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"We’re all hiding in one way or another." My eyes glanced to her face as I felt her shift slightly to lean on me. "It’s quiet down here." |
Her soft breathing was the loudest sound in the room and I took comfort in it and her presence, especially how I could smell her scarred flesh over the lingering traces of decay. |
"I understand the cravings of solitude." Without even bothering to ask she simply lifted up my arm and threw it over her shoulders. Despite its outward appearances of how I was now holding her I knew her reasons were not for affection, but so she was more comfortable. "Some pilgrims have arrived from Skingrad asking to... |
"It’s going to become very busy here." |
I felt her nod, and she groaned with irritation for a moment. "Weak-willed slaves to higher powers, incapable of thinking for themselves. It is a wonder how this surfacer religion of yours is as powerful as it is." |
There was no way to ignore the way that she stirred at my failure to take her bait and I felt her tilt her head back to look at me. "What’s bothering you? Don’t say those who died either because we both know that isn’t the truth." |
The crumpled sheet of parchment that I had stuffed into a pocket was dragged out and she unfolded it. "That arrived a week before we did." I said as an explanation and I felt her whole body tense as she read the words. |
"The shipment of swords has arrived, but they request the last two immediately for an important task." She spoke aloud, looking over the parchment and sagging slightly as she deciphered the hidden meaning. "Oh." |
"Yeah. Oh." I felt my spine crunch slightly as I leant back. "Looks like Martin has had success with that bloody book and they need our help with it." |
"So you are hiding because of this?" |
"Well, we certainly can’t run from it." |
The wolf-yellow eyes gazed into mine and it took all my willpower not to turn towards her. "You don’t want to go back to the Blades?" |
Breathing out heavily, I felt my conflicting emotions waging within me and shrugged. "I think I’m tired from it all. We’ve been at this together for over a year now and after everything we’ve done, we’ve accomplished there is still so much more to do." |
"It has been an exciting time." she said with a hint of pleasure coursing through her. "But I do understand how you feel. Even the heroes we hear in those tavern songs have done a tenth of what we have achieved. Who knew saving the world would be exhausting?" |
"Probably those same heroes, which is why they quit while they were ahead." |
The moments silence between us was as heavy as the lids on the tombs around us. "Surely you’re not thinking of abandoning Martin and the others?" |
"The thought had occurred to me." My answer was truthful and I saw a flash of annoyance in her eyes despite the fact that I knew that she had been thinking similar thoughts over the previous weeks. "I have already deserted once, so it’s in my blood now, but I don’t think this is something we can run away from." |
"Because Jauffre would be too good at tracking us down?" |
The fact that she had specifically said "us’ instead of "you’ was somehow pleasing but I shook my head. "No. Because what is coming isn’t something that we can run away from. The end of the world is happening, right now and there isn’t anywhere to run to." |
"True..." her head thudded lightly into my chest and I she sighed very softly. "So... When are we leaving?" |
"In the next day or two I think. It’ll give us time to make preparations..." |
It was impossible for Viconia not to notice how I had trailed off in mid-sentence, and even more so not to notice the reason why I had stopped talking. The undercroft was lit by the ever-present magical flames burning in their sconces but as we sat there they were growing larger and brighter, the hiss of magicka and th... |
"What’s happening?" I hissed, rising to my feet with building alarm as the flames grew even brighter and more powerful, rippling and coursing. |
"I don’t know." Viconia replied, her fingers tracing her own magicka in the air as she called upon protective spells. The enchanted flames had never burned this brightly, even when we had first entered the undercroft and the waves of magicka were quickly building to migraine inducing levels. |
As sudden as they had begun, the magicka subsided and the flames suddenly died as though nothing had happened. Their soft blue glows returned to how they were when I had first entered the room and the pain subsided into nothingness. |
"What is Shar’s name just happened?" |
Shrugging, I walked further into the room, moving around the marble tomb in the centre where Caleb had been interred and looking between the Relics on the far wall and back to Viconia. "Amiel? Was that you guys?" |
The silence was deafening and the hairs on the back of my head begun to rise as my query was met with deafening silence. Viconia and I were looking about and back to one another constantly but there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary, which was suspicious for a room that was technically haunted. |
"We might need someone down here to check this out. Maybe it’s the Relics or something..." |
Both of our attentions were suddenly drawn to the tomb in the centre of the undercroft, the simple marble coffin with a solid lid where we were now hearing the sounds of movement. Despite the fact that the undercroft was the perfect definition of haunted, it was unnerving to hear coughing and thuds on a lid that was su... |
Viconia, treating the situation as she did all others where we had found ourselves in danger or otherwise reacted in her usual manner. Dragonbane appeared in her hand with a rasp of metal on leather and a hand was suddenly engulfed in magicka as her eyes met mine. The sounds were still coming from Caleb’s tomb, right u... |
For weeks Caleb had been laying lifeless on the back of a wagon as we returned him to the Priory, but within moments of the lid being lifted it was certainly no cadaver that I was face to face with. Squinting from the sudden brightness and coughing dust, the champion of the Nine turned his head with a faint smile in my... |
For my part I practically threw myself backwards with a bout of swearing that could have got me excommunicated from the church, and Viconia was a heartbeat away from stabbing and blasting him with bolts of energy before we realised that he was no simple zombie. Between the coughs and the hacks from a throat clogged wit... |
"Commander? Where... where am I?" |
His coughs were almost pneumonic but there was no doubting the health that was flooding into his limbs as he shook them from the weeks of immobility. Viconia and I were frozen to the floor in shock, trying to understand what we were seeing. |
"You’re in the Priory’s Undercroft." I said slowly, trying to understand just what I was seeing and prove to myself that it was indeed real. "What..." |
"What kind of necromantic sorcery is this?" finished Viconia, practically spitting the words and looking about the Priory and at Caleb with overwhelming suspicion. |
"Nothing of the sort. At least I think so." He said, grasping his head as though suffering from terrible dizziness. "How long have I been here?" |
"In the Priory? About three days." My answer seemed to please him and he was nodding as I made my way over. "You... You have been dead for a month." |
"I think I prefer that explanation." My hand reached out and grasped his and I helped him climb out of the tomb and stand on shaking legs. "Death would be a lot simpler." |
"What happened to you?" |
There was something in his eyes, a power that I couldn’t remember seeing and despite myself I felt out with my vampiric senses to confirm what my eyes were seeing. He truly was alive, filled with life and energy but there was also no denying the power his flesh contained. I had never seen or encountered someone of his ... |
"I remember stabbing Umaril in the chest, and then everything was gone." There was a click of bones and muscles as he stretched slightly in an attempt to remove the rigor mortis that had set in. "I... can’t really describe what happened but I defeated Umaril." |
"We saw you defeat him." Viconia replied, moving closer and studying him carefully. |
"I mean I really defeated him. In Oblivion. I really don’t know how to describe it but somehow I had followed him into Meridia’s realm and destroyed his spirit." |
The way that Viconia and I shared a glance was not lost on the reincarnated knight, and he smiled slightly. "It’s crazy I know." |
"Not as crazy as seeing you alive and well again." |
"And it’s not the craziest thing we’ve experienced." Viconia added with her own measure of trepidation from just how truthful the statement was. "How are you alive?" |
"The Nine... The Nine protected me." His eyes were burning with a deep power as he gazed off into the distance for a second or two. "I’m sorry but I can’t describe it. It’s... like trying to describe colour to a blind man." |
Shaking, he pressed his knuckles into his temples and massaged them as Viconia and I shared concerned glances. "They showed me a lot of things. About myself, about the world, about the two of you. The end is coming and they brought me back to help." |
"I think that we might need all the help we can get." |
There was pity in his eyes as he looked at me and I felt taken aback at the emotion boiling from him. It was almost a physical presence, and I couldn’t help but think of how it felt to be standing before the shade of Pelinal all those months before. "Mehrunes Dagon is coming. His army is ready and the hammer is lifted ... |
"Where..." Viconia breathed. |
"Bruma. His army is going to invade and attack Bruma. They know Martin is there, and he alone is the key to saving Tamriel and Nirn itself." Our expressions of horror were obvious as he simply stated a detail that he had no right to have known, and his smile was truthful at least. "The Nine have shown me a great many t... |
I couldn’t help but nod. "If what you say is true, they’re going to need more than just us to face off against the Prince of Destruction. We’re going to need an army." |
"And an army they will have." "Go. Assist the Emperor and his protectors and trust in your own strength." |
"They could use the Order." Viconia added, trying her best not shrink under the power that was growing in the man before us. She as well as I could see the glow beginning to infuse his flesh. |
"They can and they will, just not right away." A shiver crawled its way up my spine at the sheer will in his tone and less and less of Caleb was visible in the man that was the Divine Crusader. "The Order of the Nine will march for Bruma, but not before I rally every Knightly Order in Tamriel..." |
Our conversation was quickly over, not from our discomfort of the events but by the fact that several others burst into the undercroft to investigate the magical activity that every living being within vicinity of the Priory had felt. The shock of seeing Caleb alive and resurrected was overwhelming and it took minutes ... |
His recovery and return still held great portents of the future and it didn’t take long at all for the word of his intentions, and mission from the Nine to become known. The reactions from the men and women of the Order were mixed, but unsurprising. They had fought and bled and had comrades in arms die from their faith... |
The "Oblivion Crusade’ as it was quickly coined was going to be one of the greatest gathering of military might in the history of Tamriel. With the likes of the Divine Crusader as its figurehead I couldn’t help but feel cold at the simple proclamation that he was going to unite every Knightly Order in the Empire under ... |
Even the cynical part of my mind believed his words and while my mind still considered dark powers at work, the corruption within me spoke otherwise. His presence was now painful to be near, similar in how my vampirism reacted to the proximity of the relics themselves and this alone left no doubt in my mind. |
And so the Order once again turned into a beehive of activity, of armours and weapons being prepared and every man and woman preparing to march. Messengers were sent to the nearest towns with the proclamation that the Divine Crusader lived again and that the Oblivion Crusade had been declared, and while we waited for s... |
The momentum was growing quickly and while everyone was preparing for this event, Viconia and I were preparing to leave. Ultrin and Trygve were cared for, reshod and our armours returned to their finest conditions and as the budding Crusade prepared to march, so too did we. |
The ranks of Knights and soldiers were forming even as we saddled our warhorses for the trip to the north, arraying themselves and the wagons of supplies in a great column. While few in number at the moment I had no doubt that it was going to grow but for the moment I spent my time giving my farewells to those we had t... |
Alexi’s face was downcast as he and some of the others came to Viconia and I as we finished packing our saddlebags of all our worldly possessions, and it was an expression mirrored by many. We had already said our farewells to most, and my hand still throbbed from the number of handshakes I had received from the likes ... |
"After all this time we find out that you two are Blades." Alexi said, his expression dark but his voice filled with humour. "I knew you two were too damned good to be mere adventurers." |
"You aren’t too bad for a noble." I replied, feeling his grip around my hand as we shook. "Take good care of yourself Alexi." |
"Oh, I will. Guaranteed." His expression darted between myself and Viconia before resting on her. "You take care of this bastard, you hear? I think he’ll need all the help he can get." |
"It’s not my responsibility to care for imbecilies," She replied, her own tone as dark and cold as the grave but for us we could hear the measure of amusement. "That is up to your gods. At least they seem partially capable." |
Their grins were infectious despite the sensation of leaving everything and everyone we knew, but I could feel myself growing increasingly nervous for other reasons. Alexi had come over with two others, a pair of individuals that I knew all too well and I nodded to them both. |
"I have to thank you all for doing this for me." I said simply, looking at Detane’s scarred expression and Brellin’s tattooed features. |
For the first time since our meeting, Detane actually looked uneasy and had difficulty meeting my gaze. "Sir Desin... I..." Slowly he swallowed, smiling honestly and bowing his head to me. "Thank you for everything you’ve done." |
Our hands clasped together and I couldn’t help but wonder at the changes that the short Breton had gone through since our first meeting. There wasn’t much warmth between us, not like myself and Alexi at least but he was a trusted comrade that I no longer had any hesitation in fighting alongside. |
"Is this where we find out what great plan you have for us?" Brellin asked, giving a faint smile but looking uneasy at why I had asked for him specifically. "I mean, the Order is marching for war and yet it’s healer isn’t going with them?" |
"I had heard that you still have connections in Falinesti." I said, reaching into a saddlebag and pulling out a small item wrapped in cloth. "I need you all to deliver something to the Druid Circle there." |
Handing over the wrapped object, Brellin looked at it quizzically, unwrapping it slightly to reveal an immaculate bone dagger in a sheath made from spiders silk and chitin. His reaction was one of shock as he quickly wrapped the cloth back around it again before staring at me open mouthed. |
"What? How did you..." |
"You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you." I replied, seeing the way how the significance of the dagger was lost to Alexi and Detane. "They will know what that dagger means..." |
"Putting that mildly aren’t you?" I found it somewhat funny that he was now looking around at the camp and the people preparing to go to see if anyone had seen what he now had in his possession. |
"Once you deliver that you all will be able to catch up to the Crusade I think." |
"We will." Alexi shifted forwards and shook my hand again. "We will also meet again Kaius. Don’t think that you can hide from me. And Viconia..." he turned to her, bowing his head with a theatrical wave of his hands. "I’m sorry but it could have never worked between us." |
"Oh well." She sighed with equal amounts of drama. "Looks like I am free to seek out your pathetic surfacer love with another. However will I recover from such a mortal wounding?" Her smile for once wasn’t blood curdling and had the briefest trace of warmth within it. "Try not to go and get yourself killed." |
Horns echoed over the priory and the movement of the men and women of the Order increased as they jostled into positions in the column. Not many people at all were staying at the Priory, and even less weren’t taking part in the new Crusade. Alexi and Detane would be travelling south to escort Brellin delivering the dag... |
With Caleb at their head, dressed in the darkness-destroying purity of the Relics there was no hesitation as he signalled the advance and the long column set off. Viconia and I too set off at the same time, bidding our final farewells to our friends and comrades and riding north towards Bruma. |
The arrival of a delegation of dignitaries from the Drow Queendom under the Black Mountain was unexpected, but Duke Lucas Greyfort welcomed them graciously nevertheless. They were in an elegant palanquin carried by gnoll servants, presumably to keep out of the sun, so all the duke saw was a brief glimpse of a jet-black... |
Cadugan was, of course, suspicious. "They're after something," he muttered to Lucas once the drow had been escorted inside. "They haven't just come to pay their polite respects, drow don't do that. Not with humans, anyway." |
"Probably true," Lucas agreed, putting an arm around his boyfriend, who frowned and crossed his arms grumpily. "So I'll wait and find out what they really want, and in the meanwhile we'll keep an eye on them, make sure they don't get up to any trouble while they're here. Besides, they sent their king - maybe they do in... |
Cadugan rolled his eyes. "You know what the drow think of men. It's probably considered an insult that they sent one to deal with us. Or maybe they figure he's disposable enough to send to the surface. Whatever they're up to, I bet sending their so-called "king" isn't meant as a thoughtful gesture." |
"You're awfully suspicious of them," Lucas said. "Is this an elf thing?" |
"No. I've been in their realm, remember? When we were sent on that mission to retrieve Baron Elwood." Cadugan grimaced slightly at the memory. "Come on, let's go in and get this over with." He might live at the castle, and fulfil the role of the Duke's consort at social events, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it. |
They descended the stairs from the parapets to greet their guests, who were descending from their palanquins, stepping from the sheltered enclosures to the relative safety of parasols held by the gnolls. "Hello," Lucas said brightly, extending his hand in greeting. "I'm Duke Lucas Greyfort, this is my partner Cadugan. ... |
"Wolf," said the drow king and Cadugan at the same time. |
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Lucas looked from one to the other, picking up on his lover's stunned expression. "I take it you know each other?" |
"I... think so?" Wolf said, bemused, while Cadugan said nothing, but practically bolted from the courtyard. |
Lucas was torn between going after him and maintaining some small amount of decorum. "Welcome to Castle Greyfort," he said. "I'll have my staff set up appropriate accommodations for you and your entourage." |
"Thank you," said Wolf, still looking in the direction where Cadugan had fled. "I imagine we'll have much to discuss - but that can wait until after we've settled in." |
"Then I'll leave you to it. Please let us know if there's anything you require. We can continue this further after dinner." He shifted from one foot to the other, anxious that Cadugan was going to run off to the woods and hide there from whatever had so alarmed him about this visitor. "For now, please excuse me." He bo... |
Fortunately, Cadugan hadn't gone too far. Once he might have disappeared into the comfort and isolation of the forest and Lucas wouldn't have seen him again for weeks, until he'd gotten over whatever had upset him. But they had a different arrangement now, and so even though he clearly wanted to be alone, he had gone t... |
"I know him," Cadugan said at last. "The drow king. Wolf." |
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