53: Ghostgate

Ash shifted under my feet as I strode towards the shattered frame of the door. It was dark inside, so I cast a spell to illuminate the interior of the building. Kael stepped into the pale green mist that glowed in the corridor. He drew the massive claymore from his back and proceeded cautiously through the eerie green mist. I stepped in behind him, calling a spell to heal him to the front of my mind. I would not be able to safely fire any sort of spell around him, so I continued to light our way through the darkened corridor. In a short time we came to a dimly lit room that had obviously been the site of a recent battle. The bodies of Daedra and Dunmer littered the floor, and it had become slippery with blood. A small fire in a corner of the room provided enough flickering yellow light to make everything seem sinister.

I once again illuminated the room to make searching easier and to ensure we wouldn’t be surprised by anyone trying to sneak up on us in the dark. As soon as I had cast the spell, there came a cry from a man slumped over a chair. I immediately ran over to him and removed the frightening mask made of volcanic glass that he was wearing. A trickle of blood dripped from his nostril, but he was still alive. I began healing him as best as I could, but he was still immobile when I finished. Nevertheless, he was awake and in minimal pain. Hopefully he could shed some light on the situation.

“What happened here?” I asked him while Kael and Darkasha continued to search the room.

“What does it look like?” The Dunmer growled and then clutched his chest in pain. “We got attacked, ya great s’wit! They just started pouring in from Red Mountain; we held them outside the gates for as long as possible, but they broke through pretty quick.” He coughed and I cast a healing spell into his chest. “We pushed them back into the other tower just a bit ago, but they could break through the remaining guards any minute.” A crash came from beyond a door near Kael. “What’re you waiting for, fool? Go help them!” The Dunmer coughed and pushed me away.

I jogged over to the door and pushed through just behind Kael. We entered a high ceilinged room where a battle still raged. Kael jumped in to hack at the snarling Daedra, and I began healing and supporting the remaining guards. Darkasha soon joined the fray, jumping into the midst of several large Daedra. With our help, the guards began to push the Daedra back into the other tower. A collective battle cry rose from the guards as we turned the tide of Daedra.

It was answered by the deafening roar of a massive, blue-skinned Xivilai who crashed into the line of guards and sent them reeling. The morale of the guards suddenly broke, and they began retreating. Several completely turned tail and ran out of the room in terror. Darkasha jumped on the back of the huge Xivilai and stabbed him in the throat. I almost cheered until the creature threw Darkasha off his back and into the wall behind me. It then turned towards me and began to swing its twin claymores as it advanced towards me. I stumbled backwards away from it and nearly tripped over Darkasha’s limp body. I began firing spells at the Xivilai, hopelessly trying to slow its steady advance. It cut down several guards before one of my spells caught it directly in the face and it faltered. I saw Kael orchestrating a tactical retreat from the room and tried to drag Darkasha out of the room while continuing to fire spells at the Xivilai. Soon I was the only one left in the room, just a few feet from the door into the next room, but the Daedra were advancing towards me rather more quickly than I would have liked.

“This isn’t going well,” said the cool voice of the Dark One. I was too focused to do anything but ignore him. “Let me help.” I continued to ignore him, but soon I felt his mind flowing into mine and giving me a hand. He began channeling his energy into me, and the staff glowed more strongly than ever before. I could feel the amazing amounts of pure energy flowing into me, and time appeared to slow down. Sparks crackled around the staff as I leveled it towards the group of Daedra. The tip of the staff hummed gently and then, without any warning, exploded.

The Daedra were consumed by the expanding burst of crackling energy in an instant. Their screams of surprised pain were muffled by the deafening buzz of the explosion. I felt the energy leave me and time returned to its usual pace. I watched the energy bouncing off the high ceiling and funneling into the tower where the Daedra had been attacking from. It continued to bounce around in the far tower, and I could hear the occasional scream of pain echoing in the foreign tongue of the Daedra. I dropped the staff onto the floor, watching as bouts of steam billowed out of the still humming metal.

“You’re welcome,” the Dark One’s voice said as it fell out of my mind just as the staff fell to the floor. I shuddered and turned to Darkasha, who was still unconscious. I was drained of magic, and I knew my healing spells wouldn’t be as effective as the small vials of blood that Darkasha kept tucked away on his person. I dug around in his pockets for a few moments before I found the pouch that contained the vials. Many of the vials had broken from the impact with the wall, but I pulled the corks out of the intact ones and poured the viscous red liquid down Darkasha’s throat. I saw his wounds close and heard the cracking of his ribs as they realigned from the effects of the blood.

The guards had returned to the room and gone into the far tower to search for any survivors. I knew they wouldn’t find any. Kael crouched down next to me and looked at me suspiciously. Then he smiled.

“I’m damn glad you’re on our side, Will.” Kael chuckled and then went to help the other guards loot what remained of the Daedras’ bodies. I stepped over to the staff, which had stopped steaming and had returned to glowing faintly. I bent down and picked it up, feeling the Dark One’s mind returning to mine. I leaned on the staff gratefully.

“Thank you,” I told the Dark One, “Thank you, my friend.”