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SCOUTS-MANY-MARSHES
The dryskins on the plantation were wrong. Some were wearing armor like guards while others had more common clothing as if they were drunks stumbling out of Frostfruit Inn. But there was a strange dark smoke surrounding them and their movements would look wrong even on someone who regularly consumed Skooma.
Were they possessed?
I looked at Alan who was barely hiding how nervous he was. Alex, my husband, hid his fear well but he was a little too rigid to actually be calm.
“Are they possessed by the Dark Presence?” I asked.
It couldn’t be anything else as Alex didn’t seem one to panic easily.
“Yeah.” Alan answered. “We call them Ta-“
The Dark Presence attacked. A dryskin I recognized moved with more speed and agility than I had ever seen him use before. That man was just one of a hoard of possessed people running across the plantation.
I held out my dagger and let out a hiss. The possessed did not flinch or react to my threat. But when Alan shone his light…flashlight was what the dryskins from Earth called it, the possessed stopped in their tracks as if stunned.
Not all of the possessed but just enough to make the fight manageable. The flashlight had another effect besides stunning the possessed: it made the strange, black smoke pour out of the possessed’s body.
An arrow went over my head and directly into the neck of one of the possessed as soon as smoke stopped pouring out of it. The dryskin fell and did not get back up.
If there had been any other way than killing innocent people, Alex would have taken it. No matter how difficult it was. He was not the most friendly of people to strangers, but he was not a killer.
Not like Jash could be when the need called for it.
The next possessed Alan shone his flashlight on I attacked when the smoke cleared. It felt horrible to end an innocent man’s life, but that was what had to be done.
Alan shone his light on ano-I dodged just in time as three possessed attacked me at once. It was ours to prefer a peaceful life and so I continued to dodge until Alan shone his light on them. Before the smoke cleared I sliced and stabbed at them. Each fell to the ground screaming in agony before the smoke had fully left them.
The moment the smoke left their bodies they stopped moving.
Soon enough we had gotten into a rhythm. Alan would shine his flashlight on those possessed and either myself or Alex would kill them. The hoard seemed never ending and so sometimes I was too far away to help the bard though I yearned to.
“Your flashlight isn’t going to last forever!” Alex yelled into the dark.
“I ******* know!” Alan yelled back.
Light…light…we needed a light source as intense as Alan’s Dwemer contraption.
“Is Dawnbreaker still here?” I yelled into the night.
“****!” Alex yelled angrily. “Get it! Now!”
I didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t want to come back to see him in pain. What if, somehow, the Dark Presence was able to rip the dryskin from Jash’s plane of Oblivion?
But if I stayed here and did nothing then he had an even greater chance of suffering that fate. So I rushed towards the house and did not bother to close the door as I rushed in an attempt to find the Daedric Artifact.
Meridia’s sword was not displayed proudly which meant it would either be in a chest or the dresser. In a short amount of time, that still seemed years too long, I found the sword. My heart didn’t slow down enough for me to feel proud of myself.
While gripping the sword tightly, I ran out of the house to see Alan and Alex holding their own. Neither bothered acknowledging me and I understood why. But it still would have felt good to have some form of encouragement before I joined the fight.
One of the possessed ran at me while yelling hatchling nonsense and I cut the tip of one of its fingers off. It yelled as smoke poured out and then died. Encouraged, I fought more fiercely knowing that all it would take was a simple nick from Dawnbreaker to kill these foul creatures.
I laughed loudly as I started to understand why Jash felt like home in the midst of a battle.
As I fought, I made sure to keep track of Alex and Alan. If I could spare my time, I would attack the possessed daring to attack my husband and egg-friend. A few times I felt an arrow go over my head and saw it hit a possessed in the eye, this stunned them enough for me to make yet another kill.
My arms began to feel heavy but I could not stop fighting now. Not when I had noticed the bard’s flashlight beginning to dim.
When Alex, myself, and Alan had cut the Dark Presence’s hoard in half they retreated.
“******* Taken.” Alex hissed as I walked over to him and Alan.
Taken. That must be the word for those possessed by the Dark Presence.
“If it is ours to fail in ridding Tamriel of the Dark Presence, perhaps we can call on Meridia.” I said with a smirk as I wiped the sword on my pants.
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