59: The Calm Before the Storm

I stepped out of the mages guild with heavy thoughts on my mind. Surely Ald’Ruhn could not have fallen so quickly! It must have just been a fluctuation in the teleport fields or something. I let the Dark One ponder this and I sullenly followed the Nerevarine through the city. I was surprised to see the amount of activity that there was. Soldiers clad in the characteristic bonemold armor of the Redoran strode purposefully throughout the city carrying documents and implements of battle. The air was clear of ash and foul weather, but the tension was palpable. I followed Darkasha and the Nerevarine up a short incline to a building set into a hill.

We entered the building and were greeted with reverent silence. The Nerevarine proceeded to sit in a chair offered him by a Dunmer in glass armor. “Thank you, general,” the Nerevarine’s voice was firm but polite, “Everyone, please continue your duties, there is much to be done yet if we are to win this battle.” After an instant of stillness, the soldiers returned to whatever it was they were doing. I stood aside quietly as the Nerevarine shared a few words with the grizzled general. Finally he turned to Darkasha and me. “I will get straight to it,” he said simply, though his lips still did not move behind the thick coat of ash that covered his face. “We are in a difficult position here. Our walls and natural defenses are relatively strong, but the Daedra are not easily impeded by our efforts. Thank Azura that the Redoran forces were already concentrated here due to the Nord invasion. Still, I fear we will be outnumbered and overpowered. Who knows what the Daedra could throw at us.”

“I might.” I interjected. The Nerevarine’s eyebrows rose and his ashen mouth curled into a smirk. I continued, “I’ve engaged the Daedra multiple times, maybe I can tell you something you don’t know. Darkasha might be able to fill in any gaps in my memory, as well.” The Nerevarine gestured for me to procede. I did. “The Daedra apparently prefer to open two kinds of gates to bring their forces through. The smaller of the gates is very tall, but only wide enough to let maybe two to four men through, shoulder to shoulder. Scamps, Dremora, Xivilai and the like come through these usually. The other gates are about the same height, but are about twice as wide. They always open the small gates before the big ones, I guess to let the advance force soften things up for the main attack. The big gates let in all the beasts that the small gates do, but they also…” I hesitated, trying to picture and find words for the monstrosity that had lurched through the big gate at Ghostgate. “They also let worse things through.”

“What kind of worse things?” The Nerevarine had been listening intently, clearly eager to learn as much as he could.

“Big things,” Darkasha said, “Big, metal, spider-like things.”

The Nerevarine pondered this, “Like Dwemer constructions?”

“Not exactly,” I said, “Much, much bigger and nastier looking. A little shorter than a silt strider, and just as strong as one. Also, they can spew fire from their… heads.” Darkasha nodded in concurrence. “I don’t think any number of soldiers could take one of those things out without siege engines.”

The Nerevarine shook his head sadly and said: “Something which we do not have, unfortunately… So there is nothing we can do against them?” Darkasha smiled faintly, and I couldn’t help but follow suit.

“No, there are some ways of stopping them.” I said, “Number one, and I’m not sure this would work, but there is a sigil stone at the head of the creature, and I believe it is what powers the construct. If that stone could be removed it might render the whole monster useless. The other option, which I know works, is to fight them with silt striders.”

The Nerevarine nearly burst out laughing, “Are you kidding me? Those things couldn’t hurt a scrib!”

Darkasha shook his head, “No, really. If the anger inhibitor is removed from a strider, it could take out one of those things pretty quickly, not to mention dozens of smaller Daedra.”

The Nerevarine looked at us both very carefully, as if trying to discern the truth of the matter. Finally, after a short moment of consideration, the Nerevarine sighed and conceded. “Very well, I’ll see to it that silt striders are gathered and their handlers informed of their role. In the meantime, I have plans for you both. Will, You will stay here and help me prepare defenses for the coming assault, as well as continue informing me of as much as you know about Daedric tactics.”

“As you wish.” I said, I really didn’t know what else I would do.

He continued, “Darkasha, you have a task much more suited to your… condition?” Darkasha seemed a bit startled, and discreetly liked the sharp points of his vampiric fangs. The Nerevarine nodded, “Yes, that. As you may or may not be aware, the Nord invasion force has established itself at a nearby camp. We cannot afford this threat at a time like this. I need you to use a bit of cloak and dagger, as it were. Keep an eye on them, and keep us apprised of their movements. I will see to it that you are given directions to their camp and other relevant information.” Darkasha nodded solemnly.

“Oh,” the Nerevarine said as an afterthought, “And feel free to spread fear through their ranks through the use of your particular talent.”

“Gladly.” Hissed Darkasha.

58: Refugees

I stepped out of the swirling vortex of the teleport and landed on a platform just behind Darkasha. A tall Altmer helped me down off the elevated landing, and I immediately began giving her orders.

“Prepare yourself for more arrivals.” I said quickly, “refugees from Ald’Ruhn will undoubtedly be coming this way. I will get someone to help you, but I need to speak to the head of this hall.” She looked stunned for a moment, and then pointed me down to a lower level where some mages were milling around. Darkasha looked uncomfortable in the presence of so many arcane scholars; most could identify him as a vampire without much effort and I worried what their reaction might be.

“Darkasha, get outside and keep your head down, but be on the lookout for the Nerevarine. I’m going to need my staff back now.” He nodded his understanding and tossed the staff to me. The Dark One abruptly entered my mind and a wave of dizziness came over me. It passed, and I strode down to the group of mages on the lower level.

“Which one of you is the head of this guild hall?” I asked to the group at large. They looked at me briefly, their eyes absorbing the details of my face. A thin Dunmer narrowed his fiery eyes at me momentarily, and then responded.

“That would be me.” His voice had hints of the Vvardenfell dialect in it, low and gravelly. “What can I do for you, associate?” He pronounced “associate” slowly, contempt dripping from his voice.

“I would like to speak to you in private, if I may.” I tried to show as much respect as I could, I didn’t want to anger him anymore than I already had. He frowned, and then gestured off to the side. I followed him through a door into what appeared to be an office, but it was difficult to tell due to the stacks of scrolls and books scattered around the desk and floor.

“I think you need to explain who you are, outlander, and you’d best do it quickly.” He closed the door behind me and stood holding it shut.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir,” I said, giving my best effort to get to the point. “I have just come from Ald’Ruhn, and the Daedra have begun to attack.” He nodded; he was not surprised by this, apparently. I continued, “I’m certain you know that it will not survive the assault, but with any luck we may be able to get some survivors out via the guild teleport. My companion stayed behind in Ald’Ruhn to help guide people to safety. I recommend we begin preparing for any refugees who come through the guild teleport.” The Dunmer cut me off and opened the door back into the main hall.

“Covers-his-claw,” the Dunmer shouted out into the room, “We’re going to have people coming through the teleport, see to it that they are taken care of.” A short Argonian nodded his head and then jogged up the stairs. The guild head closed the door once more. “What else?”

“Well, I don’t know how else to put this… Gnisis is going to be attacked very soon.” I said.

“What makes you think that?” The Dunmer asked, mild surprise crossing his usually skeptical brow.

“Two things: Number one, I heard it from a very reliable source; Number two, they’re targeting the major cities of the three great houses. In any case, we should begin preparing for a siege, and should inform the city guard as soon as possible. I’m no defense strategist, and I don’t know the city of Gnisis very well, but apparently this city is defensible.” A sudden thought occurred to me. “Also, we may want to gather as many silt striders as we can and keep them near the city. They could be quite handy.” A look of disbelief formed on the Dunmer’s face, and I immediately regretted bringing up such a strange idea when I didn’t have time to explain my reasoning. Luckily, I was saved any humiliation by a figure pushing through the doorway into the office, followed by Darkasha. The trail of ash that drifted through the air behind the figure was familiar to me, even though the ash coated face seemed slightly different than it had on Red Mountain.

“Nerevarine!” The guild head exclaimed and fell to his knees in reverence. “I am honored! If I had known that… If there is anything I can do…”

“Enough.” The voice boomed through the air, though the Nerevarine’s lips did not move. He turned to me, “You have informed the guild head of the coming storm. He will do all that is required of him. Now come, we have much to discuss.” He strode out of the room and I helped the Dunmer to his feet, he looked slightly shaken, but he pushed past me and began issuing orders to other mages in the guild hall. I rushed after the Nerevarine.

Small groups of refugees had already begun to congregate in pockets around the guild hall, clearly lost and terrified. Perhaps fifteen to twenty people had made it through so far, and Kael was obviously not among them. A mage was trying to usher the scared civilians out into the streets where at least they would be out of the way, but they were slow to move, clearly in shock. As I followed the Nerevarine and Darkasha up the stairs out of the basement where all the activity was, a loud cry of frustration came from the teleport room.

“I’ve lost contact!” yelled the Altmer who controlled the teleportation fields. “No one else can come through!”

57: Ald'Ruhn

The first party of soldiers departed from Ghostgate shortly after the storm had fully subsided. They would ensure that Dagoth Ur was safe to inhabit and clear the way for the injured in the second party. I knew they would have no trouble clearing the ancient Dwemer fortress out, especially since the Nerevarine had “prepared for their arrival” already. I was not worried about them.

Darkasha drank deeply from healing potions that I had provided for him as we set out with the first party of soldiers. We would follow them north for a short distance before heading west to Ald’Ruhn. With any luck we could hike through the ashen mountains in time to avoid the attack. We were proceeding slowly, however, and the group of soldiers soon left us far behind. Darkasha could walk, but not fast enough for my liking. I too was enfeebled, as Darkasha needed the Staff for support, and so each step I took caused a shooting pain through my absent toes. Kael was the only one among us fit to climb the ashen slopes, but he was burdened by our slow progress.

“At this rate we’ll never make it to Ald’Ruhn in time.” I grumbled out of frustration. “The city will have fallen by the time we arrive!”

“Perhaps we can buy some time.” Kael said, hefting his pack higher onto his shoulder. “If we can warn the people there, they may be able to prepare for the attack. I will move ahead of you two and make it to Ald’Ruhn in time to inform them of the coming darkness.”

“Gods give you speed,” I said. He nodded and ran off to the northwest. I turned to Darkasha, who was a good twenty paces behind me. I looked with curiosity at the staff, which was pulsing with an angry red glow. Darkasha appeared to take no notice of any animation within the staff, nor had anyone ever noticed the unusual nature of the staff. Apparently, I was the only one who had any inkling of the Dark One’s presence. Since I had handed the staff off to Darkasha, I had felt the absence of the Dark One in my mind. It was a refreshing change, though I did miss the wise guidance he had often imparted to me. I waited for Darkasha to catch up and then knelt to examine his legs. They were healing quickly, but they simply couldn’t bear the weight of Darkasha’s body. As I knelt, I gripped the base of the staff and felt the flood of the Dark One’s thoughts return to my own. He was furious. Mostly he didn’t appreciate being left deaf dumb and blind (apparently he couldn’t enter Darkasha’s mind). An onslaught of angry reprimands stormed across my thoughts, but I was able to quickly get him under control. I needed his help healing Darkasha’s legs, and I wanted to explain that Kael had left to buy some time.

I forced as much magic as I could into healing Darkasha. I released the staff and felt the Dark One slowly pulled from my mind. Darkasha flexed and stretched his legs experimentally. “They do not hurt as much now, but they are still weak.” He managed to keep pace with me now, and we set off for Ald’Ruhn once again.

It took a few hours, but we finally reached the pale walls of Ald’Ruhn. No Oblivion gates marred the land near Ald’Ruhn, though the tension in the air was palpable. A small force of guards was erecting a barricade across the wide opening in the walls that served as the city’s main entrance. The city was not at all prepared for an attack. The walls themselves were not continuous around the city, though some breaks in the wall had been filled in with a single layer of bricks and mortar, a hasty patch job which would easily crumble under the coming assault. I knew then why the Nerevarine had avoided Ald’Ruhn; it was indefensible.

Darkasha and I shuffled through the dusty streets in search of the mages’ guild and salvation. I noticed a long line of worried citizens crowded around the slit strider platform. After a short time searching for the guild hall, I saw Kael beckoning me toward a squat structure. We entered the hall and Kael immediately pointed us down to the basement. Kael had an unusual look in his eyes, as if he were preoccupied with something. As we reached the teleportation platform, Kael took me aside while Darkasha began to teleport to Gnisis.

“You’ll have to go on without me.” Kael said quietly. I said nothing. “I can’t just leave all these people unprotected! I have to try and help them.”

“Kael,” I said, “You’ve seen the walls, this place cannot survive the coming onslaught. What are you possibly going to do? You’ll just be one more head on the daedras’ pike.”

“I know we can’t last, but maybe I can buy some time. If we can get some more refugees out through the guild teleport…” A rumbling explosion cut him off. “Just go, I’ll follow when… if I can.”