3: Freedom, but at what cost?

I gathered up the rusty bits of iron armor and proceeded along the cavernous corridor. The natural formation of the cave was mixed with ancient bricks that were crumbling away into dust, and yet I was not worried about the structural integrity of the walls.

But I digress. I proceeded past some hanging skulls and through a rotten old door and I could instantly smell smoke. Something was on fire down here, and whoever had lit it had no regard for ventilation. That fact ruled out most men, and as such I proceeded with caution. I stuck to the shadows and crept up on the source of the smoke and light.

Something was moving around in the smoke, and yet I could not make out anything more than a humanoid shape. I drank one of the potions I had found, and felt my tired limbs rejuvenate. Then I moved closer to the creature, and pulled out my rusty old axe. On my way towards the creature, I kicked a rock I had not seen and sent it flying towards the fire! The rock clattered against a wooden stool and fell silent.

I froze, and tired to control the pounding in my chest. I still was worried from that encounter with the zombie, and now I had lost my element of surprise. The creature slowly started advancing through the smoke, and when it came to the stool, it gave a confused little grunt. As it bent over to pick up the stool, I ran forward and swung my axe at its exposed back. It yelped and rolled backward, away from my swing. It hopped to its feet and pulled a knife out of a crude sheath at its waist. I now recognized it as a goblin, and some relief came to my mind. Goblins are not particularly threatening unless trained by the Altmer. This one certainly did not look well trained, or even well fed, so I decided to rush him. I charged in with my axe and as the goblin tried to block my attack with his dagger, I brought my hand up to its chest and released a blast of fire. The goblin was propelled backwards and into the fire pit. It gurgled and died, and put out the fire in the process. I put away my axe and searched the goblin’s possessions.

I recovered a crude mortar and pestle, as well as some common reagents. I put them away in the pack I found near the stool, as well as dumping the other things I had collected so far into the pack. I hefted this onto my shoulder and proceeded down the only other way through the cavern. I was greeted by a much stronger looking goblin, and I immediately pulled my axe from my side and held it at the ready. The goblin charged at me and tripped over a thin cord stretched across the passage. As it stood up, I noticed three huge, spiky logs swinging down from the cavern ceiling. I ducked, but the goblin never saw them coming.

I wiped the goblin’s blood off of my face and turned around to see him very nearly stuck to the wall. The spiky logs now hung passively in the middle of the chamber, probably content at a job well done. I pushed past them and into a split passageway. The way to the right was darker, and so I went that way, but found that it reconnected with the other passage after a few paces. I did find a locked chest filled with some gold and (curiously) lockpicks. Isn’t it odd that you would lock a chest containing lockpicks? But then I remembered how the goblin had tripped over its own trap. Not too bright, goblins.

I entered the larger passage and heard some grunting coming from down a small slope. There was a stack of logs sitting at the top of this slope, and I decided that pushing them would not hurt my cause at all. After pushing the logs, I heard a few squeals and some satisfying thuds. I strolled leisurely down the slope and collected the two goblins’ supplies, which consisted of some arrows and lockpicks. I popped open the two chests down here and found some more potions and gold, as well as a worthless dagger.

The next cavern was filled with goblins. I entered it with a pretty high level of confidence and, luckily, I would live to regret it. I nonchalantly flung a fireball at a nearby goblin and turned to face another, closer one. I swung my axe at it and as it connected I sent a chilling blast through the creature. It collapsed backwards, but not before it had frozen to my axe. I tried to pull it out of the goblin, but it was frozen completely into the creature. I gave up and turned around to see a large mace coming through the air towards my chest. I could not dodge in time, and was thrown backwards. The fireball I had thrown at the first goblin had apparently missed, and now I was lying on my back with several broken ribs because of my arrogance. I coughed out a healing spell and rolled away from the second strike of the mace. I would not miss this time, and I sent a fireball directly into the side of the goblin’s head. I had just enough time to cast another healing spell before a third goblin was upon me. This one resembled the first goblin I had met, and was dispatched with another burst of fire. My magicka reserves were getting low, so I picked up the mace that had nearly ended my life, and focused on the final goblin in the cavern. It realized with a start that I had not been killed by its compatriots, and leveled a staff at me. I am certain that my eyes widened as I saw the bolt of crackling electricity that hit me full in the chest and sent me sprawling. I twitched for a moment, but when I regained control of my muscles I sprinted for cover behind some rocks. I stood gasping for breath, and as I cast a healing spell I could hear the goblin shaman giving out a kind of guttural laugh.

I jumped from the cover of the rocks and flung several fireballs in the direction of the shaman. I could not see whether I had hit it, but the bolt of lightning that streaked towards me told me I had not. I ducked and the energy dispersed into the rocks behind me. I tossed another fireball at the shaman and ran towards a rock that was closer to the shaman. The shaman fired a bolt of lightning at the place I had taken cover in before, and I took this opportunity to aim my next attack more carefully. I fired off two more fireballs at the shaman and each one struck true.

The charred corpse of the shaman was still flaming when I came to it. I kicked it aside and picked up the staff the goblin had been using. It still crackled faintly with energy, and I slung it over my back despite its grotesque appearance. Goblins do not use magic the way elves or men do. Their exact methods are unknown to us, but it somehow involves the use of a fellow goblin’s severed head. Hence the reason why the staff I now carried was adorned with a grimacing goblin’s head.

The goblins had a chest full of poor quality gems, as well as a supply of ale and rat meat (both alive and packed away in crates), but I settled with the gems. I swept my eyes over the large room once more, and set off through another passage.

This one sloped up, and as I went through a door, I noticed that the construction was becoming less natural and more like an ancient catacomb. Indeed, I heard voices ahead of me, coming from a large hole in the wall that was not unlike the one I had entered the caverns from. I dropped down onto a man-made ledge and headed towards the sounds of fighting. There was the emperor and his two remaining guards! Obviously they had had a tough time getting through the passages, because the Blades’ armor was scratched and dented in many places, and even the emperor was helping to fight off the assassins. I dropped down onto the head of an attacking assassin and froze it to the ground. The Blades finished off the remaining assassin and turned to me with weapons drawn.

“It’s that prisoner! Kill him! He might be working with the assassins!” I drew my weapon as the Redguard advanced towards me. I did not want to fight such a well trained man, and I backed off as he approached.

“No Baurus! He is not one of them.” This came from the Emperor. Baurus sheathed his sword, but kept his hand on the hilt as the Emperor approached me. “They do not trust you, for they have not seen what I have seen. I look at you and wonder, what stars were you born under?”

“I was born under the watchful eyes of the Apprentice, my Lord.”

“Ah, yes. I can see that magicka flows through you. The Apprentice shall stand over you this day.” The Emperor and I talked for a short time, and he told me that the hour of his death was near. I was surprised when he told me he was not afraid, but even more so when he told me he felt blessed to know when he was going to die. With that he moved off, and Baurus told me to stay close and guard the Emperor well. I could tell he did not trust me, but he was going to obey the Emperor no matter what.

We moved through the passages, and were attacked by small groups of assassins every few minutes. The three of us had little trouble fighting them off, but I began to see why they were so exhausted. They were constantly fighting, and never had anytime to rest their weary limbs. They must have been doing this for hours, and yet I was worn out after the first few attacks.

The Emperor turned to me at one point and said, “Not much longer now.” I was very disturbed by his persistence to continue until his death, but I fought even harder for him. Shortly after he told me this, we came upon a barred gate. It was our only way out, so we took the emperor off into a side passage to hold off the assassins. I stayed with the Emperor to ensure that no one slipped past Baurus and Glenroy. It was here that the Emperor spoke to me for the final time.

He told me of his final heir, and of the horrors that were to come. He spoke of Jauffre, the Grandmaster of the Blades, and gave me the Amulet of Kings! He told me to take the amulet to Jauffre, and to “Close shut the jaws of Oblivion!” I heard one of the Blades cry out, and turned to see what had happened. It was then that I heard the wall behind the Emperor slide down, revealing an enormous assassin, who plunged his blade deep into the back of the emperor!

I cried out, and leapt on the assassin. I gripped his helmet between my hands and sent blast after blast of freezing cold into it. The assassin did not scream, or even try to resist. Instead, he collapsed after the first blast froze his brains. I did not stop sending cold into his corpse even after his armor dissipated in its curious way, I did not stop until Baurus laid his hand on my shoulder and pulled me away from the assassin. Baurus took a look at the icy face of the Emperor’s murderer, and stomped down hard on it. It shattered into thousands of pieces, and I stood up silently.

Baurus said nothing for a moment, simply taking in what had happened. “We’ve failed,” he said finally, “I’ve failed.” He then noticed the absence of the Amulet, and looked at me with a wild look in his eyes.

“He gave it to me. He said I was supposed to take it to Jauffre.”

“Strange, he saw something in you. Nevertheless, Jauffre is the best place to start. Here, take this map. I’ve marked where Jauffre is on there. He is at Weynon Priory, near Chorrol. Now get going Mage, I must stay here and make sure nothing happens to the Emperor’s body. Here, take this key, it will get you into the sewers. From there you will have to find your own way out. Take care, its infested with rats and goblins.” With this he turned to the Emperor and knelt.

As I began to leave, I remembered that I had Captain Renault’s sword. I took it off and placed it next to Baurus, who simply nodded his thanks. I stepped through the secret entrance which the assassin had used, and out through the door. I left the key in the lock for Baurus to take, and set off through the sewers.

They were dark, wet, and definitely infested with rats and goblins, but after the Emperor’s death, they were nothing. I had not even known the Emperor, and yet I felt a strong sense of loyalty to him. If only I had been standing behind him! I might have intercepted the assassin before his work could be done…

I shoved my way through the final gate out of the sewers, and drank in the cold night air. It was wonderful, and I almost felt happy until I remembered my purpose. I laid myself down on the nearby dock and immeadiately fell into a deep slumber. When I awoke, it was near dawn, and I pulled out this book and began to write.

Now dawn has passed, and I can see an Ayeleid ruin across the river from here. I will perhaps explore it now, although I am no stranger to the fact that they are usually infested with bandits and marauders. That is for another entry though.