fell to the ground.

"No quarter!" yelled the Dreadlord as Vex and his Lieutenant withdrew back
to the masses of the Daedra Hordes. He still held the Breath of Heaven in
his hand. He could feel its power flowing through him. He looked down at
the form of Kriella before him. The arrow was in deep. He knew that she was
in no pain. He looked at the blue stone in his right hand. He knew that it
had power, and that he was to use the power to destroy the Daedra for all
of eternity. But he knew also that the power could heal. He could use the
power to heal Kriella. But he could only use the power once. The choice was
simple. Heal Kriella or destroy the Daedra.

Indecision tore at him. He knew his duty, but he also knew his own wants.
His head told him to leave her and to carry the battle in the hope that he
could avenge her. His heart told him that life would be meaningless without
her beside him. He raised the stone above Kriella's body and summoned forth
the power. Then a voice came through his mind. Not from the Dreadseekers,
but from much farther away. "Be steadfast in your cause" said the voice.
Tenaka struggled a few moments longer.

He looked down at the seemingly sleeping form of his wife. She looked so
peaceful, as she had on that first morning when he had awoken in the
oubliette. "Goodbye, my love," he said quietly and knelt down to close her
staring eyes. He stood and turned towards the Daedra forces. He drew his
great Daedric Dai-katana and shouted across the battlefield, "DEATH TO THE
HORDES!" Holding his sword above his head he yelled out his battle cry,
partly to inspire his own army, partly to voice the pain that the loss of
Kriella had caused. His voice, crying out 'Carai en Caldazar', sailed
across the field and he quietly muttered to himself, "Dovie'andi se tovya
sagain." He started to walk towards the Hordes.

He awoke a little while later in the Labyrinth. As he opened his eyes he
saw Kriella looking down at him and the memory of her eyes, staring at him
in death came back to him.

"I thought you were dead," he said in a quiet voice.

Kriella opened her mouth to answer, but he pulled her down beside him and
drowned her words with a kiss.

"What you witnessed was merely a vision of the future," said the head.
"None of it actually happened."

"But it will happen? It was the future?"

"One possible future. One of an infinite number of possible futures. You
have passed the Test of Self. Come now. The door is opened."

The head melted into the wall and a deep rumbling sounded. Suddenly the
wall swung open like a door, and before them stood the city of Geddon. The
two of them stood and walked into the city. Before them stood the
Dreadlord.

"Come," said the Dreadlord. "You have achieved much, and now you must be
knighted like the heroes you are."

The Dreadlord led the way and Tenaka Khan and Kriella Divaran followed
behind. They walked through the streets of Geddon until they entered the
tower. Here the Dreadlord waved them to enter, but himself hung back. They
walked through the great door and ascended the stairs. At the top they
opened a pair of great double doors and approached the throne at the far
end of the room. They looked at the great figure in black armour who sat
upon the throne. His left hand rested on the arm of his throne, and his
right hand seemed not to be a hand at all. It was a sword, made of blackest
ebony. They knew that this was the Great Lord of War.

"Welcome, heroes," said the figure. "Be welcome in my city of Geddon. I am
Ebonarm, God of War. Thou two have come far and suffered much to be here.
And now comes thine reward. Do thee two swear to uphold the principles of
the Dreadarmies and to obey its discipline?"

"We do," they said together.

"Then I name thee two Dreadknights. I give thee two immortality. I give
thee two the power to open Windows. Go now to your fellows. Tonight shall
be a celebration."

The two Dark Elf Dreadknights walked from the room in silence.