22: Martin

The guards’ were overjoyed! By closing the Oblivion gate, I had given them hope. Our work was not done though, and I rallied the men and prepared them to storm the city gates. The captain was shocked that I had closed the gate, but overjoyed nonetheless. I spoke with him as the guards were getting ready to attack.

“You know the city better than I do captain. What’s the plan?” He pulled out a hastily drawn map of the city and explained the plan.

“What we have to do is rescue any survivors, obviously. However, our main goal is the castle. If we can retake it we should be able to drive any remaining Daedra out. Now, the church is a good target to start out with. I believe that a small group of survivors is holed up there, although I don’t know if they have been successful in repelling the enemy. From there, we will move through the main square, across the draw bridge and into the castle. It’s as simple as pie.”

“Yeah, a big, stinky, Daedra-infested pie. Just like mom used to make.” This came from one of the guards, although exactly who I do not know. The captain frowned in the direction of the comment, but rolled up the map and clamped on his helmet.

“Lets go, we can’t let the Daedra barricade the main gate. Will, you are up front with me; we’re gonna push these bastards back to the hellish void they came from!” He drew he sword and charged towards the gate, I did likewise with my axe, but gave out a hearty battle cry for good measure.

We led the guards to the gate. When we pushed through into the city, we were met with several blasts of fire from Scamps and Dremora inside. I was mostly unaffected by them, due to my newfound resistance to fire. I felt the warmth, but other than that I was unaffected. I used this newfound talent to block many of the fireballs from hitting my fellow soldiers. We faced about 15 scamps and 4 Dremora; bad odds for the first battle, but we were able to cut them down with only the loss of 4 men. I did my best to heal the wounded, but I was drained from fighting, and my talents are not restoration-oriented. We secured the chapel, finding it filled with only 10 or so survivors. The air was heavy with sorrow, and I bowed my head at the altar, saying a few words of prayer for the dead. I was interrupted just before I finished.

“It’s no use to pray. The gods have left us. Our enemies triumph, and the world will shatter before them.” The old man who said this had tears running down his cheeks. How sad it is, that a man of his age would give up. He had obviously lived a long life, and was probably blessed by the gods. I could not understand how he could desert them so easily. A young priest walked up to me and muttered in my ear.

“Listen not to him. He watched his five grandchildren ripped apart before his eyes y the Daedra. He will recover in time.”

“One can only hope so. Without faith, what are we? Empty shells of what we once were. Empty shells.”

“Well said. My name is Martin. We are all thankful for your help in rescuing us, whatever some might say.”

“Martin?” My mind raced back to Jauffre’s assignment. “You’re alive! Thank the gods!”

“Aye, and thank them heartily, but you act as if you know me. Why?”

“I must explain. My name is Will Syras. I was a witness to the assassination of our Emperor, Uriel Septim. I have come to save you because you are his son. You are the last living heir to the throne of Tamriel.”

“What? You speak madness, friend! My father was a simple farmer, not the Emperor!”

I knew that he wouldn’t accept the news well. Still, I had to convince him somehow that he was the true heir! My mind raced, and eventually I came up with a plan.

“Listen Martin, you are the heir to the throne. You must believe me.”

“What if I don’t believe you?”

“Then come with me to Weynon Priory. There we will find the Grandmaster of the Blades, he can explain it better to you than I can. Besides, you have nothing left here. Please, when Kvatch has been retaken, you must follow me to Weynon Priory.”

“Hmm, I suppose you are right. There is nothing left here for me. Still, I need to think about it. Meet me at the camp the survivors established, down near the base of the mountain, when you have retaken Kvatch.”

“Count on me being there.”

The Captain had been conversing with a few guards that had helped defend the chapel through the night, but now that he was finished I approached him to see about the second part of the plan. We would make our way through the main square and into the castle. Hopefully we would meet up with the count and his personal guards there, and then we could push the Daedra out forever.