Kriella looked at the three people that made up her party. Rathine she was familiar with - at least as familiar as one could be with a Dremora. Personally she would have preferred to have Skudge in her party than the enigmatic Dremora - the little Scamps humour, though usually unintentional, could certainly lighten the mood - but she knew the importance of Rathine helping in the rescue part of the expedition. He was the only one who could activate the Soul Gem that Imago Storm had provided, and they had decided long ago that it would be easier to trap Nyx and then kill Vex than to trap Vex. She realised that she still knew relatively little about the other two.

The two strangers confused her, but each in a different way. From Betrayal she sensed a need to impress others, and, equally strongly, a need to protect the woman, Alyssa. The Dreadmaster could tell that Betrayal had skills, but simply lacked the confidence to use them to the full. The woman was stranger still. She felt inherently different. It wasn't simply that she wasn't Dark Elven like herself, but she did not even seem Tamriellan.

The passage that they were walking down was interesting, at least. Of course, in many ways, it was like any other passage, but the decorations clearly showed off the Daedra Count's particular tastes. If this was the way to Nyx's bedchamber, it would seem that the furnishings were meant to inspire him on route. Everything seemed quiet, but it had already been displayed that nothing could be taken for granted here. First had been the Wheel that Balefire had so expertly dealt with. Next had been the illusionary door that Tenaka and herself had seen through. Most recently was the image of Vex and the battle with the Morphoids. She remembered battling one of those fiends back in the Angry Porcupine. It had been beaten - just - but it had also been outnumbered three to one. In this case the Morphoids had outnumbered them by similar odds. Surely the victory should have gone to the Daedra. An idea stuck the Dreadmaster, but that would be for a later date. Now she had a task that took !
!
up all of her concentration. Silently, she searched her mind for Tenaka's presence. It was appropriate that the two of them lead the two teams, for it allowed them to keep in touch. She felt her husband's mind and touched it with her own.

***

Tenaka smiled as he felt Kriella's presence within his mind. He was glad that their telepathy still worked in this place where even the ability to construct Windows had temporarily been taken from him. Of course, that was no longer a problem, and before they had split up, he had allowed some of the power to flow from himself into Kriella so that she also could still use the Windows. He sent a silent message to his wife to beware for the ambush set by Red and Blackie. He felt her amusement - of course she would beware. She was a member of the Dreadarmies and it was not their philosophy to barge into traps.

He looked around at his own group. The first man his eyes fell on was his brother, Balefire. They were so alike, the two of them, but he was only just beginning to realise it. He vaguely remembered that J'layah had told him that he looked somewhat like the Warmage, but he had thought it just racial similarities. Even when Twilight, the woman who probably knew more about Balefire than any other living had admitted to having difficulty remembering that the Dreadlord was not Tenaka, he had not thought that they would be related. The Dreadlord was unused to sharing leadership, but he had no problem with sharing the authority with his brother. After a great deal of thought, Tenaka had decided that he would keep his original name. The Prince of Shadows suited him greater than Darkflame Ebonheart, he felt.

He looked next at Zerith, the Mage-Scholar who had managed to win Nyx's love. According to Kriella, Nyx had rarely spoken of his prowess of weapons, but it was clearly there. The Dreadlord could see it from the way he held himself, striding forward confidently. At the moment he led the way, being the only one who knew the geography of Vex's palace.

Finally, Tenaka turned his gaze to Skudge, the funny Scamp. He could understand how Nyx and Kriella came to like the thing, and he had to admit that he was growing quite fond of it himself. This required a massive change in opinion for the Dreadlord - he had been taught that all Daedra were evil, twisted and conniving among other things. But since meeting the Scamp and Rathine he saw that this was simply not true. Surely most of the Daedra must be as he had originally thought them, but these two had shown themselves to be different. Skudge showed a fierce loyalty to Nyx, and Rathine seemed to be in love with the Shadow Walker. 

Suddenly Zerith's voice rang out. "Halt, friends," he said. "There is a trap near here, and we must be careful?"


Chris Cunliffe.

- Murphy's Last Law:
If anything that could have gone wrong has not gone wrong, it would ultimately have been beneficial for it to have gone wrong.