Chapter 9: Moon and Star
Zayden awoke with a splitting pain in his head. At first he thought it the same hangover he had been enduring the past four days. But this pain came from the crown of the head, not its center. He reached to feel the bump only to find his arms bound behind his back. He then realized that the darkness around him was not the night but a blindfold over his eyes. He attempted to scream but found his mouth bound as well.
A voice sounded somewhere in front of him. "Captain! He's woken up!" a man said.
Another man, presumably the captain, answered a moment later. "Just keep him still. We're still a few hours out."
Zayden remained still for a moment and took in his surroundings with his other senses. There was the sound of rushing wind, the aggressive rustling of canvas covering, the constant creek of wood. He was in a covered wagon. He smelled the air and remembered the sent: the ashen dirt of the Ashlands.
Zayden voiced a few pleading moans and once more caught the first voice's attention. "I think he wants to say something. Should I?" There was no response said but the man then spoke to Zayden directly. "If I remove your gag will you keep quiet? Not do any screaming?" Zayden nodded and the gag was removed.
"Who are you?" Zayden asked.
"We are agents of the Blades," the captain responded. "We are here to fulfil your duties to the Emperor and the Imperial Empire."
"What duties?"
"The duties that brought you to Vvardenfell in the first place. Have you forgotten? You were brought here by direct order of Emperor Uriel Septim VII himself." A name Zayden had not heard in a very long time, a name that conjured fevered memories of his first days in Morrowind. "You were meant to follow dictate of prophecy."
Like a flooding wave the long dormant events of a few years past came rushing back into full memory. "Nerevarine…" Zayden whispered aloud. Much had been so pushed into the back of his memories. It was hard to recall it all at once. "Caius…"
"Hmm, yes. Caius. His treason has already been dealt with."
An icy chill now flooded over Zayden at the uttering of those words. "Treason?" he repeated. "What happened to Caius? What have you done to him?!" Zayden was struck in the chest.
"You said you would stop your yelling," the captain chided. "But yes, Caius Cosades for his failure to enact the will of the Emperor and follow the Nerevarine Prophecy has branded him a traitor to the Empire. His treason has been dealt with."
Again the chill swelled over him, quickly replaced with burning rage. "You bastards!" Zayden spat. "You killed him, didn't you? You killed Caius! Because he refused to send another man to his death you killed him, you fucking- Gah!" Zayden was struck again and harder. He rolled over from the impact and coughed into the wooden boards beneath him.
"Caius Cosades is a traitor to the Empire," the captain reiterated. "We will finish what he refused to. Keep quiet now, Imperial. We still have a long ways to go…"
Zayden buried his head into the floorboards and began to weep for the memory of Caius. It was not so long ago that they had first crossed paths. He had come into Caius's life at his lowest point and had inadvertently helped him turn it around. Caius had done the same for Zayden by merely stepping aside and letting him choose his own future, a choice that now cost him his life. How could an Emperor condemn a man to death for giving another his freedom? What kind of Emperor could do such a thing? Perhaps one not worth obeying…
The covered wagon continued on and on, shaking and jostling with every rock and soft dip in the soil. Zayden could not have known for how long he wept but even when it subsided there still remained a long stretch of silence during the journey. It eventually got broken when a previously unspoken man retrieved from his bag a flask of flin. The flask was passed between the men and soon the wagon began to fill with the scent of freshly lit tobacco.
Zayden waited until the men had a few swigs between the few before daring to speak again. He no longer cared if he was going to get hit again. Zayden began by simply asking "Where are you taking me?"
At first no one answered, as if they had forgotten they had a captive. The captain answered "We are taking you to a shrine of Azura, Daedric Prince. Within will be a ring sitting in the hands of a statue of Azura. You will put on this ring and that will determine if you are as the prophecy states."
"How? What will happen if I am, indeed, the Nerevarine?"
Another moment of silence. "We suspect," said the captain, "that the Goddess will speak to you and guide you to your step in the prophecy."
"'Suspect?'" Zayden repeated. More silence. "Are you even Blades? I wonder what's going to happen to you when you're found out to be imposters. What the Emperor will do when he learns you've killed his spymaster. What I'll do to you fucks when I put on the ring, nothing happens, and I get my hands on y-"
*Wack!*
The blow went into the side of his jaw courtesy of an armored foot. Zayden rolled over and collapsed into the floorboards again, writhing in his new pain. "You're in no position to make threats," the first man said. "Besides, it won't matter if we've 'wasted your time,' because if we did you'll be dead."
Zayden listened to the captain get up and deliver a punch to the other man so hard that it made another person gasp. A few bumps of the wagon later sent the now unconscious man falling over next to Zayden on the floor.
Zayden forced a few chuckles through the pain in his jaw as the captain groaned a few curses under his breath. "So that's it," groaned Zayden. "Blades or not, you really don't know what you're doing out here, do you? You're just following orders, like drones for a hive." Zayden heard the captain approach again and braced for another strike. Instead he had his blindfold violently ripped off him and after a few seconds his eyes adjusted to look upon his captors.
These were no thugs, guards, or soldiers Zayden had ever laid eyes on before. Each man, all Imperial, were clad in full plate armor of a design he had only seen in history texts. The curved swords they had sheathed at their sides only confirmed that it was Akaviri. Zayden had guessed wrong, they were true Blades.
"... You really killed Caius, did you?" Zayden asked.
The captain furrowed his brow and returned to his seat on the opposite end of the wagon. "We took no pleasure in doing so," he admitted, "but he admitted to his crimes willingly. He defied a direct order from the Emperor Himself. Such for a Blade is treason, punishable by death. His crimes had to be met. And you, Zayden, will be tested for the Nerevarine prophecy."
Zayden glanced at the unconscious Blade next to him. "What did he mean," he then asked, "that I would be dead? If I fail, will you kill me?"
"No. The ring we spoke of goes by two names: 'Moon-and-Star' and 'One-Clan-Under-Moon-And-Star.' It was worn by Chimer King, Lord Indoril Nerevar. It acts now as judge of his reincarnation. By Azura's decree it would reveal Indoril's reincarnation- the Nerevarine- to fulfil the Nerevarine Prophecy. This is so because all others who are not the Incarnate, who put on the ring, die instantly. If you fail, we will have no need to kill you."
"Of what concern does the Emperor have with Dunmer religion?" Zayden then asked. "No one sane does anything without self interest. What would the Emperor- the Empire- gain from this prophecy? Have you ever thought of that?" The captain looked between his other men but nothing was suggested. "Nothing. Ever the drones, you lot."
"Spare us, Zayden, your mind games. And spare us your 'holier-than-thou' treatment. What have you done in the name of 'Following orders?' Steal? Extort? Kill, even if in self defence? You claim our hands soiled? Look upon yours first."
"The Thieves Guild is practically a branch of the Empire, fool. Your glorious Emperor props up an explicitly criminal organization in Vvardenfell."
"Only by necessity. We work to this day to grow so we may eliminate it. If you could end the Thieves Guild right now, on righteous principle, would you? Or do you depend on it too much? Do you enjoy being a criminal too much to give it up, now…? The Empire has already begun to eradicate the Thieves Guild in Cyrodiil, as well as the other provinces. If you ever return to your homeland, Imperial, you may find it a very unwelcome place."
Zayden dismissed the captain's intimidation. He found it fairly hard to believe that the Empire would be willing to rid itself of something like the Thieves Guild- ethical or not- because of how well it worked. He recognized his bias to the subject but it nevertheless did not make sense to him. Not wanting to talk to the captain any further, Zayden turned his attention to the unconscious man next to him. "Perhaps he should be woken up?"
The captain conceded and woke him up by throwing some water at him. He then ordered him to keep his big mouth shut for the remainder of their journey. He meekly agreed and for the entire remainder of the long ride no one spoke further.
At long last the wagon made a sudden stop, the coach calling to the back. "We have arrived," he stated.
Zayden was picked up and the three Blades follow him and filed out of the back of the wagon. The light of the setting sun in the west shone but to the east a large black cloud forbode ill weather. They had entered a narrow passage between high rock walls and stalagmite pillars that continued south a little before arching back around west. The captain ordered the teamster to stay where he was before he took Zayden by his still bound hands and led him forward, followed by the other two Blades.
Winds began to pick up slightly as the group rounded the path and began to climb a small hill. Ahead was what looked like at a distance a gigantic split boulder, its flat face presented toward them. Only upon coming closer did the surface reveal a pair of stone doors built from the rock itself, its surface filled with a detailed pattern of six-pointed stars and crescent moons. The captain stopped Zayden and undid his hands and looked to the now fading sunlight. "You must be the one to approach the door. Do so quickly, for it only opens at the hour of dawn and dusk. Such is the realm of Azura. Quickly!"
Zayden took a few measured steps forward and gently touched the surface of the door. Immediately a voice, as clear as a whisper in his ear, sounded over the winds.
IN THE DAWN HOUR UNDER AZURA'S STAR, THE DOOR IS OPENED
Zayden looked back to the guards and the captain. They all, too, heard the voice. Zayden tuend back to the door and they began to split open down the center, stopping just wide enough for a man to slip through. "Go," the captain urged and he followed Zayden inside, ordering the others to stand watch outside.
Beyond the door was a single straight cavern, the ceiling covered in a luminescent moss that bathed everything in an aqua haze. Ahead in the distance was shrine to the Goddess and Daedric Prince Azura, a tall stature of her image sitting, Her hands cupped and open forward. In the center of Her hands glinted a small white light.
Zayden inched toward the shrine, step by step, the wind from the ever increasing ash storm howling outside. When the two got within ten feet of the glint of light figures began to appear in the haze. They collessed into six figures, three men and three women, all Dunmer, dressed in ancient clothing. They spoke together in a unified voice.
We appear before you your forebearers. We all shared in destiny of the Nerevarine Prophecy. We all failed and fell within this place. We wish you success from our failure. If not, then we promise you warmth in our company.
The Blade captain was quickly becoming inraptured by this place and what he saw. He no longer urged Zayden further and instead became very still and wide eyed. Zayden took a few more steps toward the shrine's hands and the light faded from the object it held. It was the ring, Moon-and-Star, a silver band with tiny star and crescent moon of gold set in it like a jewel. Zayden reached for the item and with shaking fingers plucked it with his right hand. He extended his left index finger out before him and, as slowly as one possibly could, brought the tip of his finger closer and closer to the opening of the band.
Zayden wondered if this was to be his last moment living. Would be join these ghosts in eternal shame, in this cavern? Should he say one final thing before parishing. The only thing he could bring forth were tears of terror. Zayden closed his eyes and thought of his friends: Hui, Habasi, Ahnassi, Tappius, Caius. Zeela…
A scream sounded from beyond the parted doors, followed by the sound of crashing armor. The captain and Zayden spun around, the former calling out to the others. "What is it!?" he said, his voice echoing through the cavern. "Answer me!"
His demand was met by the another chilling yell, the sounds of clashing metal, and one final scream that rang like a death bell. The captain unsheathed his katana and was about to charge forward when a figure appeared and pass through the doors into the cavern. It was none of the other Blades but someone else. Something else.
It was, by most appearances, merely a man. It was naked and shuffled forward with an erratic, irregular gate. Only when it got closer, putting itself further in the light of the cavern did it reveal its blotted and bloated flesh, dead sunken face, and lifeless look in its eye. It appeared to be an undead, a lesser but more intact version of a bonewalker, but something about this think told Zayden that it was something else.
The thing charged at the captain first, he being the closest. It grabbed at its arm and bean to fruitlessly bite and gnaw at its armored surface. The captain reacted by hacking away at its head, caving it in before it finally fell. Three more of the creature took the killed's place, grouping up to pile on the captain all at once. The captain was easily brought to the ground and began screaming for help. But Zayden had already run past, clutching the ring in his hand.
Zayden slipped through the parted doors and, after being briefly blinded by the now howling winds of an ash storm, had to immediately dodge the attack of yet another of the undead things. He glanced at the dead, torn bodies of the other two Blades for a brief moment before rushing past back town the hill and around the bend in the path. The dust was picked up to such a degree that visibility was limited to a few meters. He stumbled through the gust in the direction the wagon was, figuring he could make a quick escape by taking one of the horses. Alas when the wagon came into sight both horses had been slaughtered along with its teamster.
The undead followed Zayden down the path and were quickly closing the gap. Zayden began running again, past the wagon and further into the chasm. It narrowed ahead to a width the wagon would have barely been able to navigate with ease. Furthermore it twisted and rose and dipped sharply in elevation. Zayden kept slamming into the chasm walls as he rushed to escape the undead, all while the creatures seemed to get closer and louder behind him. The path seemed to go on for an eternity, with no end in sight, and Zayden was only getting more and more exhausted.
When the path seemed to open back up he was met with the sight of even more undead, a few of them taller and more grotesquely bloated than the others. Zayden attempted to rush past but even the big ones were quicker than they appeared. Soon the undead in pursuit caught back up and Zayden found himself surrounded. He clutched Moon-and-Star in his left hand tighter and unsheathed his sword. He knew he could not cut them all down but was determined to take as many as he could before falling.
A few of the smaller undead made a charge but stopped at a sudden flash of light behind them. There then came another, a roar of a rush of flames in accompaniment. A third erupted in the center of the pursuer group. A fourth hit the same undead but hit much closer to Zayden, the blast and force knocking him off his feet. A maelstrom of smaller ones then began to rain down on the undead, most missing and a few nearly missing Zayden by a few feet.
Zayden clammored to his feet and used the moment of confusion to make another break for safety, but another volley fell from the sky. A stray fireball struck Zayden in the back of the leg and sent him collapsing forward back to the ground, the ring slipping from his grasp. Before he could grasp it he got pinned down by one of the bigger undead. It used its one, engorged arm to beat and scratch at Zayden's back with extra-ordinary strength. It tore through cloak and gambeson and finally the flesh beneath. Zayden uselessly tried to flip himself over and swing his sword behind him. They only thing that saved him was a third volley of fire, one bolt striking the bulky undead and sending it rolling off Zayden.
Zayden forced himself onto his knees only to fall forward again. Whether or not the undead managed to break Zayden's spine it felt as if it did. He made one more failed attempt before spotting through the sand and wind the Moon-and-Star ring just out of reach. He crawled forward and made a wide, clamping grasp for the item and managed to just grasp it by slipping his little finger through the band.
The very instant it did, Zayden's world disappeared.
-o0o-
My world has become nothing. I see nothing, can touch nothing, hear nothing. The ring must have killed me. I must be dead. The cavern ghost will be glad to have new company.
No, wait. I can see something. It's faint at the moment, and distant… Stars. Portals to Aetherius, Magnus the greatest in size. Nirn lies below, Tamriel upon it. It all seems so peaceful and unchanging from this place.
The Aedra, Lorkhan, trickster and architect of the mortal realm was killed here as punishment for his deceit. His body was torn apart and scattered. Two parts became the moons, Masser and Secunda. His heart fell to Nirn and into the ocean, a Red Mountain forming above it and a fence of ghosts around it. But built by who…?
That image fades… I see… My friends. Sotha Sil, wizard and tinkerer. Vivec, warrior poet, and my general. Almalexia, my wife, passionate and motherly to all.
I see Voryon Dagoth. We all stand deep beneath the earth, beside the great heart. Everyone begins to change.
Dagoth touches the heart and dawns a golden mask. He stands opposite the others.
Sotha Sil steps back and becomes machine than elf.
Vivec steps back and become half Chimer and Dunmer, half man and woman.
Almalexia steps back and becomes mad with love for her people.
I collapse and begin to die. All look on and none come to my aid. Dagoth with tears and the Tribunal with apathy.
Azura speaks.
NEREVAR REBORN. INCARNATE.
YOUR FIRST THREE TRIALS ARE FINISHED.
NOW TWO NEW TRIALS LIE BEFORE YOU.
SEEK THE ASHLANDERS ASHKHANS AND THE GREAT HOUSE COUNSELORS.
FOUR TRIBES MUST NAME YOU NEREVARINE.
THREE HOUSES MUST NAME YOU HORTATOR.
MY SERVANT, NIBANI MAESA, WILL BE YOUR GUIDE, AND WHEN YOU ARE HORTATOR AND NEREVARINE, WHEN YOU HAVE STOOD BEFORE THE FALSE GODS AND FREED THE HEART FROM ITS PRISON, HEAL MY PEOPLE AND RESTORE MORROWIND.
DO THIS FOR ME AND WITH MY BLESSING.
Zayden awoke screaming.