The Hammer and the Anvil: An Elder Scrolls Novel
Greg J Miller
~O~
Chapter 25
Loredas the 27th of First Seed 4E49 Mid-afternoon
It was well into the afternoon by the time that Alex and Monika passed by Ramil's Place on their way to the Sentinel Arena. The entrance to the arena was at the end of a short side street. Along that street, there were a couple of narrow alleys between the buildings on either side.
The muffled roar of the crowd had just gone up from inside the arena as they were passing through the open doors of the entrance. It was a clear indication that the fights were in progress.
Just inside that entryway, a portly Breton man with a balding head attended a service counter. A very tall Redguard man stood leaning against the wall to one side of him. He was obviously a guard of some sort.
"Welcome to the Sentinel Arena, my friends." The Breton beamed. "You look like you might be visitors to our greater city. You've come to witness the great wonders of the Sentinel Arena. Am I right?"
"That's right." Monika responded.
"Everyone's welcome here." The Breton continued his pitch. "Just five septims will get you into the general area. Placement of any wager will grant access to all areas of the observation platforms." He paused to gauge their reaction. "Sadly, it's too late to place wagers for the Challenger Face-off. Still, you're just in time to put coin down for the later rounds between The Desert Rocks and the Bayside Storm."
Monika haggled briefly with the Breton over the various options before they placed some modest wagers. He took their coin and provided them with tokens that represented their respective bets. They held no particular interest in the fights, but the tokens were meant to provide them with access to all the spectator areas inside.
They also needed to check their weapons at the counter before going inside. That was perfectly understandable, though not desirable. Still, as long as they remained in public view, it seemed somewhat less of a concern.
Alex and Monika proceeded inside and made their way upstairs and through to the spectator area of the arena. Another roar had gone up from the small crowd just as they gained view of the arena below. The spectator area was really only sparsely populated. It looked as though the place could easily accommodate four times as many people.
Down in the arena, a huge Orsimer stood upon the sands with two bloodied war-axes held aloft. The mangled body of a large brown bear lay at his feet.
A robed Redguard man with a bald head and an ample belly stood on a platform overlooking the arena. He raised his hands upward and addressed the spectators with a loud and excitable voice. "Yet again, Borgath Bone-crusher… has lived up to his name… victory to the challenger."
The crowds responded accordingly. The huge Orc roared triumphantly, brandishing his war-axes. After stomping about the sands of the arena, he made his exit back through the gates at the far side.
The bald Redguard in the robes announced a short break before the next round would be taking place. The spectators reacted accordingly, dispersing in several directions. A few of them immediately made their way for service counters where the beverages were provided. A few others headed off in other directions. Some were probably looking to cash in their betting tokens. Others might have been headed for the bathrooms.
Monika and Alex managed to speak with just a few people before the announcer had declared the next round. Once the gladiators came out onto sands of the arena, nobody was interested in anything else.
Though they weren't particularly interested, Alex and Monika watched some of the match upon the sands. The competition involved two pairs of fighters. They'd figured out that the team marked with blue coloured armour were the Bayside Storm. The Desert Rocks wore armour with orange markings. All the competitors wore helmets that obscured their faces.
In passing, Monika had remarked that one of those gladiators could easily have been Rena, but they wouldn't be able to tell from up there, not unless the helmet came off, and that wouldn't be a good thing at all during that type of combat.
Alex agreed with that possibility and also agreed that it was impossible to tell.
Their attention wandered during the competition. Neither found it anywhere near as engaging as the local crowd seemed to. They actually passed more time scanning the faces of the crowd, looking for which ones they'd try to speak with once the opportunity arose.
Once that match had concluded, they set about trying to mix with some of the spectators again. A few of them made mention of the other Guild Fighters asking the same kinds of questions just recently, but didn't know anything about missing people. Two of the spectators that they spoke with vaguely recalled Forester, but nobody was particularly helpful. Before long, the next round of competition was being announced, marking a halt to any further discussion.
During the competition on the sands, the sky had released a few spitting droplets, but it didn't actually turn to proper rain. As it was starting grow dark, a younger Redguard lad started moving around the spectator area, lighting the torches mounted along the walls.
Just before that competition neared conclusion, Monika passed a comment. "Y'know, Forester or Maplewood could be of those gladiators and we wouldn't know it. Not with those helmets."
Alex looked at her oddly. "Did… did you say something like that before?"
Monika returned his odd look. "Ah… no. Don't think so." She paused. "Maybe I did." She thought about it a moment and then shrugged.
Alex let it go. He wasn't sure either. Still, he agreed that she might be right. Also agreeing that there was no way to tell.
At the end of that match, the announcer had declared a longer intermission before the evening bouts. The crowd of spectators immediately dispersed once again. Many of them left the spectator area completely. That left far fewer people for them to approach. Most of those that remained gravitated toward the refreshment counters.
Accordingly, Alex and Monika did the same. Since the dreary day was giving way to evening, they decided to follow the lead of others and purchase something to eat and drink. The only food on offer fit the category of snack food. The kind of things that could be eaten while still standing or walking about, just good enough to sate any immediate hunger. Monika seemed satisfied with the ale on offer. Alex had to settle for a cider, though he didn't really want any kind of strong drink.
Monika soon tried to engage some of the remaining spectators in conversation as they idly picked at food and drink. Most were more interested in their food and drink than talking, but just a few were willing to speak. Unfortunately, none of them had anything to say that served in any useful fashion.
Contemplating the meat and vegetables on a stick that he was eating, Alex silently considered the possibility that Forester and Maplewood might be amongst those gladiators that competed upon the sands. After all, those helmets that they wore completely covered their faces. He wondered why he had not thought of that before. Still, he couldn't think of why they would be involved in that kind of thing. He kept the idea to himself for the moment.
The spectators started to stream back inside as the extended intermission period neared its end. Monika and Alex tried to intercept some of those people to engage them in conversation. That activity didn't last for long. Very soon, the announcing was declaring the commencement of the next match. Any effort to converse with the other visitors to the arena would need to wait until that match was done.
That same cycle was repeated over the following hours, with very little to show for the effort. They'd been hoping that someone would slip up with something useful, but that hope remained mostly unfulfilled. A number of people had reacted oddly to mention of someone known as 'the blacksmith', but each one denied any knowledge of any such thing. None of them seemed as though they were lying, but their reactions seemed somehow off. If they were actually lying, then they were quite convincing.
Monika and Alex remained in the arena until the final bout for the evening had commenced. In spite of their efforts, they hadn't learned much of anything that they didn't already know. Since the place would be closing up in less than half an hour, they'd decided to get out ahead of the rush.
During some conversations with the spectators, they heard that some of them tended to head to Ramil's Place after the close of the arena in the evenings. At Monika's suggestion, they'd agreed to revisit that place to see whether they might learn anything there. Alex agreed that strong drink might lead to someone slipping up and revealing something. He also suggested that the larger tavern in the middle of the marketplace might be worth going back to as well.
Alex and Monika left the arena behind, emerging onto the short side street. It seemed that the cloud cover was finally showing signs of breaking. High in the eastern sky, Masser was trying its best to peek through breaks in the cloud mass. Secunda remained obscured. Up ahead, several street lamps of the main marketplace were still burning; indicating that no rain of substance had fallen over the past hours. Still, the street seemed relatively empty immediately ahead. If was a fair guess that the taverns would be a different story.
Heading back toward that main street, a restrained voice called out from the alley between the outer wall of the arena and Ramil's Place. "Northwind."
It sounded like a woman's voice. "Monika Northwind."
Both Monika and Alex prepared to draw weapons as they edged cautiously toward the shadows of the alleyway.
"Who are you?" Monika called back.
"Taimar." The voice returned.
Alex and Monika exchanged surprised glances. Neither of them had actually met the woman before or knew how to recognise her. At Monika's gesture, they both drew the silver shortswords. The shadows of the alley were too deep to make out anything more than a figure hugging the stone wall, just a few paces in.
"Down here." The woman sounded insistent, while trying to keep her voice low. "Don't let anyone see you." Her accent sounded closer to Imperial than a local one.
Monika and Alex edge forward a little, stopping just inside the alley. The features of the woman by the wall remained obscured by shadow. She stood a little shorter than either of them. She might have been a Redguard, but it was too hard to tell.
"How do we know you're Taimar?" Monika prompted.
"Forester sent me. We need your help."
"Forester?" Alex repeated. "Where is he?"
"It's complicated." Taimar paused. "We've… we've been held… as prisoners, of a sort. It's complicated. Rena's down there as well."
"Down where?"
Taimar pointed back behind her, further down the alleyway.
Both Monika and Alex remained on guard with weapons at the ready.
"What's down there?" Monika prompted.
"Is it a vampire?" Alex brandished the silver sword.
Taimar shook her head. "What are you talking about? There's no bloody vampire."
"Then what?" Monika patience seemed strained.
They all fell silent for a moment as a pair of drunken Dunmer passed by the entrance to the alleyway. They'd evidently just left the arena.
Taimar resumed, speaking quietly. "They're using some sort of… thing. It saps the will and bends the mind. It's magical."
"Then, how are you out?" Alex challenged.
"Forester. He's on the inside. He gave me this." She held up an amulet about her neck. "It's charmed. It's supposed to protect me from the mind spell."
Alex strained his vision to see. His eyes had adjusted enough to see Taimar's features. In the dim light, the Redguard woman looked of a similar age to Rena. She wore her tightly curled hair quite short, just slightly longer than cropped.
Taimar took half a step deeper in the alleyway. She kept her voice low, but her tone was insistent. "Look, they're setting up a sort of private militia, but using some sort of magical thing to charm recruits. Trying to force Forester into acting as some sort of magic expert and Maplewood is being forced into fighting in the arena."
Monika interrupted. "We're gonna need help. Maybe the two other Guild Fighters or those Vigilants of Stendarr."
"Bjorn and Ceno? They're both in on it." Taimar claimed. "One of those Stendarr cultists is one of them, as well."
"What?" Monika's tone indicated her disbelief.
"We should try to bring in the Legion." Alex suggested.
Taimar looked to Alex. "Forester is pretty sure that the captain is clean, but he's not sure about everyone under him." She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. There's no time. In about a quarter of an hour, there's a big meeting of the leaders." She shifted her glance toward Monika. "Forester says that's our best chance. There's going to be someone from the temple, their man from the City Guard and the one from the Order of the Candle. Dunno who else. Should give us about an hour. Enough time to get to Forester. Then we get Maplewood and we get out fast. Maybe go to the Legion after that."
Monika glanced back along the alley toward the street, then returned her focus toward Taimar, then Alex. "I don't like it."
Alex offered a thought. "Should we be getting a message to…?"
"Take too long." Monika knew what he was thinking. If that spectre was about, she'd want him along, but it would take far too long to follow his indirect instructions.
Taimar tried to break the indecision. "Look, this is our best chance. Dunno when we'll get another one and Forester might not be able to hold out much longer. They're going to find out that he's not under the spell. As soon as he heard word that you two were in the arena, he sent me to make this happen. He needs your help and he needs it now."
"What's your plan?" Monika still didn't sound convinced.
Taimar glanced back along the alley again. "There's a secret entrance back there. I'm supposed to be guarding it until midnight. While they're in that meeting, there's gonna be less people about where we're headed. If we come across anyone, we'll need to put them down real quiet, if we can. Should be easy enough to get to Forester." She paused. "Might be trickier getting to Rena, but with four of us…" She offered a confident smile.
Monika mulled it over a moment before speaking. "Where's this entrance?"
Taimar indicated the wall down the alley. "Just down here. There's a tunnel into the underworks of the arena."
They all took pause as a rowdy trio of men passed by outside the alley. They looked like they were headed straight from the arena to Ramil's Place.
Taimar cautiously broke the silence. "You know how to do a strangle hold? It would be better. Quieter."
Monika nodded. "Yeah."
Alex appeared less confident. "I think so." He had been trained, but he had not yet had any opportunity to actually try it.
Monika was still weighing the options. "You think the three of us can do this?"
Taimar hesitated before trying to project confidence. "Four, once we have Forester."
"Is this a good idea?" Alex sounded like he had yet to decide either way.
"Dunno." Monika admitted. After a pause, she faced Taimar. "You're sure Forester is waiting for this, right now?"
"He's ready for us. We just need to be quick and quiet. Weapons ready, but if we can, go for silent take downs." She mimicked a strangle hold. "Silent kills if we have to. Better if we can avoid any trouble altogether."
Monika released a short sharp sigh or resignation, then looked to Alex in the dim light. "You ready for this?"
"I think so, yes." Alex tried to sound confident, but he was not that convincing.
"Right then." Monika settled. "Let's do it."
Taimar led them to the concealed entrance in the wall of the alleyway. She cautiously swung the short wooden door inward and peeked inside. After listening for a moment, she paused to whisper to the others. "It's clear. Stay close and stay quiet. Watch your head on the way in. Low ceiling."
Monika and Alex cautiously followed Taimar into the tunnel with their weapons at the ready. Moving slowly, they headed along the narrow tunnel in single file for a fair distance. It eventually joined to a broader chamber up ahead. Just short of that larger area, Taimar paused to listen for any sign of trouble. After a moment, she signalled with a broad movement of her arm to continue onward.
After passing through the larger chamber, Taimar led them down a slightly broader corridor off to the left. The torches mounted along the stone walls were quite sparsely spread, providing only dim lighting in between.
Nearing the far end of that corridor, Taimar silently signalled to hold position and wait. They all remained perfectly motionless for a lengthy moment. A banging noise echoed from somewhere further away. It sounded like it was coming from some distance away.
After another brief moment, Taimar cautiously peered along the connecting corridor, looking to both the left and right. She signalled the all clear, then indicated the direction to the right. She silently mouthed the words, "This way." She paused again to briefly look down the corridor to the right, then moved forward quickly and quietly.
Monika and Alex followed behind just as quietly.
A few paces further along that corridor, Taimar paused momentarily to check an open doorway on the left, then continued onward.
Just as Alex passed that doorway, he thought he sensed something. Before he was able to react, a firm hand clamped down over his face. An arm was pressed just as firmly across his throat, pulling him backward. He had felt someone bump past him, but he was unable to do anything to warn Monika or even see what was happening. He had instinctively struggled and tried to bring his blades around toward his attacker. However, he felt all of his strength draining away as he tried. There was a terrible smell of something and he could barely breathe. He never figured out exactly what the smell was. Everything just faded away into darkness.
~O~