One Night with the Emperor

Chapter Eleven – The Great Gate

A huge crowd, quite possibly all of Bruma, gathered outside of Bruma. They lined the streets from the chapel to the eastern gate. We walked this time, letting the people have hope in their Heir. Martin led the way. All of the frantic cheers were for him anyway. Jauffre and I flanked him, trailing a few steps behind. The rest of the Blades followed us.

We emerged from the city walls. Captain Burd and all of the soldiers from all over Cyrodiil stood in a field a few hundred yards away, facing an Oblivion gate. Martin broke into a run. Time is not our ally today. We followed.

At our approach, Captain Burd fell into line. The Blades formed a row in front of the soldiers, Jauffre and I at the center. Martin walked out front.

"Soldiers of Cyrodiil!" He called, walking up and down the lines. "The Empire will stand or fall by what we do here today! Will we let the daedra do to Bruma what they did to Kvatch? Will we let them burn our homes? Will we let them kill our families? No! We will make our stand here, today, for the whole of Cyrodiil! We must hold fast until The Hero of Kvatch can destroy their Great Gate! Soldiers of Cyrodiil!" He drew his sword. "Do you stand with me?"

I drew my sword first. The point jabbed at the sky. A roar escaped my lungs. A chorus of roars echoed mine.

Daedra exited the gate, meeting our challenge. I leapt into action. Martin only a few steps in front of me.

Not many daedra can come through an Oblivion gate at once. We picked off the ones that emerged from the one gate fairly easily. When the second gate opened, things changed. The gate opened on the other side of the field with a fairly large gap in between them. We had to split into two groups to defend Bruma. I stuck by Martin.

I can't decide on "much too soon" or "not soon enough" before the third gate went up. Only minutes after that, the Great Gate started to build. Stupid thing was huge. I ran for it. The portal shivered to life.

Martin's voice cut through the noise. "Go, Abiyomi!"

I jumped. The world spun. Hot, burning gasses replaced the cool mountain air. My feet hit broken stone. Heat radiated up through the ground.

In front of me loomed huge iron gates. As I watched, the doors swung open, revealing the tip of metal and magic swirling together with destruction. The Siege Crawler. It moved steadily forward, aimed right for the gate. Behind it, I could barely see the top of the tower that held the Great Sigil Stone. The only way to the Sigil Keep was through the towers that lined the siege engine's path.

I ran. Daedra tried to attack me. I ignored them best I could. A few fireballs hit me. I cast my healing spell and kept running. Some daedra blocked my way. They bounced off my shield or skewered on my sword.

Into one tower. Up a few flights. Out onto the bridge to another tower. No daedra. The siege engine crawled along, going the opposite direction of me.

I burst into the next tower. Ran up a few more flights. Skewered another daedra. Emerged at the top of the– crap. Wrong way. Below me, the siege engine crawled along. I glanced back. Bad idea. It neared the portal.

Crap, crap, crap, crap.

On the bright side, the stupid thing is long. I still have time. Turning, I ran back inside and down to the bottom of the tower, ignoring another daedra. Out onto a bridge leading to the Sigil Keep.

Only a few feet in front of me, the bridge gave out. I slid to a stop. Lava swirled below. The bridge continued several feet below, but a fairly large chunk was missing. Could I make it? One way to find out.

A daedra on the other side noticed me. He hissed and started throwing fireballs at me. I ignored him. Backed up to the tower. Braced myself. Ran. Leapt.

Landed on the edge. Rolled forward. A fireball hit me. I spun as I stood, slicing through the daedra. Before his body hit the ground, I took off running.

The bridge ended. My feet pounded across the barren stone to the Sigil Keep. I slammed the door open.

Inside, I almost felt calmer. This Sigil Keep looks just like all the others in previous gates I closed. But it would be hard to avoid daedra now.

I worked my way up the keep's tower. Fireballs seared my flesh. Claws, horns, and dremora maces and swords dented my armor and shield. Their black blood smoked on my blade.

I never stopped running. Even when my muscles screamed, sweat trickled down my body, and my lungs burned. I kept running.

Finally, I reached the top of the keep. Metal gave way to rough stone. Rough stone gave way to solidified flesh. More daedra fell to my sword. Up the spiked bone stairs. Around to the flesh ramps. To the very tip of the keep.

There. The Great Sigil Stone. I sheathed my katana. Grabbed it in both hands. The building around me blurred and began to collapse. I held on. Closed my eyes. The world roared like a dying beast.

"The gate's closing!"

"Look out!"

Cold, biting mountain air replaced the searing heat. I opened my eyes. Directly above me, half of the siege engine made it out. The Great Gate closed, severing it. It started to collapse.

Well, shit.

Baurus ran to me. Flung an arm around me. Yanked me away.

We fell. My helmet flew off. Part of the siege engine fell toward us. I shoved Baurus away. Rolled the opposite way. Sheltered the Stone with my body. A metal spike dug into the ground. Right where Baurus and I fell.

The screeching of collapsing metal silenced. I sighed relief. Let my head flop to the ground. Dirt and rocks dug into my forehead. All of me hurt.

"Abiyomi!" Martin's voice echoed through the silence.

My head snapped up. Martin ran toward me. Landed on his knees next to me. I reached for him. He helped me to my knees. His hands radiated healing magic. It felt absolutely wonderful. Can I melt into his arms now, please?

"You're alive," he breathed. "Thank the Nine you're alive."

"Public behavior." I reminded him through gritted teeth.

"Dammit, I know, but helping The Hero of Kvatch to her feet after she saved our lives is the least the Heir can do."

Martin stood, helping me up. His hands continued to radiate healing magic. Can't I just hold him and stop shaking? Instead, I clutched the Great Sigil Stone to my chest. Near us, Jauffre helped Baurus to his feet.

"Come on." Martin said to me, pulling me toward the collapsed siege engine. Even collapsed, it still towered over all of us.

"What? Why?" I asked, bewildered, but letting him pull me.

Martin let me go and started climbing the side of the siege engine.

"You're crazy, you know that?" I told him.

He turned back toward me, offering me his hand, voice low. "Yes, I do know that. Crazy for you most of all."

"Emperor Cheeseball."

He smiled.

Sadly, I saw the logic. As Heir and Hero, us standing atop the collapsed and broken siege engine would signify that we're stronger than the enemy. Huge morale booster. Especially necessary because we have no idea what comes next.

I sighed, but put my hand in his. Healing and a spell of feather washed over me. My armor felt as if it weighed nothing.

We climbed the siege engine together. Martin did most of the work because I only had one arm to climb with. My other arm held securely to the Great Sigil Stone.

Martin crested the top. Turning back to me, he knelt and slid his hand into mine where I hung onto the side. He hauled me the rest of the way up.

There wasn't a lot of room to stand on top of the siege engine. Mostly, it was as the rest of it, random iron spikes that held no visible purpose but an intimidation factor. Can't say I minded. Gave me an excuse to stand pretty close to Martin.

Below us, the soldiers gathered. I swept the battlefield with my eyes. Many daedra bodies litters the ground, but only a handful of our soldiers died. Knowing we lost any hurt, but the losses were significantly less than I dared to hope.

All eyes focused on us. Martin took his helmet off and tucked it under one arm. Due to the minimal standing space, doing so put his hand behind me. He discreetly placed his hand on the small of my back. Sneaky, sneaky. Healing magic continued to seep into me through his touch.

"Soldiers of Cyrodiil!" Martin called. "Bards will sing of this battle for centuries to come! For we have won this day! Bruma is saved!"

Cheers erupted from below us as well as on the walls of Bruma. Martin pumped his sword into the air. I held up the Great Sigil Stone with both hands. The cheers intensified.

"Hail, Emperor Martin Septim! Hail, Savior of Bruma!"

Hey, look. I have a new title.