The Imperial City was in chaos. The clouds and sky swirled in deathly colors of black, orange, and red. The daedra were spilling the blood of her brothers in armor and terrorizing the civilians as they fled to their homes.

Then everything went black. Her heart pounded in the background of the darkness.

The giant beast loomed over the city, his red eyes glaring down at her. His roar was spine curling. It made everyone shake in the knees.

Everything was black again; her heart still beating in her head.

His face was sullen; eyes showed he had something in mind, but she wasn't going to like it. She could still smell his scent as he brought her face closer to his. Those icy blue eyes were pouring in to hers. Then her heart began to ache with pain as his lips were moving, but no words were coming out. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her beating heart.

Then black again.

The giant daedric beast clashed with a fire dragon in a loud and angry fury. The dragon taking its blows, the beast taking his as they both crashed down into the temple floor and back up again. Her vision blurred and flashed in and out each time the dragon roared from the blows.

Black again. Her heartbeat became more rapid, her stomach tightened, and her head began to spin.

Her vision came back slowly as the dragon's wings stretched away from its body and its head reached upward towards the heavens. Then its body began to freeze to stone. She never took her eyes away from the sight. Sound finally came, but it was cries of pure sorrow. It was her own voice; her own cries... her own overwhelming grief.

The world began to spin and shake as the sky suddenly came crashing down on her...

Tala awoke suddenly from her sleep and sat upright, realizing that she was safe in her warm bed under the roof of her shack on the Waterfront. It was still late at night, since she could hear the crickets chirping outside her window. She put her hands over her face to try and rid herself of the nightmare when she realized there were tears running down her face, yet again. She wiped her hands across her cheeks and down her neck to dry her face.

Once again, the memory of that day had haunted her in her dreams. It had only been two weeks since the City had witnessed the upheaval of Mehrunes Dagon and their new emperor sacrificing his life to vanquish the daedric prince and protect the people. Before all of this, she was a young maiden that had struggled to make a name for herself, and one that day she assisted the emperor in this unforgettable battle and was declared the Champion of Cyrodiil. The man she fought side by side with was declared as the greatest emperor in history for his sacrifice. What was left of him was resting peacefully inside the Temple of the One.

Nirn was safe from Oblivion now, but the scars of the Crisis were still healing. The damage done by the daedra was nearly fixed in the other major cities and the destruction in the Imperial City was still being repaired. Another month, and no one would have ever guessed that daedra had stormed their streets and ravaged their homes.

Tala also sustained her own wounds that day, but nothing Restoration magic didn't solve. Although magic and time had healed her physical scars, it would never heal the scars in her mind... and in her heart.

She stayed up until sleep overcame her again, then she laid back down and tried to get some rest. She had to get up and let the people in the Imperial City give her their praises that they had been singing since the end of the Crisis. She was their Champion now; it wouldn't be right to avoid them when all they wanted to do was express their gratitude to her for saving the city. She wanted recognition and now she had it. She only wished that she could accept that recognition without feeling so heartbroken over it.

...

A/N - Okay, so this is the first time in a long time that I've tried to write a story, and this one has been running through my head for months, all of which fueled by nothing but Seether songs. So I figured I'd give it another try. (Reviews are more than welcome. I will take negative comments so long as they're followed by suggestions or ideas, but please no flamming.)
UPDATE 4/1/20: Check out my deviantART account (same name) for pictures and artwork!