Zerith I continued biding my time. Zul had us doing a concentric perimiter patrol--that is, we circled the palace in ever- expanding routes. It might have been boring, but I was fascinated. I would be one of the few mortals to travel about in a daedra count's realm and live to tell about it. Maybe. From what I knew, the Lake of Dreams was a few miles north of our current position. If I couldn't slip off now, I'd have to wait, and possibly be woefully off course. The problem was in how to go about it. It occured to me then. I was not an illusionist, but I could create some fairly believable phantasms. It wouldn't fool Zul for very long, if at all, but the Chosen could be thrown into a panic. They were, after all, only mortals. I knew quite a bit about Realms of Oblivion, and dangerous creatures were known to inhabit Vex's realm. They were not daedra, but they were dangerous all the same. I called up in my mind a picture of a creature I'd seen illustrated in a book once, a great floating sphere with a huge central eye, and several smaller eyes atop eyestalks. The creature was called a beholder, and they were extremely dangerous--and evil. They were also extremely rare in Tamriel, but in Oblivion, anything can happen... I concentrated, letting the creature take shape in my mind. I gave it a rumbling voice, fearsome teeth, and an extremely foul mood. The 'creature' floated in from the north, bellowing, "Children of Man! I am Gragaoth, the Eye Tyrant of Despair! Prepare to meet your doom for invading my lands!" I caused a green beam of light to emit from one of 'his' eyes, while at the same time I cast Vampiric Drain. The beam and the spell struck the Khajiit Chosen, who screamed in agony as his life force drained from him. The Chosen flew into a panic. Over their terrified shouts I heard Zul yelling at them, threatening them. But I didn't stick around to watch the fun, much as I would have enjoyed it. I headed north, towards the Lake of Dreams, leaving the 'beholder's' angry shouts, the panicked cries of the chosen, and Zul's dire threats behind me. After a hike of more than a few miles, I stood on the southern shore of the Lake of Dreams. Seeing it up close I could see how it came by its name. The water was crystal blue and sparkling. One was tempted to bathe in it, but one would not if one were wise. Dangerous things were said to lurk in its depths. Purple-black water lotuses grew along the shoreline--it was these flowers that gave the Lake its name. Said flowers were valued in the Mundus for the making of certain drugs, and by botanists who wished to study exotic plant life. Off in the distance, I saw snow covered mountains, which aside from all the usual dangers of such a place were all the more deadly, as they were patrolled by the coldly logical frost daedra. I'd encountered one--once--and was lucky to have escaped with my life. I had talked my way to freedom. Frost daedra are not the most intelligent daedra, but they value logic and honor, and by appealing to their desire for both, one can sometimes walk away unscathed. The Lake rippled slightly behind me. I turned to look, but saw nothing. Still, I decided it would be best to not stand so close to the shore. I moved ten feet east of the lake and looked into the trees. I doubted I would be missed-- undoubtedly, my 'comrades' would assume that I had been eaten or destroyed by the creature...if the illusion lasted long enough to show it departing. Then again, Zul had no doubt figured out what had happened. The Lake rippled again. this time sending tiny waves into the shore. Water sloshed over the toes of my stolen boots. Something was coming. I readied a spell in my mind. My first thought was fireball, but of course, whatever was coming for me no doubt had, from its aquatic nature, some protection against fire. The thing rose up, and up, from the water. It reminded me of a frog, a huge frog standing 15' tall. Where its forelegs should have been were four slimy tentacles. It had three large, yellow eyes atop waving stalks. One looked directly behind it, the other two were focused on me. The thing's mouth looked like any other frog's but that it could have easily bitten me in half. Huge teeth lined the enormous maw. Its drooled a rather nasty looking greenish substance as it half hopped, half waded closer. I had no idea what it was. But there was no mistaking its intentions. And I had no intention of becoming dinner. I thought of my weapons, but discarded the idea: the creature would eat me before I could even carve it. I focused my energy instead on the spell stored in my mind. With barely a thought, I launched it at the froglike behemoth coming towards me. A swirling cloud of frost enveloped the gruesome thing. I heard the creaking and snapping of frozen flesh. The frog- thing let out a bellowing croak of agony as one of its frozen tentacles snapped off. It dropped into the Lake and was gone. It kept coming nonetheless, eager to have dark elf for dinner. "Not terribly bright, are we?" I asked it. Most creatures would have made a swift retreat, especially after losing a limb. The creature's maw opened even wider. It's disgusting tongue shot out at me. I dived into a patch of weeds nearby, noting with great satisfaction that they were quite spiky. Although my armor mostly protected me, the creature wasn't so lucky. It got a tongueful of the spiky weeds. The frog-thing bellowed in rage and pain once more. It flailed its tongue about, desperately trying to rid itself of the nasty weeds stinging its mouth. I leapt to my feet and prepared another spell. "We don't care much for salad, do we?" I inquired. "Tsk tsk. Greens are good for you." And I launched my frostcloud once more. This time, the cloud centered on the creature's tongue. There was a brittle snap, and the creature roared in agony once more. "That will teach you to stick your tongue out, will it not?" The frog-thing swiped at me with its remaining tentacles. I dodged it easily--it was quite slow--and drew one of the sabers I carried. I was not a warrior, but fencing was my hobby, and I was skilled with a blade. I dashed in and slashed the thing across the backs of its legs. The blade bit deep--very deep. Green, thick blood gushed from the wounds. I saw exposed tendons and muscles--I'd just crippled the thing, whatever it was. The thing bellowed and fell onto its back. I wasted no time in leaping atop the creature's chest. The tentacles waved, but with no real enthusiasm. "I'm here to save the woman I love," I told the thing. "And neither you nor anyone will stop me." Saying thus, I reversed the blade and plunged it into the creature's great maw and into its brain. It shuddered once, then was still. Trembling more than a little, I jumped off the creature and moved away from it. I collapsed in a small stand of reeds, thinking, "Zerith, you may have missed your calling. There is more of a warrior in you than you care to admit.' I looked out across the Lake at the frog-thing's corpse. 'Lake of Dreams?' I thought wryly. 'Lake of Nightmares is more the case.' I sat back to await Kriella Khan and the rest of Nyx's friends. ---------------------------- Shadow Walkers Realm http://www.livid.org mailto://sherrian@pagan.net PGP Public Key Fingerprint: 07A0 01CF 1716 EA1A BCFC 6217 25FC A908