Chapter 7 Beyond the Gate
He just stared. It can't be true, it's impossible. It was just like he remembered it, nothing had changed over the years. Nothing.
"What? I can't possibly look that horrible." Thanatos sounded annoyed, but Nika didn't even notice that he had said something. Slowly he backed away from Thanatos.
"It can't be true." He suddenly felt as if his legs had lost all their strength.
"Um.. Nika? Are you feeling all right?" Émile looked worried. Nika wasn't the type to get startled easily.
"Have you seen me somewhere before?" A devilish smile spread across Thanatos face. "I've been to this house before, but I don't remember seeing you here at that time."
"Monster.." Nika mumbled before unsheathing his dagger. He pointed it at Thanatos. "You were the one who killed him. How dare you come here again?" Nika lashed out at Thanatos.
There was a loud bang and suddenly Nika lay flat on the floor. The dagger was stuck in the wall on the opposite side of the room. He didn't even have time to get up before Kai was over him, pinning him to the ground with surprising strength, not that he needed to, the paralysing spell that Émile had conjured was more than enough to hold him down.
"Mind explaining this to me?" Émile looked at Thanatos with a confused expression.
"I'd better not. We don't want to be thrown out in the sun."
"You have your enchanted hood on, so a little sunlight won't kill you." Èmile's voice had taken on a threatening tone.
Thanatos smiled. "I think we'll just go. Your little dog can tell you everything you need to know."
With a swift movement of his hand, Émile had rendered both Kai and Thanatos to the floor too. "You're going to tell me, now," said Émile calmly.
Thanatos snickered. "Fine, I'll tell you.. But I'm going to do so standing." Without even blinking he broke Émile's spell and stood up. He cleared his throat before beginning. "Oh, where shall I start? As you already know I used to lead the dark brotherhood. A couple of years back, when I was only a simple slayer, I was sent to this house."
Nika could see the change in Émile's face. He had realized what Thanatos had done. "You killed my father," he said coldly.
Thanatos nodded. If he regretted what he had done, he didn't show it.
"Go down to the cellar, the sun won't reach you there," he said with a sigh. Nika couldn't believe his ears. "I will probably need you later. But heed my warning, if you hurt anyone in this household I will kill you, special powers or not, you won't stand a chance against me."
A cheeky smile swept over Thanatos face, but he quickly resumed a serious expression. "If you say so," he said before pulling Kai up from the floor and exiting the room.
As soon as the door had closed behind them Nika got up, freed from the paralysing spell, and turned to look Émile in the eye. "How the hell can you let him stay here?"
"You have no right to lecture me. We need him if we are to win this war."
Nika could see the sadness and hate stirring underneath his calm exterior, and felt a sudden bolt of empathy for the young man. Despite being constantly neglected by his father when he was younger, he had been the one who had taken Avinoam's death the hardest. Yatniel, always favoured by his father, had already gone mad by then, and didn't show any sign of grieving.
Nika nodded. "I'm sorry. I know you always put your people first."
To his great relief, Émile smiled. "Stop calling them my people. It sounds weird."
Down in the basement Kai was getting worse by the second. He was now sitting down against the wall and shaking uncontrollably, and Thanatos could do nothing but watch. Turning into a vampire wasn't easy, he knew that, but he had always hoped that Kai would never have to go through the experience. Luckily, it looked like the transofmation was almost complete.
He gently placed his hand on Kai's back. "How's it going?"
Kai was unable to answer, but Thanatos could see the slight curl of his lips. "Don't worry," was probably what he wanted to say.
"It will stop soon, I can feel it on your scent."
"Oh goodie, more mooches!" Ragnhild had gone down in the basement to fetch some potatoes. "But at least these two don't need any food," she mumbled before going upstairs again.
Émile was sitting at the dinner table, talking to Finn and Althea. Since Althea refused to be in the same room as Nika, he chose to wait in the hallway. For several minutes all they talked about was yesterdays battle, or execution, depending on who was speaking.
Émile nodded sadly. "It's ad I've been told then. They just gathered up the poor people and sent them out on the battlefield, as a decoy. If no soldiers came, we would have gotten suspicious."
Althea looked appalled. "Then we can't do anything the next time they attack."
Émile shook his head. "We can't just let them concur everything they want just because we don't want to dirty or hands. You have a good heart, I know, but a true saviour knows that ones head must always rule supreme.. And besides, I don't think that they will do that again, considering the fact that they didn't manage to kill even one of our soldiers."
She didn't like the answer, but nodded anyway since she knew that he was right. Finn looked up from his plate and swallowed loudly. "What is it that they are trying to by time for?"
Without hesitation Émile explained. He knew he could trust them both, even though the man on the other side of the door did not. The expressions on the other two faces went from astonished to horrified to grave as they listened silently.
"So they're going to open a gate into Oblivion? Is that even possible when there is no deadric prince controlling the place?" said Finn matter-of-factly when Émile was done.
Émile just stared at Finn. The docker was indeed much wiser than he looked. "You have a point. Since the arch-mage has already opened minor gates it must be possible, but a world without leader can't stay stable forever."
"Then someone should take over," muttered Ragnhild from the open fireplace.
Émile nodded gravely and looked like he was contemplating the idea. "Then that must be what she is aiming to do.." Suddenly he pushed back his chair and hurried out of the room. "Nika, I missed a very important detail. I must speak to Einar again. Hope Laverne hasn't left yet.." Without another word he hurried outside. Nika followed as soon as he had put on a black robe with an enchanted hood.
"You two are supposed to some with me!" Émile shouted through the door before leaving. Althea and Finn looked at each other, surprise and worry was reflected between them before they scrambled to their feet and hurried after Émile and Nika, not quite sure what was going on.
They had to run to keep up with Émile and Nika, who rushed towards The West Weald Inn. "Do you know who Einar is?" Althea asked breathlessly when they entered the door.
"That's him there," Finn nodded towards the huge nord sitting alone at a table, drinking mead directly from a pitcher. The big man looked up with a surprised expression when he saw Émile and Nika coming over. Nika glared warningly at Althea and Finn when they came to join them, so they went to sit down by the bar instead.
Einar and Émile talked for over thirty minutes, with Nika inserting a word or two at times. At the end of the conversation the number of glances they threw at Finn and Althea increased noticeably, and after a while Nika called them over.
"Laverne has already left for Imperial City. We'll have to make due on our own," said Émile and smiled towards them.
"Excuse me, but what is it that we are going to do?" Althea asked politely.
"Open a great Oblivion gate and go through it." Finn and Althea just gaped, and Einar didn't look too pleased either. "Once inside we'll have to reach some kind of throne room, and I'll become the new deadric prince."
"That is still negotiable though," Nika interjected with a stern voice.
Émile shrugged, clearly not comfortable with the subject.
"So.. We two are going to go with you three and get ourselves killed? I don't know if you've noticed, but we," said Finn and pointed at himself and Althea, "aren't exactly skilled warriors, and I doubt that you are that good."
It was Nika who first spoke, and he did so with an expression that clearly stated that he loathed the docker. "Actually, two more are going with us. One of them is the grand champion of the arena, and the other one the highest ranking member of the dark brotherhood. Althea is granddaughter of the late sir Richard Wolfsbane, and a well-trained healer. Einar, as you know, is leader for the fighters guild. As for me and Émile, well, that goes without saying, doesn't it? If you are too frightened to come along then fine, but don't expect any of us to ever look you in the eyes again, because cowards like you aren't worth that kind of recognition."
Finn blinked. He hadn't been expecting to be scolded. "Phf! Fine I'll come along. But I don't know what for," he muttered. The imperial inside him had to fight back the nord, who urged to punch Nika in the face.
"Good," said Émile hastily before Nika had time to make any smart remarks. "We'll meet outside the camp in one hour. Oh, and Einar, you'll have to stay and manage the situation here." He literally had to pull Nika out of the inn.
One and a half hour later the last members of the group had finally arrived at their meeting point. At first Thanatos had refused to come until Kai was well again, which could take days, but in only an hour he had improved substantially and had himself insisted on going. Thanatos had stalled them another thirty minutes before Kai finally told him of and went ahead on his own.
"Finally," Nika muttered when he saw the two approaching. Finn couldn't help but notice that they wore the same type of cloak and hood as Nika.
"Better late than never." Émile's smile seemed somehow false, or worried.
"We're here. Give me the scroll and lets get going," Thanatos mumbled. "Oh, and if someone cares, I'll die after using this so unfortunately I can't come with you." With that he rolled out the scroll and started chanting. Kai quickly snapped the scroll out of his hand, nearly tearing the parchment in the process.
"What the hell are you doing? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"The kid," he was referring to Émile, "was in such a hurry I didn't have the time." Kai sighed. He knew Thanatos had a thing for drama, but this was over the top.
"Then we have to think of something new," said Finn. Really? He couldn't have told them earlier? Sound more like he forgot.
"We could do it together, right?" asked Émile after a moment of thinking. "Me, you, Nika, and Althea."
Finn frowned. "Quite eager to get yourself killed?"
"If we don't make it before Kalma, we're going to get killed for certain." Émile took the scroll and held it at arms length, so that the others could see it. Ready?"
(Long time no see. I finally got the inspiration to finish this chapter. The next is going to come in like two weeks. Have already planned it, so don't worry. Btw, it wasn't poor Thanatos who forgot, it was me.)