49: Hot Drop

I was twirled and buffeted in the swirling vortex that propelled me viciously towards Vvardenfell. Arcane energies twisted about me, lifting and prodding here and there. Beyond the vortex I had a sense of insurmountable speed, feeling the miles pass away beneath me. The wind was knocked out of me several times, and I nearly passed out as the energies raged around me. The Dark One served as a beacon of sense throughout the ordeal, calmly watching the energies with an air of bemusement. I clung to him both physically and mentally, gripping the staff tight and wrapping my mind around his.

After what seemed to be a half an hour, I felt myself slowing. The twirling settled down and the energies pressed less eagerly. I managed a glimpse at the stone I was still holding, noticing it was the source of the energies that powered my momentum, and I saw it too slowing down, it seemed to glow less heavily and the energies burst from it less rapidly. Finally it stopped, and I felt myself spit out of the void.

I flipped end over end down an ashy slope, rolling and tumbling as inertia carried me out of the void. I slowed and gained my footing, shaking myself off and brushing the ash from my robes and eyes. The other two had come to rest a few yards from me, Darkasha significantly further up the slope, and Kael near the bottom. I was standing in the middle of the hill, and noticed an orange glow coming from the far side of the hill. I climbed up past Darkasha to get a better view. I crested the hill and was met with a view I will not soon forget. Below me stretched a city that I had once visited, long ago. Balmora, council seat of House Hlaalu…

…Lay in ruins. Flames burst from once beautiful buildings. Fire ravaged the city, melting paint and consuming wood. The walls lay crumbled in great sections, and the river had slowed to a trickle. The tall towers that had once served as guard posts lay toppled and broken, resting in piles of other crushed and broken dwellings. The flames roared, but it was distant, as if the utter silence that otherwise blanketed the area had snuffed out the sound of the fires.

“Dear gods…” Kael’s voice whispered from behind me.

“It’s Kvatch all over again,” said the echoing voice of the Dark One. It was the first time I had ever heard something close to sorrow in his voice.

“I hope we’re not too late.” Kael said, and I wondered what we could possibly be in time for. The whole city was in ruins! Nevertheless, he began to slide and climb down to the base of the hill, which was just inside the walls of the city. He began digging around in the rubble there, searching for something. I stumbled down after him, keeping watch for Daedra. There was nothing moving other than the flickering flames. It was getting dark, but the fire provided more than enough light. I shuddered as I realized that there were no bodies anywhere. Where had the Daedra taken them? My mind began to drift back to those sheets of meat that hung in the Daedric citadels in Oblivion, but I forced myself away from such a gruesome idea.

Suddenly, a knocking and banging noise came from one of the still intact residences nearby. The building was remarkably untouched, save for scorch marks and a collapsed roof. The banging increased and became decidedly frantic sounding. I ran over and opened the door. A screaming Dunmer man burst out, his clothes partially on fire. He tried to run past me, but I caught him and threw him to the ground, where I stopped the clothes from further igniting and then began to heal his burns. He gradually began to calm down, but there was not much I could do for his scorched flesh. As I tended to the Dunmer, Darkasha nimbly scaled the side of a nearby building and looked out over the wreckage. His ears were erect, and he listened carefully. I watched him for a moment as my magicka replenished. He jumped down and began charging off in a direction near where we had come from.

“The battle still rages!” He yelled as he passed. I quickly helped the survivor up and told him to follow us but to stay out of the way. He nodded and I jogged after Darkasha. I soon heard Kael’s pounding footsteps as he ran with me and past me. Pain seared up my leg, but I pushed through and towards the battle. We ran over the hill and across a small valley, whereupon I noticed a fort of Imperial construction. It was not burning, and I pushed onwards towards the battle which I was now beginning to hear.

I was winded after the short run, but I saw now the Oblivion Gate that threatened the Fort. Daedra were pouring out of it in great numbers, but there was still a large group of defenders too. Darkasha jumped into the fray and began tearing and slicing apart the Daedra who foolishly came too close. Kael stooped and picked up a two-handed sword from a dead defender, and then began to beat back the accursed invaders. I climbed to the top of a boulder near the battle and began firing spells into the group of Daedra, slowing and blistering the flesh of my enemies with freezing blasts of ice. After a long battle, the fighting slowed and then stopped. No more Daedra came out of the gate, and the last twitching survivors of the Daedra were stomped out. Several priests ran out from the fort and began to tend to the wounded. I helped as much as I could, but my magicka reserves were drained and these priests were much more skilled than I. Kael approached me as I tended to the few nicks and scratches I had received from the battle.

“I have good news and bad news.” He said, dropping the chipped and broken two-handed sword on the ground. “The good news is there isn’t anything else coming out of this gate, the bad news is the party that went into close it is nowhere to be found.”

“Well,” I said, “at least they haven’t found any bodies either.” I sighed. “I suppose we’re going to have to go in and look for them, eh?”

“Perhaps, but I heard who was leading the party, and I have absolute faith in his abilities.” As he said this, I heard a rumble and the Oblivion gate shuddered. Its supports began to crack and crumble in upon the gate, and I saw a small group of people beginning to materialize just outside of it. They popped fully into existence just as the gate shuddered and closed. I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t going back into Oblivion just yet.

I ran up to congratulate the party of guards, and soon found myself shaking hands with their leader. He held the sigil stone under his arm and was wearing beaten and worn Blade armor.

“Good to meet you Will,” he said, grasping my hand firmly. “I heard about that incident in Kvatch. Very nice work.”

“And the same to you.” I said, gesturing at the broken Oblivion gate. “And you are?”

“I am Caius Cosades.”