Martin looked at him with something resembling shock and amusement. It was a strange combination, really. The amusement slowly vanished as he realized Ralen had a grim expression on his face.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

Ralen nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm quite serious. I don't joke when the fate of all Nirn hangs in balance." Martin took a step toward him, his blue eyes concerned.

"Have you been injured in the battle?"

Ralen shook his head in annoyance and spoke firmly, "I suffered no head wounds, I assure you." The Imperial stared at Ralen, clearly doubting his sanity.

"Listen. I was born to a local farmer, and raised in Kvatch. I became a priest to Akatosh, and have lived a completely normal life up until now. I am not the son of Uriel Septim."

Ralen sighed mentally; this was going to be hard. Fighting in the Arena, killing Dremora, shutting Oblivion gates...those he could do. Convincing people that the life they had always known was a lie; that was something he had trouble with. The Dunmer hadn't believed it a useful skill to have.

Fixing Martin with a stare that bordered on a glare, he repeated himself, carefully enunciating every word. "You-are-the-son-of-the-Emperor."

Martin opened his mouth to protest, when the chapel doors slammed open. They crashed against the stone walls, accompanied by the loud rumble of thunder. Ginette stood silhouetted in the doorway with her red hair slipping from its bun to cascade around her face. With the guards gathered around and her armor splashed with blood, Ralen couldn't help but compare her to some goddess of war. The Dunmer allowed himself a small grin; Ginette did know how to make an entrance. The redhead spoke commandingly, her gaze fixed on Martin.

"It is true. You are the Emperor's son, Martin."

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Ginette was grinning like a maniac in her mind. It wasn't often that she got to make such a dramatic entrance. Once the square had been cleared of enemies, she had raced to the chapel doors, pushing everyone out of her way. She had carefully loosened her hair a bit, and timed the slamming of the doors to coincide with the rumble of thunder. It was perfect.

She walked carefully up to the staring priest and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I understand that this may be hard to accept, but many lives rest on your ability to trust us."

Martin sighed and shook his head. After considering for a moment, he spoke slowly, "I don't know why, but I believe your strange tale. I am probably a fool for doing so, but I will follow you."

Ginette couldn't help it; she grinned insanely. Ignoring Martin's suddenly wary look, she clapped her hands together. "Good! We will come back to the encampment for you, since Ralen agreed to aid the guards in taking back Kvatch." Shooting Ralen a dirty look, she turned on her heel to look for Savlian Matius. Leaving Ralen to explain her odd behavior to the confused priest, she walked up to the Guard Captain.

He was arguing with a Redguard, and Ginette briefly wondered if she should come back later. Deciding that she didn't really care about being polite right now, she tapped him on the back. Holding a hand up to the female guard, he turned to Ginette. His face was pale underneath the blood streaks, but it held a dark mirth that undoubtedly came from killing daedra. After what happened to Kvatch, Ginette was feeling the same sadistic joy.

"Captain Matius, are we done here?"

Savlian shook his head brusquely. "Not even close. Taking back the chapel was only the first step. Tierra- He waved a hand at the Redguard and continued, -will lead the survivors to the encampment. We will need your help to get inside the castle. Without it, we will never recover Kvatch."

Sighing to herself, Ginette nodded. She was tempted to say that they were just going to take Martin and leave, but Ralen would never agree to it.

"I understand. Let me go get Ralen."

She turned around, and stepped back with a startled gasp as she nearly ran into the Dunmer.

"We're ready, Captain. How do we get to the castle?" Ralen asked, his voice calm.

The Guard Captain gestured to the door at the far side of the chapel.

"That door will take us to the plaza. Once there, it is just a short way to the castle. Unfortunately, there will be many daedra. It will be a hard battle, but it must be fought."

Savlian Matius turned back to face Tierra, and ordered her to lead the survivors back to the camp. As the Redguard herded the people out of the chapel, Matius gathered the guards into a band, and they carefully walked out into the plaza.

For a moment, everything was still as the daedra stared at the unexpected arrival of the guards. Seizing the opportunity, Ginette stabbed the nearest scamp. As the blade slid smoothly into the scamp's chest, the tension erupted into a full-scale battle.


Ralen barely managed to block the downward cleave of a Dremora's claymore. As the Dremora used his blade to push him back, Ralen kicked out. He heard a satisfying crack as his foot connected with the Dremora's unguarded knee, and slashed blindly. With a howl of pain, the Dremora collapsed to the ground, trying to stem the flow of blood from its slit neck.

Wasting no time, Ralen rushed onward. Avoiding the arrows and flame that the daedra sent at them from the balcony, he huddled behind a ruined house's wall with the rest of the group. The few daedra that hadn't been killed by them were regrouping, and they were pinned down by the Dremora on the castle's battlements. Their group had lost two guards already, and the rest were fairly wounded. Ginette was cradling her right arm that sported a large tear from a clannfear's teeth. She had bound it with a strip of cloth from her shirt, but it was still bleeding badly. If they didn't manage to move soon, they would all die.

"Captain! What's the plan?"

Savlian Matius glanced at him, his eyes burning with an angry desperation. "We have to get into the castle, but the gates are closed. We could get into the guardhouse and open the gates from the inside, but Berich Inian has the keys in the chapel."

Ginette carefully shifted her arm and leaned forward to speak. "Ralen and I have a chance of getting to the chapel safely. We aren't weighed down as much by our armor...if we run fast enough, we'll make it." Ralen nodded in agreement, and moved further away from Ginette. If they were grouped together, they would be more likely to receive an arrow in the back.

The Guard Captain exhaled harshly and shook his head. "You better run pretty damn fast."

Taking that as agreement that their plan was sound, Ralen charged forward in a zigzagging run. Arrows zipping by him, he slammed through the doors with an almighty crash, Ginette hot on his heels. Panting for breath, he hurriedly closed the doors and turned to see Tierra, a male guard that he presumed was Berich, and four Imperial Legion Soldiers staring at him.

The Redguard helped Ginette up from her collapsed position on the floor, mindful of the injured arm.

"We saw the smoke from the Gold Road and came to help." One of the soldiers explained, seeing the Dunmer's questioning eyes.

"Good, we need all the help we can get." Ralen said grimly. "Berich, do you have the guardhouse key?"

The male guard looked at him with a wary expression. "Yes, I do. What do you need it for?"

His patience wearing thin, Ralen gritted his teeth and replied, "We need to get into the guardhouse to open the gates. The rest of our group is huddled outside taking cover behind a wall from the daedra on the battlements."

Berich's face paled, and his jaw set. "I'm coming with you. I can show you the way, and I still have fight left in me."

Tierra stepped forward, determination in her brown eyes. "There is no way I can stay behind after what those demons did to my home. I'll fight until my last breath, Dunmer."

Ginette grinned weakly. "Well, the more the merrier. Are we all ready?" Seeing their nods of confirmation, they grouped together, and Berich lead them to the undercroft.

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Ginette wrapped another bandage around her dripping arm, grateful that only a few scamps had been in the undercroft. Checking to make sure that the bandage was secure, she waited for the rest of their group to take care of their respective injuries.

Seeing that they were finished, she stepped out into the remains of the burning city. Several minutes and battles later, Ginette was cursing her existence. Another blade had torn open her left leg on the way to the guardhouse, she'd been hit by a paralyzing spell, and her hair had nearly been set on fire. Now she was facing a ladder.

Muttering to herself in a mixture of pain and anger, she climbed upward, wincing with every step. She collapsed on the stones of the castle, her skin rejoicing at the rain after being stuck in the tunnels to the guardhouse, with flames surrounding her. She hauled herself to her feet, ignoring the hand an Imperial Soldier offered her.

Ginette gripped her sword as Ralen opened the gates, and prepared to enter the courtyard. The gates slid open easily, and Savlian Matius wasted no time in rushing his men forward. The guards charged past them, and Ginette joined their murderous stampede. There were few daedra in the courtyard, which probably meant they were all in the castle. She fought as well as she could with her wounded limbs, thankful that more people had joined their battle. They had lost Berich in the city, but the rest remained alive and drew attention away from her. Without them, she had no doubt that she would be dead.


Ralen stepped into the castle, looking at Ginette with concern. Her leg and arm were still bleeding, despite the bandages. It would need to be taken care of, and quickly. He dived aside as a scamp's fireball took him by surprise, the heat searing his skin. The daedra in the throne room charged at them, murder in their eyes. As they reached the middle of the burning room, Ralen noticed the steel chandelier. Quickly pulling himself up from a crouch, he shouted to the Imperial Legion Archer.

"Tyronius, the chandelier!"

The archer wasted no time in hesitation. He aimed quickly, and let an arrow fly. The arrow flew swiftly through the air, all eyes upon it. It easily sliced the rope holding the chandelier, and it came crashing down. A quick-thinking Dremora and fire atronach leapt out of the way, but the rest were crushed. Ginette hastily slid her sword into the fire atronach's unprotected back, and it died with a small puff of smoke. The last Dremora was easily dispatched by another arrow from Tyronius. Tierra openly stared at Tyronius for a moment, then turned to the Guard Captain. "Where to now, sir?"

Matius pointed at the stairs leading deeper into the castle. "We have to find the Count, and bring him back. If he's still alive..." He muttered, his voice trailing off darkly. Keeping their weapons unsheathed, they moved forward.

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Ginette wrinkled her nose as they fought their way deeper into the castle, almost thankful for the pain of her wounds. At least it helped to keep her mind off of the castle's foul odor of urine, blood, and smoke. The whole thing smelled of death. Stepping carefully in between the flames, she leaned toward Ralen and whispered quietly, "I don't hold much hope for the Count. If he's survived this, then nothing can kill him."

Ralen nodded grimly in agreement, but said nothing as the guards moved closer to them. Ginette pushed the door of the Count's bedroom open, and immediately noticed the red reflection of flames on a pool of blood. She held her hand up, and turned around to face Ralen. Ginette shook her head. Ralen sighed quietly, and moved to tell the guards.

She made to follow him, but a sudden pain in her gut stopped her. Ginette looked down at the blade that had gone completely through her back, and cursed her stupidity. Dark spots were beginning to cloud her vision, and she let out a small whimper as she slid to the bloody floor.

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I normally wouldn't update so soon, but my friend died yesterday. Writing is a safe haven for me, I guess. Expect more updates. I would appreciate it if you read the memorial on my profile...I want people to know she existed.