The scream could be heard half-way across the palace and Kriella shuddered
when she heard it. It was Blackie's voice and it clearly told of great pain.
What was happening? Were they too late? She sprinted down the corridor,
silently sending Tenaka a message to tell of what was happening. She looked
around and saw the other three members of her party close behind her. A look
of concern was on Rathine's face - he was worried about the Shadow Walker.

They soon reached a heavy oak door that was clearly Nyx's bedchamber.
Another scream was heard from within - this time Nyx's voice. The
Dreadmaster ran into the door, levelling her shoulder at the weaker side,
but it did not budge. "Rathine, Betrayal!" she shouted. "Open that!" The
Dremora and the man nodded and stepped back whilst Kriella moved out of
their path. The two of them ran at the door as one and it visibly shook.
They stepped back and ran again - this time a crack could be heard. A third
time and a crack could be seen running up the heavy oak. A fourth and the
door shattered, falling from its hinges. The group ran in, Kriella calling
out to Nyx that they were there and desperately praying that they were not
too late.

Kriella looked at the scene in horror. Nyx was lying on the floor, seemingly
unconscious, with a vicious bruise on her shoulder showing where her
collarbone had clearly been injured. Judging by the shape of her shoulder,
it was probably broken. Red stood over her, wielding a dangerous looking
candle holder - his face showed pure hatred for the Shadow Walker. At the
moment he cared not about his orders from Emerald Vex - he wanted to kill
Nyx. Blackie was rising to his feet, his injury seemingly forgotten, or if not,
at least ignored.

Kriella did not need to give orders - everybody acted instinctively. Rathine
and Alyssa ran over to Nyx, the Dremora to prepare the ritual that would
save her soul - but also, Kriella could tell to protect her with his life
should it become necessary - and the Soverian to nurse her as best she
could. Betrayal grasped his pole-arm and advanced towards the recovering
Blackie. Kriella drew her twin Daedric Katanas and went towards Red. This
time there would be no escape for the Spider Daedra - they would die.

***

Rathine nestled Nyx's head in his lap as Alyssa tended to her shoulder.
Quietly he whispered to her that all would be well, that what he was about
to do would not hurt. He knew that she could not hear him, but he did not
care. Nyx looked so vulnerable, lying there. He did not know what he felt
towards the Shadow Walker, but he knew that he had felt it for no others in
his long life, Daedra or mortal. At first it had been simple desire, but he
knew that it had long ago passed onto something else.

He drew the Emerald Soul Gem from his pocket and held it to Nyx's brow. He
quietly whispered the words that were needed for the gem to extract her soul
without killing her. It was difficult, but he had practised the ritual many
times since Imago Storm had given him the Gem. He did not want it to go
wrong.

Finally, he finished and gave Alyssa a look that clearly told her to move
away. She did so and a green light came from the gem, directed towards Nyx's
chest. The light pulsed as it drew the Shadow Walker's soul into its deep
green interior. At long last, the light faded and disappeared. Alyssa went
back to tending Nyx's wounds, but Rathine simply sat, cradling the gem to
his breast. The gem was now Nyx, and he would protect it with his life.

***

Betrayal looked at the Spider Daedra. He was glad that Kriella had moved
towards the healthy one, leaving the injured brother for him. He knew
instinctively that this would be a much harder battle than the one with
Vex's Chosen outside the palace, or even against the Morphoids. But he had
to beat it, or if not, at least keep it busy until Kriella could come and
help him.

Blackie was unarmed, which gave a definite advantage to Betrayal who used his
pole-arm to keep himself outside of the Daedra's reach. Blackie lashed out
with his fist, but could not get inside the long reach of the pole-arm. Even
injured, however, he had the advantage of speed. He could still scuttle
around faster than the man he faced.

Betrayal backed off slightly and then ran towards the Daedra, his weapon
aimed at its head, but Blackie saw the move coming and stepped back, stood on
his four back legs and sprayed the weapon with his silk. Then began a
tug-of-war between Betrayal and Blackie for the pole-arm. Betrayal could see
that he would not be able to pull against the strength of the Spider's silk
unless he could somehow cut it, and so he let go of the weapon. Blackie flew
back, surprised that the man had given in so easily, and landed on his
shoulder. The Spider Daedra let out a scream as renewed pain shot through
him. Betrayal drew a small Mithril tanto and approached the screaming
Daedra. Quietly, he pushed the blade into Red's chest. The Daedra screamed
and then evaporated into a blue glow as it disappeared into the Darkness.
Betrayal sat and looked around him. He would just get his breath back and
then help Kriella if it was necessary.

***

Kriella and Red circled slowly. The two had met once before, and Red
held almost as much hate for the Dreadmaster as he did for the Shadow
Walker. Kriella rushed in, seeking to throw the Daedra off guard, but
Red was ready for her, using the candle holder as a shield to block one
sword as he pushed against the arm that held the second. For the first time,
Kriella noticed the vicious lines running down the side of his face. There
were deep scratches running down, but also water. Kriella was shocked to
realise that Red was quietly weeping for his brother. The two of them
exchanged blows again, but Kriella could not get within the Spider's
defences.

The Dreadmaster heard the scream from Blackie and risked the time it took to
glance over. She saw that Betrayal was about to finish him off, but Red
saw it too. He moved away from the Dreadmaster to protect his brother, but
Kriella dove between them, receiving a blow to her ribs from the candle
holder as reward. It was not as hard as it could have been for Red was
distracted, and her Ebony armour took away some of the force, but she could
tell that a rib had cracked. She had stopped the Daedra for long enough
though. She glanced over and saw Blackie disappear into the Darkness. Red
howled.

Kriella stood, dropping one of her blades to hold her hand against her
injured side and looked at the Spider Daedra that was openly weeping now,
and running towards Betrayal who had not yet seen him. The Dreadmaster
called out, "Stop, foul creature and join your brother!" Red stopped in
his run and looked towards the Dreadmaster, realising that the immediate
danger was there and that revenge would have to wait. He slowly approached
Kriella.

"That is far enough, creature of the night. I will send you to the
Darkness!" Kriella concentrated for a moment, and struggled past the
resistance she felt in her mind. The resistance fell and she completed the
command. She concentrated on the entrance to the palace and fixed an image
of it in her mind. Behind Red, the dark outline of a Window appeared. As
it stretched out, it moved ever closer to the Spider Daedra. Until it
finally touched him. The divine strength of the Window cut into his back,
but Kriella's blade kept him from moving forward. The Window cut into him,
ever deeper. The pain was so great that he could not even scream. Blood
rushed from his mouth and nose as his lungs were cut open. Finally he
screamed, and disappeared, to join his brother in the Darkness.

Kriella looked around. Betrayal had a look of awe on his face - he had not
realised that the Window could be used as a weapon. Rathine had not noticed,
so intent was he on keeping the gem safe. Alyssa was still tending to Nyx's
body. Kriella quickly used her magic to heal her rib and then picked up her
blade from where it had fallen. "Come, Rathine," she called. "We have work
to do. Betrayal, Alyssa, protect Nyxalinth's body." Her words said, she ran
through the Window that had moments before killed Blackie. Rathine stood and
followed her.

Chris
-The Last Law:
If anything that could have gone wrong has not gone wrong, then it would
ultimately have been beneficial if it had gone wrong.
ICQ #19093908
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