Newest update of Darker Side, hope you all enjoy!
Altair finds himself without Ezio in the hellish land of Oblivion.
The Land of Oblivion, Kvatch Pt. 2
When Ezio had awaken, he did not feel refreshed, as a night's sleep was supposed to bring. The darkened sky brought only restlessness and anger to all beneath, blackening their mood as it blackened the sky. His very breath seemed to have had death upon it, and his dreams of Skingrad had quickly become something more sinister.
He dreamed, again, of only death. If Altair had felt any of the same effects, he didn't show them, as usual. He hoped the man had gotten more rest than he; otherwise this upcoming battle was going to be a difficult one. He went over memories of Altair slaughtering countless enemies in order to gain a foothold against the Oblivion gate.
"Let's go." Altair said, stepping out of the tent. Ezio followed after, grabbing all of his equipment. A sword and bow were the most prominent of the weapons he had on his person, his combat knife not really seeming like much of an option to use against foes like the demons they had seen yesterday.
They soon stood at the base of the mountain. Ezio looked at the dead path before them, noting how desolate it looked. It didn't look this way when his family had visited Kvatch a few years back; it was enough to bring a tear to the eye when a comparison was made. Alongside the pure horror of what was happening, Ezio could understand a great sense of sadness: the entire city was being transformed, just like this.
"It's time to take Kvatch back." he said, looking to Altair, who nodded.
"This will be much more easily said than done, Auditore." He folded his arms, turning around to face the refugee camp. "In fact, it may just be impossible."
"What you did yesterday was impossible, Altair. You must have slaughtered a thousand enemies." Altair shook his head.
"This is different. We're diving straight into the gate, and we're going to find a way to seal it." Ezio's eyes widened. "Reports from scouts indicate there is no way around the gate. We need to go through."
"We're going into Oblivion, and trying to destroy it? It's different there, the enemies never die!"
"Hence my saying this could be an impossible task. Adding to difficulty, we are searching for a Master Assassin who may or may not even be there. Master Niccolo Machiavelli."
"So…we're going on a suicide mission?" Altair nodded, and Ezio gulped. "I…"
"Hesitation makes you weak. Steel yourself, Auditore." Soldiers began to arrive, and they started their trek up the mountain. "I know not where this ends, but even if death is the result, die knowing you did your best."
"I can't…!"
"You must." Ezio's heart beat fast, threatening to shatter his entire chest from within. The Oblivion gate came into view, as well as the soldier encampment before the gate itself. As demons came out, they were quickly put down by well placed arrows from various directions. They came upon the field commander, who looked away from his soldiers for a moment.
"Father, Brother, you've made it." his voice sounded of exhaustion and relief. "We've been holding them back all night, waiting for you."
"I apologize." Altair waved a hand. "You may well be doing this for the rest of your life, however." The commander's face turned white at the suggestion.
"Yes sir." He said. He was a disciplined soldier, anyone could tell. "What are your plans?"
"My disciple and I are going to charge straight in with no back-up."
"That's suicide." the commander looked adamant, and Ezio found himself secretly wanting Altair to see some reason behind the captain's words, and back down. He knew that would never happen, of course.
"That's the only way." came the reply, and Altair looked toward the gate. "I know not what will be on the other side of the gate, Auditore."
"Probably more of those demons." Ezio sighed. "If we're going to die, let's get this over with." The Assassins drew their swords, and Ezio gazed upon the gate. It looked no less menacing than it had the day before; in fact, it looked even more so than ever before. The air around it was filled with malevolence, and seemed to drip with blood.
Altair and Ezio approached the gate. Even Altair was apprehensive about this event, it seemed. The flames seemed to stare them both down, as if Oblivion itself was screaming for them to not even bother trying to enter. A demon stepped out from behind the flames, and Altair threw a knife toward its throat, following up with a finishing blow quickly.
"We can stand here all day," Altair said, "or we can go in."
"Then I say let's go!" Ezio's confidence was very fake. His voice was shaky enough to cause any seasoned warrior to laugh. But it was confidence, Altair noted. It was better than trying to run way. Both Assassins charged through the flame, Ezio halfway expecting to be incinerated by the event. His eyes slammed shut as they went through, and he refused to open them for a few moments. Judging by the following silence, Altair was just as frozen in the shock of running through a gate to hell. Willingly.
Then Ezio opened his eyes. All around him, he could see fire and brimstone. The atmosphere was decorated with fear and anger, while the tone of the realm was set with torture and violence. There were no demons in the immediate vicinity, but Ezio did feel a little off. He breathed in pure malevolence, it felt like, coughing and spitting immediately after. Altair tapped his shoulder.
"Are you o…kay…" he muttered, before falling to his knees. He used his sword as support, pushing himself back into a standing position. "Gah! This…dimension…realm…it's…"
"Oblivion…is…Eden…" Ezio muttered, wanting to scream and run out the gate. He shot an eye back at the gate. It was still there, and it was so tempting. Then he realized Altair was glowing blue. His Eye had activated without him realizing it. It was the fact that they were cursed that they couldn't be here.
That was perfectly fine with Ezio, on many other occasions. If they didn't have to be here, he didn't mind being banned from a dimension of fire and brimstone, filled with fear and hatred. Altair had been cursed as well, which was why he was suffering the effects of the dimension as well.
"We need…backup…" Ezio gasped. "Someone…not cursed!"
"Too…late…" Altair wheezed, "We…can't…go back…"
"I understand…suicide mission…but…I…can't…believe…we're dead…this soon in!" It was then that demons appeared. Perfect, Altair was in no position to stand, let alone fight that monster off. It stood over Ezio, raising its sword.
"O Cursed One," it said, with a voice that could have been mistaken for a sinister choir, so dark and melodious that it gave Ezio cause to tremble. "Thou hast traveled to where thou hast not been allowed." His heart beat fast as the creature prepared to lower its blade upon him.
Desperation is a wonderful thing, in man and mer. Something that causes the release of adrenaline, a chemical which increases reaction speed, strength; a last-ditch attempt to preserve a creature's life. Maybe, Ezio pondered, it would be enough to power past a curse. He pushed his foot down, bringing him up to the demon. He launched the hidden blade as the creature brought its sword down, his perception of time speeding to the point that it seemed as though the creature hadn't budged an inch.
He pushed the hidden blade into the creature's throat, drawing a black, bloody substance from the monster. It dropped the blade, clutching its throat in an attempt to stop the flow of the substance. In a subconscious blur, Ezio grabbed the demonic blade, lopping the creature in half in a single, effortless swipe. His perception of time returned to normal, and he noticed how fast his heart was beating. He broke out into a coughing fit as he fell to his knees, his face soon greeting the ground. His body had all but stopped moving entirely. He used everything in that one attack; on that one enemy.
His consciousness faded as he felt a rough hand grab him by the neck. He didn't know, or particularly care, at that point. The adrenaline had left a sense of numbness in Ezio, and so long as he retained that sense of numbness, he could die painlessly and peacefully.
He awoke in a cage. His mind was hardly registering anything he looked at; it was as though he had been drugged. Perhaps these creatures had, or perhaps he was groggy. Maybe none of this happened at all, and he heaved a sigh as he leaned against the cage. Where was Altair, the question was begged. Perhaps he had been captured, too…
Little known to Ezio, Altair had recently awoken near the gate. His body was now more used to the realm of Oblivion. Maybe needing to adapt to Oblivion was common, but it had more of an effect on the Assassins because of the curse? Ezio must have been waking around now, too, he decided, and stood to his feet.
The first thing he noticed was that Ezio was gone. The second thing he noticed was that his Eye had activated. It was no secret between the two that their Eyes worked a bit differently: while they both seemed to have the power to distinguish friend and foe with them, Ezio seemed to have a limited amount of foresight, while Altair was able to see directly to his target.
In this instance, three things showed to him. A small, orb-like object, and two bodies. One deep within the castle, and one that looked as though it were on the outskirts of it. Altair then noted the existence of the castle, something he had understandably not seen before. The one along the path might have been Ezio. The boy was trying to prove himself, it was something that Altair understood.
As the youngest Master Assassin in Tamriel, a lot of pressure was on him. Especially after the chameleon incident, which had implicated him in almost every crime known to the order. In truth, he feared facing the Grandmaster again, although he knew he would need to soon. If he survived this ordeal, that was.
He wandered the realm, heading towards what he was assuming was Ezio. It hadn't moved for awhile, however it was in a sedentary position, not laying down. It wasn't unconscious. He looked over the rock, but was surprised at what he had actually found on the other side.
"Machiavelli?" the man looked over at the Master Assassin. "I thought you'd been captured."
"You took your time getting here, Altair." came the cold reply of the man. He was adorned similarly to Altair, his facial features hidden behind a mask, unlike Altair. "You're a fool for not wearing protection. It's no wonder you hadn't arrived sooner. Another Assassin was taken into that citadel earlier."
Altair sighed. He was the third Master Assassin of Cyrodiil, but Machiavelli was the second. However, whereas it took Machiavelli almost thirty years to finish his training to be a Master, it took Altair only fifteen. He did what Machiavelli had, in half the time. While trained to not let a grudge interrupt the mission, showing hostility was not unknown among the Master Assassins of Tamriel.
"That was my partner, we were sent here to extract you." Altair wasn't about to let Machiavelli feel more accomplished than he needed to. "We also won a war on the way in. The Kvatch refugee camp is safe now, and there is a military installation on the outside of the gate to protect the rest of Cyrodiil."
"It's a start, but not enough." Machiavelli's tone changed, from a competitive one to a grim one. "We're facing the entire army of Mehrunes Dagon. He's intending on breaking the barrier between Oblivion and Tamriel somehow. That's all I was able to torture out of a 'dremora', as they are called." Leave it to Machiavelli to force a demon to confess facts through torture.
"The Templars are probably a part of this plot." Altair added, pointing to his still-active eye. "They have cursed the Assassin you saw, as well as myself, with this Eye. There are several Templars who they claim are blessed with similar powers. They have something to do with this realm." Machiavelli frowned.
"You may be our only connection to what's going on…but sadly, you may also be an instrument of Mehrunes' will."
"That is the trade-off." affirmed Altair. "What is our plan for going inside this citadel? We are looking for that Assassin. We find him, then we follow…" he pointed at his eye, "…until we can find a way to seal the gates of Oblivion."
"You say that like it is a simple thing."
"It very well could be, you've been scouting for how long, now?" Machiavelli sighed.
"There are a dozen dremora on the other side of that gate. I suggest you take a sniper's position there, and I will take point."
"Got it."
"Remember, Altair: we both may have the title of Master, but I have seniority."
"Yes."
"Good."
Altair clambered his way, somewhat gracefully, to the spot Machiavelli had pointed out. It was a small perch, but it was supplied with a bow and quiver full of arrows. Machiavelli must have been planning to take the citadel on alone by picking them off slowly. Altair strung the arrows over his back, drawing one and aiming at Machiavelli.
He followed Machiavelli into the citadel, and aimed at the dremora which already reacted to his presence. He released the arrow, and it flew toward its target, striking it between the eyes, killing it instantly. Well, as much as one can kill a demon of hell, in hell. Not taking too much time thinking of it, he drew another arrow and aimed at another dremora.
They would notice Altair soon enough, but for now, he had his advantage of being out of the field of battle. He drew another arrow, aiming at a dremora that was attempting to follow Altair's suit. His arrow flew true, arcing towards the sniper's throat, killing it. It went limp and fell from its perch as the Assassin searched for his next target.
Between Machiavelli and Altair, the entirety of the gate guards had fallen. Machiavelli gave a sign of safety, and Altair lowered from his perch. He had half of his arrows left, but he grabbed arrows off of the corpses, careful to retrieve the projectile without damaging it too badly.
"I forget what good support you can be sometimes, Altair." Machiavelli said, looking towards the rest of the castle.
"This power of mine shows me exactly where the young Assassin, as well as the object we need to seal Oblivion, are." Altair explained, though Machiavelli was skeptical.
"We'll work parallel." He announced. "There are two entrances anyway. You take the path that could lead to the Assassin, since you seem to have a knowledge of him." Altair nodded.
"If you see any way of aiding my venture, do so, and I shall for you, Brother." They shook hands, before parting ways. Altair took a deep breath; would Ezio be alright?
Altair wandered into the entrance hall of the ominous castle. His heart was beating hard, though he showed no outward sign of this being the truth. He was trained to not show emotion to possible enemies; to show no weakness to exploit. That was the way of the Assassin, the way he had been trained in since birth.
His footsteps echoed off of the walls. There were no demons around, which brought questions to Altair's mind. Where were the monsters he'd fought yesterday? The armies of Hell were supposed to be limitless, but if the Master broke the entire force in one battle alone, perhaps this world was not as powerful as was expected.
But for all the legends and myths about the realm, it was too easy to break the entire army. Maybe the world was not a complete example of Oblivion? Either way, the silence was deafening, and eerie. The question kept repeating in Altair's mind: where was everyone? There had to be reserve forces, soldiers, anything to defend the castle in case the forces of Nirn made their way through.
Did they really waste all of their forces in that onslaught, and if so, were they expecting that to work? Or, a worse thought occurred to the Master Assassin, as he reached a window that overlooked the hellish landscape of Oblivion. Perhaps the bulk of their real forces were in Kvatch, a full-strength siege, and they would soon return.
He picked up his pace and continued toward what he was imagining was Ezio. If his hunch was correct, then they hadn't much time before they would be overwhelmed by enemies returning from Kvatch. The lack of enemies was worse, in most minds, than the idea of having a lot of demons everywhere. At least in combat, Altair had no hidden fear of dying; it was quite an open fear. Irrational fears are much worse to deal with than the rational ones.
Finally he was directly below Ezio's position. He couldn't hear anything. If there was no one here at all, why were there guardians at the gate? There had to be someone, something of importance, here. There had to be monsters that captured Ezio in the first place, and there had to be something formidable enough to keep Machiavelli in the realm for this long.
He then spied the orb-like object once more. He wouldn't even know it existed if not for his Eye, which was one of the most ironic things about this whole ordeal. His enemies armed him with knowledge and power to bring them down, it seemed.
Altair drew his sword as he approached the room with Ezio in it, up the staircases that filled the ominous looking castle. Then Ezio finally came into sight, struggling with the cage with three little demons poking at him. "Get away you little pieces of shit! Get!" he yelled, as Altair entered the room.
He dispatched the enemies quickly and easily enough, swiping his sword with enough strength to cleave through them pretty easily. These had to be the lesser demons of the realm. Perhaps dremora operated a bit differently than these creatures. "Here you are." Altair observed, leaping up to the cage. "Where is your gear?"
Ezio was wearing only his robes. The reason he didn't simply use the hidden blade to open the lock was because he didn't have his hidden blade. Or any blade, for that matter. The lock was shattered open with the force of Altair's attack, releasing Ezio easily. The young Assassin landed swiftly on the floor.
"They took my weapons through that door." he said. "After that, I do not know where they took them."
"We'll find your weapons, then." Altair said. "I found Machiavelli. This bridge makes it look like we can rendezvous with him in that tower." The same tower that the orb-like object must have been in. As they crossed the bridge, the Master took note of the lack of trauma in the young Auditore boy. Had he really managed that well under this kind of pressure?
Finally, they entered the tower, and enemies were finally in view. Altair drew his blade and countered a dremora's initial attack, sliding his blade nimbly along his foes until their hilts met, then yanking the weapon out of the demon's hand, leaving it open for a decapitating rebound strike.
The other two enemies charged, and Altair quickly analyzed the situation. Behind him was a huge drop, good for dispatching enemies with little effort. He sidestepped the charge of one, tripping it. Ezio barely dodged in time, but the dremora soon met the brimstone that composed the realm's ground. The last enemy was prepared for a stabbing attack, which Altair easily dodged and countered.
He elbowed down on the dremora's head once it was in range, sending its off-balance body to the ground, where the Master delivered the finishing blow, a boot coming down hard on the head.
Black blood covering his boot, he motioned for Ezio to follow him into the room. They entered a huge chamber, where the orb could be seen by all. "Altair, you're here." called the voice of Machiavelli. Altair turned to face the Master Assassin, who had recently entered the room as well. "I found the young Assassin on my way up. Your power must not be as strong as you believed it to be."
"Wait, you what?" Altair asked, before quickly spinning and seeing an attack from behind him. Ezio's right hook sent the man a few feet, though he landed into a roll and stood fast quickly. "You…"
"You really are a fool, Altair Son of None. To believe your Cursed Eye of Eden could see the truth in the land that created the power…and condemned it." The voice coming out of Ezio's body was not Ezio's. No, it was a far more terrifying sound, one that would make all but the fiercest of warriors cry in fear.
"Who are you?"
"Your bravado serves you in no way, Son of None." the voice reverberated off of Altair's very soul. "I am the Prince of Destruction."
"You," Machiavelli interjected, walking further into the room. The real Ezio, fully-armed, followed in. "Are Mehrunes Dagon?" the false Ezio burst into uproarious laughter.
"How many other Princes of Destruction are there, mortal?"
"That was more of a question of validity, than confusion." Machiavelli clarified, drawing his sword. "Nevertheless, you stand in our way."
"And in your way I shall continue to stand, mortal." A demonic sword materialized in the Avatar of Dagon's hand. "Until you have become generals of my army."
Altair drew his sword as well. "Machiavelli, Auditore, distract him while I head to the orb!" his command was obeyed, as he began his mad dash up the stairs. The Avatar of Dagon followed close behind, but was hindered when the real Ezio stabbed him through the heart. Or where the heart would have been, anyway.
"You really are a fool, Auditore of Skingrad." its voice followed even Altair as he continued his journey. "I am but an avatar. A voice, an echo, of the true Dagon. Your power cannot stand before me." with a movement, he shoved Ezio off of him. In the corner of Altair's eye, he saw Ezio fly a good distance, slamming hard against a wall.
Finally, Altair was just before the orb. He hadn't a clue what to do here, but he had the thought of simply removing the orb. He reached out for it, but the Avatar of Dagon had appeared before it. "You shall not do as you please in my realm."
"This isn't your whole realm. It's just a portion of it!" he said. "Your armies are said to be limitless, however I bested them all in one battle. This cannot be true, this cannot be all of Oblivion."
"You are right, Son of None. This is not the whole of Oblivion. I would never open up my realm for you mortals to wander about." Machiavelli had climbed up behind the orb. He saw what Altair was trying to do, and reached out for the orb. He screamed as it launched him away from it at his very touch.
"You fool." Dagon laughed through his avatar. "You cannot touch the orb, mortal." he grabbed Machiavelli by the neck, holding him up with inhuman strength. Altair took his chance, grabbing the orb. It tried to reject him, however it must have been his curse that allowed him to touch it. He referred to Machiavelli as only a mortal, however he referred to Altair in the English translation of his name, Ibn La'Ahad, "Son of None," and Ezio in the English of Auditore da Skingrad, "Auditore of Skingrad."
His hunch must have been right. The chamber began to disintegrate, and Dagon's avatar began to scream. "Son of None!" Altair began to look around for somewhere to escape. Something, anything, to bring him to safety. He would worry about Auditore and Machiavelli later. A light obscured his vision, however, and he felt pain surge through his body. Then, nothing.
Ezio awoke, looking around to see a clear blue sky. The ground beneath him was dead and blackened still, however the sky had returned to normal. There was a cheer that filled the atmosphere as the soldiers shouted. What happened? Disgruntled, Ezio looked at the gate to Kvatch, taking a moment to register that the Oblivion gate was gone.
Altair had taken on the realm of hell nearly on his own. On the inside was not nearly as difficult to survive as was initially believed by the boy, but unless Altair was there, Machiavelli may not have begun his attack early enough to save Ezio from his captors. The man was a bloody hero, whether he knew it or not. Perhaps he would be unconscious for a while, but that was fine.
The field commander ran up to Ezio. "You and your mentor did it. You broke the gate to Hell, somehow!" Ezio smiled.
"So now we retake the city?"
"Not yet. I want to have some eyes and ears in there before we begin the final attack." he explained, and Ezio nodded. He and the Master would need some rest after that encounter.
Claudia would never believe this. He'd met a Daedric Prince…and it referred to him by name. The omen of the event had yet to be fully realized by the child, who was just now getting drunk on victory. He would return to Skingrad, a hero beyond his years.
He drew a breath. Kvatch was almost retaken. Although he didn't get to use his bow and arrows in Oblivion, he'd be sure to use them in the upcoming battle. He looked at Altair, and towards some scouts readying to head into Kvatch. He decided to be proactive about this battle.