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Everyone and everything was converging on the Mace, those of us who had been fighting the daedra trying our best to reach it before every surviving creature reached it. There was little we could truly accomplish though, as the two Aurorans were much closer and only had a single person between them and claiming the Rel... |
Alone, and picking himself up from the bodies of his fellows a young man barely into his twenties was kneeling less than a metre from the immaculate weapon sitting untouched in a pool of blood. While he was covered almost head to toe in the blood of his lord and fellows he was unwounded if not for the light gash runni... |
From the dozen metres away as I sprinted as hard as I could at the mace I could see the shock on his face change to a grim acceptance of his fate and an unwillingness to back down despite it. The thin bladed craftsman’s dagger was dropped to the ground as the Aurorans loomed over him with grasping talons of gold and w... |
The Aurorans were expecting resistance, possibly even expecting for someone to use the Mace against them but neither them nor anyone else present was expecting what happened when the young man picked it from the puddle of gore. A vague halo of light burst into existence around the head; a pure and holy light unlike th... |
As the two weapons came together there was a flare of energy, a heartbeat of silence and peace so minute it barely existed and then the world appeared to explode. The Auroran’s axe, that which had proven so capable of cleaving through some of the greatest and thickest armour not merely shattered, but instead disintegr... |
The Aurorans fared even worse and before either of them could react, one had been sent back to Oblivion. A follow up blow of such force that the tiles under its feet cratered pulped its head and cracked its chest open and the other hesitated just long enough for the young man to close with it. He had no technique to s... |
Each hammer blow ripped through the air and ground like a physical force that snatched the Atronachs from existence as though they were candle flames being blown out by a thunderstorm. Even before the second Auroran felt the bite of the Mace it was struggling to remain in the mortal realm, its daedric essence being le... |
A pair of creatures so powerful that they managed to face off against dozens of knights and prevail were left as shattered remains leaking their mercurial gore. It was shimmering and raining upwards from the bodies of the destroyed Aurorans and the power of the Mace had been enough to ensure that every single one of t... |
The battle within the cathedral had come to an end. |
There was no such thing as silence after a battle. For those who spoke of such things, even those who had participated in such battles there was an absence of noise rather than true silence. I had experienced such things numerous times, especially in the previous months but I was also experienced enough to know that wh... |
It was quieter yes, but it was not truly quiet. Men and women were moaning in pain or weeping at wounded and dead friends and family. Many were simply sitting or standing mutely, unable to comprehend not only the events that had just unfolded but also the fact that they were over. Dozens had died and just as many were... |
Post battle shock was something that I was not impressed with how regular it was occurring to me but despite its regularity it still hit with full force. Familiarity was not lessening the blow and all I desired at that very moment was to find somewhere quiet and hide away from it all. Instead, experience and a measure... |
"Sir Vanevius." |
Alexi’s expression was one of his very best "oh shit’ ones at the tone of my voice and my formality but he still moved with considerable haste over to me. "Sir?" |
"I want everyone who isn’t wounded, a fighter or a healer out of here right now." Pausing for a moment I looked over the handful of knights closest to me and made a quick count. There weren’t many, but they would have to do. "Sir Antentia?" |
Wearing the dual heraldry of the Knights of the White Stallion and the Order of the Nine, the heavyset Imperial raised his visor. Underneath the layers of metal and leather, the man was sweating and pale but there was still determination in his eyes. "Sir?" |
"I want word sent to the Stallion Lodge. Sir Ramauld needs to put the Order on high alert and we will need additional troops here and to escort the Relics." My eyes lingered over the bodies nearest to me as the dozens of survivors began realising that it was truly over and alternatively milled around in shock or took ... |
There was something strange in the way that he was laying, his great helm stove in by a blow of a severed arm of a Knight of Iron and out of all the emotions I should’ve been expecting to feel, regret was not one of them. He had been one of the handful of men and women under my command and he had died in the service t... |
One of the other Knights, wearing the hastily sewn red diamond on his surcoat followed my gaze over our fallen brother and I struggled to hold my composure. Attempting to wipe my face clean of the blood of men and daedra alike, I instead frowned at myself and vowed that I would learn each and every person within the O... |
"Recover the body and the bodies of any others who have fallen. We will honour any wishes for their funerals at the first opportunity, otherwise we will take them to the Priory of the Nine with us." |
"Yes commander." The Knight said with a determined growl of approval and I turned away, trying my best to keep my mind focussed and away from the usual darker thoughts that plagued me during such situations. It was something of a losing battle, as I couldn’t turn in any direction without seeing something that left the... |
Men, women, and children alike had been killed by the daedra and there were very few places that weren’t covered in blood and gore. Tiny bodies were strewn about amongst the adults and all had their parents nearby whether they were wailing and crying or laying just as still. Most of the dead whether they were young or... |
Walking over to where the elegant hilt of the Light of Dawn rose out of the bloodstained floor, I saw how there were small measures of calm in the cathedral. Despite everything around them, some of the survivors were sitting or kneeling quietly as they went about triage and comforting others. Some did so without thoug... |
Mazoga was sitting upright, her legs outstretched as the priest and local man carefully pried her battered armour away to reveal her clothes underneath. Pain it seemed had finally caught up with her and she was sitting quietly, eyes unfocussed and staring and thick, bloody drool flowing out of her tusked jaw. The Auro... |
"Making you a Knight is probably going to be the best thing I’ll ever do." |
Painfully, her head turned and eyes briefly met mine and there was triumph in her pale expression and unfocussed eyes. The grin was unmistakable, appearing somewhat goofy despite her tusks and the blood dripping down over her chin. She was unable to speak, or unable to decide on what to say and instead made a slight s... |
The cathedral was slowly beginning to empty of everyone who were only getting in the way and my attentions were moving about to the others who had accompanied me to the cathedral. Falid was standing as still as a statue in a position specially chosen to allow him to respond to any new threats, and Viconia was busy mar... |
Standing almost knee deep in corpses, the young man who had so thoroughly defeated the Auroran’s was truly a statue, his eyes staring and mouth hanging slackly as he looked about the devastation around him. Each of the giant golden daedra were little more than ruined piles of incomprehensible flesh, leaking their silv... |
Despite everything else that had occurred and was occurring within the cathedral, the Mace of the Crusader was still flawless and didn’t have the slightest trace of blood or daedric essence staining its flanged head. It was hanging loosely in the young man’s hand, faint traces of witch-light playing up the metallic sh... |
His eyes were almost entirely white from ever-increasing shock but as I squelched through the thickening pools of blood he turned them at me with an expression that changed from shock, to sorrow, to a sudden and surprising fear. As though it had suddenly burned him as it had Viconia and myself, he dropped the mace int... |
"My lord. I... I apoligise and submit myself to your judgement." |
His words and the way that he had immediately adverted his eyes from me stopped me in my tracks even more than the way that such a priceless relic had been dropped in such a way. "Judgement?" |
There was no doubting the tremor that was coursing through him as he kept his hands by his side and head bowed and I was finding it extremely unusual and confusing how he had faced down two daedric monstrosities without hesitation would suddenly be shaking in his boots at my presence. "For touching a Knight’s weapon." |
Realisation crept into my mind and I looked over the way that his clothing was rough despite the obvious heraldry that he wore. The Shield and Banner arrangement and the coloration meant nothing to me but underneath the blood and ruined bodies, I could see that most of those standing near him were wearing the same mar... |
"You’re from High Rock, aren’t you?" I said simply, asking the question despite knowing the answer and without lifting his head for a moment he nodded. |
"Yes my Lord." |
He was so nervous that he was practically shaking and finally managed to pull a strip of cloth from the pouches I still wore. Carefully wiping at my face in an attempt to remove the tingling sensation of daedric blood evaporating and the stickiness of human blood, I tried to smile in a way that he would find soothing ... |
"You have no need to bow to me, and I’m certainly not going to punish someone who willingly took up arms against daedra." After a moment’s pause and no sign that he was going to raise from his bow, I sighed and finished cleaning my face. "What’s your name?" |
"Caleb, my Lord." |
"Just Caleb?" |
Slowly, hesitatingly he rose and straightened his back but he refused to look me in the eyes. "Y-yes. I am lowborn, but I suppose if I was to have a last name it would be Farrier." |
"Well Caleb Farrier, I am Kaius Desin, Knight commander of the Knights of the Nine. You did well before, as not just anyone takes up arms against daedra, let alone lives to talk about it." |
I saw the way that he mouthed my name with recognition and for a briefest of moments I thought that he would finally look me in the eyes. From my years in the Legion, but more from my recent experiences within the Order of the White Stallion, I knew that the culture within High Rock was considerably different to Cyrod... |
"My apoligies, but... but are you the Hero of Kvatch?" |
Nodding, I saw the way that he seemed to shrink down even further as he registered the movement. If he stood up to his full height he would have been a centimetres or two taller than myself, and despite the fact that he would have close to his twentieth birthday he had a build of a legionary that seemed somewhat at od... |
Ignoring his increasing nervousness, I gestured to the gleaming bodies slowly melting as though they were wax statues too close to a fire. "How did you do that?" |
"Do... Do what my Lord?" glancing in the direction of my hand, he shrugged slightly. "I don’t know. The mace is enchanted I believe." |
"It most definitely is. It’s the Mace of Zenithar." |
This time the shock overrode a lifetime, if not entire generations of enforced servitude and he looked me in the eyes, looked to the mace, looked back at me with his mouth opening and closing like a fish. "The Mace... of Zenithar?!" |
"Indeed it is. I can fully understand why you grabbed and used it. Hells, I would’ve done the exact same thing but neither I or my Knights can lift the weapon, let alone use it in battle." |
Half strangulated words flowed from between his lips as he tried to look in every direction at once. He looked at me, the Mace, the other Knights scattered about the Cathedral almost several times a second, becoming more and more animated and almost terrified with every passing moment. |
"But... But... But my Lord, only a Knight can wield the Relics! It’s heresy for a Lowborn to even look upon one of the Relics of the Eight, let alone touch them! Especially wield them!" His hands lifted up and wiped his own face in the building terror despite my best attempts to calm him and there was no mistaking the... |
"I’m lowborn myself." I said, feeling his feverish gaze return to me as I shrugged and tried to move a little closer to calm him down. "Used to serve the Legion and only recently have I become a Knight. I became a Knight Commander last night and yet I have been present or directly responsible for retrieving five of th... |
"I-I don’t know my Lord! The Ma... the Relic was just lying there and I was unarmed so I took it. I didn’t actually expect to win or do anything but I wasn’t just going to let them kill me." |
"It’s a good thing you did, otherwise it is very likely that Umaril would have gotten his hands on the Mace at the very least." |
Caleb was looking increasingly pale and was even beginning to sway slightly as I tried to comfort or calm him down. His eyes had returned to the dad laying nearby and realisation was beginning to set in. "I’m... I’m just Lord Tussrienele’s personal farrier. I make horseshoes and saddle his horse and he... he... Oh God... |
Without warning he dropped to his knees and slapped a hand into a puddle of gore before explosively vomiting and adding to the mess on the polished tiles. I could do little more that glance around with my own anxiety and attempts not to join him as he promptly emptied his stomach until there was nothing left. The whol... |
"They’re dead." he said finally as the body wracking shudders and sobs finally gave out to his attempts to drag in air into his lungs. "All of them. Lord Tussrienele, Sir Uthsable. Sybilia, Claelc, and Chrius." |
My hand did little more than continue to softly pat him on the shoulder as he dragged in another breath and wiped the stringy drool from his mouth on the back of a stained sleeve. "They fought well." |
"But they still died." He closed his eyes and I could physically see the way that he was forcing himself to breathe normally in an effort to calm himself. "I’m all that’s left. We only came here today to receive a benediction before leaving for Highrock. They didn’t deserve this." |
With a slight gesture, I waved in the direction of the rest of the Cathedral. "No one in here did. Neither did those in the other houses of worship that have been attacked or the cities that have been besieged by the Daedra." |
"I want them stopped." |
"Good." I flinched somewhat as he coughed, spat with the bitter taste in his mouth before attempting to straighten up from where he knelt. "As you are without a Lord, and as terrible as this sounds I think you need to come with me and the Knights of the Nine." |
"Because you can wield a relic that no one else can. That makes you special." |
"I guess I don’t have a choice, do I my Lord?" |
As his eyes met mine I smiled slightly but there was no warmth in my expression. "We’ll see to the funerary rites of your friends, but no, no you don’t..." |
It shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did, but hunting was an activity that was inherently relaxing for me. It was the rare occasion that I didn’t return with a collection of rabbits or a deer or wild goat hung over my shoulders, but whether I was successful or not it didn’t matter and I always felt relaxed when... |
Unlike what was typical for most Imperial, especially Colovian Noblemen there was no team of servants or soldiers by my side, and nor was I mounted atop Trygve with a lance or spear at the ready for the quarry to be flushed out of hiding. Despite my title as Knight-Commander and the heavy signet ring safely tucked awa... |
It had been years since I had hunted in a region that didn’t feel utterly inimical to human life. Vvardenfell was harsh, unforgiving and deadly between the beasts of the wilds, the corpus infected monsters that occasionally appeared and the fact that between the semi-random ash storms most of the island could only sup... |
Not that it wasn’t dangerous and I remained on my guard just as I had during my Bandit hunt in Anvil County the months before. This time at least there was an almost complete absence of human life within the entire area, and I was no longer responsible for hunting those that were. Only the occasional lion or other lar... |
Breathing carefully and taking care not to look directly at my latest prey I pulled back on my bow and felt the silent groan of my arms from the motion. Viconia had noted that I hadn’t been using my bow as much for the past weeks, and it was somewhat of a surprise to realise just how much favouring the sword was affec... |
My vampirism did assist in hunting and there was no denying the fact. The grass in front of me was almost thigh deep and hunting the rabbits that lived within it would have been impossible without the curse. Instead their every sound reached my ears and I could hunt them by their heartbeats alone. Even the smell of fr... |
The enhanced senses of the vampire allowed me to ensure that everything within a kilometre or more didn’t go unnoticed and this fact as well also allowed me to relax. For the most part at least. I was arguably the most dangerous being within the region but this was not my home as such. I was a visitor, a guest even an... |
Of the creatures of the wilds, there were uncountable dozens of species and monsters that contended for the title of deadliest. Bears, lions and other large predatory cats were obvious contenders, and especially in Cyrodiil trolls and ogres were infamous in their strength and taste for flesh. Goblins were always consi... |
Even towns and villages much closer to "civilisation’ than the Priory of the Nine could be threatened by wolves and it seemed the further you travelled the larger and more dangerous they became. They were as intelligent as they were cunning, capable of hunting in packs and taking down creatures much larger than themse... |
There was a dozen or more that had claimed this region and with my vampirism I knew several of them by smell. Each of their pack, from the younger pups to the oldest females were creatures to be wary of but they were as wary of me as I was of them. More than once they had approached me during my hunting trips over the... |
The pack was led by a sizable specimen that I had only caught glimpses of; an alpha with bone grey fur and streaks of black that was easily my equal in weight. I knew without a doubt that they were wary of me much more than they would be had I been fully human, and there were several times where I had listened to them... |
As I moved over and retrieved my fourth rabbit for the day I could hear them moving closer, and strangely enough I could smell the pack on the breeze. Normally they were careful in revealing their presence and ensuring that they were upwind at all times, but as I attached the rabbit to my belt I realised that they wer... |
It was curious, especially how I could tell they weren’t hunting me or anything else. Their pace was neither slow and controlled, or fast and precise but instead almost relaxed. There were also other smells beyond the pack; hints of leather, steel and civilisation that created the unmistakable aroma of mankind. |
Within my position in one of the many clearings within the pine forests I simply waited, hearing the jingling of saddlebags and the gentle clopping of hooves on pine needles at a distance several times greater than I would’ve without vampirism. There were a handful of people who lived within the region, mostly the odd... |
Curious, I waited in place with my bow held loosely in hand but still ready to vanish into the grass and draw an arrow if required. Bandits were not a concern as we were too far away from anything to be a target, but the growing fame of the Order of the Nine would draw them eventually. It was almost with amusement tha... |
"Good morning." She called out as she entered the clearing, still leading the horse along who seemed completely apathetic to the fact that there were wolves in the area. Unlike its owner, I doubted that the horse didn’t know that the pack was nearby but it didn’t show any sign of distress. |
"Good morning." Holding my bow up above my head to show that I was no threat before taking a few paces towards them. "You’re a long way from the shrine of Kynareth." |
The woman’s expression shifted from shock, to wariness, to recognition and she stood staring at me as I casually wandered over. "Sir Desin? We meet again." |
There was little to show of the priestess in the woman in front of me, especially how she had ditched her monk habit for something more suitable for travelling. A wide brimmed straw hat was firmly pressed onto her head and she was dressed in a simple, yet sturdy pair of pants and short sleeved tunic that did little to... |
"We do indeed." Despite the situation and my wariness at the somewhat close proximity of the wolf pack my mood was light at her presence. "What brings you all the way out here?" |
"Looking for you if I’m going to be honest." |
Trying and failing to swat a fly away from her face, she instead elected to blow some errant strands of her white-blonde hair out of her eyes. "You and the Knights of the Nine to be more precise. I hope you know how hard it is to find you all." |
Chuckling to myself I shouldered my bow even while keeping one ear out for the wolves. "Oh I know it. If not for a map to the priory, Viconia and I would have never found it at all. In fact, you’re lucky enough to have found me out here." |
"Kynareth guides the faithful it appears. Although after the past few days of travel I am glad to have finally made it." |
"Almost." Her expression changed to a quizzical one and I threw a thumb over my shoulder roughly towards the south. "The priory itself is a few kilometres away but I can lead you there." |
"I’ll be much obliged Sir Desin." For a brief moment she stroked her horse’s flank as it took the opportunity to crop at the grass. "Isabelle isn’t used to such exertions I’m afraid." |
"But not you it seems?" I grinned to show that I was making a joke but she recognised it for what it was. |
"Being a priestess of the goddess of nature keeps you fit and healthy and I’m used to walking everywhere." |
Slowly turning around and moving alongside her as she clicked her tongue, I cast my gaze around the edge of the clearing and the hovering presences within the foliage. The whole wolf pack was nearby and while they had stopped in place as Avita and I had met, they were still close enough to make me wary. What was stran... |
Unlike the others, he was not hiding but instead standing right on the edge of the clearing. To a mortal he would’ve been almost impossible to see but instead I could see the black-grey fur within the shifting shadows. If not for the way that the slight breeze flowed through his fur he could have passed for a stone or... |
"Something wrong Sir Desin?" Avita said as I lingered for a moment, watching as the alpha wolf shook itself slightly, met my gaze for the last time and turned away. |
"Nothing. It pays to be careful though." |
She looked over my expression and the way that I was somewhat tense as I sensed the way that the rest of the wolves were turning away and moving back into the forest. "You don’t need to be so worried. Kynareth guides and protects her faithful. You should know this more than anyone I suppose." |
"I do remember you telling me to "fear and respect’ nature." |
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