Kvaasik - The Turning Tide

1 - The Rise of Thras
2 - The Cold Front
3 - Change in Wardrobe
4 - The Unsinkable City
5 - An Unlikely Patron
6 - The Purring Liar
7 - The Dismantling Dilemma
8 - The Shade in Sunlight
9 - Varen's Folly
10 - The Soul Siphon
11 - The Astral Escapade
12 - His Master's Student
13 - The Graveyard in the Closet
14 - The Blue Ambush
15 - The Red Redemption
16 - The Liar's End

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17 - The Field Work
18 - The Trouble With Taproot
19 - Lessons from Coldharbour
20 - Tower of the Black Worm
21 - A Wolf Among Sheep
22 - The Revelation
23 - The Turning Tide
24 - A Tale of Two Choices

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We continued on our journey in silence. Calixto was still reeling from the information I gave him, including the contents of my dream, but he showed no signs of fear or anger. In fact, his resolve seemed to intensify, an admirable trait that separated him from the other inhabitants of this wasteland of a region.

The silence was broken suddenly when Calixto asked a question. “Could… could Mannimarco help bring back my sister?” I thought over the question. Reanimation with an undamaged consciousness is a difficult task. “If anyone can help you, it would be the God of Worms.” Calixto gave a somber sigh, heavy with conflicted emotions rather than with force.

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The stone ruin stood sternly in the distance. Two undead guards drifted by the entrance; no doubt the remains of cultists who had been slain within the Tower many days before I entered it. “Stay close, Calixto. If you stray too far from me, they may assume hostility.”

The undead guards looked with empty eyes at us and gripped their weapons, but did not attack. Calixto and I entered the temple and began to descend down the spiral staircase. We passed many other Sloads without disguises, as well as those who had secured a corpse to merge with. Calixto’s expression was some mixture of curiosity, wonder, and fear, but he still followed me into the center of the Tower.

I found S’Gast in one of the sleeping quarters. He had merged with an aged Altmer in blue robes, suiting his studious nature. “Kvaasik. You have come with...an outsider? Curious. Line him up with the other hosts and ready it for merging.” He had since been practicing his language skills, and he now sounded like a scholar. I ignored his request and spoke of the pressing issue. “S’Gast, I have had a vision.”

His eyebrow rose. “A vision? What did you foresee?”

I replied, “The God of Worms. He is still alive, only trapped. It is our duty to—“

“Are you suggesting we abandon our current mission?”S’Gast’s tone contained something I had not noticed before, though I could not determine what.

“We owe our existence to Mannimarco. That debt can only be settled by--”

“You follow my orders, not some silly premonition you think you had. Now, I expect you to make a corpse of this visitor that you so vainly brought into our domain, and prepare it for merging.” I was about to tell him that the vision came from the Necromancer Amulet, and that Calixto would be more use to us alive, but I stopped myself. I saw what had tainted his voice; he was hungry for control, not for our race, but for himself. The Sload are many things, but we hold the God of Worms above all else. I knew what I must do.

“Very well, S’Gast.” I motioned for Calixto to follow me, and we strode towards the central chamber, where the portal and planemeld apparatus were held. Calixto spoke, with a tinge of uneasiness, when we were out of earshot of S’Gast. “You won’t kill me, will you? I am much more use to you--”

“No, I will not.” I looked at him. “This is a hazardous move, one that will certainly make all of Thras our enemy. Are you ready?” He nodded slowly; I did not know why, but I knew he would trust me.

As we entered the central chamber, one of the Sload was in the process of merging with a Nord female wearing simplistic clothing. She may have been from the nearby towns, or perhaps travelling through them. The Sload stood opposite the corpse of the woman, and the two planemeld rods sparked with Daedric energy. The electricity jumped from one pylon to the Sload, then through it to the dead body, then to the other pylon, and finally to the Staff of Worms standing between the two rods, creating a closed arcane circuit. Calixto and I watched, him in awe and me in impatience, as the two bodies were drawn together into one form, then the rods stopped sparking. The Sload opened its eyes, testing out the limbs of its host, then walked away and up the spiral staircase behind us. “That was incredible! I have so much to take note of.”

“You will have much more than an observation of the experiment soon enough, Calixto. S’Gast will not let you leave alive; at least, not knowingly. Calixto,” I stared into his eyes, “I need you to merge with me.”

Calixto’s eyes widened in surprise. “I thought you wouldn’t kill me.”

“I will not. Theoretically, we could merge while leaving both minds and bodies intact. Then, after we escape, we could separate once more.”

Calixto thought for a moment, taking a deep breath, then nodded grimly. “Very well, Kvaasik. I trust you enough. But, you must shed your current... host.”

I stepped onto the spot between the planemeld rods. The apparatus sparked to life immediately, then connected to me with a beam of Daedric energy. Where the merging process had chaotic forks of lightning, the parting process was much more controlled, pulling the Arevyn’s corpse from my natural Sload body with silver, glowing light.

I reopened my eyes, and I once again felt the comfort of my own form, the pleasant warmth of my skin, the freeing feeling of my tail. I took a breath, then motioned for Calixto to stand next to me. The Sload seemed to modify the apparatus so that the nirnroot mixture I had used for my first experiment was redundant; efficiency happens to be one of the Sload’s many talents.

Sheepishly, Calixto joined me between the planemeld pylons, and the energy leapt to Calixto and to me. I felt the lightning streak through my soul and body, and a quick singe of pain seared through me. Darkness enveloped my eyes, and when my eyelids lifted, I could feel Calixto’s mind within me.