Chapter 1: Prologue
Hall of the Vigilant
Vigilant Brandr
Yesterday Brandr was laughing and having a good time with his fellow vigilants. Now he's running for his life. And it wasn't even noon yet.
It had started like any other day. Him and Carcette had been training in the basement. The others were off doing whatever they do. While they were training Carcette had suddenly stopped and sat down on the ground. She called him over to her. It seemed she had something on her mind. He sat against the wall and prepared for an in-depth conversation, it had happened before.
He asked her with a concerned tone in his voice, "What's wrong?"
She answered, "Nothing." He wasn't convinced one bit.
"It's okay, you know you can tell me anything." Recently they had become very close. They had even started courting each other. They both wore identical Amulets of Mara.
"Ya, you're right. It's just that the secret I'm carrying is very serious. Life changing in fact. Stendarr has spoken with to me. He's told me of a coming war, one that will change the fate of Tamriel, maybe even Nirn. The burden of this secret has become too heavy for my shoulders to bare."
"We can share the load. Only if your ready though."
She gave him a stare that he didn't recognize. He could see the sadness in it, but there was something else in it. Maybe it was regret, maybe it was pity. He couldn't be sure. He hoped it wasn't the latter.
"The Aedra and the Daedra are going to tear the mortal world apart. They've been content just to tolerate each other but something has happened, I don't know what, but they are at war now. Sides are being chosen. Right now only minor skirmishes have taken place. Both sides are recruiting. Stendarr told me all of this and more. He said the key to the war was to turn the blade in the darkness from its wayward path. That no matter how evil the blade may seem, light can always purge the darkness within."
Suddenly there was scream from outside. Brandr and Carcette both sprinted up the stairs to find out why someone had yelled out. The vampires had come. The number of vampires surprised Brandr. He had thought their numbers were too small and too unorganized to stage an attack on the Hall. Maybe that was what they wanted people to think. It had certainly worked.
The vigilants were outnumbered by at least 5 to 1. They would still put up an honorable fight though, even if they were going to go down. Brandr was a Nord after all. As he stepped up to fight a vampire, Carcette beat him to it. She destroyed the head of the vampire with her steel warhammer.
She turned to him and said one word with so much force it startled him, "Run."
"What about you."
"My place is here. You must follow Stendarr's words. You must find whatever he's looking for."
So now Brandr ran with with that weight on his shoulders. He ran past both vampires and vigilants. He ran for miles. He just ran and ran and ran until the light of the sun had been replaced by night. He had to find the blade in the darkness.