The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Story of Octavian

World's End Spire

It looked like some sort of switch. It was made of the same white stone as the Tower, and it was sticking out of a miniature trapdoor. On it's top was a blue thing and several panels, several small colored lights were also present, blinking serenely.

The words "ACTIVATION CODE 21334231, LINK MODULE PRESENT, INSERT POWER SOURCE…." played across the blue. A panel opened and a handprint was revealed, as was a red thing.

"The Tower Switch!" The vampire gasped as the bloody rain stopped. "I had been wondering what your Stone was, but I should have puzzled it out."

"What is this?" I asked.

"Each Tower has a Stone. That alone isn't enough to switch it on. It needs an outside activator. Kagrenac was using that on Red Tower, that's what the tools were, an activation power source." He replied. "If you put your hand there, your Stone should switch it on."

"Well… What'll that do?" I asked.

"Last time someone lit a Tower, we got the Dragon Break. But they didn't have the same power regulators that we do, and they also did something very bad. Can't quite remember what it was, though." He shrugged. "I've always been one for trying new things."

"Well, alright." I said, too tired to fully register the magnitude of what he'd just told me. I placed my hand on the handprint.

"Okay, now push the red button." he said.

"The what?"

"The red thing next to the handprint, push it in."

I pushed it, and then metal bands shot out and tied my hand down. "Gah, what the hell is this?" I asked, suddenly wide awake. Then I was covered with pure energy, tearing through my body, sucking me down into the device. I pulled away, but I was stuck. I screamed with pain as the jolts increased in intensity. Suddenly the bands released and I fell backwards. On the back of my alabaster-white hand was just a red mark in the shape of my Stone, it had been taken, and my godhood with it.

The vampire collapsed to his knees. "Serpent, get away! I'll kill you, worm! Your other was killed, I saw his body!" He then spouted several ramblings in a language I didn't understand, but it sounded like a cross between Nordic and Aldmeris. He sprung up and yelled in Tamrielic, "I RENOUNCE YOUR FILTH, AURI-EL, FATHER OF MY ENEMY!"

The sky swam with black and a rift opened with the sound of metal being torn. Out from it floated a colossal golden Dragon, eyes white and talons black as jet.

"That fool should never have come down here!" Akatosh said. "My enemy who was me, he foolishly split from our double entity to aid his human people one last time. And where is he now? Petrified among the mortal filth!"

"What the hell is going on?" I asked.

"You and M'Razzar were wonderful pawns. The function of Tower Installation 3 is to draw power from the others and open a portal to anywhere in the galaxy."

"So you're the 'Hidden Enemy!'" I said.

"You should learn to interpret prophecies before acting on them." He said, then made to lunge at me. Suddenly he jerked back, screaming. I turned around and saw the vampire, his sword stuck into the blue part of the device, which had turned red. The words "ERROR: SELF REPAIR INITIATED. RE-INITIALIZING SYSTEM CONFIGURATION" was dimly visible on it. Akatosh flew away, spiraling upwards, coming to a rest just below the rift. He encased himself in a black bubble.

"It's only a matter of time before the system repairs itself." He taunted. "You can do NOTHING!"

"Yes we can!" The vampire yelled. "Jonny, are you prepared to go?"

"I am." Jongard said, drawing his swords.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked.

"Sovngarde." Jongard said. "I must die."

"No! What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked, my head throbbing.

"When he destroyed the Stone of Red Tower, he was wearing most of the activation module. He is the Stone of Red Tower. White-Gold is programmed to sap the activation power from the other Towers. If we can shut down the primary system by undermining it's power supply, the secondary system will remain in Standby, we can keep the barriers up between here and Oblivion up that way."

"What he's saying," Jongard interrupted, "is that I'm the power source for this infernal Tower, and to keep Akatosh from destroying Nirn, like he's been trying to do since his rival created it, we need to cut that power."

"There has to be another way to do this! I'm not letting you die!" I said, feeling powerless beyond comprehension.

"There is no other way." The vampire said, lifting me up with magic. "If you want to destroy the world, go ahead, but don't get in my way when I'm trying to save it!" He then threw me like a rag doll at the parapets.

"Now, let us begin. Obviously, no holding back." He said, taking his katana out of the activation controls.

"Yes." Was all Jongard said. He started to glow red, and float an inch off the ground. The vampire's tattoos glowed a bright blue, and he hunched over a little, a guttural noise escaping his lips. For a moment they stared each other down, sizing each other up.

Suddenly they were upon each other, swords clashing. The vampire jumped back, spinning, but was blocked by Jongard's lightning sword. The vampire lunged, and twitched left, knocking the sword out of Jongard's hands. Jongard began two-handing the flaming scimitar, going very offensive as the vampire elegantly dodged and blocked blow after blow.

Suddenly Jongard lunged, and the fiery sword impaled the vampire, who burst into flame. He yelled out a war cry and his tattoos glowed a brilliant, hot white. He slammed Jongard with the pommel of his sword, breaking his nose, and then dropped it. He lunged at him, sword still inside, clawing at Jongard's face. He was blocked, and Jongard delivered a bone-shattering punch to the vampire's ribs. He retaliated with a backhand across the face, which sprayed blood from Jongard's mouth. They began to go faster, until the wind from their movements extinguished the flaming vampire.

Suddenly they began to cast spells the like of which I'd never seen. The vampire began to fly, casting blue flames from tattoos across his knuckles. Jongard jumped aside, then launched red lightning, which was also dodged. The force of their spells started to break the Parapets and other, later-era decorations off the Tower, the loose stones flying out and orbiting around one or the other of the combatants. They flew a little off the Tower's edge, so I could see from my angle everything that was occurring.

They continued casting spells at each other. The flying stones caught the spells and filled the sky with multicolored explosions. They flew closer, the stones beginning to impact off each other. Suddenly one stone in the vampire's orbit slammed into Jongard's head.

Jongard fell, and all his stones with him. I wasn't thinking, I jumped from the Tower. I flew down from it, hand outstretched, irrationally thinking I could save him from death. The vampire passed me, his own sword in his right hand, and he pulled Jongard's Trueflame out of himself, spraying blood.

We raced to the ground underneath. I saw the look on Jongard's face just before he landed. It was a look of the man who had finally seen the end of war.

He landed first, then the vampire, who stabbed down into the dead body with both swords. Then I stopped. He held me up with a slowfall spell and let me fall from mere inches.

"You're free, brother." He said, closing Jongard's eyes, and removing the swords. He sat down, and so did I. The vengeful god screamed from the sky, his body disappearing into a cloud of mist as he, too, fell, the power sustaining him destroyed.

"Why?" I asked.

"Any of us three could have killed Auri-El, certainly. But then the world would have ended, just as it was prophesied. You were supposed to kill him, and end all Time. I've been through a Dragon break. It's not something you ever want to repeat." He replied.

"There was no other way?" I asked.

"The only way to deactivate a Tower is to remove it's Stone with a full Activation Module." He said. "That wasn't an option, but White-Gold's unique power grid allowed us to put it in permanent standby by undermining any Tower's Power Source, and since he was the last thread of Red Tower, only he could turn it off."

"Why didn't he just let you kill him, if he knew that was the only way to stop it?"

"He and I are Shorists. We both believe that dying valiantly in battle is the only way to enter Sovngarde. I was willing to grant him that."

Not able to take anymore, I simply blacked out.