CHAPTER TWO: BRUMA

Baurus

The two Blades rode into Bruma on horseback at sundown. The most noticeable of them was Mikhail Iron-Heart, the Hero of Kvatch. He was a large, imposing figure, even for a Nord. His light blond hair was short, cut in the fashion of an Imperial soldier, but his beard was so unruly and long it nearly hid his entire neck. His skin was pale, almost matching the snow that covered every square foot of the northern Cyrodiilic city, which made his almond eyes seem darker.

Baurus, in his own opinion, had a much less threatening appearance. He had a light build, which made him look more like a scout than a front-line warrior. His light brown skin—which was also the color of his eyes—made him stand out in the snow almost as much as Mikhail's ebony armor.

Both men were exhausted, and not just because of the journey from the Imperial City to Bruma. Baurus had helped Mikhail break the code of the Mythic Dawn Commentaries, then later to infiltrate the cult itself to stop the men who had killed the Emperor and opened the Oblivion Gates.

Unfortunately they had been too late. The leader of the Daeda worshipers, Mankar Camoran, had escaped to a plane of Oblivion with the Amulet of Kings, the only means of lighting the Dragonfires and sealing the bond between Oblivion and Tamriel.

Baurus had thought all hope had been lost to save Cyrodiil, but obviously Mikhail hadn't seen it the same way. After Mankar had disappeared, the two of them had been ordered to sacrifice an Argonian in order to become a part of the Mythic Dawn.

Mikhail, who was a proficient warrior when using a greatsword, had wielded the dagger that was to be used for the sacrifice like a weapon of mass destruction, managing to kill anyone who came at the Blades while protecting the Argonian all the while.

After killing the Doorkeeper, who had taken their equipment and replaced it with the crimson robes of the Mythic Dawn, Baurus was able to help carve their way out of the Dagon Shrine.

Only later, after the Argonian that revealed his name to be Jubilee thanked them for saving his life, did Mikhail reveal that he had stolen the Mysterium Xarxes—the written word of Mehrunes Dagon—from the Shrine. Both men knew that it was their only chance of finding Camoran, and thus the Amulet of Kings.

"Where's the closest inn?" Mikhail asked in his thick Nordic accent.

"Just down the road a ways," Baurus answered. "Never been to Bruma before?"

Mikhail shook his head. "I've been here twice. The first time was a few months ago, when I crossed the Skyrim-Cyrodiil border. I had decided to come here, since it was the first settlement I came across."

Baurus had wondered about Mikhail's past. He was obviously a good man, considering he had braved the Oblivion Gate in Kvatch alone then rescued Martin Septim while clearing out the remaining Daedra in the sacked city, but that didn't change the fact that the two of them met when the Nord was in a jail cell. "And the second?"

"Couple weeks ago, when Martin, Jauffre, and I came through here after the attack on Weynon Prior," Mikhail said. "We had to get some supplies before traveling the rest of the way to you-know-where."

The horses halted in front of Olav's Tap and Tack. "This is the place we will be staying?" he asked as the two of them dismounted their horses.

"It's not much, but it's much cheaper than Bruma's other inns," Baurus told him as they tied the horse's reigns to a post. "Plus there's a Blade in here that might have some information for us."

They entered the bustling inn, which was much warmer than the cold north of Cyrodiil. The tavern was crowded, but it didn't take long for Baurus to find Olaf sitting at a table all by himself, drinking from a large bottle of mead. The ginger Nord didn't attract much attention, which was exactly what he was trained to do.

Baurus walked over to the table and took a seat in front of Olaf. Mikhail sat next to the Redguard as Olaf said, "been a while."

"Yeah," Baurus replied. "I've spent a lot of—"

"Be right back." Olaf pulled himself onto his feet and stumbled towards one of several doors, likely one of which would lead to his room.

"He seems really good at pretending to be a local drunk," Mikhail said.

Baurus chuckled. "Olaf's likely not pretending. He's a great informant—when he's sober—but a lousy fighter, so he's been posted here for several years."

Mikhail's brow rose. "A lousy fighter, you say? Well then he must be pretending. Ain't a single Nord out there who isn't worth having on your side in a fight."

A clatter of loud noise echoed throughout the inn. Baurus and Mikhail turned around to see that Olaf had fallen over, taking down a waitress that had been handling a large tray of food with him. In his left hand he still held the bottle of mead that had been there before, but in the other were several envelopes.

"I suppose there are exceptions," Mikhail muttered under his breath.

Olaf stood up, brushed himself off, and came back to the table. The waitress gave him an evil eye the entire time as she picked up the pieces of broken glass. "These are for you," Olaf said, handing the envelopes to Baurus.

"You couldn't have helped that woman up?" Baurus asked as he sorted through the messages, all of which were labeled with his name. "Or apologized at the very least?"

"She's fine," Olaf assured him. "A strong, independent woman needs to learn how to pick herself up when she falls—without the help of a man."

Mikhail snorted. "Even when it was the man that knocked her down?"

The two Nords went back-and-forth, half-joking and half-arguing with each other while Baurus opened up the first envelope. The first word that caught his eye was Constance, then the next one was Kole. Baurus felt horrible, having completely forgotten to set aside time on the trip back to Cloud Ruler Temple to see his family.

After skimming through the letter, Baurus interrupted the arguing Nords. "I'm going to head home tomorrow when we leave for you-know-where."

Mikhail turned to Baurus and asked, "care to tell me why?"

Baurus waved the paper in his hand. "It's been two months since I last saw my wife and child. My duty dictates that I should go straight to Martin's side, but—"

"Family comes first," Mikhail finished. "I understand. Should you want a friend to come with you, I'm there."

"Thanks, but that won't be necessary." The Redguard stood up. "Let me go get us some rooms."

"Don't forget some drinks while you're at it," Mikhail called out as Baurus walked towards the bar.

He only made it a few feet before the front door blew open and an elderly Imperial stormed in. It took a few seconds for him to recognize the man as Gergus Sialloni, a hermit that lived ten minutes from his and Constance's home. He looked exhausted, as if he had ran the entire distance to Bruma.

Gergus collapsed into one of the stools resting along the bar, ordering a large glass of mead before slumping his head down into his arms.

"I wonder what that guy's problem is," Mikhail commented from the table.

Baurus wasn't sure, but he suspected something was wrong. Gergus was the least sociable person he'd ever met, and knew that the hermit would only come to Bruma if he had no choice in the matter. "Mr. Sialloni?" he asked hesitantly, half expecting the old man to drop dead from exhaustion.

To his surprise, Gergus looked up immediately. His eyes trained on Baurus, as if trying to recall who he was. "You... your that man who lives down the road from me, aren't you?"

Baurus opened his mouth to answer but the hermit didn't pause long before continuing. "Yes, yes you are him. I remember when you helped me rebuild my roof last year. Barbas, right?"

"My name is Baurus," the Redguard said, annoyed by the implications of the wrong name.

Gergus nodded, as if approving the answer. "I suppose you must have reported it to the guards already. Saves me from having to do so."

"Reported what?"

"One of the horses outside must be yours," Gergus added, completely ignoring Baurus's question. "That'd explain how you got here before me. Unless you noticed it a lot soon than I did. By my guess it was there for several hours before—"

"What are you talking about?" Baurus interrupted him.

Gergus stared at him in silence for a few seconds, as if he was trying to register the Blade's words. "I'm talking about the Oblivion Gate," he finally said.

A cold chill ran down Baurus's spine. "What Oblivion Gate?"

The words seemed to spill out of Gergus's mouth at the same rate as a glacier moved. "The one that's sitting in front of your house as we speak."

Within seconds Baurus was outside, untying the reins from the post as quickly as he could. A moment later Mikhail appeared next to his own horse. "Where are you going?" he asked. "What's happening?"

"Oblivion Gate. In front of my house. My family's in trouble," Baurus explained without taking his focus off of his horse.

Mikhail immediately began copying Baurus—hastily releasing his horse from the post as well. "I'm coming with you."

Baurus didn't have time to speak. He climbed up onto his horse's saddle, waiting only the briefest of seconds for Mikhail to do the same before racing towards the city gates.

Please be fine. Please be fine.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A short chapter this time. I originally thought it would be longer, ending with the two of them arriving at the house and Oblivion Gate, but I decided that a Mikhail chapter detailing Oblivion would be nice so I ended up cutting this chapter in half.

Thanks to harmoniedusoir for beta-ing so well. And thank you, dearest reader, for (hopefully) reviewing.