Chapter 7- Tip of the Iceberg
The blackness was slowly pierced by a blurry greyness that soon engulfed Marsus' vision. Small red flickers appeared in it, and the blurriness faded, and Marsus realised he was looking at the ground of Oblivion. He was sprawled on the floor next to Renault, and slowly rose up dusting himself off. Renault groaned and lifted her head a little.
"Ow..." she said.
"You're lucky!" Marsus said cheekily.
"Why?" she whimpered.
"Usually when I have been in the company of women, when they wake up afterwards I have already gone, and taken the rest of the wine with me!"
Renault gave her trademark scowl, which made Marsus laugh. He offered his hand to her and helped her up.
"Remind me not to travel between the fabric of worlds again!" he remarked.
"Enough with the jokes!" Renault snapped "We have a job to do!"
"Alright mum..." Marsus said quietly.
Renault would have scolded Marsus some more, but her imminent eruption was stemmed by a shout in the distance.
"HELP!"
"Somebody's life at stake far more important that annoying me!" Marsus said quickly.
Renault nodded and scooped up her sword, Marsus quickly grabbed his silver daggers, and they ran in the direction of the voice. They ran over a small hill of hard brimstone and saw a huge gate of black iron towering above them. The gate opened up onto a huge bridge of stone, guarded by small black towers, covered in lethal jagged spikes. At the other end of the bridge was another gate, and beyond that, a huge black tower, jagged as if it had been a bolt of lightning that had frozen in time. At the top of the tower was a small slit of a window, from which was an orange glow. Despite this hellish view, Marsus and Renault were concentrating on the one in front of the nearest gate, a man wearing the Kvatch guard uniform was in battle with two Scamps, A Dremora and another Scamp lay dead on the ground around him. Without stopping to think Marsus charged forward, driving both of his knives into the back of one of the Scamps' necks. The other lost its head to Renault's blade. The man looked at Renault and Marsus with relief, and then bewilderment.
"Thank the Nine, I never thought I'd see another friendly face..." he said.
"You're lucky then, you've got two." Marsus replied. "What happened?"
"The Captain sent us in here to close the gate; Menien thought he knew how to do it. We went onto the bridge yonder, but the gates closed, and I was left outside. They got trapped and slaughtered, and they dragged Menien off to the tower. They didn't find me, until a minute ago, and then you turned up. Tell me, is the Captain okay?"
"The Captain is fine, he sent us in here. The barricades have held." Renault said.
"Thank the Nine for that! I had seen at least a dozen Daedra go through the portal; I thought for sure they had died! This is a relief, but I know not what to do now..."
"Where is this man who knows how to close the gate?" Marsus intervened, a serious tone evident in his voice.
"They took him to the big tower, over there" the man said pointing towards the north. "His name is Menien; he knows how to close the gate. At least he thinks he does..."
"Right, we need to find him." Renault said assertively.
"What's your name friend?" Marsus asked.
"Ilend Vonis, my sword is yours friend."
"Come with us and help find your companion, we need all the men we can get to close this thing!" Marsus said.
Renault coughed.
"And women." He added quickly.
****
The landscape was as barren and hellish as had been described in all the books Marsus had read. Lakes of lava, hills of ash and brimstone, veins of blood pumping through the rock and springing up into bloodgrass, tall jagged black towers, from which rotten corpses were hung, some were aflame, cursed to burn forever. Other corpses lay charred and burned, and bodies of other unfortunate victims were seen occasionally. Thunder and lightning was always present in the sky, but no rain. Oblivion was dry as the deserts of Elsweyr. The mouths of the party soon became parched.
They followed a path that ran next to a slow river of lava, which sporadically bubbled and leapt into the air, sending ash raining down on them. On the other side was a cliff face that was impassable, and bristling with razor sharp stones. As they were about to cross a bridge crowned with iron spikes over the river, a rockslide rumbled down in front of them, and careered into the lava river. Quickly the three found cover in the adjacent cliff, using its deformed outstretches of rock as shelter from the lethal rain. When it stopped they crawled back out in silence, and continued along the path. They had to shuffle round boulders that had blocked their path over the bridge. The delay had cost them precious time.
"Let us just think ourselves lucky we haven't found battle." Marsus murmured to himself.
At that moment they saw shapes blacked out against the red sky on the next hill.
"Well done!" Renault said sarcastically, "Speak of the Daedra and they shall come!"
She drew her blade, as did Ilend, a bit apprehensively. Marsus slid both his silver daggers out of their sheaths and twirled them around his wrists, so their hilts felt good and strong in his hand. The three crept along the path, but they did not take into account the fact that the terrain was against them. A large vine on the adjacent cliff suddenly snaked out and wrapped itself around Ilend's ankle, the resulting cry and clang of steel on the ground alerted the Daedra to their presence. Suddenly another vine reached out and wrapped itself around Renault's sword arm, jerking her against the wall. Marsus leapt back in surprise, just out of the reach of a third vine that tried to grab him.
"Help me!" Ilend cried.
"Fool! Fight the Daedra!" Renault shouted over him.
Marsus looked over to the oncoming Daedra, there were two Dremora, and one had a huge Claymore, the other a decrepit mace and shield. There were two Scamps with them, following behind them like lapdogs. Marsus ran over to the vines, but his silver daggers could not cut them, and he had to leap out of the way of the vine again. Renault and Ilend struggled against the vines, but to no avail. As the Daedra got closer Marsus turned and knew he had to fight. A fireball flew past him, he did not flinch. The first Dremora got close enough so that Marsus could see the red of its eyes; Marsus took a deep breath and leapt.
****
Métzzt saw the mortal jump at him, which was rather odd. Usually they cowered and cried for mercy before he butchered them, not leapt into combat. As this thought crossed his mind, he felt something dig into his chest. It was one of the mortal's weapons that he must have thrown, yet Métzzt could not fathom why. The next thing he felt was the impact of a thirteen stone man flying into him, which didn't hurt but made him fall to the ground in surprise. The mortal was on top of him, but Métzzt was quick enough to scratch the mortals face with a free hand, the mortal cried aloud and leapt off of him. At that moment the pathetic Churl and his pets turned up. One of the Scamps tried to claw the mortal, but it suffered several stabbings from the mortal's small weapon and collapsed into a heap. 'Pithy things.' Métzzt thought as he got himself to his feet and plucked the small weapon from his breastplate. He cast it aside and readied his claymore.
The Churl had swung at the mortal, but missed clumsily. It tried again, and the blow would have struck home if it were for not the mortal dodging backwards like a coward. But he leapt back into the reach of the Harrada root. The root swung out at him, but the mortal must have had some sixth sense, for he ducked and the root instead wrapped around the neck of the Churl. Its head twisted round in a rather amusing way, and the body fell to the floor. Métzzt spat, that lowly minion did not deserve to even hold the rank of Churl, not that he did any more. As the second Scamp fired another fireball at the mortal, Métzzt roared and charged.
****
Marsus saw the fireball flying at him, and dodged aside. One hit from one of those would be fatal as he no longer possessed his cuirass. The other Dremora charged at him again, its claymore rose in the middle of an arc. Instead of dodging back, Marsus leapt forward, and interrupted the swing of the sword by grabbing the Dremora's wrists. The Dremora was far stronger than him however, and wrestled the claymore out of Marsus' grasp. But that did not matter, for Marsus was exactly where he wanted to be. He head butted the Dremora twice in the nose, forcing it to stagger back, then before the Dremora could raise its heavy claymore to parry a blow; Marsus ran into it and drove his silver knife into the Daedra's neck. He withdrew the blade and as the dying creature swayed, Marsus slit its throat with a powerful stroke, and the Daedra spun round and collapsed onto the floor.
Marsus paused, and had the feeling that he had forgotten something. But by then it was too late. The Scamp had leapt on to his back and drove its claw into his shoulder. Marsus cried aloud and arched his back with pain, which made the Scamp loose its balance on him and tumble off. Marsus turned and with adrenaline pumping through his body and veins, struck powerfully at the Scamp's leg as it tried to get up, then with one forceful stomp, crushed its head with his boot. He knelt in the dust, panting. His shoulder burned with a coarse fire, which felt like it had been amplified by the fires in Oblivion. He was deaf to the cries of his companions; all that mattered was the pain he was feeling. He laid his hand onto his shoulder, and cast a small restoration spell onto it. The magika felt soothing and sleek, like water poured onto a rough stone, cleansing it of dirt and pain. The wound closed a little, and a large scab formed over it. That was bearable at least. He felt his face at the blood that seeped from the claw marks on his face. He cast another minor restorative spell on his face, and the wound faded to four lines that graced his cheek. Sound seemed to finally reach his ears again, and he heard the shouts of Ilend and Renault.
"Marsus are you okay? Can you walk?!" Renault shouted at him.
"Yes I'm alright!" Marsus snapped back, feeling like he was being patronised. "How am I going to get you two free?"
"Try the Dremora's sword over there." Ilend suggested.
Marsus made his way over to it, and tried to pick it up. It was far heavier than he thought it would be, defiantly heavier than any claymore he had lifted before. Holding hilt and blade carefully with both hands, he struggled over to the cliff face. The vine swung out at him again, but Marsus quickly swung the heavy blade at it, and sliced it clean in half. The root then went limp, though the severed half flipped around on the ground for a few seconds like a fish out of water, before wrapping itself in comfort round the face of the dead Churl on the floor and lay still.
Marsus then used the blade to saw through the vines holding Renault and Ilend prisoner; those vines also went limp, leaving their former prisoners unharmed. Marsus then dropped the heavy sword, and nursed his aching muscles.
"Thank you Marsus..." Renault said with a relieved sigh.
"You fought well friend!" observed Ilend as he nudged one of the Scamps bodies with his foot.
"How is your wound?" Renault said with concern.
"Oh, it'll pass. I think it'll be fine." Marsus said dismissively.
Renault placed an armoured hand on his shoulder and applied another healing spell to the wound. Whereas before the sensation felt like water this time the spell felt like honey over a bitter tongue. Marsus sighed in bliss, and felt the wound close completely.
"That better?" Renault asked.
Marsus could only nod in reply.
"Okay then..." she said giving him a strange look.
"I'm sorry but that felt really nice..." Marsus said happily.
"Don't get used to it!" Renault snapped back.
"What? I didn't mean anything sexual at all!"
"Yeah right, don't play innocent with me!"
Marsus decided to shut up at that point, his victory and the healing of his wound had lifted his spirits in this hellish place, and he wished it to stay like that for as long as possible. He picked up his other knife discarded on the ground, and placed them back in his belt. They continued on, over another small hill, then down a narrow path that was flanked by two cliffs of stone. Marsus could have sworn that he could see faces peering at him, but when he turned and looked closely, they were just shapes in the stone. After a few minutes of this discomfort and feeling of claustrophobia, the path opened out onto a much larger road. They had come out onto the other side of the bridge; there was another huge gate on this side. From this angle Marsus could see bodies laid out on the bridge. Just to the side of the gate was a small tower, barely higher than the gate itself.
"I would assume that's a gatehouse..." Renault observed.
"Only one way to find out." Marsus said grimly.
As they approached the tower the thought 'Is this a good idea?' simultaneously popped into their heads. The stone looked as if it were made of shining black granite, enlaced with crude symbols and scriptures. The arched door was a slab of stone, with a glowing symbol upon it. Marsus recognised it as the Dwemer rune for Oblivion, carved into the door out of a burning red crystal that seemed to resonate with the feeling of danger. Curiosity came over Marsus, so he pushed against the door.
It was heavy, but slowly moved backwards, then sunk into the ground at a slow speed. When it finally fitted into the floor Marsus cautiously stepped inside. The tower was dimly lit; the only light seemed to be a red glow from a window in the ceiling, and a few torches around the walls. A stone ramp ran around the inside the tower, with no railing or steps. In the middle was some sort of mechanism, it looked as if it were a platform that could be raised but reminded Marsus of some sort of unpleasant object of torture. In the platform there were holes, protruding through them were several large spikes. The platform was repeatedly rising and falling; clanking against a stuck gear, meaning it was useless.
"I'll take the ramp," Marsus said, "You stay here and keep guard; I don't want anything creeping up behind me."
Before Renault could protest he ran up the ramp, following its curve up and around the tower. He reached another level, which was empty save for a red basket like thing in the centre. Marsus approached it cautiously. He then realised it was then pulsating; three claw like legs supported a bag that looked as if it were made of flesh. Marsus looked inside, and saw something folded up in the bottom, he placed his hand inside (which in hindsight wasn't the safest thing to do) and pulled it out. It was a battered leather cuirass, and with it was a silver ring. Marsus put the ring on his finger, and looked at the cuirass. He decided it was better than nothing, and strapped it on over his dirty and ash stained shirt. He then ascended the ramp to the next floor, where he saw something that took him by surprise.
There was a Dremora, with his back to Marsus, who appeared to be inspecting some sort of large gear mechanism, connected to a lever on the wall nearby. The Daedra was tapping the gears with a bone, using it like a hammer. Marsus watched this strange scene for a few seconds, before realising that he needed to kill this creature. He pulled the knives from his belt, and crept behind the Dremora. He appeared to be swearing in his own horrible hissing language, and finally struck the gears with a great blow, and they rattled into life. The Dremora turned and surprise was in his eyes when Marsus' daggers sliced into his jugular. As the body swayed and fell to the ground, Marsus slid his daggers back into their sheath and looked at the lever on the wall. He placed his hands upon it; it seemed slightly sticky, as though it were made of dried blood. He pulled it down, and from outside heard a huge rumble as the gates swung slowly open.
****
Renault jumped at the noise of what sounded like metal grinding on stone and ran outside with her sword in hand. She felt rather silly when she saw the gates yawning open, and sheathed her sword. Ilend had ran after her, then stopped in shock. The gates slowly unveiled a bloody scene on the bridge, the bodies of at least half a dozen Kvatch guardsmen lay on stone stained sickly red by blood. Ilend sank to his knees.
"I never saw them...I only...heard them..." he stuttered, "Heard them die..."
He then leapt up again and ran onto the bridge.
"No!" Renault cried, but it was too late.
She had no choice but to run after him. Ilend was checking the pulses of each corpse, even those soaked in a pool of their own blood.
"Ilend...they are all dead." Renault said sadly, trying to talk sense into him.
"They can't be! They can't be! Someone must survive!" Ilend said desperately.
"You're overcome with survivor's guilt!" Renault shouted, "We need to get out of here!"
The gates had fully opened by this time; Renault's eyes flitted from Ilend to the gates, fearing that something may come for them. And something did. Renault gasped as two large lizard-like creatures approached from either end of the bridge, cutting them off. Renault recognised them as Daedroth, one of the most fearsome creatures from the hordes of Oblivion. Their scales were as good as any steel plate, their teeth as sharp as a sword and they could throw fireballs to the equal of any mage. And there were two of them. Renault drew her sword and held it in front of her, arms shaking in fear.
"So this is how it ends" she whispered to herself, "Dying in Oblivion..."
She raised her sword and charged.
