He tried so hard, and in the end it wasn't enough.
Perhaps if he had been born under the Steed, perhaps if he hadn't stopped running all those times, if he had never been put in that cell and never gone on those stupid quests he would still be here.
He hates himself so much.
The Dragon stands above him, tall and sturdy with its head thrown back in a painful victory, and, just this once, he lets himself cry.
He wakes up in the Imperial Prison. He does not know how he got there, and he does not remember his name. His bones feel weak and his body is sluggish, an
only when he drags himself to his cell door is he told he is a Dunmer, and that "You're going to die in here!" from some fetcher in the cell in front of him.
Honestly, he cannot bring himself to care. He lumbers back to the other end of his cell to take in his surroundings, even as the other Dunmer prattles on. There's nothing special in here. He's got a bag on him, somehow, and it seems enchanted because there doesn't seem to be an end to its interior.
There's a pewter cup and pitcher on a table, and he puts the two items into the bag, because he has nothing better to do.
He decides if he's going to refer to himself in his head, Prisoner will do for now. The guards who enter his cell a moment later seem to agree.
They have a wealthily dressed man with them, who, as they decide to open a door in the cell decides to converse with the prisoner.
"Let me see your face..." the old man says. "You are the one from my dreams."
The prisoner is confused and apprehensive. The aged fellow seems out of his mind. But first...
"Who are you?" the prisoner asks.
This leads to an exchanging of words, a banter of questions and answers. The prisoner learns of the man's identity as the Emperor of Tamriel. He learns of the death of the Emperor's sons, and that the Emperor, too, will die this day.
Emperor Uriel Septim is a kind, good man but he is sombre. The Emperor tells the prisoner to follow him through the Imperial Subterrane, and the prisoner gladly complies. They part ways at a door, and through fate and luck are reunited nearing their escape.
They talk again. The Emperor claims his end is near, and that the stars of the Lover will sweeten the prisoner's journey, that in the prisoner's face he beholds the companion of Akatosh. The Emperor tells the prisoner that they are almost at the end, and to continue with him and his guards.
The prisoner asks him if he is afraid to die. The Emperor answers no, as he finds solace in knowing when his time will come, that he has led a good fulfilled life.
One of the Emperor's guards, a young man named Baurus hands the prisoner a torch. The prisoner asks about Baurus's job as a protector of the Emperor, and Baurus tells the prisoner about the Blades, who are, as the prisoner decides, much like the Imperial Legion, but much more secretive and specific. The Blade named Glenroy is harsher, but the prisoner is glad that at least Glenroy hasn't tried to kill him yet.
The four of them try to open the gate to the sewers. It's barred, and they try a side passage that turns out to be a dead end.
The prisoner is told to guard the Emperor with his life, and the two wait at a dead end. The Emperor seems to be counting down his remaining time, as the assassins sent to kill him swarm just outside the room. Glenroy is cut down, and with anguished fervor Baurus slices through the agents, their cloaks red as the blood they have spilled.
With slightly trembling fingers, Emperor Uriel Septim unclasps the red diamond amulet from around his neck.
"I can go no further." The Emperor says. "You alone must stand against the Prince of Destruction and his mortal servants. He must not have the Amulet of Kings!"
The Amulet swings from the Emperor's fingers. The prisoner wonders what the Emperor must have seen in his dreams to trust in an ill fated Dunmer the fate of all of Tamriel.
"Take the Amulet. Give it to Jauffre. He alone knows where to find my last son. Find him, and close shut the jaws of Oblivion."
The prisoner takes the Amulet from the Emperor. He cannot say anything, no acceptance nor conformation, for as the gold chain slips into his bag and he turns back to the Emperor, a sword's blade runs through the Emperor's chest. A soft groan escapes his lips, and Uriel Septim falls to the ground.
The prisoner takes the sword he took at the death of the Blade Captain Renault, and in anger and justice and hopelessness and pain he hacks away at the Altmer assassin, whose eyes widen at the sight of a young Dunmer with fire in his eyes, his heart, his soul and at his fingetips.
The assassin lies dead, but so does the Emperor.
Baurus grieves at their loss, and panics at the lack of the Amulet on the body of the Emperor. The prisoner reassures him, saying he has the amulet and that he is to deliver it to a man named Jauffre. Baurus asks why, and the prisoner replies with the fact there is still another heir. Baurus is relieved and regretful, and too wonders how the Emperor could put such trust in a prisoner he had never met before. Baurus sizes up the prisonerHe gives the keys to the sewers to the prisoner and tells him that though Jauffre is the Bladesmaster and in charge of the Blades, he lives as a monk in Weynon Priory, quite close to Chorrol. Baurus wishes the prisoner luck, and they go their separate ways. The prisoner navigates his way to freedom.
Once he is outside, he finds himself breathing in the fresh air, plunging into the waters of Lake Rumare (and slightly regretting his hasty decision after his fingers are nearly bitten off by a slaughterfish). The prisoner is starting to remember things, like skills and history and locations. He remembers Vvardenfel and moving to Cyrodiil as a young child. But for all he is worth, he cannot remember his own name.
He decides to go to the Imperial City. He has to get supplies, lodgings and news before he goes to Chorrol. He needs gold too. He'll probably join the Arena - he thinks he can earn enough from a couple of fights for a house.
Maybe, on the way, he'll remember who he is.
Perhaps it will come with time.