The Redguards piled dead Elves on the scorched ground beneath them. The horses grazed and hung around the Legion, many with wounds that were treatable. Legate Rikke coordinated the cleanup of the wrecked Thalmor armies, and gathered survivors. Ataurus and the Champion sat against a rock, sharpening arrows and swords. They had broken the Thalmor encirclement of the Legion, which somewhat saved the City, for now. She had no idea that Legate Caesennius' force had been broken, opening the east side of the Imperial City for the Dominion. Ataurus felt something was wrong, really wrong. The Thalmor armies went down too easily, and he noticed that most of the force were Wood Elves. Surely this wasn't the main attack. Way down the fields, the Sixth and Fourth Legions had been nearly annihilated, with the First pulling back.

" Legate, I see something on the horizon! They look like men!" a scout called.

Rikke stepped forward and said, " The other Legions? Where in Oblivion have they been?!"

The First Legion, with the remnants of the other two, ran in loose formation back to Rikke's Tenth. The men ran slowed to a stop as they fell in with Rikke's army. Legate Ridarius spotted Rikke and ran over, panting.

" What has happened?!" Rikke asked.

" Too many. All High Elves. We were outnumbered. I'm sorry Rikke," Ridarius said.

Ataurus and the Champion got up and walked over/

" What's going on?" Ataurus asked.

" The Fourth and Sixth Legions are all gone. The Thalmor defeated us," Ridarius explained again.

" Damn. Then we shall rally our forces and..." Ataurus began, before getting interrupted by a roar. Many roars, in fact. Everyone turned to face south and they saw ten large figures soaring towards them.

" By the Nine," Rikke whispered.

" DRAGONS! EVERYONE RAISE YOUR SHIELDS!" Ridarius roared, running to join his men. All the soldiers raised their shields to the sky, as the Aldmeri Dragon Tamers closed in. Ataurus stood tall, and withdrew Excalibur. The lead dragon, tamed by Cirlas Thromore, swooped down, unleashing flame on the Legions.

" Archers!"

Arrows sailed up into the air, ricocheting off of the thick dragon scales.

JOOR ZAH FRUL!

A blue light enveloped Thromore's dragon, and it slammed down in front of the Dragonborn. He rushed forward, slicing at the beast's neck as it tried to grasp the Dragonborn in its jaws. He jumped onto its neck, kicking off Thromore, and plunged his blade into the beasts neck. King Raccan ran up and stabbed Thromore, killing him. The dragon slipped into death, and its soul became absorbed by Ataurus.

" You... truly are Dragonborn," the Champion said, kneeling.

The remaining dragons slaughtered many Legionaries, before turning to the other side of the Lake.

" The damn Elves have dragons now?!" Ridarius cried, poking out from his shield.

" It appears so," Ataurus said.

From behind the Legions, a messenger approached, running swiftly.

" Dragonborn, Dragonborn! I bring urgent news!" he cried.

" What is it?" Ataurus asked, wheeling around.

" Anvil... Anvil.. it has fallen. The Dominion took it a few hours ago!" the messenger reported.

Ataurus, enraged, kicked a helmet yards away, screaming in anger. He fell to his knees.

" Is there anything more?!"

" Yes. The Council has fled the City. Only the High Chancellor and a few others remain. Also, the east side of the Lake has fallen," the messenger added.

" Damn!" Surobus exclaimed.

" What say you, my Emperor?" the messenger asked.

Ataurus looked around, and then said, " These Legions will fall back to the City. Raccan, get your Redguards to Hammerfell. They are good men, and if they are to die, let it be on their lands, not ours. The Imperial City will not fall. I... I shall go to Skyrim and gather allies. Champion, stay with the Legions. Make sure the City does NOT fall."

" As you wish," everybody involved said.

" You heard the Emperor! To the City! Let's move!" Rikke and Ridarius hollered.

The men gathered their things and began moving towards the City. Ataurus called for Odahviing, who came down and picked him up. Ataurus said farewell, as he lifted off.

After the Legions had safely gotten into the City, the bridge was destroyed. The Champion saw the fear in everyone's eyes: for this was the end of the Age of Men. The gates were all reinforced, but there was one man inside the city who would crush these preparations in one fell swoop.

...

Seremius strode into the White-Gold Tower, and sat down in the Emperor's throne. High Chancellor Philulanie glanced up, and gasped at the sight of Titus Mede III's brother. Seremius drew in a breath through his nose, and let it out through his mouth. After that, he locked eyes with the stunned High Chancellor and started chuckling. The chuckling rose to a full blown maniacal laugh within seconds. Philulanie glanced around and met the gaze of the guards. He tilted his head as to have them come over. The guards surrounded Seremius, who stopped laughing.

" Are you really going to kill me, High Chancellor?" Seremius asked, a grin donned on his face.

" You are a traitor to the Empire, and for that you must be punished! Guards! Erase this filth!" Philulanie bellowed.

One of the guards turned to the Chancellor and said, " I'm afraid we cannot do that."

" What?! He is a traitor, a rat!"

The guard nodded at the others and they all pulled off their helmets, revealing the sharp ears of Elves. Their facial complexions began to morph, and soon their faces weren't that of Imperials, but of High Elves.

" What?! No! This can't be!" Philulanie cried, falling back into his chair.

Seremius leaned forward, pressing his fingers together, his elbows on the table.

" You shall not die today, at least if you do as I command," he spoke.

" No! That would be treason!"

Seremius chuckled again and said, " No it wouldn't. How are you harming the Empire? We are simply here to... make it better."

" By Oblivion you are! You are collaborating with the damned Dominion!"

Seremius jumped to his feet and yelled, " Look around, you fool! This ancient government is collapsing! Your Legions are weak, your cities conquered, and your people doomed! That is, if you do one thing for me."

" And what is that?" Philulanie asked.

" Renounce the Dragonborn's claim to the throne. Crown me in his stead!" Seremius announced, turning around.

" Never!" Philulanie roared. His reply echoed through the massive chamber, resonating up the tower, startling the servants cleaning in the Palace above. The cooks preparing meals halted, looking around. Seremius sat in awe.

" You WILL do it!" Seremius screamed back. Two of the Elves ran to the Breton, seizing him. Seremius got up, and walked over to him. He withdrew a dagger, and placed one of Sermius' hands on the table.

" If you shall not submit, I will make you!" Seremius yelled, slicing off two of Philulanie's fingers. The High Chancellor screamed out in agony.

" GAHHHHH! Stop! Stop!" he cried.

" You know my terms!" Seremius responded.

" Fine, fine! I submit! I will... do as you ask, my... Emperor," Philulanie said, tears streaming down his face.

" Splendid! Release him," Seremius said, walking away.

...

The flight to Solitude was filled with the Dragonborn explaining what happened to Odahviing. Odahviing, the wise old dragon he was, provided input that was quite different from something that would come out of the mouth of Paarthurnax. Paarthurnax was already in Solitude, watching over the city. Skyrim was in the dead middle of summer, but it was no Hammerfell. Snow still fell on the peaks of the mountains, and the flora bloomed. Whiterun was surrounded by refugees, trying to get into the city. As Solitude came into sight, so did the sixteen ships of the Imperial Northern Fleet. They sat moored against the rocks, the harbor extended to meet their needs. The dragon found a relatively clear spot in the courtyard of Castle Dour, and let the Dragonborn off.

General Tullius appeared from the main chambers, walking over to Ataurus.

" I've seen the reports. What in Oblivion is going on?!" he asked immediately.

Ataurus took off his helmet, and said, " Anvil has fallen. The City will be encircled within the next few days. But I found a certain.. asset."

" And who might that be?"

" The Champion of Cyrodiil. The one who helped end the Oblivion Crisis two hundred years ago," Ataurus revealed.

" Well, damn. That is good news, but it is not the best. What happened to Legate Rikke?" Tullius replied.

" She and the Legion are in the City now, helping with reinforcements. The Fourth and Sixth Legions are wiped out, but the Mighty First is still intact. They are all in the City too. Of the Blades, I have no idea," Ataurus said.

" We are here, Dragonborn," a woman said, stepping from the castle.

" Delphine! How did you get here?!" the Dragonborn exclaimed, watching the Blade walk out from the castle, two Blades flanking her.

" We retreated for Skyrim when you set out to ride. We needed to get more manpower. And there is something dire we must discuss," Delphine said.

" What could possibly be more dire?!"

Tullius and Delphine looked at each other, and then Tullius said, " Are you familiar with the Numidium?"

Ataurus sat on the question for a few moments, and then shrugged.

" Follow me," Tullius said, ushering him inside.

...

Tullius pulled several notes and scrolls from drawers and set them on the table. He opened a scroll, revealing a drawing of a massive metal figure, with the overall structure like that of a Man.

" That.. that looks like a Dwarven Centurion," Ataurus said.

" Correct, to an extent. It was built by the Dwemer centuries ago, and it was powered by the Heart of Lorkhan, one of the Aedra. It was later gifted to Tiber Septim by the Dunmer when he conquered all of Tamriel. We have reason to believe that the Thalmor now have it," Delphine explained.

" So? I've defeated many Centurions," Ataurus chuckled.

" You have seen this before. Think back to Alduin's Wall," she said.

Ataurus closed his eyes and thought. There was the first defeat of Alduin, and then the Staff of Chaos. And after that was a massive being, engraved in stone. The Brass Tower, as the prophecy spoke.

Suddenly, the Dragonborn's thoughts were overtaken with the sight of a massive golden head. But what he was seeing was no imagination. He was actually seeing the Numidium. Hushed voices spoke in the background, filling the space around the golem. Gears could be heard turning, and the language of the Altmer began getting closer. Then, the Numidium began spewing steam from it's exhausts, and the head began moving. Its eye sockets lit up, and the entire head moved to face the Dragonborn. Dovahkiin, it spoke. Fire blew from all around its head. The background voices began getting louder.

Ataurus flew back, slamming into a cupboard. Delphine and a Blade rushed over, trying to help him up.

" The Numidium... they have it.. the Elves..," Ataurus croked.

" Get him some water!" Tullius yelled. A Legionnaire ran into the other room, and grabbed a goblet filled with water. He brought it over to the Emperor, who gulped it down.

" The Dominion have it?!" Delphine asked.

" Yes, and the Dwe..." the Dragonborn began before slipping into unconsciousness.

BUM BUM BUUMMMMMMMMMMMM! What a twist, I know!