Chapter 20-I can't think of a bloody title!
"So what exactly were those things?" Carnius asked the Dark Seducer that had come to their rescue, picking up a crystal that one of the beings they had fought had dropped.
"They go by the name of Order Knights," the Daedra, one that went by the name of Tulfis, replied. She had introduced herself as the patrol's Kiskella, a leader of some kind. "They're the footsoldiers of the Greymarch, the backbone of Jygallag's army. The man with them was an Order Priest, something like a junior officer; they summon the obelisks which call Order knights and other forces of the Greymarch through, and command them in battle."
"So that obelisk was what was keeping him alive, then," Carnius said, glancing at the body. Almeria was crouched over it, having removed his helm and the clothing on his upper body for some purpose. There had been a greyish tint to his skin, and his eyes were milky white "We must have killed him a dozen times over and he kept getting back up."
"Indeed," Tulfis said. "You were lucky to have stumbled upon it when it had only just been called into being; Order Knights are bad enough when there are a lot of them, but if any Coensors or Dominions had managed to break through then things would have been much more difficult."
Carnius nodded, gingerly feeling the blood-caked scar that had been sliced across his face by one of the things.
"And if one of those Arbitrators had arrived then things would have gone badly," he remarked.
"I doubt that one of them could summon together the energy to appear this early in the Greymarch," Tulfis replied. "And they'd only appear somewhere important, if my experience with other ones is anything to go by."
"You've been in other Greymarches?" Carnius asked.
"Of course I have," Tulfis said, giving Carniu a look that suggested that the question he had asked was incredibly simple. "I'm a Daedra after all; we can't die. I've fought in every single one of them, ever since the creation of the Isles."
She whistled, and her Rayet wandered over to her, a curious hoot sounding from its beak.
"I'll need to report this to Sheogorath at once, if Sentinel hasn't already," she said. "You'll be alright making your way to wherever you're going on foot, I hope; judging by the way you three handled yourselves in that fight you won't be needing an escort."
"We'll manage," Carnius said.
"Glad to hear," Tulfis said, taking her mount by its bridle. She inclined her head to Carnius. "May the Madgod watch over you until we meet once more, mortal."
"May he watch over you too," Carnius said, deciding that it was the polite thing to say.
"We make for New Sheoth, sisters," Tulfis called to the rest of her patrol. The other Dark Seducers nodded and began to mount up; with a final farewell, they started down the road in a swift trot.
Carnius glanced over to Salyan where she was sat on a rock, looking at the scene of the fight. The ground was churned up and there were still crystals scattered about from the enemy dead, but it didn't particularly look like a battle has taken place there a few minutes ago.
"You alright?" he asked as he approached.
"I'm fine, yes," she said. She looked tired but pleased, her hair matted and grimy and her brow still damp with exertion. "The adrenaline's just wearing off, that's all. Didn't realise how tired I was."
"You never do until it's over," Carnius said. "Not unless you're fighting for a long time. You did well, by the way; was that the first big fight you've been in?"
"I've been in the occasional tangle with zealots or heretics or wildlife before, but nothing on that scale, no," she replied. "If I'm honest, all I really did was stay on the sidelines and loose off spells while you and Almeria got stuck in."
"That was the sort of thing we needed, really," Carnius replied. "Besides, it's what you do best."
"We were lucky Almeria was there, though," Salyan said, nodding towards the woman. She was still crouch next to the corpse of the Order Priest, though her body obscured what she was doing. "I wouldn't have fancied our odds if she hadn't been helping us."
"I won't argue with that," Carnius said. "Gods, if she'd been in the Arena she'd have been Grand Champion within a week."
"Do you think we should ask her to help us?" Salyan asked. "I mean, she's a Feaster, so she wouldn't need much persuasion."
"I could certainly see her coming in useful if we get into another fight like that," Carnius said, standing up. Salyan followed suit. "Let's ask."
They approached, and Carnius stopped as she saw what Almeria had done to the Order Priest's body; both of his arms had been stripped of skin, and she was carving a cut of muscle from them with a long, sharp dagger.
"Almeria," Salyan said. "We wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?" the Feaster asked, glancing up from her grisly work.
"We were hoping you might be willing to travel with us," Salyan said. "We're trying to stop these creatures from attacking the Isles and we need all the help we can get."
"You're working against the Final Starvation?" Almeria asked. "In that case, yes, I will gladly assist both of you; my duties as a Feaster ask no less of me."
"You will? Great," Salyan said. Almeria nodded.
"I'll need to report this to the Temple of the Feast first, of course, and get permission from Feast Lord Dranden to do that instead of my usual duties as a missionary, but it shouldn't be a problem," she said.
"We're going to New Sheoth anyway," Salyan said. "You hear that, Carnius?"
There was no reply, and she glanced around. The gladiator was staring at the half-butchered corpse. "Carnius?"
"What are you doing to that man?" he asked.
"Preparing his flesh for consumption, so he may given to the Madgod as part of the Feast," Almeria replied. "After all, is it not written in the Book of the Feast 'Sing praise to Sheogorath and consume the flesh of his enemies?'"
"I have no idea," Carnius said. That got him a frown.
"How can you not know of the Feasters?" Almeria asked. "I appreciate that there are many people who aren't of my faith, but nonetheless you must have at least heard of us."
"He's from Nirn," Salyan said. "I don't think they approve of eating people over there. I don't think they approve of many things, really."
"That's interesting," Almeria remarked. "I don't think I've ever met somebody from there before. Is it true that you people worship the Aedra?"
"You mean the Nine Divines?" Carnius asked. "Yes, we do. I was never devout a worshipper, I'll be honest, but we do, by and large."
"How strange," the Feaster said, before she shrugged. "But no matter. Give me a few minutes to finish off here and we can go."
Salyan nodded, and she and Carnius stepped away as Almeria got back to work, muttering a prayer as she did so.
"I can't help but feel slightly worried by the fact that I don't feel as appalled as I think I should be," Carnius said. "I think this place is beginning to get to me."
"Maybe," Salyan simply said.
The gladiator shrugged, before he glanced over to Almeria and called; "Are you nearly finished?"
"Almost," she replied, where she was stowing the cuts away in her pack. Once she was done, she slung it on her back, and the trio set out.
They reached New Sheoth in the middle of the day after that one, but it was already dark. For the entire morning, an impenetrable phalanx of black clouds had been marshalling like the forming of a mob, and by the time they found their way to the basalt gates that lead into Crucible, it had turned into a storm. It was not an angry storm, the wind more biting than it was violent, the rain damp and heavy and yet not striking, and the thunder and lightning were desultory efforts from the clouds rather than any wrathful blows hurled at the ground by the sky.
The main square that greeted Crucible's visitors was quiet, rain dripping from the statue of Sheogorath that occupied its centre. A figure in a cloak hurried past them, hunched against the weather, while a pair of Dark Seducers patrolled nearby, carrying guttering torches to combat the early darkness; they gave no sign as to whether the weather caused them any measure of discomfort.
"So what first?" Salyan asked. "Are we going to the palace?"
"It would be a good place to start," Carnius said. "I'll need to see Cutter about my gauntlets too, and see about that haircut."
"Great," Salyan said. "So are going to head through Bliss then, or-"
"Why would we go through Bliss?" Carnius interrupted.
"Because it's nicer than Crucible," Salyan said. "And Almeria needs to stop off at the Temple of the Feast too."
"Almeria going there wasn't why you said that, though, was it?" Carnius challenged. "What's your problem with this place, Salyan?"
"I don't have a problem with Crucible," Salyan said.
"Then why do you never want to stay here?" Carnius asked. "Why do you complain about being here? Why is everything much better over in Mania than Dementia, then?"
"Well it…it just is," Salyan said. "Everything here is old and grimy and poor and I don't see why we need to have anything to do with it."
"You know who you sound like?" Carnius said. "Some stuck up noble's brat, that's what."
"A noble's brat?" Salyan said. "Don't you dare call me a brat! Don't you dare, do you hear me?"
"Well then why do you sulk like one whenever we come here?" Carnius asked.
"I do not…you know what?" Salyan said. "Fine. Say I'm sulking, if you want. I don't care; I don't even know why I even need to bother staying with somebody who clearly liks to spend his time wallowing in filth."
Before Carnius could stop her, she stormed away towards Bliss. Carnius blinked in surprise at that development, at how sudden the flaring of tempers had been, and Salyan had already disappeared from the square. Almeria was quiet for a moment, hovering.
"I should probably go and report to Feast Lord Dranden," she said. "I'll try and find you later."
She left, leaving Carnius standing alone in the rain. He sighed, shaking his head, and set out for the palace.
Either the Dark Seducers at the Crucible gate had been informed of his arrival or recognised him from somewhere, as they opened it for him without question. He made his way across the palace's courtyard, avoiding puddles that had formed in the path, and a glance up at the sky on the Mania side showed that, even though there was no storm, it was still overcast and drizzling.
He pushed the door to the palace open, and stepped through. There was a servant waiting to receive guests inside, and Carnius thanked the man as he handed him his cloak. Carnius pushed the door to the throne room, and frowned when it refused to budge. He knocked, and a few moments later, Haskill pulled it open.
"Lord Sheogorath will not be receiving any dignitaries, guests or petitioners today," he said, before he saw who had knocked. "Though perhaps he will want to speak to you."
He pulled open the door, and Carnius stepped through. Sheogorath was on his throne at the far end of the room, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and a scowl on his face.
"Order Knights," he said as Carnius entered. "Jyggalag's damn Order Knights are already tramping about my realm. I am not happy, Carnius, not at all."
"I'm sure," Carnius said. "Do you mind coming down here if you want to talk? I'd rather not crane my neck."
The snake that was curled around the throne began to lower Sheogorath to the floor.
"It's quite refreshing to speak to someone who hasn't the faintest idea of how you should address nobility, you know," Sheogorath said. He gestured around the throneroom, as if indicating an invisible court thronging the room. "I can be surrounded by lackeys and lickspittles and lollygaggers at times. Is lollygaggers the right sort of word to use, Haskill?"
"I'm afraid that I don't believe it is," Haskill replied.
"Pah," Sheogorath spat. "What does it matter? I've got Order Knights being called and the Greymarch's monoliths popping up out of the ground. Who cares about a word when all that is happening?"
He stopped by Carnius, and he said; "Well, have you got any good news for me, at least? Is Xedilian working again?"
"Yes, it is," Carnius said. "And speaking of which…"
His fist slammed into Sheogorath's jaw. Even though Carnius' knuckles were not encased in their gauntlets, the Daedra reeled back with a cry of shock, clutching where Carnius had struck.
"Tell us when you're going to go risking our sanity like that!" Carnius snapped at him.
The next thing he knew, he was pinned to the ceiling of the throne room, with Sheogorath looking up at him.
"Now," the Daedra said. "You get a free pass on that because you're clearly upset about what happened in Xedilian and that action was a spur of the moment one, and goodness only knows that I'm spur of the moment made form. But if you strike me again, Carnius Hackelt, the things that I'll do to you will make Xedilian seem like a picnic. Do you understand?"
Against the invisible force that was pinning him against the ceiling, Carnius managed to nod. He was lowered to the floor with a gesture from Sheogorath.
"I won't on one condition," Carnius said. "Don't hold back information like that again. If you do, I'm leaving and you can find somebody else to help you."
Sheogorath was silent for a moment, before he said; "You know, I think you're probably one of the few mortals I've ever heard of who has the spine to say such a thing to a Daedric Prince while they're standing in their realm. I mean, right now, I could do anything I wanted to you; I could turn you into a flammable gas and burn you, or click my fingers and rip your skin off, or transform you into a sweetroll, but you still stand up to me. I may have to take that backbone of yours and mount it on my wall when this is all over."
"Does that mean we have a deal?" Carnius asked.
Sheogorath rubbed his hands together, taking a few contemplative steps away from Carnius.
"Tricky, tricky, tricky," he said. "After all, right now what I would like is for somebody with a good head on their shoulders, and what I need is a sane man, but I wouldn't want you to keep your head just because I made things easy for you. That wouldn't do at all; would scupper them at the last moment quite magnificently."
He spun on the spot to face the gladiator once more.
"You know, a good number of all the churches in the Isles believe that I send my people hardships and misfortune in order to test their faith and let them prove themselves worthy," he said. "It's a dreadfully silly thing to think, really, and most of the time I send bad things their way because it just makes me laugh to see everything fall apart around them, but I always find it very uplifting to see them rise above their troubles on the rare occasion that they do; it brightens my day up no end. But in your case, Carnius, I'm going to send bad things your way because it will be a test, because I need you to prove yourself worthy; I can't have a weakling as my champion, and I need somebody who's strong in the mind and well as the body to be that person. Do you understand?"
"I think so," Carnius said. "But if you're going to test somebody, test me; my friends don't need to be tormented by you."
Sheogorath was quiet for a few moments.
"That's a reasonable compromise, I suppose," he said. "Goes against my grain somewhat, but if that means you're happy then I'd guess that it's for the best. Speaking of friends, what happened to Salyan Irrenius My Lord?"
"We…we had a disagreement," Carnius said.
"Oh, that's a shame," Sheogorath said. "It's always a pity to see a good friendship go bad. Except when they go really bad; they're quite entertaining to watch, then. But in this case, patch it up, I say; you'll need all the friends you can get for the road ahead, that much is for certain."
"Yeah, I was hoping to do that in any case," Carnius said.
"Good man, good man," Sheogorath said. "What sparked that little feud of yours, anyway?"
"I just got angry about the way she was always criticising Dementia," Carnius said. "And then, I don't know, both our tempers just flared up much more than they should have and she stormed off."
"Ah, I see," Sheogorath said. "That might have been my fault; people on the Isles always have spats and fallings out when I'm in a bad mood, and this news about the Order Knights didn't do much for my temper."
"So this storm is your fault, isn't it?" Carnius asked.
"Oh yes, I can be held responsible for that little piece of inclement weather, I suppose," Sheogorath said. "You didn't catch a chill in it, did you? If I gave my own champion a cold I'd never hear the end of it from Peryite."
"I'm fine," Carnius said. "So what's next?"
"Next? Hmm, that's a good question. Next, next, next, let's see. A meet and greet, that's what! Get to know the Isles a little better."
"A meet and greet with who?"
"Why, the cream of the Isles' society," Sheogorath said. "Duke Thadon of Mania, and Duchess Syl of Dementia. Go and introduce yourself to them, get yourself into their good books, earn their trust. Earning their trust will be useful for later, I'm sure of that. Their estates are right here in New Sheoth so there'll be no need for any long journeys to far off places like Xedilian. Of course, they might require that of you in any case."
"My Lord, might I be so forward as to suggest that we also urge your champion in the direction of the Pillars?" Haskill asked. "We can hardly afford to dally with the Greymarch on the way, after all."
"I suppose you're right," Sheogorath said. "Alright then, two things; introduce yourself to the Duke and the Duchess and run any little errands they might need you to do; after that, fetch me the Pillars of the Isles. And get your friend back. That's three things to do."
"What are the Pillars?" Carnius asked.
"Artefacts," Sheogorath said. "Very, very powerful artefacts left behind by Jygallag in order to make the Isles easier to destroy during the Greymarch, hence why I can't just nip over there and fetch them myself. If you get those, that'll certainly make my life easier. And yours, too; a friend of mine is an enemy of Jygallag's, after all."
"And they're going to be kept by, what, some kind of trap? A dungeon filled with Grummites? A guardian of some sort?" Carnius asked.
"A guardian, yes," Sheogorath said. "Well, no. There are four Pillars, you see, one on each cardinal point of the Isles, and each one is guarded by one of my Angels."
"So I'm taking it that I need to get these Pillars for you without the Angels killing me," Carnius said.
"Exactly," Sheogorath said. "Except they won't kill you, really. Except Rage. She'll kill you, if she gets the chance, and quite spectacularly too. The others won't try and end your life, though, at least not directly. You probably won't survive, all things considered."
He glanced at Carnius.
"Are you still here?" he asked. "Get out of here, you know what to do. Shoo! Shoo shoo shoo shoo shoo!"
Sheogorath clapped his hands together, and Carnius found himself standing in the palace courtyard, his rain-cloak and pack next to him. He glanced around for a moment, baffled as to how he got there, before he shrugged and picked them up. He had a job to do, after all, and it was time to get to work.