Innocence Questioned
Chapter 7
"The humans must know their place Lessa", her father had said. "For if they are given just a moment's leniency they will turn on you like a pack of wild animals".
The girl nodded obediently, then asked "Do they all hate us father?"
"Yes they do Lessa. When they look out of their filthy caves and see our glorious civilization they become jealous and hateful, so they try to destroy all we have worked for. It is in their nature".
"What about Nandi?" Taless'naverine asked. "She's nice; sometimes I even let her play with me".
"You must never do that again daughter" he said sternly. "She is a slave who must know her place. If given the chance she, along with all others like her would kill you without a second thought. Remember this always".
Standing in the middle of the forest with freezing rain soaking her skin Taless'naverine stared down at the two dead humans.
A storm of emotions tore through her. Anger and a terrible sense of betrayal. But none profound than the sense of guilt.
After all these years, had her father been right?
Now wasn't the time for, she thought. Returning to Shalinva, Taless'naverine saw that, although her friend had lost a great deal of blood, the timely use of her healing charms had, for now at least halted the bleeding.
"Who are you?" she asked the towering minotaur standing behind them. It knelt beside her and from within its armour produced a small, black faceted gem, Taless'naverine nodded. "Ilithari sent you?"
The Minotaur nodded silently before standing and pointing off into the woods.
Shalinva stirred, opening her eyes. "Lessa what's going on?" she asked weakly and Taless'naverine carefully sat her up against a tree.
"Where safe for now Linn", she replied softly. "One of Ilithari's Minotaur's got here just in time".
"So I guess that means I missed out on the fun eh?" Shalinva's laugh was quickly cut short as she began coughing harshly.
"Easy Linn, I'm going to get you out of here and get back to the stronghold. They have to know it was the humans".
With the assistance of their silent companion, Taless'naverine made their way through the soaked and tangled undergrowth making their way gradually eastward. The minotaur set a grueling pace, only allowing Taless'naverine short stops and when Shalinva fell into a coma, insisted on carrying her himself. She suspected that her companion was bleeding internally and used every healing charm in her possession to keep her alive.
The rain relented with the coming of the dawn and it was only then, as the woods began to thin slightly that Taless'naverine knew where she was, she realized that the interception magic used on them had taken off course far to the south west, probably near Ninendava, she thought. Before her, through the dwindling tree's, a welcoming sight of the Jeral mountains greeted her.
"Not far now beautiful" she whispered, stroking Shalinva's face. "Nearly home".
As they left the cover of the forest for the open foothills, the Minotaur became more alert, constantly searching the surroundings for signs of danger. Taless'naverine was glad of its company and the protection it offered.
The Ayleid offered to take the lead as the paths higher into the mountains became more familiar. They trekked up a several old animal trails that crossed the Jerals until finally, to her relief, they reached the plateau near the stronghold.
Taless'naverine heard the Minotaur behind her growl a warning and she spun around expecting an attack, instead she saw a familiar landscape below, spreading into the distance with huge untouched regions of forest dominating the land and patchworks of cultivated farmland existing tentatively on the borders.
What caught her eye though were the dozens of columns of black smoke rising into the horizon. Cities were burning.
Her chest grew tight at the horror laid before her; looking up at the Minotaur Taless'naverine tried to gauge it's reaction but the creature merely stood there watching impassively.
Had there been an attack against the empire? She wondered and had the humans who ambushed them have any part to play, or perhaps war had erupted among the houses.
Doubts filled her mind. Had the Silverway, with its efforts to repatriate slaves been indirectly responsible? Feeling tears rolling down her cheeks, Taless'naverine quickly turned her back on the scene and continued towards the stronghold.
The empire is already dead, she remembered Ilithari saying. It just didn't know it yet.
There were bodies everywhere.
As Taless'naverine and her companions approached the stronghold's entrance she saw, to her dismay that a massacre had taken place.
She walked numbly through the outlying ruins seeing two score Silverway lying in pools of blood, amongst them were the bodies of human warriors.
"Bastards!" she spat, kicking one of the humans over onto its back and watching
the body roll limply down the slope.
How had it come to this? She thought bitterly. After all they had done for them.
Hearing movement behind her, Taless'naverine spun around preparing to summon a Deadric guardian, but was relieved to see four familiar faces moving cautiously towards her, swords drawn.
"The Minotaur's with us" she reassured them as they approached. "If it wasn't for him we'd be long dead". They looked at the towering creature carrying Shalinva's comatose body before sheathing their weapons and returning to their posts. One of them, she recognized under the blood and filth as Tev came forward.
"Sorry about that, Lorenk's checking everybody coming through". Taless'naverine nodded.
"Right, let's get you all inside, get Shalinva seen to" he motioned for them to follow. "Lorenk will want to see you as soon as possible, maybe you can make some sense out of this mess", he muttered". "I'm damned if I can".
The halls and passages within echoed with the sounds of the wounded as they made their way towards the infirmary. Taless'naverine was shocked to see human corpses piled up to four deep in certain places, blood ran like rivers along the corridors. It seemed her companions put up a valiant fight indeed.
The infirmary was a scene of organized chaos, the wounded were laid out on any available space, their more able comrades were administering what healing they could, but she saw the dead were outnumbering the living. The stink of blood and the sounds of pain filled the chamber.
Taless'naverine was relieved however when she saw old Kosiv alive. He was hard at work, going from one wounded person to another tending them as best as possible.
"Kosiv, we've got two more" called Tev. The mage glanced in their direction, his exhausted eyes meeting Taless'naverine's. She was shocked at his expression. One of despair.
He motioned the Minotaur to place Shalinva on a nearby table where he tended her wounds.
"Kosiv, how many of us are left?" she asked, noting the dozens of bodies covered draped in bloody sheets.
"Not counting any still alive in the field, the Silverway now numbers less than thirty" he replied grimly. Taless'naverine felt her legs go weak and had to sit down. They once numbered over a hundred. "Thirty", she whispered. "That's all?"
He nodded. "So far yours is the only group to have made it back".
Taless'naverine felt fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Go and find Lorenk, he'll want a report. Shalinva will be fine, I promise".
"I will remain here" said a deep, powerful voice. Everybody present looked up at the Minotaur. "I will help heal".
Kosiv nodded his thanks and quickly put the Minotaur to work.
Taless'naverine made her way to the central chamber in a daze. Passing each new scene of carnage she felt a part of her growing cold. Any sympathy she had for the humans was quickly fading.
The central chamber was a scene of devastation. The great library stood in ruins. Bodies still lay where they fell and priceless tomes lying scattered and burned.
Taless'naverine noticed Lorenk with a group of warriors talking intently, nearby she saw a human woman gagged and bound to a chair.
They looked up as she approached; Lorenk's face was a mask of pure hate.
He shook her hand. "I'm glad you made it back" he said, his voice was strained.
"What happened out there, was it the humans?"
"Yeah it was, they intercepted our teleport magic and damn near wiped us out".
He nodded. "Its possible they've used to ambush the others too".
"It's a rebellion isn't it?" Taless'naverine asked, knowing in her heart the answer but still wanted to hear it from someone else.
"It's an empire wide uprising, very well organized. At least a dozen cities have been overrun already".
"But why us?" She cried, "We've gone out of our way to protect these people and this is what we get in return".
Taless'naverine pushed past them to confront the bound woman, only to stop dead in her tracks.
"Ingrid?" The bloody faced woman glared at her. "No, please say your not part of all this".
"You know her?" Lorenk asked, watching the blond haired woman closely.
"Yes, she was once a servant of my house". Ingrid shouted a string of muffled obscenities. Taless'naverine reached over and tore off the gag.
"Whore!" Ingrid screamed. The Ayleid viciously backhanded her smashing her nose, sending a spray of blood across the floor.
"I was good to you" Taless'naverine hissed, fighting to keep herself calm. "Over all those years it was me who took care of you, kept my father from harming you and this is how you thank me?"
"I was still a slave!" she spat. "And when war came to Miscarcand, you just left us there to die". She spat out a tooth. "No, I owe you nothing but the tip of a sword, Ayleid whore, Alessia will see to that".
"And just who is this Alessia?" Lorenk interrupted. Ingrid broke into hysterical laughter.
"She is the queen of all slaves" Ingrid laughed. "The saviour of all humanity. Your new master. The one you've been helping all along with your pathetic and misguided acts of charity".
Taless'naverine grew cold at the revelation.
"Lorenk, we need to talk". Taless'naverine said softly as she left for his study.
He nodded to the guards. "You two, I want that woman taken to the cells and broken, Understood? I want every scrap of information torn out of her head!"
Taless'naverine looked up as Lorenk entered the study.
"What happened out there Lessa" he asked taking a chair opposite her. "What do you know about this Alessia?"
Taking a bottle of wine on the table she filled two glasses, "I don't know much more than you, she was at the camp after we'd completed our last mission posing as a rescued slave". She recalled the night's events and the strange conversation she had Alessia. "It's possible she was there to gauge our strength", she went on. "But I had the strangest feeling she was there to observe me".
"It may have been your Sigil" Lorenk offered. "There may be something about it she finds threatening".
"There's something else Lorenk, much that didn't make sense until now". She swallowed down the wine in one gulp, gathering her courage. "Ilithari told me something terrible"…
Taless'naverine told him everything. The preordained death of the empire, its rebirth, her strange power and supposed involvement in the whole affair had left Lorenk speechless and terrified. They talked on for hours trying to comprehend what was taking place when they were interrupted by two guards escorting a third, haggard looking boy.
"Sorry to intrude" said one of the guards. "He insisted on seeing you, says he has an important message". Lorenk waved him forward.
The Ayleid couldn't have more than ten years of age. As he approached tears began flowing freely down his face and his lips were trembling as he tried to speak.
"It's alright, your amongst friends here", Taless'naverine assured the boy, offering him a chair. He shook his head and remained standing, attempting to gather himself.
"My lord and lady I bring terrible news", he began formally. "The great lord Umeril, lord and king of Garlas Malatar has fallen in battle to the humans". He began sobbing openly. "They took the high temple".
A chill ran down her spine. Incra'te, her brother was a priest of the high temple.
"Bastards!" cried Lorenk. "How in Dagon's name did that happen, the high temples the most fortified place in the whole empire!"
Taless'naverine held the boys hand reassuringly. "Tell us everything you know".
He nodded. "All I know is the humans captured the temple and killed everyone, king Umeril answered their pleas for help and with some of the other kings went to help. They all got killed too".
"How's that possible, the humans can't number that many?" Lorenk raged. "And Umeril's an army in himself!"
"I'm sorry sir, I don't know no more" the boy sobbed.
Lorenk squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "You've done a damn fine job getting word to us boy, I'm proud of you. You may well have saved the empire". The lad
stood to attention, wiping the tears from his face. "Thank you, sir".
Lorenk patted his shoulder. "Go with these guards, they'll get you food and somewhere to rest".
The two of them watched the boy go.
"What do you think?"
"I think it's a trap". Lorenk answered.
"More like an invitation", Taless'naverine mused. "They could have just struck here again, but they didn't, we should go. I think this may be our only chance to get to the heart of this".
"They'll pick us off one at a time if we don't", He grinned.
Taless'naverine couldn't help but smile. "Agreed, what have you got in mind?"
"That's simple, we knock on the front door and politely ask the bastards to fall on our swords, or failing that, go out in the proverbial blaze of glory." he said smiling. "I'll work on the details as we go".
"Here I was hoping for some time off". She chuckled, sipping her wine.
"Get word to everyone that in three days we liberate the high temple. Every damned human will there will pay the price defiling its grounds. The Silverway is taking war to the humans and we will slaughter every single bloody one of em!"