Dance of the ja-Kha'jay.
By Lakyan.
Chapter 15 – Dance of the Ja-Kha'jay (2)
Year 4E3 19th of Mid Year. Outside the city of Torval, Elsweyr.
Ri'rassi looked out at the city sprawling city in the jungle. The Mane had prepared well for an assault on the city. His men had built huge walls around the city, from palm trees and limestone. The walls were rough, but they would do their job. Archers lined the walls, waiting to take out as many as possible. In the heart of the city, the Mane's palace, a towering monolith built of Valenwood oak, limestone and sandstone. Surrounding the palace were great thick walls. The only weak point was the gates, which looked like they were made from palm logs and iron. Ri'rassi had ordered some soldiers to go into the jungle and chop down the biggest, heaviest tree they could find. The men had done so, and quickly fashioned it into a ram. The ram had twenty men on either side, each wearing a Ring of Feather. Nonetheless the ram still moved slowly.
Mazoga had ordered a number of pike men to guard the ram as it made its way to the city. She herself was among that number. Modryn Oreyn had gained a guar and was commanding the guar riders who were flanking the ram and its protectors. Raminus Polus, on S'Rin, rode behind, ready to fling spells at anyone who challenged the ram. His battlemages marched behind him, readying their magic. Behind the mages, the rest of the general infantry marched, headed by Jauffre, who'd ridden with Ri'rassi, Ocato and Raminus from Riverhold. At the very rear of this train, on the hilltop overlooking the city, rode Ri'rassi and Ocato, the former unwilling to put her unborn child at risk in battle.
From their vantage point, they could see the Argonians closing in from the east, and the Elves marching from the west. War horns sounded and drums boomed as the armies marched on Torval. Ri'rassi spurred J'Urn forward, knowing the battle would soon begin.
The Argonians reached the city first, their highly trained archers picking off the Mane's defenders one by one. The Mane's archers however, concentrated on the infantry that crowed the base of the wall. Many Argonians fell before the Khajiit archers were distracted by magic flying over their heads from the Altmer Legion. The small Bosmer archers were weaving in between their taller cousins, loosing arrows with incredible accuracy. Soon the Imperials arrived, joining the maelstrom. Soldiers swarmed around the city, many trying to avoid the arrows raining down on them. The ram lumbered up to the walls.
Boom!
The ram slammed into the wall with the effort of forty men. The wall wobbled a bit, testament to its hasty construction. The archers' next volley went wild from the jolt.
Boom!
The men swung the ram again; the wall structure began to come apart a bit. The archers jumped down into the interior of the city, knowing the wall was going to fall. They quickly armed themselves with great curved scimitars.
Boom!
The wall held itself a little longer. The Altmer mages were using their telekinesis spells to pick large rocks off the top of the slowly crumbling wall and hurl them inside. A few of the Mane's army were killed by the falling debris, but most managed to dodge it with their superior speed and agility.
Boom!
A split appeared in the wall, the wood and stone no longer holding together properly. The Khajiit steeled themselves.
Boom! Crash!
The wall came down. The Imperials, Argonians, Altmer and Bosmer poured through the new opening. Many were cut down as they came through the wall, but many more survived, attacking all Khajiit on sight. Khajiit mages stood on rooftops, flinging fire spells at the ram, hoping it would catch aflame.
"Protect the Ram!" Mazoga roared to the Guar riders, who poured into the city before them.
"Protect the Ram!" Modryn repeated the shout to his men.
The guars charged at Khajiit, biting with their peg like teeth and kicking with their claws. Their riders swung their swords and hewed through the Khajiit forces.
Mazoga tightened her grip on the branch before her. She swore as a Bosmer archer ran past her, startling her.
"You Bosmer!" She snarled.
The Bosmer whirled around.
"Take out those damned mages!" Mazoga growled, struggling over the body of a fallen soldier.
The Bosmer nodded and aimed his bow. Three quick shots downed three of the mages, and the Bosmer took off, aiming for more of the spell casters.
Raminus and S'rin made it through the wall, S'rin leaping over the ram to tear the throat from a Khajiit mage. Raminus cast a mass healing spell on everyone holding the ram.
"By the Nine! Senche-Raht!" Modryn Oreyn shouted.
One of the great cats climbed over a house, and swung its massive fist at Modryn, killing his guar and knocking the mer unconscious.
Raminus saw this, and cast a burden spell on the battle-cat. Arrows flew at it and the Senche-Raht looked like a pin-cushion by the time it was finally killed. Raminus Polus grabbed Modryn Oreyn and slung the unconscious elf over S'rin's shoulders.
Slowly the joined armies made their way through the streets, finding themselves before the walls of the Mane's Palace. No archers defended the walls.
"Ram the doors!" Ri'rassi shouted from the very rear of the throng. The order was relayed to the front, and the resounding boom of wood on wood sounded.
Ri'rassi, Ocato and J'Urn pushed their way through the army.
Boom!
The ram hit the gates again. J'Urn spotted S'rin next to the ram, and snarled at everyone around him to move. Ri'rassi patted her mount on the neck.
"Easy lad." She told him.
J'Urn snorted.
Boom!
The gates rattled loudly, and the wood began to crack. Ri'rassi watched as the men and women swung the ram again.
Boom! Crack!
The wooden bar on the other side of the doors broke and the doors swung inwards, opening into the courtyard. Inside the castle waited the Mane on his palanquin, surrounded by a dozen body guards. Behind him stood two Senche-Raht. The Imperials began to move into the castle; only to be stopped by Ri'rassi.
"Halt!" She commanded.
Her army froze. She spurred J'Urn through the gates.
"Let's see if we can finish this like civilised people." Ri'rassi addressed her army.
She turned to the Mane and his burly bodyguards. She dismounted from J'Urn, Ocato following suit.
"Mane Nhad-Hatta." She said, bowing.
"I don't think you need to bow to him Empress Regent." Ocato said in a formal manner.
"Silence High Elf!" The Mane roared. "The Empress Regent respects laws of our culture."
Ocato flinched at the reprimand. Ri'rassi pulled on his robes, signalling for him to shut up and do as she does. He sunk to the ground beside his lover, unsure of what to do.
"Now you may rise." The Mane waved his hand.
The Senche bounded forward and shut the castle gates. Ri'rassi jumped up and whirled around.
"Don't worry. This is between you and I, Empress Regent. I don't want any interference." The Mane said calmly.
Ri'rassi laid her ears back and flicked her tail back and forth in extreme agitation.
"Shall we negotiate your surrender then?" She snarled.
"Naturally. My army is dead, and my city captured, what else is there to do?" The Mane told her.
"Well then, will you accept Imperial rule, and return Leyawiin to Cyrodiil?" Ri'rassi asked, squeezing her palms to calm herself.
"I would accept Imperial rule. But the half-breed waiting to take the throne disgusts me. A filthy half-breed, who's father just happened to be the last Septim. And I see you are with child Empress Regent. Who is the father? Your pet Altmer? Bringing another filthy half-breed into the world!" The Mane spoke calmly.
Ri'rassi snarled deeply at the statement, and Ocato readied his staff.
"You dare speak of my child that way?" Ri'rassi growled in a low voice.
"And yet, I wonder what you would do about it?" The Mane taunted. "You see, you are out numbered."
The Mane's bodyguards drew their scimitars.
"This is between you and I." Ri'rassi drew her sword, but dropped to the ground as a spasm of pain ripped through her.
"What is happening?" The Mane demanded.
"She is birthing." One of the bodyguards answered. A female. In fact she was the beggar from Leyawiin, recruited into the Mane's personal guard when she'd shown exceptional combat skills.
"What! I forbid you to birth on my courtyard!" The Mane screeched, as if that would make a difference.
The lady bodyguard sheathed her sword, and approached the Empress Regent. She gently gripped the Khajiit woman by the arm, and began to lead her away.
"Where are you going!" The Mane demanded.
"Removing the Empress Regent from male eyes while she births." The bodyguard answered.
The Mane snorted in exasperation. "As you please."
Soon Ocato and J'Urn were alone with the Mane and his bodyguards. He fingered his staff in worry, not taking his eyes off the door Ri'rassi had vanished through.
"And what do you think of a half-breed in the throne, ex-High Chancellor Ocato?" The Mane addressed him.
Ocato was taken aback, he hadn't expected the Mane to speak to him.
"Yes, I do know who you are. Now I asked your opinion." The Mane told him.
"I love the Crown Prince like my own son. I willingly accept him as heir." Ocato answered.
"Yes, but he's not your own is he? How does it feel, knowing your lover has lain with another man?" The Mane was trying to make him angry.
Ocato took a deep breath before answering. "I accept that he is not my son. I however do not care that she has been with another man. I have known her longer than she knew Martin Septim. Indeed, the Empress Regent is hardly the only woman I've lain with, and she knows it." Ocato told him.
"Explain." The Mane said simply.
"I had a wife and son. They were killed during the Oblivion Crisis." Ocato conceded.
"I see. Anyway, I thought the Altmer were obsessed with the purity of their bloodlines. Why would one want to father a half-breed?" The Mane snorted, hoping that barb would take hold. It did.
"I would father children with anyone I loved, whether of a different race or not, and don't let anyone think otherwise." Ocato growled almost like a Khajiit, a habit he'd picked up off his lover. He raised his staff.
"And so you are ostracised from the Altmer community. I never knew High Elves would do that to one of their own people, but well, that's the Altmer for you. Stubborn and arrogant." The Mane chuckled.
Ocato fired a warning shot over the Mane's head. The Mane's bodyguards reacted quickly, bounding forward and surrounding the High Elf. Nhad-Hatta raised a clawed hand, stopping the guards.
"This is between him and I." The Mane picked up a scimitar and placed the blade behind his head. He gripped his mane, and with a deft stroke, he cut off the braids. The elaborately knotted mane fell to the ground, and Nhad-Hatta stood. He cricked his neck and jumped down from his palanquin. His bodyguards stared at him in disbelief.
Ocato watched as the Mane flexed his muscles. Nhad-Hatta approached him, placing the scimitar between them. Ocato summoned a Daedric claymore and got ready to fight.
"Let's see if this Altmer jekosiit would die for a child not his own." The Mane snarled, then charged.
Ocato tried to dodge, but the Mane's sword cut through his robe, nicking his golden skin. The Mane's momentum carried him past Ocato who swung his claymore at the passing figure, missing the Khajiit by a hair.
Nhad-Hatta whirled around, and using an elaborate pattern of footsteps and motions, he swung his scimitar again. Ocato blocked with his claymore, which was knocked out of his hands. The Mane swung again, and Ocato hit him with a paralysis spell. The mer summoned another claymore and swung it at the Khajiit. The spell wore off and the Mane ducked. The claymore swished over his head, and the Khajiit again knocked it out of Ocato's hands.
"You clearly don't know how to use a two-handed sword, so why bother?" The Mane taunted.
"Alright then." Ocato shot a bolt of lightning at the Mane, which at close range the Mane could not dodge.
The Mane spasmed in pain, dropping his scimitar. Ocato quickly cast a healing spell on himself as the Mane picked himself up. Nhad-Hatta extended his claws, and snarled.
"Thought you smelled like a mage." He hissed.
He lunged at Ocato swiping with his sharp claws. He tore at Ocato's face, raking his claws across the High Elf's cheeks. Ocato drew back a fist and punched the Mane squarely on the jaw. The Mane recoiled, and Ocato shocked him again. As the Mane writhed on the ground, Ocato hastily healed his broken knuckles. The Mane was up again in a minute, and he watched the mer for a minute waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He found it, leaping when Ocato cast another healing spell. He landed on top of the startled Elf, and tore with his claws and biting with his sharp Khajiit teeth. Ocato punched the Mane again, and as the Mane jumped back the Khajiit was hit by a massive paw. The Mane flew across the courtyard as a snarling J'Urn yanked Ocato to his feet by his teeth.
"Thanks friend." Ocato snatched up the Mane's scimitar and dashed over to the Khajiit.
Nhad-Hatta lifted his head to find his own sword at his throat, and the Altmer jekosiit at the other end of it.
"I…I am defeated." The Mane deflated visibly.
Ocato removed the blade, and offered a hand up. The Mane retracted his claws and took the offered hand.
"At last an end to the bloodshed. At least for now." The Mane limped back to his palanquin.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ocato asked.
"The Sons of the Serpent will have my head, but no matter." The Mane dismissed the subject.
Ocato looked troubled.
"Come, let us partake of the sugar, to celebrate our newfound peace." The Mane motioned to the Elf, who followed obligingly.
Year 4E3 19th of Mid Year. The Mane's Palace, Torval, Elsweyr.
Ri'rassi cradled the infant close. She was weak after giving birth, but the friendly bodyguard helped her along the passageway. They'd found the courtyard empty save a few pools of blood, of both the Mane's and Ocato's from the scent of it. They'd then heard a peal of raucous laughter from the main hall. And now Ri'rassi held her breath as she opened the door, and saw the Mane, Ocato, J'Urn and a couple of the bodyguards eating Moon Sugar and drinking Jhab'dan a Khajiiti drink.
"Come Empress Regent, Join Us!" The Mane called.
Ri'rassi approached cautiously, unsure if what she was seeing was to be believed. Ocato quickly got up and come over to her.
"A girl." Ri'rassi told him, tears in her eyes but grinning widely.
"Just like we wanted." Ocato held his arms out.
"Yes, just like we wanted." Ri'rassi passed the newborn to him.
Ocato stared at his child, fatherly love in his eyes. "She's beautiful. Just like her mother." He whispered.
Ri'rassi hugged her lover, and took the baby back.
"Decided on a name yet?" Ocato asked, tenderly stroking the top of his daughters head.
"Nope, you pick one." Ri'rassi told him.
"Ailura?" He suggested.
"Sound good to me." She said, kissing the mer.
"Ohmes!" The Mane called out.
Ri'rassi turned to the group, eyes lingering on the maneless Mane. She felt a giggle rise to her lips.
"What did you do to him?" Ri'rassi asked Ocato.
"He did it himself." Ocato smiled, and Ri'rassi saw the scabbed over scratches on Ocato's arm.
She patted the mer on his arm, casting a healing spell as she did so.
"The child is an Ohmes?" The Mane asked.
"I don't know yet, I haven't been watching the moons." Ri'rassi admitted.
"Then it is a good thing I did. Ohmes the child is." He said.
"Raminus, Mazoga and Modryn?" The Empress Regent asked.
"We should put them at ease." Ocato agreed. He led the way out of the palace and into the courtyard, Ri'rassi and Nhad-Hatta following closely.
The two Senche-Raht who'd been guarding the gates now pulled them open, revealing Raminus Polus pacing up and down the threshold. He, Mazoga and Modryn turned to the now open gates. The army, which had been murmuring quietly, was now silent in anticipation.
"Loyal Soldiers of Tamriel!" Ocato shouted, his voice carrying over the crowd.
"The Empire is whole once more!" He cried, and a joyous shout went out from the gathered army.