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I was screaming, feeling Sunchild as more part of my arm than my very bones as I stabbed and thrust, using my height and reach from the saddle to keep my foes at bay even as Trygve twisted and threatened to throw me from the saddle with his movements. One elf went down hard as Sunchild gouged through the open face of h... |
The corners of my eyes caught glances of the advancing formation of men-at-arms as their opponents broke and tried desperately to regroup their shattered formations and the sound of horns was threatening to be drowned out in the screams of rage and pain. There was too much to see or absorb, too much happening and I was... |
Whatever semblance of a formation the elves were trying to achieve was suddenly crushed almost as quickly as before and I fought the pressure on myself lessened as another force of cavalry rode straight into the heart of the fighting. Unlike myself and the other knights this was not a force of heavy cavalry but it stru... |
The sensation of pressure in my mind was impossible to ignore, as was the way how it appeared the sun seemed to grow brighter with Caleb’s arrival in the battle. If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed that the clouds themselves had removed themselves from the sky to ensure that he was never cast in shadow. He st... |
In that moment there was no doubt in my mind that he was Pelinal’s heir, and I was struggling not to consider that he indeed was Pelinal as he rode into the mass of elves. Every piece of his armour was aflame with resonating power, glowing and burning with such intensity that wisps and tendrils of it was streaming away... |
Stanvond had told me that the lance had been wielded by Tiber Septim before he had ascended into godhood and I could believe it. The steel tipped lance was thinner and somewhat shorter than the more traditional lances wielded by myself and the other knights but it cleaved through flesh and armour like paper. It also se... |
All around me the Order of the Nine fought for their lives and I could see the men and women who I had travelled and trained with for months or more fighting against our foes. Only a dozen or more metres away, but it may as well have been kilometres due to the number of enemies was the formation of men-at-arms and I ca... |
The entire order was there in the bloody grass of the Gold Coast and as I fought I caught glimpses of men and women I had known fighting and dying. I saw one of the twins shifting back through the ranks of the men-at-arms clutching his bloodied face while his brother threw a pilum with deadly accuracy at the being resp... |
Alexi and Detane were also thick in the fighting, as was Falid and his fellow knights. The sword champion of Cyrodiil and the previously disgraced baron appeared to be attempting to out-do one another in their abilities, fighting side by side on their horses and killing anything that came within reach with increasingly... |
"For the Nine! For the Nine!" Someone was shouting and it took what felt like minutes before I realised that it was actually me roaring through my closed helm. All around me I could hear the call being taken up by others but it was being met by another, more sinister sound. |
Screaming overwhelmed the sound of battle but it was not the screams of the dead or dying. It had taken them some time to reach the battle but the Auroran’s had finally reached the wild melee and without slowing they simply smashed their way into the depths of battle, hacking and killing all within reach. They were jus... |
They were moving too quickly, and were too powerful to be held back with horsemen alone and while the rest of the elves and the surviving Atronachs rallied around their giant reinforcements I was struggling to gain any control over the surviving knights. Another two plated horsemen and a trio of lighter cavalry were qu... |
Many of the knights fell back from their charge, some tried but failed and I watched as several of the men and women that I had trained with for weeks or months were pulled out of their saddles or had their steeds killed under them by our foes. More of one I saw land heavily on the ground where the elves wasted no time... |
"For the Nine!" I roared again, feeling the jarring sensation up my arm as I cut down a light Atronach in its crudely formed body of iron and chains. "For the Nine!" |
"For the Nine!" roared the Men-at-arms at my back as their used their shields to bash their way through the press of faltering enemies. Polearms and other weapons swung and stabbed and hacked down onto the moonstone wearing Altmer with horrific ease and step by bloody step they were advancing. |
"For the Nine!" Bellowed the lance wielding knights as they galloped back into the battle in a thundering roar of hooves. While not as cohesive as our first charge this one still bit deep into the press of enemies clustering around the Aurorans and I saw how several of the knights managed to reach the golden giants. De... |
"As balangua, Ehlnada racuvar!" Whispered a voice that seemed to flow through my brain without reaching my ears and at that moment the battle became somewhat stilled. Every man and women under my command shivered as the voice spoke directly to their souls, flowing directly into their minds instead of being heard. The e... |
Nausea threatened to overwhelm me at the sensations that were washing over my body and mind and somehow this new arrival had managed to appear on the edge of the battle without being seen crossing the open space between us and the ruins. It was as tall as one of the Aurorans, but strangely elegant and disturbing at the... |
His body was a mass of spines and blades, his shoulders erupting with golden protuberances that would have taken the shape of skeletal wings if not for the fact that they were more like featherless tendrils. There was no mistaking the daedric link that he had with the surviving Auroran’s, or the elven blood that he sha... |
Umaril the Unfeathered was as terrifying as any creature I had ever seen or encountered, surpassing that of the vampiric nightmares Viconia and I had fought and the savage horror of werewolves. Trygve was shaking under me, the other horses that I could see also panicking and it was hard not to feel my own growing terro... |
There was no moment’s hesitation from the creatures and mortals at his command as he gestured and sent those not already fighting into the fray. Those knights who had only just conducting their lance charge were suddenly faced with a charging mass of towering daedra that counterattacked ferociously, killing several wit... |
Cries to rally were rising up among our number and my voice was among them, the spirit of our cavalry hanging on by a thread and the appearance of the daedric monster standing on the other side of his minions being all too much to handle. The men-at-arms were also beginning to waver despite the best efforts of Carodus,... |
There was one individual among our number that wasn’t affected by the appeared of the daedric champion. One person out of all of us that didn’t immediately consider turning tail and fleeing but in many ways he was no longer truly mortal himself. On the back of his own horse Caleb stared down the daedric monstrosity and... |
It was this single act of defiance that let the rest of us stunned as he conducted a one-man charge again a hundred or more foes. Our own private battles forgotten for a briefest of moment we watched as he crashed into the thickest part of their formation, spearing the energy wreathed Suumdostrun through the first hapl... |
"Advance!" I shouted as hard and as loud as I could, throwing my arm forward with Sunchild gripped tightly as I did so. "Advance!" |
Spurred on by the sight of Caleb bringing holy destruction to the Umaril’s host I felt rather than saw the surge of excitement and righteous wrath from the surrounding knights and men-at-arms. The formation had been broken but there was no stopping the charge of men and mer as the men-at-arms as they charged forward wi... |
I felt too confined in the saddle as the two forces came together in a crash of metal and meat and in that tiny moment of breathing space I flung my leg over and vaulted off Trygve. Enemies were still all around but I felt my boots on the blood and shit soaked grass and immediately felt more at home. I may have fought ... |
Pausing only long enough to violently kick a screaming Altmer in the chest with all my vampiric strength, I felt his ribs break and armour buckle from the blow even as I drew my other weapon from where it was strapped to Trygve’s saddle. Sunchild was quickly returned to its own sheath but in such a battle I felt though... |
The Order of the Nine and Umaril’s host came together like the ending of the world, men and women hacking and killing daedra and elves even as some of their number were cut down in turn. Screams of pain and agony and pure hate were washing over me as I too joined the fight, rushing forward and spearing the first moonst... |
Caleb was deep in the ranks of Altmer and daedra and fighting hard to get clear of the press as the vomit-inducing monster was sending waves of his minions at the being wielding the relics of the Divines. Despite all those that we had slain there seemed to be a never-ending amount of them throwing their lives away to k... |
Each of the giants were larger and stronger than every man and woman under my command with the possible exception of the Black Knights but it didn’t help the giant daedra as a pilum seemed to appear from its chest as though sprouted. There was absolutely no semblance of formation or discipline to this fight as it devol... |
There was less than a dozen metres between us and Caleb but despite the sea of enemies we were advancing to his aid. We were also close enough to feel the effects of his divine power, as each of his blows from the Mace of Zenithar were titanic and blasted the crippled remains of his foes through the press. Wreathed in ... |
It appeared that there was nothing that could stop him in his attempt to attack Umaril directly, even with the Ayleid Sorcerer-King’s attempts to throw more and more of his minions in Caleb’s path. He was unstoppable, godly in nature and power but this illusion was shattered as Umaril suddenly strode forward and killed... |
The unnatural blade cut through barding, armour and horseflesh with ease, leaving the animal to briefly shriek before it crumpled in a mess of gore and pain. Somehow I saw Caleb manage to get his feet from the stirrups at the last second so that he didn’t fall under his fallen horse or break his legs and spine as it ro... |
In a surge of victorious hatred, the horde swarmed his prone body and the cry that rose into the heavens was one of sorrow from the Order. I was close enough to see that he was still alive and fighting, using his gauntleted fists and the diamond shaped shield of Julianos to ram into the throats and mouths of his attack... |
Of the things that I expected to see in the middle of the battle, a growing mist was not one of them and even as I hacked and cut my way through every enemy in my path the realisation wasn’t sinking into my brain. Caleb needed all the help that he could get at that moment but the type of help he received wasn’t expecte... |
A blade as cold as the grave sliced through the throat of a howling elven warrior trying to find purchase for his knife, a pair of rapiers flashed and an Atronach crumpled into a heap of enchanted iron crudely fashioned into the likeness of a knight and a giant claymore hacked through the press to clear a space for the... |
Formed from the mist of ages and memories, nine figures stood and fought around Caleb as he got to a knee and dragged the Mace of Zenithar from the bloody dirt. They were all transparent, the wounds that had caused their deaths visible on ghostly flesh but their skill and determination was unmistakable. |
"The vows that we failed in life..." Growled Sir Berich as he stabbed a Altmer in the mouth with his longsword, his ethereal form fading and vanishing just as quickly as it appeared. |
"We uphold in death..." continued Sir Torolf as his claymore bisected an Auroran from shoulder to hip as it moved to strike Caleb from behind. |
Each of the ghosts faded as quickly as smoke on the breeze but they blinked and reappeared almost randomly as they protected the source of their own faith and vows. Caleb was fighting hard, killing all in his reach but the sheer number swarming him in their attempts to please their master were too many to fight, even f... |
The original Knights of the Nine fought like the legends that they truly were, fighting with such skill and ability that even the likes of Alexi, Detane and Falid paled in comparison. The killed mortal and daedra alike to protect the relics and the man wearing them and as Caleb led the charge, we and the current member... |
Seeing his minions fail, his summoned underlings slaughtered and the balance of the battle shifting away from his favour, Umaril was stuck in place, seemingly incredulous at the sight of the living and the dead daring to resist him. His nausea inducing proximity was like acid across the tongue and felt as though I was ... |
The noise was unending, a roar of metal on metal and metal on flesh and the constant screams and cries of pain and anger. With my helmet off it was no longer dulled and it reached my ears with full intensity even as I added too it personally, roaring and hacking with the glittering length of the Light of Dawn. I could ... |
In amongst this hurricane of sound and noise there was one being that we all could hear too clearly. It was a sibilant whisper in a language as old and dead as the race that gave birth to it, entering our minds like a worm chewing through a rotting apple and promising an imaginable fate for us all. |
"Pelinal na vasha." Spoke Umaril, almost more in emotion and hate than simple words and despite everything we all could hear him perfectly. "Sa yando tye..." |
Caleb fought as a force of nature, but the sudden and shocking movement of the golden giant facing him was all too noticeably powerful. Enraged by the failure of his minions to kill the Crusader and as the nerve of his mortal followers began to crumble Umaril finally stepped forth to meet his foe. He was tall, much ta... |
His sword wailed through the air like thousands of damned souls, almost appearing to rip through reality itself. It was nothing like any of us had even seen before and the impact of it striking against the shield of Julianos was enough to knock us all back a pace from the buffering shockwaves. Any other being, myself i... |
Even as we fought to reach him we could see that Umaril was not holding anything back. Each downwards blow of his sword was incredible, delivering four thousand years of undying hatred towards the Divines into each and with every impact the winds were whipped up into a frenzy. There was nothing like him within the boun... |
Umaril was too large, too powerful of a foe and the four thousand years of entombment in Oblivion had added to his already considerable power. The ghosts attempted to support Caleb but they couldn’t stand against the Unfeathered and were struck down as quickly as they could appear, and the sheer advantage of reach ensu... |
A particularly devastating blow from the wailing sword slammed hard into Caleb and send him sprawling across the carpet of death that was slowly soaking into the ground, the shockwave from the impact knocking several men-at-arms and their mortal adversaries down and I saw with growing amazement as the nearest Atronach ... |
Screaming with a combination of pain and righteous determination, the first of the Order reached the ascended being with shield and hammer and died in mid step. Almost contemptuously Umaril hadn’t even look at the man-at-arms as he simply cut him down, slaying the soldier as easily I would an insect. |
A Black Knight died as Umaril hacked him in half from forehead to groin, the enchantments within the ebony plate flaring and exploding as the power of his accursed blade overwhelmed them in an instant. Another knight was backhanded away in a spray of gore that left her more of a crumpled heap of bloody scrapmetal than ... |
Caleb too was struggling to rise from the vicious attacked that he had sustained and even as I rushed forward with the Light of Dawn I could see that for the second time in the battle he had been disarmed. The mace was nowhere to be seen, the Shield still secured to his arm by dint of being physically attached and the ... |
The flare of light was unexpected, almost as much as the lengthy pole and silken banner being thrust into the elven face twisted with loathing and although there were dozens of mortals now struggling to reach Umaril and support Caleb, there was one in particular that was doing all she could to help. Mazoga, wielding th... |
We had tested many of the relics with members of the Order and while Mazoga had never shown any interest there was no mistaking the way that the Mace was glowing bright as she wielded it. In a display of pure skill and brute determination she showed just how much experience she had with such weapons as she distracted U... |
The crack of metal on flesh-metal was almost as loud as the resulting shockwave as light blasted away from the impact, throwing another handful of fighters to the ground before Umaril’s screech of agony ripped through our minds. It was so loud that many of us were left clutching at our skulls, some bleeding from the ea... |
There was no mistaking just how powerful the ancient weapon was when wielded by someone of Mazoga’s strength and even with a master of restoration magicka and his daedric nature it would have proven extremely difficult for Umaril to heal such an injury. His golden flesh was shattered and cracked, the leg askew and blee... |
Her moment of triumph was short lived however, as his flailing arms managed to grasp hold of the mace as he attempted to fend off the following swing. The hissing of steam as the weapon burned his hands and the rancid smell of burning daedric flesh caught in the back of my throat, but before anyone could do anything he... |
Like a school of slaughterfish we rushed the kneeling Ayleid, instinctively knowing that he was wounded and attempting to capitalise on the advantage while we had it. At the sight of their master down and wounded, most of Umaril’s mortal followers began to flee and while the Aurorans were still present, their numbers h... |
He was wounded and weakened but there was no doubting his strength as he continued to lay about himself with wild swings of his cursed sword. Several of the Order died or were maimed by these strikes that seemed to ignore all armour and attempts to block or parry but there one person among our number who held no trepid... |
"I give my body, heart and soul to the covenant of the Nine." Intoned Caleb as he rose to his feet before the kneeling monster of gold flesh and corruption. "No plea of help shall find me wanting..." |
Dragging herself painfully to her feet with her arm wrenched out of place, Mazoga dropped her shield and drew her personal mace from its leather loop at her belt. "No obstacle will stand before me..." |
Roaring with growing anger, Umaril swung his blade with the sound of tearing silk but Alexi was faster, rolling under the mighty swing and slashing the Ayleid’s arm with his sword. "No evil will taint the lands of Tamriel," he breathed, moving swiftly from the enraged being’s reach as more and more of the Order began c... |
Glittering in a silver arc, a glaive very similar to that of Sir Henrik’s drew more daedric blood from Umaril and Thedret staggered backwards from a sword slice that snapped his polearm in half and narrowly missed cutting him in two. "As the Eight and One are my witnesses..." he continued on, drawing out a short sword ... |
Detane, his scarred face cold and yet covered with sweat stepped backwards as Umaril tried to claw his way across the bloodied ground to strike him and the others nearby with his blade. "That which is sacrament; I shall preserve..." |
"That which is sublime; I will protect..." Chanted Avita as she rode over on her horse, spearing Umaril in the side with her light cavalry lance before twisting skilfully out of reach. |
"That which threatens; I will destroy!" I added to the dozens of voices around me as we harassed and attacked the downed daedric being that was struggling to contend with our number. The Light of Dawn added to the scores of cuts and gashes weeping burning light on the golden body but now Umaril was faced with something... |
Having risen to his feet and drawn the Sword of Arkay, Caleb was engulfed in unfathomable energies and the blade of the god of Birth and Death was ablaze with holy fire. Every seam of his armour was billowing power as though his body was incapable of holding it all, and there was no doubting the power of the Divines wa... |
"My holy wrath will know no bounds." While human, the voice that reverberated from the Crusader’s helm was more than a mere mortal’s. It spoke of love and beauty. It spoke of the power of wisdom and the might of the natural world, the sensations of justice being fulfilled and the compassion of mortals. There were hints... |
"Abagaianye Ehlnadaya..." The emotion in Umaril’s voice was easily deciphered as he practically spat them at the Crusader. There was not enough hate in the world to represent that which was flowing through the Ayleid’s veins and for the moment the rest of us we forgotten as he rose as best he could to face the champion... |
Their blades crashed together, knocking many of us back from the impact alone as the blessed and cursed came tougher with cataclysmic energies. The Sword of Arkay and Umaril’s blade rang out over the battlefield and there was not a single one of us who were able to stand within a dozen metres as the two champions of th... |
"Time! Life! Beauty! Wisdom! Nature! Love! Justice! Dedication!" Roared the Crusader as Umaril was driven to his knees from the holy onslaught. A creature powerful enough to kill scores of the greatest soldiers the Empire had to offer was forced onto the defensive and it was obvious now that the Crusader had the upper ... |
"Honour!" With the last word flowing from his mouth I felt the meaning of the words more than their sounds, and Umaril felt it even more as his sword hand was hacked away with a masterful swing of the Sword of Arkay. Keening wildly, he fell backwards like a tree, the stump of a wrist spurting evaporating light even as ... |
A boot of Kynareth, portraying the marvels of nature smashed into the Elven visage that was screaming with untold agonies and Umaril was thrown backwards from the force of the blow. The being wearing the relics was human, but at that moment it was hard to believe it as he had struck with all the force of Red Mountain e... |
"Repent!" the Crusader bellowed, rushing forward and putting his boot into Umaril’s chest as he stood upon the enormous torso. "For I; the Crusader of the Nine, will be your doom!" |
Reversing his grip on the lengthy sword, the Crusader gripped it tight and before Umaril could fend him off he plunged it into the golden chest. The flame wreathed blade flared brightly, far too brightly to look at as it sunk to the hilt and pinned the fallen giant to the ground and before we realised what had happened... |
One moment I was there, moving forward to continue the fight as Umaril squirmed with Crusader on top of him and the sword transfixing his chest and the next I found myself blinding and flying backwards from the explosion of raw power ripped out of the two beings. The bloodied, corpse ridden ground rushed up to meet me ... |
Where there had once been a roar of battle, of shouting and screams and the clash of metal there was nothing but silence and I slowly, painfully picked myself up where I had landed in a puddle of half congealed blood. I was drenched in the stuff, my armour caked with half congealed layers but now dirt and dust had been... |
The battle was over, knights and men-at-arms alike were picking themselves up from where they had been knocked over and even a handful of horses were whinnying as they too staggered to their feet. Universally there wasn’t a man or woman among us who didn’t wear an expression of surprise, and not just from the titanic b... |
Some were already tending to their friends and comrades, seeking out the wounded among the bodies whether they were friend or foe alike. There did not appear to be any more fight left in our enemies, as the Atronachs and the Aurorans had vanished in the storm of energies when the Sword of Arkay pierced Umaril’s chest, ... |
I could see all too well the centre of the battle, where the two champions of their respective gods had fought and they remained there, locked together with sword piercing golden flesh. Umaril’s body was already beginning to dissolve like spun sugar in the rain, disappearing back into Oblivion where it had been born bu... |
Caleb still clutched the Sword of Arkay as though frozen in the moment where he vanquished the Unfeathered. Where the rest of the Order was moving now, many gathering around the two bodies he was deathly still and unmoving. I didn’t need to see Brellin rush over with his bag of chirurgeon tools ready or the way that he... |
Umaril the Unfeathered was dead, but so was the Divine Crusader. |
There was nothing glorious about battle. The Urshilaku Skirmish. The destruction of the Khuul Bloodband. The battle of Kvatch. The Siege of Anvil. These had been the few times that I considered myself part of something larger than a mere fight and I now added the Battle of Garlas Malatar to the list. At the end of the ... |
The Order of the Nine had faced its foe and had utterly beaten it but not without cost. A dozen knights were dead and twice as many wounded, some critically. The men-at-arms had also taken horrific casualties and had almost lost half their number to death or injuries and even the titanic Black Knights had suffered. Thr... |
There were no visible wounds on Caleb’s body, even as we pried the helm and whatever pieces of armour we could manage but in the end there was no doubt to the matter. The sheer might of the energies that he had wielded had not been intended for mere mortals and the final blow against Umaril had snuffed his life out lik... |
Those of us who were uninjured or injured to a minor degree were left with the daunting task of claiming the dead and seeing to the wounded even with the threat of counter attacks from the surviving elves. There were still over a hundred of them within the ruins and that wasn’t including the dozens who were fleeing fro... |
Even for such a holy battle there was nothing truly differentiating it from the others I had taken part in. With the possible exception of Kvatch they all smelled the same and Kvatch was different only by the fact that most of the city and its people had been burned. Our cause had been holy and blessed by the Nine but ... |
Flies were swarming already, their blue-black bodies writhing over the congealing blood staining the ground and grass and for most parts the only way that we could tell who was wounded and who was dead was by the way they attempted to wave the billowing swarms away. Their moans and cries of pain were pitiful and myself... |
Some of the men-at-arms were tasked with the dirty job to seek our survivors among our enemy and move where they could be treated, or provide mercy for those who were too far gone but in the end there were not that many who were left. Only a dozen or so of our elven enemies ended being taken prisoner, as disturbingly t... |
Despite it all we had still won, and we left the bloody site behind us with our dead and wounded as soon as we could. A handful of knights quickly checked the ruins to ensure that there were indeed no more enemies left to fight but it was not long at all before we began the long journey back to the priory. |
There were no real celebrations during our travels, nor was there when we arrived back at the priory those weeks later. There was a sense of sombre realisation that we had succeeded in our task, that Umaril had been vanquished and potentially for good but everyone had lost a friend, partner or family member and it was ... |
It was a difficult sensation to escape and despite knowing that the others had noticed the way I was feeling I had locked myself away, physically where I could. Alexi especially had tried his best but in the end I couldn’t shake the dark depression that was weighing down on me. |
The undercroft became my second home, a place of quiet and contemplation and I knew that while the deaths of those that I had led into battle were weighing down hard, it wasn’t the true reason why I was purposely hiding away. The relics had been reclaimed, Umaril defeated and Viconia’s and my task was complete but our ... |
Despite the lingering smell of decay and rot that was making itself felt within the undercroft, it was still a place of calm and solitude and I sat with my back against the wall looking over the tiles where I had fought the ghosts. They had not shown themselves since the battle against Umaril but I was confident that t... |
Caleb’s death was one of the few deaths that weighed on me as heavily as the prospect of having to return to the blades, and it was hard not too when his body was one of my few companions in the days since our return to the priory. All of those who had fallen in the battle had been interred within the under croft, knig... |
In the month since the battle where the others had begun to bloat and rot, Caleb’s body had remained immaculate and intact. There was no sign of decay, no traces of the normal affects that death had on a body and even after four weeks he still appeared as normal as he had the seconds before he thrust the Sword of Arkay... |
The click of a door and the slow grind of it opening was impossible to ignore, as was the footsteps that made their way into the undercroft. They were unmistakable, as familiar to me as my own heartbeat and it didn’t surprise me in the slightest when Viconia walked around the corner. |
"Hiding doesn’t suit you mrannd’ssinss." She said, moving around and sliding down the wall next to me. |
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