A/N: Another day, another chapter for you all. Huge thank you to kursedreaper for following this story. I'm so happy that you've taken an interest and I hope that the tale lives up to your expectations. Once again, I'd love it if you guys could take the time to leave me a review. It only takes a few minutes to leave me your thoughts on the story so far and really helps me to direct this story (and it's potential successors) and see how you guys are feeling towards my work.
CHAPTER TWO
Flight from the Imperial City
"When we understand the events that occur to us, the events become history. History is understanding. Otherwise we are just dumb animals trying to get in out of the cold."
- Hasphat Antabolis
The passage was dirty and dark, much more so than the ancient passage that Cassian had travelled through with the Emperor and his Blades. Dirt lined the walls wherever he went, with wild plants growing and small rodents scuttling around about his feet. To Cassian, it looked as if the passage had once been part of the Imperial substructure that he had been travelling through with the Emperor and his guards, but for one reason or another had never been completed. Perhaps it had been Ayleid construction or expansion to the prison that was never completed? Several thoughts ran through Cassian's head about the subject as he moved through its sandy and dusty corridors, hand tightly gripped around his shortsword as he made to walk quickly and quietly. Nevertheless, he knew that it was the only chance that he had of getting out of the Imperial prison alive and would take the chance of using it fully with both hands. He didn't know how many corridors he would have to walk through, how long they would and for how much time he would have to spend doing so, but he would do it.
Traversing the system wasn't too much of a problem for him, though the ground below his feet was unsteady and uneven in some places. He wondered how far this substructure ventured out among the ground and where many parts of it led to. There was a feeling in him that said that the entire structure was beneath the whole city, a secret level of corridors that gave someone with the knowledge possible free reign of the entire city. He dreaded to think what scoundrels and smugglers would do if they had this information, for the whole city would be negatively affected if people like them gained such knowledge. He wondered if there were people about him, going about their day to day business whilst he secretly wandered beneath them, doing whatever he could to keep a tight hold on his life. Oh, what they would do if they knew the creatures that lurked beneath their streets, of the disease-spreading rats and lord knows what else that scuttled and scratched within the depths.
Rat skeletons and decaying fauna continued to crunch and squelch under Cassian's sandals as he moved through the endless paths, trying his best to find the way out that would lead him to his freedom. They were horrid things, made of thin sack cloth that barely any time or true craftsmanship had gone into. They seemed basically broken when they had forced them onto his feet, but he hadn't been able to anything about it. He didn't want to walk through these passages bare-footed, especially since he had no idea what was below him. However, he would do anything for that sense of freedom. He wanted it, he craved it, he would do anything to find it. Rats and other small pests and rodents scurried around him as he made his way, but there was nothing around that seemed to be of any threat to him. The structure was abandoned, nobody even knew it had existed apart from the Blades and the Emperor. Cassian's mind flashed back to his cell and the open wall that now led down to this path. It would soon become common knowledge, whether it be a good thing or a bad thing.
Eventually, the paths diverged into one and showed Cassius the exit, a wooden door that seemed to be rotting on all sides and rusting at his hinges. No matter how deathly the door looked, Cassian knew it was his only escape. He'd been in the tunnels for too long to know that he needed to escape, for he was becoming more claustrophobic inside them than he ever would be inside the walls of an Imperial prison cell. He was caked in the dirt he had seen lining all of the walls and his feet were no doubt covered in sores and cuts from where the sandals had not been a help, but he was determined to make sure that not even a thing like that would stop him from getting out. The tunnel continued onwards from there for a short distance, before it threw Cassian through a jagged hole that looked as if someone had managed to kick out a weakened piece of the wall.
Looking around at where he had ended up, Cassian realized after a few moments that he had found himself in a place with the same Ayleid architecture that he had been in before. No matter where these tunnels started and ended, they all came back towards the substructure in the end, like the entire thing had been designed to fit into the system. It made him wonder just how far they had planned to take the Imperial City down, presumably before the Alessians had invaded and forced them to halt all construction that they had been planning. Cassian couldn't imagine what it would be like, to have endless underground streets and corridors just below the city that stood and towered over every citizen that dared to walk its streets. He remembered vividly his first memory of looking upon those great buildings and how far they went up, almost to the point of touching the sky above them. It had been awe-inspiring to him, to see that someone could be so strong and so fearless that they could make a building that would reach up to the clouds. He wanted to be as strong as that, to be so fearless that one day, just for a single moment, he could feel like he could reach up and touch the clouds like those buildings.
Flexing his sword-arm once again, which had kept an iron grip upon the steel short-sword in his hand, Cassian winced at little at the rotation of his arm. He had spent time through his trek in the dark making sure that the short sword in his hand was still comfortable in his hand and that he could make sure that he was effective with the swing. But something didn't feel right throughout said trek. He didn't know what it was, perhaps it was the continuous torture that he had been or perhaps he had overexerted himself after so much time out of shape and out of action, but the pain that he was feeling was raw, like something inside his shoulder was burning him beyond belief. At the end of the day, he knew he had to keep going, but also knew that he had to make sure he didn't hurt himself further. He was no use to anyone, let alone himself, with no efficient sword-arm swing. Once he was sure it was all fine, Cassian hopped up onto the nearby ledge and surveyed the area below him, a rough corridor with stairs that led downwards to the wooden door beyond, with two raised areas on either side. Cassian watched and listened for anything that sounded familiar to him. There wasn't anything for a while, but he finally heard them before long.
The sound of steel upon steel rang out nearby, with cries and grunts of fatigue and strength calling out after them. They became louder and louder, until they were directly with him as the door to the chamber below him flung open. Backing herself through the doorframe, Captain Renault entered Cassian's field of view once more as she parried the strike of an incoming dagger, before grabbing her assailant by the back of his robe and impaling them through the back with her katana with some flowing strikes that looked beautiful to the naked eye. Cassian had never seen such grace in a fighting style, something that he wished he could replicate in his own battles. However, he soon snapped back into the reality of the situation and watched with widened eyes as the corpse was flung to the side of the room, before all three Blades entered the room with the Emperor, surrounding him in a circle as they did their best to protect him. Raising their shields to make sure no assassin wielding throwing weapons could get a good look at the Emperor, they circled around him as much as possible and tried their best to cover all areas.
Once they were sure that the threat was dealt with, the Blades all simultaneously sheathed their weapons and seemed to all let their shoulders drop just a little, as if a massive weight had been lifted from their shoulders for just a brief period of time. They knew they had to be ready at any moment, but even that could get tiring after a certain period of time. They had been on edge for almost twelve hours and their adrenaline was running low, but they knew that they could do nothing but keep going. They may have been working to the bone, but they were the Empire's last hope now. Cassian, however, could see that there would be a much more serious consequence to this. Their adrenaline was wearing off, therefore making them sluggish and slow. They couldn't keep doing this, otherwise that 'serious consequence' would ultimately be death. He could see even now as he looked down at them, how winded and drained all three of them looked to him. Baurus even took a seat on the steps, wiping the blade of his weapon down with a piece of ragged cloth that he had no doubt ripped from the robes of one of his attackers as he tried to steady himself.
"We cannot keep doing this." Glenroy spoke up first, dropping down to one knee in order to better catch his breath. He, like the rest of them, looked tired. He had begun to look for alternative solutions of protecting the Emperor instead of simply walking and walking until the found the exit that they had planned out from the very beginning. They had no way of knowing what traps or ambushes had been set up for them, even if they had planned out their route as thoroughly as they possibly could. "I suggest that we find a defensive spot and protect the Emperor until reinforcements arrive."
"Reinforcements?" Baurus scoffed at the notion as he scrubbed at the blade of his katana, making sure that none of the blood had any chance of drying and potentially ruining the sharpened steel that he had obviously taken a lot of time and care on. Not looking up to meet Glenroy's gaze, Baurus simply continued with his cleaning motions as he talked. He seemed frustrated, far more than his companions did. He knew that what they were doing was leading them to their deaths but knew he couldn't do anything about it, which seemed to understandably infuriate him. "Nobody knows that we're down here other than us and that prisoner. We can't stay here, not after what happened with the Captain."
"I'm fine, Baurus." Renault shook her head as she deflected any and all attention towards what had happened to her in the altercation that Cassian had observed. However, it was obvious by the way she moved that her wound was painful. She twisted and walked a lot more gingerly and seemed a lot more delicate than she had been when Cassian had first met her. Instead of the commanding officer she had presented herself to be, she now seemed like a snarling she-wolf trying to warn off its attackers. "It's just a flesh wound."
"Your bandage is soaked with blood!" Baurus exclaimed, finally raising his head to look at her whilst pointing to her injured side. Watching as she moved, Cassian got a full look of what exactly Baurus was talking about. The bandage that they had placed over the chink of the steel cuirass, where the assassin's weapon had left its mark, was soaked in a darkened crimson that looked to have seeped through the chainmail link shirt she had been wearing underneath the whole suit of steel. Her armour wasn't going to be much of a help if she couldn't even help herself to twist with her waist. They had failed to kill her, sure, but they hadn't failed in injuring her. She wasn't going to fight as well as she could normally. Whether or not that was going to a problem remained to be seen.
"Enough!" The Emperor's voice called out from behind them, just as Renault stepped forwards with an attempt to retort to what had been said. He was the calmer head of the group, having a much more balanced look on the entire situation than that of his bodyguards. Cassian couldn't understand how he was so calm in the dire straits that they found themselves in, the mortal peril that surrounded them all. It was if he didn't care about what could potentially happen to them all. He couldn't understand any of it, especially since everyone else seemed to be taking it far worse. "We cannot let them divide us. If they do, then they have already won, and our efforts are hopeless."
"I'm going to look around." Baurus sighed, tossing the ragged cloth to Glenroy, who proceeded to clean his own blade. Seemingly giving up with any hopes of changing the minds of his companions, he instead withdrew himself from their vicinity in an attempt to try and find some easier way of protecting the entire group from the threats that they had found themselves burdened with. "With any hope, we may find some help."
"Has anyone seen the prisoner?" Uriel asked, leaning on the raised part of the floor that was just above the stairs, his elderly body seemingly exhausted from the traveling that he had been doing. He didn't seem bothered by what was going on, or perhaps he simply wasn't letting his companions see it, Cassian didn't' know. The primary thing that he was most interested in, however, was why the Emperor was still talking about him. There was no way that he would still be concerned about a wayward prisoner whose cell they had to go through in order to escape from the assassins trying to kill them. "He followed us."
"Impossible, sire." Glenroy replied quickly, rising to both feet as he turned and addressed the Emperor directly. He seemed quick to immediately dismiss the very thought of Cassian being able to follow them, despite the contrary fact that he was actually above them and listening to their entire conversation with some interest. He wondered exactly what it was that he had done to turn Glenroy against him, especially since he doubted that a special forces officer would be interested in the goings-on of a supposedly traitorous Imperial Legion officer. However, he had never actually told him his name and therefore he had no reason to expect that said legionnaire was him. "The door was locked, as was the gate."
"Besides, we cannot trust him." Renault added, removing her hand from her side for a brief moment as she joined the conversation once again. It seemed that she, too, had jumped to conclusions and simply treated Cassian with the same contempt that she would treat a murderer or a common market thief. She had no time to learn why he had been arrested and whether or not she should learn to trust him, not with so much at stake for both herself and for the Empire itself. To her, Cassian wasn't even remotely important whatsoever. He was a speck of dust on her boot, nothing more. "He's a criminal. He's only out for himself."
Their words hit Cassian hard in the gut. They didn't know him, or his backstory. To hear them making things up in their heads without even bothering to give him a chance showed just how badly the Empire thought of their prisoners. To them, he was little more than a common street rat who had stolen an apple from the market district and got caught. They had no idea that he was a distinguished Imperial legionnaire who had commanded men from here to Solstheim and back again, they had no idea how many years he had served and how many lives he had saved in the process. But now, here he was. Defamed and unknown, a shell of his former self with little more than a name to back up his old prestige. It hurt, to say the least, but he guessed that he understood why they had said what they said.
"What he has done does not matter." Uriel spoke up, momentarily arguing and then disputing their points within moments. He was not hearing any of it from any of them. He knew what he believed, and he was standing up for those said beliefs. He was their Emperor and the head of their entire organization, for the Blades didn't serve the Empire, but the Emperor and the Septim bloodline itself. That's why it was so hard to become one of them, you had to be chosen and recommended by either a member of the Septim bloodline or from a high-ranking member of the Blades organization. There was no sign-up line. Every legionnaire dreamed of being a member of the Blades, of directly serving the Emperor and his sons for as long as they breathed. It was the highest honour that someone could have, an honour that many would sign up for and never achieve. "He can help us."
At this point, Cassian had seen enough to know what he needed to do next. They needed his help, whether they wanted it or not. They were directionless and beginning to squabble when they needed to keep moving. He knew that they didn't exactly trust him, but he was sure that they would drop those concerns when they figured out both how much he wanted to help and how much they needed said help. Every pair of hands could be decisive to balance the numbers between them and the assassins. They just needed to forget their arrogance for a few moments to see that. Throwing his legs down over the side and dropping to the ground with a loud thud, his feet stinging at the sharp, burning pain that he felt as the soles of his feet rubbed against his sandals.
Cassian rolled his landing and got up to his feet, immediately finding himself directly in the path of the Blade that he wanted to be in front of the least. Rising, he looked up to find Glenroy standing above him, the tip of his katana resting against the centre his adam's apple. Cassian didn't move. He didn't flinch, not even a single muscle. He had seen the razor-sharp strength of that katana's blade and knew that it could slice his throat from ear-to-ear in a single second. If Glenroy heard or saw something that he didn't like, there was no stopping him from ending Cassian's life within seconds. That was why it was so crucial that Cassian got the next few moments incredibly correct.
"It's the damned prisoner!" Glenroy exclaimed as he furrowed his brow, tightening his grip on the handle of his blade until the knuckles over it went white. He seemed actually furious at what exactly he was looking at and how a single prisoner had managed to find an alternative route and somehow meet up with them once again. Some might have said that it was the workings of fate, but Cassian could see that Glenroy didn't believe in things like that. No, his mind had obviously jumped to the strange conclusion that Cassian was a threat that possibly needed to be put down with force. "How did you get past the gate?"
"I didn't." Cassian smirked, much to Glenroy's chagrin. It seemed to irritate him, the fact that Cassian wasn't remotely intimidated by the blade that had been thrust towards his neck. It was true, for Cassian wasn't afraid for a single moment. He had no need to be, for there was no reason for him to even think about being worried. The Emperor would not allow him to die, not from the way that Uriel had spoken about him and seemed to care about his existence far more than anyone had in months. Glenroy and his sword were no threat to him. "The wall had been weakened by our battle with the assassins. It broadened out into another part of the substructure. I went through and now I'm here."
"As I expected." Baurus came forwards next, his own slight smirk written all over his face. Walking directly up to Glenroy's side, Baurus shook his head and chuckled a little at the sight that he was clearly looking at. The seriousness was clearly removed from the situation from everyone except Glenroy, who continued to threaten Cassian with his blade. Everyone else seemed okay with his presence except for the male Imperial, something that Cassian still seriously didn't understand. There was no reason for him to be suspicious, for if he wanted to do something, then he would have already that said something. "I didn't expect you to go back to your cell, not with your renown."
Cassian's brow raised up as he listened. He was shocked to hear that Baurus remembered what he had told him inside his cell. He would have thought that the Blade had taken it on the chin and not remembered anything he had said. Nevertheless, he didn't think it would help to convince Glenroy for a single bit. He doubted that the Imperial was even listening, so focused on his rage and anger for everything that had happened around him this entire day that he was channelling it into the only thing he now had on his mind.
"Renown? Renown?!" Glenroy scoffed, shaking his head as he ignored every word that had just come from Baurus' mouth. No, he was too focused on the prisoner in front of him to even remotely consider what anyone else was saying to him. Tightening the grip on the handle of his blade, Glenroy simply thrust it further towards Cassian's neck. "I don't care what renown he might have. He's a danger to us and to the Emperor!"
"He's an Imperial legionnaire. Former, being the right word to use." Baurus' face twisted with a furrow brow as he turned to Glenroy, slamming his palm down on the Blade's katana handle with just enough force both that and Glenroy's arm to drop down to his side. It was the one thing that Cassian hadn't expected him to do. He seemed so confrontational when it came to disarming his comrade, as if he thought that this was the only known way of doing such a thing. Glenroy seemed like a headstrong man, one that could potentially and truly only be talked down by action. Turning his head in shock, Glenroy looked to respond but ultimately grumbled and shook his head. "Sheath your blade, you fool. He's proven himself quite enough to be worthy of our trust."
"Bullshit." Renault added, her tone of voice stern and authoritative. It seemed it was her turn to involve herself in the conversation, barging forwards to join her comrades as she poked an accusing finger into Cassian's chest. Of course, she would get involved now when she wasn't needed, Cassian thought, when everything was winding down and they had begun to believe the words that he had been saying. Why was it that every time he seemed to be getting somewhere, something or someone would come along and forcefully drag him all the way back to the square one where he started. He didn't understand it. "He might be working with the assassins. Who's to say that they didn't just help him get this far?"
"No. He is not one of them." Uriel's calm tone cut through the icy words of his bodyguards, lifting his outstretched hand once more. His tone was calm and even-toned, but still booming and commanding like none other. Cassian could see why this man, more than any other, deservedly wore the mantle of Emperor. He had a voice that could move mountains and split seas, a tone that could raise the hairs on the necks of his enemies and persuade many men to die for him on the battlefield. No wonder the Empire had come so close to peace with this man at the helm, the product of many generations of successful Septim rulers before him. Had it not been for Jagar Tharn, then none of this could have happened and the Empire would have been as peaceful as the beginning days of the Third Era. Nevertheless, here they were. There was no sense dwelling or what could and might have been. They had been given this hand by fate and would deal with it appropriately. Destiny approached, and they would march into its jaws with smiles and willingness. "He can help us. He will help us."
Walking closer towards him, pushing past the Blades who had once tried to block off his way towards the same person that had just saved him from them. Cassian could see the friendly gestures of the Emperor as he turned to face him. He was a stranger to him, they barely knew one another, but Uriel seemed to trust him like an old friend that he had finally met up with after many years of separation. Whatever it was that the Emperor saw within him, Cassian did not understand it, but he would protect the Emperor with his life if he needed to. That was his duty, even if they had dishonourably discharged him. He still had his moral code, that was enough for him not to forget the duty that he had signed on to complete.
"Leave us. All of you. I wish to speak to the prisoner." Uriel commanded to the rest of the Blades, far more forcefully than he ever had spoken to them before. It seemed like he was finally tired of the bickering that they had subjugated him to throughout their entire journey, ever since they had met Cassian. With a nod, both Glenroy and Baurus left to scout out their surroundings, whilst Renault simply walked further down the corridor to go and scout ahead. Once in the clear and sure that the others could not listen in on their conversation, Uriel leaned close and pressed both of his hands onto the sides of Cassian's shoulders. "They cannot understand why I trust you, they haven't seen what I have seen. Do you know of the Nine Divines? How they shape and guide our fates with an invisible hand?"
"Of course I do. I have ever since I was a child. " Cassian replied with even having to think about what he had been asked. His mother and father had always been stalwart worshippers of the faith, even in their darkest times when normal people would be excused of worshipping such things. Cassian himself believed truly in Stendarr, the god of mercy and justice. He was the patron of the Imperial Legion and had found a devout follower in Cassian up until his imprisonment. Neither of his chosen specialties, not mercy nor justice, seemed to have come for him during that hellish time, but now things seemed to have changed for him. The Divines worked in mysterious ways, but Cassian had seen first-hand the work that they could do. They had decided that it prudent he be placed in the exact cell for the exact amount of time, just so he could meet up with the Emperor and his guards and be allowed to accompany them. Destiny was truly a strange thing, to say the least about it. "They protect and guide us in all of our efforts in life. We would be lost without them."
The Emperor let out a great sigh, mixed with contentment and a small hint of relief. It was if he had heard exactly what he had wanted Cassian to say. He didn't understand the Emperor whatsoever, even though he had tried to many times in the last good while, he still couldn't do it. He seemed different than most men, like he saw a far bigger picture than what they could. He seemed to have an entire plan, one that he was keeping secret from everyone else that he had with him. It seemed to be a need-to-know basis, and it was something that Emperor Uriel had deemed that none of them needed to know. He just wanted them to go along with what they knew and that everything would work out in the end, the path clear when the dust settled, and everything had stilled to a halt. "I've served the Nine all of my days, and I chart my course by the cycles of the heavens. The skies are marked with numberless sparks each a fire, and every one of them a sign. I know these stars well, and I wonder…which sign marked your birth?"
Cassian thought back. There had always been power behind the birthsigns he remembered those teachings. Each birthsign corresponded with the destiny of those who were born under it. The Mage signified that the child would have great magical talent, such as The Thief made the child agile and quick. He tried to think about what sign that he had been born under, what his mother had said the stars shone like when he was born. He had always been strong, stronger than most other children of his age. He tried to think what it was, the starsign that had always corresponded with him...Warrior, of course. Of course, it was.
"The Warrior marked my birth." He replied, quickly as his eyes darted around the chamber. He knew that they could not linger here too long, not with everything that was going on. They had been given a short window in which to make their escape, but for some reason the Emperor thought that it was time to speak about prophecy and birthsigns. He could not deny the Emperor or even wished to try and persuade him to get moving. He was Uriel Septim and would do whatever he wished to do, nobody had the right or the authority from stopping him from doing just that. Anyone that even remotely tried to do so was wrong.
"Then the Warrior will be your companion on the trials to come. When fortune and luck fades, he will be there to guide your hand to destiny." Uriel's words spoke true, even though they did not make sense. Cassian believed them, as he believed in his Emperor. The way he spoke, his mannerisms and his kind face all told a story, they told you that you needed to believe what he was saying and take it as gospel. He was saying the right things, words mixed with the truth and prophecy. Cassian wanted to believe them, to think and feel like Uriel had their whole destiny and fate planned out before them. He had seen what was to come and knew the end of the road, even if he was being tight-lipped about their destinations and the dramatic end that was to come. "The signs I read show the end of my path. My death, a necessary end, will come when it will come."
"You talk of destiny and fate," Cassian clasped his hands together, holding the blade of his short-sword downwards towards the ground as he continued to speak to his Emperor. He wanted to know more, to understand what was going on and how he could play a part in the events to come. He felt like he was a part of some divine plan, like he had been chosen out of so many in this world to be part of something greater. There was no way that he, a random prisoner imprisoned far down into the depths of the Imperial prison, could have been so lucky as to have a random encounter with the Emperor and his bodyguards in the middle of the night. Things like that didn't happen by pure coincidence. No, something had brought them together. Perhaps it was destiny, perhaps it was divine intervention. There was no way of knowing, but Cassian hoped it to be true. "Can you see where we are all headed?"
"My dreams grant me no opinions of success, child, for their compass ventures not beyond the doors of death." Once more, riddles clouded the true meaning of his words. He had spoken like this ever since the two of them had met and seemed to have given no sign of stopping at any time. Perhaps this was how he had always spoken, with his words intertwined with the prophecies he was so involved in. It was unknown to Cassian if Uriel could truly see the future, but from what he was seen then he was sure that he wouldn't be surprised if it was true. His words were dark and solemn, a true sense of whatever they were going to was not going to be happy and what they wished, but Cassian didn't want to believe it. He was no pessimist and never had been, unlike his royal companion. "But I know that I go to my grave. A tongue shriller than all of the music calls me to rest."
"Your death?" Cassian's features darkened. The kind of subject that they were beginning to discuss was not one that Cassian normally found that he liked to talk about. The very idea of death and the afterlife was something that he normally skipped over and walked past, the very subject that chilled him to the core. To think that someone would easy talk about the prospect of death in such a nonchalant way was so chilling to him, so disturbing and creepy in a way that Cassian hadn't really come face to face with. "You're not afraid?"
"No, my child, for I have lived well and my ghost shall rest easy." Uriel placed his hand upon Cassian's shoulder, comforting him in the dire time they found themselves stuck within. He seemed like he was ready to die, like he had made peace with the world around him and no longer desired to exist upon the plane. He wanted to join his ancestors above and look down on the world from the land where the stars shone, from the clouds that floated up above. Cassian respected that, if that was indeed his wish. Not many people had the core strength to be able to decide when they would be done with life, too many instead trying to spend their remaining days attempting to find the secret of eternal life. Not Emperor Uriel Septim, though. He was ready to go, ready to venture beyond and leave the world in the care of others. "Men are but flesh and blood. We all know our doom, our final fate, but not it's hour. In this, I am blessed to see my apportioned fate before I, too, fall."
"Sire." Captain Renault joined the conversation swiftly, interrupting the two of them in the midst of their conversation. She was still struggling with her wound, wincing with every small and large step that she took in her stride. However, she still looked strong and able to defend both herself and her charge despite it, unwilling to let any personal problems dampen her ability to serve. Cassian admired her dedication, her loyalty to the role that she found herself in. The Legion needed men and women like Captain Renault, people willing to do whatever they needed to do in order to protect and serve the citizens that they had signed on to look after and defend. "We must keep moving. We're almost through this. I promise."
"Come, then. Our destinies await us." Uriel nodded to Cassian with a willingness radiating from his eyes. He seemed eager to begin, far more eager than any of his companions were. None of them had any idea what was waiting for them within the darkness, what evils lurked within the depths. None of them wanted to confront what was out there, none except the Emperor. Cassian's mind once again flickered to the idea of Uriel accepting his oncoming demise, whenever it would be, and wondered whether or not the Emperor had some form of willingness to die. If he was eager to march off into the darkness, then perhaps he was looking for the death that he wished for. Cassian simply steeled himself for what was to come and kept a close grip on his sword, before following Renault down the stairs and into the darkness beyond his feet without faltering or failing.
All five of them, together once again, moved swiftly through the passages that lay before them. Any threat that rose from the shadows was dealt with, either by the Blades, a swift strike from Cassian's blade or by Uriel himself. The further they walked through the dark, stone-built corridors of the substructure, the more they began to work as a functioning unit. In fact, Cassian seemed to think he was gaining the respect of the Blades, especially the hard-faced Glenroy. It was trust that the pair lacked for one another, but Cassian was beginning to think it had started to build. He no longer seemed to want to guard and block off the Emperor from Cassian's view whenever and wherever possible, perhaps beginning to trust him just enough to know that Cassian wasn't having any intention to turn and strike at them when they were least expecting it. No, they saw him as an ally now, and Cassian was more grateful for it in a greater way than he could ever explain. The ancient halls rang out with the continuous clash of steel multiple times, but always ended with the progress of their journey. Nothing seemed to stop them in their trek to freedom.
Eventually, they reached a wide-open room, far bigger than any chamber they had been in before. The silence sent chills down Cassian's spine as he looked around, staring at the various balconies that stuck out from the walls. Every footstep that one of them took echoed around the halls, the odd crumble of stone sending shockwaves of sound all over the chamber. Every noise, every murmur or unbalanced step, made them jump with fright. They had spent too long waiting for assassins to jump out of every corner to let their guard down at a simple noise. Whomever built this place liked them, for sure, and had intended them for some reason. Cassian's thought was that they were unfinished watch posts for the prisoners that would be housed in the expansion, but that was only his thought.
Looking at his group, Cassian could see that it was time for all of this to end. They were all weary and fatigued, their armour and weapons battered and dulled. Shoulders had begun to hunch, and steps had begun to drag, but none of them wanted to stop and rest. They knew that they were close to where they needed to be and that was a good enough incentive for them to keep moving towards that destination. However, Cassian was sure that a clever assassin would be able to take them all off-guard should he want to, with Cassian not ever being able to see him coming in his current state. He was bruised and hurting, bleeding from small nicks and reddened from the beatings he took from the Jailor. He was in no way to fight a battle for an extended period of time, let alone the multiple short skirmishes that he had found himself stuck in throughout the last few hours. It had been a true test of his Imperial Legion training, one that he hoped he had been able to pass.
"I don't like this." Glenroy muttered, walking to the front of the group as he turned his head to look at all the walls in the room. Cassian shared his unease as his eyes darted around. This space was too open, too easy for them to split apart and picked off. It didn't feel right one bit. He could feel the eyes burning into his skin from the shadows, making all of his hairs stand up on end as he walked. There was something eerily off with where they were, but Cassian was unable to place it. It just simply made him nervous to walk any further, but he didn't know why that was so. "Let me take a look."
Heading down the stairs in front of them, Glenroy scanned the shadows of the room intently, before calling all of them forwards after a few moments. His hand finally released from the handle of his katana, the place where it had been glued for the past few moments as he looked around. He was ready for anything to jump out at any moment, prepared for any surprise that might decide to come his way. Nothing was going to take this hardened Imperial by surprise, not after the night that he had shared with his companions. This was the night that would make them into the true heroes the Empire needed. "I think it's clear. Come on, we're almost through to the sewers."
Moving forwards, Cassian lost sight of Glenroy past a pillar for only a moment, but found himself once again, staring at an iron gate. Fist clenched, he slammed his hand against it and roared in fury, more ferocious than Cassian had ever seen before. Shaking the iron bars that made up the gate, Glenroy seemed to be lost in his rage as he yelled in ferocious anger at what he was looking at. Nothing seemed to be able to calm his down as he then began to slam his boot into the bottom bars, potentially trying to do anything he could to change the current state that the gate was in when he found it.
"What is it?" Renault chimed in, rushing over to join Glenroy at the gate. She couldn't break into anything other than a light jog, not with what she had been through. The overexertion that she had put herself through had caused her to lose a lot of blood, causing her to be the most sluggish and tired of them all. She would need urgent magical care as soon as they were out of this hell, whenever that would be. Even though she was still alive and with them at the moment, Cassian could see that she was little more than a dead woman walking, spurred on by nothing but her devotion to the cause she served.
"The gate's barred from the other side, the key won't budge." Glenroy turned, his face dark and his features sullen. He looked utterly devastated, like he had finally given up the hope that they had all been clinging to for the past few hours. The way that he looked at them all was unlike anything Cassian would ever had expected this man's eyes to look like, utterly devoid of any enthusiasm or spirit. He had his entire plan rested upon the thought of this gate being unlocked. Without it, the entire plan had fallen to ruins. "We're trapped."
Cassian's heart sank as soon as he saw it and was sure his companions felt the same. Glenroy's words took a few moments to sink it but hit him hard once they did. If there was no way to open the gate and no other way to go around it, then they were stuck. They couldn't go back, not after everything they had been through. It was too dangerous to try and plot an alternative route, leaving their options thin, bare and dire beyond belief. They were so close, yet now they were so far from where they needed to be. Beyond that gate was their freedom, and they had lost it at the final hurdle. However, the hell they were going to escape this was beyond him, but they would protect the Emperor for as long as they could.
"What do we do?" Baurus growled, looking around. He was the only one who looked like he was able to keep going, urgently trying to muster whatever he could. Cassian could see him trying to take the initiative, to try and keep everyone's spirits up whilst they thought of what they needed to do. The last thing they all wanted was to sink inside their own heads and lose themselves, not with everything at stake for them all. Whether or not his comrades would listen to him was something else, however. "Captain?"
"I…" Renault seemed lost for words that she would obviously be able to find. She obviously didn't know what to do with the situation, especially with the trauma she had been through. Her mind seemed to be in a completely different place than it had been for a few moments prior to this moment, so completely lost. It took all of her collective strength to try and even think about the situation, despite the fact that she surely had bigger concerns on her mind. Her mortality was on the line, let alone the mortality of the one that she had protected. Eventually, her eyes darted to a certain area of the room, causing her to raise her arm and point to that said area for the rest of the group to see. "The side passage, back there. It could lead us to where we need to be."
"It's worth a try, let's go." Glenroy nodded as he stared at the gap in the wall that had seemingly caught Renault's attention, before unsheathing his blade and rushing towards the side passage they had spotted earlier. This was his chance, the one chance that they had left to try and get out of this hellhole. If they couldn't find an exit through this passage, then there would be no way without backtracking through the hell they had just come through. Cassian followed without thinking. He wanted to get out as much as the rest of them, perhaps even more. The Emperor's life may have been in danger, but Cassian was desperate to feel the aura of freedom once more, hoping that it was the same feeling that he once felt all that time ago before everything had happened.
Within seconds, all of them had entered the room, passing through the open iron gate that separated the chamber from the room. Immediately, all of them spread around the room and looked around, trying their best to find what they needed. They searched desperately for any secrets that they could find, any entrances that could open up for them to escape. They tried and tried, Cassian especially as he literally clawed and scraped on the walls to see if there was absolutely anything there for them to open. He needed it something, anything, to open and release them, but ultimately knew it would come up short. After a few more moments, looking at one another, each one of them looked downtrodden. Their hope had been shattered once again, mere moments after it had been revived by the slightest slither of hope that Renault had tried to conjure up by directing them inside.
"It's a dead end." Glenroy was the one to say it, although everyone had already figured it out. None of them had any idea what to do next, so they all seemed to look to him for a kind of guidance that he was unable to give them. He was, just like the rest of them, feeling the same shattered emotions that had brought them down. He needed a way out, some way to simply open up that gate and escape into the world beyond the walls that confined them. Cassian could tell that, despite how much he didn't want to show it, Glenroy was as panicked as the rest of them. He had tried to take command when it was obvious that Renault was too focused on her injuries to lead, but they were still stuck where they were despite everything that they could have done. "We're trapped like mice in a cage."
"We're being watched." Renault's voice slowly crept into the conversation, echoing a warning as she moved towards the way they had all came in. Staring out through the corridor and into the chamber where they had come from, Renault seemed to shiver. Hand still pressed against her side, trying her hardest to make sure she had her injury under control, Renault's eyes darted across the chamber as quick as she possibly could do. Cassian couldn't see what exactly she was looking for, but her words had been enough for him to already understand the danger. "We need to protect the Emperor. Now."
"Stay here, sire." Glenroy added, jumping into action. He was already prepared to take control of the situation, further taking the reins from Renault. Making sure that everyone was ready for what was coming, Glenroy's gaze turned to Emperor Uriel for a few moments, looking for his approval and guidance on what was about to happen. With a smile, Emperor Uriel bowed his head and took a step back, watching with pride as all four of them rushed out of the room and surrounded its entrance in a militaristic fashion.
"Spread out!" Renault called, unsheathing her blade and throwing her scabbard to the ground. She was still incredibly hurt, but that didn't seem to bother her at the current moment. She seemed to be freeing herself from anything that would unnecessarily weigh her down, making herself far more nimble and agile than she was before. She was having to adapt her fighting style to a whole different form in order to combat her injuries, which showed how well-trained the Blades around Cassian truly were to him. "We either live through this and see another day, or we go up to Aetherius together!"
His own eyes darting around the room, Cassian couldn't see their foes. Neither could he hear them. They made no sound. They blended into the shadows of the rooms like ghosts, revenants in the night as they seemed to surround them. Even though none of them could see what they were about to fight, they could feel them all around them. Metal clinked in time with their movements, the sound of feet on stone tapping in all directions. Pressing his back against the brick wall, the grey stone cold against the open skin showing through his shirt. They wouldn't get past him, not as long as he drew breath, and he was sure that his feelings were echoed by the comrades beside him.
As Cassian's eyes darted around the room, he noticed a single shadow had emerged from a nearby pillar, swiftly followed by four more from different angles. All five of them were dressed from head-to-toe in crimson red robes, just like the same assassins who had attacked them earlier on in the night. Their faces were clouded from view by the darkness of their hoods, making the entire facial area terrifyingly black, almost as black as midnight. They cut an intimidating figure as they all began to move towards them, stepping and moving at the same time. Cassian couldn't believe how organized they were, their fluid movements replicated perfectly by each other without flaws. Whatever they were up against, it was something that none of them had ever seen before. Looking down the line of the Blades who were stood beside him, Cassian watched them all shift in stance and try and think about what their next moves would be. This wasn't going to be easy.
Just as they had moved together, the assassins attacked together. Lifting their hands up into the air, still at unnervingly similar speed to one another, they summoned some other-worldly force. Black smoke swirled around them as they began to walk forwards, morphing into grey metal armour with intricate designs that forcefully latched itself onto their bodies. However, the thing that seemed to unnerve all of the defenders the most was the masks. Along with the simple plates that seemed to attach themselves, a mask of the same metal seemed to burn itself within the gap made by their hoods, with the crimson material folding around it to create some sort of impromptu helmet. The more that Cassian stared at the masks, the more they seemed to unnerve him. They were adorned with lifeless faces unlike any armour that he had seen before. Pupiless eyes that stared into Cassian's soul, expressionless faces that seemed to give these people even less life.
As they moved, the plates seemed to cause them significant pain as they burned into the reality around them all against their limbs, but none of them seemed to flinch whatsoever about the idea of metal plates attaching to them with force. Instead, all at once and with frightening accuracy, the five dove towards the Blades and tried to bring their blades down upon them, weapons being brandished in the same way that their armour had been summoned. All of it seemed to be a way of taking their targets by surprise, but Cassian and his companions seemed to be having none of it.
Seeing them rise high above them, Baurus broke from their formation and dove in front of the rest of the group, lifting his shield as high as he could with his left hand to block as many blows as he could. Using his strength, he turned and slammed his shield directly into the assassin that had attacked the centre point of their formation, sending him flying through the air for a few moments before he skittered along the ground, the metal plates of his new armour set scratching along the stone brick floor. The rest of them, seeing their chance, readied their blades and charged to attack themselves. They knew what they needed to do now. Cut as many down as possible and buy as much time as they could for themselves. As Renault had noted beforehand, Cassian was ready to either kill every single assassin that came at him and his comrades or would go to Aetherius with pride because of it.
They seemed strong for the first few minutes, working together as much as they possibly could. Baurus and Glenroy fought back to back, protecting and covering one another as much as possible as they deflected and parried blow for blow before returning their own strikes in turn, those ones far more lethal than the ones the assassins were able to give. They were the workhorses of their little group and they knew it, taking the frontline so that they could better defend the people around them. Cassian could understand it, for he knew that he was too weak and under-armoured to provide a proper legionnaire defence like he used to be able to, and that Renault was in no way battle-ready with the injuries that she had sustained. They were doing their best to help, but it seemed like a two-man race for the most part and Cassian could see that it was going to be their ultimate downfall.
All around, each one of them was occupied, stalked by enemies three-to-one. Every time they seemed to cut one down, two more seemed to take their place with increasing strength. Their numbers were endless, like something out of a nightmare that none of them could wake from. Even they, the elite force of the Imperial Empire, could not deal with the outnumbering that they were facing. Cassian, on his last legs due to his bruising and fatigue, found himself pressed against the stone wall behind him due to the constant swings and strikes of the assassins. His shortsword had been knocked out of his hand by the strong strike of an assassin's fist, his entire defence shattered by a single blow. He hated how weak he was. With his true strength, he would have thrown this assassin back without much hassle and already be helping his comrades. But no, here he was. Defenceless and on the verge of death. This was no way for him to die. He wouldn't go this way.
Pressing his back hard against the stone wall, Cassian could do nothing but raise his hands and try and stop the assassin's blade from reaching him. His fingers wrapped around the crossguard of the short blade, his palms pressing into either side of the assassin's wrists, he was doing his best to try and simply save himself. Teeth gritted, and jaw muscles clenched, he pressed his hands hard into the assassin's and pushed as hard as he could. He knew he wasn't going to be able to stop this strike, it was coming down no matter how hard he tried to stop it from doing so. All he had to do was try and redirect it. If he could somehow overpower this blade for long enough to be able to force it into the wall, then Cassian knew that was what he would need to be able to free himself.
Looking over to his left, trying to find some form of support he could use to gain some form of adrenaline, he found out what the others' situations were in. Baurus was doing his best to defend himself from the assassins that had attacked him, slamming whatever he could into them in an attempt to get some distance from them. Glenroy, on the other hand, was fully immersed in the battle raging around him. His katana dropped in favour of his hands, Glenroy had wrapped his arms around the neck of one assassin and was simply using them as an impromptu shield, while trying to kick away another at the same time. He was far more fearless than any of the others, willing to simply brawl with those trying to kill him instead of protecting himself. Cassian admired that about him, his willingness to sacrifice himself.
Still trying to hold off the blade, Cassian's eyes mindless wandered to Renault's situation. Still doing her best to hold her wound whilst also defending herself, it was obvious that Captain Renault was in bad shape. Dropping down onto one knee, yelling out in pain as her wounds stretched out more and more, Renault swung away at her enemies with reckless abandon, knocking away their attempted thrusts with force. Faced with a two-on-one assault, Cassian watched helplessly as Renault's parries begun to become in too late, the assassins slicing her across the arm and through the metal plating every time she tried to defend herself. These weapons could cut through the plating like they were nothing, like knives through butter. Whatever was at work here was otherworldly in origin, for nothing could cut through reinforced metal like that.
Renault's fingers brushed her arm as she cried out in pain, pulling away with her glove stained red with fresh blood. Seeing no other option, Renault stumbled to her feet and drove her blade directly through the side of one of the assassins in front of her, completely going through a chink in the man's armour and negating the entire reason he had summoned it in the first place. Too focused on that singular assassin, Renault began to try and remove her blade from the man's corpse, which in turn left her open for what was to come next. Rushing up behind her, the other assassin saw his chance and drove his dagger straight down into Renault's left shoulder, causing her to scream out in pain as the cold steel drove through the flesh, both muscle and skin.
"Captain!" the voice of Glenroy filled the room as turned his head for a mere moment. This distraction only ended badly for him too, however, as the other assassin grabbed him from behind and dragged him off of his companion. He was too far away to help, the same as Baurus. None of them would be able to help the Captain with the danger that she was in. She was on her own now, something that Cassian knew fully well would prove fatal when the dust settled on what was happening now.
Renault, wincing at the pain running through her body, could only do one thing. Coupled with her numerous other wounds and the rapid blood loss from all areas, she simply stumbled back and collapsed down to one knee. By the time she had dropped down, Cassian and the rest of them could perfectly see that she was already dead on her feet. Using her last gasp of strength, she removed her helmet and flung at the assassin skulking towards her, revealing her shoulder-length brown hair. Looking up at her comrades for one last time, she smiled and tried to stumble back up to her feet, turning her gaze towards the assassin.
"For…the…Empire!" She dully screamed, stumbling her way into a charge as she tried to ram both of her shoulders into the assassin's gut. Her movement was far too sluggish and slow, however, and simply left herself open. With simple ease, the assassin brandished his summoned blade and slammed it straight down at the base of her skull before pressing his hands against both shoulders to shove her away. Collapsing into a heap just right of the gate where they had enclosed the Emperor, Renault landed with her gaze lying directly onto her comrades, her emotionless expression and glazed eyes being the last thing they saw from her before her spirit finally found peace.
That was when Glenroy found his fury, the thing he had been trying to muster throughout the entire journey without success. Crying out a bellowing war cry, he threw his head backwards and slammed it against the metal mask of the man holding him, releasing himself fro their grip. Surging forwards like an unstoppable tidal wave, he threw aside the assassin in front of him and instead met the assassin who had killed his comrade face-to-face. Barrelling forwards, he slammed all of his weight into the assassin and connected with his shoulder to their chest, stumbling them back. Grasping his katana with both hands from the floor, the Imperial spun around in a pirouette and swung with all of his weight, sending his blade through the flesh of the man's belly with ease. Kicking him over, Glenroy rushed back towards both Cassian and Baurus, throwing the assassin that had now taken Baurus to the floor away with newly-found ease.
Cassian, also feeling renewed strength, finally found what he needed to redirect the blade. Moving his head to side in just another time, he watched as the blade found its mark in the cement between the stone bricks, just an inch past his face. Raising his knee hard against the man's groin, Cassian pushed them back as hard as he could before jamming his shortsword directly into their throat, withdrawing it with ease as he rushed to join the remaining members of the Blades. He found Glenroy knelt down on one knee, using his fingers to close the eyes of Renault. He seemed to shake with rage, grasping his katana with serious force as he gave his friend her last rites. Baurus moved in front to protect them both, but knew that he didn't much left in the tank anyways. They were losing, now faster than before. The endless waves were consuming them.
"We can't keep doing this!" Baurus yelled, slamming his shield into an assassin's face. Ducking and weaving through countless attacks, Baurus was growing impatient with Glenroy's lack of movement. They needed to do something.
"You're right." Glenroy muttered, rising to his feet. Within moments, he grasped hold of Cassian's shirt with his free hand and kicked open the iron gate. Without even muttering anything, he threw Cassian as hard as he could down the small corridor. Slamming the door behind him, Glenroy roared with anger. His rage had consumed him, that was abundantly clear to all around him. "Guard the Emperor with your life!"
"You need me!" Cassian moved to argue, but knew it was hopeless.
"No, the Empire does." Glenroy returned as he began to walk back towards Baurus. "If there's one person who should survive today, it shouldn't be either of us. Now go!"
Cassian wanted to keep arguing, but instead cried out a warning as a mace-wielding assassin rushed towards Glenroy, completely breaking past Baurus as he tried to defend himself against them. The Imperial only had moments to react, turning around to feel the blunt steel connect with the side of his head with considerable force. With what strength he had, Glenroy pushed the assassin back with both hands and stumbled forwards, moving to strike the mace wielder with his katana. The strike had left him sluggish, but that wasn't going to stop him by any measure whatsoever. Driving his katana straight through the eye of the assassin's mask, Glenroy let another warcry from his lungs and rushed back to Baurus' aid, barrelling one of the assassins creeping up to him away. Cassian stayed to watch it all, he could hear it all from the other side of the gate.
"I'll give you as much time as possible." Glenroy said, slamming his hand onto Baurus' shoulder. He knew they barely had a few moments before more assassins would be on them, so he knew he had to make this as quick as possible. "Goodbye, Brother."
"…What? Glenroy!" Baurus barely had time to reply before Glenroy charged into the thick of the assassins, wielding his katana like a madman as he dove towards them. Cassian understood it now; this was Glenroy's final sacrifice. The way that he had thrown Cassian away from the danger, the way that he had sacrificed himself so that Cassian and the Emperor had a chance at survival, it all pointed to this. He had initially been distrustful of Cassian and wanted him gone. Now? This was his way of apologizing, in what he knew was going to be the last few minutes of his existence.
Watching Glenroy cut swathes through the assassins, Cassian wanted to do nothing but help. He knew this was a necessary sacrifice, but wished it wasn't so. Keeping his eyes trained on what was happening, he watched as their sheer amount of numbers began to overwhelm him just like they had before, with Glenroy disappearing within masses of crimson. Every time that he seemed to reappear, he was far more beaten down than he had been before. Shoving away and cutting as many as he could, Glenroy yelled and roared as he tried to give them as much time as he could to regroup and think of something new, but ultimately found himself more and more wounded.
Eventually, he just couldn't do it anymore. With a firm slice, his hand was severed from his body, with his katana falling it with it. Stumbling away from the group that he had tried so desperately to fight, Glenroy did nothing but look towards Baurus and Cassian. Staring back at him, Cassian simply made the choice to turn away and not see the fate of his short-term companion, instead quickly rushing back into the room with the Emperor as the sound of his armour clattering against the floor filled the chamber. He needed to focus on the Emperor now, especially with what was out there. Baurus wouldn't hold them off forever, he was surely going to end up like the rest no matter what he tried. Cassian made the decision to focus on the ones who could still live, no matter how hard the decision was.
"Are you alright, sire?" Cassian called, which garnered Uriel's attention. He was simply stood in the centre of the room, staring at the walls. A content smile hung on his face as he simply looked around at the architecture around him, just peaceful in his surroundings. All of the chaos and death outside didn't seem to phase him at all. Not now, not anymore. It was only then, as he made his way further towards him, that Cassian has realized that Uriel had removed the amulet that hung around his neck. The red, jewel encrusted diamond.
Turning his head to look at Cassian, Uriel simply smiled warmly and let Cassian approach. Once they were in touching distance, the Emperor pressed the amulet into Cassian's free hand. "My guards are strong and true, but even the might of the Blades cannot stand against the power that now rises to destroy us. The Prince of Destruction awakens, born anew in blood and fire. These cutthroats are but his mortal pawns. You must take my Amulet. Give it to Jauffre, he alone knows where to find my last son. Find the last of my blood."
"Your amulet?" Cassian spluttered out. He had been taken by complete surprise. All of this felt like incessant rambling, the doddering words of an old man. But Cassian could feel that there was more to these words, he had to listen. Although he spoke in riddles and metaphors, the Emperor's words meant more than they seemed. He just needed time to understand them, as he had done in all of their previous conversations.
"Yes, the Amulet of Kings. My sacred emblem of rulership." Uriel nodded quickly, pressing the necklace deeper into Cassian's palm. "It must pass to the last of the Dragon's blood. Keep it safe from the pawns of the Destroyer."
Cassian couldn't speak, he didn't want to speak. The last of the Dragon's blood? The Destroyer? None of this made any sense, especially not to someone like him. He had been dragged into all of this only hours beforehand, and now it seemed like a prophecy was being revealed before his very eyes. If this was the reason he had been saved from his prison, then he would listen, and he would do it well.
"For me, the journey ends here. You are our only hope to stem the blood tide now." Uriel pressed his hand into Cassian's tighter, clenching his own around his hand like some form of handshake. His eyes looked deep into Cassian's, seemingly taking in all of the anger and sadness that welled within them. He looked to give some hope, some clarity and strength, to a man that looked like he had lost it all long ago. "Stand true, my friend. May your heart be your guide and may the gods grant you the strength that you need."
"I won't forget you.." Cassian grasped the Emperor's hand tight. He couldn't die, not when they had gotten this far. They were so close. He had come so far for this to all fail now, not when the Blades had given up their lives to protect him. The Emperor was the one that had given him the chance to live again, even if it would be for a short time. He had given him purpose in a time where Cassian was sure that all purpose had been ripped from him. He couldn't let him go and simply fade away, not without giving up his own life.
"Remember me, and remember my words. This burden is now yours alone to bear. You hold our future in your hands, child." Uriel released his hand from Cassian's and stepped back. His content expression and body language sealed the entire story, as he closed his eyes and simply clasped his hands in front of him, seemingly locked in prayer. "Now, go. Take with you my blessings and the hope of the Empire."
Before Cassian could even react, a stone panel slid open behind the Emperor. Within seconds, a red robe-clad man leapt from the shadows, his blade drawn and ready to strike. Cassian too leapt into action, diving forwards with his shortsword ready. But it was too late. By the time Cassian swung, the assassin had already found his mark, burying his blade deep into the back of the Emperor's neck.
Uriel's eyes grew wide for a mere second, looking to Cassian's own gaze, before they fell content and slid closed. His body crumpled down onto the stone with a strong thud, blood gushing out of the wound to make a pool of red crimson around their feet. Cassian stood in shock, hand clenched around his blade, as he took it all in. He hadn't been quick enough. He was stood right there, and yet somehow, he hadn't been able to stop it. He had trained for moments such as this, where his actions within mere moments would be what was needed to stop horrendous things from happening to innocents. He had failed.
"Stranger," The assassin stared across the room, directly at Cassian as he wiped his blade clean of the regal blood he had just spilled upon the ground. "You chose a bad day to align yourself and take up the cause of the Septims. Now, you will die a martyr like them."
With his rage now consuming him, Cassian rushed across the room and swung his blade in a sideways stroke, trying to slice the assassin's head clean from his shoulders. Extending his hand, the assassin conjured a huge ball of lightning in his hand and shot it at Cassian, striking his chest with it and sending him flying backwards across the width of the room. The cloth of his shirt had all but burned away, his chest on fire underneath as more and more of it began to char to cinders. However, Cassian's adrenaline kicked in once more as he leapt to his feet and rushed at the assassin once more. He wouldn't lie down, not now.
Screaming out a wordless roar, he dove through the air and sliced at the assassin, connecting with a glancing slash that cut across his shoulder, slicing clean through the red robe and into the skin beneath. Recoiling with a hiss, the assassin connected with a stiff backhand to Cassian's cheek, before slicing him across the back with his newly-conjured blade. Calling out in pain, Cassian stumbled back and reached around to feel the wound. Pulling away to see blood, his eyes widened.
However, he did not submit. He couldn't, not now. Not with everything that he had just been told, all that had been revealed. He had to continue, for the fate of everyone.
Watching as the assassin approached him, Cassian spat blood towards the assailant and connected with a stiff fist, his fingers curled around the amulet, that knocked back his hood, revealing an Altmer with short, slicked-back white hair. Blood spattered out from the side of the Altmer's face as the amulet underneath his fist broke the skin and left a nasty gash. Growling, the assassin charged forwards himself and swung at Cassian, who ducked underneath the strike and turned, before burying his short-sword in the Altmer's gut. In his final motion, the assassin turned around and buried his blade in the back of Cassian's thigh, before expiring on the spot.
Dropping to his chest, Cassian felt the summoned blade dissolve into nothing inside his leg, but the open wound remained through the cloth of his pants. He couldn't move, he couldn't even think. So much had happened in the last minute or so, he couldn't process it.
Moving his head, Cassian barely reacted as a beaten and bloodied Baurus stumbled through the now-open gate and gasped, dropping to his knees beside the corpse of his ruler. Cassian couldn't even believe it. There was no way that he could have survived the onslaught of men and women that had attacked them. He was covered in so much blood and looked like he could just fall asleep standing up, but that didn't explain how he had been able to survive against such overwhelming odds. Baurus, however, didn't even seem to noticed that Cassian had survived, let alone recognize he was there.
"No…" Baurus muttered, almost to himself. He began talking to himself, pressing the index and middle fingers of his right hand over his mouth as he tried to keep his composure under the circumstances they found themselves in. "No, no, no. Talos save us…"
"Baurus…" Cassian wheezed out, wincing in pain. This way the only way that Baurus was going to recognize he was there, and yet the Redguard didn't move. He didn't even flinch, instead keeping his eyes trained upon the limb body of the Emperor.
"We've failed. I've failed." Baurus replied, his head turning to face Cassian. His eyes were filled with crippling sadness, as if his heart had been torn out of his body and ripped apart before his eyes. Everything that he had ever known had been taken away from him in a matter of hours, the entirety of what he had devoted his life to serving gone in little more than twenty-four hours. It had driven him down into the dirt. "The Blades are sworn to protect the Emperor and now he and all of his heirs are dead."
Glancing towards the Emperor's body, Baurus' eyes widened. Turning his head for the first time in minutes, his eyes read the emotions of a man who was about to become frantic with shock and worry. "The Amulet. Where is the Amulet of Kings? It isn't on his body?"
Stumbling to his feet, his leg bleeding heavily, Cassian pulled his hand up and opened his palm to reveal the shining red diamond ruby within the gold casing, covered in the spots of blood where he had slammed it against the assassin's head. "He gave it to me."
"Strange." Baurus mused, standing up himself. Folding his arms, he seemed to look at Cassian in a different light than he ever had done before in the time that he had met him. Something seemed to have clicked, like he hadn't been looking at Cassian the correct way, like he finally saw whatever it was the Emperor had also seen. "He saw something in you, didn't he? He trusted you. They say it's the dragon's blood that flows through the veins of every Septim that has ever lived. They see more than lesser men."
Standing close, Baurus looked down at the Amulet in Cassian's hand. "What you are holding there is the sacred symbol of the Empire. It has power. They say that only a true heir of the blood can wear it. He must have given it to you for a reason."
"I need to take it to someone named Jauffre." Cassian spoke the man's name, yet he had no idea who he was. However, the look on Baurus' face told a different story. He knew this man, seemingly far better than Cassian did. By that look, it seemed he knew him well.
"Jauffre? He said that? Why?"
"There is another heir." Cassian replied. "Jauffre knows where to find them."
"That's nothing I've heard about, but Jauffre would be the one to know." Baurus explained, scratching at his chin as he mused on his thoughts. Cassian didn't know how Baurus would react to any of this, but he hoped that he would understand. He was the only one that heard it, so the idea that Baurus didn't believe him would have been a bad thing indeed. "He is in the Grandmaster of my order, although he currently lives in seclusion as a monk in Weynon Priory, near the city of Chorrol to the west."
"How do I get there?" Cassian asked, the burning pain in his wounds evident on his face. He needed to keep moving but knew he would rather get going than stand around and make sure his wounds got worse than they already were.
"Here, take my map and my satchel." Baurus said, unclipping his belt and handing it over with relative ease despite the injuries both had suffered. "You'll need them more than I will."
Turning around, Cassian watched as Baurus seemed to study the open hole where the assassin had come from. "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, before it somehow found by these assassins. You'll need the key for the last exit."
Handing the key over, Baurus nodded to Cassian. "You must get that Amulet to Jauffre at Weynon Priory. He'll know what to do with it. Take no chances, you must proceed there immediately."
"What about you?" Cassian asked, tying the belt around his waist. "What will you do?"
"I'll stay here to guard the Emperor's body until help arrives and make sure no one follows you." Baurus explained. "I also need to collect the swords of my comrades and make sure they're given a proper burial."
With a nod, Cassian knelt before the deceased Uriel Septim and bowed his head in respetct. This was it, the end of his sixty-five-year reign. Now, the assassins had succeeded. Whatever the motive, they had plunged the Empire into chaos. But there was hope, he needed to make sure the Amulet was given to Jauffre. That was the way forwards.
Stepping through the door, Cassian turned back. "Baurus?"
The Redguard swiftly turned his head to respond. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry for your loss." Cassian bowed his head in respect. He hadn't known them for long, but they had made an impression on him. "Renault and Glenroy were good people."
"Thank you." Baurus smiled warmly, but there was a look of sorrow in his eyes. "They died honourably, no Blade could ask for more. I will make sure their swords are given a proper place of honour, alongside those that came before them. Thank you for being with us in their last moments. I'm sure it meant a lot to them to fight by your side."
Moving through the narrow passage that the assassin had opened for him, Cassian reached and opened the sewer grate beyond with some force. Entering down there, he plunged into and waded his way through the sludge that ran through the sewers, trying his best to not get any of the water into the wound on his leg. The last thing that he needed was an infection. He tried his best to keep away from the numerous rats and other little creatures that skulked and skittered around in those depths, simply content to watch them scurry past. By the time he reached the sewer exit, Cassian was exhausted unlike anything he had felt before. But he knew he had to keep moving, no matter the cost. There was no rest for the weary, not today.
Walking down the tunnel towards the sewer grate, Cassian had to hold up his hands to block the sun's rays. He hadn't seen the true light of the sun like he was seeing it now in weeks and it burned his eyes. Pushing open the large grate in front of him, he stumbled out onto the sandy ground below and almost lost his footing. Staring out in front of him, Cassian stumbled towards the waters before him and waited for his eyes to adjust to the morning sun. The blue of the Lake Rumare was a comforting sight to him as he stared into its depths. Taking a deep intake of breath, Cassian pooled water into both of his hands and splashed it against his face, before sitting back and looking out towards the waters beyond. The sun was rising for the dawn, the twenty-eighth of Last Seed had properly begun.
But for Cassian, his journey had barely even started.