Chapter 34
day 120

It had taken us four days to reach the end of the beetle tunnels, two more to find shelter and set up a small base of operations. Mordran was quick to send out a runner to check the status of other outposts that he had been in charge of. Supposedly there where two other leaders that believed the Aldmeri Dominion should be overthrown and Hammerfell returned to it's noble houses. This was the first I had heard of any other leader besides Mordran, it had seemed that he had always made it seem like he was in charge of everything.

"We are far from Rihad." Kharjo came into my tent with a huff. "We had been promised to be in the city by now." He had been checking in with the scouts and affirming our position on the map. We where in the northern part of Hammerfell and close to the border of High Rock. "We could just cut into High Rock and find the shard there, then come back later." He offered and walked over to the rock I was using as a desk. I had my map set up next to the one that I had gotten from Mordran a week ago.

"We could, but we don't know what these people would do to us. We're in the middle of their war with the Aldmeri Dominion. If we leave we could be considered deserters." I replied and added our small encampment to the map, crossing out the old hideout as well. "Besides, we don't even know if going North would be any better than the situation we're in now." I sighed and rubbed my fingers over my forehead.

"Well we need to figure something out. Staying with these people is getting us no where." Kharjo groaned and sat down on my cot. "By the divines that hurt!" He cursed and clutched his leg, apparently he had forgotten that he had hurt himself during the escape.

"Must you two be so loud? I'm surprised the whole camp hasn't heard you two. Be glad they haven't!" Zaynabi came storming into the ten, scolding the two of us like we were children. She brought out a book and began to channel the energy, a ball of white light coming from her palms and into Kharjo's leg. "You still need to take it easy, the wound hasn't healed yet!" She scowled.

"I apologize Zaynabi." Kharjo sighed and stopped thrashing. He smiled as the pain seemed to leave his body.

"You're getting better everyday Zaynabi." I smiled as I turned to watch her work. Her tail twitched angrily in response.

"You two give me a lot to work with." She was still angry, more than likely due to lack of sleep as she had been healing people who where still wounded. While magic sped up the healing process, restoration magic didn't work instantly like it had in the games. "Back to the comment before. If you two are going to talk about leaving, then speak quieter."

"You're right, sorry." I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. We all were stressed and the situation just seemed to be more and more grim. We had no idea what the situation was like in Rihad and we needed to get there quickly to recover the piece of Meridia's amulet and move on. The undead hordes grew everyday and we where still stuck here with a group that hadn't even believed the undead where real. Though we had done our best to describe our experiences in Skyrim, Morgran and his group simply thought they had other things to worry about.

"We need to do something soon." Kharjo peaked out of the tent flap at the others checking their tents, supplies, and wandering around the camp. "We're too out in the open." His tail swished back and forth angrily and his ears lowered.

"We'll do what we can, for now I need to find Morgran." I stood and stretched my limbs. I went to reach for Dawnbreaker then hesitated. I moved my hand to grab an extra iron sword that had been supplied to us. Strapping the plain blade to my belt I stared at the glowing gem the seemed to emit sadness as I walked away.

I exited the tent and was immediately greeted by a small group of three. Two where young looking dark elves and the other was the young redguard noble.

"Darius, please help us." The redguard pleaded as he stared at me. I hadn't yet learned his name as Morgran was very strict on keeping him away from the rest of the rebellion. "You, Kharjo and Zaynabi have fought these things before, now they threaten our home and our very lives. Please show us how to fight them." His eyes were a fierce green color, making me wonder who his parents were. I hadn't ever seen a redguard with bright green eyes like that in the games.

"Honestly I'm no expert at fighting these things. While we have fought them before we still struggle to take them down like any opponent." I said with a wave of my hand. Had they heard us talking earlier? Should we worry that the whole camp now knows that we were talking of abandoning them? If so and Morgran found out. I shuddered at the thought and stared back at the three in front of me. The two dark elves looked much younger than any I had met. Their skin was a darker shade than what I had seen before and their hair was a snowy white color. The redguard had a few scars across his arm as he wore loose fitting cloth clothes, a curved blade at his hip. "Why do you wish to fight these things? For all you know it could very well be useless."

"We must try!" The redguard prince rose his voice slightly and clenched his fists. "None of this would have ever come to pass if I had just held my ground against the Aldmeri Dominion. If I had done what I could to hold my city this would have never happened. My people would be safe within our walls and our forces could turn the tide, leaving these creatures for the birds." This man seemed a little younger than I but he carried a lot of weight on his shoulders. I had never known the events that transpired that lead to the Aldmeri Dominion coming into possession of much of Hammerfell but had many guesses.

"Are there others that wish to continue fighting for this cause?" I asked, looking around at the blank faces of others much farther away.

"They are broken, we need a rallying cry." One of the dark elves spoke up. His voice was soft, almost a whisper. "While we believed that we could take back the city, we could have never prepared for the reality of what we had been hearing. I personally would have never believed that a horde of undead was truly taking over Tamriel." His eyes cast down to the sand at his feet, eyes growing wide. "Those things tore into people who had seen many battles. I need to be stronger to help." His eyes rose to meet mine, a pleading look in those dark red pupils.

"While We have little experience, I have seen you handle yourself first hand. I wish to be of some use, even if Morgran doesn't wish it." The redguard took a step forward. "Will you help us?"

I looked at the three and sighed heavily. It was still a strange feeling for me to raise a blade and while I had gotten over my fear of fighting, I still feared dying every day. I was a stranger to Tamriel and the universe that held many strange laws. I felt I was the last person to teach these people anything.

"I will speak with Kharjo, if anything he could teach you how to wield a blade properly. I had others teach me and I still find myself new to combat." I admitted and opened the tent flap. Kharjo had likely heard everything as he was already standing there as if waiting for his cue.

"I Think I can be of some assistance." He smiled and walked out of the tent.

((Author's note: While things may seem slow right now, a lot is going to be happening very soon. I have given some insight on things to come and will let you the readers guess at the things to come. I hope that you all will stick with me and continue to help me improve as a writer and storyteller. I have taken many things that have been suggested to me and made side notes. I hope you look forward to seeing your contributions come into the story and thank everyone for the help so far.))