Chapter 2 – Camri Everlight
East of Bravil, the next morning
Areen and Camri climbed out of the small boat they had used to cross the Niben – Bravil happened to be situated next to one of the widest parts of the river so swimming had not been an option.
Camri studied the map Sudana had given him. "We need to bear east for about three miles"
"Alright" Areen said. "This is bandit country, so keep your eyes peeled"
"I'm on it"
"Just make sure you keep an eye on where you're going. Bad directions can really sabotage an attempt to save the world"
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't you read the accounts of the Nerevarine of Vvardenfell? In his attempts to win the favour of the Zainab tribe he was sent to an ancestral tomb to dispatch a vampire. The Ashkhan gave him very simple directions – head north until the ruins of Nchuleft then bear east. What the Ashkhan didn't tell him was that he had to go another mile or so north of Nchuleft before he started bearing east. He was lost in the Grazelands for almost a week"
"Bandits!" Camri shouted suddenly, pointing in front of them. From a small campsite concealed in the undergrowth, two Bosmer were running towards them, one carrying an axe and one carrying a bow.
"Camri, I can't fight well in the open!" Areen cried.
"That's alright, stay behind me!"
Camri nocked an arrow into his bow, drew and took aim. The Bosmer archer fired an arrow at him, but he leapt to the side and it flew past him, slamming into a tree and piercing several inches into it. Camri released his own arrow and it sailed through the air, hitting the Bosmer in the neck and piercing his jugular vein.
Camri cast his bow to the ground and drew his sword, the silver longsword Sudana had given him, and ran to face the other bandit. The bandit swung his axe horizontally at Camri, but Camri ducked and felt the weapon fly over his head, missing him by inches. Leaping up, he plunged his sword into the bandit's chest, ripping through his chainmail armour and killing him instantly.
Camri looked around. Areen was alright.
"What happened to the other one? Did you see?" Camri asked him.
"He's dead" Areen replied. "Must be from blood loss"
"Alright, we should have a rest" Camri said. "Only for a few minutes though. The fate of Argonia's not going to hang around"
"That's the spirit!"
--------------
Somewhere north of Skingrad, ten years earlier
The cavern was a remarkable find. Camri and Elers had found it purely by chance. They'd practiced their archery by hunting rats in the cave and were leaving it when Elers tripped over a rock which turned out to be a trigger stone, opening a secret door into a small room, filled with ancient scrolls and books. Almost all of it was written in the Daedric alphabet, which neither of them could understand. But one was written in the Tamrielic language.
"Bollocks" Elers said, dropping the scroll to the ground. "An Elder Scroll, I might believe, but not a little old bit of paper we found in a cave. It doesn't even look that old. Look, the ink hasn't faded at all"
"It's still interesting though" Camri said. "This prophecy. Three heroes, accompanied by guardians who work for the Gods, brought together through an enormous event to take on something even bigger"
"It's probably some mad author who used to live down here" Elers said. "Remember that skeleton we saw? Probably starved to death, or caught something off the rats"
"Why's it all written in Daedric, then?"
"Like I say, he was probably mad"
"We should still take some of it with us" Camri said. "The Mages Guild will probably pay us for it"
"Now you're speaking my language!" Elers said, picking up armfuls of the ancient scrolls.
"Camri!"a voice suddenly called from somewhere in the cavern. "Come on, lad. I know you're in here!"
"Shit, it's my father!" Camri whispered. "How did he follow us? You asked a guard for directions to this cave, didn't you?"
"Camri!" A middle-aged Imperial man strode up to them out of the darkness. Rucius Everlight was one of the highest-ranking guards in Skingrad, and was not happy about having to leave his post to find his son.
"What in the name of the Nine are you doing in here?" Rucius said angrily.
"We've just been practicing our archery!" Camri retorted. "Didn't you notice all the dead rats?"
"That's what the damn archery range behind the Fighters' Guild is for!" Rucius shouted. "I've worked all my life to get this position in the Guard and now I have to risk it to chase after a boy who runs off into the back-country with no idea of how to defend himself! And what's this you've found here?"
"Ancient Daedric texts" Elers said.
"We're going to sell them to the Guild of Mages" Camri added. "And perhaps if you take back that comment about me not being able to defend myself I'll give you a cut of the money we make"
Rucius paused. "Elers, would you give us a minute?"
Camri nodded to his friend. Elers turned around and began to walk towards the exit of the cavern.
"I'll come and find you later!" Camri called after him.
"So, son" Rucius said. "You can defend yourself, can you?"
Before Camri could react, Rucius struck him around the head with the handle of his sword, knocking him to the ground in a daze, before dragging him out of the small room back into the main cavern. Rucius strode up to the pile of ancient papers and dropped his torch on them.
"Necromancy, that's what this is" Rucius said to himself.
"No!" Camri cried, shakily getting to his feet. But it was too late. The old, dry papers had burnt in an instant. Nothing was left.
Camri strode up to Rucius and squared up to him.
"You've gone too far this time!"
------------
Cheydinhal, Guild of Mages, the present day
Assurrani walked into the Guildhall and an elderly Dunmer approached him.
"Can I help you, sera?"
"I am looking for Eliarie" Assurrani said. "I come on behalf of the Bravil guildhall. I believe she has some notes for us about our ongoing project on integrating the arts of Alteration and Illusion"
"Most interesting, sera" the Dunmer said. "She's in the basement, in her study"
Walking down to the basement, Assurrani took the scroll – the unconditional writ – from his pocket. He hadn't actually read it yet, and decided now would be a good time to.
Assurrani,
I'm afraid I haven't been entirely honest with you. This is not an unconditional writ. It is not any form of writ. If you perform this task for me, the writ is yours. But first I need to be able to know you are as talented as your master suggests. I'm afraid you're on your own for this one.
Seminus
"Damn that n'wah!" Assurrani whispered to himself. This simple task had just got a lot more difficult.
Assurrani walked through the open doorway into the basement. A woman was sitting at a desk, reading, her back turned to him. He had to plan how to escape should he have to kill Eliarie. Invisibility and its proper use were Assurrani's preferred method of escape. Casting the invisibility spell, one of the hardest aspects of illusion, was one thing, but then one had to act in such a way as not to break the illusion.
Looking around, Assurrani saw a small window at the top of the room, left open to let air into the basement from outside. If he could climb up to it, he could crawl out onto the alleyway behind the guildhall. It was perfect.
"Excuse me, are you Eliarie?" Assurrani asked. The Altmer woman leapt up from her seat.
"By the Gods, you startled me!" Eliarie said. "Yes, I'm Eliarie. What can I do for you?"
"I have been sent by General Seminus of the Imperial Guard" Assurrani said. "He says you have some research material on something called The Marsh Spirit"
"Well, tell General Seminus he can't have them" Eliarie replied flatly. "He needs an official permit signed by the Arch-Mage to take research material from a Guild member"
"Let's try this another way" Assurrani said, drawing his ebony shortsword from his belt. "Give me the notes or I will kill you"
"We can play it that way if you like" Eliarie said. Suddenly, she raised her hands and cast a fireball at Assurrani. Assurrani leapt to the ground, feeling the burst of fire soar over his head, then landed in a forward roll and jumped to his feet. Eliarie summoned a sword from the realms of the Daedra but it was in vain – Assurrani lunged forward and plunged his sword through Eliarie's chest. The life faded quickly from the Altmer's eyes as Assurrani drew his sword from her.
"Eliarie! Are you alright?"
A voice came echoing down the staircase that led back up to the guildhall. Assurrani looked around quickly, setting eyes on a pile of papers on Eliarie's desk. They were tired together with string, with the words "Marsh Spirit" written in large letters on the first page. He quickly grabbed them and placed them in his backpack, casting an invisibility spell on himself just as an Imperial battlemage ran down into the basement.
"What in the name of… Eliarie! Are you alright? Who did this? Where are you?!"
Assurrani jumped up and grabbed the edge of the windowframe, hauling himself up and out onto the alleyway. A beggar sat opposite the window noisily eating a small piece of bread. Assurrani got up and ran around the corner, onto the street that the entrance to the guildhall was on. Two guards were running towards the guildhall, having heard commotion, and the townspeople were gathering around. This was no good. He had to find somewhere secluded where the spell could wear off.
Assurrani ran down the street, away from the town centre, then leapt over a low wall and ducked behind it. He was in the back garden of somebody's house – he prayed to Mephala that the owner wasn't looking into their back garden at that very moment. A few seconds later, Assurrani returned to visibility. Success.
-------------
Skingrad, West Gate, 9 years earlier
"Camri, I'm still not convinced about this…" Elers whispered. The two of them were perched on top of a small grassy hill overlooking the west gate of Skingrad. Two guards stood on patrol outside the gate.
"I can't ask you to stay with me while I do this" Camri said. "We might both be killed. Then again, we might succeed and prove to the townspeople how idiotic the fining system is"
Camri pointed to one of the guards. "That's him. He's arrested me twice. Once for arguing with another guard, once for pissing in public. He's cost me 200 Septims and two nights in the dungeon"
"I'm out" Elers said, standing up. "Camri, I'm all for you fighting establishment. The law, the way lawbreakers are prosecuted, the way the Emperor is trying to make Cyrodiil the only province in Tamriel, the unfair trading with the poorer provinces. Someone needs to put a stop to it. Maybe you are the one to do it. But killing a guard? He's just trying to earn a living, Camri"
"I was just trying to earn a living when my father burnt those documents last year" Camri replied. Elers looked at him.
"I'll help you out. I'll walk round the bypass, go in through the east gate. Stop them getting suspicious"
"So this is it, you're abandoning me?"
"Camri. You're still my dear friend. But I don't want to be involved in this. I'll see you soon, Camri"
With that, Elers began to walk north, stooping down in the low grass, towards the road that led north around Skingrad. Camri lay down in the grass and drew his bow. The guard was around 100 yards away from him – an easy shot for the trained marksman, even at night.
Taking a few seconds to gather himself, Camri took an arrow from his quiver, also making sure the bag of gold was still in place on his belt. 1000 Septims. It had taken him a long time to earn, but if he succeeded it would be worth every coin.
Camri nocked the arrow, took aim and fired. A fraction of a second later, he saw the guard get hurled backwards by the force of the arrow, its shaft jutting horribly from his forehead.
"Who's out there?" the other guard bellowed. Camri dropped his bow and stepped down the hill, onto the road, into full view of the guard.
"You there!" the guard shouted at him. "Surrender or die!"
Camri took the bag of gold from his belt, dropped it on the ground then raised both hands above his head. The guard approached him and held his sword across Camri's throat.
"You've just committed murder!" the guard said angrily. "A thousand Septims or a long spell in the dungeon. Which is it to be?"
"At my feet is a bag containing a thousand Septims" Camri said calmly. "So I'll take the former option, please"
"Come with me" the guard said, grabbing Camri by the wrist. "We're going to get this counted by the treasury"
"Let me get this right" Camri said. "I just killed someone, but because I can afford to, I can simply donate a thousand Septims to the town treasury and get away with it"
"Yes, that's the way it is" the guard sighed. "You know, I never liked that man anyway. All he wanted was to be a Captain, no interest in the protection of the town"
"You sound unhappy with the way you're being forced to treat me" Camri said. He no longer sounded like he was mocking the guard, more being sympathetic towards him.
"I've got to earn a living" the guard said. "I don't like the way that anyone with wealth can literally get away with murder. But I have to do it to feed my family"
"This is just what I need!" Camri exclaimed. "Sir, if I told you I was to start a campaign to get the current system abolished, would you help me?"
The guard turned to look at Camri. "Yes. I suppose I would"
------------
Camri and Areen walked quickly through the tall grass and spare trees, up and down the undulating slopes of eastern Cyrodiil. As they ran, Camri would occasionally think he could hear someone or something behind him, but whenever he turned round, nobody was there. Rats, he thought to himself.
Then, he heard the sound of a twig snapping under a footfall. A rat couldn't have done that.
"Areen!" Camri called. Areen stopped and turned to face Camri.
"What is it?"
"We're being followed"
Areen took a small glass phial from his belt and drank the contents, then looked around.
"There!" he exclaimed suddenly. Camri guessed he had drunk a life-detection potion and had seen something. Areen raced past Camri, back down the trail they had come down. Eventually, he stopped, exhausted.
"Whatever it was, it got away" Areen said between breaths.
"It could have been…" Camri began.
"What?"
"An Imperial spy. I used to know an enchanter, used to sell apparel to the Legion that made their soldiers invisible. That's how they spy on people. By not being seen"
"Why would they be spying on us?"
"Areen, think about what we're doing. We're preparing to go to war with the Empire. I think that's a good enough reason to spy on us"
"We need to get to Morahame, quickly" Areen said. "Before they send something more dangerous after us"
-------------
Hammerfell / High Rock border, Redguard Bridge Tavern
Ariel woke up suddenly and climbed out of her bed. Horunn was still pacing up and down the room, guarding her.
"Are you alright, Ariel?" Horunn asked.
"There's trouble in Cyrodiil! We need to stop it!"
"Hang on" Horunn said. Ariel could tell he was tired and not in the mood for her predictions of the future. "What kind of trouble, and why do we need to stop it?"
"There's two people, an Imperial and an Argonian, making their way to an ancient Ayleid library. I'm not 100 sure I'm interpreting the visions correctly, but I saw something about a war in southern Cyrodiil, the Empire going to war with Argonia and Elsweyr to try and claim more land. The Imperial and the Argonian are going to stop it"
"And?"
"An Imperial spy just found them, and they're going to be killed unless we can save them!"
Horunn took Ariel's hand. "We'll get a caravan to Cyrodiil at first light" Horunn said. "You should sleep more. Dream more, and find out more about what you have to do"