“Oh wow, look at that!” – Garrus was clearly enjoying himself. “And what’s this?”

“Drink” – said Hauk. Lena shot him a glance but drank. “It’s a blood fountain” – he added, turning to Garrus. “Adapted for non-vampires. Drink – the fight is still long.”

“No! I am not drinking blood!” – Garrus protested with indignation.

“You do if you want to stay alive” – retorted Hauk, leaning to the fountain and drinking. “It’s not the time to be squeamish.”

Garrus looked at him with horror, but he must have seen the wisdom in his words because he too drank.

“All right, I’ve tasted worse” – he grinned. “But why exactly are they trying to keep us alive?”

“They are not, that’s for the dremoras and xivilai, but it sustains mortals as well.”

“So the blood is actually…” – Garrus’ face contorted with horror again.

“Mortal, yes” – Hauk’s eyes were hard. “But it’s processed. You are not a cannibal.”

“I no longer regret to have missed the Oblivion Crisis” – said Garrus through his teeth. “Let’s keep going. Where is this Sigil Stone?”

…

The tower had many floors, with ever increasing defences. Where they encountered beasts on the lower levels, they now had to deal with groups of xivilai led by a dremora mage. Lena was mostly staying out of the spells and with good reason – a single hit would knock her out, they were that strong.

“How on Nirn did you manage it back then, on your own?” – Garrus wondered helping her up.

“With difficulty” – she admitted. “I used stealth a lot and tried to avoid fighting, although it wasn’t always possible… Let’s go” – she cut herself off, it wasn’t her favourite topic.

They climbed another level, and there it was: the Sigil Stone.

“Right, this is what we came for” – Lena turned to her companions. “Stay close and hold on to me when I grab it.”

They stood among the burned down houses again, but the fire had completely disappeared.

“It worked, we’re back” – Lena smiled at them. “How long were we in there?” She looked at the sky – it was dusk. “What day is it?”

“Day?” – Garrus was surprised. “Why, the same day as when we went in, surely?”

“Not necessarily” – Hauk looked at Lena with understanding. “Time passes differently in other realms. We should find someone to ask.”

It was midnight when they reached Sungard – the woodcutters’ settlement. They hoped to stay the night at the workers’ house but were told to leave. “We are not an inn! Go to Greenwall” – was the reply.

So they rode on.

27 Last Seed

About half way to Greenwall in the middle of the wilderness the dark night sky suddenly turned red – another Oblivion gate sprang open. Wild beasts turned onto each other, nightmarish creatures came out of nowhere – giant spiders and giant snakes. A herd of mammoths rushed down the mountain attacking everything in their way, followed by a pack of wolves attacking the mammoths…

“What on Nirn has just happened?!” – shouted Garrus who was falling asleep in the saddle from exhaustion moments earlier. The horses bolted and ran off.

“Spread out and run!!!” – shouted Hauk, and that’s what they did, heading towards Greenwall and trying to stay close to the road so as not to get lost.

The mammoths turned their attention to the wolves, spiders and snakes and lost sight of three humans running away from the fight. The road made a few turns, and suddenly darkness fell, complete with a starry sky.

“Wow! Is it all over?” – Garrus slowed down, looking back. Hauk was catching up without much effort but Lena… well… she was on her last legs, but still running. “Gosh, you look tired!” – Garrus caught her as she decided to just drop on the ground then and there.

“Getting knocked out has its price” – she managed, breathing hard.

“Watch out!!!” – screamed Hauk, summoning a clannfear. “We are not done yet!” One last mammoth was thundering down the road after them. But at least it was just one mammoth, not half a dozen as before.

Thump!

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall – or something like that” – Lena grinned, having touched the mammoth with a paralysis spell. “They do make for a lot of steaks!”

“Let’s hope we won’t have horse meat for dinner as well” – said Hauk grimly. “I like Luna.”

They whistled for the horses and listened for the sound of hooves, and sure enough all three horses appeared from behind the trees. With a huge sigh of relief, they got into the saddles. It was dawn.

“I want to go back and see whether the Oblivion gate is still up there” – said Lena, not looking at her companions.

“What – now?!” – Hauk didn’t think it was a good idea. “We should ride to Greenwall and sleep for two days straight!”

“Yes, now, and Greenwall can wait” – Lena looked at him and he saw that she was serious. “Did that Oblivion gate just disappear? I need to know. There was nothing there just last morning, no gate, no spiders, no mammoths, no wolves. Where did it all come from?”

They retraced their steps almost all the way to Sungard, but there was no Oblivion gate anywhere, just a lot of dead animals – wolves, leopards and spiders, but no snakes. A herd of mammoths was grazing on the slopes, they rode carefully past and the mammoths did not attack.

“They are not suicidal, you know” – said Hauk. “But they do panic easily, so it’s best they don’t see any fighting.”

“Like giant snakes attacking giant spiders – yeah, I can see how that would be upsetting” – smirked Garrus. But jokes aside, it was rather disconcerting that the nightmare just vanished without a trace.

“Vaermina?” – Lena wondered aloud.

“We’ll need to ask around” – nodded Hauk.

Finally they reached Greenwall. It was nearly midday.