Chapter 9 – We Are Bandini
Camri sighed as he stood up from the unconscious Horunn's side.
"It's an old rusty arrow. All the crap that's built up on the arrowhead is poisoning his blood. But if I take it out his lung will collapse"
Sudana looked at Horunn. "I can cure the blood poisoning. But he's bleeding internally, and there is nothing I can do about that"
"I don't know what to do…" Camri said. "I should take out the arrow and end his suffering. But I can't do it. I can't kill him. Damnit, we're going to try and save him!"
"How? You just basically said it was impossible"
"Go to your alchemy store. Mix up some lichen and tree sap so we can plug the hole in his lung. And get the antivenom so we can cure the blood poisoning"
"You realise it is very likely that this won't work?"
Camri turned to face Sudana. "If Horunn is going to die, it is going to be in my hands, not in the grip of a slow, agonising death!"
A few minutes later, Sudana returned with a pestle filled with a thick, sticky mixture and a phial containing a pale yellow potion.
Camri opened Horunn's mouth and Sudana poured the antivenom in. Horunn's swallowing reflex took hold and he swallowed the liquid.
"Alright, I'm going to pull out the arrow. We need to plug the wound in his lung, then the hole in his chest"
Camri took a deep breath as he placed both his hands around the arrow's shaft, then pulled it quickly out of Horunn's chest. Blood began to spurt from the hole in his lung as the air inside it blew out of the hole. Sudana scooped out a handful of the mixture and coated the hole in Horunn's lung with it.
"His chest cavity has deflated!" Camri cried. "Seal that other hole up, quickly!"
"It's too big! I don't have enough left!"
Camri put his lips around Horunn's mouth and blew into it. He saw Horunn's lungs inflate. Then nothing happened.
"Camri…" Sudana said solemnly, two fingers on Horunn's wrist.
"Camri!"
They both heard Ariel's voice from the main cavern.
"I'll tell her" Camri said, placing a hand on Horunn's forehead. "Talos guide you, Horunn"
Ariel saw Camri step out into the main cavern from Sudana's quarters. She could see a tear welling up in one of his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Ariel…"
Ariel fell to her knees and burst into tears. Camri sat down next to her and put his arm around her.
"All my life he's looked after me" Ariel cried. "And now he's gone! What am I going to do?"
"I'll look after you, Ariel" Camri said. "Fate brought us together, and I am going to make sure no more harm comes to you. We are going to find the Marsh Spirit and defeat the Empire. Horunn did not die for nothing"
Ariel wiped her eyes and stood up. "I need to be alone, Camri. Go and ask Lunia about the cave by the Imperial prison"
Camri stood up and embraced Ariel, then placed his hands on her face and kissed her gently on the lips. "Remember, I'm here for you"
Ariel smiled weakly at Camri but said nothing, then walked past him further into the cave.
Camri walked into the main cavern. Areen approached him.
"Are you OK?" Camri asked him. Areen nodded.
"Horunn was a good man. It's a shame his life had to end like this. You did your best, Camri. Without you we wouldn't even have got this far"
Camri put his hand on Areen's shoulder. "Thank you, friend. Ariel said you've found something out"
"Yes, she did" Lunia called from across the cave. She walked over to Camri and Areen.
"I'm so sorry about your friend" she said comfortingly. "I understand if you all need time alone"
"No, we need you" Camri said. "What was Ariel about to tell me?"
"I'm not entirely sure" Lunia replied. "But when she got up I'd been telling her about a cave on City Isle, near that tunnel that leads into the Imperial Jail, and how the Mages' Guild had found a lost shrine to Meridia in there.
"Lost Meridia…" Camri said. "Where you become free of the Empire's grasp… What's the name of the cave?"
"I believe it's called Sideways Cave" Lunia said. "At least, that's what it's on all the maps as. The old Ayleid settlement buried in there is called Abagarlas. It means 'Forbidden Cavern'"
"Camri, that must be it!" Areen exclaimed. "That's where all the clues are leading to! It's the end of the trail!"
"Sideways Cave… Where a lost god sleeps on her side… you're right!"
"We should get there before that damn Dunmer does" Areen said.
"No, we will go when Ariel is ready" Camri said. "She has come this far with us, I am not going to leave her behind. I swore to protect her"
--------------
Falas Assurrani was about to walk through the gates of the Imperial City onto City Isle, on his way to Veyond Cave, when he heard his name being called.
"Mr Assurrani!"
Assurrani turned and saw a guard running towards him. His cuirass bore the Third Battalion emblem – he was one of Seminus' men.
"General Seminus said to give this to you"
Assurrani took a piece of paper from the guard's hand.
"Thank you" he said, opening the paper.
Falas,
Before my research was stolen I was onto a lead. Just after you left I cracked it. Sideways Cave, just east of the Imperial Prison, could contain something very important. There are a lot of references to Meridia and plagues in every book I can find about the cave, so make sure you're well prepared.
This could be what we have been looking for.
Godspeed to you,
Anvius
-----------------
Across the city, Eldred turned to the prisoner tied up in Villars' house.
"Villars should have had time to reach Assurrani by now" Eldred said. "You're free to go"
Eldred removed the gag from around the prisoner's mouth and undid the binds tied around his ankles and wrists. Him and Villars had intercepted the Third Battalion soldier as he had left the Tiber Septim hotel. They had found a note on him intended for Assurrani.
"If you wanted Assurrani to get the note" the guard said, "Why did you bother taking me prisoner? You won't achieve anything other than knowing his plans"
"Tell Seminus that Assurrani received the note" Eldred replied. "And let him know we're on to him. It will be interesting to see what he does next"
At that moment, Villars emerged through the front door. He removed the Third Battalion uniform and cast it to the ground near the guard's feet.
"Sideways Cave, then" Villars said. "Let's hope we can catch Assurrani before he finds anything"
---------------
Camri sat in the main cavern of Veyond Cave, sharpening his sword.
"This is it" he said to Areen. "As soon as we're ready, we can go and find the Marsh Spirit. Your people are about to get back what is rightfully theirs"
"It will be a good day for Argonia" Areen replied. "But I must tell you this. As soon as we find the Marsh Spirit, I must return to Argonia as quickly as I can and fight alongside my people"
"You're not going anywhere without me" Camri said. "I have come this far with you. We will fight the Empire together"
Camri held his sword up and inspected it.
"Well, this is it. Areen, you know that once we do this we will be banished from the Empire for eternity. Our lives will completely change"
"I know" Areen said. "But that's the price I am willing to pay for my nation"
"You are a brave man fighting for a noble cause, Areen" Camri said. "I'm glad I became involved in this"
"What about Ariel?"
"I'll go and talk to her"
As Camri left the room, Sudana walked up to Areen.
"I hear you may have found the Marsh Spirit" she said to him.
"It makes sense. All the clues do seem to lead to this cave"
"I must return to Black Marsh now, Areen" Sudana said. "Come and find me in the council houses in Gideon. Thank you very much for all your help"
"Godspeed to you, Sudana" Areen said. "We have done great things for Argonia these past few days"
--------------
As Camri walked into Ariel's chamber, she was lying on her bedroll. She had been asleep, but Camri's footsteps had awoken her.
"Hello, Camri" she said, getting to her feet.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" Camri said.
"I had another dream" Ariel said. "The Third Battalion are preparing to attack. We don't have much time"
"If you're ready, we're going to leave" Camri said. "How are you feeling?"
"There will be a time for mourning Horunn but that time is now now" Ariel replied. "Assurrani is not far behind us. We should leave now, and Lunia needs to come with us"
"You're taking this very well" Camri said, putting an arm around Ariel. "Are you sure you don't need more time?"
"I have known for a long time that I will live to see Horunn's death. He always said he would give his life for me, and now he has. I will miss him, but he brought me here, to you"
Ariel kissed Camri on the lips then placed both her arms around him.
-------------
The shores of Lake Rumare, near Sideways Cave
Areen led the group consisting of himself, Camri, Ariel and Lunia across the shingle to where the tunnel leading into the Imperial Jail was located, the exact same place him and Camri had emerged from when he had first broken him out of jail.
"This looks like it" Areen said, pointing to a narrow cave entrance between two large rocks. Then, he noticed a series of footprints going into the cave.
"We're not alone" Camri said, also seeing the footprints. "These were made by heavy boots. So it's not a casual explorer and it's not Assurrani…"
"Then who is it?"
Camri turned to face Areen. "I should have probably told you this a long time ago, but I have suspicions about who Assurrani is working for"
"He's working for the Empire" Areen said. "He opposes our every move"
"Yes, but then why did you and Horunn have to break him out of an Imperial prison? I don't think he's working for the Empire"
"Then who is he working for?"
"Think about it. There are three parties in the war. The Empire, the Argonians and those who don't want the war to happen at all. Maybe he's the latter. Whatever the case is, if these bootprints belong to the Imperial Legion things are about to get dangerous"
Suddenly, Areen leapt back as he heard a bow's drawstring being pulled inside the cave.
"Don't worry. My men won't fire until I tell them to" A voice came from behind some rocks nearby.
The four looked around. Five Imperial Legion soldiers, all carrying bows which they were aiming at the group, leapt out of cover. They were surrounded.
A man dressed in Guard Captain's uniform emerged from behind cover.
"You're looking for the Marsh Spirit" he said. "But I'm afraid I can't let you go any further"
"What, so you can take the Marsh Spirit for yourself?" Camri retorted.
"Let me introduce myself" the man said. "I am Commander Tertius Villars of the Imperial Legion. We are not here to take the Marsh Spirit. We are here to prevent anyone else from taking it"
"Pull the other one" Areen said. "The Empire means to take it to wage war against my people in the South"
"No, General Seminus means to take it to wage war on your people" Villars said. "The Empire does not condone what he is doing. We mean to destroy the Marsh Spirit, and catch his agent red-handed so we can prove to the Emperor what Seminus is plotting"
"Commander, will you give me a minute?" Camri said, turning to the rest of the group.
"We've come this far" Ariel whispered. "We can't stop now"
"Ariel's right" Areen said. "An army is preparing to invade Argonia as we speak, regardless of who is in charge of them"
Camri nodded and turned to face Villars.
"We are going to enter this cave and find the Marsh Spirit, and use it to defeat General Seminus and reclaim the eastern shores of the Niben for Argonia. And we're not going down without a fight"
Villars stepped up to Camri. "I have four archers, all aiming at your heads. As soon as I give the order to fire, you will all be dead"
Camri turned to Ariel. "Can you handle the arrows?"
"Yes" Ariel replied. With that, everything happened at once.
Camri leapt forward, shoulder-barging Villars to the ground. The five archers who were all aiming at the group fired at once, but Ariel raised her hands and the five arrows all stopped in mid-air. With a flick of Ariel's wrists, the arrows turned round and flew back towards the archers, striking them all in their foreheads and killing them. Camri drew his sword then held it across Villars' throat.
"Do your worst" Villars spat.
"Alright" Camri said calmly. He thrust the sword down, severing Villars' head from his body.
"There's one in the cave still" Areen said to him. Camri took his bow, drew an arrow and aimed into the mouth of the cave.
"Surrender and your life will be spared!" Camri called into the cave. Slowly, a figure emerged from the cave. It was a Dunmer man, wearing leather armour and seemingly unarmed.
"You got me" the Dunmer said. "I surrender"
"What do you know about Assurrani?" Camri asked him. "Is he on his way?"
"We saw him going towards Cheydinhal, presumably to gather supplies. Must want the stuff being imported from Morrowind. But then he's going to make his way to this cave"
"Thank you. You're free to go"
"I'm going to stay here" the Dunmer said. "I want to talk to Assurrani. He knows that General Seminus isn't working for the Empire. It will be interesting to see exactly what he wants to do"
"Stay out of sight or he'll kill you" Areen said. "And don't try to follow us in, or we'll do the same"
With that, the group left the Dunmer and walked into the cave.