It had been years since I had been part of such a force moving through the lands, and I had certainly never been commanding one. At least, not one this size. Over two hundred individuals fell under my direct command, and almost a hundred more were linked to me through Stavond of the Black Knights and we made an impressive sight along the roads and highways of the Empire as we moved. At every town and village and waypost we caught the attentions of their populations who flocked out to behold the sight of so many armed soldiers and their attendants.

Despite my initial fears of our progress and movements through Cyrodill would be noticed it was quickly becoming obvious that we were not the only armed parties on the march. Throughout the Empire the Imperial Legions were on the move and on two separate occasions on our journey to the west we encountered enormous formations of entire castas moving east, and nearly every town and city had raised their levies. While this hadn't been as unusual over the previous months the sheer scale of it was numbing. It was almost as though every man and woman of fighting age had found themselves either wielding weapons or assisting in producing them and I doubted there was many regions that were unfamiliar to the tramping of armoured feet.

The Daedra were also amassing and smaller towns and villages throughout Tamriel had either been abandoned or destroyed with the luckier survivors managing to flee towards the cities and their fortifications. For every military convoy we encountered we were met by a dozen groups of refugees, which was considerably different the last time that Viconia and I had travelled the Gold Road west of Skingrad. In a twisted fashion it appeared that even Kvatch was considered to be a safer place for those fleeing the increasing numbers of daedra roaming the counties burning and destroying everything in their path.

There was no doubting that the Empire was under siege and the death toll was steadily rising but it was doing little more than foreshadowing the darkness that was yet to come. Since Kvatch and Ald'Ruhn there had not many comparably large cities destroyed by the daedra and while some had been directly attacked in other provinces they had not suffered the same fate. Stories we gleaned from travellers on the road spoke of Daedric armies clashing with the military might of the Empire throughout Tamriel, and there were tales of victories in High Rock, Hammerfell, Morrowind and even Blackmarsh. An Orcish army never before seen in Tamriel's history was roaming through Breton lands crushing anything even remotely daedric, and rumours from the depths of Blackmarsh spoke of how the Lizards had an army that was leaving the Dunmer increasingly nervous at what the future may hold if Mehrunes Dagon was ultimately defeated.

Not all the news was as hopeful as these tales, and there was some that left myself and a few of the others in particular feeling disgusted. The Elder Council had truly decided to withdraw the Legions from all the provinces and one by one they were being recalled to the Imperial City. The Altmer had been the first to be abandoned by the Legion and unlike some of the more warlike races in the northern provinces, the Summerset Isles had less of a military tradition to fall back on in such desperate times. They had no house or hold retinues, no knightly Orders to call upon and were left to scrape together the semblance of a military almost from scratch even as daedra raided and burnt their way through their lands. For myself, and the others like Carodus, Avita and the twins who had served in the Legions this felt very much like betrayal for everything we had stood for.

These concerns and the increasing danger across Tamriel ensured that when the Order marched, we did so alert and ready at all times. Although unless our scouts and outriders warned us of any potential danger we marched with only half our number armed and armoured, rotating through the ranks to ensure that fatigue wasn't setting in but always ensuring that we were training and preparing for the fight ahead. Every day the convoy would awake at the crack of dawn, packing down our tents and supplies back onto our horses and the wagons before marching several hours until the sun began to dip low in the west. Then there would be an hours' worth of training for those who didn't spend the day marching in armour, followed by the evening of rotating guards throughout the night. It was tiring and hard work, especially for those in our ranks that we not used to such exertions but it seemed that the knowledge that we were marching to battle kept complaints and disciplinary issues to a minimum.

None of us really knew where we were going though. I may have been in charge but I was simply following another who seemed to know exactly where to go. Since his knighting, Caleb had explained that when the sword had ben cleansed he had been gifted a vison of a place to the west along the coast of the Abecean Sea and ever since then he had been feeling a tugging sensation. Viconia and I felt somewhat uncomfortable as it reminded us all too well of the sensation we had after meeting the ghost of Pelinal Whitestrake that had ultimately lead up to the Helms shrine but it also gave us confidence that we were going the right direction.

For three weeks we marched, going through our daily routines and drilling the men-at-arms and knights continuously. The Black Knights of Talos and the Knights of the Nine were training together, not just in their skill in arms but more importantly formations and tactics. The composition of our forces was varied both in skill, experience and equipment but as we entered the depths of County Anvil and begun heading north toward the Hammerfell border I was growing more confident in our infantry, light cavalry and heavy cavalry working together in battle.

Ever since we had entered County Kvatch there had been a foreboding sensation that the lands had been emptied of the local population, and County Anvil was no different. In the months since I had hunted bandits and encountered the Bosmer rangers the number of people scattered about had dropped even lower and despite passing through several villages we didn't see signs of anyone having lived there in quite some time. Houses and businesses had been abandoned and ransacked of anything of value, fields had been left fallow and unplanted and livestock either slaughtered or having vanished. Two of the smaller villages that we passed through bore signs of heavy fighting that had resulted in several buildings burning down to ashes and for six days we travelled through a desolate county before we discovered any signs of other people.

In my customary position towards the head of the column I had been casually chatting with Stavond, Viconia and Alexi as we walked our horses as one of the many mounted scouts came riding back hard. I had just shy of two dozen scouts under my command, most of which mounted on smaller, faster horses than those that myself and the other Knights rode but they spent most of their time away from the column. As we moved deeper into Anvil county I had pushed them further and further out, letting them range several kilometres away in pairs to keep us aware of what we were approaching and warning of any potential threats. When something was discovered, one of them would remain behind at the location, and their partner would return to report their findings to me.

Like many of the scouts, Sabiie was a Breton and showed a natural aptitude for horsemanship and the previous weeks had provided enough interactions that I knew them all by name. She and her scouting partner were usually far ahead and it wasn't difficult to determine that she had been riding hard to get back with her information by the way her horse's flanks were heaving and she herself was panting.

"Sir!" She called out, reining in her horse a few metres away from where myself and the others were walking with our own steeds. "We think we have found something!"

I could feel my brow furrow in confusion and yet there was a spike of adrenaline through my veins at her words. She, and many of the other scouts were very good at what they did and had been exceptional at reporting their findings. They had been chosen not only because of their memories and their ability to perceive and assess their discoveries but also because they were capable of reporting it back to me in an accurate, unbiased way.

"Define 'something,' Sabiie."

Without hesitation she slid out of her saddle, handing the reins over to one of the nearest offered hand and tugging a folded up sheet of parchment out of her tunic. All of the scouts were also responsible for sketching out the lay of the land as they moved, and the large collection that I had been collecting was taking up an entire trunk in one of the wagons from their efforts.

"Five to six kilometres to the North west we encountered a small group of people heading towards the coast. There's no paths or roads in this area but it looked like there was some kind of buildings or village built onto a peninsular there."

Pulling out my own map and ignoring the way that both hers and mine were damp with sweat, I compared her crudely drawn one with a more official map of the area copied from the local legion's records. "There's not much in this area at all." I said, mentally adding the terrain features and spots of interest off Sabiie's map and comparing them to my own. "I don't think we're that far north for it to be the village of Creekswood."

"With respect commander, it's not a village. It's more like a ruin and looks like it used to be a fortress than anything else. Whatever it is, it's large."

"These people… Describe them."

"I didn't get too good a look but there was ten, maybe eleven of them walking along. They didn't seem really concerned or taking notice of their surroundings but Gadnil said they looked like elves. I can tell you a couple of things for certain; they were all dressed the same in golden armour and one of them was huge. Easily bigger than these guys."

Her casual gesture directed at Stavond and the other Black Knights was not lost to me or the others and my sense of foreboding was growing stronger. We had gone four days without seeing a single sign of any other living being beyond Kynareth's creations and this was highly unusual.

"How certain are you of their size?"

If Sabiie was put off by my questions she didn't show it and from my experience as a forester I had spent a considerable time teaching the scouts what sort of information was needed and that they would need to back themselves in their assessments. The previous training was now repaying the investment and Sabiie scrunched her face in concentration for a second before nodding vigorously. "Very. The big one was carrying a deer over one shoulder without any effort and it certainly wasn't a stunted deer by any comparison."

"We are close." Said a voice over my shoulder and I nodded, feeling the tinge of pain from Caleb's proximity as he moved over to where we were all talking. In the weeks since his knighthood there was a perceptible change to the young crusader. I wasn't sure how everyone else felt around him but I knew that my vampirism was severely affected by his mere proximity. Every day it was becoming more and more potent, as though that the continued use and proximity of the Relics that he donned every few days was actually infusing their power into his flesh.

"I think so as well." Studying my map for quite possibly the millionth time in the past week, I tapped my finger on one of the markings to gain the attention of the others while looking up to meet their gaze. "The Order will continue on to this village. If Johnillius and Bacoro's assessments were correct you all should arrive there just before dark. Alexi, you are in charge while we're gone."

"No problems there Kaius." He said, the scar tissue on his cheek scrunching and twisting as he smiled. "You just can't get away from your past as a scout, can you?"

"This warrants investigating." My eyes roamed over the group and I nodded to Stavond and Viconia. "We're going to go have a look at these ruins for ourselves and someone go find Carodus as well. We'll follow Sabiie back to where she and Gadnil saw these people and if all goes well we should be back shortly after dark."

There seemed to be no complaints from the others, who simply nodded and went about preparing for the rest of the day. It also didn't take long for Carodus to appear, again almost proving a supernatural perception of when his commander required his services and before long we were all riding back from where Sabiie came from. There were only a handful of us, Myself, Viconia, Carodus, Stavond and one of his knights being lead on through the forests and rolling hills of the County by Sabiie. We were also accompanied by Caleb on the back of his own warhorse but beyond bringing the Mace and Shield he left all of the other relics behind and under the watchful eye of the knights of Talos and the Nine. I did have some trepidation with having all of us travelling in such a group but I was quickly learning that with every day, Caleb's confidence and will was growing stronger. What he and many of the others didn't really know or weren't noticing was that I was taking steps to teach him as much as I could about leading the Order because while I was still the founder and the official commander of the Order, the men and women weren't truly following me anymore.

In less than two hours we had travelled the distance back to Sabiie's comrade and I was quite impressed with how she was able to lead us back to where they had originally spotted the small group, before continuing on a short distance looking for her fellow scout. Thankfully for all of us, Gadnil hadn't moved too far from where his companion had left him, having found a denser thicket of trees in amongst the rolling vegetation of the coastal hillsides that allowed him and his own horse to be hidden away.

Shorter, and slightly older than myself, the Dunmer had come from a family of poachers throughout Bravil County and had honed his craft from a young age in the West Weald. Many of the smaller baronies throughout Cyrodiil had laws as varied as their rulers and those around Bravil in particular enforced their no-hunting laws with brutal efficiency. The fact that he had managed to almost reach forty with only one carved notch in an ear was proof of his skills of hunting and stealth, and in fact without my vampiric senses or Sabiie's experience of where to find him he would have remained hidden from us.

"Commander." He said simply as we arrived, dismounting from our horses as he appeared as though conjured from the thicket. Most of the terrain around us was gently sloping hills around dry creeks and streams that would flood during the wetter months, but for the moment it was dry and dusty but still providing good cover.

"Good morning Gadnil. What do you have for us?"

Absently, he scratched at the back of his head and shrugged. "Looks to me like an ancient ruin of some kind, possibly Ayleid I reckon. Whatever it is, it seems to be extremely popular with the locals."

"How many are we looking at?"

His scratching continued and he shrugged again. "I'm… I'm not entirely sure. Dozens, probably more. I'm sorry commander but there is something about this place that doesn't sit right with me."

My own expression was featureless but I could see how the experienced hunter was nervous even without relying on my vampiric senses. Something about this area was eating away at him and I couldn't help but sympathise. There was something unnatural about the region.

"We're close." Caleb simply said, and my unease increased even more as I saw the strange glow building around his irises. He was truly becoming less and less of the timid young man we had met and changing into something that truly terrified me.

"Where's the best vantage point?"

Gadnil nodded in a rough direction over his shoulder. "About fifty metres through the trees is the crest of the hill. About ten metres further is the edge of the forest and it has clear views to the ruins."

"Threats?"

"That's one thing has got me concerned commander. There's a lot of activity down there but I have seen no sign of scouts or patrols out here. I mean… this is the first place I would have set upsome kind of early warning but there's nothing around."

My concern must have made itself visible on my face and both Stavond and Viconia simply nodded in unison. About the only person who didn't seem to have any of his own concerns was Carodus who was still slowly and painfully lowering himself down out of his saddle and wincing as his knees audibly popped. "There's not many people who would think of having eyes and ears out. If I had a septim for every bandit or insurgent group that failed to know who and what is around them I would've been able to retire before I was thirty."

"Leave the horses here, we'll move forward on foot as carefully as we can. There's no telling whether this is some kind of ruse or the like."

Slowly we made our way through the forest with Gadnil leading the way. there was no unnecessary breaking or snapping of trees or branches in our path and one by one we slid and ducked and even crawled where the bushes and shrubs grew dense. With softly spoken words both myself and our scout provided advice to the others moving through the forest on how to ensure that we didn't disturb anything but it didn't take very long at all to reach where Gadnil had been observing the area.

My first impressions were of a wide flat plain, yellow-gold grass swaying in the breeze that rippling and coursed through it in waves. The plain itself was wide and gently rolling but was almost entirely flat, lacking in trees and cover for hundreds of metres until it reached what was undoubtedly structures built by the hands of men and mer. For many of the others with less experience than Viconia and I it was easy to see how they would've guessed the constructions to be the remains of an ancient fortress or castle but I could immediately see the unique architecture of the Ayleids. Built into the coast itself and partially jutting out into the water it was easily as large as a village and perhaps had once been thousands of years before. It was nowhere near as large as the ruins of Nonungalo or Nornelhorst, but it was certainly large enough to contain an entire legion fort without any real difficulty.

From the central building that appeared like the ruined base of a circular keep there were obviously what were roads leading out like spokes in a wheel, separating the crumbled remains of buildings from each other in the same style as every other Ayleid city or town throughout Cyrodiil. Some of the buildings were more or less intact and were obviously inhabited with smoke rising from holes knocked in the roofs, others were now hosts to an infection of tents and other shanties constructed from locally sourced lumber.

"Well, whoever they are, they certainly plan on staying for a while." Muttered Stavond as he crawled on his stomach over to where I was squinting off into the distance.

"And they aren't locals." Gesturing to the far side of the ancient Ayleid stronghold I drew his attention to the collection of tall wooden spires rising into the sky. "I can't see them from here, but those look like ships to me."

Viconia too had crawled up alongside me, and I heard some mild cursing under my breath as we were also joined by Carodus who began picking thorns out of an arm. "I think you are right Kaius. Two… Maybe three of them." She said, shifting her head from side to side slightly to see if she could peer around the mound like structure in the centre of the ruins. "Can't see them clearly from this side though."

After a few more seconds of muffled annoyance, Carodus finished picking the last of the thorns out of his flesh and ignoring the way that he was bleeding had begun fishing about in the small bag that he had dragged along. "Here sahr, this might help."

"Where did you get this?" I said, seeing the spyglass in his hands before I reached over to take the offered item.

"Won it a few years ago in a game of dice. Best win I ever had."

"My thanks." Carefully, I lifted it up to my eye after seeing where the sun was in case the crystal and metal of the spyglass reflected in the direction of the ruins. It took some getting used to but combined with my vampiric eyesight it suddenly allowed me to see incredible detail despite the couple of kilometres distance between me and them.

Fashioned like a wheel, the north west and western edges of the ruins met the Abecean sea and the tall wooden spires were indeed the masts ships moored into the marble-like stone wharfs jutting out from the coast. The direct north of the central structure was one of four major roads crossing through the ruins, and as far as I could see from our position in the forest to the east, the other roads were along the east, south east and south axis's. Overall the ruins covered an area easily a kilometre in diameter and were almost entirely utilised by their current occupants.

Gadnil and ben correct in stating that there were dozens or more people down in the ruins, and if anything he had been grossly underestimating. Everywhere I looked I could see people moving back and forth, carrying supplies and materials and going about all manner of jobs. There were cooking fires by the dozens and that was just the ones that I could see, a mass of tents scattered through the flatter portions of the ruins between the north and eastern roadways and single story buildings that were still in useable condition between the east and south eastern roads. Even from a distance there was no mistaking that the entire area appeared like an anthill of activity.

"See anything interesting?" Viconia asked, sarcasm infusing her tone as I took the spyglass away from my eye and blinked several times from the unusual effect.

"Quite a bit, but unfortunately I don't know how much of it is going to be useful." Again I put it back up to my eye and slowly and carefully moved it about, taking note of everything I could see.

"There's hundreds of people down there, and while I think we're a bit too far to really see I think they are all elves." I was partially lying for the benefit of the others who were unaware of my vampirism but I could see much clearer than I should've. Almost all of the beings were tall, slender and almost exclusively High Elves but distinct features were impossible to discern. What I could see was that there were quite a number of them who were armed and armoured, moving about in small groups as though patrolling or guarding portions of the ruins. "A lot of them are armed though."

"Pirates?" Stavond muttered, his own eyes attempting to pick out details without the assistance of Carodus' eyeglass.

"I don't think so." Carefully, I handed the delicate item over to the giant Knight who appeared somewhat ludicrous with it up to an eye.

"Hmmm…" His voice was a low growl as he looked over the sight before us. "Their equipment is too uniform to be pirates or bandits. I don't see much discrepancy amongst them at all. I roughly guess that there's about five hundred of them down there, not including any that may be in the buildings, tents or those ships. At least half of them are armed too."

"That's a sizable force of elves to simply unload and set up shop in Cyrodiil. Oblivion take them… that's a sizable force of anyone to set up anywhere. There's at least a casta down there."

The spyglass was passed between us and returned to Carodus and we were all left looking between ourselves and the distant ruins while the ex-legionary put his possession to use. "There's no sign of attempts to fortify the place, but there's a lot of open ground to cover for anyone to cover so my guess would be that they're extremely confident that they either can't be found or that there no force large enough to take them."

My own attention was on Caleb, who had not spoken a word and yet his attention was fully focussed upon the ruins as though he was attempting to conquer the place with willpower alone. He had been leading us for a month now but for the past two days he had been uncharacteristically silent.

"There's more than just elves down there." Carodus suddenly said, squinting through the eyeglass and propping his elbows into the soil. "There's…"

One second he was looking through the spyglass, concentrating hard and trying to get a better look at what had caught his attention, and the next he flung the priceless object into the dirt and explosively vomited.

His reaction startled all of us, especially as his retching continued.

"Carodus? What is it?"

"Gods… if… I… know…" he rasped, strings of saliva dripping from his lips and chin and I could smell bile on the air. "South road… A hundred metres away from centre…" his chest and stomach heaved again and he was breathing heavily, wiping at his face and the tears from his eyes. "Ugh, don't look at it directly, whatever you do."

Viconia got to the eyeglass first and after a brief moment's fiddling with it she carefully looked over the ruins in the direction Carodus had described. Slowly, she moved it about, her expression growing dark as she began muttering in Drow before changing to common.

"There's Aurorans down there." The mere mention of the daedric creatures we had faced in Leyawiin's cathedral was more than enough proof but she was still continuing studying the area. "I count at twenty-three, and there looks like there's some kind of magicka or ritual circle set up closer to the central building. Unless I'm mistaken I think they also have Atronachs of some kind as well, but I can't properly identify them."

It was easy to determine when she too laid eyes on the source of Carodus' discomfort as she simply froze in place, turning a waxy-grey colour as all the blood rushed from her face. With the slightest tremble running through her arms she lowered the eyeglass and appeared to be doing her best not to let her own nausea get the best of her as she looked between us all.

"We're in the right place."

"Umaril." Hissed Caleb, and for a moment I felt an echo of the undying hatred that Viconia and I had experienced firsthand when we had met Pelinal's spectre. The fey light within his eyes burned brighter for a moment and I suddenly had a very real concern that he was preparing to stand up and charge the ruins on his own with only two of the relics before I saw him relax. "What is the plan commander?"

Looking between Stavond and Carodus, I nodded to the two who I believed had the most experience in cavalry and infantry and gestured towards the ruins. "We know where they are now, but we will need everyone we have to be able to attack this place. Gadnil?"

"Sir." Replied the Dark Elf and I felt his eyes join the others looking in my direction.

"You and Sabiie stay here. Keep an eye on them and if there are any suggestions that they are going to move or leave or that they know that we're in the area I want to know immediately."

"Easily done commander.

"Try to determine their numbers if you can. The more we know the better."

Carefully making our way back through the thicket to our horses, we wasted no time in making our way back to the rest of our forces. We had been gone for several hours and the sun was getting low by the time we managed to catch up to where they had made camp in a village long since abandoned. Despite our best efforts the news that we had found our quarry spread quickly and there was a sense of nervous excitement throughout the soldiers and knights as they began preparing for the coming battle.

As for myself and the others there was very quickly a council of war created inside the shell of an abandoned tavern, ringing around one of the few remaining tables and a freshly drawn map laid out across it. Every commander or sub commander was present as were a handful of other important members of both Orders and despite the nervous excitement the mood was considerably grim.

I found myself feeling amazed that I was standing in such a room, and not only that but I was actually in command of such a group. Almost everyone we had spent months travelling and training alongside were there as well as the newer arrivals. With Viconia and Alexi to my left they were simply the highest ranking members of the Order of the Nine with several more ringing around that side of the table. Avita, Carodus, Mazoga, and the twins, Geimund and Gukimir were also present and what would have bene a surprise several months previously, Detane was as well. To my right stood the towering figures of several of the Black Knights, including Stanvond, Falid and Stanvond's second in command, Morihe.

It was a collection of incredible skill and faith, of bravery and determination and besides the fact that I felt extremely out of place with my own internal corruption it wasn't being helped by the person standing on the opposite end of the table. Caleb too was also present and more and more I was feeling out of place and inadequate.

"The latest report from the scouts states that there is at least five hundred elves and daedra within the ruins and that at least half, possibly two thirds of them are armed." I began, feeling the parchment in my fingers that I had received less than thirty minutes before from Sabiie. "The daedra consist of twenty to thirty Aurorans and no less than thirty Atronachs."

"What kind of Atronachs?" asked Detane, his expression cold and hard as we were used to but there was no venom in his words. If I was truly honest the change that was coming over him the previous month was taking quite some getting used to.

Viconia lifted her head and met his eyes before looking around at the assembled group, leaning over and tapping a symbol that had been marked on the larger map just south of the centre. "I believe they are Light Atronachs, similar to those that we encountered in Leyawiin's cathedral but these are not temporarily summons. The reports and what we all saw earlier leads me to believe that they had been bound to this plane somehow, exactly how is beyond my expertise."

"But that means that there is potentially skilled magicka users there too." Alexi added.

She nodded, her tongue briefly sliding between her teeth as she grimaced. "Conjurers at least. the ritual circle at this location would have to be the foci of their enchantments and summons but to have so many bound daedra represents a significant amount of effort."

Her hands clasped at her back in a typical legion stance, Avita was studying the map intently but listening to every word. "Just who are these elves? Do we have any idea why they are supporting the likes of Umaril?"

This time it was Carodus that answered, he too standing in a similar stance to Avita but with his hand resting on the pommel of his gladius. "Elvish supremacists I reckon. During my time on Stros M'kai there were several times when one group or another came onto the island and tried causing problems."

"Elvish Supremacists?" I asked.

"Yeh, it's a bit of a popular thing on the Isles. There's always one group or another who want to see the old days of the Elves ruling Tamriel to return, and it don't surprise me that a group of them would support the likes of Umaril. I mean, isn't he one of the last Ayleid Kings so it would make sense that he would have some who would be supporting his return."

"Supremacists, anarchists, it doesn't matter." Detane's voice had the hint of his previous venom returning for a moment. "They are supporting Umaril and judging by their numbers and resources available to them they have some serious backing from somewhere. Three men-of-wars? Dozens of bound daedra? That's a significant capability and something that we can't ignore."

Stavond nodded and gestured to the map where a trio of stones had been placed representing the ships. "The ships represent a differing threat to our mission. If Umaril or these elves learn that we are nearby they may attempt to flee and unlike them, we do not have the capability to pursue. We can't afford to let them escape."

"So we strike hard and fast." My thoughts were rolling through my head as I looked over the handful of carved figures sitting at the base of the map, ready for use. "Suggestions?"

Unsurprisingly Carodus was one of the first to move forward, gesturing to north east portions of the map where the elvish camp had been constructed. "Attacking from the north or north east would allow us to get in and close by using the forest, but any attack through there is going to get bogged down. Any attempts to keep formation through the tent lines is a lost cause, and without formations we would not be able to hold off the Aurorans."

"It would make for poor cavalry terrain as well. The ruins themselves would prove more of a danger to our horses breaking legs, let alone fighting an enemy."

I nodded to Avita's comment and so did the others in the room with cavalry experience. "This leaves us attacking from the east, south east or the south. All of which is across hundreds of metres of open country."

"That could play to our advantage."

All eyes turned to Carodus and Alexi looked as though he was trying not to scoff at the notion. "Throwing away our advantage of surprise is going to be advantageous?"

Carodus simply shrugged, stepping forward and pointing to the south east on the map. "We either throw away our formations and our chances of winning with it, or we use our strengths to our advantage."

"Our cavalry."

He nodded at my words, grasping the carved figures and placing them on the map. "Whoever these elves are, unless they are strategic geniuses and are playing us utterly for fools they don't know a damn about defending themselves. From my brief look today before I saw… him… I saw no signs of defences or fortifications. Whoever is in charge down there is confident that the numbers of soldiers and daedra they have will going to be enough to fight off any attackers, so I think we let them think that."

Placing down the figures representing our infantry, cavalry and skirmishers I saw how he had purposely placed the infantry to the south east, followed by the cavalry directly to their north. "I have full faith in our men-at-arms keeping formation in open terrain but if we have to go through something like those ruins or tent lines we are going to have serious issues. We're not going to be able to do much more than advance and fight."

Seeing a similar expression of agreement mirrored across all of the other commanders I felt somewhat more confident in my own assessment. The infantry had come a long way since we had initially created them out of pilgrims and volunteers but the previous months had done a lot of damage to their coherence. We had lost many while the Duke had been in control of the Order through desertions and otherwise, and while we had gained many more in the weeks since, even from his own infantry and that of the Host of the Horn they were not all at a similar standard. Some had been with us from the beginning and were well on the way to being able to match a Legion Hastatii in battle, but many of the others were little more than militia.

"A feint." Falid rumbled. "To draw their forces out."

Carodus nodded, placing the skirmisher marker down in front of the infantry marker and adding another marker representing the enemy directly into the ruins themselves. "Correct me if I'm wrong but our overall mission here is to defeat that ugly fucker I saw today. Everything else is secondary."

Again there was a series of nods throughout the abandoned tavern and the mood was growing even more sombre. I doubted that there was anyone, present or otherwise who were doubting their chances in the coming days and what stakes we were playing for. We may had lost many over the previous months but those who had stayed were the determined core of the Order.

"Our infantry draws them out. I would bet that as soon as they see us advancing that they're going to throw everything they have at us. We advance until we get attacked, trying to use our archers to whittle them down somewhat but as soon as we get engaged that will be the best time to really attack."

"I like the plan Carodus, but you have put our cavalry into the forest there."

The veteran legionary grinned fiercely, making a point to look from Alexi and his questioning expression to the other knights in the room. "Yeh, I did. It might be a bit difficult but are you all going to tell me that those woods aren't traversable by horses?"

There was no doubt from the grins he received from the likes of Stavond in particular. Even though I was more used to being dismounted myself, my own experience as a forester finding paths for the Legion's horsemen left me knowing what he was getting at. It would be difficult and require several hours to get into position but it was achievable.

"These guys have no scouts and are relying on the fact that there is about a kilometre at least of open ground to respond to any attacks so we give them an attack that they will think is legitimate. We send the infantry, skirmishers and light cavalry to attack and draw them out, and then we hit them in the flanks with our knights."

I watched as he moved the figures about, the marker for the knights shifting and attacking the ruins from the east and as the enemy unit came into contact with the infantry he moved the light cavalry down and attacked with them from the south.

"To really sell this though we will need someone in particular to be leading the light cavalry."

All eyes followed his own to the young man standing opposite me and Caleb nodded. "Umaril is there and his eyes will be solely on me. I have a feeling that as soon as he knows that I am present everything is going to be thrown in my direction."

"The legends say how he was never one for direct confrontations and seemed to prefer to let his minions do the fighting." Alexi stated simply. "Let's hope that four thousand years in Oblivion hasn't changed his bad habits."

"And that the legends were accurate." I could feel my own anxieties of commanding slowly ebbing away, however they were steadily being replaced with a sensation that I knew was shared by everyone around me. It was a strangely familiar sensation of impending battle and my adrenaline was already beginning to flow through my veins. "Stavond, how many of your men are ready for battle, give or take?"

The giant traded a glance with his equally enormous comrade, Morihe who fixed me with a cold stare and a warm grin. "Thirteen knights, eighty-six men-at-arms. Exactly."

"Avita?"

While she may have had the appearance of a bookish monk or innkeeper, the ex-Extraordinarii champion was as cold as a block of ice and yet eager at riding to battle once again. "Thirty-two light cavalry, and forty-eight knights including yourself."

Although the prospect of going to battle was strangely exciting, especially the yearning for blood within my mind due to my vampirism the idea of doing such on the back of Trygve was not as attractive. While the fact that I would have preferred to fight with my boots on the ground was greatly preferred, it wasn't visible on my face as I turned and looked at Carodus in turn.

"Infantry?"

"A hundred and thirty men-at-arms and if I recall all the scouts we will have thirty skirmishers, mostly archers. We'll be able to give them a bloody nose, that's for certain."

Mathematically the coming battle was almost pure insanity. We were outnumbered by almost a third of our total strength with a mismatched band of highly trained knights and partially trained militia against a foe of unknown quality supported by daedra and lead by literally one of the most powerful beings to have ever walked on Nirn. The foe had magicka support, the benefit of fighting on ground of their own choosing that they had occupied for only the Nine knew for how long and yet I still felt confident. Between myself and the others, especially those surrounding the table we had a number of the greatest warriors within the entirety of the Empire and that wasn't even including the fact that I was literally facing the individual proven worthy enough to represent the Nine in the mortal realm. We also had the advantage of surprise, seemingly poor tactical judgement on the enemies' side and a greater capability when it came to our cavalry.

The overall battle plan had been crudely decided upon but it was not the end of our planning. For several more hours until the early hours of the morning we continued discussing and planning, some of us putting ourselves into the mind of the enemy to determine how they would react or act to our presence and attack and coming up with ways how we could be defeated. We arranged for signals and times to react and how, ensuring that each and every one of our commanders knew what the plans were and what to do when something… anything happened.

By the time that we finally retired, dawn was only a few hours away and yet I didn't sleep for very long at all. The tension of the coming battle and the preparation needed for such an event was eating into my very soul and like it had over the previous months and even years I was restless and edgy. The abandoned village was also being consumed with growing noise and excitement as the men and women of the two Knightly Orders began their preparations as it became mere hours before it began.

As I moved through the village I saw that I wasn't the only one filled with nerves at the coming battle. For many this will have been the first time they had seen combat, for others simply another number to add to their memories of blood and death. With a glance I could pick out which people belonged to each group. The more nervous ones who spent their time praying or staring into the distance stood out almost as much as those who were going about preparing their armour and weapons.

Somewhat surprisingly there was a large number who were preparing themselves more than those who were busy considering their own mortality and almost everywhere I looked the Order of the Nine and the Order of Talos were readying themselves. A line had already formed near the blacksmith's wagon with its portable forge and the sound of a grindstone scraping metal was echoing through the buildings. Others were sitting around in small groups, rubbing tallow into their chainmail or leather armours, oiling their blades and axes or running whetstones along tips of spears. It was somehow amusing and yet sobering seeing the variation in arms and armour among the Order of the Nine as there were a rare few that were equipped alike. Most had their own chainmail shirts or habergeons, a rare few had nothing more than boiled leather or quilted surcoats but a lot of coin had gone into ensuring that each and everyone one of them had access to a shield and helmet.

While not as effective as legion tower shields, the procured kite shields from Skingrad provided an effective mix of protection and durability without encumbering those carrying them into battle. Other than the shields there was very little at all that united the men-at-arms in terms of uniform. There hadn't been enough time, and potentially money to be able to acquire enough surcoats or tabards with the red diamond, so instead a lot of them simply had bands of white cloth with crudely painted diamonds to wrap around arms when it came time for battle.

Yet despite what they were lacking I had no concerns about these men and women going into battle, as they were certainly not lacking determination, courage and morale. As I moved through them in search of one particular individual I could hear crudely made jokes and laughter, that while nervous in most cases was a clear sign that most were ready for what was to come.

My particular target had set up his temporary home on the outskirts of the camp as he habitually did. Like most travelling with us he had a very limited amount of personal possessions and it was a little surprising when I finally reached him to see that for the most part he had packed everything away.

"Isn't there some kind of bad luck for a priest to leave on the eve of battle?" I joked as I walked over to where he stood, placing a pair of dog-eared books into a saddle bag while whistling a legion marching song.

"There is, but you forget that I'm not a real priest." Saccinus smiled as he finished buckling the bag closed and the whistling tune faded into the morning air. "I also doubt that the Eight and One would let something like bad luck get in the way of such an endeavour."

"When are you leaving?"

"Soon. Very soon." He replied, bending down slowly and picking up a smaller bag that from the sound contained some kind of waterskin that sloshed about. "I had intended on leaving yesterday but with all the excitement I thought it would be best not to excite the guards or scouts wandering about the wilds."

"You've chosen an interesting time and place to leave."

Nodding, there was still the hint of a smile as he placed the last few items into the saddlebag on his dejected looking mule. "Hammerfell is only a day away to the north and you and your comrades have no need for an old man like me in what is to come." The smile grew bigger and he seemed to look off into the distance as though reliving old memories of a far off place. "Besides that, I don't think that you all will need much assistance at all. Not with the Eight and One watching over you."

Giving me a glance, he nodded and turned back to his bags, patting a few of them as he searched for something. "Many of the others have already come and said their goodbyes so don't be concerned that I'm simply running off into the wilds."

"You know; most people would be concerned about letting you go off on your own."

"Why? Because I'm old?" Saccinus barked with laughter and grinned fiercely. "I'm old, yes but I'm not dead. I know that you worry about wolves and the like but I think I might be too tough and gristly to make a decent meal."

"Thanks for everything." I said simply as he finished fishing about in one of the bags and began shuffling over to me. "None of this would have been possible without you."

"Without me? Kaius, without you none of this would have been possible. I am just an old fool who read enough books to see things how they really were. You and Viconia and all of the others here; you are all much more important that I." he walked over to me holding a tiny leather pouch sealed with a piece of string and he held it out to me. "I can't go any further than this with you and your friends, but I thought I would give you something to take on your future travels."

"What is it?" I asked, taking the tiny pouch and loosening the string.

"Just a token of the tough young hero I used to be." He said with a smile as I opened the pouch and poured the contents into the palm of a hand. A single gold coin with a hole punched through the centre was attached to a leather loop and I could see how the coin was very, very old. "I've had that coin with me a long time, and it's always brought me luck. I don't think that I have much more use for it myself and so I thought I'd pass it on to somebody younger. Somebody going places I can't go anymore and who might need a bit of luck when they get there."

The coin itself didn't appear as much but the fact that it was gold alone meant it was worth quite a bit. While the hole in the centre may have reduced how much it was truly worth there was the weight of sentimentality about it.

"Thank you. I think I'll need a lot of luck with what's in store for me."

"Ha! With even half the things you have done lad you shouldn't have any issues." Our hands clasped together and I could feel the ancient strength in his limbs from his own lifetime of fighting. There was no doubting the friendliness of his smile as well as he shook my hand and we said our goodbyes.

"Novem benedicat tibi." I said to him as he turned, gathering the reins of his mule and beginning to move towards the forest's edge near the abandoned village. "Take care Wulf."

"And the Nine bless you Kaius." The piercing gaze of his bright blue eyes met mine for one last time as he waved, and I watched as he led his mule away, disappearing into the greenery as though he had never existed.


So, I usually have a considerable amount of subtely in my wirting and depending on your experience and knowledge of the Lore and gameplay of the Elder scrolls series this chapter is filled with it.

Firstly, in Oblivion the Prophet has no name, and appears and disappears as needed. Some of the theories about his identity roaming around the internet range from a random loon to my favorite of him actually being an avatar of Talos. I used this theory and took it a few steps further to join in with what I consider to be the best game for lore in the series; Morrowind. In Morrowind you meet a 'retired legionary' by the name of Wulf at the Ghostgate who grants you his 'lucky coin' and later you find out that he was an avatar of Talos so you can put two and two together for this... Anyone who takes notes of my details will notice that I included my version of the prophet's name right back int he early chapters just so it wasn't a full reveal at the end of this one, it it will be good to keep in mind as I fully plan on doing this sort of linkage throughout Bloodtide Rising, Sos do Dov, and (the soon to be released) Dragonblood King

The other addition in this one mightn't come fully clear until the next chapter, but just so I could tie in Kaius' present story with the wider lore and his future in Sos do Dov, I included some mortal followers for Umaril to ensure the coming battle was an actual battle. I'd love to see what people think the identity of these guys are...