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As his metallic jingle disappeared into the halls our impromptu group was readying ourselves both physically and mentally. No one was truly expecting a fight beyond some strongly worded arguments from the priest but with a relic of Pelinal in our care I doubted that any of us were taking any chances. With the Knight r...
By the time that we managed to leave the catacombs and reach the top of the stairs we not only found a small group of Knights and Men-at-Arms waiting for us but a growing number of curious worshippers and a gaggle of priests who were not too pleased with the intrusion. While there was no outright ban on weapons within...
Being surrounded by a small number of armed men and women was as comforting as it should be and while they were not the equivalent to a similar group of Legionaries, they were still formidable soldiers. Sir Ramauld had not let just anyone from the Order of the White Stallion to change their Heraldry and the knights an...
All fell momentarily silent as they saw what was wrapped in Viconia’s arms as she had carefully unwrapped a portion of the flanged head of the mace to make it obvious what we had done. Several of the priests looked alternatively in shock or apoplectic that the Mace had been retrieved, and as Carodus had mentioned in p...
The surge of the faithful and curious left me reeling and remembering a portion of the battle of Kvatch where a horde of minor daedra had rushed the cohort I was fighting with. Several of the Men-at-Arms grunted and dug their heels in as those wishing to lay eyes upon a relic of the Divines pressed in closer but there...
Cheers mixed in with cries of joy and the sound of clapping echoed throughout the room and for the first minutes we could’ve move at all. It was only when the enormous form of Falid appeared, striding through the press as though the people were merely stalks of wheat that we were able to begin shuffling our way toward...
We were barely half way through the door when I felt my stomach drop as though I had fallen off a cliff and for a moment I thought it was simply my body and mind reacting to the stress. The cathedral’s Bishop had managed to wriggle his way through the impromptu shieldwall of the Men-at-Arms and was, and in no particul...
While unusual, the tell-tale signs of magicka in proximity was enough to draw the attentions of every being in the cathedral who was sensitive to such things. With one arm wrapped around the Mace, Viconia shifted uncomfortably and pressed her free hand into her temple, audibly groaning as she too was left reeling by t...
If it wasn’t for the way that most people around us were left groaning and hunching over slightly in pain at the alien sensations, I would have struggled to seek out their source through the press of bodies. I could feel the magicka hammering into my mind but the portion that wasn’t entirely human was already rising t...
Beginning like the first hints of predawn light there was a puckering, swirling beam of sunlight that seemed to stretch into existence from one of the many spearing from the stained-glass windows. The beam seemed to drink in all other colours, merging and growing and yet splitting like a rainbow despite the colours be...
Further along the enormous expanse several of taller candle holders were illuminated in increasingly bright light, as though their tiny flames were suddenly enhanced somehow and the primary chandelier above our heads was reacting the same way. Four metres across and containing dozens, if not a hundred or more softly b...
One moment the expanding beams of light were almost physical and the next they had whip-cracked together and stretched into impossible shapes before breaking away from their sources. The magicka was still growing but it was no longer headache inducing now that what had been summoned tore themselves into reality.
Like the bastard merging of a sunbeam and a will-o-wisp, the shuddering, flickering forms dropped from the light sources that had given birth to them and began to dance about the cathedral’s interior. They were difficult to focus upon but I caught semblances of humanoid figures leaping and cavorting before utter pande...
Priests and the faithful alike suddenly scattered from the things that had appeared without warning and it took mere seconds before the first screams ripped through the air. Initially in fear and terror of the unknown, the shouts of warning and alarm were replaced with full-throated shrieks of pain and agony as the th...
"Ssussun errdegahren!" Viconia shouted, growling in the lingering pain from the creatures’ appearances and obviously trying not to limp from her injured feet.
"Light Atronachs!"
With growing horror at the indiscriminate way that the flickering beings leapt about and attacked whoever they could reach I found myself struggling to think or act, finding my limbs growing as solid as lead.
"What in all the hells are Light Atronachs doing here?"
Thedret, like the rest of us had already drawn his weapon and he gripped the enormous three metre length of his bladed glaive in both hands. "They are creatures of Meridia! Umaril must have sent them for the Mace!"
In the weeks and months of reading and learning all that I could about the Knights of the Nine, Pelinal and his ancient nemesis there had been one being who was mentioned in every written works. The Daedric Prince Meridia was considered to be one of the "good’ or at least "lesser evil’ of the princes but the sight of ...
In a handful of seconds, I felt a strange calm wash over me that was wholly unlike anything that the vampire could offer. I felt my muscles tighten, stomach clench in almost the opposite of quivering nervousness and for the first time in days at least I felt my mind clear of all doubts and worries. Months of Legion tr...
The nervousness from the fact that every armed individual near/by was suddenly waiting on me was washed away by my sudden rush of confidence. Here was an enemy, and around me were men and women sworn to combat such things. While this didn’t appear to be the same sort of attack that had resulted in countless desecrated...
One of the humanoid collections of sunbeams bounced off one of the walls, twisting unnaturally in mid-air as it hurled itself into the centre of our ad hoc formation but before anyone could react Thedret had impaled it on his glaive in a shower of twinkling lights. The air was suddenly filled with the hint of fireflie...
"We need to get everyone the hells out of here!" I shouted over the increasingly loud screaming and cries of absolute terror and gesturing to the collection of Men-at-Arms surrounding us. "You all clear a path to the entrance if you can. If you can’t, I want you all to get as many people into the catacombs as possible...
The wide-eyed expression of the Bishop reappeared as I turned and I could see the man’s sudden terror in his pale features and quivering jowls. "The relic cannot fall to the hands of the Unfeathered," he said with his voice cracking with fear. "and you must also save the faithful!"
"I fully intend to, my lord Bishop." Taking a quick tally of the number of armed warriors with me I quickly nodded to some who quickly moved off in the direction of some of the creatures with their weapons drawn. Others I motioned between themselves and Viconia who was now holding the Mace close to her chest as tightl...
They nodded and I turned away from the Bishop despite his attempts to keep my attention. As for Viconia, she only had eyes for me as she drew Dragonbane. "I can fight."
Our expressions mirrored each other and I couldn’t help but think of the inevitable words she would have with me at a later time. "We’ll hold them off but you need to get the Mace to safety. We can’t afford to let them get their hands on it."
"Always the hero Mrannd’ssinss." She said softly, nudging my shoulder with her forehead before gripping her sword even tighter. There was the briefest moment of concern on her beautiful face that framed the old acid scarring and tattoos of her forehead and cheeks before she turned away and I was left facing the others...
Slightly off to the side I saw the old retired centurion hardening his expression at the sight before us as the dozens of armed soldiers and guards engaged the flickering light atronachs. The preparations and precautions that the Church had implemented since announcing the attacks was already paying dividends but the ...
"Carodus." I said, seeing his gaze twist to look at me at his name. "I want you to escort the Bishop and everyone else you can into the catacombs."
Despite being unable to hear it over the sound of one of the militia being born down screaming under a pack of the creatures, I could see the way that Carodus snorted. "No disrespect intended my lord," he said, rolling his shoulders and drawing his gladius in a smooth, experienced motion. "but you can shove that order...
There was no use arguing, nor was there any time to as a collection of the capering things rushed forward. While they casually swiped or stuck at anyone in their path they paid little heed to the few armed soldiers or militia or even the unarmed civilians in the way. Their attentions and burning, shapeless gazes were ...
Even as we shifted forward to engage the Atronachs I could feel myself tensing at the growing realisation. The cathedral interior was enormous and could hold congregations of hundreds if not more at a time. While it was not a day of worship there were still dozens, if not a hundred or more worshippers and priests scat...
The way that the things moved and their semi-transparent natures made it impossible to make even a somewhat accurate estimation of their numbers but everywhere I looked there were dozens of them squirming around the increasingly panicked defenders. The only true saving grace regarding the whole situation was that they...
As we rushed forward it was Falid who encountered the first of the light Atronachs, a gleaming, stuttering streak of light in the rough semblance of a humanoid shape. It launched itself at him without hesitation, leaping and twirling through the air with ease which didn’t seem to help it much when it met an enormous b...
Although he staggered and lost his footing from the moment’s surprise at how easily he killed the atronach, Falid was already moving like a storm. With his sword grasped in his enormous gauntlets he turned two more of the creatures into sparkling droplets of energy that dissipated into the air in two sweeping blows. T...
The first that fell to Sunchild’s edge dropped from one of the towering pillars supporting the roof like a glowing insect, shrieking with voice that sounded faintly of wind chimes as its formless claws of sunlight sought out my eyes. With barely a thought I had cut it in half but only after I gained the impression of ...
"There’s a lot of these damnable things!" I heard Carodus shout and unlike the battle cries and chanted hymns of some of the more religious Knights fighting by our side it was the first noise I had heard from him since he had rejected my order. Like every Legionary he had been taught to fight silent and cold but as a ...
Thedret twisted the bladed end of his glaive in the approximation of one of the daedra’s guts and it came apart like wet paper. "We must hold them off for as long as we can. Whatever magicka is summoning these things cannot be sustained forever, nor can they remain in this world for long."
Knowing what I did about the barriers between the world and Oblivion from personal experience with Oblivion Portals I knew that however long it took it was going to be too long.
"Agreed." Another of the creatures was hacked into two pieces that disappeared before they even struck the ground and I twisted Sunchild into the path of a second. "Kill any in our path but we need to rescue as many people as we can."
When the Atronachs had first appeared, a large majority of the faithful had rushed towards the main doors but many others had simply fled in whatever direction appeared to be the opposite to the daedra. As there was only the door leading into the rear courtyard, the stairs to the undercroft, the stairs leading to the ...
On the far side of the cathedral I could see a pair of local guardsmen and a Legionary who had been caught in mid prayers holding off a baying swarm of Atronachs from a group of civilians. As they fought, a priest was lifting up some of the smaller children under his care and passing them through the hole bashed a win...
But for every small victory such as that, there were several defeats. The press of civilians trying to get through the double doors of the entrance and outside to safety had not only blocked and trapped many within the cathedral but had also ensured that it would be some time before any guards or help from outside wou...
The daedra also struck at random, and while it was obvious that they were seeking out the Mace many scattered like cockroaches under the light of a lantern and attacked everyone they could reach. More than one group of unarmed civilians were slaughtered by ravenous packs of the burning Atronachs and age or ability to ...
Most at least. Such concerns of being outnumbered and overwhelmed didn’t matter to the likes of Falid and he simply chose the largest concentration of the creatures and attacked them head on. For anyone else it would have been a quick route to the grave but if I wasn’t mistaken the daedra were actually forced to back ...
The rest of us continued to fight for our lives in more traditional ways but I did catch glimpses and the sounds of another member of our group on the other side of the cathedral closer to the door. Mazoga hadn’t gone far in the hours since our arrival and had also thankfully been inside when the daedra attacked and w...
What was extremely concerning after I realised it was the way that not all of the Atronachs were attacking everything and everyone they could. Groups of them were clustering together at several points throughout the cathedral seemingly at random but always in a position that offered some space. Most were in locations ...
Each one of the huddled groups were pressing and writhing like a swarm of bees, clambering over each other and twisting and almost becoming one as they condensed together. The sheer intensity of so many in one place was enough to burn into the eyes with a single glance in the general direction but there was also no mi...
One such group was very close to the main doors, another was further within the cathedral close to the primary altar and the third was less than a dozen metres away from where Alexi and I had found ourselves fighting side by side. Each swarm of Atronachs filled the entire cathedral with their strange luminescence whic...
The swarm nearest to us heaved and rolled like a blanket over a sleeping individual and both Alexi and I shared a glance as something else within the mass moved. Whatever the being was, it was no wispy strand of vaguely humanoid light, it was tall and broad, twisting and tearing the last strands of embryonic energies ...
"Okay, now what?" I growled, ripping Sunchild across where I vaguely guessed where one of the atronach’s faces were and being rewarded with a tiny shower of glittering flakes.
Nearby, Thedret had just finished eviscerating a pair of the cavorting daedra and spun his glaive neatly. There was no doubt that he, like the rest of us were sweating and panting from the exertion but his Redguard heritage turned waxy at the sight of the larger creatures pulling themselves into our world.
"Aurorans!" he called out, taking a few steps away from the hulking figure that rose to its full height and stretched.
There were only three of them, but the size and power within them made the number of them appear to be overkill. Each had the appearance of golden knights wearing a suit of form covering and beautiful golden armour that gleamed like the morning sun. Every single one of them were taller than every mortal present, inclu...
"Well, this just got a lot worse." Alexi said in his usual cheerful manner despite the tenseness of his jaw and sword arm. The swarms of light Atronachs fell away like autumn leaves and most appeared to dissipate and fade after their energies had been siphoned away to summon these new daedra.
"New plan!" I shouted, gesturing to the figures as they began to wade through the remaining Atronachs. "Kill those things and get everyone the fuck out of here!"
Unfortunately for us there was still too many foes and far too many civilians scattered about for it to be easy and already the remaining Atronachs were twisting and moving further away from us in an obvious attempt to merge together to summon more of the golden giants. One of them immediately charged into a small gro...
What was even worse was that one of them had been summoned between the great doors of the cathedral and Viconia’s group of Men-at-Arms. This being assaulted the press of screaming humanity without any mercy or restraint, killing several with every blow of its sword that was almost the length of Falid’s and sending siz...
The situation was too overwhelming, too quick to keep track of and it was no doubt that the initiative of this battle was well within the golden claws of Umaril’s minions. About the only thing that I was thankful for was that none of the Aurorans appeared different or otherwise unique beyond what weapons they had been...
Falid as always, treated the appearance of a daedra that was taller and heavier than himself with about as much emotion as he did ordering a meal. Although his expression or any hints of surprise was lost behind the ebony skin of armour he wore there was no hesitation in him, or in fact any of the rest of us as we imm...
Several of the remaining guards and armed priesthood hired to protect the church lost what resolve they had and joined the fleeing masses who were doing everything they could to escape. Some were huddling in cloisters and corners, others where crawling and wriggling their way under pews and altars and a steady stream ...
A priest fought alongside myself and the others, wielding nothing more than a censer filled with incense on a chain as though it was a flail, and more than one of the worshippers had drawn knives or even their tools to defend themselves. Further away a grossly overweight nobleman dressed in clothes that were worth a y...
The Aurorans were an entirely different foe than the flickering, weakening Atronachs who were ever decreasing in number. Unlike the other daedra that Viconia and I had faced these creatures were just as quick as they were strong. Every daedra it appeared were blessed with an unholy strength that a very rare few mortal...
Together with the handful of knights I engaged the nearest one, casting aside Sunchild in favour of a weapon that was more devastating and drawing the Light of Dawn. I had my doubts to the enchanted blades effectiveness against beings that appeared just as heavily armoured as Falid but at that point every little advan...
Getting closer to such a creature left no doubt to its otherworldly nature and the magicka-corruption stink that emanated from it was almost a physical sensation. The strange helmet that it wore was fused with its flesh which was somehow the same colour and texture of its armour and it made it difficult to determine w...
It attacked like a storm of gold and razors, swirling around with the same impossible grace as the Atronachs and glowing with its own faint radiance as it parried and dodged our blows. Impossibly agile it was difficult to get close enough to hit but our numbers were working in our favour as we managed to corner the cr...
Roaring with the sound of a summer storm, it laid about itself with its sword and I found myself horrified to see the way that its face shifted within its helm-skull. In many ways its armour was its flesh and already some of the plates were bleeding a silvery, mercury like substance that evaporated and somehow flowed ...
While it appeared to be similar in terms of strength and size to the other daedra that Viconia and I had faced, the Aurorans were not filled with the similar rage and bloodlust of the Dremora or even Xivilai. They were no less deadly for this, and if anything they were even more dangerous as they attacked with lightni...
Despite being surrounded by almost a dozen armed men and mer the Auroran showed no hesitation as it engaged us all. It was so quick that while our numbers managed to force it onto the defensive it was able to parry and glide out of the way of our blows. Even worse, it was canny enough to know which blows to let throug...
Unfortunately, it was also appearing much more resilient than Dremora. The servants of the Prince of Destruction bled and died like mortals and shared many of the same similarities in terms of weaknesses and organs but the Aurorans did not. Under their outer layers there was nothing underneath except for white light a...
Fighting like the legionary that he had been his whole life, Carodus was in the thick of the fighting like the rest of us and he used his enormous tower shield to full effect to protect himself from the creature’s sword. As powerful as the daedric weapon was, it was proving enough to batter and hack chunks out of the ...
The taloned hand the size of my head latched onto his shield after a particularly successful stab from his gladius left his blade sunk halfway to the hilt in golden flesh and before any of us realised the retired legionary was thrown through the air. None of us had time to see where or how that he landed before the cr...
There was no time to react, no moment to allow us to come into terms with the sudden shift in the fight before it speared the censer wielding priest through the chest and swung the severed arm like a club, smashing us all from our feet in a spray of crimson. I tasted copper from the blow and my vision was filled with ...
It was a struggle to move, breath, or even think and I found myself rolling over and trying to force my aching body to push up off the floor and find a weapon, any weapon to defend myself with. The Light of Dawn was gone, briefly skittering away before its incredible nature allowing it to cut into the floor until only...
The entire interior of the cathedral, while appearing more and more like a slaughterhouse than a house of worship was now filled with dozens of panicking, terrified people fleeing in all directions. The appearance of a fourth Auroran and their seemingly unstoppable advance through the soldiers and warriors had broken ...
If anything, the killing worsened and was not caused by the daedra. Men and women alike tripped and fell and were trampled in the stampede of panicking humanity and the screams and cries of women and children were even worse than the roars and wind chime echoes of the Atronachs and Aurorans. I was still unarmed and st...
A young girl, being dragged along by her weeping mother had been tripped on one of the Knights of the Nine who was lying motionless and unmoving from the fact his helmet was staved in from being stuck by the severed limb. She shrieked in fright as she fell, losing her grip of her mother’s hand and skidding in a fresh ...
There was no hesitation from the daedra, seeing the child land in front of it and even before it finished dropping the bloodied limb an enormous boot was lifted into the air. It had no emotion, its angular face dispassionate and burning with the lights in its empty, soulless eye sockets as it stomped down as hard as i...
None of us were close enough to move or do anything but of all of those who had come with us we hadn’t been counting on Mazoga’s appearance. She threw herself over the girl before the Auroran could crush her, even discarding her mace and shield in the process. Using her own body as a shield she slapped the bloodied fl...
Mazoga grunted from the impact that left her back plate dented and deformed. There was no doubt that anyone else would have been left with a broken spine and shattered chest and while it had still left her coughing blood she held herself aloft over the screaming child and continued shielding her with her own body.
The Auroran was stopped in place, its glowing eyes widening in surprise at the orcish knight’s actions that for a moment it was stilled. Her actions were so unconceivable that it and the rest of us were given pause before dragging whatever weapons were in reach but its hesitation didn’t last long. Again the pillar of ...
A collection plate of all things sailed through the air and it would have loosened teeth if it had any within its blank maw. It stuck with full force, rocking its head back and leaving it shaking its head and rolling its jaw even while swiping a candlestick out of the air as it too was turned into a projectile.
With an arm honed from literal decades of hurling pilum, Carodus had risen from where it had thrown him and cast his destroyed shield aside. His gladius was still jutting from the thing’s hip in a wound weeping silverly streaks that swirled up the length of the blade but he had taken to throwing everything that he cou...
An immaculately crafted shrine to Akatosh was thrown, the five-kilogram weight being knocked out of the air by the daedra as it staggered back from Mazoga and the young girl, hissing in rage at the impudence of the man throwing things at it. It had the desired effect though, and for the moment at least its murderous a...
"Yeah! That’s right you spavined streak of horseshit!" Carodus roared, putting his full experience in bellowing and inventive insults that seemed to be a requirement for all Centurions. With one hand he gestured to the larger monstrosity and with the other he grabbed and threw a donation box that exploded into a showe...
Whether the words had an effect or it was momentarily distracted or annoyed at the constant barrage of thrown objects including a tiny reliquary containing the finger bones of an ancient saint I would never know, but its full attention turned to him nonetheless. It roared, once again its jaw unhinging and opening as w...
It never had the chance to move as another projectile struck it in the spine and folded it over with a crash that we all felt in our guts. This projectile was no thrown object but instead two hundred and fifty kilograms of ebony plated Redguard launching himself into a flying tackle. The Auroran was bigger, taller and...
The Auroran still fought despite the fact that its back, spine and most of its chest had been crumpled in by the impact and within seconds it was using its larger size and strength to wrestle the Black Knight. Hands of segmented ebony wrapped and twisted around the golden metal-flesh of the Auroran and briefly it appe...
Both of the creature’s hands fastened themselves around his enormous winged helm, now lacking one of the signature horns after it had been snapped away and we could do little to assist him as it began to squeeze. So great was its strength that we could actually hear the metal creaking in protest as it tried to crush h...
Finally, and under a flurry of attacks it died but its end came quicker than expected when Thedret retrieved his Glaive and hacked down hard on its throat. The thick, spurting stump of its neck began erupting with silver blood that was quickly evaporating into the air but as soon as its head was cut from its shoulders...
The other three remaining auroans and the last of the Atronachs were still creating havoc but a second was starting to succumb to the number of foes battling it. Pierced by a dozen spears and having been impaled by a handful of thrown javelins and a pilum or two it was swiping and swinging its weapon feebly around its...
While the rest of us were tied down battling their siblings and the lesser daedra these two in particular had focussed their attentions on the crowds at the cathedral doors and more importantly Viconia and her escort. They knew exactly where the mace was and they were focusing their efforts in claiming it for their dr...
Besides the surviving Men-at-Arms a handful of others were still fighting but it wouldn’t be enough to hold the towering monsters off long enough for us to assist. A man dressed in expensive clothes marked with the obvious heraldry of a nobleman fought alongside his small collection of servants and Viconia’s escort an...
He had no time to scream before he died as the battleaxe lodged deep in him and easily cutting through all of his organs and heart. Despite the way his eyes were open and the brief gout of blood erupted from between his lips he was already dead, his mind just didn’t have the time to accept the fact before the Auroran ...
The ruined corpse of the travelling nobleman bowled down his small collection of servants and was thrown with enough force that it also knocked down three of the Men-at-Arms and Viconia. His blood misted the air for a dozen metres in all directions and the cloud of the coppery liquid thickened as the second Auroran ad...
Viconia had been knocked down by the ruptured corpse of the noble and the relic had bounced across the floor. In its brief journey across the blood soaked tiles my cloak had fallen away, leaving it entirely revealed for all to see and its effects were immediate.
Even though most of the light within the cathedral was being produced by the cavorting Atronachs and streaming through the stained glass windows, it somehow became filtered and purified by the mere presence of Pelinal’s Mace. The cathedral interior became brighter and yet less painful on the eyes in comparison to that...
Viconia was rolling the noble’s body off her from where she had been knocked down, and some of the Men-at-Arms were also struggling to rise as well. The rest of his servants were cut down where they stood, along with a pair of local guards trying desperately to fend the Auroran’s off with their halberds. In the space ...

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