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Chimerical

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode 20: Exigent Circumstances

Sitting on the steps of their home, Tsanavi rests her head on Ra'kanishu's chest, his arm draped over her and holding her tightly. Their house faces toward the village center, giving them a decent view of the bridge and the road into town. Waiting for Jo'dehki to return, they relax and watch the horizon, villagers going about their daily routines in their peripheral. The dainty Suthay turns her golden eyes up to her Imperial lover, her thoughts weighing heavy. He glances down to her and immediately notices her demeanor.

"What's wrong?"

"Do not trouble yourself with Tsanavi's problems." She replies.

"This one loves you...Your problems are his. What's wrong?"

She cannot help but smile at the sincerity and warmth of her partner. Sighing, she buries her face in his chest as though to hide from her own embarrassment.

"Tsanavi is worried about her debts." She admits.

"Oh...Well don't worry about those. We will work that out together."

Giving her a kiss on her forehead, she gazes up at him before leaning in for another. He holds here tightly with both arms, stroking her back. Her tail whips side to side as they embrace, their lips pressed together. She grips the back of his neck with her clawed hand, losing herself in the moment. A sudden commotion draws the lover's attention from each other, a large group of villagers heading for the fields. The couple stands to their feet, wondering what could be causing the ruckus. Has Jo'dehki returned, injured or followed by bandits?

Rushing from the steps, they follow the villagers as they gather around someone or something. Increasingly worried that it might be Jo'dehki, Nish pushes through the crowd, Tsanavi right behind him. Reaching the center of the mass, they discover an injured Khajiiti woman on her hands and knees. The Cathay's dress is torn in several places, and she has minor cuts and scrapes from a scuffle. She wears a unique amulet around her neck. No one appears to be interested in helping her; Kazkhar, his mother Abaimba, and Kazkhar's two goons stand near the front, coldly questioning the woman.

Who is she? Where is she from? Who is responsible for her injuries? They question her faster than she can possibly answer, their words stretching several meters as no one wants to step any closer. They grow impatient by her silence. Disgusted by their uncaring attitude, Nish approaches the female, who is clearly in shock. He kneels beside her, looking over her wounds. She turns her head to him and begs for help, ignoring the curious onlookers. He tries to keep her calm as he uses his restoration magic to cleanse and seal her wounds. Her scraps fade as his glowing palm passes over them.

"Please, this one needs your help!" She cries out.

"Be calm. Take a breath." Nish says softly.

He visibly breathes slowly, his hand on her shoulder to maintain her focus. She takes a few deep breaths, imitating the Imperial. Gathering her wits, she still trembles from the ordeal.

"They took her. They took this one's daughter." She begins.

Their curiosity peaked, the group listens carefully as the woman tells her story. While traveling along the road from Dune to Rawl'Kha, a group of nearly a dozen bandits ambushed the woman and her family. The bandits, a mixture of Khajiit, Bosmer and at least two Imperials, killed her two brothers and husband before taking her Suthay cub prisoner. The thugs tried to claim her as well, but her husband fought long enough for her to escape and seek help. Her wounds were incurred in the initial fight and her subsequent escape from the thugs. Turning to the crowd, she begs them for help.

"Perhaps if we consult Ko'adhasa, she may have suggestions as to what we should do." Kazkhar says to his mother.

"Yes, son. We should gather the village in the main hall. Perhaps a runner can be sent to Dune to warn the authorities." She replies.

Nish's eyes grow wide at their cowardice, as does the Cathay woman's. The mother begins to weep, her sorrow tugging at the Imperial's heart. His eyes well with tears at the mere sight of her pain.

"What is wrong with the lot of you? Do you have no spine in your bodies?!" Ra'kanishu yells at the crowd.

"Mind your tongue, Imperial. As far as Kazkhar is concerned, you are not even a part of the community." The Ohmes-Raht man growls.

"More than you, little boy... You don't even know how to handle bandits; you have to ask your mother!"Nish roars.

Before Kazkhar can retort, Nish turns back to the woman and asks for directions to the site of her attack. The distraught mother explains the location of the attack as thoroughly as she can. She describes a sharp bend in the road with a unique rock formation nearby, and a ridge in the distance. Tsanavi immediately volunteers to join him, but Nish refuses; he would never risk her safety taking an untrained female into combat, especially when he cares for her as much as he does. In order to ensure that she does not follow him, Nish asks Tsanavi to watch over the mother and take her to Ko'adhasa.

Quickly returning to their shared home, he collects his weapon belt and dashes from the house, running through S'ren-ja and heading for the road and toward the site of the attack. He soon reaches the main road, following the earthen trail through the plains as he scours the horizon for the rocky formation that the mother had described. He sees it in the distance as he follows a sharp bend in the road. Nish falls to his knees as he looks over the bodies of five slain Khajiit of various breeds. One of the dead men wears an amulet that matches the mother's; he must be her husband.

Nish removes the amulet, sitting in silence over the body for a moment before dragging the five men from the road and hiding them from sight behind a boulder. He can't be sure which of the other four are the woman's brothers, so he treats all four as respectfully as he can. With any luck at all, passersby won't find and look them, and if they do, he can return the amulet to the mother. His eyes scan the horizon for anywhere that the thugs might be, quickly spotting the ridge in the distance. It is the only place that might provide any cover whatsoever.

With no time to waste, he sprints toward the distant ridge, hoping that he is on the right track. A plume of black smoke rises in the distance and coming from the ridge. He cannot be certain if it there is a crevasse that the bandits are using as a base, of if they are camped atop the ridge. Assuming the latter, he takes great care to not be seen as he moves ever closer. Within moments, he finds that the ridge is not nearly as large as it appeared, effectively the mouth of a single cave with sloping earth that acts as a ramp and leads to the mouth of the cave.

The smoke rises from above the cave, where the bandits seem to have made their base. He can hear the voices of several men, Mer and Khajiit as they reflect on the battle.

"Did you see how well her husband fought? He did not want her to be taken." A Khajiit bandit recalls.

"I did. He fought well, but not well enough to save himself." A man or elf remarks.

"Yes, but his beautiful wife escaped. This one would have loved to...Know her... She would have been great fun before being sold." A Khajiit bandit remarks.

"So, would I." Another laughs.

"Filthy elf bastard." The Khajiit chuckles.

"Oh, you can buy a Redguard whore, but I can't enjoy a Khajiit? Don't be a hypocrite!" The elf snaps.

"Careful, J'med. You'll make him mad!" A deeper, Imperial sounding voice laughs.

Nish's stomach churns. He has half a mind to climb up the ridge and burn them all alive right now. Recalling the mother, he leaves the bandits be and quietly enters the cave. A single bandit sits just inside of the cave, their back to the interior. Nish creeps up to the thug before he even realizes he is there. Startled, the thug rises to his feet and takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with air. Before he can call out, Nish draws his Khajiiti sword, the orichalcum blade cleaving the Bosmer's head from his shoulders, his body dropping lifelessly to the ground.

He steps over the twitching corpse, kicking the head aside. As he steps into the cave, he sees a large sack of gold and various other stolen treasures. A faint crying draws his attention. Creeping further into the cave, he finds a series of wrought iron cages placed inside, though only one is locked. A small Khajiiti child sits inside, the little Suthay cub weeping with her hands brought up to her face. She rubs her eyes as though she were tired, tears streaming down her face and around her snout. The mere sight of her breaks the Imperial's heart.

He softly calls out to the girl, startling her and causing her to squeal. Nish holds up a hand, hoping she will be quiet. He shushes her as he attempts to open the lock with a pick he keeps concealed within a hidden pocket of his tunic. The girl, who could not be more than eight years old, crawls toward the door, resting her clawed hands on the bars.

"You are not like them." She whispers.

"No. Your mother found our village. Ra'kanishu is here to help you." He explains.

"Mother is safe?!" She asks, her volume increasing.

"Shh! ... She is safe." He answers.

"What about father?"

He stops in the middle of picking the lock. He doesn't look up to the girl, soon resuming his work. His silence and sullen expression answer her question and she begins weeping again, calling out softly to her deceased father. Popping the lock open, Nish pulls the lock from the metal loop as he stows his pick. He ushers the girl from the cage, taking her by the hand. Turning around, he stops and sighs, closing his eyes as the gang of at least nine bandits stand across from him. Releasing the girl's hand, she hides behind his legs as they grin at the lone Imperial and their young prisoner. Several hold clubs, axes and daggers, while two appear to be mages.

"Well now... What do we have here?!" A Khajiit thug asks.

"No one important, now if you don't mind, this one has a schedule to keep." Nish replies.

"Hah! The nerve of this guy!" A Bosmer laughs.

"Yes. This one thinks that he would make a good slave himself... If only Imperial's could be made slaves." The Khajiit comments.

"Does that mean we must kill him?" Another Khajiit asks.

"It does." The first nods.

"You won't win." Nish calmly begins. "All of you will die, and this one will become very tired. Spare me the trouble."

"How about we kill you, take your fancy sword and axe, and sell the girl anyway?"

"Have it your way..." Nish murmurs.

Two of the thugs bring their palms before them and prepare powerful wards, ready to deflect any magic that Nish could throw at them. Undeterred, he cracks his neck as he prepares for the fight of his life. His fingers coil as though they were claws, grinning sinisterly at the bandits. The girl jumps back, hiding in the cage that moments earlier held her captive. The bandits take a step back in fear as Nish prepares himself. The mage's hands drop to their sides, their wards failing as their mouths hang open. They turn to flee, but he has no intention of letting them escape.

The girl covers her ears, whimpering as the screams echo throughout the cave. A bandit's body slams into the metal, shifting her cage and causing her to squeal. She stares with wide eyes as blood gushes from the deep wounds across his face and chest, letting out a shrill scream. One by one the bandits are cut down by the lone warrior. They are barely able to fend off an attack before the next rips through them. A mage throws a fireball, but it has little effect. Turning, he flees in terror, tripping and landing on his hands and knees in the dirt.

He screams like the child that he had kidnapped as Nish drags him back into the cave to meet his end. Within a matter of moments, the entire group lies dead. The girl dares not open her eyes, lest she be exposed to the carnage and the man responsible for it. Nish gasps for breath, his clothes torn in several places as he stumbles back toward her. As he passes the bodies of his enemies, he takes a moment to collect their coin purses, dumping the contents into the large sack of gold that sits within. Reaching inside, he takes hold of the girl's arm.

Screaming, she lunges and bites him with her fangs. As he cries out in pain, she realizes she has bitten her savior. She cowers in fear, though he makes no attempt to harm her. Using his restoration magic, he heals his wound before calling to her softly. Motioning for her to come out, she trembles, her eyes scanning him apprehensively. With little choice left to her, she takes hold of his hand and climbs out of the cage. To her surprise, the Imperial quickly carries her on his back, promising to reunite her with her mother soon. The thought of seeing her again brings a faint grin to the Suthay's face as they leave the cave and rush back toward S'ren-ja.