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"Hail Knights!" A deep and booming voice echoed out over the shrine, startling me with its sudden appearance. "It seems like an age since I heard such words spoken from the heart!" |
Rising to my full height with a start and feeling the light cascade of snow fall from my shoulders, I looked about in all directions looking for the unseen speaker. The words seemed to billow up from the ground, echoing out from the air while somehow whispered from the trees. It was deep, purposeful and full of wisdom... |
For a moment I thought that I had somehow imagined the voice, but a glance to Viconia put end to that. She too was looking about the tiny glade that the altar was set within and the hairs on the back of my neck began to raise as I saw the way her eyes moved and focussed on something over my shoulder. Instinctively my ... |
He was tall, so tall in fact that I barely came up to his nose. There was a strange power infusing his limbs and even fully armoured with his face hidden from view behind a full helm of steel the sheer force of his personality made it difficult to gaze upon him for any more than a few seconds at most. The armour was a... |
Within seconds and despite my mind struggling with the realisation, there was no doubt that this being, this warrior was not among the living. His boots didn’t leave a trace on the ground behind him but instead sunk effortlessly into the snow. While solid appearing, there was no doubt that he was hazy and indistinct b... |
"Your prayers have awoken me from my endless dream..." The shade of the ancient warrior muttered, almost to himself as his words echoed out of the air caressing our bare faces and the very land around us "Or perhaps you have entered my dream, and I still sleep..." |
The shade of the Divine Crusader nodded at my whispering of his name and I felt as though my entire soul and mind had been laid bare under his intense gaze. I could not see his face as it remained hidden behind a solid full-plated helm that covered his features under a skin of steel but there was the sensation of eyes... |
"I think others have sometimes spoken to me. Others like you, but my memory is doubtful." There seemed to be a moment’s hesitation from the ghostly warrior, almost like he was struggling to think clearly. "Perhaps the others came after you..." |
Pausing with head turning and looking between the two of us again and I couldn’t help but flinch under his unyielding gaze. It was powerful enough to penetrate armour, skin, flesh, bone and soul, and within the presence of such being, even dead I felt as insignificant as an insect under a boot. |
"The need must be great for the gods to allow us to speak..." With his hands covered in segmented gauntlets, they grasped the sides of his helmet tightly, tugging it free and allowing us to gaze upon him in the flesh. |
If I had ever thought of it prior to such an impossible encounter I would have struggled to imagine what such a hero would have looked like. Somehow Pelinal seemed to fit his titles and legend like it was a second skin. His face was hardened and weather-beaten with a multitude of scars crisscrossing his skin until wri... |
What struck me the most was his eyes, and I struggled to hold his gaze for anything more than a second.They were the cold sharp colour of a Skyrim glacier, piercing and unflinching in their silent intensity. I knew he could see deep within the darkest recesses of my soul with his eyes, and the thought was enough to se... |
"I am indeed Pelinal." He turned his gaze upon us once more, taking in and dissecting our souls purposefully and without any hesitation. "And who may you two worthy Knights be, who the Gods have granted an audience?" |
For a moment I struggled to even form words, as Pelinal’s presence stripped me of any thoughts that entered my mind. |
"My name is Kaius Desin," I finally managed to stammer, motioning towards Viconia with a hand without taking my eyes off the holy visage of the Ghost in front of me. "And this is Viconia DeVir." |
Pelinal nodded to each of us respectfully as he held his helmet in the crook of an elbow. For a moment he listened to the winds, eyes glancing around us like he was witness to sights that only he could see. |
"The land speaks your Names and your deeds Sir Desin and Madame DeVir. You are mighty warriors and renowned Knights, but I fear that there would only be one reason for our meeting. Has Umaril the Accursed found a way back? The foulest of a foul race?! A thousand curses upon his unholy Name!" Pelinal seemed to tremble ... |
I glanced to Viconia, and breathed in slightly as I tried to regain some of my composure. "The Forces of Mehrunes Dagon are invading the world, and there are those who believe that Umaril has returned. The Chapel of Dibella in Anvil has been desecrated, as have several others throughout Tamriel. Dark magicka has been ... |
There was an undeniable rush of emotions that flowed through the long-dead shade; there was fury at the attack on the Divines, and joyous surprise at the call to find his relics. |
"A crusade you say? And the faithful have responded to the call?" Curiosity kept in over the fury and surprise and he was looking at us questioningly. "And what of the two of you? Do you seek my relics as Knights of the centuries past have?" |
An embarrassed silence fell between us, and I knew that we answered his question without any words needing to be said. |
"No... No you do not. Your silence tells me much, as does your hearts." |
"Only a true and pure Knight, blessed by the gods can hope to wield your weapons and don your armour." I replied, staring him right in the eye properly for the first time despite the way that I had to physically force myself to meet his gaze. "We are not pure enough to be the ones to face down Umaril if he indeed is r... |
At my side and looking slightly grey at the close proximity to such a being in front of us, Viconia nodded in agreement. "Your gods are not my gods and I walk my own path. We are not capable of fighting against Umaril but we can fight against Mehrunes Dagon and his followers." |
"A noble sentiment and true... To some extent." Pelinal’s lips pursed for a moment. "Within every being in the bounds of this world there is a fight deep within their very souls between the goodness of the hearts and the darkness that lies within. No one, not even me, are completely pure. We always have to struggle ag... |
He cracked his neck with audible crunches and I couldn’t help but think of a mountain heaving under a forceful earthquake. "I have heard your prayers these previous days and so have the gods. Unlike so many you have neither asked, nor expected anything for your prayers. Despite your differences and your backgrounds an... |
"Viconia," He said, turning and gesturing to her with a steel encased hand. "You have prayed to gods that are not your own. Even despite the threat of severe punishment, you prayed for Talos himself to look over the land and help your love." |
Ignoring the way that Viconia simultaneously scowled and managed to look uncomfortable at his words, he then gestured to me. "And you Kaius... Did you not say that you would take evil within yourself so that others will not have to suffer it? Even if it meant being cursed for the rest of your life?" |
I nodded, slowly and carefully at his words. |
"Well then." His smile was broad and friendly. "Only the gods have the right to pass judgement on those who they deem worthy; and here I stand in proof of their decision. The only question is what you two choose to do with the knowledge that I may grant you." |
"Why us?" I asked as I finally managed to find my tongue and |
"Because you have been chosen to." He replied. "Every few generations there are individuals who are outside the influence of the Elder Scrolls and can choose their own fates. Most mortals live out their lives and have only one thread of fate to follow, but your futures are both clouded and ever-changing with the decis... |
Viconia’s voice was hollow and empty at the ancient shade’s words. "What decision?" |
"Whether you follow the path of so many before you on the trail of my relics, or whether you turn from the quest to face down your previous foe." |
"So we have to choose whether we hunt for your relics and face down Umaril, or to continue on our previous path against Mehrunes Dagon." My own tone was bitter as once again I felt as though my control over my own life was slipping from my fingers. |
"There is no easy answer or any easy decision, but you two stand at a crossroads in fate." Pelinal’s eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment and his incorporeal body seemed to shift slightly with the wind as he stretched out his hand towards us. "I can see two separate futures for the both of you, and both have a great... |
His thin, scarred lips seemed to curl into a smile as he reached out to us. "I will show you the results of your decision." |
I flinched away from his ghostly fingers but the light streaming out of his eyes brightened and hit me right in the face like a punch. It was blindingly bright and colder than the frozen north of Atmora and for several seconds I tried to scream through frozen lips and a locked jaw. Billions of images and whirling sigh... |
Scenes of utter destruction flashed through my eyes as I gazed across a landscape strewn with the debris of perpetual war. Arms, armour and bones lay where they had fallen, soaking the burnt ground in their blood-stained forms as they poked out of the ash and fumes. Everywhere the greenery of Tamriel had been consumed... |
But life, and resistance remained despite the Daedric power that was consuming the land. Walled cities stood tall against the foe even as the world burned around them. Soldiers of strength and faith stood alongside the citizens that they had sworn to protect against a roaring sea of Daedra laid siege to them. Their nu... |
Despite their faith and courage in the face of destruction, the greatest threat came from within. Attentions solely on the more obvious threat outside their walls, those fighting didn’t see the dark canker that grew within. While their back was turned I watched horrified as a new danger rose from within, growing from ... |
"You see..." The rolling voice of Pelinal said as golden Daedra rose from the chapels and shrines of the Divines and assaulted the living from behind. "Alone, and fighting solely against Mehrunes Dagon, the people of Tamriel are capable of holding off, or even defeating him in the war to come. They gain their strength... |
With the golden Daedra attacking from the rear, and already pressed hard at their front’s by the forces of Mehrunes Dagon the last surviving mortals were overcome. Horror grew within me as I saw the widespread destruction and desecration of the world even before the last mortal was dragged to the ground and killed. Ag... |
"So Umaril must be dealt with before the Lord of Destruction attacks." I said simply, trying to close my eyes to the sights of such horror. |
"He must." Pelinal replied, his voice echoing out of the rolling darkness that slowly replaced the sickening visions of the world’s ending. "More importantly and what many will not realise until it is far too late, is that with every attack the barriers between Nirn and Oblivion weaken that much faster. The more attac... |
"And if we choose to hunt down your relics and we fight against Umaril... What then?" I asked the void, trying to blink away the impenetrable blackness that had fallen across my eyes that even my vampiric sight could not penetrate. |
"The future is clouded and uncertain for as you both are outside the influence of the Elder Scrolls it is nearly impossible to ascertain anything. Nothing is certain in your futures, and I see uncountable paths that your actions might take you. These are but some of the events that may come to pass..." |
There was another explosion of light behind my eyes, and I found myself nauseous at the millions of sights and experiences that overwhelmed my mind. I saw lands that I had never been to, people I had never met and thousands of memories that I had not yet lived through to remember. In a heartbeat I saw my entire life f... |
Friends and acquaintances aged and withered before my very eyes, the lands grew older and the flitting forms of people jostled around me, crumbling to dust as the weight of the years pressed down. Decades passed in a matter of moments, and as mortals faded into nothing but muted whispers of their former lives, I remai... |
I found myself staring across a castle under siege, arrows, shouts of anger and screams of pain filling the air as burning rocks were hurled at the towering walls. The ramparts were filled with jostling and packed men who stabbed and hacked at each other, fighting fiercely to control the castle walls even as more pour... |
My vision seemed to move to where the fighting seemed the thickest but instead of packed bodies dressed in all of the accruements of war, there was a visibly clear space around a single pair of warriors. Alone and unaided the two of them fought against a massive host of their foes. They were both dressed in the plate ... |
Both fought like demons, their movements like quicksilver as they flowed over the piled dead and sliced through their opponents. Blood sprayed into the darkening sky as they slashed through the pressing numbers arrayed against them, dodging attacks that appeared clumsy compared to their levels of skill. For a moment I... |
The years of existence might have been near-invisible on my flesh but I could see the years etched deep within my eyes and the dozens of wounds and scars that had slowly accumulated over the decades. I could see how experience had toughened me, tempering me like steel until my mind, body and resolve had been hardened ... |
But it was when I laid eyes upon the warrior by my side, that my heart seemed to freeze in my chest and shock filled the very core of my being. For several moments that seemed to drag on into eternity I stared at the warrior fighting alongside me. He was several inches shorter than myself, but matched me muscle for mu... |
I stared at his face, seeing his ancestry in his pronounced bone structure and feeling a shiver of recognition as I gazed into his hard yellow eyes. His face was sharp and pronounced, but there was a very familiar feel to it even as he grimaced and roared out a battle cry to match my own. Hair waving about in the stro... |
We fought together, side by side and back to back on the towering walls of the castle even as the enemy swarmed up over ladders and a massive siege towered lowered its ramp for the attackers to pour across. Dozens were slain with every moment that passed, until the bodies had to be kicked or thrown from the walls to a... |
There was a look shared between the two of us, and I could see my future self beaming with pride as I fought alongside my son. Turning to the massed group of soldiers lowering their pikes and halberds into a wall of steel points to keep us at bay I could see their fear, a terror that was billowing from them despite th... |
For a moment we stood together, congealing blood dripping from our swords and down over our armour, staring silently at our foes as they nervously dropped back into defensive positions. There was a tension fuelling our limbs now, and we shared a briefest glance between us as we faced our foes. Their fear was growing a... |
His skin pulled tight over his skull and he too let the animal within loose as his teeth lengthened to form fangs. With dual roars of vampiric hatred, we hurled ourselves into the press of wavering enemies and the vision faded to be replaced with another. |
My eyes seemed to open again but this time the visage of the burning castle surrounded in death had been replaced with the seemingly cold darkness of a richly furnished bedroom. Silks and banners hung from the walls, all clad in an indefinable heraldic mark and the furniture was expensive and covered with items of the... |
Lying on the bed and almost appearing consumed by the richness of the silk and velvet bedcovers, was Viconia. Her ebony flesh, normally vibrant and full of life was now pale and resembling bleached coal. Sweat matted the rich sheets and covers that were pulled up over her chest and under her arms, and my heart broke t... |
Not that she was alone in her pain and sickness, as yet again I was within the vision, sitting by her side and looking as though was world was crashing in around me. A glance into my own features told me enough, and I could see the pain and agony at watching Viconia die etched upon my features. I could see my face twi... |
Again I found myself in darkness, watching my future self slowly make his way through the depths of the world. I was alone, wielding the Light of Dawn in my right hand with a migraine inducing haziness around my left hand that spoke of powerful magicka. No torch or lantern illuminated my path through the darkness, and... |
The cavern itself was huge, giving my future self the appearance of an ant moving through an amphitheatre. Towering columns rose up into the blackness, holding the roof dozens of metres above the floor and each one over three metres thick at the base. Nothing else seemed to move within the darkness except my future se... |
For a moment the earth heaved, rocks pattered down from the ceiling far above my head and in a flare of light a magical ward was born from the energies contained within my future self’s hand. Deep and terrible, the roar of something ancient and powerful rumbled through the ground and stirred the centuries of dust layi... |
Again the vision changed, twisting and weaving and showing thousands of my future paths. |
I saw myself within another mighty cavern, striding up flights of steps of a ziggurat within the bowels of the earth to face a creature of limbs and darkness. |
I stood upon the bow of a mighty warship bellowing orders to the crew as another pulled in close as we traded arrows, ballista bolts and grappling hooks. |
I was a knight clad in armoured plate mounted on his massive warhorse, |
I was a trader dressed in rich furs bartering his wares. |
I was a beggar clad in mouldy rags begging for coins |
I was a brutal pit fighter killing with his hands for the amusement of the crowd. |
I wore the robes of the Emperor, and wore the ruby crown upon my brow. |
I was clad in gilded mail and raising my sword to the roars of a million soldiers. |
I witnessed dozens of victories, hundreds of defeats, dozens of friends I was yet to meet, enemies I was yet to face and places that I had never even dreamed of existing. But with every sight that I was shown, I was shown the opposite; of what would occur if Viconia and I didn’t seek out the relics. |
The world would end. Against the forces of Mehrunes Dagon there was hope, the chance even without our assistance that the Amulet of Kings would be found, Martin be crowned Emperor and the Dragonfires relit. The world could be saved and while our actions would improve the chances, the festering canker that was Umaril w... |
Pelinal was right. |
Although we had a choice with the information that we now had, there really wasn’t much of a choice at all. We had to find his relics and find the new Champion of the Gods or our futures would be brutally short. |
"Enough." I spat, trying to block out the thousands of sights and experiences rushing through my mind. "Stop this. I’ve seen enough!" |
Slowly the images faded away, and the overwhelming tension and nausea vanished with them. Darkness crept back into my mind once more, strangely soothing compared to the kaleidoscope of sights that had assailed me earlier and I found myself staring into the void. |
"You have come to a decision?" Pelinal asked, his voice rolling out of the darkness like a closing tomb deep within the earth. |
"Like there is any decision that can be made." My reply was bitter, the words like acid as they crawled across my tongue. "Even with all this talk of being able to choose my own future there is only the choice of whether I have one or not." |
In a voice that was just as much vampire as it was human I growled at the invisible, unseen champion of the Gods. "I will hunt for your relics." |
"Very well." There was a moment of pause, and slowly I found myself being able to see once again, the darkness spreading into a flowing white light that grew from nothing. Slowly, like a morning fog that was slowly burned away by the rising sun, sights once more began to fill my vision. |
"I know little that can help you." Clouds of unstructured thought and memory condensed before my very eyes as Pelinal whispered. "All that has passed since my death is like a mist... A mist that my mind cannot take hold of." |
I felt Pelinal’s sigh waft through me like a northern breeze, chilling me to the core as my eyes focused upon the sights of millennia ago. "My friends built a shrine upon the site of my death, where the Elves tormented me in a final act of revenge. Perhaps it is there still, and perhaps there you may find clues to tha... |
Gazing onto the sight before me I suddenly found myself far to the south of snow and mountains, looking across the dozens of kilometres of open water to the towering spear of White Gold Tower. A warm breeze flew over the water where the Upper Niben met Lake Rumare, plucking at the layers of wolf fur and daedroth scale... |
The slope around the water’s edge was bustling with activity, as dozens of men and women worked hard to erect a mighty shrine in the honour of the Divine Crusader. I watched them as they worked hard, unloading massive marble blocks off a ship moored close to a small jetty, wheeling carts and wheelbarrows from the dept... |
"Here, where my own path ended," Pelinal murmured, his voice fading slowly despite the strength within it. "your new path will begin. Seek this place out and take up the fight against the Accursed Umaril." |
The vision faded to white once more, and a chill seeped back into my bones as the whiteness was replaced with the sight of the snow covered shrine of Talos. Icy air forced its way into my lungs, bringing me completely back into consciousness once more. |
"Fare thee well brave knights." Pelinal’s voice echoed throughout the glade, growing fainter with every syllable. "May the Gods bless your passage and grant you strength during these dark times." |
My limbs became my own again, and warm blood seemed to begin flowing once more as the ice and snow that had settled on me robbed my limbs of strength. I coughed, shaking myself from the strange feeling of light-headedness that had seeped into me to the core. |
"Mrannd’ssinss?" Viconia murmured as she too pulled herself out of a similar trance. |
There was a feeling deep within me, a strange and overwhelming pull towards the south. It resounded deep within my bones, almost like an addiction like the vicious desire for blood. "What did he show you?" |
"Aphyon." Came the reply. There was a tremble in her voice that was only barely restrained by her iron will. "Death... No matter what he showed me, it all resulted in your death. I saw you die thousands of times. Whether it was by the sword, under Lloth’s talons, a dragon’s maw or a god’s grasp you died. I have come t... |
Unbidden and instinctively I reached out, grasped her tight and pulled her into my armoured embrace. There was no shuddering of breath or wetness to her eyes but her emotions were raw and close to the surface. "I know." Her forehead thudded into my chest and I could feel the shudder that flowed through us both. |
In her own familiar way that I had come to know intimately, she crushed all her emotions deep inside once more and what had been a semi-loving embrace had only lasted for a few heartbeats before she pulled away. Within moments she had turned back to her old aloof self once more, concealing her pain and worry and fears... |
"So... I suppose we’re heading south?" She said, looking over the shrine. |
To the north I could see and faintly hear the clamouring of the cathedral bells, knowing that Bruma was close, and Cloud Ruler was only a few hours ride away. The location of Pelinal’s shrine was several days away at least, but both of us could feel the subconscious calling of its hidden location. |
"We head south." I agreed. |
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