10: Enter Oblivion

I had been walking from the church to the Mages’ Guild. The birds were chirping and the sun was bright. Nothing was out of place, and no one paid any more attention to me than usual. But suddenly I felt magicka. Raw, undirected, powerful magicka. It was saturating the area around me, and the air tasted like it usually does after a lighting storm. Suddenly, I realized what it was:

“Oblivion!”

I was pulled off my feet and yanked forward by my stomach. It was like someone had grabbed me by the belly button and pulled me through the barriers between Tamriel and Oblivion. Suddenly, I was spinning through some strange empty space. And then, everything was blackness.

I could feel myself break into Oblivion when my shoulders were nearly ripped out of their sockets. I sprawled onto the ashen ground and shuddered. My mind was disconnected, and my thoughts were random and insane. When my mind did return to me, I looked around me for the first time.

Horror is the only single word I could use to describe it. Oblivion was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen in my life. The ground was made of ash, and the air consisted of a large amount of it too. Flames were everywhere, and the air reeked of not only ash, but blood and death. Huge, bloody spikes rose from the ash, and from them hung rotting corpses. I started to retch, and as I turned away from the horrendous scene, I found myself face to hideous face with a small Scamp. It opened its mouth to snarl at me, and received a mouthful of vomit for its efforts.

It gurgled and stumbled backwards. I quickly gripped its face and froze the vomit to its skin, then drew my mace and smashed it across the Daedra’s horrid face. It died, but I knew it would not be long before it was back. Daedra are immortal, and killing their physical form only banishes them for a short while. I wiped my face and turned to face a small crowd of Scamps!

I braced myself, and as three of the Scamps detached themselves from the group and rushed towards me. They were uncoordinated, and each attacked individually instead of a more unified assault. I brought my mace up into the chest of the first scamp and heard the crack of its ribcage. The second Scamp launched at me and knocked me off me feet, but I was able to throw it off me and into a pool of lava just behind me. It squealed and melted before my eyes, and I was confident it would not come back for some time. The third scamp observed me for a moment, then a fireball materialized in its hand and it threw it at me.

I raised my hands, and just before the fireball struck them I let loose a blast of frost that neutralized most of the fireball. I then lunged at the Scamp and smashed its small skull in with my mace. I then feel to one knee and caught my breath. There were four Scamps remaining in the group, and I did not know if I could face them. I scribbled a note into my journal, quaffed a restorative potion and felt my limbs strengthen, and I was able to get to my feet. The Scamps had been watching me fight their smaller friends, and now they snarled and moved in to attack. They were unified in their movements, and I was soon surrounded and helpless.

The first Scamp attacked from behind me, and I felt its jaws close on my shoulder. I screamed and tried to pull it off of me, but the other Scamps saw their opportunity and rushed in to bite and tear at my flesh. I began screaming, and as they ripped through me, I was suddenly spinning again. The empty void filled me once more, and I was pulled back into Cheydinhal. I collapsed onto the steps of the Mages’ Guild and all was darkness…