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One of them, an enormous warrior almost a full head taller than me stepped forward in his resplendent plate armour. Every inch of it was covered in Nordic runes, and the claymore than he dragged from where it rested against his spine was almost as long as I was tall. "You dare defile a relic of the Eight?" he spat for... |
"Torolf! Hold!" |
The Nordic wight stopped, greatsword held steadily in a gauntleted fist while the helm he wore turned between me and his commander. |
"We did not come to defile or steal." I said simply, trying and failing to hide the fact that my hand had fallen to Sunchild’s hilt without conscious thought. "We came here to unite the relics." |
"Why should we believe you, daedra-spawn?" |
"If we were going to corrupt the Helm I doubt we would have dragged it all the way here to do so." |
"I think he is telling the truth." Added one of the ghosts to my left. There was no mistaking the unique style of the bonemold armour that it wore, or the sharp boned features of the Dunmer who was wearing it. "Perhaps he seeks redemption for his nature?" |
"Umaril is returning." I said simply, still seeking to buy time for both Viconia and myself. "If he hasn’t already." |
At the Unfeathered’s name they all twitched and looked between themselves with significant hesitation. |
"So you believe that with the darkness in your soul that you can unite the Relics and wield the artefacts of the Eight against their foe?" |
I shook my head. "I am not worthy to wield them, and neither is my companion. There’s nothing stopping us from recovering them all for whoever is worthy though." |
Silence fell between us all and several of them were clearly deep in thought. Some, like Sir Torolf were itching to attack, to remove my presence from their final resting place at the end of their weapons. Others, like the ghost who had first spoken were standing in silence. |
"No unworthy soul shall lay hand upon this sacred artefact without the leave of the Knights of the Nine." He said after some time. "For the vows that we failed to revere in life, we shall uphold in death. You are tainted... Corrupt... A creature of pure sin and depravity and despite your supposedly noble intentions yo... |
Looking between the eight ghosts I tried my best to recognise them and their identities. Their deeds and accomplishments were legendary but none of the books had truly managed to capture their likenesses. Some like Sir Torolf who had been identified by his fellow knights were obvious, as was Sir Ralvas; the dunmer who... |
His face was set in stone, framed in chainmail and covered slightly by the metal bar of the nasal helm he wore. The ghost was not clothed in the ethereal flesh of a sixty-year-old man, but instead he looked as he had in his prime. If not for his spectral nature I would have guessed his age to be closer to my own, and ... |
"I am ready for whatever test you deem necessary." I said with a sinking feeling in my stomach even as the metallic ringing from behind me reached my ears. |
Viconia had been using Dragonbane to try to physically force a chink into the magical wall and it had slipped and dropped from her shock at my words. "Vel’bol?!" |
"Within your flesh is a demon waiting to be released and the man who fights against it daily." Sir Amiel said simply, ignoring the sudden bout of cursing that began exploding from Viconia’s mouth. "Prove to us that you are indeed a man and not a monster. Prove to us that you have control and strength of will worthy of... |
"So be it." I said simply, my hands moving away from Sunchild and my side and undoing the buckles and straps keeping my chest harness and pouches tight. As quickly as I could I shed everything that wasn’t Sunchild and my armour, even dropping the sword’s scabbard and belt harness to the floor with the rest of my equip... |
Viconia’s wordless scream of anger and frustration rippled through the room and I saw how some of the knights glanced in her direction. The surge of magicka from her left the air on the other side of the barrier howling as she exerted every ounce of her will into breaking the magical wards. With an implosion of power ... |
"I am ready." I said simply to Sir Amiel, who had taken his position in the centre of the hall and only a few metres in between me and the alcove containing the Cuirass. |
"Very well." He replied, looking around the collective group of knights who began surrounding me in a circle. "Prove yourself pure and human in victory, or be granted absolution in death." |
Silence fell in the room, and a strange stillness fell over me. Strangely enough I didn’t seem to feel fear of injury or death. From the burning, crawling sensation making its way up my spine I knew that the fear of Viconia’s wrath was entirely another matter. |
The first sign of the fight commencing was the sound of metal on tiles, and the scraping of a blade against a sheath from right and behind me. I moved like quicksilver, my eyes narrowing slightly even as I turned on my heel and sliced out with Sunchild in a blindingly quick arc that made the sound of tearing silk. One... |
The ancient knight looked out from under his chainmail cowl had all the expression and emotion of a stone as he parried my cuts and attacked with his own. We locked eyes, barely even glancing at the flashing of our blades as we parried, dodged and cut at each other. Time and again I would strike out at a weakness that... |
Ducking under a sweeping strike of a shield, I lashed out with my fist in a move that took him by surprise and punched him in the inside of a thigh. There was a tiny intake of breath as he staggered slightly from my punch, and although it was short lived I used it to my advantage, stepped inside his guard and lashing ... |
Shoving the long dead knight off my blade in a way that left a sticky trail of ectoplasm up its length as his ghostly form clattered to the floor. There was no cry of pain, no sound from his lips other than the strange murmur of my blade entering his ethereal form. Even despite the mortal injury he was none worse for ... |
"Sir Gregory, you are defeated." Amiel said in a voice as deep as barrows dirt. "Sir Casimir, step forward." |
And so the duel continued, barely even giving me any time to rest before the next knight stepped forward and drew his own blades. Sir Casimir, similarly clad in chainmail rushed me with a curved sabre of Redguard origin and sparks flickered through the air as it and Sunchild locked together. This fight was surprisingl... |
One after another the Knights were called forward to fight me in honourable combat, and one by one I somehow managed to defeat them in turn. Every tale and story I had read or heard about them had done them no justice and each and every one of these men had been champions like no other. They were as varied as their ba... |
Both Sir Gregory Arcio and Sir Juncan Nirtke fought with sword and shield, but their techniques were polar opposites. Sir Juncan fought in the style of the legion with his heater shield, using it to fend off almost every attack I made until I managed to kick his legs out and cut his throat. Sir Gregory; the knight who... |
Sir Ralvas Ulento had once been the famed weapon master of House Redoran and fought with a pair of perfectly matched rapiers. His attacks were a flurry of movement, the dual swords transforming into gleaming streams of silver that rippled and flowed through the air like water. Sir Henrik Fenrahrson managed to fend me ... |
One by one I managed to fight and best them, not receiving any respite between bouts for as soon as one would fall, he would rise again, his flesh reknitting and a brother stepping forward to continue the duel unabated. My lungs were on fire, my arms becoming increasingly leaden as fatigue and the ringing impacts bega... |
As the Nordic knight rose again, his decapitated head dissipated from the floor and reformed itself on his shoulders without even the slightest hindrance from such an injury. At that point I was becoming envious of their deathless natures, as I was staggering and struggling to keep myself upright from fatigue and inju... |
It wasn’t the physical injuries that I had sustained that were worrying me the most. I had fought with every skill, trick and technique that I had every taught or seen before, using skills that I never knew I had but there was no doubt that I would not have had survived if not for my vampiric nature. As much as it was... |
By the time that my third opponent had been struck down I knew that I was in serious trouble. Either the magical aura, the very nature of the priory’s under croft or the proximity of the Curiass was ripping me apart. When the vampire leant its strength and speed to my sword arm or its agility to allow me to duck and w... |
"You show strength of will that I had not thought possible." Sir Amiel said as I staggered to my feet with ectoplasm dripping from my blade. "You have stood against the Knights of the Nine and lived. However, the final test is upon you. Ready yourself... and face me." |
There was a pressurised roaring behind me and I had gone to great efforts not to look back at Viconia throughout the fight. If I was going to be honest with myself I knew that if I had looked at her I would have struggled to fight as well as I had, and the way the very priory itself seemed to be groaning from her magi... |
As I staggered to my feet, staring down Sir Amiel the latest bout of coughing left me with a mouthful of blood that I spat onto the white tiles. It was not the first of my blood to have stained the under croft. "Ready when you are." |
Sir Amiel’s broadsword found its way into his hands with a rasping of metal on leather, and he held it loosely in both hands high above his head. There was no fancy swordplay or twirling movements for distracting his opponent, just a casual professionalism and skill as he lightly gripped his sword’s hilt. |
There was no warning for his attack, no subtle tells or twitches of a muscle or eye to announce where or how the blow was to fall. Like a coiled spring he moved quickly and precisely, transforming from the relaxed and patient swordsman into a whirling storm of steel and violence. Without my vampiric nature I knew that... |
In the first second I knew that there was no chance for me to win against such an opponent. I may have been skilled enough to contend with some of the greatest swordsmen in the Empire and had been a minor champion in the Legion, but the Knights of the Nine had been led by a true master. Even if I had been fully rested... |
Belarsarius and Alexi may have been able to contend with him but even those two unparalleled swordsmen would have proven unequal to the task. Even before his name had become a legend and known throughout the Empire he had been a prodigy and there had been a reason why he had been deemed worthy enough to wear the Cuira... |
A neat slice opened a smile across my wrist above my gloves and below the protection of my daedroth scale shirt. Only my quick reaction saved me from having a deeper cut or potentially losing my master hand and Sunchild with it. In the first ten seconds of the fight we had managed to exchange two dozen blows, leaving ... |
During life and now in death, Sir Amiel was without peer in both worlds. He fought with moves that flowed into one another until he became a whirlwind of steel and blades, fighting with a seemingly untiring ferocity but never overexerting himself. There was a strange economy of movement with his strikes and parries an... |
Every strike that I managed to dodge or parry he never seemed to repeat, constantly changing his guard and attacks with a frightening regularity and I found it impossible to predict his moves. His bastard sword was perfectly designed for his fighting style, being fully capable of being wielded by one or both hands in ... |
My left vambrace, battered and dented from the past months and recent bouts against the Knights of the Nine suddenly came free of my arm as he somehow managed to slip the length of his sword between my forearm and the leather straps. With a simple flick of the wrist he cut them away, flicking the entire vambrace off t... |
I was slowing, my fatigue total and I could do nothing to stop the flat of his blade slapping down again and cracking something in my forearm. Another downwards slice barely missed taking an eye from my skull that was more luck than skill on my part but there was nothing I could do to stop the way he twisted, gripping... |
Something broke beneath my eye and the world went partially dark, the sensation of splinters being dragged through muscle and flesh leaving me unable to defend myself. In the seconds I staggered backwards he had managed to close the distance between us, making me fall to a knee as he cut a tendon in my leg almost as a... |
As quickly as the fight had begun it was suddenly over, and I was on my knees in front of him, looking through one eye with the other swollen closed, blood streaming from several deep gashes and the coldness in my chest growing more noticeable as the holy wards continued to make me bleed internally. I had nothing left... |
The broadsword in Sir Amiel’s hand punched towards me, twisting in the air as he thrust it at my throat. Whether it was desperation or determination that possessed me to throw my left hand forward I didn’t know, but the point of the blade speared me through the centre of my palm without even any hindrance. The four-ce... |
For the briefest of moments Sir Amiel finally showed some emotion, his eyes moving from mine to the way that my hand had been effectively pinned to my chest by the length of his sword. Almost the entire eighty centimetre length had punched through my palm until I was almost able to hold his hand with my own impaled on... |
Sunchild flickered in my own hand, lashing out with the last reserves of my failing strength in a riposte of my own. It’s curved edge and wicked point reaching up high and slashing across Sir Amiel’s throat in a mirrored technique of his own with unfortunately just as much effectiveness. I no longer had the strength o... |
He was left standing as the tiled floor seemingly rose up and tackled me from behind and the very last of the air was driven from my lungs from the impact. My hand pulled itself free from the full length of his sword and I knew that the lack of pain wasn’t a good sign. Sir Amiel was left standing, his sword still held... |
I no longer had the strength to rise, let alone defend myself as he twitched out of his surprise at how close he had come to defeat, and instead my blurred vision was blocked out by the sight of the ghostly knight standing over me. |
"Do you yield?" |
"Fuck... No..." I rasped, trying and failing to laugh as a blood filled cough made the froth drip from the corners of my mouth. |
Of the reactions I was expecting, a nod was not one of them and the pressure in my chest lifted as something magicka related shifted. The stabbing sensation in the back of my mind also released its hold and before I know what was happening Viconia had come to a skidding halt by my side. |
Both my sight and hearing was fading and I looked up at her expression of horror and terror as her eyes roaming up and down my body. Her lips were moving, lips twisting as she forced what appeared to be a combination of questions and forceful curses that was somewhat thankful I couldn’t hear. The coldness in my chest ... |
I didn’t expect to wake up, or if I did I expected my next sight to be filled with the impossible vista of Molag Bal’s accursed realm of Coldharbour. Much to my surprise instead I opened my eyes to a dust and cobweb strewn ceiling, feeling cold and chilly to the very core and very much in pain. |
It was dark and cold, the only light and warmth within the ancient and disused training hall from the tiny campfire a short distance away surrounded by the scatterings of Viconia’s and my travelling equipment. My armour was nearby, disassembled and laid out in a rough semblance of order and I could see the small colle... |
Viconia had been caring for me, but for how long I was uncertain but judging by the lived in feeling of the training hall it was obvious that it had been some time. For the moment she was nowhere to be seen which also including most of her equipment and armour. For a heart stopping moment I believed that she may have ... |
I had suffered severe injuries before, but the latest collection was a lot more intense than those preceding them. Even the injuries sustained in the Mythic Dawn Caverns didn’t seem to hurt as keenly as those I had suffered at the blades and weapons of the Knights of the Nine. My left arm and hand were almost useless ... |
Although healing, the bones in my face were still partially broken and I could feel something shift in my cheek that shouldn’t have been able to. As for my right leg, it was almost entirely dead from the calf muscle down if not for the agonising pain shifting its way up through it. I could remember all too easily how ... |
Before I could summon up the strength and willpower to shift through the pain to rise and check myself over, the soft sounds of footsteps reached my ears and I turned to look at the entrance. Viconia was slowly making her way down the stairs and the short corridor to the training hall where she had made our camp and s... |
"So... You’re finally awake." |
It wasn’t a question but a bitter statement despite the way how it wasn’t wholly directed at me. After so many months together I could detect the difference between when she was truly angry or simply annoyed. |
"I am." It felt like I had swallowed most of the dust that was lining the floor of the training hall and I found myself coughing. "How long have we been here?" |
"Three days." |
She moved quickly over to me, giving me and my injuries a quick glance over before carefully helping me rise to a sitting position. The small bundle she had been carrying turned out to be a pair of rabbits with ropes tied around their throats to allow her to carry them. One was still alive and kicking, its beady eyes ... |
My hand moved to my hip as I sat upright with both legs outstretched and she slapped it away, lifting the bandages and studying the poultice that she had applied to it and the stitched wound. "You should count yourself lucky." |
"I do. I have you" |
Her gaze flickered upwards to mine as I smiled at her and the expression of annoyance was mellowed somewhat. "And don’t you forget it. Especially after these past three days. The things that I do for you..." |
"I don’t really plan on going out and getting injured Viconia." |
"It doesn’t stop you from going out and doing so." Moving down my leg, she tapped my leg and lifted my wounded one gently, using her fingers to feel the injury and looking over the way it was healing. |
"How badly hurt was I?" |
"You should be dead." she said simply and bluntly, having all of the bedside manner of a thrown rock to the face. "You lost a lot of blood, and not just from the few cuts they gave you. You were bleeding internally and for a while there I wasn’t sure whether you’d recover, let alone wake at all." |
The injury to my calf was terrible to behold and it cut from the back of my leg almost to the bone itself. Viconia had done her best to keep the wound clean and free of infection but the muscles had been severed entirely. |
"Well. I guess my adventuring days are over." I muttered and she twisted around and scowled at me. |
"Not yet they aren’t." carefully, she began unwrapping the bandages and prepare my leg for fresh ones. "It’s terrible, but you are healing slowly." |
"I’m healing... severed tendons?" |
She nodded, dragging over one of the small ceramic containers she had pulled from our saddles that was filled with crushed up alchemical ingredients. Thankfully one of the many things I had taught her during our travels was how to identify useful herbs and plants and how to turn them into healing salves and poultices.... |
"Your assistance?" looking over the injury I noted how the wound on my leg wasn’t a simple slice across the back of the calf, but a clear cross that also ran down a good portion of the leg itself. |
"I had to cut you open and use a bit of magicka to seal the muscles back together. You should be thankful that all those years in the service to Lloth has left me with an intimate knowledge of how a body goes together." For a moment she went silent, her eyes blinking several times before she visibly shrugged the thoug... |
Rubbing at my face and taking extreme care while probing the broken bones, I found myself realising that I wasn’t as badly injured as I was expecting. "I feel surprisingly well... All things considered." |
Finishing up the last of the bandage and tucking it where it wasn’t going to fall off or come loose, she fell even more silent and my eyes were drawn to the way that she was suddenly rubbing at her forearms, forearms that were obviously wrapped in bandages. |
"Oh Viconia..." I whispered and she twisted to meet my gaze, glancing down to where I was looking and folding her arms and the bandages out of sight. |
"You were dying." She said simply, hiding the way that she had both wrists bandaged. "Just so you know, it is extremely difficult to force a mostly unconscious vampire to drink blood." |
My expression needed no translation and her expression softened, moving forward and kissing me very lightly before pulling away. "It was my choice Mrannd’ssinss. Be thankful and appreciate what I do for you." |
"I do." I said honestly, trying to work out whether I felt sick, disturbed or dismayed at how she had cut her own wrists to feed me blood to keep me alive. If I hadn’t been unconscious I doubt that I would have let her do such a thing. |
Feeling my facial injuries, I remembered all too well how the pommel Sir Amiel’s sword had smashed into my face and the way that it broke my cheek. What I was finding strange was the way how it felt like my jaw had also been broken, which was something that I truly didn’t remember occurring. |
Viconia seemed to be seeking a distraction almost as much as I was, and the look of embarrassment that she was suddenly wearing was as obvious as it was rare. "For the most part you were unconscious the whole time these past days. Initially, once the wards had diminished and I managed to drag you out of there the vamp... |
"Did I try to hurt you?" |
My shock and concern was obvious to her and she spared me a grin that was only slightly one of tense amusement. "Not after I rendered you unconscious." |
That explained the broken jaw, and I rubbed at it hesitantly, feeling totally and utterly lost with the situation and at what had happened. The silence dragged on between the two of us as we began looking everywhere but at each other, before Viconia’s sigh made itself heard over the quietly burning campfire. |
"We can’t keep doing this on our own." She said simply. "How many times these past months have we almost died or found ourselves in situations that we only managed to extricate ourselves from? Once is far too many times for me." |
"At least you haven’t been consecutively finding yourself injured all the time." |
"True, but if it wasn’t for my skill and your nature then we would have both died several times already. We can’t keep doing this, and I especially don’t want to find myself in the situation where I have to bathe and assist you in relieving yourself." |
My entire face burned red with embarrassment and she made no sign of how she felt about the past days besides the scowl she habitually wore. "I am serious though. We need help." |
"I’m open to suggestions." I said simply, honestly meaning it even as I forced myself through the pain and wriggled the toes of my injured leg. |
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