The Emperor's Heart
Chapter 8
Martin had taken to pacing in front of the large fireplace in the main hall of the temple. It had been almost four days since Baurus had arrived, which meant Lysara had been with the enemy for almost as long. Had something gone wrong?
The Imperial had spent most of his waking hours reading through old tomes, trying to find out as much as he could on daedric princes and their cults. His time under Sanguine had been…enlightening, to say the least. But the Prince of Debauchery, albeit very wicked, was not nearly as evil Mehrunes Dagon. By the gods, where had they sent her?
The priest fell into a chair, tiredly running his hand through his hair. He couldn't live with himself if yet another person died because of him. His home town had been devastated by the daedra, killing so many innocents. And for what? A priest with a dirty past?
He needed her to be alright. He needed her to come out of this unscathed. Those bastards weren't likely to just hand over the Amulet of Kings; he just prayed that she could-
The large doors swung open hard, slamming against the walls. The sound made Martin launch out of his chair, ready for an attack. A few Blades had similar reactions, drawing their swords.
A familiar Nord woman in leather armor looked around the room, eyes wild and eager. When they fell upon Martin, she strode towards him. The priest walked forward to meet her, trying to ignore how fast his heart was beating.
"Ah, you're back. I told Jauffre not to worry."
She looked to be in one piece but for a few scrapes, and her hair was slightly singed on the ends. The priest thanked the gods silently as he assessed her again. She smile weakly.
"Are you alright?" He looked her over once more to make sure he hadn't missed some terrible wound.
"I'm… yes." Lysara sighed, feeling the ache in her bones. It had been a fast, hard ride all the way to the temple. The assassin had taken a longer route, twisting this way and that to throw off any pursuers from the Dagon shrine. Everything had happened so fast…
Harrow, the Warden of the Shrine, had welcomed her with pretty words and a funny red robe.
And all for the small price of all of her possessions.
Giving up her daggers had to have been the hardest part; she felt naked without them. Still, unless she wanted to give herself away, she had to obey. The dark elf led her through twisting caverns, of which Lysara tried to make a mental note.
Finally, they had arrived in a large chamber containing an altar, the ugliest statue the Nord had ever seen, and the leader of the Mythic Dawn.
Mankar Camoran stood before the crowd in all his glory. The assassin immediately noticed the Amulet of Kings dangling from the High Elf's hand where he displayed it proudly. He treated his followers with a lovely reading from a massive book. Words from the daedric prince himself; the Mysterium Xarxes.
Camoran was quite the talker; it was easy to see how he could influence so many people. Several agents listened as he prattled on about 'paradise', and how the weak would be… Lysara tuned him out after a while, and focused on her potential exits. She would need to pickpocket Harrow for her daggers, fillet the high elf, take back the Amulet, and-
Suddenly, the Mythic leader opened a portal to his paradise and walked through it, taking the Amulet of Kings with him.
Shit.
Harrow introduced her as a new initiate to another high elf. Mankar's daughter, who spouted pretty words that weren't very pretty at all; Lysara must offer Lord Dagon 'red-drink'. It was then that the Nord woman noticed the unconscious Argonian lying on a stone slab under the ugly statue.
They all looked at her expectantly. Reigning her composure, Lysara offered a flowery response, which pleased the High Elf. She was directed to a dagger lying next to the Xarxes. Lysara felt a strange aura from the tome. Hmm. If she couldn't have the Amulet…
"Lord Dagon thirsts for red-drink. Sate him!" Ruma Camoran hailed.
Lysara picked up the dagger and turned, walking slowly to the altar. Her mind raced as she tried to make a plan, all the while looking at the Argonian. He was no longer asleep. He looked up at her with pleading eyes…
She had killed many times before, but things had changed. This wasn't some bandit leader, or adulterous nobleman.
And she wasn't Brotherhood anymore.
The High Elf bitch leaned forward eagerly, a bright smile on her face as she waited for Lysara to shed the lizard man's blood. Lysara turned towards her, smiling just as brightly.
"Paradise awaits …" Lysara cooed before thrusting the dagger up through Ruma's neck. While everyone stood in shock, the assassin freed the Argonian and grabbed the book. The room shook, the ugly Dagon statue crumbling down on where the Argonian had lied just moments ago. The agents recovered, however, and that is when everything went to Oblivion in a hand basket.
She'd made it out, but barely. She had managed to take out quite a few of the red assassins, as well as get her items back. Poor Harrow. Retired or not, Lysara couldn't keep back the sadistic smile when she launched herself off the altar and at the Dark Elf. The look on his face had been priceless!
Getting out of the caverns had been difficult, though. She still wasn't sure how she'd managed it. The way she had come in was blocked, and she had ran past so many agents before finding a secret passage, all with more than a dozen red-robed murderers on her trail.
Shadowmare looked ready to fight when she burst out of the Lake Arius doorway, but she jumped on his back and urged him forward, not daring to look behind her once.
"…I can see you have bad news. You didn't recover the Amulet, did you?"
All that fuss, and she didn't even get what she was after. She looked up at Martin, feeling slightly ashamed. She'd let him down. He couldn't light the Dragonfires without it. But at least she wasn't empty-handed…
"No… but I do have something that might help us get it back." Here she opened her pack and retrieved the large book. Martin looked alarmed.
"By the Nine! Such a thing is dangerous even to handle!" He whipped it out of her hands, holding it away from her.
Holding nothing but air, Lysara blinked in surprise before fixing the Imperial with an annoyed glare. Well that was rude.
The priest bowed a little in apology. "Forgive me. You were right to bring it. But you'd better give it to me. I know some ways to protect myself from its evil power."
She sighed, deciding to let this one go. "Mankar Camoran used it to open a portal to his 'promised land'. Do you think we can use this to get to him?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I suspect that the secret of how to open a portal to Camoran's Paradise lies within these pages… But I will need time. Tampering with dark secrets, even just reading them, can be very dangerous. I will have to proceed carefully."
Lysara nodded, looking between the book and the priest. He looked tired.
"When is the last time you slept, Martin?"
He looked up, surprised to hear her address him by his name. He smiled warmly. "Not long. I promise to lie down, after I've read a little."
The Nord woman looked as if she would protest when she was interrupted by Jauffre. "Thank Talos, you've returned safely! Do you have the Amulet?"
Looking slightly dejected, the Hero of Kvatch shook her head. The Grandmaster looked ready to panic before Martin interjected. "She has brought me the next best thing. The Mysterium Xarxes will lead us to Camoran, and the Amulet."
Lysara stared at Martin, surprised. Hadn't he just said that he wasn't sure it would work? Why lie to Jauffre?
"Ah…good. I trust that you'll find the way, your highness. Now as for you" here he turned to regard the Nord woman, "we have matters to discuss. The gate guards have spotted strangers-"
The grandmaster led Lysara away as he talked. Martin watched them for a moment before looking down at the tome, studying the intricate daedric characters lining the cover. It had been a long time since his worship on Sanguine, a dark blot on his life that he'd much rather forget. But now it seemed it would serve to save Tamriel from destruction. He walked towards his room, eyes never leaving the cover.
Jauffre stopped and followed Martin with a wary eye. "I hope Martin knows what he's doing with that evil book. I fear for what it could do to him if he's not careful. It might be best if you keep an eye on him, in your free time. Let me know if you notice anything strange about him when he reads it."
Lysara nodded. They continued to discuss the possibility of spies in Bruma, and what action she might take against them.
"But for now, I think you've earned a little rest." The monk patted her shoulder in an awkward and almost fatherly way, making the assassin feel just as uncomfortable.
"Right…well, off with you." Lysara gladly left his presence, heading in the direction of the women's quarters. Jena and Caroline would be there, and she would be lying if she said she didn't look forward to seeing them, as noisy as they were.
The Hero bumped into a Blade in the hallway. "Oh, excuse me-"
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes."
"Baurus!" Lysara cleared her throat, surprised at how excited she had sounded just then. "Well met."
He smiled at her, then turned serious. "Did you bring back the Amulet?"
The Nord sighed, pulling him along as she told him of her journey into the snake pit.
