Chapter 8 – Lando's Departure
"We cannot hold them!" Lando shouted.
Suddenly, in the centre of the bridge, a towering Xivilai materialised, wielding a mighty Daedric broadsword. The Xivilai began hacking through the Legion, causing enormous destruction and panic. Lando looked behind him, and saw Arch-Mage Traven, his arms raised in front of him. Traven drew a staff and blasted a ball of arcane frost into the front rows of the Legion.
Lando fought hard, Goldbrand light in his hand slicing through the Legion. It was no good. There were too many of them.
"Fall back and lock this door!" Arch-Mage Traven said, placing his hands on the portal that led up to his chambers and extinguishing the glow emanating from it. He raised his hands once more and summoned a second Xivilai in the centre of the tower. Lando plunged Goldbrand into one final Legion soldier then ran backwards through the rear door back into the University. Everyone else followed suit, and Traven placed his hands on the door, sealing it more strongly than any lock could.
"We are besieged!" Lando said. "Is there no other way out of the University?"
"There is a secret passage in the Mystic Archives" Traven said. "It comes out on the southern shores of the lake"
"We must make for the passage, then!"
"And then what?" Alaina asked.
"Then to Chorrol. As long as I am defending it, it will be safe"
"We would be forgiven for not trusting you, after you lost all of your best men in that bungled raid on Fort Nikel!" Alaina retorted.
Lando stood in shock. Alaina must have known that the attack had been made as an attempt to rescue her. How could she have said something so ungrateful? What had happened to the kind, intelligent alchemist merely trying to make a living who he had first encountered in Morrowind? He felt the urge to drive Goldbrand into her chest, but resisted.
"We will make for Chorrol" Traven said, breaking the silence. "It is much safer there than it is here"
"Then let us go immediately" Lando said, making for the Archives.
"Raminus! Pull everyone back to the Archives!" Traven called to Raminus. Raminus relayed the orders to the soldiers trying to defend the two side gates. They began retreating towards the Mystic Archives, whilst Raminus and Traven summoned Daedra to take their place fighting at the gates and holding the Legion back.
---------
Everyone made it to the relative safety of the Archives and Raminus sealed the door shut with a spell.
"Everything in here will be lost as soon as the Legion find their way in" Raminus sighed. "It is a great shame, there are some true treasures in here"
Traven raised his hands above his head, and something remarkable happened. All the ancient books, all the rare artefacts in the building, suddenly disappeared.
"It's an invisibility spell, something I've been working on" Traven explained. "When it is safe to return here I shall reverse the spell. We must make for the passage"
Traven's bodyguard, a Dunmer named Gilreth, walked over to the wall and tapped it eight times, then six. The section of the wall swung open on a hidden hinge, revealing a passageway leading underground, which everybody ran into.
"You need to change the password for that gate, Arch-Mage" Lando said as they made their way down the passage. "Even I worked that out"
"What do you mean?" Traven asked.
"Eight taps followed by six. The number of letters in Hannibal Traven"
When they had been running for a few minutes, Traven turned round and held his staff to the ceiling, letting a bolt of lightning spring forth from it. The power of the lightning caused the roof of the cavern to collapse behind the group.
"Let's see them follow us now" he said to himself, running to catch up with everybody else.
Chorrol, that evening
The group had miraculously managed to avoid both the Imperial city watch and any patrolling groups of Legion soldiers when they arrived in Chorrol, tired and weary. Michtur Todviaron, the steward from the castle, made his way to the south gate immediately.
"Captain, what news? You return with no-one who you set out with" he asked Lando.
Lando recounted the story to Captain Wavrick – the attack on Fort Nikel, the death of Roman, being brought before the Emperor, the merciless slaying of Endrich, Marus and Carius, and the fight at the Arcane University.
"The University was overrun" Lando said. "I was forced to lead everyone to safety. I'm afraid the last part of the old Empire in the Imperial City has been lost"
"We shall find homes for those you have rescued here in Chorrol, Captain" Michtur said. He looked at the group of people walking through the gate into the city.
"Where is Alaina?" he asked. "You said that you rescued her"
"I thought she was with the group" Lando said, noticing Alaina was missing. "She was in the tunnel when we escaped from the University"
"We can send out a search party if you desire"
"There is no need. She planned to return to Morrowind. If she left us on the Red Road she would be halfway to the border by now. Where is Count Wavrick?" Lando asked.
"He has travelled to the West Weald, to Anvil, to attend a council of war with Count Janus Hassildor and Countess Millona Umbranox. He has been gone since this morning"
"We must stay alert, Michtur" Lando said. "I don't believe the nobility of Cyrodiil to be safe from harm anymore. Remember, last night an attempt was made on his life"
"I will tell the town guard to remain alert. If Anvil is attacked we must go to its aid"
------------
Lando opened the large wooden door of the Chapel of Stendarr and walked in. A few people were in the chapel, including Gureryne, who was sitting on one of the pews reading a book. He got up quickly when he saw Lando.
"I have news, Lando" he said gravely. Lando had given Gureryne a sample of his blood the last time he was in Chorrol, so Gureryne could attempt to find the source of Lando's chest pains.
"Lando, I must know what happened to you in Morrowind. Were you at any point affected by magic?"
"I was" Lando said. "When I disappeared, I had been kidnapped by terrorists. They enchanted my body with a spell that would cause an enormous explosion if another spell was cast. But the only person who knows that spell is dead"
"The enchantment was done poorly" Gureryne said. "There is no easy way to tell you this…"
Gureryne stopped.
"In that case, tell me straight" Lando said.
"You are dying, Lando" Gureryne said sadly. "The enchantment is spreading through your body like a cancer. I fear you do not have long left to live"
"How long?"
"I predict you have around a month until you begin to lose strength. After that, you will slowly deteriorate for I don't know how long"
"And there is nothing you can do?"
Gureryne shook his head. "I truly wish there was, son. You take the news very well"
"That is because one month is long enough to organise an attack on the Imperial City to overthrow Emperor Avidius. If I can free Cyrodiil from his grip I will die a happy man"
"The least I can offer you is this" Gureryne said, handing a glass phial to Lando. "Angalmo made it for you. Drink a small amount if the pain returns and it should diminish the pain. It is made from very rare ingredients. I have not asked Angalmo what he had to go through to get some of them. Once this bottle expires there is no more"
"Thank you, Gureryne. You have been a great help"
"Godspeed to you, Captain"
-----------
"Father, I must tell you something" Lando said as he stepped into the Armitage household. Lucius was the only person still awake, sitting at the table working on enchanting a dagger.
"Sit down then, son" Lucius replied, placing the dagger to one side. Lando recounted everything – the enchantment upon his body, and how it was slowly killing him.
"The ghosts of what happened in Vvardenfell have caught up with me" Lando said. "I thought that once Warlock was dead that would be the end of it. But I was wrong"
"Nobody else knows, do they?" Lucius asked.
"Just you, me and Gureryne" Lando said. "I figure that everyone's morale is fragile enough as it is without hearing this news as well"
"What will you do now?" Lucius asked.
"What I set out to do as soon as I returned to Chorrol" Lando replied. "Overthrow Emperor Avidius. After that, who knows"
"Give me your mail-coat, Lando" Lucius said. "There is something I can do for you"
Lando obliged and handed his Mithril mail-coat to Lucius.
"I will see you tomorrow, Father. I am in great need of rest"
-----------
Lando lay awake in his bed, his head spinning. He felt just as he did when he found out that he was at the heart of the terrorists' plot in Vvardenfell – helpless. His friends were all gone, and he was leading the good people of Cyrodiil into a battle that he was starting to think he could never win. For the first time in his life, Lando began to cry. He got up out of bed, took Goldbrand and walked out of the room and downstairs. Lucius was still at the table. He handed Lando the Mithril mail-coat, which was now glowing and sparkling even more than it had before.
"It will protect you against the weapons of the Imperial Legion, son" Lucius said. "It cannot help you against magic, but you are fighting soldiers, not mages"
Lando thanked his father and put the mail-coat on.
"Are you going somewhere?"
"I heard a sound coming from outside the city walls" Lando lied. "I am going to investigate"
Dawn, somewhere south of Chorrol
Lando did not know where he was, or where he was going. Through the trees he could see a distant town which may have been Skingrad or Kvatch.
"I will make for Anvil, and sail to Summerset Isle" he said to himself. "I will live with the elves for the rest of my days"
As he headed further south, the snow became less thick. It still coated the ground as far as the eye could see, but the covering was much thinner, only four or five inches. As he walked, he could see wolves and bears wandering through the forest but they did not bother him, and simply went about their business. All the time he could feel a burning pain in his chest. It waxed and waned in intensity – at times he barely noticed it, other times he had to stop and lie down, drinking sips of the precious potion Gureryne had given him to alleviate the pain.
As the day progressed, Lando realised he was well and truly lost. He should have passed either Skingrad or Kvatch by now but he hadn't. He must have veered to the west and be heading for Hammerfell.
Lando threw Goldbrand to the ground, sat down and buried his head in his hands. What was the use of carrying on? He had already destroyed the morale of his remaining soldiers in Chorrol by deserting them, and the only hope left for Cyrodiil was a battle he could never win. Almost everyone he cared for had disappeared from his life in a short space of time the previous evening.
He heard footsteps approaching, the snow crunching under heavy boots.
"Are you OK there, brother?"