The Elder Scrolls series and Gate are the properties of their owners
Chapter 1
"Your Highness, open up!" a voice yelled as loud bangs echoed against the door.
A large, muscular, dark-haired man emerged from his sleep, stirred by the noise. At his side, his female companion, a dark-skinned beauty, was doing the same.
After the couple managed to find some clothes to cover their intimacy, the man went to open the door. A middle aged man dressed in a mix of a breastplate and silk robes was waiting for him, the long bladed staff in his right hand indicating his occupation, battlemage.
"Hector Tharn! I hope you have a good reason to wake us up in the middle of the night, old friend," the male occupant of the room said as he let the mage inside. "I hope this isn't that time of the month where the Imperial Battlemage is going to overthrow the Emperor and his family."
The jest didn't have the expected effect as Hector's face showed worry. "My apologies Emperor Ivan, Empress Iszara." He bowed. "I assure you I wouldn't have come if it wasn't a matter of the Highest importance."
The Empress gestured to a couch on the opposing side of the room before speaking in a soft and reassuring voice, "Let us sit down first."
"Around two hours ago, I was called to the Battlespire by the battlemages stationed there. As you know, one of their roles is to detect any extra-Nirnian activities on Tamriel," Hector told them.
"And they detected something," Iszara deduced.
The Mage nodded. "Precisely. Some kind of magical anomaly in High Rock, near the fiefdom of Ykalon from the Kingdom of Daggerfall. Summerset mages informed us they detected the same thing not long after. I immediately sent a team to investigate. They found some kind of magical anomaly similar to a portal."
Ivan clenched his fists, "Stendarr have mercy on us… not another of these Divines-cursed Gates of Oblivion!"
To his surprise, Hector shook his head. "Sadly I would have preferred your Highness. As we all know since the end of the Oblivion crisis it is impossible for such Gates to be used by the daedra as a means to invade the continent. They only allow travel for mortals now. No, this portal doesn't lead to Oblivion but to one of the minor realms and dimensions of Mundus and as such…"
"The usual divine protection against invasions from Oblivion doesn't apply here," the Empress finished, concern written on her face. The mage simply nodded in confirmation.
Ivan got up abruptly. "There is no time to lose then. I want every Province in high alert, High Rock in particular. Every Kingdom must begin fielding their armies and getting ready to support the Legion in every capacity they can if it comes to this. Speaking of whichI want the nearest Legions and a quarter of the Shadow Legion moved there. We'll start fortifying the place against anything that comes out of the portal. I'll lead the operations myself." He turned towards his wife, "Iszara you will be acting in my stead with the Elder Council until the crisis is resolved."
She nodded. "Of course but what about Basil? Would he not want to join you?"
"True. I'll give him the command over the reserve forces of Daggerfall in case something should happen to me. Though I pray to the Divines it won't come to that."
"Should I send a message for Argonia too?" Hector asked, "Even if Akatosh knows I probably pity more the would-be invaders than the Argonians themselves."
"Yes. Even if their government is still mistrustful of the Empire we still have good trading relationships with several bordering cities. A bit of goodwill from our part will perhaps help smooth the past," said the Emperor.
"As you command your Majesty. I'll wait for you outside," Hector answered before retiring himself.
Iszara took advantage of this to hug her husband before deposing a tender kiss on his lips. "Be careful, you old fool. The Empire and Tamriel still need you, as do your children and I."
"Don't worry, I don't intend to die yet," he answered as he stroked her cheek tenderly before separating.
One of his rings glowed with a bright light, enveloping him briefly. As the light ceased, he was now dressed in his Imperial Dragon armor and was holding a giant ebony warhammer. "Always useful, those enchantments. One moment you're facing an assassin almost naked and the next second you're smashing his brain while his daggers slide off against the armor."
"How very Colovian of you to only care about the smashing part when it comes to magic," an almost laughing Iszara said.
"Says the Redguard," answered Ivan as he began to leave the room.
"May Talos and Leki watch over you"
"May they watch over all of us."
Countryside of Ykalon, Kingdom of Daggerfall
In the hours following the orders issued by the Emperor, the traditional rural landscape of the little fiefdom had been drastically altered. The Imperial Army, numbering at least four local Legions, had established large fortifications circling the anomaly in a half-circle with a distance of around a hundred of meters, the half-circle continuing a bit behind the portal before a straight line closed the gap. Said fortifications consisted mostly of a large enclosure wall and several towers alongside it where soldiers and siege engines had been posted. The Shadow Legion had been instrumental in speeding the construction, the numerous portals and Alteration based spells being used to enhance the already impressive Legion engineering skills.
Currently, the Emperor and Hector were in the war tent outside the newly built stronghold, conversing with some of the Kings and Imperial military governors of High Rock with the help of astral projections.
"Your Imperial Majesty, shouldn't you reconsider your position? If something were to happen, we may lose you and the Imperial Battlemage, the two most powerful men of the Empire. It would be a devastating blow," the King of Wayrest said.
"I didn't successfully restore the Empire as the continental superpower it is today by letting others do the leading in my stead your Majesty. Besides I have taken appropriate measures if it should come for the worst. My heir Basil has already been prepared. Same for Hector's successor, though I sincerely doubt it will come to that. The rest of the High Rock Legions are to stand ready in case such anomalies would appear elsewhere in the Province. The Kingdoms of Evermore and Jehenna are to assemble their armies but not do anything unless directly threatened, the Reachmen could take the opportunity to launch raids." Ivan ordered.
"I had forgotten those savages," the King of Evermore spat. "Fortunately my Kingdom always had a good relationship with some of the numerous Horsemen tribes of the Bjoulsae River. I can secure their help, scouting for any similar magical anomalies in my Kingdom and Wayrest…" he turned himself towards his counterpart of Wayrest, seeking approval. A nod was enough for him to continue. "They can cover multiple territories much faster than our best knights, they also don't hold Reachmen in high regard either."
"Does anybody in Tamriel?" the King of Jehenna asked with a humorous tone.
"The Daggerfall army is already being assembled as we speak your Highness," the ruler of said Kingdom informed. "They will move into the now empty Imperial Forts. My elite troops will ensure the safety of the supply lines reaching Ykalon alongside the remaining Legionnaires. I have sent word for the non-walled villages and towns for the inhabitants to relocate to the nearby castles and fortified areas as usual."
"Good. That will be all."
The projections bowed before disappearing with the exception of one. Unlike the others, his pointy ears and sharp features identified him as an Elf (or for the more educated citizens, a Mer) rather than a Man. The all ethereal purple projection didn't allow him to show his skin color but his large size was a give away, he was an Altmer.
"Emperor Ivan, Imperial Battlemage Hector, there is another possibility we didn't mention."
The mage, who had been mostly silent until then, spoke, "We are listening."
The Altmer continued, "My Clan, the Direnni, since having lost political control over High Rock millennia ago, has since become the guardian of the Adamantine Tower. Yourselves, as guardians of the White Gold Tower, should know the power it possesses."
"You intend to use it against the portal…" Ivan turned towards his magical advisor, "Hector, is it possible?"
The middle aged man mused to himself, playing with his beard. "Mmmh, yes, the Towers are enforcing reality, they could be useful in a situation like this… however the only one that specifically dealt in such matters is the White Gold Tower. And we have been unable to use it since the death of the last Dragonborn Emperor more than two centuries earlier. What we would need at the very least is either a Dragonborn or a Dragon. The former is lost at the moment and the latter is… unlikely to be cooperative. And if he was I wouldn't trust him."
"Which is why Ada-Mantia remains our best bet. In fact we already used its power to destabilize the portal to gain time," the Altmer informed them.
"Perhaps, but Ada-Mantia is no mere replica built by mortals, as advanced as they were. It's directly a remnant from the Divines, even your Clan barely understands it. For now I want to play safe but not too safe. The Elder Scrolls have mentioned nothing about a world crisis event so far and if the Gods allowed this to happen they may have a plan. They didn't let us down before, I say we put our faith in them."
"And our soldiers," Ivan added.
"Perhaps you're right. We may have overestimated the threat. We will watch the events unfold and contact you subsequently. May the Aedra watch over you." The Elf bowed before dissipating his projection.
"I'm going outside to prepare my speech to motivate the troops. What about you?" Ivan asked.
"I have … personal, or should I say family matters to attend. I'll join you when this is done."
The Emperor nodded before exiting the war room, followed by two Penitus Oculatus Orcs as large as he was. Hector didn't have to wait long as a soldier entered the room soon after.
He was covered from head to toe in dark colored armor which, if anyone tried to guess, was probably made of ebony or a similar alloy. His helmet was the iconic crested Imperial one. What however might have differentiated him from others was the tabard displayed on his breastplate, the diamond shaped Dragon of the Empire combined with the Eye usually associated with Mages and the Arcane Arts. Both of them together identified him as a member of the famous Shadow Legion.
The soldier removed his helmet, letting Hector study his face. He was rather young, despite the short beard covering his face, in his early twenties, brown eyes fixing the Imperial Battlemage with a perfectly neutral expression. His swarthy tone combined with his dark straight hair designed him as a native from the Heartlands of Cyrodiil (also called "Heartlander Nibenese") much like Hector himself.
The man extended his right arm and hit his chest with his fist, performing the Imperial salute. "Battlemage Cyrus of Argos reporting for duty Sir!"
"At ease soldier."
Cyrus immediately relaxed his position. "I was told you wanted to see me sir."
"Indeed. I have read your records. They are good, excellent in fact. Your achievements during the last war with the Dominion are quite impressive, I dare even say you and your comrades were instrumental on the Valenwood front. You were even decorated by the Emperor after the war."
"I was just accomplishing my mission sir."
Hector paused a moment, studying the young man facing him, before continuing, "Yes, however I have to note you didn't see the end of the fighting itself. You were gravely injured and while you recovered quite well, you were given supplementary time after the war to heal your… psychological wounds. Which is why I wanted to see you."
"Sir?"
"Cyrus, I know more than what was written. And I'm sure you already guessed how."
The young man's expression hadn't changed for a bit.
"You shielded one of your fellow soldier from the harm when that happened and took all of it upon you. Said soldier coincidentally happened to be my niece. It's thanks to her that I know in more detail what really transpired."
Ah, a reaction. Cyrus's expression had shifted for a moment, though Hector wasn't sure if it was fear or anger.
"Not only do I have a duty as Imperial Battlemage of overseeing the soldiers under my command, as you are, but because of what you did for my niece House Tharn owes you a blood debt. Now I know you've asked to be reintegrated into the Legion as soon as possible. I also know the fact you're standing in front of me today proves your willpower. But considering what is coming I'm asking you, are you sure you're ready to fight again? You can still be sent back to the Battlespire. Think about it. I know nobody will blame you for the choice."
The young man remained silent before speaking, "My decision remains unchanged sir. I protected your niece as I would have done for any other comrade. Whatever scars remain won't stop me from accomplishing my mission as a soldier of the Empire."
Hector sighed. "As you wish, soldier. Dismissed."
Cyrus saluted him before exiting the tent.
"Cyrus!"
He turned from where the voice had come. One of his fellow battlemages was walking towards him.
His armor was a bit different than his, mostly made of an ensemble of dark chainmail rather than full plate, making it lighter. What might have caught more attention was his scaly tail. Said battlemage was an Argonian. Another uncommon feature was the color of his scales, black as night.
"Black-Scales," Cyrus greeted his comrade.
"How did it go?" the Argonian asked neutrally as he could.
"Good." The Heartlander said without elaborating.
"Oh come on! You've just been summoned alone by the Imperial Battlemage himself! There has to be a reason for that!"
"True. It was about what happened to Jing and I in Valenwood," the young man simply stated.
Black-Scales immediately stopped himself. "Oh… that. I see, nevermind then, sorry."
They walked in silence for a moment.
"Speaking of it..." the Argonian started, "I still can't believe it about Jing."
"About what?"
"Well you know…" Black-Scales awkwardly said, "she's a Tharn."
"Indeed. One of the most influential families in the History of Cyrodiil if not Tamriel. Thus making them the closest thing to an actual ruling family Nibenese like me ever had."
"Divines... don't make it sound bigger than it already is. I can get why she did it, just imagine the pressure on her shoulders. Just look at you. Back in the day you looked at the Tharn as if they were the Gods of the battlemages. Think about her." He shook his head.
"I don't judge her."
"Of course. But no, what bugs me is… well they kinda don't look the same?"
Cyrus stared at him.
"I mean the Imperial Battlemage, Hector, he's like you. A Nibenese from the Heartland. A Heartlander! Yeah that's the term. And Jing, well she's…"
"From the Nibenay Basin. That makes her Nibenese too. Albeit an Easterner Nibenese," the Cyrodiil native explained.
"Yet you look more like a Colovian than her or other Easterners."
"Because Nibenese is just the name of the natives from the Heartlands to the East of Cyrodiil. You've lived here for some years now, you should know that."
"Ah yes…" Black-Scales raised up his hands as if he had made a mistake, "the old West-East divide between Colovia and Nibenay, I forgot how you take it at heart. But still, since she's his niece, shouldn't she be more… I dunno, mixed?"
Cyrus paused for a moment to think about it. "Oh I see. That's what was confusing you. Well, it's no secret powerful mages like a number of the High-ranked battlemages are actually older than they look. The Imperial Battlemage looks like he's between his fifties and sixties, has actually the physical condition of a man of thirties and is probably aged at over one century. Two perhaps. "Uncle" is short for Great-great-something. Hence why Jing doesn't look mixed despite her ancestry. That or they're even more distant relatives."
The young Argonian facepalmed. "I totally forgot about the kind of people we were talking about. Now that you said it, it makes a lot of sense."
"I still don't understand how you could have found that strange and be fine with accepting a Khajiit family where the father looks like a housecat, the mother is a horse-sized cat and the kids are all kinds of humanoid breeds."
"Let's not talk about Khajiit genealogy ever again. And before you mention the Argonians breeds too, my family hasn't lived in Black Marsh for generations."
"It's Argonia actually," Cyrus corrected. "You don't want a native to catch you using the wrong term."
"Whatever. The region could be called the Deadlands if that wasn't already taken," Black-Scales joked.
They passed a number of Legionnaires busy with the last preparations. Some noticed them and saluted the pair who returned it. They finally reached the area where most of the other Shadow Legion members were waiting for new instructions. A female battlemage with a similar armor to Cyrus' own noticed their arrival and went to meet them. She wasn't wearing her helmet at the moment but her long dark hair had been tied into a reglementary bun behind her head. Her fair complexion, monolid dark eyes and low nose bridge revealed her Eastern-Nibenese heritage.
"You two are finally here. Most of us had finished our resupply tasks a moment ago." She noted Black-Scales expression as being similar to a child having been caught red handed. "Did something happen?"
The Argonian started fidgeting his fingers, trying to think as the best way as to hide the "touchy" subject.
Cyrus' voice stirred him from his thoughts. "There is no point in hiding it from you since you'll probably learn about it later anyway. I had indeed finished my enchantments and scroll resupplying a while ago when I was summoned by the Imperial Battlemage for a private interview. I met Black-Scales on the way."
Stendarr! Black-Scales thought, he's going for it!
The woman unsurprisingly winced at the mention of the second most powerful man of the Empire. "What did he want? Nothing terrible I hope?"
The young man hesitated for a moment before speaking. "It was about what happened on the Valenwood front during the war."
She immediately paled.
A rasping sound made her come back to reality. She turned towards its source to see Black-Scales clearing his throat. "So since it seems you may want to talk privately about it I'm going to go join the other nightblades."
He started to walk before stopping himself. "Oh and Cyrus, Jing? This isn't anymore like last time when we were still green. This time we're fully ready. None of us is dying today. Oblivion be damned! Once whatever this is is over, we will all go for a drink in Daggerfall. I'm buying!"
She smiled. "I'll hold you to that but you may regret it."
Cyrus simply nodded in response.
Black-Scales then left the two alone. They remained silent at first, Jing not knowing what to say. It was Cyrus who broke the silence.
"I am fine Jing, really. Stop torturing yourself over it. I said it before, I made my choice and I alone paid for it. We should not dwell upon the past."
Fine? That's not what your current attitude is telling me or the fact I did have a hand in this, she wanted to say but ultimately kept it for herself, knowing she couldn't reason with him when he was like that.
"Uncle should have known better. After all if there was a problem when you were reintegrated into the corps, you wouldn't be here today."
"I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be calling him "Uncle". I thought you didn't want people knowing."
"Yes… well it's not like I'm the only scion of a Nibenese noble house in the Shadow Legion. I just did it because…"
Cyrus held up his hand to stop her. "You don't have to tell me everything now. It's fine. Everyone has its secrets. I know that better than everyone."
She nodded, silently thanking him.
"So did you learn what the order of battle is going to be?" He asked her.
"We don't even know if there is going to be a battle. But at a guess? We battlemages are going to be kept as a trump card depending what we are facing. The artillery should be enough to target anything inside the half-circle."
"A shame we didn't take cannons. Especially the latest models. They proved their worth during the war."
"Those are in Cyrodiil and their crafting is too complex to be done in such a short amount of time without the required forges."
"Which is why we had to enhance newly made ballistas and trebuchets with accuracy enchantments plus dragonfire and explosives. I know." He turned his gaze to the newly built walls before him. "Do you know who is going to be our commanding officer?"
Before Jing could answer a feminine voice interrupted them. "What's this soldiers? I don't remember giving orders to relax. On guard!"
The young woman, caught by surprise, almost jumped out before turning around and realizing in a rush her salute. An officer battlemage, easily recognizable by the red crest of her helmet compared to the standard dark one, was towering over her. She was easily taller than both her and Cyrus. Speaking of him, she glanced to her side to see her friend had imitated her.
"Battlemage Cyrus of Argos reporting for duty ma'am."
"At ease soldiers." The officer retired her helmet, revealing a young female Altmer. Her golden skin was more tanned than the usual light complexion of her kin and her long light chestnut hair was tied into the same kind of bun as Jing. She was gazing at her two subordinates with a stern look in her golden eyes before her expression turned into a smirk.
"I hope you didn't piss in your pants."
Jing deadpanned. "Caranya… are you really pulling your rank to prank us? Is this even allowed?"
"Mmmh, let me think… yeah it is. It helps in keeping the soldiers alert, it's in the manual of the perfect officer," the Elf answered in a playful tone.
Jing glared at her. "Anyway… I suppose you're here for other reasons than trying to have your fellow soldiers die from a heart attack?"
"Ouch… You're mad. All right I promise I won't do it again." She put her helmet on before straightening her pose . "I was coming to inform you I'll be in my squad on the walls. Our orders are just to assist the archers and soldiers manning the siege engines by shielding, healing them and to deal with any kind of "outside of context problem" we could encounter."
Cyrus pointed to the other battlemages around them. "Are all of us going to take part in it?"
"Actually no. Not even all the soldiers from the other Legions will take part in the operations. They are just here for reinforcement, same as our comrades. You can after all only fit so many legionnaires on the fortifications. Besides it's not like we're going to miss anything with the numbers of soldiers already posted."
"So everyone has already been given their orders?" Jing asked.
"Yes for my squad, you were the last. We'll be positioned on the eastern side."
"Then we should be on our way. The Emperor should make his speech soon," the Tharn heiress stated as she made her way towards her assignment.
Cyrus was about to follow her when Caranya grabbed him by the arm.
"You're not about to tell me why the Imperial Battlemage summoned you?" she whispered him into an unknown language.
"Akatosh… I'm never going to see the end of it?" The exasperated young man answered in a rare show of emotion. "Not now. I'll promise I'll tell you everything later."
She released him, apparently satisfied with his explanation.
"Cara!"
She turned around, surprised at hearing her nickname.
"How come you are my commander officer now?"
She visibly stiffened at the question. "Let's say that I know your capabilities better than anyone."
He nodded then went to rejoin his post. He didn't notice the Altmer releasing the breath she had been holding.
Alnus Hill, Continent of Falmart
"So? What's the problem mage? Speak by Hardy!" a visibly impatient man threatened. His attire consisted of a plate armor and a crested helmet similar enough to those of the Imperial Legion.
The man he had been addressing himself was searching for something into a book. "I do not understand Legatus, my colleagues and I stabilized and expanded the portal opened by the Goddess by building the Gate, as usual." He gestured to the enormous structure in front of them. "We followed the procedure and it always worked so far!"
The angered officer grabbed him violently, shakingthe more frail man several times.
"Well obviously it didn't this time! Do I need to send your and your colleagues' heads to Rondel so they can send more competent mages?!"
Another mage tried to intervene. "Please Legatus Antonius! We beg of you! Nothing is making sense. The portal isn't reacting as it should be. It's as if something is interfering with it!"
The officer suddenly released his hold over his victim who fell with a harsh thud. "What are you trying to say?"
Sweat started to pour over his interlocutor's face. "Well you see it's just a theory so far but… given our past experiences with the Gate since our ancestors first utilised it, no similar situation was ever encountered. It cannot come from our side."
Antonius realized what the mage was trying to tell him. "So if I'm understanding this right… there is a bunch of cowardly barbarians on the other side who are currently attempting to close the Gate?"
"Yes, that is more or less the conclusion we came to. But we noted also the portal interference is growing weaker with the passing of time. It should soon be stabilized."
"I see." The Legatus faced the Gate with a smirk on his face. "They won't escape their fate after all. Be sure to inform Emperor Molt of this development. He might send instructions to make an example out of them."
The man bowed before recovering his downed colleague. "It will be done."
Antonius allowed himself to contemplate the Gate for a moment, thinking of the glory whatever he would achieve by his bias. They must be really weak if they tried such a cowardly method, he thought, this will be my crowning achievement. Who knows? I might end up in the Senate after all. Livia will be pleased.
He then turned around and walked to the bottom of the hill where his camp was. An absolutely enormous army composed of Men but also grotesque parodies of Orcs and other unknown creatures was occupying it, waiting to pour through the Gate and out to whatever was on the other side.
Unknown location
A young blue haired woman dressed in a gown of the same color was currently perplexed as she watched something in a reflecting pool.
"Strange, something is interfering with my Gate."
She had first witnessed to her surprise the inability of anyone to cross it, even after the Saderan mages had expanded it.
She put her finger under her chin. "I thought I had perfectly linked it with that world… Did I do something wrong? Mmmh."
She then waved her hands while still talking to herself. "Of course! I may have simply made a mistake and opened it to the wrong world unprepared."
She continued to watch the Gate becoming stable. "It's not like anyone could have wrested its control from me."
At the same time, a burst of laughter was heard across the multiverse.