Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Written by Holly Mitchell (Zhar The Mad)
Co-written by Bruce Mitchell
Chapter 1: The Death of a King
'I don't remember anything; how I got here, where I'm from, or even who I am. I just woke up here. . .'
Her eyes wandered around the room, obviously she was being held in this… this cell, but she couldn't remember why. She looked through the prison bars and she could see nothing but rows and rows of rooms just like hers. Most were empty.
A man stood staring at her from the room across from her.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A little Breton spell flinger! You can't use your spells to get out of this mess, now can you?" the Dark Elf taunted.
The frightened young girl blinked "What are you talking about? Why am I here? Who are you?"
"Inquisitive, aren't we? I am Valen Dreth; Dark Elf extraordinaire. And little sticky on the fingers, you might say. As for you? I have no Idea. You were probably caught murdering some poor old fool in his sleep. Oh, you hear that? One of the guards are coming, I could get us put in the same. Would you like that?"
"I would never murder anyone!" she sneered, ignoring his forward comment. 'How dare this, 'Dark Elf' assume he knows anything about me'. The light briefly reflected off of her crimson colored eyes.
"Wait…" Valen took a step back "You're not a Breton, are you? What are you?" he then whispers to himself "she couldn't be a vampire, could she?" he continued to ponder amongst himself.
"Quit your babbling!"
"Shut up, wench! I'm trying to think!" he sporadically twiddled his fingers, chewing at his lower lip nervously.
She childishly stomped her foot to the ground "That's it! I want out of this miserable room now!" she pulled at the bars trying to rip them out of her way.
The distant sound of metallic footsteps caused an uproar in the entire prison.
"You want out of this cell, do you?" the footsteps became louder "Well you're not going anywhere! Oh yes, that's right, you're going to die in here. You hear that? The guards are coming for you!" The sound of his malevolent laugh echoed throughout the prison.
Amidst the noise and confusion by the surroundings, voices could be heard in the distance.
"Where are my sons? They're dead… I know it." a regal voice asked.
"My job right now is to get you to safety." A feminine voice replied.
A woman appeared at the cell door, clad in full body armor. "Huh? What's this prisoner doing in this cell?! This one is supposed to be off-limits!" The infuriated woman pointed at the girl.
"I'm sorry, sir, it must be a usual mix up with the watch." the man replied. "I-"
The woman, who appeared to be in charge sharply interrupted "Never mind, get that gate opened!"
The woman looked at the girl, who had been watching like a small child that was caught making mischief "Stand back, prisoner! We won't hesitate to kill you if you get in our way!"
As the bars opened, four people entered. First the woman, then an older man dressed in noble garments from head to toe, and then two younger men. The older man caught a glimpse of the girl. She tried to advert her eyes but the more she did, the more he stared.
"You…" he spoke to her "I've seen you." he approached her "Let me see your face... "
She looked up at him hesitantly "Yes, you were the one from my dreams..." he stated "Then the stars were right. This is the day. Gods gives me strength."
"What's going on?"
"Assassins attacked my sons and I'm next. My Blades are leading me out of the city along a secret escape route. By chance that escape route led right through your cell."
Her eyes were wide with fear and confusion, not understanding much else after the word 'assassin', "Who are you?"
"I am your emperor, Uriel Septim. You are a citizen of Tamriel, and you too, shall serve her in your own way." he brushed her hair away from her face and asked "Tell me child, what is your name?"
The girl cringed 'I, I don't remember…'
The room went black. She could her the melodic melody of birds singing, of little feet running.. and a beautiful, soothing voice calling her 'Reign, Reign darling, time for dinner!'
Then there was nothing else. The dark room was visible again. She looked at him with a smile and said "My name is Reign, sire. What is it that I should do?"
"You will find your own path." he said "Take care… There will be blood and death before the end… so many immportant things to be lost."
The woman interrupted "Please, sire, we must keep moving."
The wall opened up. Reign was astonished, she'd never seen anything like it before.
"Better leave that open," the woman pointed to the door "it can't be opened from the other side."
"Looks like this is your lucky day, prisoner." a tall, dark skinned man said optimistically "Just stay out of our way."
They proceeded down the dark corridors.
The woman spoke hastily "Close up left. Protect the emperor!"
Strange people in red robes seemed to appear out of nowhere. Suddenly their robes morphed into unsettling dark armor, they now wielded fearsome weapons. They attacked and killed the Captain before anyone else even had time to draw their weapons. In the next instant, almost as if by reflex, Reign took the sword from the now deceased Captain and struck at the assassins with great speed. However, their strength proved to be much greater than she had anticipated. The tall armor clad being easily overpowered her, hurtling her to the ground.
"Are you alright, sire?"
"Yes, Baurus." He looked the shrinking number of his conpanions"Captain Renault?"
"I'm sorry, sire…" Baurus bowed his head in sorrow "...She's dead."
The other man spoke up, shaken from the encounter "How could they have been waiting for us here?!"
Baurus shook his head, then checked their surroundings "I don't know, Glenroy, but there's no going back now."
The man now known as Glenroy ran ahead of the group "We've got to keep moving, I'll take point!"
Reign ran to catch up with the remainder of the group. Baurus held his arm in front of her, blocking her way. "You stay here, prisoner. Don't try to follow us." they departed through another door, locking it tight behind them.
She continued alone through the passageways nearly blind from lack of light. She managed to cut her way through rats, traps, and several Goblins. She wound up in a dead-ending she found 3 lockpicks and an old bow.
'Finally,' she thought to herself, making her way through the cob webs she had actually found the others.
"It's that damn prisoner again!" Glenroy cursed, watching her crawl through a break in the wall.
'Gee, they really do know how to treat a lady, don't they? I wonder if he'll get to be reunited with that Captain Renault soon…' she humored.
"No, she can help us. She must help us." Uriel interrupted.
"I still don't understand, sire… How? How can I help?"
"We have to hurry!" Glenroy announced, leading the way.
"No! A dead end!" Baurus exclaimed "This way, follow me!"
They hurried to another passageway when they spotted more assassins "Stay here, sire, we'll fight them off! You, take care of the emperor!" the two Blades ran off to fight.
"You'll be safe soon, sire." Reign paced the width of the entrance.
Uriel shook his head "I'm afraid I cannot go any further. This is the end of me."
She stopped in her footsteps. Staring at him blankly from across the room "No, don't say that, you'll be fine-"
"Here, the Amulet of Kings, take it to Jauffre. And close shut the jaws of Oblivion." he threw the amulet to her.
Reign looked at the shimmering crimson amulet in her hands for a moment before looking straight back at Uriel.
"Goodbye." Uriel smiled as a secret door opened up from behind him. An assassin burst through it and cut him down where he stood.
Reign gasped, terrified at the sight she had just witnessed. Suddenly she felt a great anger deep within. Drawing her sword, she charged at the murderous fiend. She swung the sword as hard as she was able, the assassin guarded with his dagger but it was deflected back unto him.
His body fell limply to the ground as Baurus entered. Reign dropped the sword, turning to look at Baurus with tearful eyes "He was to fast… he killed the emperor…" she then dropped to the ground, overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next.
Baurus grabbed her by the arm, yanking Reign to her feet "It's not your fault. You did the best you could." he glanced at the body of their now deceased emperor and panicked "Where's the Amulet of Kings?!"
Reign swallowed hard "He.. He entrusted it to me…He said for me to take to someone named Jauffre."
"Then he must've seen something in you. Jauffre is the leader of the Blades. He can be found at the Weynon Priory outside of Chorrol. North-west of here. Hurry."
Reign ran through the sewers as fast as her feet would allow. Not stopping for anything until she made it out.
Fresh air. Bright Sun light. Freedom. At last.