The tunnel sloped downhill until it came to a right-hand turn. The slope evened out and his eyebrows shot up in surprise when he looked around. There was no more rough-cut tunnel; it was all stone walls and Imperial architecture. This "tunnel" was actually more of a rectangular room with a staircase in the center, running down and to the left. The only way to go.
Crouching low, he scurried along quickly, trying to be quiet, feeling not very much unlike an overly large rat. The guards and emperor would be ahead of him, but he didn't know just how far. He didn't think they'd appreciate him following. As if summoned by his thoughts, he heard the sounds of the guards from up ahead. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled when his ears recognized the sound of fighting. Yells of "For the emperor!" and the ring of clashing swords echoed in the cavernous hall.
Peeking around a corner revealed to him a fight between the Emperor's Blades and some mysteriously armored figures. In a matter of seconds, the armored ones were all slain. Their armor vanished into thin air and left the corpses clothed in red robes. He heard one of the guards muttering something.
Then the emperor spoke. His voice was soft, but easily heard as he wasn't standing very far away. "Captain Renault?"
A Blade answered, "She's dead."
The Blades pressed the emperor to move on.
He watched from the shadows as one Blade led the emperor away. But the other didn't move. The Redguard cocked his head as though listening.
He knows I've followed them, he thought. How does he know? He did something then that had all the potential to be the stupidest thing he'd ever done in his life. He stepped out into the view of the Blade. And walked toward him.
The guard watched him with dark, intent eyes.
.
He stopped a few feet in front of the guard.
"You stay here, prisoner," the guard said. "Don't try to follow us."
He said nothing. Just stared at the guard, wondering if the Blade was really serious. Why would he stay here? In a hall full of dead people? With no food. And no water. He was beginning to think everyone in the White Gold Tower was cracked. He certainly wasn't going to crawl back to his cell.
The Blade grunted, gave him a knowing nod, turned on his heel and left. As soon as the Blade was gone he turned to the dead bodies. Something inside him – survival instinct, maybe – told him he needed a weapon and the dead captain's body was the most obvious place to look.
He was right. Renault's body was lying spreadeagled on the stairs, but her hand still tightly grasped her sword. He gently pried her still warm fingers from the hilt and decided searching her for other useful items wouldn't be completely out of line. He found a steel short sword on her hip and took that as well.
He had just strapped the sword belt and scabbards onto his own hip when he heard squeaking. Frowning, he turned curiously towards the sound – just in time for a giant rat to leap at his face.
"Whoa!" he shouted in surprise. His quick reflexes had him knocking the rat away before it struck. They were not, however, quick enough for him to unsheath a sword before the rat recovered and bit into his shin. He howled in pain, fumbling to pull out the larger of the dead captain's swords.
Now there were two rats leaping, biting, and clawing at him. Angry at the thought of escaping prison only to be eaten alive by a couple of rats, he found the warrior within and swiftly disposed of the feral rodents. He held a defensive stance for a moment, waiting for more rats. But no more came and he relaxed.
This sword he had was fantastic. He held it up to study it in the light. It wasn't just any sword – it was a katana. There was a special way to use a katana; it wasn't all hack and slash like a normal weapon.
He looked at the dead rats. In his panic, he must've gotten pretty lucky with his swings.
He didn't put the weapon away as he searched the bodies of the mysteriously robed figures. Satisfied at finding some potions of healing and a Potion of Respite he hurried to the door the emperor and guards had disappeared through.
Locked.
Son of a... They'd locked the door?! Now the guard's 'stay here' command seemed to be a kind of sick joke. Of course he'd stay here – because they had locked him in!
He scowled at the door, wondering how long it would take to break it down. Too long, he decided. He wasn't patient enough for that. Glancing around for another exit, he nearly whooped for joy when he saw a hole broken out of a nearby wall... and discovered more underground passage beyond.
At least it looked like more passage to him. Only one sure way to find out. Stepping through the broken stone wall, he realized it wasn't so much a tunnel passageway as it was an underground room. It didn't matter to him, as long as it led him out. And he could hardly believe what good fortune he had when he came across armor and weapons, apologizing to the skeleton he took the gear from.
Once he had collected everything in the room that interested him, he ran back out to the door the Blade had locked. No problem now! He had just found some lockpicks. He used them. And he broke every...
...single...
...one.
Blast. There had been a rusty old war axe in a chest – maybe he could chop his way through. Ugh. The long way that he hadn't wanted to do. He didn't have a choice now. As he returned to the side room to retrieve the heavy weapon, he did a double take at a wooden door on the other side of the room. Being hopeful, he rushed to the door. It too was locked. Curse it all! He didn't want to hack the door down!
As he turned away his eyes fell on the dead goblin shaman lying a few feet away. Hm. He hadn't searched it. Mostly because goblins stink. Dead ones even more so. Not wanting his hands to reek of dead goblin, but also wanting to collect anything that might help him, he checked out the dead body. Potion, lockpicks, key... An interesting item for a goblin to have. His eyes widened. No way.
He jumped up and tried the key in the locked door.
Snick! It worked! Praising every god he could think of, and even a few daedra, just in case, he hurried through the doorway. Encountering mostly rats and goblins – is that a zombie?! – he followed the dim passageways, lit mostly by shafts of daylight coming down through holes in the dirt above. He made it through the tunnels fairly quickly, gathering the odd item here and there, until finally he opened a door and entered a room with a hole in the wall. It was the only way out of the room, other than the way he came. Through the hole he could see more of the Imperial subterrane. Peering out of the hole, he realized it was far up the wall of the adjoining chamber. Once he went through he wouldn't be able to get back up.
His headache had worn off and fighting the feral underground creatures had his adrenaline pumping. He felt good and seeing the Imperial structure around him didn't lessen his hope that he might be near the end of his escape route. His day had been spectacularly lucky so far. Without a second thought he dropped down into the next chamber, realizing too late that he was hearing voices.
"...protect the emperor until help arrives," a familiar voice was saying.
Oh crap. It was Emperor Septim and his Blades again! Somehow all those crazy goblin caverns led him right back to the emperor's "secret" escape route. He wondered how many goblins they had had to fight.
"Help? What makes you think help will get here before more of those bastards?" said the other guard, clearly frustrated.
Quickly yet cautiously, he crept forward. He was still above the main chamber floor, on an imperial-built ledge. From here he spied on the men down below, hoping they wouldn't look up and see him.
"We need to get the emperor out of here," the second Blade continued. But he wasn't even done speaking before more of the mysterious attackers showed up.
Not being sure if he would be able to make it out of this subterrane on his own without more keys, he decided to take his chances with the guards. Hoping that fighting alongside them would persuade them that he was not a threat, he hopped down to join the fray between the attackers and the Blades.
Too late. The guards hewed down the last attacker in seconds. Raising his eyebrows, he nodded approvingly. Wow. These guys were efficient!
The Imperial guard turned around, eyes growing wide for a second. The guard swore.
"It's that prisoner again!" the Imperial shouted, coming toward him and drawing his own katana. "Kill him. He might be working with the assassins."
He gulped, starting to panic. Stupid attackers! They all died too quick and ruined his plan!
"No! He is not one of them," the emperor said. "He can help us. He must help us."
He didn't know what the emperor meant by this nor did he particularly care. All that mattered to him was that this caused the guard to stop his advancement and sheath his sword.
"As you wish, sire."
"Come closer," the emperor commanded. "I prefer not to have to shout."
Casting a wary glance at the Blades as he passed them, he did as the emperor bade.
"They cannot understand why I trust you," the emperor told him.
Honestly, he couldn't understand that either.
"They've not seen what I've seen," Emperor Septim continued. "How can I explain? Listen. You know the Nine? How They guide our fates with an invisible hand?"
Yeah, sure, he knew the Nine. He even prayed to a few of Them sometimes. But he wasn't sure he was on the best of terms with Them. And this current situation had him a bit confused as to what he should really believe about Them. So he just said, "I don't know. I don't think about it." Immediately he wondered if the gods would punish him for lying.
The emperor seemed a little disappointed in his answer.
"I've served the Nine all my days and I chart my course by the cycles of the heavens," Emperor Septim explained. "The skies are marked with numberless sparks, each a fire and every one a sign. I know these stars well and I wonder... which sign marked your birth?"
He didn't quite understand how the stars could help him, but he answered his emperor truthfully.
"The signs I read show the end of my path," said the emperor. "My death, a necessary end, will come when it will come."
Wait... the emperor was going to die? If his stars told him that... He suddenly became very interested in the star signs.
"What about me?" he asked nervously.
"Your stars are not mine," the emperor smiled at him. The emperor then told him something nice about his sign but, he didn't really care about that... he just wanted to know if he was going to die anytime soon. He really wasn't ready to face that yet, but Emperor Septim sounded as though he was.
"Aren't you afraid to die?" he asked, astounded.
"No trophies of my triumphs precede me. But I have lived well and my ghost shell rest easy," the emperor responded. "Men are but flesh and blood. They know their doom, but not the hour. In this I am blessed to see the hour of my death. ...To face my apportioned fate, then fall."
The answer unsettled him, even though the emperor looked completely at peace.
"Can you see my fate?" he asked.
"My dreams grant me no opinion of success. Their compass ventures not beyond the doors of death." The emperor's keen blue eyes shone with excitement as he continued, "But in your face, I behold the sun's companion. The dawn of Akatosh's bright glory may banish the coming darkness! With such hope, and with the promise of your aid, my heart must be satisfied."
Well, that was a bit cryptic. Since this was his emperor, he did his best not to scowl or demand a straight answer. He had no idea what "aid" he was supposed to give and assumed it meant he was supposed to help these people out of this place. All right, he could do that. Not that they appeared to need help, from what he'd seen. But he was anxious to get out of the tunnels so he'd do as they asked. Who could tell the emperor "no"anyway?
He sniffed; nodded. "Where are we going?"
The emperor's face fell. "I go to my grave. A tongue shriller than all the music calls me. You shall follow me yet for a little while, then we must part."
With that, the emperor turned and followed the Imperial Blade through a doorway. He stood staring after them and the Redguard Blade came up to stand beside him.
"You may as well make yourself useful," said the guard. "Here, carry this torch and stick close."
He frowned, taking the proffered torch. How many torches had he seen laying around down here? And he just realized he hadn't picked up a single one. There had been enough light along the way that he hadn't thought it would be necessary.
The Redguard introduced himself as Baurus and explained that the Blades were the emperor's bodyguards. Baurus started after the others, telling him once again to stick close. Then his tone softened and he said, "You'll be all right."
As he trailed after Baurus, he thought about how he himself was sort of the emperor's bodyguard now too. If the other guards fell he would undoubtedly be expected to give his life to protect the emperor. While the thought that this could happen made his stomach woozy, he preferred that ending as opposed to the one he may have received as a prisoner. As a murderer.
As he was daydreaming about a dramatic heroic sacrifice to save the emperor, the real bodyguards began yelling.
He drew the short sword and threw it up in front of his face to block an incoming attack from an armored attacker. The swiftness and ferocity of his assailant surprised him, and he staggered back under the blow. Up close the mysterious attackers were frightening. Aside from the strange silvery armor, they wore red head coverings and silver masks that with the smooth nose-piece running up the face and ending in a long spike on top. Staring into the soulless black eyes of the mask, he could feel fear rising in his gut. This guy was strong and quick, while his own reflexes still seemed to be lagging. He had fought off the rats and goblins of the caverns just fine, but they hadn't fought like this guy... this guy had purpose.
The strange warrior swung his sword at him again and again he blocked, their swords locking. The attacker had noticed his panicked hesitancy and took advantage, shoving him back against the chamber wall.
He couldn't see the face behind the full-face mask, but he could imagine it was snarling at him. He didn't appreciate this assumed snarling figure pressing on him like such, with the sword threatening to cleave his skull when his strength gave out. In a brief moment of clarity, he knew what to do to get out of this.
Drawing upon all of his strength, he pushed his opponent's sword to one side, stepping the opposite direction simultaneously. With the quickest move he had made all day, he sliced through what he hoped was an unprotected neck beneath the red fabric of the headdress.
The sickening sound was all the proof he needed.
Baurus was running toward him, having already disposed of his own attacker, skidding to a halt as he watched the attacker hit the floor.
He nodded to Baurus, feeling a touch lightheaded. This feeling was strange. He shook his head to try and clear it, unsuccessfully, and followed after the Blades and Emperor as they continued on.
To him the attack had been severely unexpected and that, he hated to admit, had scared him. So he tried to keep his ears and eyes open for anything that might be indications of another surprise attack. However, he didn't have to worry about it as the Blade up front called out in warning. Baurus ran ahead yelling at him, "Prisoner, the emperor needs help!"
He dashed ahead trying to get back into a fighter's frame of mind. He had the advantage now of knowing their weak spot. Out of the shadows a silver and red figure appeared, running straight towards the emperor's exposed back, as the emperor fought off an attacker on his own.
With a yell of exertion, he surged forward and jumped in the path of the oncoming attacker. He didn't waste time this time. He traded a few blows with the attacker before deftly cutting him down. He spun around to see that the rest of the attackers were down.
"You handled yourself pretty well," Baurus told him, breathing heavy from fighting.
He shrugged as if this kind of thing were an every day occurrence. He checked the bodies for more potions and wasn't disappointed to find more healing potions.
The Blades and Emperor were going through another door and he hurried to catch up.
"Hold up," said the Imperial once they were through. "I don't like this. Let me take a look."
The guard walked ahead looking around.
He looked around too, not knowing what had the guard so worried. This chamber looked like any other stonework room he'd been in down here. Thick stone supports upheld the ceiling on either side of a central staircase that led down. Of course, the Blade was probably familiar with the passageway, seeing as it was a secret escape route meant strictly for the emperor and he was one of the emperor's bodyguards. Someone would have been assigned to do routine stability checks and to maintain it.
Secret escape route. Ha. Supposedly secret. Obviously it wasn't as secret as they wanted it to be. How had those attackers gotten in here?
"Glenroy," the emperor said quietly.
He hadn't expected the emperor to speak to him. The word didn't make sense to him so he asked, "Pardon?"
"Glenroy," the emperor repeated, nodding to the Blade scouting ahead. "A fine soldier. Loyal to a fault."
He just nodded. He didn't really care what the guard's name was, but he was thrilled that the emperor, his emperor, talked to him. It almost made him feel that he was someone special too.
Finally the Imperial, Glenroy, called back to say it looked clear and waved them forward. The next door they came to, however, was barred from the other side, sending Glenroy into a fit.
"A trap!" Glenroy practically shouted.
"What about that side passage back there?" Baurus asked, an undercurrent of anxiety tainting his voice.
"Worth a try," said Glenroy. "Let's go."
They all headed back to the other passage and he fell into step with the emperor. Glancing sidelong at the emperor, he noticed how he seemed completely calm during all this. His face was relaxed and his manner openly friendly. There may have been a tense stiffness to his gait, but the layers of his luxurious apparel made it hard to tell.
He quite envied the emperor for his acceptance of death. He wished he could find the same acceptance. Maybe when he was eighty years old, he would.
In front of him Baurus stopped so suddenly he almost ran into him.
"It's a dead end," stated Baurus grimly. "What's your call, sir?"
Quickly taking stock of the room, he realized Baurus was right. It was a small, fully-enclosed, stone walled room.
Glenroy's face distorted in rage and he yelled out, "They're behind us! Wait here, Sire." Before he knew it, Glenroy was charging back the way they had come shouting a battle cry. "Oblivion take you!"
Baurus turned to him, katana already drawn. "Stay with the emperor. Guard him with your life," he said before running off with his own battle cry.
Preparing himself for a battle with the masked attackers, he turned to face the entry and was about to place himself in the archway so they would be forced to fight him one-on-one, but the emperor stopped him. Spinning him around to face him, the emperor said, "I can go no further."
This was a different emperor. He spoke quickly and his tone had changed, carrying an extreme urgency that made the hairs on the back of his neck tickle with anxiety. A forbidding feeling settled in his guts. He didn't like this.
"You alone must stand against the Prince of Destruction and his mortal servants," Emperor Septim continued. "He must not have the Amulet of Kings! Take the Amulet. Give it to Jauffre. He alone knows where to find my last son." The emperor took his empty hand and shoved a large red-stoned amulet into it. "Find him, and close shut the jaws of Oblivion."
So many questions to ask! And no time for any of them. The emperor suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him aside. Caught off-guard by the sudden and very un-grandfatherly like move, he didn't have the time to turn around. The unseen attacker killed the emperor as easily as he had killed the rats.
"NO!" he yelled. Coming to his senses he leaped forward, sword ready, and was joined by Baurus, who had heard the yell.
Together they sent the masked murderer to the afterlife.
He stood panting, partially from the exertion, partially from anger. He had been so distracted by the emperor's final little speech that he hadn't heard the secret passage opening behind him in the wall. Hadn't noticed the attacker about to hew him down. He was supposed to give his life for the emperor, but instead the emperor had saved his life. He felt his face flush red with shame. Something was wrong with him. He had felt strange all day. He usually had an uncanny survival instinct, but today it had seemed...off. He needed to find out what was wrong with himself, and find out fast.
Baurus was stooped over the emperor's body, a sorrowful look on his face. Standing up, he turned to him.
"We've failed," said Baurus, tears shining in his dark eyes. "I've failed. …The Blades are sworn to protect the emperor, and now he and all his heirs are dead."
A sudden realization dawned in Baurus' eyes and they widened in panic. "The Amulet!" he cried. "Where's the Amulet of Kings? It wasn't on the emperor's body."
Realizing how this might look, he was tempted to not say anything. But seeing as the Amulet was giant and hard to hide in the palm of his hand, he decided it would seem less suspicious to just tell the truth."The emperor gave it to me."
"Strange," Baurus said. "He saw something in you. Trusted you."
The Blade believed him. He almost laughed in relief. But Baurus was still talking so he deemed that bad manners and snapped his attention back to what the Blade was saying.
"They say it's the Dragon Blood," Baurus continued, "that flows through the veins of every Septim. They see more than lesser men. The Amulet of Kings is a sacred symbol of the Empire. Most people think of the Red Dragon Crown, but that's just jewelry. The Amulet has power. Only a true heir of the Blood can wear it they say. He must have given it to you for a reason. Did he say why?"
"I must take it to Jauffre," he said simply, trying to recollect if he knew any Jauffres.
"Jauffre? He said that? Why?" Now Baurus sounded suspicious.
He shrugged. "There is another heir."
Suspicion gone from his voice, Baurus said, "Nothing I ever heard about. But Jauffre would be the one to know. He's the Grandmaster of my Order. Although you may not think so to meet him. He lives quietly as a monk at Weynon Priory, near the city of Chorrol."
Hm. He wasn't sure he'd ever been to Chorrol. "How do I get there?"
"First," Baurus said, "you need to get out of here. Through that door must be the entrance to the sewers, past the locked gate. That's where we were heading. It's a secret way out of the Imperial City. Or it was supposed to be secret."
Baurus reached into a small pouch at his side, hidden beneath his heavy armor. "Here," he said, handing over an iron key. "You'll need this key for the last door into the sewers."
"The sewers?" An awful place to have an escape route. Yuck. Who would want to go through there?... Although, now that he was thinking about it, what better place to plan an escape route than someplace no one would want to go. Brilliant.
"There are rats and goblins down there... but from what I've seen of you, I'm guessing you are an experienced Bard. Am I right?"
Was this guy joking? He had to be joking. Is that what he looked like? A lute-toting dagger wielder? He obviously needed a new look.
With a bit of a defeated look he told the Blade, "I'm a bit of a Rogue, actually."
"Really? I would never have guessed."
Seriously?! He needed to get away from this guy. This guy was unbelievable. A Bard... Psh!
"Still," the guard continued, "I don't think you'll have any problem with rats and goblins."
Of course he wouldn't. He'd already fought those today. Resisting the urge to punch the Redguard, he asked, "After the sewers, then what?"
"You must get the Amulet to Jauffre. Take no chances, but proceed to Weynon Priory immediately. Got it?"
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he answered sarcastically, "No. Please explain more." In his mind though, he was wondering if this was what the emperor had meant by his statement that he "must help" them. Perhaps the emperor had seen him taking the Amulet to Jauffre.
Baurus didn't seem to catch the sarcasm. He tried to reassure him saying calmly, "Take it easy. You'll be fine. I know this is a lot to take in all at once. No one's more surprised than me that I'm sending an escaped prisoner off with the Amulet of Kings! But the emperor trusted you for a reason, and I trust the emperor. The Amulet of Kings must get to Jauffre at Weynon Priory. He'll know what to do with it. Jauffre should know how to find the heir the emperor spoke of. The Amulet must reach Emperor Uriel's heir so a new emperor can be crowned!"
"What about you? What will you do?" he asked curiously.
"I'll stay here to guard the emperor's body and make sure no one follows you. You'd better get moving. May Talos guide you."
Just as he was about to turn away, Baurus quickly said, "By the way, thanks for recovering Captain Renault's sword. I'll see that it is given a place of honor in the halls of the Blades."
Baurus held his hand out expectantly.
What a jerk... He had been hoping to keep the katana. He'd practiced using it on the rats and goblins through most of the tunnels and was excited by the thought of becoming proficient in using it. That dream was dashed as he unattached the scabbard and handed it over.
Wordlessly, he left Baurus standing guard over the emperor. Glancing at Glenroy, standing in the doorway and staring at the emperor's body with a bewildered expression, he gave a curt nod when their eyes met for a second.
And then he was through the secret passage and entering the sewers.
Thankfully, he didn't have far to go through the sewers. The tunnel was very conveniently located across from the stairs to the sewer exit. The few goblins and rats he had to deal with were nothing after fighting all those mysterious fighters. In no time at all he was standing at the gate to the sewer exit, breathing in the fresh air and tasting the freedom.
