"I was born 87 years ago, for 65 years I ruled as Tamriel's emperor. But for all these years, I've never been the ruler of my own dreams. I have seen the gates of oblivion, beyond which no waking I may see. Behold in darkness, a doom sweeps the land. This is the 27th of last seed, the year of Akatosh, 433. These are the closing days of the third era, and the final hours of my life."
I woke up and I pushed my self off of the cold, tiles of the Imperial prison jail cell. My head was pounding, and I was disoriented. When I finally regained my composure I slowly stood up. I still felt weak and sick, I was completely miserable. I felt my arms, the scales had become jagged to a point and they were peeling off a slimy, thin film. They weren't the bright florescent green that they used to be. I looked up at the only source of fresh air in this dank, dreary place. I longed to be back in the warm, fresh water that filled the lakes of black marsh. I sighed deeply. "If only I didn't have to kill that…" my thoughts were interrupted by the sly, charismatic voice of Valen Dreth, the only companion that I had in this dreaded hell-hole.
"Hey, lizard! It must break your heart, huh? Being so close to the water, knowing that you'll never swim again… You know, sometimes, when they let us out into the yard. You can hear the sounds from the lake. The boats, the gulls, so close… No, you'll never swim again, argonian." He spat, the final words seething in obvious hatred for the lizard race. "But don't worry, you'll be dead soon enough. That's right. You're going to die in here!" I prepared myself to be battered by his surprisingly hurtful words. "Hey, you hear that? The guards are coming, for you." He stopped only to laugh maniacally. His face was pressed on the iron bars on his cage, impatient, waiting for me to be executed in the most horrible way possible.
I turned my head to the stairs up to the prison office. I heard the sound of metal armor, scraping upon itself. A distant light faintly illuminated the stairwell. One of the guards, who was a woman, ordered a man, named Baurus to lock the door behind him. The light got brighter and I could make out four people. I saw one woman in the front, and two men in the back all three of them wearing a special form of steel armor. In the middle of them was man in the finest clothing I have ever seen. His hair was pure snow white, and his face was wrinkled slightly.
The emperor, of Tamriel was coming down the stairs I stood in awe, but I was frightened at the same time. I was frozen, I heard talking of assassination. But I was still puzzled to the fact that I was in the presence of the emperor himself.
I was suddenly snapped back into reality as a sharp voice pierced my ears. "What's this prisoner doing here? This cell is off-limits." The female leader shouted
One of the men stuttered "Usual mix up at the watch… I it uh…"
"Never mind. Get that gate open." She snapped with annoyance. She then stared directly at me, her eyes cutting into my very soul. "Stand back prisoner, we won't hesitate to kill you if you get in our way." I whipped around and leaped into the back corner of my prison. I cowered as I sunk down onto the floor pressed up against the wall. The woman pulled out her key and twisted the lock with a quiet but solid click. The rusty door screeched as it opened, a sound so vile that I wanted to dig my claws into my ears. Even the guards cringed a bit as they opened the wrought iron door. All four of them walked into the room.
They walked up to the part of the wall that had an archway. The woman went over to one of the stones that lined the east side of the room and pushed it in. the wall behind the arch receded into the ground.
The female guard spoke "Better not close this one. There's no way to open it from the other side.
The guard that brought up the rear looked at me and said jokingly then turned serious for the last part of the sentence "Looks like this is your lucky day, just stay out of our way."
The emperor was about to follow the group when he met my gaze. It was soft and kind, but serious due to the urgency of the situation. Then the woman spoke up "Please sire we must keep moving." The emperor acknowledged this but still held his stare.
He finally spoke "You, I've seen you…" he walked closer "let me see your face… You are the one from my dreams…then the stars were right, and this is the day… Gods give me strength."
"What's going on?" I asked completely unaware of what was happening right this moment.
"Assassins attacked my sons, and I am next." He said with a completely casual and unshaken voice for someone who just lost someone they loved. He continued, "My blades are leading me out of the city through a secret escape route. By chance the escape route leads through your cell. I remained silent, waiting for him to finish. He had nothing else to say, as he left and he walked with his escort of guards.
I ran past the 4 of them, determined to protect the leader of Tamriel.