A Nord's Tale

The chamber the two found themselves in was filled with a roaring pillar of fire. The two lingered in the doorway as their eyes adjusted to the dim light. There were two scamps wandering around, each standing in front of two doors on opposite sides of the chamber. The two scamps went down without too much of a fight and the two chose the door on the left and ascended a ramp before they entered a room with more of Oblivion's horrors. The tower seemed, at least to them, to be sparsely populated. It seemed that none of the Daedra thought anyone would dare come through the Gate.

The two went up one more level until they came to a door that would not open. This room had what seemed to be the same layout as the others in the tower. "Here," Ilend pointed toward a door that Sanyue had not noticed at the rear of the chamber. The two dug their fingers into the seam and pulled the door open. As they did they were assailed by a sulphuric stench as the wind whipped past their heads. Beyond the door, a long and narrow walkway led to another tower that seemed only three quarters the height of the tower they were in now.

The air outside seemed a little cooler and both relished the walk across the bridge even though the wind threatened to knock them over at any moment. As they entered the tower, both were nearly knocked over by the stench of rotting flesh. Corpses in various stages of putrification were hanging from the ceiling like dried meat would be in the Feed Bag. The thought of food nearly made Sanyue loose what she had eaten at the Priory.

She held her breath as her and Ilend climbed the spiral towards the top. The two could hear a man begging to be released, however the one he was speaking to was no where to be seen. Sanyue drew her sword and slowly crept to the top. She had just poked her head up to look around when she almost got a face full of mace. The Draemora guarding the top of this tower seemed a good bit more powerful than the ones they had fought earlier and it took the two of them just to take him down. The two leaned against the wall to catch their breath when the prisoner started calling to them. "Over here, quickly!" The two pushed themselves off of the wall to the cage.

"Menian!" Ilend grasped the bars of the cage, shaking the thing to try to get it open.

"There's no time," Menian pried Ilend's hands off of the bars. "You must get too the top of the large tower. The Sigil Keep, they call it. That's what keeps that Oblivion Gate open!" Sanyue and Ilend glanced at each other, nodding. "Find the Sigil Stone. Remove it, and the Gate will close. Now hurry! The Keeper has the key - you must get the key!"

Ilend dove for the Keeper's body and searched in its armor until he held the key up, victorious. "We will not forget you, old friend." Ilend nodded toward the older Menian and quickly made his way back to the door the two had come in. Both quickly made their way back across the narrow bridge and back into the tower.

Once back inside, they slipped the key into the seam between the two halves of the door. With a loud grinding sound, the two halves slid back and allowed them to continue upward. The few Draemora they ran into were quickly dispatched with a few quick chops and left where they fell. They climbed several more ramps until they reached a chamber that seemed as though it enclosed a thunderstorm. The pillar of flame stopped in the middle of the room, capped off by a smooth black stone.

Quickly, the two sprinted up the stairs, not stopping to ponder why it felt like flesh under their feet. Ilend was trying to distract a heavily armored Draedra that had nearly taken Sanyue's head off, as she dove for the Sigil Stone and wrenched it off of the pedestal it was sitting on.

For a moment, nothing happened and both were afraid that they would die in this hell. Then the whole tower started shaking as though caught in a great quake. The fire seemed to become more intense as the two fought to keep from being run through as more and more Draedra rushed them.

A blinding flash of white caught Sanyue in mid-swing and where one moment they were standing in the tower, fending off Daedra; the next the two were crossing swords on the burnt ground before the gate of Kvatch. The two stared at each other in disbelief as the sky finely opened up and both were soaked to their underclothes. Sanyue laughed first, Ilend following as she pocketed the Sigil Stone and the two threw their arms around each other, just thankful to be alive.

Sheathing their swords, the two ran back to the barricade that Matius and his men were still behind. The Captain of the guard looked as though he was having trouble believing what he was seeing. Like the other guards and Sanyue herself, they were so used to the crimson flames that when they faded it left them blind. "You closed the Gate?" Sanyue had to admit that she was as shocked as the Captain that it had been done as well. "I knew you could do it! This is our chance to launch a counter-attack!" The guards cheered at the declaration.

"I need you to come with us," Matius addressed Sanyue, his hand on her shoulder as though to keep her rooted to the spot. "You've got far more combat experience than these men." This left Sanyue dumbfounded. Since when did she have more experience than trained soldiers? Matius must have mistook her shock for fatigue or injury. "Are you ready to join us now? I can wait, but not for long. We've got to move quickly before they have a chance to barricade the city gate."

Sanyue took a couple of seconds to search through her pockets. She had built up quite a collection of healing potions and poisons on her journey here and through Oblivion. She counted her arrows, checked her weapons and took a weak stamina potion from her pack and drank it, instantly feeling like she had taken a good nap. "I'm ready, let's go."

Matius roared as he thrust his sword into the air, the rest of the guard doing the same. "For Kvatch," he hollered and they all charged toward the gates. What few scamps there were on the other side went down easily, the surprise attack leaving them with no time to defend themselves. The chapel's tower had been toppled, blocking their way into the rest of the city, but Sanyue could barely see light coming from the cracks in the doors.

Matius laughed as he watched one of his men take out the last scamp. "We wiped the basterds out!" He took another look around to make sure that nothing unpleasant was hiding in the shadows. "It's safe to pull those people out of the chapel. Let's get in there and make sure they're all right." He motioned toward the doors. "Come on, this is only the beginning of the battle for Kvatch. We can discuss the next phase once all the civilians are safe." Matius' men pulled open the chapel doors and they stepped inside.

Sanyue could not help but have her eyes drawn up toward where the chapel's tower once was. Even with the wind howling outside, the chapel stayed reverently quiet, only hushed conversation breaking the silence. "Report, Soldier," Matius addressed a Red Guard woman, her hair styled in much the same way that Baurus' was.

"Sir, we're all that's left," Sanyue started at that, her eyes sweeping over the two guards and then to the people. There couldn't have been more than a dozen. Out of how many hundreds of people, these few people and those in the refugee camp were all that were left. Despite their earlier victories, Sanyue could not help the sadness that now pulled at her. "Berich Inian, myself, and these civilians."

"That's it? There's no one else?"

"There were others sir. But they refused to stay put." The young Red Guard woman seemed emotionally exhausted, her face blank as she answered Matius' questions. "We tried to convince them that it was dangerous, but they left anyway. I guess they didn't make it."

Matius sighed, squaring his shoulders against the despair. "Very well. The area outside the chapel has been cleared, and these people need to be taken to safety. Escort them to the camp south of here at once."

"But sir," she straightened her back. "I want to help fight!"

Savlian Matius addressed the young woman as he had addressed Sanyue. "You will, soldier. Once they're secure, get back here immediately." Her face lit up. "We'll need every available blade, and there'll be plenty of fighting to go around."

"Sir, yes sir!" The young woman turned on her heel and addressed the people in the chapel. "Civilians, it's time to move out, let's go!" The people in the chapel did not share her enthusiasm, however they did seem relieved that they could leave.

"We've done it!" Sanyue smiled at the genuine surprise in Matius' voice. "I can't believe it - I didn't really think this would work. Maybe we do have a fighting chance!" Sanyue nodded, happy that at least something had gone right for these people when she locked eyes with a priest. Her breath was nearly stolen away, he looked almost exactly like the Emperor. Their eyes met, and for an instant Sanyue got the same feeling she had when Uriel had looked directly into her. She felt true relief surge through her. He was alive.

"Oh, yes!" Sanyue was startled out of her revelation by Savlian planning. "We're not done." Sanyue tried to find the priest again, but he had already filed out of the chapel with the Red Guard. "Not even close. This is only the first step. If this town is to be ours again, we'll need to get inside the castle." Again Sanyue's distraction carried the wrong message. "You've come this far. Will you go further? If we're truly going to succeed, I will need much more of your help." Sanyue nodded, taking a deep breath and hoping that the stamina potion she drank would not choose now to wear off. "What we've seen so far is nothing compared to the battle that likely awaits us." He smiled and clapped her on the shoulder. "Take a few moments to catch your breath and think it over. When your're ready, let me know and we'll get under way."

Sanyue did exactly that as she walked down to where the people were camped out. Some had left a few fruits and dried meats in small packs and Sanyue took a little of each to replenish her energy. She stepped up to Akatosh's altar and offered a quick prayer for her mission to succeed before she rejoined Savlian at the doors to the chapel. She nodded her readiness to him and Savlian, in typical form, gave a whooping battle cry and rushed out the opposite doors they came in from.

The task seemed simple enough, find the castle, enter it and kill every bloody thing that was Daedra. As they stood outside the closed gates, however, Sanyue felt more than a little consternation at the whole situation. She was sent back by Matius to get Berich Inian who had a key to an underground passage into the castle. They were met by Imperial guards who had seen the smoke while out on patrol. Sanyue grasped the hand of the lead guard in a hearty thank you as they charged together into the fray. Getting to the guard tower and into the castle courtyard was simple enough. The Imperial guards waited at the gates as Sanyue muscled them open.

Once inside, her task was to find the count. It had seemed simple enough, but not all things had happy endings. Sanyue sighed as she rolled the body of the count over, noting the stab wounds in his chest. She placed him on the bed, his hands over his chest as she took the ring from his finger as proof to Matius. Hopefully, one day soon when Kvatch was rebuilt, they would give that ring to a new count. As it was, it was all too much for Matius. He had righted an ornate chair in the dining hall and just sat down. He stripped out of his Kvatch guard uniform, folded it neatly and given it to Sanyue. Matius just leaned forward onto the table, his head in his hands as he stared at the count's ring on the table.

Sanyue unfolded the tunic and slipped it over her head. It looked slightly ridiculous over leathers instead of chain mail, however she felt it only right since she was on a mission to rescue one of Kvatch's own. She squeezed her hand on Matius' shoulder, and stepped back out into the rain slowly making her way back to the gates of Kvatch.