Chapter VI:
Return to Rihad
The Imperial City, Cyrodiil
In the heart of Cyrodiil, in the Imperial City, Jagar Tharn, guised as Emperor Uriel Septim VII, sat on the throne of the Emperor, wracked with boredom. He listened to boring politicians speak of things he did not care about, and was not amused when his senior advisor, Ocato, informed him of the many meetings he had to attend to today. Suddenly, he felt an uneasy sensation. Like something was wrong. "Ocato, you must excuse me. I must go to my quarters." "Of course, my Lord."
Septim rose from his throne and hurried to his chambers. Once there, Tharn took off his magical disguise and looked at the jewel that held his life force. It was glowing a bright green color. Using his magic to tap into his life force, he was able to make himself appear in the chambers below Fang Lair, where he watched as Johlin Cineus took the lower piece of the Staff of Chaos. "What do we have here?" he thought to himself, infuriated. Using his summoning skills, Jagar brought his Daedric followers into the room. "What do you require?" the one who posed as Captain Tirius asked.
"Kill all the commanders of the Guard and the Army! Replace them with your own. I want the Empire's military under my control!" he yelled. "Ride for Hammerfell as soon as your finished and burn the city of Rihad to the ground!" The Dremora bowed before him before teleporting off to do their new master's bidding. Meanwhile, Tharn put his illusional disguise as the Emperor back on. He had his own problems to deal with.
That night, as the commanders of the Imperial Guard slept in their quarters, Dremora assassins slipped into their chambers and slit their throats as they slept. They did the same in the barracks of the Army commanders. All throughout Tamriel, Imperial officers were systematically killed and replaced with Daedric copies. In the Hammerfell Imperial garrison, Colonel Maarius gathered his officers in his quarters. "Colonel, you summoned us?" "Yes...you've all been good to me, but I'm afraid each of you have been relieved of your command." "I-don't understand, Sir" said one of the officers. "Oh, you will" he replied coldly before morphing into his Daedric form. "What is this?" one of them shouted in horror. Five assassins poofed into the room and began stabbing the officers to death. Maarius grinned as he watched his assassins do their work.
Meanwhile, back in the watchtowers of the Imperial City, Lieutenant Ticatus Uulerick yawned as he watched the outer gate. "Sir, are you sure you don't want to go to bed?" asked one of the other officers. "I'm fine" he replied. The officer grunted in anger before pulling out a dagger. Ticatus continued to watch his post, thinking about everything that had happened in the past month. But as he was lost in his reverie, the Dremora assassin slowly approached him from behind. Ticatus felt as though there was something wrong. This feeling gnawed at the back of his head like a warning. Ticatus suddenly heeded this warning and spun around. He saw the Daedric assassin and swung his sword across the would-be killer's neck, decapitating him.
"What is going on?" he thought to himself after seeing the headless body of a Dremora. He rushed down the tower to the main gates, when more assassins arrived to kill him. Raising his sword, he killed two of the assassins and almost had the third before another came up behind him and stabbed him in the back plate of his armor. "Agh!" he cried out. Knowing it was a losing fight, Ticatus hurried to the gate and ran away from the Daedra. He stumbled through the woods, moving past trees and branches in his way as he tried evading the assassins. "Stop. He won't be a problem anymore" said Tirius as he watched Ticatus run in amusement. Ticatus didn't stop running the entire night.
22nd of Evening Star
In the deserts of Hammerfell, all was quiet. The stars shined brightly in the night sky which hung over the dune seas of the Alik'r Desert. A lone horse walked through the sand, ridden by the former knight, Johlin Cineus. As he rode, he pulled out the sack that hung from his belt and examined the piece from the Staff of Chaos. It was heavy, yet light at the same time, and was very shiny. But as he rode closer to Rihad, his nose picked up the sense of burning fires. "What is that smell?" he asked himself. His question was answered when he rode over the the peak of the last hill overlooking Rihad. The city was engulfed in flames which illuminated the night sky, turning it orange from the fire.
Down in the city he could hear the screams of its citizens as fires burned around them. "Hya!" he spurred his horse and galloped down to the city gates. All around, people were screaming and running in terror from the Imperial soldiers that were sacking the city. "Burn it to the ground!" yelled Colonel Maarius as he watched his soldiers torch another house. Johlin raced through the streets and jumped off his horse to help some terrified citizens from Imperial soldiers. He fended off their attackers and looked over at them. "Go!" he shouted.
After killing the soldiers, he ran down another street looking for more survivors. "Johlin! Over here!" shouted the familiar voice of Fa'rad. He found him taking down several attackers at once with his scimitar. "My friend, the Imperials are going to burn Rihad to the ground! The queen is in danger! We must fight our way to the palace!" Johlin nodded. "Take this!" Fa'rad tossed him another scimitar. Johlin ran over to some Imperial soldiers and cut them down to size with his new sword.
Johlin and Fa'rad cut their way to Rihad's palace and through the knocked down doors. Inside, they found the once beautiful throne room burning to the ground. The sounds of music that once filled its halls were now replaced by screams of terror as the building burned around them. The stench of burning wood mixed with flesh filled the air. Johlin rushed to the throne, where he found the body of Queen Blubamka huddled over. She was moaning in pain. "Johlin...they took...the Scroll..." "Hang on, m'lady. We'll get you out of here." "No time. Save the citizens. Avenge Rihad..." her eyes rolled up as her body went limp. Fa'rad shook his head at the sight of the dead queen and sheathed his sword. Johlin closed the queen's eyes and stood up.
He was infuriated at himself for allowing this to happen to Rihad and its citizens. "We need to go, Johlin." He looked back at Fa'rad and nodded. The two warriors hurried back outside to help save the surviving citizens. As Johlin and Fa'rad led them from the city, he looked back at the smoldering remains of Rihad. He noticed a bastion of Imperial soldiers burning what was left. Fa'rad put his hand on Johlin's shoulder. "We will fulfill the queen's last wish. We will avenge Rihad, brother."