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JASH
The Blood Dragon, the identification was easy due to the sail-like fins on his back, breathed his Frost Breath at me. My cousin had decided to make its home on Mount Anthor which meant we had a conflict of interest as I needed to be in this location to get back to Alex Casey.
I put up a ward and barely dodged the attack. At the same moment J’zargo unleashed a Thunderbolt at the dragon’s neck. My cousin let out one final roar before it died in a way that only the presence of a Dragonborn could enact. If it weren’t so cold, I would have been sweating. The fight had been short and yet brutal.
As the dragon’s skin evaporated, a bright light started to form. I sheathed my sword just as light weaved in and out of the dragon’s skeleton. When the skeleton could not contain such intense energy any longer, a frantic current seemed to fling the light to me. But the light was so much more than light.
The dragon’s soul, all of its knowledge and power, couldn’t help but be drawn to me. It didn’t matter that Akatosh now had no claim over me, it was an instinct that could not be resisted. The moment its soul joined my collection, it was as if I were next to a fire.
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the heat.
When the soul had been absorbed, I opened my eyes to see my friend setting up camp. We already knew that time was different between the two realities so it could be only a few seconds to him or a few years. Serena would probably come to check up on him if I was gone for awhile.
I walked over and with one look he made me stop.
“This one thinks you need to rest.” J’zargo said.
“You think it is ours to be calm enough to rest?” I scoffed.
The Khajiit looked at me with pain in his eyes. He managed to control himself so the only motion he made was to nod his head. The two of us worked on the camp in silence which gave me time to think about Mount Anthor.
It had been my devotees who had decided on Mount Anthor as a place of worship. Someone had managed to find out that my name at birth was Kysnier. Had it been the same person that had sent the Dark Brotherhood after me?
The harsh wind blew and I reveled in the way the cold began to freeze my scales. J’zargo was quick to start the fire so that the pleasant pain soon washed away from me. My eyes followed the flickering flames that seemed to battle the cold. This was the way of balance. Cold and flames making sure the other stayed strong. Pain that brought out true beauty.
This must be why my followers would travel here in the winter months when conditions were even more extreme. It was the definition of love that needed no words. I stood by the fire and didn’t move once camp was set up.
I let out a short grunt when J’zargo hugged me. While he was more forward with his emotions than Alex, the speed at which he had moved was surprising. I quickly recovered and returned the gesture. His thick fur was more comforting to me than the fire.
“You better return, Jash.” J’zargo said as our embrace ended. “There will be no warm sands for me if this is the last time we speak.”
“J’zargo, if I don’t return then it will be yours to run the College of Winterhold.” I replied. “I won’t let that happen.”
Usually my friend would have a witty reply but not now. Now we could be seeing each other for the last time and so things were different. With a heavy heart I walked a few feet away from him. What I was about to do would only be seen by me, though some of the blood would splatter on the snow.
When I was far enough away, I focused on the emotions caused by Alex’s death. Every sharp pain I forced myself to feel as if it was the first time experiencing such emotions. It hurt but that was the whole point of this. I needed to hurt as I couldn’t connect with his death without such anguish.
The pain was more intense than I would inflict on my worst enemies. But the pain was the only way for me to be reunited with Alex. So I rode the pain’s current until the event flared in my mind. No, not the event, a ghostly reflection of the emotions I had felt at the time when I hadn’t been prepared.
In front of me was Alex Casey and I allowed tears to form in my eyes. It wasn’t him, not even an echo of him, but a reflection of him right before death. He stood still but his body radiated movement.
I couldn’t help but close my eyes briefly as he exploded and my body was assaulted by his guts. By his skin. By his blood. If I weren’t so focused on my current task, I would have looked to see how much blood from the vision was seeping into the snow.
The moment I recovered from Alex exploding in front of me, more appeared. Each exploded as more appeared to continue the cycle. I cried out as soon the only thing in my line of sight were Alex’s guts and skin and blood. I took a deep breath and jumped into what was pure chaos and pain but felt like a river.
As I swam I felt my clothing being ripped from me. I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the comforting presence of the Ring of Hircine. May Pri-my husband would be with me during this hunt.
I reached out my mind to feel each echo of Alex. There was an infinite amount but only one would be my husband. It took a few minutes, or maybe an eternity, until I felt the calling of his soul. I allowed the pain of his death to lead me towards him.
It felt as if his soul noticed mine and suddenly I had no control over my course. I grinned and allowed Alex’s soul to wrap his destiny up in mine. Suddenly an odd floor was beneath my chest. It was a fabric that must be from Earth as it existed nowhere in Tamriel.
The skin and guts disappeared from my view. The only sign that I hadn’t imagined the event was the blood that had soaked under each of my scal-I tensed as I heard Alex screaming. The sound leaving his lips was soaked in more fear than he had ever shown.
I stood up quickly and realized where I was: Poet’s Cinema.
Alex had described every minute of this moment. This was the place he had watched Nightless Night. The night he had been forced to confront the fact that multiple realities existed and he wasn’t the only him. A fact he hadn’t understood and drowned the confusion in whiskey.
I found Alex and started to walk slowly towards him. His face was contorted in strange ways and I forced myself to look at the screen. Of course he was experiencing such extreme fear. Anyone would if they saw what they believed to be themselves being murdered.
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