Oblivion's Shadow

III. Necessary Risks

They stopped to make camp near Ivarstead when evening grew close; Riften was a day's ride away. Their departure from the Twilight Sepulcher was ridden in entire silence and it was the same as they made camp and fixed dinner—no one knew what to say.

Macayla's thoughts were not only circling around the threat to Tamriel and how she could protect her husband, child, and friends, but also on the Skeleton Key hidden near her breast. The Key maintained a steady warmth, making itself ever present, so she could never forget that it was there. Like she even could; it was such a temptation to pull it out and look at it.

No one had much of an appetite, so dinner was small; once through, they just stared into the fire, trying to think of what they could do.

"Should we send a message to all the Jarls, tell them to be prepared for what might happen?" Karliah asked after a deep breath.

"No, we can't tell everyone; it'll create mass hysteria," Brynjolf quickly answered. "But we'll tell the Guild; they'll keep quiet and we owe them an explanation for why we'll be gone if Mehrunes Dagon opens a Gate. We'll handle this like they did before."

"They didn't know beforehand," Macayla stated.

"No. No, they didn't." Brynjolf rubbed his face in frustration. He looked at his palms for a while as he thought. She knew when her husband tried to think of something and not to distract him; Karliah didn't.

"I want the Guild to know—they're my friends too—but how can we choose one group of people to warn and not others?"

After a while, he came to some conclusion. "This is what we'll do: we'll go to Jarl Laila Law-Giver in our Nightingale armor to convince her of what we are and what Nocturnal has told us. She'll send out a message to each of the Jarls of Mehrunes Dagon but not to publicly announce it—just prepare the guards to be on the lookout for an influx of dremora; we have to know where his Gate is so we can send him back."

Macayla liked the idea; Karliah didn't.

"The point of remaining thieves and Nightingales is by staying in the shadows, not declaring who we are; we'll be putting our lives at risk by going straight to the Jarl who probably wants us in jail for stealing from her and her Thanes."

"If she even knows, mind you," Macayla reminded. "And Karliah, no matter what we do, we're all at risk. If you think some should know, customs must be broken in this situation, because how else is she going to believe us without being shown proof that Nightingales exists?"

"Trust me, lass, I'm not going to be comfortable standing in front of the law, but this has to be done if we want others to believe that we aren't making up a story," Brynjolf added in.

"To keep our identities a secret, we won't show our faces," Macayla suggested. "Hopefully our voices won't be recognized."

The Dunmer thought about it for a while. "Well... I guess you're right."

Brynjolf turned to her. "After all that we dealt with from Nocturnal possessing you, it surprised me that you offered yourself to her. So, why did you?"

Macayla had made herself remember what she had felt after Nocturnal freed her before she offered to be a host again. She had to be sure that she was willing to go through it all again; Aadalyn had made her decide—if it meant she could protect her better, she could handle some discomfort. "I've hated her for what she did—I still do—but I will do anything to keep Aadalyn safe and if that means having Nocturnal in me again to have her power, so be it. And if she does decide to accept my offer, I'm hoping it won't be so vexing since I know the difference between us. Even though she's a Daedric Lord, it's my body and I'll make sure she knows it."

He grabbed her hand. "As long as you're sure..."

"I am."

"Then if you can do it again, so can I—for Aadalyn."

They fell quiet again for a while; only the pops of the fire, buzz of insects, and howls of distant wolves provided noise.

Karliah shook her head. "Reading about the Oblivion Crisis scared me so bad; I can't believe we might have to go through it again. I know Nocturnal said it's pointless to pray that something doesn't happen when it probably will, but I'm still going to."

"Us too, lass; us too," Brynjolf said.

***

They gathered the Guild to tell them why they had been called to the Twilight Sepulcher so urgently. Even though Macayla had longed to keep Aadalyn safe in her arms forever, she had encouraged her daughter to go spend the night with a friend—she didn't need to hear about the possible end of the world; it would surely terrify her and she wouldn't be able to keep the horrible news to herself. It was hard enough maintaining an unconcerned attitude and lying to her that everything was fine when she wanted to know why they left.

Pretending for Aadalyn was easier than having to remain stoic for the Guild. As they all blanched over hearing their news of Mehrunes Dagon, Sapphire and Tonilia seeking comfort in Rune's and Vekel's arms, and looking like they were ready to run, Macayla had to stay poised—as the Guildmaster, they looked to her for confidence. She was also one of the three Nightingales: possessed by Nocturnal, exposed Mercer Frey, killed him, restored the Guild to its former glory, and an agent of Nocturnal. Honestly, she wanted to duck into Brynjolf's chest and let her panic show, but if they saw her crumble, so would they.

But Mehrunes Dagon wasn't a mortal man like Mercer; he was an immortal Daedric Lord. How could she possibly portray confidence that they could defeat him when she didn't have it herself? Perhaps if they got the assistance of Meridia and Azura, her confidence would grow, but she didn't really have any right now. Just determination to do what had to be done to keep her friends and family safe. Brynjolf and Karliah on either side of her struggled under the same thing, but they also hid their emotions very well.

"What do we do?" Niruin asked.

"There's nothing we can do," Brynjolf answered.

"Nothin'?" Delvin repeated.

"So, we just let it happen?" Thrynn asked.

"There's nothing we can do to stop Mehrunes Dagon from opening a Gate. We've already taken a precautionary step to prevent him from opening another Gate by closing the Ebonmere."

Macayla took over. "What we will do is to carry on like before. I know it will be difficult, but we do not need to spread fear. There is no absolute guarantee that he can open a Gate, but if he does, we three will leave again to seek out help." At the last second, she decided not to tell them of going to Meridia and Azura—the less that knew of their whereabouts, the safer they would be. "I also believe we will be hunted because we are the only ones who can reopen the Ebonmere.

"With us gone, Vex and Delvin will be in charge again. If thieving stopped all together, others will become suspicious so carry on, but I do stress caution. If a Gate is opened, Tamriel will be invaded by dremora. Choose your jobs wisely based on what you have heard of a place and travel together—even you, Thrynn. Be smart. If Skyrim becomes too dangerous, remain here; I do not want anyone hurt."

"I feel you have something else to say," Vex said.

She nodded. "We will be going to the Jarl tomorrow to ask her to send a warning to the other Holds."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Dirge began. "She'll have the Nightingale Trinity, the Guildmaster, and three of the best thieves in her reach; she'll throw you in jail or behead you before you could say a word."

"We don't have another option," Karliah said. "We talked it over and they convinced me that this is our only choice. We don't know how much time we have, so we can't go tell each Jarl in person and her word carries more weight than ours."

"But do you think she'll even believe you?" Vex asked.

"We have to hope that she will."

Macayla desperately hoped that she would too; Jarl Laila Law-Giver was levelheaded, so she would at least give them an audience. Believing that Mehrunes Dagon and his dremora followers might be invading Tamriel soon was questionable. If she didn't, they would definitely be thrown in jail; then there would be no possibility of stopping Mehrunes Dagon. They had to take that risk.