“Down goes the Pretender,” Telind said. “Laughable. It’s completely laughable that someone as frail… as powerless as her was able to fell me twice!”

“But she did.” Telind narrowed his eyes, glaring at Niyleen lying motionless on the floor. “As much as it pains me to say this, that bitch defeated me twice… even when my Mistress gave me her boon… ARGH! Stupid sisters… damn you!!”

“Niyleen…”

 

“And you! I’ll get to you next you…”

 

Nyleine tuned him out. This wasn’t what she wanted. This wasn’t the ending she saw when Niyleen had finally accepted her into her heart. She cupped her sister’s face, and then brushed her hair from her face. It should have been me… No, I shouldn’t have ever met up with her. I should have never been born!!!

Telind flicked the blood from his blade and smirked. “Now then former Mistress.” There was a bit of an edge to his tone. “Not to be disrespectful, but it’s time to be reunited with your Big Sis in Oblivion!”

Sister… Nyleine started to pray to the Gods… any Gods, even a few Daedric Princes to save her sister.

 

“Hey! I said get up! I won’t hesitate to strike you down on your knees and have your blood spray over your sister’s corpse.”

 

…

“…dead…”

 

“You say something Redguard?”

 

Nyleine opened her eyes and glared at the Altmer. He knew that she like her sister resented being called that as they weren’t pureblood. “I’ve had enough of your shit Altmer. I could just undo the spell I cast on you, but that’d be too easy… too good for the likes of you…”

“What happened to that proper speech of yours,” Telind taunted. “You sound like a certain no name necromancer that I used to know.”

 

Nyleine drew her sword never taking her eyes off him. “It’s clear that you have a death wish…”

“…Let me fulfill it!” Nyleine lunged at Telind trying to catch the elf by surprise. But to no avail. No sooner did she take the air did Telind counter with an attack of his own.

Stuck in midair facing an attack that not only was an offensive but defensive maneuver, Nyleine tried to block it but was spun by the force of the attack and sent flying back towards her sister.

 

Pleased with this, Telind stuck his blade in the ground and said, “Is that it? I expected more from you, but I guess I shouldn’t have. After all, what can a mortal really do when faced with the unadulterated power of a Daedric Prince?”

“Amazing… just amazing…” That arrogance of Telind’s was beginning to creep back to the surface. “To think, before I couldn’t hold a torch to Flame-Child and I couldn’t even hope to raise a hand towards Soul-Crusher but now…”
His grin got even bigger. “Look at you two. Defeated by the one person on Tamriel you both KNEW was powerless against you. You don’t kow how much this… exhilarates me. I feel alive again!”

 

“Kill them thrall. This game of revenge is starting to bore me…”

 

“Of-of course Mistress. A-at once!”
“Still,” Telind said as he took one last glance of appreciation at his handiwork. “Something about this is too surreal…”
“Is this it? Not like I’m complaining, but when I got my revenge I thought it was going to be something… grander? I don’t know…”

 

“You test my patience thrall, and I am not amused. Kill the half-breeds now or damn yourself. To where? I’ll see which realm strikes me.”

“Damn… and here I wanted to savor this…”
Telind walked over to the sisters and lifted his sword above his head just like he had when he struck Niyleen down. “Well then, I wanted to draw this out a bit, but you know the drill. Orders are orders.”
He was about to bring is sword down on Nyleine when something caught his eye. “I’m amazed… That bitch is tougher than I imagined. Her cut may be deep, but she is still holding on like a pest. Just die already Pretender!”
Starting his downward swing again, Telind froze yet again due to something he caught in the corner of his other eye; an otherworldly aura gathering around Nyleine. “You sisters are so annoying! Can’t either of you just die normally!?”
“Tsk… the elder or the younger sister…”
Telind, feeling that Boethiah was about to chew his head off again, decided to finally act. As he brought down his blade to strike Nyleine, he yelled, “Time to die, Mistress.”

A sudden burst of force pushed Telind back and made him defend instinctively. “What the hell? She shouldn’t have nearly enough power to challenge me! I’m the one with the power. I’M the one that’s blessed by a GOD! Know your place, Red—”
“AAAARGH!!!!” A flood of electricity engulfed Telind. Sparks flew all around him and the blistering sensation he was feeling warned him that even this thrall began to feel how pain felt again.
Kill… Destroy… Eridicate… Avenge!!!
Nyleine blasted wave after wave of magic at Telind. She wanted to lash out at him, to not only physically hurt the Almer, but inflict pain verbally. But the words would not come. Her rage did not allow her the luxury to form cohesive sentences and so killing this insignificant thrall would have to do.
“H-h-hold on Redguard! S-stop blasting me,” Telind pleaded.
As time went on, he thought that the pain would continue forever, but as if on a whim, Nyleine suddenly stopped and stared towards the ceiling like she was possessed.

“IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE,” Telind roared. “You really think I won’t kill you… that I can’t kill you! Oh you should have kept me down while you had the chance.”

 

Nyleine looked finally looked at Telind, but she didn’t see him. She saw the space behind him, the space he was occupying, but the man she had once conversed with over drinks at Sleeping Giant Inn was long gone. The knowledgeable sage that she thought she had to kill, the Altmer she made her thrall… her partner, Telind the man she knew was gone and what she faced was no more than a puppet barely hanging on its strings.

“Look at me damn it! I’m standing right here!! I’m not some lowlife peon with only five repeating speaking lines.”
Nyleine finally found her voice and said lasciviously, “Whenever you’re ready to stop sucking on Boethiah’s teats and see what a real woman can…” She narrowed her eyes. “Screw the pretense, when I’m done with you you’ll be praying to all the Divines for me to stop.”
“In your dreams!”

 

Telind rushed at Nyleine, and with a sigh she retaliated with her previous attack from earlier, a concentrated but multi cast version of a super charged version of the novice spell Sparks. The initial impact of the spell halted the Altmer’s progress, but he slowly continued to creep closer towards Nyleine.
This isn’t enough. Nyleine swore under her breath. This man killed her sister and all of her rage only amounted to THIS? This isn’t NEARLY enough!
“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! B-BOETHIAH! HELP ME!!!” Telind cried as Nyleine continued her relentless attack.
But his words fell on deaf ears. He may be an undead blessed with Boethiah’s boon, but in the face of Nyleine’s unmatched magical capabilities, he was but a babe before a God.

 

Being brought to a knee, Telind cried out, “F-forgive me!! You win!” Finally acknowledging Nyleine’s dominance. “I… ahh!!! I… realized that I can’t stand up t-to you. PLEASE! Have mercy!!”
This still isn’t enough! Nyleine felt incompetent, weak, and useless. She could have done this from the start, SHOULD have done this, but she hid. She hid like she’s always hid be it behind her father, her thralls, Telind, and now Niyleen. Every time she hid, someone died. No more…. NO MORE!!! Ignoring Telind’s pleas, she began to channel more and more of her Magicka into the spells until she felt herself getting lost in her own power…
It was then that Nyleine released it all. Her anger, her sorrow, her fury, all in one densely focused uncontrollable continuous blast. The magic spilt forth from her engulfing everything in its path.
Nyleine assumed that Telind was screaming his lungs off as his flesh was being ripped from his bones and being burned to cinders. She could barely see him within the weaves of electricity covering the room, and even if she could all she could hear was white noise.
Sparks suddenly began to land uncomfortably close to Nyleine, and she angrily sucked her teeth. Shit! Focus, FOCUS!! Even if Niyleen was dead, she’d be damned if she was going to let her big sister’s corpse be desecrated by her own foolish actions. Calming her mind, Nyleine was able to stabilize the spell and send the majority of it directly at Telind. Good… just a bit more…
More…. More More MORE MOOOOORE!!!! Nyleine felt her hands begin to burn but she didn’t care. This amount of revenge wouldn’t add up, couldn’t add up to the loss she was feeling. I had a home, a family. My life was just about to begin anew… but you… YOU DID THIS! There will be no Oblivion for you, no reincarnation, no afterlife at all!!

 

A shriek cut through the white noise, and it was then that Nyleine knew enough was enough.

 

When you die, even Sithis won’t be able to take you to the Void.
Nyleine canceled her spells and absorbed as much of the residual lightning from within the lair as she could. When she was done all that was left was Telind completely debuffed lying face down in the dirt and Nyleine standing over him shrouded in a dark aura with a look of pure hatred in her eyes.
“Times like this make me wish I was a lower caliber of mage,” Nyleine cursed. Telind, although clearly beaten, did not outwardly look like he had just been electrocuted for over ten minutes straight. “Damn old magicks, when you make someone immortal you truly make them immortal…”
Nyleine snapped her fingers and Telind began to float in the air as though he were getting grabbed by the throat by an invisible hand.

 

“W-what now?” Telind said weakly. “Are y-you not done? Just end it… end my existence! There’s nothing left for me…”
“You do NOT get to tell me when I’m done thrall,” Nyleine said. Her voice was deeper, darker than usual and she knew why. Possession. Last time this had happened it was a former Lich, but this time she had no clue which of the souls she had accidentally tapped into. But it mattered little for this soul and Nyleine shared the same opinion over the matter.
“I should make this painful. I should rip you limb from limb, no… I should scorch your body slowly over time starting with your hand and feet. Then I should feed you the remains as I move slowly closer to your torso. Maybe I should revert your feelings back to those of a mortal? Maybe I should just rip your soul in half and watch as even Oblivion won’t take you…”

 

Darene Fratecou… I never imagined we’d ever be on the same page. Fratecou was a half ass necromancer that believed that the purest form of darkness came in the form of the ultimate combination of Restoration, Destruction, and Conjuration or what she liked to call torture. ‘Fratecou always liked to say, Death is peace. Death is salvation. It is life that is truly darkness. Only in life can on experience the purest darkness.’
“As much as I agree with her, I wish you would just die!” Suddenly Nyleine stuck her hand through where Telind’s heart would have been had she not removed all of his organs before making him a thrall. “Bring her back… IF YOU WON’T DIE, THEN BRING HER BACK! BRING BACK NIYLEEN!!!”

Pain stuck Telind’s face but she didn’t care. He muttered something to her, but she didn’t care. His existence was now trivial to her in every shape and form.

With one final look into Telind’s eyes, Nyleine knew she had postponed this long enough. In one motion she removed her hand from his chest and blasted him full of sparks with the other one. Unlike her previous attacks, this one was aimed at the core of what was making him “Immortal”
Telind smiled as he realized what was happening to him. He looked down at Nyleine said almost in a whisper said, “Thank you Mistress… for everything…”
Nyleine turned her nose up at him and said, “’Thank you’? Are you insane!? I killed you, twice! And you dare to thank me? I… I—”

 

“Tell Niyleen it was never personal…”

 

“Tell her? She’s alive!? Wait, Telind. TELIND!!!” But it was too late. He had already turned into ashes and within the pile she saw two black soul gems.
“This is why I hate thralls. Piece of crap suicidal undead maggots.” As she calmed down, the aura around her died down. She knew exactly what Telind meant by ‘it was never personal’. He was a thrall. And no matter what he said or did, all he really wanted was to die. Thinking back, if he were a normal person she would have killed him many times over for patronizing Niyleen, but Telind was special. WAS.
Suddenly Nyleine let out a shriek and fell to her knees as all at once her body felt the after effects of using so much magic in such an unfiltered way. There wasn’t a part of her body that didn’t ache, but her hands and her head were getting the worst out of it. Her hands felt like a sabercat was gnawing on them nonstop, and her head felt like someone had been beating her upside the head with a mace for the past hour. This… aaahhh! This pain… it has to be a side effect of being near—
“Niyleen!” Nyleine turned quickly remembering Telind’s final words.
Disregarding how she felt, she crawled over to her big sister and noticed that Telind had indeed been telling the truth. It may have been barely, but Niyleen was still breathing softly.
Telind, you idiot. You should have just said you wanted to be released. We didn’t have to go through all of this. Nyleine let out a relieved sigh.
Using all of her remaining strength, she picked up Niyleen and said soothingly, “It’s all right now Sis. I’ve got you, and I’m going to make everything alright.”
Nyleine carried her slowly over toward her workbench and laid her down. She then cleaned and treated Niyleen’s wounds. “I-I did everything right, by the book. But Niyleen… she’s only getting worse.”
Pacing back and forth Nyleine began to panic. If I wasn’t weak from using my amulet…

 

“Do you need a healer?”
Nyleine whipped her head around and saw an unfamiliar woman in black standing there with unfamiliar magic in her hands.

 

“I said, do you need a healer?”