Chapter Eight: And the Hunt Begins
Erikour and ten of the Embassy's best soldiers rode along the barren road, the tracker machine sitting quietly in the back of a covered wagon. Erikour was at the front of the pack, his back straight and his helmet gleaming as he rode on his bright gold colored mare. Most of the Justiciars rode on similar geldings, riding down the mountain road. Erikour had received his orders from the First Emissary to track down the Talos-worshipper around midnight and, only a few hours later, hiss group was making great progress. They were just starting to pass through Dragon Bridge when the Justiciar heard an odd clinking sound from the covered wagon.
"Halt," Erikour said in a firm voice. All of his followers quickly followed the order, the mares pulling the wagon stopping in their tracks. Turning his own golden horse to face the wagon, he slowly nudged it forward, riding to the back where the flap to the burlap covering was. He lifted it slowly, looking inside at the golden metal machine. Even though it's chest piece was back in place, the soul gem's glow could still be seen, its face covered with the soft, dark purple glow. The machine was looking intently at its master, its arms fidgeting as if anticipating future battles it will fight in.
"Where is the worshipper?" The Justiciar asked quietly, watching the Dwemer machine. The machine sat idly for a second before it slowly crawled out of the wagon. With all eight legs on the ground, it stretched out to its full height before pointing its arms in a southeastern direction. A grating voice sounded from the machine's body, making the Thalmor wince slightly.
"Riverwood." It seemed to say, its arms still pointing in that direction. Erikour stared at the machine before looking up at the sky. Secunda and Masser were still reigning high in the black night sky and there was no sign that the sun was coming up soon. It would take almost a day and a half to get to Riverwood, that's taking into account that the group didn't stop for breaks of any kind. He rubbed his fingers over his narrow chin, his eyes clouded over with deep thoughts. All eyes were on the lead Justiciar, even the metal eyes of the war machine seemed to be watching him. After several minutes of pondering, Erikour decided on a plan.
"Tracker," Erikour said to the machine. It seemed to perk up at its name, its arms still twitching for a fight. "Travel ahead and try to catch up to the worshipper. If the sun comes up before you reach him, take shelter and we will try to catch up. If we do not find you by nightfall, resume your course. Understand?" The Justiciar explained. The machine stared at its master for a moment before turning towards the southeastern horizon, its spider legs taking off at a speed that would shun even the fastest creature.
Erikour watched the tracker with a smirk before turning to his comrades. With a silent air of formallity and leadership, he rode back to the front of the group and led his horse back down the road. The other Thalmor paused for a moment before following their appointed leader.
"Justiciar Erikour," One of the Thalmor behind him asked. Erikour slowed down as the Justiciar who had spoken caught up. "What is your plan? I thought First Emissary wanted us to stay at the tracker's side at all times?" He spoke with a strong voice, like a Thalmor should, but there was a slight quiver in his voice. It was perhaps fear that the Emissary would discover that they didn't follow her orders. Or maybe excitement for the soon to be appointed award for their capture of a Talos worshipper.
"Sometimes, Justiciar Aldaril, you need to think of how to best complete a task then how to complete it while complying to your successor." Erikour said, keeping his back straight to help keep the look of being in charge. Aldaril tried to do the same but Erikour seemed to pull it off easier. "First Emissary told me that when I finished my first assignment that she had given me." A small smile crossed his deep golden lips as his eyes glazed over at the memory.
"I had just been positioned under her command up here in Skyrim. I hated everything about this land; the people, the climate, even the alcohol was terrible. I guess the First Emissary was tired of hearing me grumble and complain because she called me into her office. Now, I was assigned here as a guard for the embassy grounds, but she decided to send me off on a task. At first I didn't think anything of it. I was actually excited to do something other than stand around by the gate and tell everyone who wasn't a pure citizen of the Aldmeri Dominion to go away." Erikour said as they rode down the road that leveled out ahead of them. Aldaril was silent beside him, waiting patiently for Erikour to continue on.
"But I hadn't expected the First Emissary to send me off into a cave and tell me not to return until I had done what she wanted. Which she had done. See, nearby the Embassy, there used to be a cave that was rumored to be filled with all manner of vile creatures and the Emissary wanted me to go in there and clear them out. I was a little afraid at first but I told her that I would be back before she knew it. But before I could leave, she told me something. She told me that I couldn't bring a light into the cave or use any sort of light source magic. I didn't think anything of it and told her that I wouldn't."
"But wasn't it hard to see when you entered the cave?" Aldaril asked, his curious eyes looking over at Erikour. Even though he looked like Erikour's height, Aldaril was a few years younger and was fresh out of Alinor. The lead Justiciar nodded his head at the rookie's question.
"Yes, it was terribly so. There wasn't even any glowing fungus in there. But I didn't want to disobey the First Emissary's orders so I walked around in the dark for hours. The whole time I didn't run into a single monster, either. That's when I thought that something was amiss. I didn't hear another sound or even smell anything funny either. I was about to pull out a torch and some flint when I remembered that the First Emissary told me not to. I stood there in the dark, trying to think of what to do. Then it clicked. I let a bout of flames out of my palm, lighting up the cave. There was nothing in there at all. The entrance had even been covered up by some fake wall." Erikour said. Aldaril gave him a confused look.
"A fake wall? But I thought it was a natural cave?" The rookie questioned. Erikour nodded again at the question.
"It was. After I used the flames to light up the cavern, I heard the First Emissary's voice. She had been using a suit of armor that made her blend into her surroundings and even though I couldn't see her, I could tell that she was standing in front of me. She said that it was test to see how long it would take to solve her test. When I asked by what she meant by a test, she removed her helmet so I could see her face. She had this huge grin on her face and told me that I was one of her new Justiciars." Erikour grinned at the fond memory and at the amazed gasp from Aldaril.
"She used that cave as a test?" The rookie asked, seeing his leader nod an asnwer of yes. "But what exactly was she testing you for?"
"I had asked her the same question, obviously after I thanked her for the honor of joining the Justiciar rank. She told me that most Thalmor that come straight out of Alinor always follow word for word. So by telling me that I couldn't use any torches or light magic, she wanted to see how I would deal with that. The First Emissary then when on to say that using my flame magic was a fantastic idea but could've been drastic if there was some form of unnatural gas in the cave. But she still congratulated me on using my head and "disobeying" her orders. And now, seven years later, she still counts on me for her important tasks that need to be handled." Erikour said to the rookie. Aldaril grinned and looked ahead of him, the road still winding almost endlessly through the dynamic terrain of Skyrim.
"Well, I hope you can use your head so that we can there faster." Aldaril said, a smirk crossing his lips. Erikour scoffed and smirked as well, riding along with the rest of the group.