Sacrifice: Two Falls and a Bleeding Heart

by Blade for Hire

It was too late. Now, it was all for naught. Mehrunes Dagon was here. Once he set foot on the soils of Tamriel, there was no sending him back. The world will fall, and all we know come to ruin. It was too late.

Sacrifice: Two Falls and a Bleeding Heart

It was too late. Hundreds of hours of endless labor. Days upon weeks of travel and work. An infinity of ceaseless fighting, trying to keep one step ahead of the enemy. Now, it was all for naught. It was too late. Mehrunes Dagon was here. Once he set foot on the soils of Tamriel, there was no sending him back. The world will fall, and all we know come to ruin.

I looked back at Martin, making no attempt to hide the desperation that found its way into my voice, "Now what?"

Martin shook his head, "It's too late. Mehrunes Dagon is here. The barriers between our world and Oblivion are gone."

I frowned, "There has to be something we can do."

Martin shook his head again, "There is nothing we can do. Now that Dagon is here, there is no way to banish him back into Oblivion."

I turned to slash an attacking Dremora across the throat with my sword before looking at the red gem hanging from Martin's neck, "What about the Amulet?"

Martin's eyes widened, "Of course! The Amulet of Kings was given to men by the Divine Akatosh. It contains his divine power." He frowned and his eyes started darting around as he thought, "But how to use it against Dagon. The Amulet was never intended as a weapon."

I stepped on a wounded clanfear's neck and stabbed it in the chest, "You're the priest. Think of something."

Martin thought for a moment before looking at me, "I have an idea, one last hope, but I need to be at the altar in the Temple of the One for it to work."

I turned and looked at Dagon as the Deadric prince swung his axe down to wipe out an entire dragoon of legionnaires in one fell stroke.

I looked back at Martin, "I'll distract Dagon."

Martin nodded, "And I'll do the rest."

I ran toward Dagon, taking my bow from my back and readying an arrow. I fired a shot that hit the enormous creature's hand, little more than a pinprick but accomplishing the purpose of setting his attention on me. I shouted an Ayleid curse at him before diving out of the way of his foot when he tried to stomp me out of existence. I cursed him again and fired another arrow, pricking him in the chest. He tried to stomp me again. I stepped aside, being nearly thrown to the ground with the sheer force of the impact, and drew my sword to stab his foot. He roared and stepped back to swing his axe at me. I ducked forward under the strike and sprinted toward the Temple doors. Martin had made it in, and I needed to be there to help him pull off his plan. I slammed the door behind me and ran to meet Martin.

I slid to a stop in front of Martin, "We need to hurry. He won't be far behind. What's your plan?"

Martin nodded somberly, "This is it. I know now what I was born to do." He looked around the temple before looking back at me with a strange look in his eye, "Thank you. You've been a good friend in the short time that I've know you. But now I must go. The Dragon awaits."

I was about to ask him what he meant before he took off and ran to the center of the temple. He made it to the altar as part of the dome crumbled under Dagon's fist. I drew my sword again and was about to run to Martin's protection when what I saw next had me frozen in place in amazement. Martin reached to his chest and shattered the Amulet of Kings, causing a white light to beam from him. He rose into the air as the light engulfed him and grew. There was a blinding flash that caused the Temple dome to blast outward like an eggshell. In Martin's place was a gigantic fiery dragon. It flew forward, clawing Dagon as it looped around in the air and landed in front of him. Dagon immediately went on the attack. He slashed the dragon with the blades in his arm before following up with a great swing of his axe. In spite of taking the full brunt of both strikes, the dragon was undeterred. It stood its ground and opened its mouth to unleash a jet of fire that Dagon shielded himself from. When the deadra lowered his arms, the dragon snapped its mighty jaws down on Dagon's neck and gnawed for a moment. The Deadric Prince stood there, stunned by the blow, before the dragon raised its wings and breathed a flame that burned white hot at Dagon. The Deadra Lord took the full force of the attack and a white light encompassed him as he fell from this plane back into Oblivion.

The burning in my lungs at this point informed me that I was holding my breath. I took a deep breath of relief that Dagon was defeated and cheered as the Dragon stood there. It lowered its wings, panting heavily for a long moment. I would have raised a cheer for the victory, but what happened next stole my voice from me. The dragon reared its head back in an ear piercing cry as a white light grew in my vision. I was caught away from there to somewhere I didn't know. I looked around, but all I could see was white clouds. Calling my attention forward, Martin stepped out of the clouds wearing a snow white robe. He walked up to me and nodded slowly.

"The day is won. Dagon has been defeated." Martin directed my attention to a hole in the clouds, showing different places in Tamriel, gates to Oblivion that had been shut and would never open again, "The portals between our world and Oblivion have been sealed…forever." I looked back at Martin and he took a deep breath before continuing.

He looked down, "The last of the Septims passes into history." He looked up at me with a proud smile on his face, "I go gladly, though I know that no deeds of mine go before me. The Third Age has ended, and a New Age dawns." He put his hand on my shoulder, "When the next Elder Scroll is written, you shall be its scribe." He motioned to the hole again, showing a view of all Cyrodill from the sky, "The fate of the Empire, the fate of its people. These things…now fall to you."

The white mist began clouding my vision again, dimming Martin in my sight.

"Farewell."

I reached for him, but my hand found nothing but clouds as he vanished. The mist faded from my mind and sight and I looked around. I was in the remains of the Temple of the one. The dragon had frozen to solid stone, its head and wings reared back in a never ending cry of victory. The sky had gone from the demonic red it was before back to its normal blue, and all was at peace once again.

All except for me. I fell to my knees in the rubble around me. Dagon had fallen, but so had Martin. I had agreed to help him stop Dagon, not sacrifice himself in doing so. My life was already filled with tragedy. My parents lost at a young age, no friends or family to turn to, forced to steal to survive, locked in prison for endless years on end, and now this. Martin was the only friend I ever had, and now he was gone. He had sacrificed himself for the good of Tamriel. When faced with an implacable foe and a great evil, he paid the greatest price in giving himself to stop it. Though he had done what he had to do, it still didn't soothe the aching void in my heart. No one had ever treated me like he had, like a person. I was someone in Martin's eyes, not something. I bowed my head and clamped my eyes shut against the tears that so desperately wanted to fall. Martin was gone. My friend was gone…

…My world was gone.

The fate of the Empire, the fate of its people. These things now fall to you.

Martin's words rang in my mind as I knelt there. In so saying, Martin had given me one last mandate. He wanted me to look out for the people of Tamriel, to be a champion of right and justice. He wanted me to guide them in his stead. Though he had not passed the mantle of Emperor to me, he had given me a ruler's mandate nonetheless. He wanted me to do what was best for the people just as he had. I opened my eyes to stare at the stone floor beneath me. Martin's final request of me was to see to the people since he could no longer. In so doing, I would keep Martin's memory alive…

…I would keep Martin alive.

I grabbed my sword from the floor next to me and returned it to the sheath as I stood to my feet. Though I would miss him every time I thought about him, Martin would never truly be gone. I walked to the doors of the temple, but stopped as smiled as I looked back. At least he'd left us a reminder. With one long, wistful look at the mighty dragon statue, I turned and opened the door and stepped through to face my world.