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"I shall take your advice under consideration Madame DeVir." I said with a smile and the look in her eyes promised some form of amused punishment she would bestow on me when we had a measure of privacy. It didn’t however affect the deadly seriousness that was positively flowing from her. "Anything in particular that y... |
My sarcasm made the corners of her mouth curl upwards very slightly and intensify her expression. "Take note of everything you see or feel. Your experience as a "forester’ is going to be of great assistance." |
This time my smile and nod was more sombre than before as the unspoken meaning behind her words were obvious. She had attempted the test as an unbeliever of the faith and now she wanted to know how I would go as a vampire. |
"Very well." Watching where I placed my feet I moved over to the portion of the floor where Viconia and the other Knight had been kneeling and lowered myself into a similar position. It was hard not to notice that this particular spot was worn almost entirely smooth from the thousands upon thousands of faithful who ha... |
Carefully and with nothing more than willpower I slowed my breathing and tried to ignore the hammering of my heart within my chest. The nervousness and anxiety was almost tingling through my hands and limbs like the adrenaline that surged through me before I fought or did battle. |
"Zenithar, test my resolve." I murmured and tried not to feel the way that I had to force them out of my throat. It seemed utterly incongruous that I was expecting to be tested again for purity when I was so obviously corrupt. |
Nothing happened and despite my expectations of feeling something... anything... there wasn’t even the slightest flicker of air across my skin or the sensation of change. It made it even more insane when I opened my eyes, expecting to see the plainly made tomb but instead found an abyss less than a metre in front of m... |
I had been expecting something after all the stories I had heard from the others but nothing could have prepared me for the fact that the tomb, the underground levels of the cathedral and all of those in there with me had utterly vanished. There were still hints of the room in the tiles under me but the only things I ... |
"Okay... I think I’m getting a little tired of the Nine playing these tricks." I said to the nothingness, moving about and looking carefully at the island that I found myself on. |
It was less than ten metres wide and was roughly in the shape of a circle as though a great earthquake had sundered it away from the land itself. What was the most disconcerting being the fact that the island was, as far as I could tell, the tomb itself, right down to the shattered and broken doorway at my back and th... |
There was no breeze, no sound and strangely enough no source of light despite the fact that I could see clearly. The light came from everywhere and nowhere, illuminating both islands but being unable to penetrate the blackness that spread to eternity before me. In every direction that I looked there was an emptiness t... |
The only things I could smell other than ancient stonework was myself, and the silence was almost deafening in its own regards. It was so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat and my soft, increasingly nervous breathing and with my enhanced hearing I could also hear the strange gurgling of blood flowing through my body.... |
That it was a Relic of Pelinal was not in doubt. Even without my vampiric senses I could feel it, and while the space between us sat threateningly between me and it, I was still close enough to see the priceless artefact clearly. The tomb of Saint Kaladas was open and missing the marble lid and sides that covered the ... |
Like all of the other relics, the Mace was immaculate and untouched by time. Even though that it sat in the dust and remains of a dead man not a single blemish or speck touched it. While I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was the Mace was somehow even more of a work of art than the other relics we had recovered. ... |
The head was flanged and I knew that if I managed to look directly down on it the metal would form the shape of a star. Every centimetre was covered with flowing runes and symbols, shapes of men and mer building, creating and forging works of their own. If not for my vampiric senses I would have been unable to see any... |
Shaking off the Mace’s hold on my senses I took another look around at the two islands. While I couldn’t see the base of the island I stood on, the other was looking as though it had been ripped from the ground before being suspended into the void. |
"Walk in the faith... This should be interesting." I stepped closer to the edge until my toes were mere centimetres from the abyss and peered down. It didn’t seem to matter which direction I looked it was all the same nothingness that stretched away in distances that left my head swimming. There was nothing below the ... |
An idea came to me and I felt around the handful of pouches attached to my armour. One of the more disconcerting things was the fact that I was still wearing everything that I had originally entered the tomb with, including my weapons and equipment. One of my pouches contained a small handful of coins that I poured in... |
My vampirism allowed me to hear the tiny metallic chiming as it spun through the air but after the first few seconds it vanished. I could no longer see or hear it and after waiting for a considerable length of time I definitely didn’t hear it strike anything, much less reach the bottom if there was one. |
"Ambulare per fidem..." I said without the slightest trace of confidence as I took a nervous pace forward. The abyss gazed up at me as I stood at the edge, stepping forward and pitching myself into the dark. |
I fell as quickly as I expected but the sudden drop and the fact that my foot came down on nothing was more surprising than I expected. Within seconds I tumbled away into a freefall and even with my vampiric senses and abilities I quickly lost sight of the pair of islands as they receded into the nothingness above me.... |
Gasping and tearing my eyes open I felt the sudden impact of stonework as I landed on my back. Sound and light had returned, and with it I could easily hear the mild chuckling from Mazoga and Viconia, especially when my sight of the ceiling was replaced with Viconia’s amused expression. |
"How was it?" |
"A little terrifying." I replied, trying to remove the sensation that I should still be falling. |
Alexi laughed but nodded in agreement. "That it is. No matter how many times you try it’s just as bad each time." |
"Good to know." |
Viconia watched as I rose to a crouch before staggering to my feet. "You saw the mace?" |
"Yes. It’s definitely one of the Relics." |
She stood silently for a moment, her eyes narrowing. "How far were the islands apart?" |
"Thirty meters or so, but no greater than forty." I could feel her scrutiny as I dug my collection of coins out of my pouch and counted them. It wasn’t as surprising as I thought to discover that I was indeed missing a copper septim. "I also wouldn’t throw anything important in there." |
"How about you all?" She asked the others. "How much distance was there between the islands?" |
"About the same." Alexi shrugged, and gestured to Falid who also nodded. |
"I would guess that it is the same for everyone who has ever attempted this test. Surely I’m not the only one suspicious about this?" |
"It is a test of faith." As usual Falid’s voice was deep and threatening without meaning too but there was no emotion in his tone. "Whether the distance is thirty meters or three thousand, it is too far to jump or otherwise travel across and therefore you must rely on your faith." |
The dark pall on Viconia’s expression grew as she looked back at the tomb, her gaze lingering on the simple carved message on its base. |
"You don’t think that it’s a test of faith?" I said hesitantly, receiving nothing in return for several moments as she concentrated. |
"I will return." She said after some time, resting her hand on my shoulder before walking towards the tomb’s entrance. "Keep trying in the meantime. You might be lucky, but make sure you try everything you can think of." |
I caught her hidden meaning again and nodded as she left our small group looking amused and somewhat confused as she left. |
"Is she normally like this?" Carodus asked as she disappeared, and he was obviously trying to decide whether to be concerned or amused. |
"Usually worse." My own chuckle was enough to break the tension and one of the Iron Knights caught himself before a smile broke his stern expression. |
"She thinks that there is a trick to the test?" |
For the first time I sensed the faintest hint of unease or insult in Falid’s tone, and the way that he stood filled the air with a predatory tension. I could barely meet his gaze as he watched how Mazoga stepped forward and knelt. |
"The test to retrieve the boots was not as straight forward as it appeared. Hundreds, if not thousands had gone to that place, seeking the shield and trying to slay the unslayable. In the end it was not a test of strength or a battle of arms, but one to see who would be willing to offer respect and fealty to Kynareth.... |
"So it is a trick." He growled. |
Shaking my head to the enormous Redguard I watched as Mazoga mouthed the words and relaxed as though falling asleep. "I don’t think that it’s a trick, but maybe that it is not what everyone thinks it is." |
One by one our group knelt before the tomb and undertook the test under the watchful gazes of the two Iron Knights and Carodus. Each resulted in the exact same thing; failure. Mazoga fell backwards in a clatter of metal and an expression of the utmost terror before bursting into laughter, and Falid tried once as well.... |
For his part, Alexi simply hung back watching. He had tried repeatedly over the years and watched with interest as I tried several more times myself, letting the handful of other faithful who were escorted by their own guides between attempts. Each time was the exact same situation, finding myself stuck on a pair of i... |
Transforming into mist resulted in just as much success. There was no sign of any outward changes to my being while being tested but while there was no wind or air movement in the void I still couldn’t keep my mist form coherent and was forced back into my human form the same as being a swarm of bats. Even my enhanced... |
After my second attempt Mazoga had grown bored and wandered back to the surface level and Falid wasn’t far behind her. Only the two guarding Knights of the Order of Iron, Carodus, Alexi and myself remained alternatively watching any of the others come to make the attempts and chatting about anything or everything. Car... |
For almost two hours we remained with the tomb waiting for Viconia to return. When she finally arrived we were surprised that she was not alone. Several of the new Knights of the Nine had followed and to my surprise so had Thedret. Viconia’s expression was grim and determined but the Knights, Thedret included were war... |
"We have come as ordered Commander." One of the young Knights said as they entered the tomb and I couldn’t help but notice the way that they had been escorting Viconia. I could do little more than nod and mentally make note of how I would need to speak to Viconia later. It was one thing to exert her influence but the ... |
"Have you acquired what you needed?" I asked Viconia, trying my best to hide my annoyance and the hesitation I had. |
"I have." In her arms was a sturdy leather bag filled with woollen wrappings that she rummaged through in an attempt to free whatever they contained. For a while she tugged and pulled until the sight of what the bag truly contained became visible and I understood the presence of so many from the Order of the Nine. |
Somehow the room became brighter as the flickering torches and lanterns threw light over the immaculate Boots of the Crusader. Those within the room fell utterly silent and the stern expressions of the Knights of Iron were utterly wiped away as their jaws fell open in surprise. One stammered for a moment, before makin... |
"Um... Viconia?" I said, moving over to her as she sat heavily on the ground in front of the tomb and began unlacing her boots. "What are you doing?" |
"The damn test is a riddle. If this was truly a test of faith than the mace would have been retrieved centuries ago with all your god-botherers coming here." |
"But the boots?" |
Pulling one of her boots off, she threw a thumb over her shoulder to the young, nervous appearing Thedret as he obviously wrestled with his sense of duty and unease at what was occurring in front of him. "I ran my ideas past Thedret and he seemed to come to a similar conclusion to me." |
"And what conclusion is that?" |
Under my gaze Thedret looked slightly more uneasy and struggled to find his voice. "That the phrase "Walk in the faith" alludes to using the Boots to retrieve the Mace." |
Viconia continued removing her boots and with some considerable hesitation slipped the priceless relics of a faith not her own over her feet. Despite her size and the size of the boots I was left blinking and feeling distinctly uneasy at the way that she was able to wear them as I knew from personal experience that th... |
"Thedret." I said softly as I watched Viconia’s breathing steady and relax after she mouthed the words to begin the test. "What do you think?" |
"I think that it’s not going to work." Alexi interrupted, smiling like usual. "I’ll even bet a silver that it won’t make a difference." |
Thedret stood still, flanked by the trio of Knights chosen to escort Viconia and the priceless relics from the Stallion Lodge to the Cathedral. "I think... I think I’ll actually take you up on that bet. She spoke of the magicka involved in this place and how the vision of the floating islands exists and yet doesn’t. T... |
My questions expression was not lost on him and he sighed loudly, rubbing at his temples. "I’m a scholar-knight Sir Desin, not a mage. You’d need to talk to someone from the Mages Guilds but she spoke of tonal magicka and something about the architecture of the songs needing to be tuned correctly." |
Alexi looked between her kneeling form and me. "Does that mean anything to you Kaius?" |
"Not in the slightest, but I know she knows more about Magicka than all of us combined." |
We watched with a building impatience as she remained kneeling, her breath steady and controlled and eyes firmly shut. The seconds dragged on so slowly that I began wondering just how long we had remained within the tomb until without warning she sighed and opened her eyes once more. |
Thedret and the other knights looked downcast at the way that she sat there, shaking their heads sadly at the way she had simply awoken but startling themselves as she began violently swearing, writhing on the floor and wrenching the Boots off her feet. |
"Natha szithrel cha’kohken pholor nindolen axsa klezn!" She spat with almost as much force as she flung the second and last boot off her foot into the wall with a metallic clatter. Everyone in the room with the exception of myself looked aghast at the way she had treated some of the holiest artefacts in creation but I... |
Blisters covered her ebony flesh as though she had dipped into boiling water to the ankle. Her usual stoicism was being put to the utmost test as she sat back, groaning and more than just myself were shocked at the injuries. |
"How could the relics do something like that?" one of the Iron Knights exclaimed as I carefully lifted her feet and looked over the injuries. It was mostly superficial but still painful enough that she hissed curses through gritted teeth as I began channelling magicka into the wounds. |
"They are the holiest artefacts of your Gods." Viconia said, grimacing and giving me a sharp look as I moved her a little too roughly in my haste. "The legends also state that only those blessed by the Gods and with pure and noble hearts can wield them. Looks like I just proved them all right." |
"Among other things." Fumbling with the pouch attached to his belt, Alexi was laughing under his breath and shaking his head in amazement as he flicked a silver coin to Thedret. |
The coin plinked off the chainmail of the younger knight, who’s despondent expression had changed to one of shock and unable to react to the thrown septim. Collectively everyone was staring in amazement at the base of the sarcophagus where the inscription was now partially hidden behind an object that hadn’t been ther... |
"When you’re right, you’re right." Viconia muttered, the pain of being unworthy of wearing the boots fading with my magicka and pride in what she had done. |
I had been so intent and focussed on her that I hadn’t seen what the others had seen until I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. It drew the gaze in a similar way to the rest of its kin but there, sitting on the ancient marble less than a metre away was the Mace of the Crusader. |
"I hope you both realise that you don’t need to do everything yourselves?" Despite the good humour in Alexi’s voice there was still a streak of bitterness that was barely noticeable through it. |
Viconia was beaming from her position on the floor, stretching her legs out and grimacing as I tried my best to treat the strange stigmata that had afflicted her feet. The blister like burns were superficial, but painful and even with her usual tolerances to pain every movement or wave of magicka I channelled left her... |
My magicka was helping immensely but it would be some time before she would be free of the strange burns that wearing the boots had afflicted. I did manage to half her feet enough that she was able to go through the slightly laborious process of carefully pulling on her socks and wearing her proper boots again. As she... |
The vision of the floating islands ensured that no one could get a close look at the Mace’s grandeur but now that it had been recovered its finery was revealed to all. There was absolutely no doubt that it was an artefact of the God of smiths and craftsmen, and there was also no doubting the fact that there had been n... |
For several moments I reached out, my fingers hovering over the naked haft of the weapon while Viconia slowly and carefully put her boots on and until I built up enough courage to grasp it. Until the very moment that my fingers touched the cool metal I could scarcely believe that we had no successfully retrieved anoth... |
At first, I felt confident in picking up the relic as the other items such as the boots and the helm had not been an issue and I had been able to hold them without any negative effects. Although I was wary after seeing how the boots had burned Viconia it didn’t stop me from picking it up. |
At first the metal was cool and almost welcoming but it quickly changed for every second that I held onto it. I was mostly expecting something of the like but within seconds the metal had seemed to become superheated as though I had plucked it from the heart of a forge. To those watching with some trepidation they wat... |
"You can’t wield it either." Alexi said flatly. "At least there’s something that you and Viconia can’t do." |
"I don’t think that many people will be able to, which is why we need to find Pelinal’s heir." With a few quick movements I unclasped my cloak from around my shoulders before wrapping the mace up as best I could until it was as swaddled as a newborn. |
"What now Commander?" Said one of the new Knights of the Nine and I could feel all eyes upon me. The room was deathly quiet and everyone was almost too shocked to truly react but there was a sense of anticipation in the air. Everyone present; the Knights of Iron, the four Knights of the Nin and Carodus, Thedret, Alexi... |
"We need to get the Mace out of here and safely to the Stallion Lodge." As I tucked the Mace into my arms I breathed out a sigh of relief at how it either couldn’t burn me through the multiple layers or didn’t unless someone attempted to wield it as a weapon. |
"I doubt the priests are going to simply let you all walk out of here with the Mace Sir." Carodus said simply, immediately reaching the same conclusion that I had despite his relative lack of experience in the regard. When I had retrieved the boots the Priesthood of Kynareth had attempted to claim possession over the ... |
"I know. That’s why we’re going to need everyone we can to help escort us out of the city." My eyes glanced about the room as Viconia and I rose to our feet. She was still looking in pain but it was quickly being concealed with her usual disdain for all concerns of the flesh. She didn’t bat a single eyelash though at ... |
"Surely we can just sneak this out of here?" She said as she took it from my hands and I shook my head sadly. |
"Even if we managed to get out of the cathedral without anyone getting suspicious, people need to know that another Relic has been recovered." Another thought occurred to me and to her amusement I quickly knelt before the tomb, relaxing and asking for Zenithar to test my resolve. It didn’t appear to surprise anyone th... |
"Didn’t you trust me Kaius?" Viconia’s voice was sickly sweet in her amusement but I could tell that she was as deadly serious about the situation as I was. |
"I like being thorough." Turning and taking note of the individuals within the Tomb I did a quick count and drew up some plans in my mind. "We’re all on escort detail. Viconia will carry the Mace and we will show it to the people in the cathedral but at the first available opportunity we get it out of here and to the ... |
"What about the priests?" The amusement was evident in Carodus’ face but I nodded with a savage grin forming on my own. |
"Especially the priests. The only person that this Relic leaves with is Madame DeVir and I will expect us all to defend it if needed." |
The two Knights of Iron looked between themselves and came to some unspoken agreement before one opened his mouth to speak. "You can count on us as well Sir Desin." |
"My thanks to you." Turning to one of the Knights directly under my command I gestured to him and the halls beyond that lead back to the cathedral. "Did anyone else from our Order come with you?" |
"Three other Knights and a squad of Men-at-Arms." He said and I tried my very best to hide my increasing anxiety from him and the others . |
"Good. You go ahead and ensure that they are waiting at the top of the stairs when we arrive. I suspect that we will need every able body we can manage." |
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