Chapter 7 – The Heart

Chapter 7 – The Heart

It was then when we made an incredible discovery. Our hastily-built catapult was loaded with a large ingot of ebony that we had found on the surface of the lava flow. The catapult was aimed north-north-east, towards Red Mountain, and fired. Rather than travelling in an arc, the ebony reached the zenith of its flight but rather than falling to the ground it continued flying northward in a much shallower arc, seemingly flying towards Red Mountain itself. This was found to happen with rock from the lava flow, ebony and some of the glass we found in the East Empire Company warehouses but nothing else.

Please, if anybody finds this, find out why it is happening. Why is the mountain seemingly trying to pull back what it has created?

Romanus dropped the quill to the ground and rolled up the scroll, placing it on a small shelf out of reach of the waterline. Himself and a few others had managed to escape the Dunmer soldiers and retreat into the strange underground ruin found in Pelagiad. His soldiers – Alanar, Mistarie and Erdora – were with him. The rest, he did not know. Maybe they made it back to Ebonheart. All Romanus knew was that he didn't have much time before the soldiers found his hiding place. Help had to arrive, and quickly.

"I'm gonna go on sentry duty" Mistarie said, breaking the silence. "It might at least give you a chance of survival"

"You don't have to put yourself at risk, Mistarie" Romanus replied.

"Yes I do. What if they use a life-detection spell? They'll all be forced through that little opening, gives me chance to pick them off one by one" Mistarie said, tapping her bow.

"Life detection…" Erdora said, casting a spell on himself. "By the Gods, they're right above us!" he exclaimed. Romanus gulped a potion from his belt and gazed above him. Erdora was right – purple patches of light representing movement above him appeared in his vision.

"Form up!" Romanus whispered loudly. "Alanar, Erdora, you're up front. Mistarie, stay back here and try and pick them off from a distance"

A few seconds later, bootfalls could be heard further up the tunnel as the Dunmer soldiers dropped down from the opening. As they ran, their footfalls were in perfect synchronisation – it was definitely a trained military unit, not tribesmen, or more survivors.

Torchlight began to glow at the top of the stairs leading down into the chamber where the four were hiding. As Alanar and Erdora brandished their axes, Mistarie nocked an arrow in her bow and took aim. As the first row of three soldiers appeared, Mistarie fired. The steel arrow shot through the air, piercing straight through one of the soldiers' bonemold chest-plate, causing the soldier to keel over, clutching their chest. Mistarie quickly reloaded and fired again, hitting another soldier in the thigh. They ran a few more paces then fell to the ground, doubled up in pain.

"Three rows of four" Erdora said to Alanar. "There's plenty for both of us"

"Let's see what you're made of then, Altmer" Alanar replied as he began to charge forward towards the soldiers, now thrown into slight disarray by two of their front-row soldiers being injured. As Alanar and Erdora charged forwards, another arrow flew between them, hitting one of the injured soldiers in the forehead and killing them.

"Damnit, I'm out of arrows!" Mistarie shouted, casting her bow to the ground and drawing a sword.

Erdora swung his axe down two-handed as he neared a Dunmer soldier, the sheer power of the attack cleaving the Dunmer's shield clean in two. Erdora then held his axe up to block a swordstroke from the Dunmer, then swung it horizontally, hewing the soldier's head clean from his body. Next to him, he saw Alanar slamming his axe into a soldier's chest, killing them, then Mistarie vaulting over the Bosmer and thrusting her sword into another soldier, throwing it back up just in time to block a swordstroke, the recoil knocking her backwards and causing her to trip over a fallen soldier and fall on her back. As the soldier raised his sword up to plunge it into Mistarie's chest, Erdora swung his axe horizontally, severing both the soldier's arms. The soldier fell to the ground, crying in pain, as blood poured from the two grizzly stumps that had been left.

As this was happening, two soldiers had advanced towards Alanar. He had managed to engage one of them, but the other got past and began racing towards Romanus.

Romanus saw the hulking Dunmer soldier approaching him, kitted out in bonemold armour covering their entire body apart from their face, which was covered by a cloth mask. Desperately, Romanus searched for a weapon – he had put his shortsword down to help lift some cargo crates to the lava flow and had left it behind when the soldiers attacked – but found nothing but the piece of raw glass Jurard had given him in Ebonheart. Romanus examined the shard of glass – it was shaped like an arrowhead, with one sharp edge, tapering to a point. Without thinking, Romanus gripped the wide end of the shard and slammed it into the Dunmer soldier's face. Romanus winced as blood burst through the soldier's mask as the soldier froze, the sound of cracking bone echoing through the chamber.

--

The Dwemer steamship thundered northward towards Ebonheart. Two wooden ships were moored at the old port – small, fast clippers which belonged neither to Varo's group or the Sun and Moon Cult. The soldiers were here.

"We might still have time!" Galmina called, leaning over the edge of the deck. "The soldiers haven't reached the bridge yet!"

Varo ran over to where Galmina was standing. The part of Ebonheart that was once the town and East Empire Company warehouses was littered with fallen soldiers, both Dunmer and his own men. Beyond where the battle had been fought, ranks of Dunmer soldiers were filing towards the bridge to the castle.

"We weren't quick enough" Varo said quietly. "May the Gods forgive us…"

"Varo, the bridge! They're going to get to the castle!" Galmina cried.

"The bridge…" Varo said, snapping back into reality, holding his finger in the air to test the direction of the wind. "Sea Monster, full steam ahead! Head for the bridge and sail into it! Destroy it! Galmina, come with me!"

Varo leapt up and bolted for the trapdoor that led below decks, Galmina following close behind him. The pair sprinted down the stairwell, eventually emerging in the furnace room.

"The Dwemer always kept rare minerals in their ruins" Varo said. "Don't ask me why. I imagine their ships are the same. Find fire salts. Lots of them! When you find them, throw them in the furnace! I'm going to find ammunition for the ballista!"

Varo turned and began to run back towards the stairs, but then stopped and turned to face Galmina. He removed an amulet from around his neck and gave it to her.

"Take this" he said. "You'll need it. It always brings me good luck"

Galmina put the amulet around her neck then raced over to a small barrel that was lying down on the ground. Using the edge of her dagger, she prised the lid off the barrel, then cried in elation as fire salts poured out of the barrel. The entire barrel was full of them! With all her might, Galmina lifted the barrel and ran for the furnace.

--

Varo burst out onto the deck, clutching two ballista bolts he had found in a small storeroom below decks.

"Sten, naphtha!" Varo shouted, racing towards the ballista and loading one of the bolts in it. "Now!"

Sten ran towards Varo and produced a small bottle of naphtha he always carried with him to ignite arrows with. Second-guessing Varo, he poured the contents of the bottle onto the bolt.

Varo looked to the sky. Steam was still belching from the ship's enormous chimney, but it had a strong red tint to it, and the strong northern wind was blowing the steam over Ebonheart. At that moment, everything happened at once.

Just as the first soldiers set foot on the wooden bridge that led from Ebonheart to the castle, the Dwemer ship ploughed through it, snapping it like a twig. At the same time, using the limits of his magical abilities, Varo ignited the naphtha coating the bolt then fired the ballista. The flaming bolt shot towards Ebonheart, igniting the fire salts in the cloud of steam, causing a spectacular explosion which ripped through the sky, turning Ebonheart into a blazing inferno. Burning fire salts rained to the ground, engulfing the Dunmer soldiers in flames, as Sten used his crossbow to take down the soldiers who had fallen into the sea.

Varo breathed a sigh of relief as silence fell over Ebonheart, the only sound being the crackle of embers. After a few seconds, the Dwemer ship had sailed clear of Ebonheart, still travelling at around fifty knots, as Sea Monster killed all power to the huge wheel that drove the ship, causing it to slowly glide to a halt.

"We're safe" Varo said. "For now. We'd better check on everyone else"

"Varo" Galmina said. "The first barrel I opened was full of fire salts…"

"I told you that amulet brings me good luck" Varo replied, taking the amulet back from Galmina.

North of Molag Mar, earlier that day

Father Velas, Father Indarys, Amani and Selvio all stood in a circle, their hands above their heads. Janas Ormaren lay dead on the ground in front of them, shot with a crossbow when he refused to surrender his weapon. All around them, Dunmer soldiers stood in a wide circle, their bows drawn and aimed at the four, as one soldier removed his helmet and approached them.

"Father Velas, I presume" the soldier said, approaching the elderly priest. "I am Commander Drothan Indoril of the Allegiance of the Four Houses of Morrowind"

"Whatever you want I am sure it is not friendship, so get on with it" Father Velas replied coldly.

"You're right" Drothan said. "The Sun and Moon Cult does not need a glass mine. The Great Council of Morrowind does"

"I might have known that this was about control of resources"

"Surrender the glass deposits or we will kill you and all your people"

Father Velas sighed. "I would not put such an act past you. Fine. You can have the mine"

Drothan gazed over Father Velas' shoulder, where the mighty tower of Molag Mar loomed in the distance, about a mile away. "It would make a good coastal fortification"

"A fortification?" Father Indarys said bitterly. "Against what?"

"Against those who object to our presence on this island – The Empire. I'm sure given time they could muster enough decent Nord sailors in Solstheim to launch a full-on naval assault"

"We will not give you Molag Mar" Father Velas said. "It is our home. We got there first and we have a right to live there. It had no previous House ownership. It was owned by the Tribunal Temple, who are no more. It is common ground"

"It is not a question of ownership, Father" Drothan said coldly. "I will spare your lives if you have left Molag Mar by dawn. If not, my men will not hesitate in killing you all. Now go"

"The wrath of Azura will rain down upon you" Father Velas said. "Pity you when it does. Go on, go and claim your damn mine"

Most of the soldiers began to move towards the great rift in the mountain which contained the glass deposits, but Drothan and a few others watched the four meekly walk back towards Molag Mar.

"Where are we going to go, Father?" Amani asked Father Velas nervously.

"Don't worry, my dear girl" Father Velas replied, keeping his eyes fixed on Molag Mar. "I will take us to someone I know can look after us – Azura"

"You want to find the shrine, Father?" Father Indarys asked him.

"I know where the shrine is, my friend" Father Velas replied. "I simply need someone to get us there safely. I need Varo Sinclair"

--

Varo and his friends finally reached Ebonheart castle, having reconstructed the wooden bridge and mooring the huge Dwemer steamship at the anchorage. The first person who approached them was Levisson.

"Commander! We had given up hope!" Levisson said, elated. "Then we saw that strange ship and we knew it was you…"

"Well done for holding them off, my friend" Varo replied. "We should rightfully be celebrating but we have work to do. How many soldiers did we lose?"

"Most of Romanus' mercenaries who stayed back were killed" Levisson said. "We only lost three men… one of them was Marinus"

Varo's heart skipped a beat, and he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. Levisson put a hand on his shoulder.

"He led us well, organised a good defence in very little time. He went down fighting many soldiers"

"His death will not be in vain" Varo said. "We are going to clear the island of these bastards. Get some men together, we need to go to Pelagiad and check on Romanus. Where is Commander Hermidius?"

"Are my ears burning?" a voice called from across the room as a tall, handsome Imperial strode towards Varo - Commander Ralix Hermidius. Since Varo had been in such a hurry to leave to find the Dwemer ship, he hadn't actually seen his friend yet.

"A pleasure as always, Ralix" Varo said warmly, shaking Hermidius' hand.

"You have a good team here, Varo" Hermidius replied. "My men had only just left the ship when the Dunmer turned up, and your men had a counter-attack set up instantly"

"Come with me, Hermidius" Varo said. "We need to talk. Galmina, come on"

--

"What are we going to do, Varo?" Hermidius asked as the three stood on the rope bridge, gazing out to sea.

"I am going to make sure all my people are safe" Varo replied. "Then I will worry about defending what little we have. I don't think we can defeat the Grand Council in battle – we simply don't have the man-power. We are going to have to learn to co-exist with them, and accept that they are now the dominant force on this island"

"Do they want to co-exist with us, though? I mean, how many of our people have they killed?"

"Shock and awe, Hermidius. They want us to know that they are not to be messed with. And they are Dunmer, so their way of doing that is killing people"

"Have you checked out much of the island? Is there anywhere else we can move to and establish?"

"I want to establish south-western Vvardenfell as ours. Here, the Ascadian Isles and maybe across to the southern reaches of the Bitter Coast. I saw an old Dunmer stronghold there in good condition that would make an ideal fortress. I have written off Vivec. It is on the verge of collapse – it is too dangerous to venture into. As I said though, the first thing I am going to do is check Romanus is safe. Hermidius, the defences of Ebonheart are in your hands while I am gone"

--

"It's clear" Erdora said, peering out of the trapdoor. Cautiously, he climbed the ladder out of the underground ruin into the large clearing and drew his axe. Alanar and Mistarie followed him, with Romanus leaving last of all.

"Oh my…" Romanus said, looking around. A pile of corpses lay at the edge of the clearing, the corpses of people wearing common clothing or basic leather armour. They were builders, miners and surveyors – Romanus' team. By the looks of it, they had been within moments of reaching safety when the soldiers had caught up with them.

"Romanus? Romanus, is that you?" a voice called out of the woods.

"How many?" Romanus whispered as Mistarie drew her bow. Erdora glanced in the direction of the voice.

"Three" Erdora replied. "We can take them if they're hostile"

"Yes!" Romanus called. "Over here, in the clearing!"

Shortly, three men crept out of the forest, two labourers, Keem-La and Stirjorn, and a mercenary, Burdush gra-Barat.

"I think we're all that's left" Burdush said. "Us three managed to get away from most of the soldiers. Two followed us, but I dealt with them. We've been lying low ever since"

"Well, we're not out of this yet" Romanus said. "We have to get back to Ebonheart. I am sure Varo will have defended it well and it will still be standing. Mistarie, what's the best route from here?"

"About a mile to Seyda Neen then we can follow the coast"

"Shut up, everyone!" Erdora whispered loudly, still scanning around with his life detection spell. "There's people to the south!"

"They might be more survivors" Alanar said. "Don't be so uptight, Altmer"

"Yes, but they might be more soldiers, Bosmer"

"We should scout it out" Burdush said. "I'll lead the way"

Burdush gra-Barat was a fine soldier who, in a slightly poor decision by Romanus, had been placed in the distinctly non-glamorous position of ensuring that the labourers and surveyors didn't get themselves into trouble. Unlike most Orcs he was a light warrior, relying on remaining undetected, moving quickly and trueness of aim with his bow as opposed to heavy armour and brute force.

"Alanar, Erdora, Mistarie, go with him" Romanus said. "Come back when it's safe"

Erdora tapped Burdush on the shoulder, signalling him to halt.

"There's more than I thought" Erdora whispered. "It looks like two groups. They're moving in formation"

"Soldiers, then" Burdush replied. "It looks like it's time for us to earn our pay. Hold your ground but don't let them get to the clearing"

Burdush drew his bow as Erdora pointed out into the forest – between the trees, he could just about see four Dunmer soldiers moving towards them, unaware of their presence. Burdush knelt down, carefully aimed and fired. The arrow shot through the gaps between the trees and slammed into the soldier's temple, killing him before he knew what had happened. As another soldier ran to his fallen comrade, Burdush swiftly reloaded and fired again, killing the second soldier. The two remaining soldiers ducked behind trees for cover. They were safe – for now.

"The other group have spotted us!" Erdora cried, pointing to the left. Through the trees, about fifty metres away, ten more soldiers were advancing towards them.

"I've got these two" Burdush said calmly, loading another arrow into his bow. Erdora drew his axe and began moving towards the bigger group, using the trees as cover from an archer who was firing at them. Alanar and Mistarie followed him, ducking behind two trees as arrows thudded into them in an explosion of splinters. Mistarie drew her own bow and returned fire, hitting one of the archers as they leapt out of cover to fire, striking them in the chest.

"Advance!" Erdora shouted as he and Alanar leapt from cover, brandishing their axes, using Mistarie's fire as the distraction they needed. Another arrow shot by from behind them, taking down another soldier.

"That's it, I'm dry!" Mistarie called, casting her bow to the ground and drawing her sword. "I'm going for that dead archer, cover me!"

Erdora pointed out the fallen archer to Alanar as the pair began to move towards the corpse, engaging two Dunmer soldiers both armed with Claymores which glowed a pale blue with magical enchantments. Alanar swung his axe horizontally as one of the soldiers prepared to attack, knocking the soldier's weapon from their hands, then using the momentum from the attack he spun 360 degrees, building up staggering momentum and hewing the soldier clean in half.

Erdora parried with the other soldier, using his axe to block blows from the soldier's Claymore, feeling a constant tingle as small amounts of electricity from the soldier's magical weapon conducted through his steel axe. Suddenly, both their weapons clashed as they both tried to attack at once, sending Erdora quivering with recoil. The soldier quickly withdrew his sword then plunged it straight into Erdora's shoulder, punching straight through the Altmer's chainmail armour. Erdora fell to the ground, roaring in pain, as Alanar slammed his axe down into the soldier's back, killing him instantly.

"Erdora's hurt!" Alanar shouted. "Burdush, we need you here!"

"I'm on it!"

Burdush released the drawstring on his bow, dropping it as soon as the arrow had left it. The arrow struck the soldier in the navel, the soldier dropping to the ground clutching his stomach. Burdush drew his shortsword and sank it into the second soldier's chest before they had chance to react. Spinning round, Burdush saw Alanar standing over Erdora, brandishing his axe, whilst Mistarie hurriedly recovered arrows from the fallen archer.

"We're outnumbered!" Alanar shouted as Burdush reached him. He fell to the floor and examined Erdora.

"Altmer are vulnerable to the elements" Burdush said. "I fear the worst"

Erdora was unconscious but still breathing, blood seeping from the wound on his shoulder and dripping through his armour.

"Guys! I could use a hand here!" Mistarie shouted, backpedalling whilst firing her bow into a soldier, hitting them in their left arm. The soldier dropped his shield but, with a new sense of aggression spurred on by adrenaline, charged at Mistarie brandishing a mace.

Suddenly, the soldier's head burst like a watermelon as he was thrown forwards, hit by a tremendous force from behind. Another soldier turned to look at the commotion when he too was hit by a powerful projectile, gruesomely cracking his head in half. Hidden in the undergrowth, Mistarie spotted Sten Hawk-Eye, Varo's marksman, with his Dwemer crossbow. As a soldier tried to attack Sten from behind, Varo himself leapt from behind a tree and thrust his sword into the soldier's abdomen. In the undergrowth, surrounding the Dunmer, Mistarie saw more of Varo's soldiers, the men she knew as Levisson, Arcturus and Hrundus, along with Galmina pointing out targets with a life-detection spell.

Thrown into disarray, the Dunmer soldiers were soon killed by Varo's men. Immediately, Mistarie ran to check on Erdora.

"Galmina, get over here!" she shouted. Galmina rushed to Mistarie's side.

"Erdora!" Galmina cried as Erdora gradually began to regain consciousness. He looked up at Galmina and smiled weakly through his thick grey beard.

"Hello, my girl" Erdora said feebly as Galmina put her hands on Erdora's shoulder. Pale blue energy began to surge from her hands into the Altmer as an incredible change happened – the wound healed, the flow of blood was stemmed, and life and energy returned to his face. Galmina smiled sweetly at him.

"There you go" she said. "All better"

Erdora sat up and put an arm around Galmina. "Varo made a good choice bringing you with him, my dear girl"

"Is anyone else hurt?" Varo called, regrouping all his soldiers.

"We're all OK" Mistarie said. "You got here just in time, Commander. You saved our hides again!"

"Well, that's what I'm here for" Varo replied, smiling. "Where's Romanus?"

"Right here, Commander" Romanus said from behind Mistarie, having entered the forest after hearing Varo's voice.

"Romanus? You look terrible" Varo said. "What happened?"

"They came out of nowhere" Romanus said shakily, only just beginning to reflect on what had happened. "We were up on the lava flow when they attacked. Most of us managed to make it to the forest but they hunted us down. This is all that's left"

"I have something that will improve the situation" Varo said, reaching into a small sack that Galmina had been carrying with her. From the sack, he produced several bottles of Cyrodiilic ale.

Romanus laughed. "You understand me more than I thought, Commander! Where did you get these from?"

"There's crates of them back at the castle" Varo replied. "They were unloading them when I left. I thought as a fellow Imperial you'd enjoy a taste of home"

"What's the story at Ebonheart?" Romanus asked, taking one of the bottles.

"My men and Hermidius held it well" Varo replied. "We lost a few men but the castle still stands, and we recovered the Dwemer ship. Everyone is accounted for now, but I don't think we can stay in Ebonheart. It doesn't matter for now though, you all need a rest"