chapter 4...haven't gotten much reviews lately...pls do review this one okay?

enjoy...

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Chapter 4

Grun, Baurus, Glenroy and Uriel were bruised, cut and exhausted.

They've been moving underground for only about an hour, but it felt like an entire year to them. Assassins had been attacking them at every corner, forcing them to take detours or simply just fight their way through.

Eventually they reached the sewer gates and Glenroy began to unlock it.

After several minutes, he cried. "Those bastards must have blocked it from the other side. We're trapped!"

Baurus looked around desperately. "What about that side passage there?"

"Worth a try, lets go." said Glenroy.

It only led to a dead end.

Baurus turned to Glenroy.

"What's you call, sir?" he asked.

Glenroy looked around in frustration.

Suddenly, noises could be heard down the passage through which they just came.

"First, we have to hold them off," he growled.

Baurus turned to Grun. "Stay here with the Emperor. Guard him with your life."

Grun said nothing as Baurus and Glenroy rushed out to fight off the assassins.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Uriel was holding out the amulet he wore around his neck.

"I can go no further," he said. "Take this amulet to Jauffre, there is another heir. Find him and shut the jaws of Oblivion."

Before Grun could respond, Uriel pushed the amulet into Grun's free hand just as the wall behind the Emperor opened and an assassin leaped out and stuck his dagger into Uriel.

The Emperor fell.

The assassin let out a victory cheer.

He looked at Grun and sneered, raising his dagger.

"You picked a bad day to fight for…"

His speech was cut off as his head rolled on the floor, the sneer still on his face.

Grun stood over the assassin's dead body, breathing thunderously as rage flooded his veins.

Another assassin entered and charged at Grun.

Roaring with rage, the dwarf tackled the assassin to the floor and hacked at him until his axe, his arms and his face were red with blood.

Moments later, Baurus entered alone and fell to his knees as he saw the Emperor's lifeless body.

"No…Talos save us," he said.

Grun looked out at the passage in case any more assassins were coming.

All the assassins there were dead, and it was unlikely that they would attack now that their goal had been achieved. He also saw Glenroy, pinned to the wall with a spear through his chest.

No great loss there he thought harshly before turning to the grieving Baurus.

"You all right, lad?" he asked, his voice less gruff than usual.

The Redguard looked at him.

"We failed…I failed," he said sorrowfully. "The Blades have sworn to protect the Emperor and his bloodline, now we have failed in out task."

Looking down at Uriel's body, something seemed to occur to him.

"The amulet! Where is it?" he cried. "It's not on the Emperor's body!"

"Settle down, lad," grunted Grun, holding up the amulet. "The old man gave it to me for safe keepin'."

Baurus took several deep breaths to calm himself. Then, he regarded the dwarf curiously.

"Strange, he saw something in you," he said. "They saw it's in the Emperor's bloodline, they can see more than lesser men."

"What is this trinket?" asked Grun, studying the amulet.

"That's the Amulet of Kings," answered Baurus. "It's said that it was given by Akatosh to Alessia, the first Empress. The diamond is supposed to carry incredible power."

"That's no diamond," grunted Grun.

"What?"

"Trust me, I'm a dwarf. I know diamonds when I see them. This one is no diamond."

"Then what is it?"

Grun studied it closely.

"It's a soul gem."

Baurus gaped for a moment. "That would explain its divine properties."

He shook his head. "Why did the Emperor give it to you? Did he say anything?"

"Told me to give to some sod called Jauffre," replied Grun.

Baurus frowned. "Mind your tongue. Did he say why?"

"Apparently yer Emperor has another whelp somewhere."

Baurus pondered this.

"Nothing that I know of," he said at last. "But if anyone would know anything, it would be Jauffre."

"Who's this Jauffre?" asked Grun.

"He's the grandmaster of my order," replied Baurus. "He lives in Weynon Priory as a monk, not many people know of his true identity."

"Apart from you lot, it seems." grunted the dwarf.

Baurus nodded. "Please, could you give it Jauffre? It could be the difference between the fall and salvation of the Empire."

"Hold on, lad!" growled Grun. "I'm not goin' around deliverin' amulets for the sake of an empire who don't even know the existence of me folk and land."

"Please, I beg of you," cried Baurus, kneeling down before the dwarf.

"Get up!" growled the dwarf. "Why don't you deliver it then, if yer so keen on the idea?"

"I would!" yelled Baurus. "But I don't want to leave the Emperor's body to rot here! I wouldn't trust that task to anyone but myself!"

The dwarf and the Redguard glared at each other.

Finally, Grun sighed. "Fine, yer Emperor was a decent man, and I do owe you for bustin' me out of prison. But I'll only deliver it, no more, no less. Got that?"

Baurus nodded gratefully.

"Now how do I get out of this place?"

Baurus gave him a key.

"This will unlock the entrance to the sewers," he said. "I think that secret passage that the assassin used might lead you there, it's your best shot."

Grun nodded and went through the passage.

Baurus was right; it did lead him to the sewers.

He unlocked the entrance and immediately a foul stench bombarded his nostrils.

"I must be barkin' mad," he muttered as he lowered himself into Cyrodill's most extensive and foulest sewage system.

Needless to say, he was not a happy dwarf.

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Arvina woke up feeling warm and comfortable. She turned to see her Khajiit lover looking down at her, blinking lazily.

"Morning," he said, nuzzling the top of her head.

"Morning," she answered, kissing his cheek.

"What shall we do today?" asked M'raaj-Dar.

Arvina snuggled up further against the Khajiit.

"Can't we just stay like this for the rest of the day?" she asked.

"Wish we could, but Enilroth is coming soon," answered M'raaj-Dar. "Can't let him see us."

Arvina sighed.

The two of them had been lovers for the past two years, but they had decided to keep their relationship a secret since most people considered a relationship between a human and one of the beast race blasphemy.

No one but Jauffre knew of their relationship.

While he had been understanding, he hadn't been supportive either.

I think it would be best if you kept your relationship secret. Keep it a secret until our society becomes more understanding and tolerant.

That was what he had said.

It was more likely to find a Sload than to find a society that accepted their relationship.

The duo got out of bed and got dressed.

Moments later, they were having their breakfast when Enilroth came running in, waving a Black Horse Courier parchment.

"Have you two heard?" he cried excitedly. "The Emperor and his sons have been assassinated!"

"What?" cried Arvina, jumping to her feet. "Let me see that!"

She snatched the paper and began to read it. M'raaj-Dar quickly leaned over her shoulder to read it.

SPECIAL EDITION!

EMPEROR AND HEIRS ASSASSINATED!

Elder Council Named as Regents!

Emperor Uriel Septim VII is dead, at the age of 87, having ruled Tamriel for 65 years. He was killed by assassins unknown. At the same time, in separate locations, the late emperor's three sons and heirs (Crown Prince Geldall, 56; Prince Enman, 55; Prince Ebel, 53 were slain by other assassins. An investigation into the identity and motives of the assassins is under way, but the Elder Council, Imperial Guard, and Blades Guard have forbidden the publication of reports and rumors concerning the event until further notice.

By ancient precedent, the Elder Council rules the empire until a new emperor is crowned. No direct heirs survive, and the council has proposed no list of candidates. Chancellor Ocato, Imperial Battlemage, speaking for the Elder Council, presented an appeal to the empire's citizens for calm, and asked that the people remember the Emperor, his sons, and the Elder Council in their prayers.

Emperor Uriel's early reign was marked by peace and prosperity. The Empress Caula Voria bore him three healthy sons, was a loving companion to the Emperor, and a great favorite of the people. However, the emperor and the empire suffered terribly during the Imperial Simulacrum (3E 389-399, when he was held captive in Oblivion while the usurper Jagar Tharn assumed his appearance and ruled in his stead. Emperor Uriel was finally rescued and restored and the impostor defeated by the agency of the sorceress Ria Silmane and her shadowy protégé, but the affairs of the empire were in great disorder, and Empress Caula Voria, exhausted by her ordeal, withdrew from public life.

The decades following the Restoration were once again peaceful and prosperous, but increasing political tensions among the petty states of northwest Tamriel finally erupted in the Wars of the Iliac Bays, resulting in the establishment of the modern borders of Daggerfall, Sentinel, Wayrest, and Orsinium, and culminating with the remarkable events associated with the Warp in the West.

The latter years of the Emperor's reign have seen a flourishing of Imperial influence in the provinces, and with the fortunate resolution of the religious wars and the Vvardenfell Crisis, and with the wise and firm guidance of King Helseth and his mother, Queen Barenziah, an extension of high Imperial culture even into the more remote parts of Morrowind.

The Emperor's murder, and the murder of his three sons, is a terrible crime, and a great tragedy for the Empire. Battlemage Ocato assures us that all the resources of the Elder Council, the Legions, the Guard, the Arcane University, and the Imperial Battle College are being employed to bring the assassins to justice. But, in the meantime, the greatest tribute we citizens can offer to the memory of our beloved Emperor is to go earnestly and diligently about our daily affairs, honoring the life of the great Empire he loved so much, and served so faithfully for so long.

"Terrible, isn't it?" cried Enilroth.

M'raaj-Dar looked thoughtful.

"The Imperial Palace is one of the most heavily guarded places in the land," he said. "There could only be three possibilities. The first one is that the Blades and the Imperial Legion have become complacent. The second is that someone on the inside betrayed them…"

"…or it could be the work of assassins of immense skill." Arvina finished.

M'raaj-Dar and Arvina looked at each other meaningfully.

The only knew of one assassin organisation that could pull it off.

The Dark Brotherhood.

It was an organisation that reveled, revered and profited from murder. They took orders from a malevolent being known as the Night Mother.

Arvina and M'raaj-Dar knew its works well.

After all, they used to members of the Brotherhood.

That was where they met each other.

Several life-changing events had brought them together, and they brought down the Brotherhood when Arvina killed the Night Mother.

And now, hearing of an assassination of this magnitude and with the knowledge of the Brotherhood they thought they had destroyed might potentially still be alive…

It sent chills down their spines.

Enilroth looked at the two of them, oblivious to their internal turmoil.

"What happens now?" he asked.

M'raaj-Dar put the paper down and sighed.

"The only thing for sure is that tough times lie ahead of us."

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they're you have...little do the duo know of the fate in store for them as an angry dwarf sloshes through a nasty sewage systems...

references: i got the article from an actual Black Horse Courier article...the real thing is here...

http/ you enjoyed that!...

chapter 5...coming soon...

pls review...i wanna improve...