Chapter 8 – Sunder

Sinclair Manor

One of the manor guards stepped into the house, a man following him.

"Galmina, Romanus Ratarius is here to see you" the guard said. Galmina nodded and the guard left.

"Galmina, I'm here because I'm now the highest-ranking person on this island who isn't currently rambling around Red Mountain" Romanus said.

"They're still not back then?" Galmina sighed.

"I have heard they only left Moonstar yesterday morning. They will be a few more days at least"

"Romanus, when is this going to end? We can't go on like this – I know Varo has his reasons for going in search of Kagrenac's Tools, but with the rise of this Almsivi cult and the attempts on his life… he's putting me and Fariel in danger"

"Varo is still looking out for you, Galmina" Romanus said, producing a note from his pocket. "He gave me this, long ago. He said that if you are ever in danger here in the manor and he is not here to look after you, I am to take you somewhere safe"

"Is there a danger now?"

"Yes. Soldiers bearing the mark of House Dres have been seen on the island. You probably don't know this, because we only found out a few days ago, but House Dres are behind this cult – House Dres' soldiers are their army. You and Fariel must come with me to Caldera. We have a Legion attachment there to guard us, but I will assign you a personal guard too. He's waiting outside"

Galmina held Fariel's hand as the two left the manor, and were greeted with the sight of Erdora waiting at the manor gates. He was wearing a suit of Imperial chainmail armour and was holding a war axe – it had been a long time since Galmina had seen the elderly Altmer dressed for battle.

Erdora smiled warmly as the pair approached them. "Romanus insisted that I should be the one to look after you"

"You've done it well enough in the past, Erdora" Galmina said, before turning to the two manor guards.

"You two should come with us. It will be safer in Caldera"

"Should we not stay here and guard the manor?" one of the guards asked.

"No, there's nothing important here" Galmina replied. "Only Varo's books, and by the sounds of it House Dres already know everything that the books could tell them. I will magically seal all the doors before we leave though"

"You four should set off" Erdora said, indicating Romanus, Fariel and the guards. "We will catch you up"

"You know where you're going, I trust" Romanus said. "Straight up the Odai valley then due north until you reach Caldera. We will easily be there by nightfall"

--

As Galmina circled the manor ensuring every door was securely locked, Erdora watched, almost scrutinising her.

"Varo will return to Caldera after his quest" Erdora said suddenly. "It is the nearest Imperial settlement to Red Mountain, and I know that he likes being close to home"

Galmina said nothing.

"My girl, whatever is going on between the two of you, you should patch it up when you see Varo next. It is very unlike you not to go with him on one of his adventures"

"He just seems to be acting without thinking at the moment" Galmina said eventually. "I don't think he knows what he's doing anymore. He still hasn't told me why he's going after Kagrenac's Tools, because I don't think he knows that himself. I just don't trust him anymore. But I still love him, and he has always made sure me and Fariel are safe"

--

Kogoruhn undercroft, Red Mountain

Varo and Marconi raced through the narrow tunnel, Hermidius and Jurard a short distance behind them. A House Dres soldier rounded the corner but Marconi reacted instantly, firing his longbow and striking the soldier in the forehead, killing him.

"Watch where you step, Varo" Marconi said as they continued. "I expect these caves will be flooded with lava, and this is where the battle for Sunder will be fought"

Soon, they reached a crossroads in the tunnel. The passage to the left led into a lava-flooded chamber, whilst ahead and to the right, passageways plunged into inky darkness. Marconi cast a light around the pair.

"We need to split up" Varo said as Hermidius and Jurard caught up. "You two, take the right. We will go ahead"

"Footsteps!" Hermidius whispered loudly. Varo brandished his sword and listened. A series of bootfalls was approaching from the right-hand passage. Then, a second series, coming from ahead.

"We're surrounded" Varo said ominously. Marconi dropped his bow and raised his hands, small licks of lightning arcing between his fingers, as Hermidius drew his sword.

The first two soldiers arrived, moving in single-file. A bolt of lightning shot from Marconi's hands, hitting the first soldier in the chest. The soldier's bonemold armour stopped the charge, but the momentum of the spell sent him flying backwards, knocking his comrade to the ground. Without hesitating, Varo leapt into the passageway and plunged his sword through the soldier's armour into his chest. As the second soldier got to his feet and swung his sword at Varo, Varo pulled his sword from the dead soldier and threw his shield up just in time to block the attack, then used his sword to slice clean through the soldier's exposed neck.

"Their armour is weak at the neck!" Varo shouted to the other three. He turned around to see Hermidius bravely fighting off two soldiers. More were approaching through the passageway Varo was in.

Varo raced back towards the crossroads, leaping to one side as Marconi hurled another bolt of lightning at the approaching soldiers.

"Retreat!" Varo shouted. "Get outside!"

Marconi bolted for the mouth of the cave as Hermidius kicked one of the soldiers he was fighting hard in the chest, knocking them to the ground. Reacting instantly, Hermidius turned and followed Marconi. Varo reached the crossroads and lunged at a soldier just before he attacked Jurard with a mace, thrusting his sword into the soldier's side. Two more soldiers arrived from the right-hand passage, forcing their way past Varo to block the tunnel that led to the cave mouth. They were surrounded.

"Follow me!" Jurard shouted suddenly, grabbing Varo by the arm and dragging him into the passageway that led to the lava chamber. "Whatever you do, keep running and don't let go!"

The pair raced towards the lava pool, four soldiers pursuing them. They built up speed as they reached the lava pool, the soldiers mere feet behind them.

Jurard reached the lava pool and leapt. As he did so, Varo felt magic surging into his body through Jurard's hand, and before he knew it, the pair were levitating above the lava. Carried by their momentum, three of the soldiers, unable to stop, fell clumsily out of the tunnel and plunged into the lava, and were incinerated in an instant.

"I hope none of them were carrying Sunder" Varo said to himself. Jurard nervously turned around, then saw something on the remaining soldier's belt. A large object wrapped in black cloth.

"He has it!" Jurard shouted. Varo let go of Jurard and levitated back towards the tunnel, as the soldier turned and ran back towards the crossroads.

"Ralix! Marconi! Bring him down!" Varo shouted at the top of his voice. Mercifully, the slow levitation spell wore off as Varo reached the tunnel and he set off, pursuing the soldier as fast as he could. Varo was weighed down by heavy Imperial steel armour but, strong and athletic, he quickly caught up with the soldier and crash-tackled him to the ground, before grabbing the soldier's head and twisting it sharply, severing his spinal cord. The soldier's head fell limply to the ground, as Varo ripped the cloth sack from his belt and opened it.

"It's not as big as I thought it would be" Varo called to Jurard, pulling a small hammer from the bag. It was about the size of a mace, made from the same golden metal as most Dwemer engineering but it seemed to radiate divine power. There was no doubt it was Sunder.

"We'd better find the other two" Varo said as Jurard reached him.

"You're right" Jurard replied. "Besides, I don't really want to know whether there's any more soldiers in here…"

Varo looked around. "It's lucky we got here when we did. If they made it out into the Ashlands we might never have found them"

Jurard looked at Varo. He was gripping Sunder in his left hand, which had Wraithguard placed on it, and Keening remained in its small scabbard on his belt.

"Just think" Jurard said, smiling. "You are the first person since Nerevarine to have all three of Kagrenac's Tools"

"I suppose you're right" Varo replied. "I hope that doesn't mean I turn into the Nerevarine"

"You are our Nerevarine, Varo" Jurard said earnestly. "You have united the people of Vvardenfell and driven out our enemies. Now, you are about to do so again"

Varo laughed. "I suppose you're right"

The pair began walking back towards the mouth of the cave.

"You're a good friend, Jurard" Varo said as they walked. "I don't think I've ever told you that. I know sometimes it seems like your eccentricity grates me… but I'm really glad you're here"

"Thank you" Jurard said warmly. "But where did that come from?"

"I know people are losing faith in me. I just want my friends to know that I'm still looking out for them"

Soon, Varo and Jurard stepped out of the cave back into the dusty valley. Red Mountain loomed ominously against the grey sky in front of them. But Hermidius and Marconi were nowhere to be seen.

"Here!" Jurard called, pointing at a series of tracks on the ground. Varo walked over to examine them. There were some faint bootprints – Varo guessed them to be the marks of the soldiers on their way to the cave. But there were several sets of fresh bootprints, along with two pairs of wide grooves.

"Two people have been dragged along here" Varo said. "They were prisoners. But did Hermidius and Marconi capture two soldiers, or was it the other way round?"

Jurard shook his head. "Marconi wasn't wearing boots. They've been captured"

Varo swore to himself. "Why are they heading north? Where does it go?"

"We are close to the coast" Jurard said. "There is no civilisation up there but there is a shipping lane. Perhaps they are getting picked up by ship"

"If that is the case, where are they taking them?"

"Back to the mainland, perhaps?"

"No. I know where they're going" Varo said sombrely. "Vivec. Think about it – we know Vivec is their first goal. They want the Palace and the city's associations with the Almsivi. And if House Dres soldiers are on the island, Vivec is about to fall. How would one get to Vivec from the south coast?"

"I'm not sure" Jurard said. "Taking the easterly route would send the ship through dangerous waters, past the submerged rock outcrops that litter the east coast. But then the west route takes them straight past Hlormaren"

"As far as anyone on the mainland knows, Hlormaren is a Legion garrison that happens to have a harbour. It's not as if we have a navy to pursue their ship with…"

"I detect a hint of sarcasm there"

"Jurard, this is what's going to happen. We are going to run all the way back to Moonstar. I know you will be exhausted by the time we get there, but we don't have much time. Then, I send the Twin Moons around the island's shores in a clockwise direction to intercept the House Dres ship. Meanwhile, Sea Monster goes north – those rock outcrops will barely scratch the hull of our ship. We can also achieve a much higher speed than anything sail-powered. We will catch them"

"Would it not be easier to just go after them on foot? They cannot be more than a mile from here by now"

"We don't know how many of them there are. There could have been a whole score of soldiers hiding just outside the cave waiting to ambush anyone who got separated from the group. But I know that in a Dwemer steamship we will have naval superiority"

--

Moonstar, docks

Exhausted from their journey, Varo and Jurard staggered through Moonstar city gates. Their route had taken them west across the Grazelands then south through Molag Amur, and they had run most of the way.

"You can rest for a while, Jurard" Varo said between breaths. "I need to organise these ships"

"Varo, can I come with you on whichever ship you decide to commandeer?" Jurard asked. Varo smiled.

"Of course you can"

As Varo reached the docks he saw the crew of his ship – Sea Monster, Rigs-Sails and S'Barama, leaving the harbourside tavern. The enormous Dwemer steamship was moored at the end of one of the jetties.

"Commander!" Sea Monster cried as he saw Varo. "It's been a while!"

"Sea Monster, has Commander Cunius given you any orders?" Varo asked.

"Yes, we are to moor as close to Pelagiad as we can get" Sea Monster replied. "Something about an invasion of Vivec? We were about to set off, we were just filling up our own furnaces in the tavern…"

"Well, ignore that. We need to head north. There's a ship, somewhere between here and Dagon Fel, which has Commander Hermidius and Marconi on board as prisoners"

"We'll catch them" Rigs-Sails said confidently. "The waters are still today, so that propeller can push harder on the water. We should manage at least fifty knots once we get up to speed"

"Be ready to leave soon. I need to go and find some men. I plan to board this ship, Sea Monster, not ram into it and destroy it"

"Good luck" Sea Monster said. "Father Indarys left for Pelagiad this morning with as many soldiers as the city could spare. Selvio Drath is under strict orders not to let any other guards leave their posts"

Varo paused. He knew that Rigs-Sails was an able fighter, and he noticed a cutlass sheathed on S'Barama's belt.

"S'Barama, what's your swordsmanship like?" Varo asked.

"I am a Guardian of the Fighters' Guild and all that got me there was my skill with a blade" the Khajiit replied.

"Three people to board a ship…" Varo said to himself.

As they spoke, another ship raised anchor to leave Moonstar's harbour. It was the Twin Moons, a ship belonging to the late leader of the Sun and Moon Cult, Father Velas. It was captained by one Matari Arranama and Marconi had once served as a crewman on the ship. It was a large galleon, not built for speed or pursuit, but it was the only other ship Varo had at his disposal.

Sea Monster called to Matari. "May the best ship win!"

--

As Sea Monster's crew prepared to leave, Varo found Jurard, in a tavern with his friend Laurent Getenne.

"Laurent has an interesting idea" Jurard said as Varo sat down with them. Laurent handed Varo an angular shard of black stone.

"Ebony" Varo said.

"Do you notice anything unusual about it?" Laurent asked him.

"Well, the raw ebony ingots that I have seen are rarely this shape, ebony never has a natural sharp edge"

"But glass does" Jurard added.

Varo stared at the rock in disbelief. "This was glass once?"

Laurent nodded. "I left it in Ashirbadon, the cave with the highest concentration of crystals we have found in one place. I left it nestled amongst a cluster of crystals, purely to see if they have any natural enchanting powers, and when I went back a week later it had turned to ebony"

"If this is what the crystals do, turn glass to ebony…" Varo began. "No, this cannot be why House Dres want them. Ebony is abundant on this island, possibly more so than glass. But then if they got hold of the glass mine at Molag Mar…"

"No, Commander, what this tells us is what is beneath Caldera" Laurent interrupted.

"You know about Caldera?"

"Father Indarys told me. He decided I needed to know"

"Go on"

"Caldera sits above a huge ebony deposit. First I presumed that this was because of the volcano"

"What volcano?"

Laurent drew a deep breath. "Somebody has been holding information from you, I fear, Commander. Caldera gets its name from the term sometimes given to the crater of a volcano. The ring of rock that surrounds the old site of the mine is the remnant of an ancient volcano. But then we heard about this ancient door beneath the mines. I went there myself, and employed mysticism to discover that there is a huge well of magicka behind the door. This, coupled with the abundance of ebony veins, points towards there being either an enormous amount of the crystals behind the door, probably coupled with lava fields, or some other source of power…"

"But why? What is it for?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, Commander"