Chapter 10: An emperor, a child, and a temple
Before I tell you about the second time I had ever awakened in a chapel, I must first tell you what happened right before I opened my eyes.
I'm not quite sure at what moment it was when I dozed off in Martin's arms, but I do remember what horrors my sleep brought me.
A hellish landscape stretched out before me, rivaling the terrorizing tales of Vvardenfell's Red Mountain. The sky was still red, mimicking the rivers of lava that carved out the ground below. Would I ever see another peaceful blue day again? Bits of crumbled structures dotted the lifeless earth, parts of dismantled bodies hung from long dead trees (I'll never forget the heads that stared at me), and those horrifying monsters roamed around the evil world that matched their personal appearance. Those wicked daedra marched towards me in vast numbers with their inhumanly grey eyes and dreadful armor that looked like the scales of a demented lizard, only covered in black and scarlet stone.
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for someone, anyone, to come and save me. But no sound erupted from my lungs. The ground beneath my feet rumbled as the daedra drew closer towards my helpless being. I curled up on the dusty ground and closed my eyes in terror, waiting to be trampled on.
The rhythm of the march stopped in an instant. I looked up to find the hellish landscape gone and replaced with a garden. It was garden so pure and idyllic that I thought I must have died and risen in Aetherius. I stood up to inspect my heaven, inhaling the fresh air. Soft green grass tickled my feet as I listened to the babbling water of a small brook in the near distance. A canopy of flowered vegetation concealed the sun up above.
"If only Tamriel were this simple and delightful right now," a familiar voice said. I swirled around to face this new companion.
"Uriel!" I gasped at the sight of the man I had seen die. He still looked old and crinkled, but not as frail compared to his final hours. Uriel's solemn face was still as stone; I translated it into the seriousness of the situation. "I failed you," I wanted to cry as I said it, looking at him in the eyes. "Your heir is locked in a basement with daedra above us, looking to hunt him down."
"It is not your duty to fight off these hordes." Uriel's wise smile lit up his face.
"Then what is my duty?" I wanted to make sense of this mess. Just like Uriel's son, I wanted rhyme and reason.
"The battle you are to fight is one of mentality and the strength of the heart."
"What do you mean?" I cried. As soon as I asked, his figure was fading away from me. "No! Come back!" I screamed with my arm stretched out to him just before his image blinked out of existence. The scenery of the garden was crumbling into ash around me as I let out a whispery "Uriel… no!"
The dream… or vision… Whatever it was had left me. In other words, I woke up. Martin was no longer by my side, and the empty beds in the room were now occupied by the survivors that were no longer affected by injuries. I stepped off the bed to head to the door so I could find Martin when I heard a delicate stir near me. My head turned towards the source of the sound (the other side of my oversized bed) to find the tiny Redguard girl Martin had the heart to rescue, curled up in a deep sleep. The faint light that came from the open door illuminated her face. My heart mourned for the girl, who had likely just lost her family and everything she had come to know and love. Her face scrunched up in pain as she slept; I assumed she was having nightmares about the world above us.
I simply couldn't bear looking at the scene anymore, so I walked out of the priests' quarters into the large illuminated room I had been in earlier, still littered with bedrolls for the injured. It wasn't hard to find Martin, who was leaning against one of the pillars, watching over the few who were still injured. His slouched figure reeked of exhaustion. I approached him in silence to rest my hand on his shoulder. I didn't know what to say to him as he turned his head towards me; greeting me with a half-hearted smile.
"It kills me to not be able to open those doors," Martin began, pointing to the double doors that led up into the chapel's main floor. They were now sealed shut with a long iron pole from a candle holder set across the two doors to keep them shut away from the outside world.
"They're bound to open eventually," I replied. "What will walk through is the question." My body shuddered in unison with Martin's as we both thought of the same horrific possibilities. At that very moment there was a loud rumble coming from outside the doors; keep in mind that that the world above had stopped rumbling about hours earlier.
Martin and I exchanged worried glances as the jumbled noise continued outside. This could make or break us all; and if our fears were brought to life from behind those doors, at least we'd die trying to save the others from the awful daedra.
"Brace yourself," Martin said in brave, yet trembling, voice as he stepped away from the pillar to face the doors, ready to fight off the intruders. Brace myself with what? I didn't have a weapon to defend myself, nor did I think I could pull off shooting fire from my fingertips like I did in the prison.
The doors were now shaking from something on the other side trying to knock them down. Ear shattering thuds brought the doors closer to falling off their hinges and tested the pole's strength to its fullest.
Splinters of wood flew in all directions like tiny little daggers as another, much louder, thud hit the center where the iron pole lay in place. The chipped blade of an axe broke through the center of one of the doors, followed by another. The axe head fell once more, straight through the center of the door and through the iron pole. I wanted to turn and run to hide from the doors being torn down by who-knows-what. Martin could hear me whimper in fear, so he pulled my cowering self behind him to protect me. My trembling hands grasped his robes as I peered around him to get a good look at the dismantled doors.
To my relief, no daedra swarmed through the feeble doors to kill us off! Instead, a familiar face pushed what was left of the doors down onto the floor and stepped forward to ease our worries.
"Baurus!" I shouted, running past Martin to greet him. A glowing smile grew on his dark face as I ran towards him with great joy.
"You're okay!" Baurus cheered. He turned towards where the doors once stood and shouted, "Jauffre! Everyone, they're fine!" So, as strange as it seemed, Martin was right about his "royal army" coming here to save us! Jauffre ran into the room, still in his old monk's robes, armed with a long katana; identical to Baurus'. He seemed so out of place next to the other blades, seeing that he wasn't in the same stunning armor.
"The heir!" Jauffre gasped towards me. "Did you find him? Is he safe?" I held out my arm towards Martin, motioning for him to step forward towards us. Martin slowly walked to my side, his face stuck in a humbly stoic pose, and with his hands behind his back.
"The last Septim, Martin," I said as I presented Martin to Baurus, Jauffre, and several other Blades that had appeared behind them. Their eyes widened simultaneously as I introduced Martin. All at once they kneeled in uniformed synergy as they said "Your highness," in a stunningly calm tone. Martin stood in shock at the sight of the Blades kneeling before him; I wanted to giggle at his mouth hanging open and his eyes the size of saucers.
Jauffre rose up from the floor and cleared this throat. "So all is not lost."
"What do mean, 'All is not lost'?" I stuttered. The old man let out a depressed sigh. "Jauffre! What is it?" I shouted at him, prying for bad news.
"The amulet is gone. We were attacked just after we received the news of Kvatch being under siege." Martin remained confused and unfamiliar with our vocabulary.
I shook my head in disbelief. My heart sank to the floor at his words. This couldn't be happening! Another setback was the last thing we needed!
"The assassins took it," Baurus added. "The same ones that…"
"Don't remind me," I growled at him. The last thing I wanted right now was to be reminded of that horrific day in the prison.
"At this very moment, we have a new priority," Jauffre began. "We must get Emperor Martin to safety." In my peripheral vision I could see Martin flinch at the title.
"Where are we to take him? Those bastards are probably crawling all over the empire!" I asked.
"I can't tell you where right now, not here at least," Jauffre answered as he eyed the survivors that listened in on our conversation.
"Fine, we'll leave at once," I said, trying hard not to sound angry. I wanted to know where in Mundus we were going, but dropped the subject for now.
Martin didn't look at all comfortable with this. I was sure he wanted to stay and continue being a priest by caring for the survivors. He opened his mouth to argue, "I… I …"
"Made a promise?" I retorted. He sighed, recalling his words from earlier. "Jauffre, we must take these people out of the city with us." The thought of leaving these people was painful, in the least. "Is it safe out there?" I gazed up at the ceiling as I asked him.
"Yes. We've terminated the last of the Daedra from that gate, thanks to your friend." Jauffre let a gracious smile spread across his face, which usually had a cold disposition.
"Bendu," I whispered. My head tilted down from gazing upwards to the Blades. "What has become of him?"
Jauffre hesitated before answering with, "It shall be discussed later." My nails dug into my palms as I clenched my fists at his answer. I didn't like being treated like a child, with my friend's fate sugar coated with Jauffre postponing the inevitably bad news. But I kept my mouth shut not wanting to bother arguing with him. He turned back towards the stairs that led up into the altar room and proceeded back to the outside world.
I took extra care is making sure everyone had left the basement, especially the little Redguard girl who had been found hiding under a desk in the basement just before we left the city. She was likely the last child left in Kvatch. Because of this I grew attached to the wordless child as we marched through the rubble; she sobbed on my shoulder as I carried her out of the city with the Blades surrounding us as escorts.
To finally walk past what was left of the city gates felt so liberating. The Gold Coast welcomed us with the fresh sea breeze washing away the stench of flesh that radiated from the city behind us. The difference between inside the city's walls and the thriving wilderness outside was night and day; the smell was the difference between the two worlds I liked the most. Our herd of survivors and Blades made their way down the hill to find a small camp of another handful of handful of survivors.
Everyone looked at us with disparity in their hearts. The little Redguard girl still clung to my neck; she was getting to be heavy to carry.
"Decima, let someone here at the camp take the girl," Martin whispered in my ear as we walked.
"Not even if you were sitting on a damn throne right now!" I hissed back into his ear. "No one here will take her! Look at them, Martin. They are scared, hungry, and homeless. There is no way they can afford to take the girl in! I'm keeping her!" Martin reluctantly agreed with me, looking around the small camp.
"In that case, you may want to know her name," Martin again whispered to me. "Her name is Siona. I knew her family." I didn't verbally respond to him. Instead, I held little closer to my chest. I concluded that she probably wasn't even past age two after I inspected her. Siona was physically delicate. Mentally, she must have been a brittle husk. Her brown eyes were bloodshot from crying so much and streaks of tears stained her dark skin.
"I've sent out more Blades to scout out the fastest route to our destination," Jauffre explained to us how we were going to safely arrive at the unknown location. Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention to him, I just followed his lead. From the little I can recall of the trip, we weaved in and out of roads; through the Great Forest, back onto the Black Road, then to avoid Weynon Priory, we trekked through the wilderness to finally get onto the Orange Road towards Bruma.
This seemingly senseless route was getting on everyone's nerves, even the Blades rolled their eyes as Baurus and Jauffre had everyone change directions. All of the Blades knew where we were going, and weren't thrilled with taking a ridiculous route, according to Caroline, one of the few female Blades in our group. Even though she was willing to complain about our route, her loyalty persisted when she refused to tell me where we were headed to.
After nearly four days of travelling, Jauffre lead us up the road into Bruma. The Valus Mountains were much more welcoming than the Jerall Mountains, quite frankly. It was a completely uphill battle against a violent blizzard, bent on stopping us in our tracks. I bundled Siona up in anything warm I could spare and held her under my flimsy cloak to protect her from the cold.
"Let me take Siona for a while," Baurus said to me. I looked down at the little bundle in hesitation, listening to my muscles screaming in pain. "Please," he continued with his armored hands outstretched towards Siona. I handed her over into his arms. Surely, he would be more capable of carrying her up the steep road. I blessed the timing, because my arms were numb by now from carrying the little girl.
"Jauffre, where in Oblivion are we going?" I called up to him. I was getting very annoyed by now at being secluded from knowing anything.
"We're almost there, do not worry yourself of it," Jauffre called back to me. I grinded my teeth in anger towards him, but quickly I cooled down. We were close to wherever we were going, so I wasn't about to make a fuss about it now. For now, I'd take his word for it.
At long last, we reached relatively level ground as we traveled past Bruma's walls. The pace amongst the group sped up when we neared the city; I think it was because the Blades were being paranoid about shuttling the emperor near other people… Potential assassins.
"Just up that trail. We'll be there," Jauffre pointed up a steep hill with a dirt trail running up the side of it. I prayed that this would be my last ascent for this trip; even without Siona in my arms, the burden of keeping my own body up and walking was hard enough. Exhaustion set in to the point where my body was so drained that I couldn't even raise my head to look where I was going. Two of the Blades seized me by my arms to help me up the hill.
"We're here, my friend," the Nord Blade whispered to me. I didn't know where "here" was, but I was glad to be there.
Jauffre's voice filled the air as he chimed out, "Cyrus! Let us in!" The moan of large doors signaled for us to move on forward once more. I gathered the little strength I had to look up at what lay ahead of me.
Stone steps of white led up to a beautiful man-made plateau, upon which sat a beautiful structure. From the drawings I had seen in books years ago, it looked like something straight from Akavir. The roofing was made of burgundy shingles, slanting downwards, then straight up from its peak. Large metal bowls held fires, in place of torches. Little patches of dirt were marked with sparring rings and targets for shooting arrows.
"Grandmaster!" The Blade named Cyrus kneeled before us. He looked up as he said, "Is this… Is it really…"
"Yes, this is the heir," Jauffre answered. Other Blades from inside the fortress gathered around the entrance to greet the newcomers. The old Grandmaster continued, "His name is Martin… Martin Septim." All at once, they kneeled before Martin in unison.
"Your highness," Cyrus was nervous when he said it, not wanting to trip over his words. "Welcome to Cloud Ruler Temple. You will be safe here, under the watchful eye of the Blades, sire. It is an honor to have an emperor's visit after so many years." Martin, of course, was dumbfounded that more people were kneeling before him, and he didn't know what to say.
"Th-thank you," Martin said out of his chattering teeth. I had forgotten that he only had his priest's robes on thought the entire trip. "The hon- honor is m-mine." He sounded so silly; I tried not to giggle at him. Little Siona started to cry and squirm in Baurus' arms. I'd be a little stir crazy too, had I been carried across Cyrodiil for several days.
"Let the girl walk," I instructed. She wiggled out of Baurus' grasp as he kneeled down to set her on the ground. We all looked upon her as she waddled towards the stone steps through the snow. It was our little moment of peace before the storm to come. "We best follow her lead," I chuckled. Siona knew where a warm fire awaited us. Martin walked up right next to me as we headed up the stairs, looking up at the temple with wonder.
The Blades lined up on our sides, parallel with each other, standing at attention. We walked through the aisle they formed then stopped just as the two lines ended, just as Jauffre had instructed us mere moments earlier. Jauffre stood next to Martin as he cleared his throat to speak.
"Blades," he began with a strikingly powerful voice. "Dark times are upon us. The emperor and his sons were slain on our watch." I could see disappointment take over their faces at the words; Baurus took such a statement even harder than the others. "The empire is in chaos. But there is yet hope!" He lifted his arms as if he were physically lifting their spirits. "Here before you now, the last of the dragon born! I bring you Martin Septim, true son of Uriel Septim." The Blades pulled out their swords and pointed them to the snowy sky.
"Hail, dragon born! Hail, Martin Septim! Hail!" They all shouted at the sky with all their might. Their lives were now dedicated to Martin. Martin, who was trying to hold Siona up (who was trying to run into the rows of Blades) was flabbergasted by their chants.
"Martin, you will be safe here until you are able to take the throne," Jauffre informed him. Martin's mouth sat open, searching for the words to say.
"Jauffre… All of you…" Martin began, glancing over at me with pleading eyes. "You expect me to behave like an emperor, and yet I haven't the slightest idea how to do so." I sent him a reassuring smile, hoping to transfer it into his confidence. "I've never given many speeches before. But I hope to prove myself worthy of your loyalty in the coming days." He nodded at Jauffre, signaling the end of his speech.
"Well then," Jauffre put on his signature "business" face, serious and extra crinkled, as he thanked Martin. "We best get back to our duties, eh Captain?" A heavy-built Imperial saluted Jauffre before heading off towards the temple building.
I walked over to Siona to get her out of the bitter cold. Her little hand grasped my fingers as we walked into the large building.
"Wasn't much of a speech, was it?" I turned my head to Martin, who was right by my side once more.
"They didn't seem to mind," I grinned back. "You doubt yourself too much."
"They hailed me as Martin Septim," his voice was entangled in thought. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, Decie, but everyone expects me to suddenly know how to behave."
"I'm not a part of 'everyone' then," I replied in hopes of not letting Martin bring himself down even more. "They want an emperor, yes. But we have priorities above critiquing you on how to act like royalty."
"The amulet," he began.
"Yes, that bloody thing. It tends to slip out of my hands on a regular basis," I joked. It was a pleasant sight to have Martin smile at the sick humor of the situation.
"I'll get it back, I promise you…"
"No," I interrupted. "We'll get it back… We promise you."