Chapter 11 – The Downfall of the Unjust

"I'm sorry to say it, but it looks like we aren't going to make it back to Skingrad," said Nika.

They were fighting back to back now, they had no other choice. They were great fighters, but just two people couldn't take a smaller army down, it was impossible. Thanatos had always been the kind of fighter who used stealth and long distance attacks, rather than engage in close combat. Not that he cared if he lived or died, he just wanted to make sure that Nika managed to escape.

"It can't be that bad, you obviously have time to make stupid remarks," he answered while gutting one soldier with his dagger and chopping of another soldier's head with his sword.

Nika smiled. "I didn't know that you had a sense of humour."

Thanatos had stopped listening. The smell of blood was overwhelming, and he barely managed to stay in control of himself. Nika, on the other hand, had no trouble what so ever since he had been trained to refrain from drinking blood.

"That huge man at the back rows.. He and his sister, Kalma, was the ones who took over Cyrodiil after Audric had lost his mind," mumbled Thanatos. He tried not to breath, and it helped.

"Panahasi. If we can take him down we might have a chance."

"Yeah, you just go over there and stab him, I'm sure that will work," said Thanatos cynically.

"It's at least worth a try!" Nika fired a spell which blew the closest soldiers into pieces.

While they were busy arguing on what to do, several dark-clad figures showed up on the roofs around them. Without a sound they aimed their bows and spells on the soldiers and waited for the signal. They had been given clear orders not to aim at Panahasi, he was to be dealt with in another way. A short, slender woman shrouded in leather armor and a grey hood raised her hand, with her eyes moving across the field in search of valuables. When she had confirmed that Panahasi's armor and sword was the only things worth keeping, she dropped her arm and watched the rain of arrows and spells that followed. The heavy armor that the soldiers were wearing protected them from most of the arrows, but some reached their target, and the spells were highly effective. The woman raised her hand again and let her thieves fire another round, and another, and another.

"Is that the girl from earlier?" asked Thanatos when he spotted her on a roof.

"Keep your eyes on your enemies!" Nika pushed Thanatos to the right, so that they both just barely managed to escape from a sweeping claymore. "Yes, it's Laverne. She's the grey fox."

"Should have seen that coming, considering the way she looked at that scroll before." Thanatos muttered.

"She has a thing for rare items." Nika frowned. More than once he had noticed things gone missing after one of Laverne's visits. Of course Émile was way to nice to say anything about it, so Nika had to go get it back himself. "Looks like we're going make it anyway."

"This is far from over, there are more coming."

Nika dared a quick glimpse over his shoulder and noticed a cloud of road dust in the distance. "Battle mages? Oh, great."

"You should run now."

"What?"

"I'll distract them so that you, Laverne and her thieves can make a run for it. We'll never make it if they reach us." Almost as to confirm the things Thanatos had just said, Panahasi threw an exploding fire spell up on one of the roofs, efficiently killing everyone standing there.

"Okay, you have a point, but how are you going to distract them?"

"You'll see," mumbled Thanatos with a grim smile. "Just promise you'll run when I do it."

A horrible realisation struck Nika suddenly. "You're not planning to come with me, are you?"

"No."

"But.."

"I've got nothing to live for any more. Try to convince me of something else, and I'll use you as a distraction."

"I'm sure Kay wouldn't have wanted you to die."

"Well, I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted us all to die because you didn't run when I told you to!" And with that he was gone. A light so strong that it made the soldiers scream in pain filled the field. Nika had no choice but to pull down his hood even lower and run. He hoped Laverne would take the chance to do the same, since she was smart she probably would.

He ran without turning back. He ran until the light was gone.

In Skingrad Émile was pacing pack and forth in the dining hall. He hadn't been able to sleep since they came back, much because Nika and Thanatos hadn't returned, but also because he didn't know what his next move should be. He knew his army was ready to march towards the Imperial City, but he didn't want to do it without knowing what kind of forces waited for them there, and he couldn't know that if Laverne didn't return. Einar sat at the table, looking grumpy. He was just as impatient as his soldiers, and waiting when he was confident they would win if they just got the order to march made him annoyed. Across the table sat Althea. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hear, which was usually neat and tidy, looked like a mess. She was just as worried as Émile, if not more so.

Ragnhild stood by the stove, watching as her pies got a lovely golden brown colour. "Food, anyone?" she asked quietly. Not even a stern nord woman like her had managed to continue on unaffected by their loss. She especially grieved the loss of Finn, who she thought had been a sound boy who surely would've grown up into a real nord man, had he been given the chance to do so.

"No," mumbled both Althea and Émile at the same time.

"I want some mead, woman," said Einar and frowned. Nord men weren't exactly polite, but that was what Ragnhild liked about them, so she didn't mind at all. She went down to the cellar to fetch some mead.

"Are you trying to wear a hole in the floor, or do you just want to piss me of?" said Einar angrily.

"Oh, hush you big buffoon," muttered Althea and looked longingly towards the door for the umpteenth time. "Why don't you go back to your brutes instead of pestering us?"

"Be nice, you two," mumbled Émile absently. He was deep in thought, and did not want to be disturbed. Einar got up from the table and walked outside, mumbling words that resembled those that Finn had used when he got hit by the arrow.

"Why do you even bother with that man?" asked Althea. The lack of sleep made her very unpleasant.

"He's the best general I've ever met, and a very good man too. He's just a bit.. Unpolished."

"You could say that." She looked towards the door again. "Weren't they supposed to be here by now?" she asked.

"If Kalma's gate was opened near the Imperial City, yes. Are you worried?"

"Of course I am."

"Thought you hated vampires.."

Althea blushed, ashamed that she had ever been able to say such things. "That's in the past. I just want them to come back here safely."

"You love him, don't you?"

She blushed again, but Émile did not seem to notice. "I would be foolish to believe that I could ever be happy with him."

"That wasn't what I asked."

Before Althea could answer the door flew open with a bang. In came Einar, then Laverne and last a bunch of men and women in leather armor. They all squeezed into the dining hall and greeted Émile and Althea.

"We just got here," said Laverne and smiled.

"Mind taking this upstairs?" asked Émile, who had been pushed in towards the wall.

"Not at all."

"Get your hands of that candelabra!" Ragnhild shouted to one of the men, and slapped him in the back of his head. "Get these damn thieves out of here before they rob us of everything we've got!" Laverne sighed disappointedly and told them to get out.

Althea, Laverne, Einar and Émile went upstairs to Yatniel's room. As usual, Yatniel sat looking out through the window.

"Tell me all that you have found out," said Émile quickly.

"Not so fast." Laverne smiled. "I don't give information away for free, you know that."

Émile frowned. "How much do you want this time?"

"100 gold."

"Hmph, that's unusually low. Why?"

"Because I can tell you all you want to know for free."

Émile just barely managed to suppress a cry of joy when he heard who's voice it was. "Nika, you're alive!"

"Of course. What kind of servant would allow himself to die when his master needs him?"

"Not that it wasn't close. That's why it took so long to get here," said Laverne mockingly.

"It really wasn't that bad, just a scra.." Althea had run forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Nika, and she was crying loudly. Nika smiled, not quite able to hide the surprise in his face, and hugged her back. "I'm fine really."

"I'm glad you're back," said Émile warmly. "Is Thanatos also here somewhere?"

Nika's face darkened. "He sacrificed himself so that we could get away." Althea buried her face in Nika's shoulder, like she was trying to shut their words out.

"Almost took us with him," Laverne snorted. "Not the best of situations to try a new spell."

Émile's smile faded. "I had a feeling he would do something like that if he got the opportunity. It's saddening to hear, but at the same time I'm glad to see you safe." He took a deep breath to gather himself before continuing. "Now tell me about their army, and what kind of defences they have."

The others listened carefully when Nika spoke. Althea had stopped crying, but she still would not let go of him. When he was done, Émile looked content.

"Do I even need to say it?" He smiled towards Einar, who grinned back and left the room. "This is it guys. We're taking over." He followed Einar, but stopped in the doorway. "Althea, take good care of Nika. Okay?" She nodded obediently. Nika on the other hand opened his mouth to complain, but was silenced by Émile. "You're injured, so stay put. This will be over soon." With that he left. Laverne soon followed, after making sure Nika paid her for the treatment, and the horse he had borrowed.

"Greedy, isn't she?" said Althea while she tried to straighten her skirt, suddenly aware of how worn down she looked.

"Most people are. You look tired. It's okay if you take a nap, this is just a scratch." He pointed at his ribcage.

"We'll see about that. Show me your injury."

Nika sighed and took of his black robe and the shirt and leather west he wore under. Althea forced him to sit down on the bed, and then continued to carefully peal of his bandages. When she finally saw the injury, she gasped for breath. "You call this a scratch? It looks as if a giant stepped on you!"

"I got hit by a mace.. Or well, a couple of maces and a war axe."

"Lay down and let me treat you properly. It's obvious that whoever did this had no real experience in war injuries. I'm surprised you're even conscious."

Nika lay still while Althea used a variety of spells on him, and gave him a really disgusting potion. He looked admiringly at her while she worked. "You're pretty good at this."

She looked up for a second and smiled. "I'm decent."

"You're much more than just decent." Now he smiled too. "Thank you. I really mean it."

"No, thank you. And while we're at it, I might as well ask for your forgiveness."

"For what?" He looked surprised.

"For treating you so badly, just because you're a vampire.

"Don't apologize for that, you just showed a normal, healthy reaction."

"No, I did not. You have always treated me really kindly, and I've decided I should do the same for you."

"Okay. You could start with pulling your hands out of my ribcage, it hurts as hell." He groaned in pain.

"Oh, sorry, I kind of lost focus there for a second." Nika managed laugh, painful as it surely was. "Lay still!" Althea reprimanded him, but he kept squirming and laughing like a kid, until she threatened to stop treating him. After that he lay silent and still, trying to ignore the fact that he could feel her scent, the scent of sun-warm lilac, so well from where he lay.

"Do you think they'll be all right?" he wondered, feeling a bit guilty for not helping.

"They got an army of.. Was it 500 now? Against less than fifty soldiers.."

"And battle mages," Nika hurried to add.

"Whatever. They're sure to win in any case."

"And what happens after that?"

Althea smiled. She had never really thought about it. Would she go back to the priory? Staying in Skingrad seemed far more tempting.