The spell Meesei cast to bring them out of time gave everyone in the pack permission for their shocked minds to take in her intentions. Still, Fendros and Janius could not find words.

Sabine was the one who spoke first, unlike most of her life. "Meesei?" she asked. "You were the one meant to face Vile. We...need you." Her previously focussed eyes filled with a sudden glaze of tears. "I will stay to help defend the lift! Do not do this!"

For a few moments, Meesei could only bring herself to slowly shake her head. As much as she had tried to fight it, she had seen this coming. She had made as much of an effort as she could with the portal, but she never felt it was likely she would succeed. Still, none of that made this moment any easier. What lay ahead for her would not hurt near as much as it did to look upon her family now.

“No…you wouldn’t be able to hold them long enough. None of us can, myself included. I…I cannot control the power that has been collected in the Staff, but…it doesn’t have to be controlled to be useful. The Staff can do what I cannot to give you the time you need, but someone has to release its power, and it is not going to be you, Sabine.” Meesei answered, her voice soft, but resolute.

Ahnasha had not reacted quite as quickly as some of the others, if only because she was trying to work out in her mind what plan Meesei had devised to escape. But, her words soon brought the reality of the situation to light. “You can’t be serious? You can’t…I…we need you, Meesei! Sabine is right! Hircine said it himself that his Champion will be the one to face Vile!”

Meesei took a step forward, reached her hand through the bars of the lift, and suddenly took Fendros’ hand in hers. She locked eyes with him for a few, long moments before pulling her hand back. “He will.”

When Fendros opened his hand, he would find in his palm the Ring of Hircine.

Fendros swallowed a bare drop down his dry throat. "It's not meant to be this way..." he managed to say in a monotone. The wolf nose of the ring felt like a sharp tooth in his palm. "We always get through together. That's how it has been for years."

The lift creaked as Janius warped a bar of the cage behind them with his free hand. But his head hung low. Even transformed, he could not muster the anger his bared teeth were looking for. This was Meesei's choice.

Sabine had not given up yet. "Is there no other way?" She pleaded. "Summon a daedra or shield yourself from all this...I...I can still help! The potions I have left!" Sabine hurriedly rifled through her shoulder bag for anything that could help Meesei survive.

Sabine had many powerful potions, even the sorts that could reflect a proportion of magic. Though the staff Meesei held was an artifact on the level of the divine.

"How will we go on?" Fendros asked helplessly. He could barely speak loud enough to be heard.

“You have not truly needed me for a long time.” Meesei answered softly. “Regardless of the power I have wielded, you can lead better than I ever have, Fendros. By your guidance, your pack, and our people, will thrive. Of that, I have no doubt.”

No matter how confident she wanted to be, Meesei still had a hard time facing Sabine in this moment. This pain was nothing she could have ever prepared herself for, and it would be even greater for Sabine. Silently at first, Meesei reached through the bars and took hold of Sabine’s hand as she was trying to search through her bag. She did try to smile, but even Meesei could not hold back her tears. “Sabine, you are…everything to me. You are everything I hoped…no, I knew you would become. I was not sure how to feel about all the pressure I know I put on you as my apprentice. I still…regret it, in ways. I still wish you could have lived for yourself and your own happiness, rather than taking up my legacy. But, you have succeeded in every way I could have dreamed. Not just as a mage, but in who you are. I could not be more proud of you, and I am happy to know that I could clear the way for you to finally live the life you deserve.”

Sabine had to bite on her lower lip to keep herself from crying out in despair. With Meesei's hand holding her, she was at least brought out of her frantic reaction slowly, but still fell apart devastated. She held onto Meesei with her forehead brought up to meet her snout. She sobbed, trying and failing to be strong. "I wanted to..." She had to pause to even remain intelligible. "I wanted to live that life with you there."

They all did. Everyone in the pack. Everyone betrayed their desire in their faces though they did not say it. Everyone except Fendros. Fendros took on a stony visage not unlike his father had at the best of times. He slid the Ring of Hircine onto his finger without a flinch. He hefted up the Rueful Axe in turn.

After a respectful while, Fendros put a hand on Sabine's shoulder and looked through the bars, straight at Meesei's eyes. "You will still be the champion in our eyes, Meesei. I'll see you again -- home or on the Hunting Grounds."

For a moment, Meesei tightened her grip on Sabine’s hand, then finally reached in her other hand to pull Sabine into a hug. It was somewhat awkward through the bars of the lift, but Meesei still held on for what felt like an eternity. Many of the others were, at least for a moment, speechless. Kaleeth’s eyes held a sadness one would not have thought possible on her crocodilian visage. Lorag shed what might have been tears for perhaps the first time in his life, at least that others had been able to see, though his rage towards their enemy also grew even stronger. He looked like he wanted to tear apart anything he could get his hands on that was even remotely associated with Vile.

Meesei did, however reluctantly, eventually release her grip on Sabine. She took a step back and finally allowed herself to look at each member of her pack in turn. “I…will not try to lie and pretend this will be easy for you. At the top of this tower is Clavicus Vile, the source of everything we have fought against. He is a god, and it is difficult to even comprehend the power he holds. But you are not alone. Our lord Hircine stands with you, and in your hands, Fendros, you hold the power to bring a god to his knees. I can feel…content to leave you now, because I know that you can do this. You can do what no others can. You are the sharpened teeth of Mundus itself, and you will prove Vile’s arrogance when you tear through his throat. Our war against Vile has been a struggle fit for the greatest legends in history, but this last battle is your story. I am simply proud to have been a part of it.”

Though despondent, Meesei's words succeeded at steeling everyone's courage enough to continue.

"We will never forget you," Sabine said.

"None will forget you," Janius affirmed. "That is certain."

Fendros nodded in solemn agreement. "And we will live up to all you prepared us for." He sighed, holding in the years of connection and care being painfully torn. "Pull the lever."

"Goodbye, Meesei," Janius rasped out.

Sabine pushed her tear-soaked eyes shut. "Goodbye, my mother."

Kaleeth’s expression could not fully convey the sadness and dread within her, with the exception of the look in her eyes. Even with their armored beast forms, she put her arm around Janius and sought comfort in embracing him. Ahnasha and Lorag had similarly grown quiet, but resolute. It was not easy to accept what was happening, but they were already looking ahead to what was to come. Though, Lorag did finally speak a few words through bared teeth. “Make these Daedra regret standing against you…then we’ll carry that same message to Vile.”

For a brief moment, Meesei brought her hand up to Sabine’s cheek. “You are so much stronger than you know.” She said before finally taking a step back and looking upon her pack as a whole. “Goodbye.”

As Meesei turned around, the color seemed to return to the world as time resumed its normal pace. The gears started turning and the lift began to ascend. Meesei finally turned back to face the battle that was drawing in ever closer. Ri’vashi’s warriors were fighting for their lives against an enemy that gave no quarter, backed into a corner with no more option for retreat. The presence of Molag Bal’s Daedra had been disruptive to Vile’s horde and, critically, had bought the time needed to get Meesei’s pack onto the lift. However, even a Dark Anchor could not bring in Daedra fast enough to halt Vile’s forces. By this point, Daedra were swarming in on their flanks in enough numbers to make it inevitable that they would be overwhelmed. Ri’vashi’s warriors had fought harder and longer than one could ever have expected of them, but everyone had their limits.

As the lift was rising behind them, Ri’vashi herself fell back to Meesei’s position. She did not seem exhausted to the same extent as some of the others, but her armor was stained from head to toe with blood and dirt. Meesei could not tell through her armor what injuries she might have sustained, though the blood covering her katana did hint at how many she had killed.

Ri’vashi could see the lift rising above them, with Meesei staying behind. “We cannot hold back the Daedra long enough for them to reach the top. Do you have a way to stop them?”

“I do.” Meesei answered simply, though her tone did not carry the kind of hope that those words would imply. Her voice was cold, severe, and unmistakably determined.

Ri’vashi did not require explanation. Regardless of the details, she knew what fate was at hand for both Meesei and their enemies, but her end was still hers to choose. She closed her eyes for a moment, tightened both hands around the hilt of her blade, and let out a long breath. “It has been an honor, Champion.” She brought her blade up into a high guard, pointing its tip directly forward. “Forward!” She shouted to what remained of her warriors. Without a hint of fear, she rushed straight forward down the very center of the Daedric lines. She avoided almost without effort the spears of the pair of Skaafin who tried to meet her, while one deft motion of her blade found the neck of the first, and pierced its tip through the heart of the second. Still, she did not stop, and did not hesitate to continue to cut forward deep into the Daedra’s lines as they enveloped her on all sides.

Meesei glanced up at the lift making its way up the side of the tower. “Just a little longer…” She muttered to herself. The others just needed to be a little higher before it would be safe. Ri’vashi’s final shout had the last remnant of her forces fighting to their very last breaths with every bit of strength that remained in their bodies. From the start of the battle to its end, Ri’vashi and her warriors had fought hard enough that the Daedra had to climb over a field of their own fallen just to reach them, but their advance was inevitable. Like Ri’vashi before them, the brave souls that remained fought, struggled, and were enveloped by the horde.

The Daedra first started to come in on the flanks. Smaller, fast-moving creatures like clannfear started to make it close to her first. She pushed one hand out towards them, and with it, a blast of telekintetic force that sent them flying back over the heads of the Daedra behind them. On her other side, she let loose a barrage of magical lightning that stuck to the ground as if it were flame. She spread it out in an arc all around her, charging the ground with lightning to slow or halt any Daedra who dared approach her. Then, came the spellfire. With her allies defeated, any mage in sight could focus on her. Skaafin, xivilai, dremora concentrated destruction spells onto her from any angle they could find.

With another brief glance up to the lift, Meesei jabbed the end of the Staff of Magnus into the dirt to free up her other hand to defend herself. It was not quite time to tap into the Staff’s power. Her ward was a powerful bulwark against any individual spell that came her way, but one after another was wearing it down. Behind the lights of the spells lashing against her ward, however, was the glow of lightning charged through her other hand. Most Daedra had some form of weakness against shock, and such spells were a certain specialty for Meesei.

In this situation, chain lightning could tear its way through multiple ranks of Daedra. Each bolt of lightning cracked and echoed through the valley, and struck with an intensity that few creatures could withstand. Rarely did it take more than one bolt to drop the mages they struck, though just killing mages would not be enough for long. Her wall of lightning had stalled them for a moment, but soon enough, the Daedric frontline started to push through regardless. Lightning struck from the ground up, burning flesh and killing some of the weaker ones, but the rest could push through the pain.

Taking in a deep breath, Meesei knew it was time for one, final effort. All of her focus, every bit of strength and magicka she had left in her body was concentrated in between her hands. Her mind synchronized with the chaos of the destructive force she sought to command: the element of lightning. She gave no further regard to endurance or technique, only to pure, raw power, enhanced by Sabine’s potions, and by sheer force of will. When the closest of the Daedra were but mere steps away, she finally unleashed a storm of lightning to rival the fury of nature itself. Nothing close to her stood even the slightest chance as they were practically vaporized, and it only continued to chain from Daedra to Daedra behind them. Everything from lowly scamps to mighty harvesters fell to the power that pierced through their bodies. Whether their hearts stopped or they simply burned to death from the heat, all that was left over half a dozen ranks deep into the horde were bodies, and injuries spread even beyond that.

Immediately as the storm ended, Meesei collapsed onto her hands and knees. She felt like nearly every shred of strength had been drained from her body. Every last ounce of power she had was put into her spell, and what she had gained in exchange were…seconds. For every Daedra she had destroyed, there were a hundred more in the horde behind them to take their place. Already, Daedra beyond the range of her spell were climbing over the smoking bodies of the fallen to reach her. All of her effort had pushed them back by just a few seconds, but with a glance up at the rising lift far above her, Meesei could not help but to smile. Seconds were all that she had needed.

Grabbing a hold of the Staff of Magnus once more, Meesei pulled herself up to her feet. There was hardly any strength left in her body, but her own strength was no longer needed. The stolen power in the Staff was all she needed now. Even at her best, Meesei could not hope to control such immense power. All she could manage would be to release it, and to tune it to a particular target. From all sides, the Daedra closed in, roaring their battlecries, but Meesei simply closed her eyes and ignored the noise. Taking in one more, deep breath, she raised up the Staff once more, focused her mind, then jabbed it back into the ground.

From above, what one would see below was a white light brighter than the sun itself, followed by an indescribably intense wave of power with a deep red hue. It was almost raw magicka, just barely given the most rudimentary form into the destructive property of damage. Despite its strength, the energy could pass through most objects without so much as interacting with it, except for the one thing Meesei had managed to tune it to touch: life. The wave of energy spread over the Daedric horde like a flood, reaching nearly to the rear of their ranks. As well, it spread up into the air, enveloping the winged twilights that had started to swarm above until it fizzled out just barely short of the pack’s lift. Every being it touched, Daedra or mortal, became but ash in the wind.

Sabine held onto Meesei's hand so tightly that it hurt for a time after their final separation. Collapsing to her knees in the cage, Sabine balled her fists and tried to breathe evenly. She could not. It was written all over her face.

The pack could only watch the scene below them, occasionally calling to shoot down flying enemies threatening their cage. Some parts of them wanted to tear the cage open and jump down to pluck their leader out of death's jaws. The rest knew it would be impossible.

Fendros wished he was strong enough to watch when the Daedra closed in on Meesei, but he could not. He closed his eyes, perceiving the great wave of light coming through his eyelids. He could not watch the mentor, saviour, family member, and friend that Meesei had become meet her demise. Not that anyone could see it in the brightness.

It did not hit them all quite so hard as seeing the field of ash left behind below them. It spread out like a hole in their hearts, gently misting the disturbed dust of what was.

Fendros' grip tightened on the Rueful Axe. Its name seemed appropriate now. "Pack," he ordered with a new confidence. "We must avenge them all."

Sabine and Janius both perked up unexpectedly at the tone. Through their sadness, their spirits knew Fendros to be their new alpha. Their new leader and protector. Some part of the overwhelming grief welling up inside them went still. Just enough to keep going.

For a short time, there was a silence among the group, though Lorag eventually let out an enraged roar. For him, it looked like he wanted to rip to pieces anything he could get his hands on. Fortunately, there was still enough of his rational mind remaining to hold off on taking his anger out on the bars of the lift around them.

The energy from the release of magic had come perhaps worryingly close to touching the bottom of the lift, but it seemed that they were among the few in sight of it to come out unscathed. From above, they could see what looked like some Daedra remaining in the distance, likely from near the rear of the Daedric horde, but they were far too distant to be able to reach the base of the tower in time to stop the pack. All they had left to face was what was at the top of the tower.

“You’re right. We need to focus.” Ahnasha said after Frendros. There is still Vile left. Still our mission to accomplish. If we don’t do that…then none of this will have mattered. “ She looked towards Sabine. In addition to the sigil stone Hal-Neesa had given them, she was also the one with the sigil stone meant to bring Hircine to their aid. “If we see Vile, I wouldn’t hesitate to use the stone immediately. To have a chance of hurting Vile, we will need lord Hircine.”

Ahnasha moved closer to Fendros, placing a hand on his shoulder as she spoke more softly. “When we do face Vile, when it finally comes time to attack…all that matters is getting to him with that axe. I don’t know what Vile will do, or what will be in our way, but we will do everything to get you to him, and there can be no looking back.” She said, letting out a long breath. “No matter what.”

Sabine nodded in response to Ahnasha. She slowly got back to her feet. Grief brushed against her throat, threatening her composure, but reaching into her satchel and taking out the sigil stone did help. She held it tightly to her stomach.

Meanwhile, Fendros allowed himself to soften at Ahnasha's touch. He returned her gaze with a knowing but stoic face. "We'll do it for Rhazii."

He rested the axe on the floor with one hand and held Ahnasha in a close hug. He closed his eyes and let the moment last as long as he dared, but he had to be there for everyone.

"Pack," he said, letting Ahnasha step aside. "If there's one thing we know about Vile, it is his underhanded treachery. Do not expect a fair fight. Do not expect an easy way in...or out. Remember what we're here for. Who we're here for. And doubt what your senses want to percieve. Ready yourselves."

Soon enough, the lift reached its apex, and the bars opened as soon as it came to a stop. The top of the tower was a large, open, and mostly featureless flat area, which made what was there stand out quite easily. At the center was an ornate pedestal, above which shattered red crystal was floating amid a dark violet field of raw magicka. It seemed to be drawing power from a bright glowing light high above, which appeared to be at the convergence of the pillars of energy they had seen spiraling around the tower. The same pillars Meesei had used to fill the Staff of Magnus with power.

Of course, what would immediately draw the attention of the pack was the being that sat beyond the crystal, on the other side of the tower. Sat upon a huge marble throne was what could only be Clavicus Vile himself. His appearance was not unlike a Skaafin, though one who was nearly the size of a giant. He wore deep blue finery and sat back, tapping one finger on the arm of his throne. His expression was one less of anger than it was intense irritation. Still, he did not so much as stand as he looked upon the mortals who had invaded his tower. From anyone, or anything else, his voice would not have been particularly intimidating, but everything about him had a certain, intangible presence to it. “There is nothing more annoying than pests. Except…perhaps servants too incompetent to exterminate them. What has this world come to when I have to quash them myself?”

While it was hard to divert one’s attention from a Daedric Prince, there was at least one more point of interest within view. Off to the side, near the edge of the tower, there was a small cage, barely large enough to contain the being within. Inside, there was what appeared to be a dog, a mostly normal mutt by appearances, except that it appeared quite mangy and emaciated.

Fendros stepped out of the lift first. He held the Rueful Axe in his right hand behind himself. His left hand had a ward ready to protect him, as if it would be much use. The rest of the pack quickly followed and fanned out.

In the moment they had to take in the situation, Fendros almost hesitated. Their target was right in front of them. It seemed too simple. But there was no time to hesitate.

"Not just us," Fendros retorted. "Sabine?"

Sabine already had the sigil stone in her hands. Her thoughts were not distracted enough by the dog in the cage to activate the stone and bring forth their master.

The thought did cross Sabine's mind. Was the dog who she thought it was? And why was it trapped?

Anything else that might have been said in the moment was overshadowed by Sabine’s activation of the sigil stone. The enchantment on the stone had originally been meant to help break through the powerful barriers between Mundus and Oblivion, and comparatively, the barriers between two realms of Oblivion were much weaker. As such, even the interference from the magicka converging on this tower was not enough to stop a Daedric Prince like Hircine from being able to focus on the sigil stone’s power.

It took only a few seconds for the glowing portal to appear just above the top of the tower, and only a few moments more for Hircine to descend from it. The form the Great Huntsman took at this moment was roughly equal in size to that of Vile. The very instant another Daedric Prince had stepped onto the battlefield, Clavicus Vile gave no more attention to Fendros’ pack. In fact, neither of the Princes seemed to pay any mind to the mortals around them.

The voice with which Hircine spoke seemed like it could be felt as much as it could be heard. “You hoard what belongs to me, trickster.”

Vile glared back with an expression that finally seemed to show genuine anger as he stood to his feet from his throne. “If you couldn’t keep a hold of it yourself, then you didn’t deserve it, beast.”

This second time seeing the Daedric Prince Hircine was no less diminished in the pack's eyes. Even as gargantuan as Hircine appeared in his own realm, his imposing height and beastly antlered head imposed on them a sense of supplication. But they were not here for worship. They were here for battle.

The stand off between Vile and Hircine was unlikely to last long. Fendros was acutely aware of his new responsibility to his pack, despite their agreement to sacrifice. He gestured to his right without taking his eyes of Vile. "Get each side," he ordered, and they instinctively split into two groups. Fendros, Janius, Kaleeth, and Ahnasha paced left around Hircine. Sabine, Do'Rhajul, Tarna, and Lorag took the path on the right. Fendros' ward flared up to provide cover for those in his group. They would need to create their own chances as a team to land the Rueful Axe on their enemy.

As Sabine edged around with her own ward at the ready. She found herself more distracted by the cage. "Are you Barbas?" She hissed out of the corner of her mouth while facing Vile. "Should we not be fighting you as well?"

As Clavicus Vile eventually took notice of Fendros’ pack starting to circle around him, he actually appeared surprised for a moment, then soon started to laugh. “Wait…are you telling me that the “Great Huntsman” is actually depending on these insects to help fight me? That is…hilarious! How desperate are you?” He said with an even harder laugh. “I’ll admit, there was a moment there where I was actually slightly worried, but this is just pathetic.”

Regardless of Vile’s amusement, it seemed there was no more provocation needed for Hircine to strike. Pointing his spear forward, Hircine rushed at Vile, prompting the rest of the pack to do the same since Hircine clearly seemed to have his attention. Unfortunately, they had hardly made it a few steps before a brightly glowing magic barrier appeared encircling Vile on all sides to cut the pack off from him, while also trapping Hircine inside with him. “I’ll crush the insects in a few minutes. First, I’m going to have fun with you, Huntsman.”

Hircine turned his spear around, stabbing it into the barrier and unleashing his power through the weapon to try to break through it, but he was interrupted by an incredibly powerful surge of energy struck his back. The magic bore a deep red glow and seemed like it burned at Hircine’s very essence harshly enough to send even him to his knees. It would take more than one strike to defeat Hircine, but this was the kind of power that could injure a god.

“Was this really your plan?” Another, weak voice sounded out near to Sabine. It came from the dog in the cage, though it did not seem like it was actually “speaking” aloud. It felt more like the voice was in the minds of each and every member of the pack. “Yeah, you’ve got my name right, but my master doesn’t really need me to fight anything, on account of the fact that he still has my half of our power. It feels like it’s only been a few years since my essence re-formed after I was killed…by that axe, actually. I really hate that thing. Been in this cage ever since.” He said, gesturing one paw towards Fendros.

Witnessing Hircine struggle behind the barrier made Fendros' heart sink. They were lacking in raw power and their element of surprise was spent.

"Not yet..." Fendros raised the Rueful Axe to strike the barrier, a last ditch effort, but hesitated. Barbas' voice rang out clearly in a way that somewhat thawed the stakes of the situation.

Sabine, falling back to conversational habit, reflected Barbas' tone. "I'm sorry to hear that. I...um..." She threw a dispelling magic at the barrier and saw it evaporate in a blink of an eye. "Cages...I do not like them either."

Perhaps against her better judgement, Sabine tries to cast an entirely different spell. One to unlock Barbas' cage. No questions asked.

Janius roared in frustration. Nothing about this was right.

"I agree," Fendros said, still poised to fight. "The Staff of Magnus might have done something about this, but..." He was not even sure what to make of the dog in the cage. He tried to focus on what was in front of him. "Do'rhajul. Your shield, will that work?"

Do’rhajul shook his head. “The shield forms an impenetrable wall against magical attacks, but there is little it can do against another ward.”

Inside Vile’s shield, Hircine had quickly regained his footing, lunging back with impossible speed. His great spear glowed with an intense violet light as he thrust it forward, but Vile simply held out his hand to project another ward that stopped the attack seemingly without difficulty. Clavicus Vile had once been among the weakest Daedric Princes, but now he bore stolen power that even Hircine could not approach.

Ahnasha looked around frantically for anything they could use, any other options. Fendros was right, the Staff of Magnus had been their weapon. Mortals might not hope to challenge a Daedric Prince, but that Staff was a thing of the gods. It could have given them the strength, even if just for few moments, to do what they needed to do. Now, they had to find some other way.

The unlocking spell was not enough to unseal the cage, and Barbas simply kept his eyes looking up at Sabine with his head laid down on the floor of the cage. “Well, that’s awful nice of you to try. You were closer with the first spell, you’d just have to be a lot stronger with it. The ward on the cage is really meant more to keep me in, than to keep anyone else out. I figure a mortal could…probably do it.”

“Strong dispel magic, then.” Ahnasha remarked. “I…don’t think I could do it. Meesei had learned some powerful forms of dispelling, I know. Did she ever teach you, Sabine? Do you think you can do it?”

Lorag looked to be growing more and more frustrated the longer he could find no way around the barrier. Despite that, though, he still heard enough to tell what Sabine was trying to do. “Why do you even want to let that thing out? You actually trust that mongrel? It’s one of Vile’s.”

“Hmm, well Clavicus is my master.” Barbas remarked, strangely in seeming agreement with Lorag. “I’d say not to be too hard on him. My master just tends to get too focused on the wrong things without my helpful advice. I keep telling him this whole plan isn’t going to work out in the end. I mean, sure, he can defeat Hircine, take most of his power, and rebuild the Tower. That part will work fine. But…like I said, I don’t think he’s thinkin’ the next part through after that. ‘Course, I could never fight my master. Why, that would be almost like fighting myself!”

There was a brief pause as Barbas weakly stood up to his feet, which his cage barely even gave him the room to do. “If I did get out, I could get my half of our power back. I’m sure master would want me to help him, but...well, it would probably take me a few days to acclimate to my power again. Couldn’t really do much until then…”

The pack waited for a course of action. Lorag was right -- he was even following Fendros' advice to be wary of treachery.

Fendros looked back at the conflict between the daedric princes. He looked around the tower summit. Then, clenching his jaw, he looked to Sabine. "We're out of time and options. Can you do it, Sabine!?"

Sabine was hesitating. "I..." She trailed off.

This time, Janius spoke through his snout, almost defeated by how little he could do to help. "Meesei would use those chains of hers."

Fendros' eyes lit up. "Right! The dispelling chain spell she took from the Thalmor officer!"

Sabine retorted desperately. "I understand how Meesei did it! I have never tried it myself."

"Now is the time!" Pushing up his helmet to speak clearly, Fendros barked to Sabine like an order. "Do it! You know she believed you her peer."

Even with Sabine at the head of her own pack now, her instincts fell into her response to steel her resolve with Fendros' voice. She turned to the cage and held her hands close together. The careful beginnings of a powerful dispelling effect coalesced between them in a bright pink light. The next stage painted a strain over Sabine's fingers and face. A deep and precious reserve of her magicka poured into the process, much more than she would normally be comfortable investing into a fight. A bright metallic clink rang out and her shoulders suddenly dropped.

Fendros at first thought Sabine had let go of the spell early and slumped her shoulders in failure. A second later, Sabine swung her arm around, throwing a length of ethereal chain links to wrap around the cage and whip to a stop with a bright, breaking flash.

The chain faded. Sabine had cast the spell. It was up to Barbas' actions to tell if it had worked.

Following the flash of light, Barbas touched a paw curiously to the cage’s door. The magical seal had been what was containing him, so the cage had no physical lock. When he pressed his nose against it, the door opened right away. Clavicus Vile was still occupied with Hircine and did not notice right away, but as soon as Barbas stepped outside the cage, Vile made eye contact with him. In that moment, many brightly glowing streams of energy flowed through the air from Vile to Barbas. Some passed harmlessly around Fendros’ pack, but any who could feel them would glimpse the near incomprehensible power of a god.

“You…ungrateful, insufferable mutt! I’ll…” Vile began, but Barbas did not say a word. He looked past Fendros’ pack up at his master for just a moment before a blinding flash of light filled the area. It lasted just a brief second, and when it faded, Barbas had seemingly vanished.

While Vile was distracted, Hircine was finally given an opening. The Great Huntsman moved with unbelievable speed and managed to land a thrust with his spear to the right side of Vile’s chest. The weapon of a god, of course, could pierce the body of another, though it was not blood that flowed forth. The wound actually appeared to glow with a bright white light from Vile’s very essence, further fueling the Daedra’s rage. Still, even with all that had just happened, Vile still answered back with a pulse of magicka that radiated out in all directions around him, slamming Hircine once again to the ground. The barrier that Vile had created to keep back Fendros’ pack had fallen, but luckily, he did not yet direct most of his rage towards the pack. Hircine was still the one with his focus.

“So these insects actually found some small way to help you after all? How pathetic…and pointless. Even at half my strength, I am still far more powerful than you!” Clavicus Vile shouted. Just as Hircine pushed off the ground to dash forward towards him, he was stopped in his tracks as tendrils of Daedric magic extended forth from Vile’s hand to envelop the Huntman’s body to start corroding his very being. Despite all of the power Barbas had taken from him, he did not seem to be bluffing. “It is such a shame. I was going to enjoy forcing your ‘hounds’ to watch you fail before their eyes, but now I suppose I am just going to have to have them put down.”

Clavicus Vile slowly waved one hand in the direction of Fendros’ pack, and in its wake, dozens upon dozens of conjuration portals appeared between them and Vile, each one bringing forth another Daedra. Fortunately, Meesei’s sacrifice had destroyed many of Vile’s most powerful servants in the battle below for the moment, but there were still a few powerful Daedra among them, and the pack was heavily outnumbered.