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It was no warm metallic tang of deer blood, or even the alluring, imaginary taste of Viconia’s supple flesh but of brute and overwhelming power unlike anything that walked the mortal world. Even as my body rebelled against the corruption contained within the unholy liquid the vampire revelled in the sensation, drinkin... |
I pulled my broken hand from the creatures grip as though it no longer had the strength to resist me. Bones knit in seconds, fingers straightening and knuckles hardening, twisting back into shape without any of the pain that should be associated with such a healing change. My jaw twisted out of shape, the bones of my ... |
The Dremora lord suddenly seemed pitifully weak and I hammered my fist into the top of its skull, crushing it and sending bone shards through what passed for its brain. I had utterly lost control now, the overwhelming blood-stink permeating through my very soul as the horrific daedric corruption mixed with the vampiri... |
Before the corpse of the Markynaz tumbled to the floor I had already leapt, covering the distance between myself and the remaining Dremora before they could even react to movement. The first fell quickly, screaming in surprise and shock as I battered through its defences and pulped its head and chest with blows from m... |
The room fell silent as the creature died from a combination of blood loss and my boot slamming into its throat with the crackle of a broken windpipe. The room was in compete disarray, steaming corpses and chunks of daedric flesh scattered everywhere with only the hiss and gurgling of bodily fluids to break the growin... |
Between the fatigue and the self-loathing, I could no longer bring myself to care about my fate or Viconia’s reaction. I half expected to feel the piecing or slicing kiss of a blade on my flesh as I dropped to my knees as the last vestiges of the Vampire slid back into my subconscious and my skin and bones returned to... |
Instead the indefinable material of the floor rushed up to my face and I blacked out as the fatigue finally gained a proper hold on my shattered mind. |
My eyes opened to the sights of billowing clouds of ash and fire, the unnatural twilight of their presence still shrouding the land around the shattered and tumbled walls of the City. It seemed strangely peaceful in comparison to the tumultuous realm of magma and death that Viconia and I had plunged headlong into desp... |
"Woah, take it easy." A voice exclaimed and a hand pressed gently on my shoulder. "unless you want a splitting headache I suggest you take it nice and slow." |
A young Breton crouched next to me, her face seemingly genuinely concerned as she gazed into my eyes. "Both eyes are looking in the same direction so I guess that’s a good thing at least. You haven’t seemed to have suffered a head injury." |
"How’d I get back out here?" I asked, seeing the piles of crates and barrels and the overturned wagons resting on their sides only a few metres in front. |
"Your friend carried you after the portal collapsed. I don’t know how you two did it but it’s gone and we are safe for the moment." |
Pushing my palm into the side of my head I felt strangely fine. Bone wearily exhausted, tense muscles and a sore back from carrying a pack for days but otherwise I hadn’t felt this well in months, if not years. Memories of what had happened in the portal resurfaced in my mind as though I had been merely a witness to t... |
The Breton held me as I dry heaved, mistaking my nausea and sudden bout of illness to some form of injury that had rendered me unconscious in Oblivion. "Did she say what happened in there?" the hesitation in my voice was obvious, but there was no fear from her face or any of the others close enough for my blurry visio... |
"You apparently beat all shades of shit into a group of daedra before passing out from the exertion." A familiar voice added and I looked up into the beaming face of the Guard commander. Savlian Matius seemed fresher, more rested despite the state of his equipment and armour and the fact he desperately needed a bath. ... |
"If the portal is gone then why are we waiting around here?" Carefully I pushed myself up and onto my feet, trembling slightly as I looked about the rat-tag group of survivors. |
Savlian grinned, teeth white and fierce in the dark haze of the battlefield as he chucked a thumb over his shoulder at a small group standing a distance away. "The Legion is here." |
The group of riders, magnificent in their gleaming plate and astride Cyrodiilic warhorses of prime breeding stock stood facing the burning city. There was only six of them, dressed in their full form fitting plate, horsehair crests fluttering in the mild breeze as they discussed and motioned to the area before them. T... |
Groaning I lightly touched my face, rubbing at the sore cheekbones and remembering how my entire face had elongated like a Khajiit’s after draining the daedra of blood. A terrifying thought entered my mind and I glanced around for Viconia, seeing her standing off to the side and staring at me as though she was contemp... |
"Did Viconia say anything else about what had happened?" |
"Other than complaining about how heavy you were as she carried you to the top of the tower in there? No, not really." Savlian grinned even more. "I have no idea where the two of you came from or why you are here but you have done the impossible here today. By the Nine you even managed to rescue a handful of survivors... |
There was a chuckle as he looked back at Viconia who had turned her attention to the mounted Legionaries. "But when say you, but I mean her. You were quite out of it for a while there." |
"I’m better now at least." My reply was surprisingly honest. I still felt as though I could sleep for a month without waking but there were still things to do. |
Excusing myself and brushing off the concern of the Breton who had been caring for the handful of wounded I walked towards the mounted Legionaries. Every step I took allowed me to feel the layer of gore and ichor sticking and cracking on my flesh and armour with every movement. I was coated almost head to toe in the c... |
One of the mounted soldiers turned and looked at me, his horsehair plume on his helm noticeably longer and reaching the nape of his neck. He was dressed in finer made armour than the others around him, breastplate forged specifically for his build and a sword of polished ebony comfortably resting in its silver imprint... |
My fist double-tapped my chest above my heart as the Legion commander alighted from his saddle and pulled off his helm. He was in his middling years, hair with whispers of grey beginning to show and skin tanned from years spent in the saddle and marching alongside his legionaries. Like most Colovian-born Legates he ha... |
"I understand that you and your companion are the ones responsible for breaking the deadlock and buying us enough time to arrive." It was not a question but a simple statement encased in a level of professionalism that seemed to be a trademark of sorts for most Colovians. |
"Yes sir." My nervousness was obvious to him, as was my bearing as my back straightened and instinctively standing to attention in his presence. |
He didn’t fail to notice the way I held myself or the particular way I had framed my response. "You’re a legionary?" |
"Yes Sir. Archer-Praefect Kaius Treblanus Desin. 8th Casta, 14th Legion." |
He returned my salute before placing his arms by his side and helmet tucked into the crook of an elbow. The piercing gaze that he gave me however felt as sharp as spear points. "Legate Mettius Asinius, 2nd Legion. You’re a long way from home though Praefect. One might think you to be a deserter if you hadn’t just will... |
"Both Viconia and I serve the Blades." I stated, trying and failing somewhat to hide my trepidation while saying the first half-truth that came to mind. "We were sent to retrieve an individual from the city and arrived to find this." |
My gesture took in the expanse of devastation and the burning city before us and his expression was grim. "Well that certainly explains how you managed to survive, and I believe that a lot of people owe you both their thanks as well as their lives. I won’t pry into any business of the Blades but this is not the time f... |
The sound of tramping feet gradually grew, and with it the sudden cheers and cries of relief from the survivors of the barricade. An enormous column of armoured men made its way up the slope of the western road to Anvil, battle standards waving in the breeze as the legionaries marched with heads held high and eyes nar... |
As the individual cohorts marched past the barricade the Extraordinarii broke from their huddle and began relaying orders to the Centurions in command of each. Soon the great host of men split and broke apart as they passed their commander, breaking from the five-man wide column into five, five-man wide blocks that co... |
"Are you fit to fight?" Legate Asinius’ face was part concern, part excitement at the battle to come, and all challenge to me. |
"Good. An extra bow in the assault Testudo will be beneficial, especially one who has faced these foes already." He turned and called out to one of the Extraordinarii hovering near his commander. "Urik, take this man to the 17th and tell Mede that he can make the breach as soon as he is in position." |
The horseman gestured to me to follow as the Legate exploded into activity. Orders were sent, the marching blocks of armoured men moved about the area as though pieces on a chessboard and he even went about ordering the barricades defenders to prepare to assist the Legionaries. Viconia moved subtly into the mass of gu... |
We moved to the central formation of legionaries, staring up at the walls and the raging inferno that was contained behind the thick stone constructions that had been specifically designed to stop this very situation. The gates were clear however, and as we got closer an extremely young looking officer stepped out of ... |
"Centurion Mede." He introduced himself, grinning under the heavy Barbute helm and the bleached crest of horsehair. "Looks like we have the honour of forcing the breach." |
"I’m with you Sir. Just show me where to go." |
"That’s the spirit!" his excitement was infectious and I wondered just how many battles this young commander had been in. As I looked closer however this fresh faced young man was clearly no amateur. A battered shield hung from his arm, pointed spear locked firmly in the curve between the arm straps and the layers of ... |
The rest of his soldiers were the same. Grim faced, tough and unyielding like the stone under their feet, they readied themselves while double and triple checking their equipment as though it was likely to sprout legs and flee in the seconds since they had checked last. |
"A forester eh?" he said, after the mounted legionary had passed his orders. "Excellent. My men are good in a fight but several of my archers recently came down with the pox. I hope you can shoot." |
I decided that I liked this officer, his gregariousness reminded me of Burd, or even more especially Ozzarious but there was no doubting his ability and professionalism. Turning on his heel he ordered one of his men who hung back from the main party to hand over his bow and his quiver. I couldn’t help but notice the s... |
"Right lads, we’re going to take this city and kill anything that was not born of Mundus!" The Centurion carried himself like a four-decade veteran, his authority unchallenged and every word heeded by those who followed. "We force the breach, make space for the other cohorts but don’t concern yourselves with leaving t... |
There was a ripple of amusement through the ranks as they began to roll shoulders and necks, twisting and jumping lightly on the balls of their feet in a clatter of metal as they loosened up march-weary muscles for the fight ahead. Helmets were wriggled down tighter on the underlying layers of cloth and leather, sword... |
"Our mission is to liberate and protect. If it’s hostile, we kill it! Any civilians we get out of there and send them back. Hold the line, keep in formation and protect your brothers!" |
He turned, motioning to the largest of the legionaries in their heavier plate to take the first ranks, while I moved forward to my position in the fourth with the rest of the plate-clad Foresters of the cohort. Around us the ranks of legionaries formed a wall of steel and shields that protected the handful of archers ... |
For such assaults on cities and fortifications as this they would find themselves weighed down by fifty to sixty kilograms of ebony plate, chainmail leather and cloth; heavy protection for only those strong enough and brave enough to be the first to march down the enemy’s throat. They grunted gouts of steaming breath ... |
The Centurion took his place in the centre of the archers, where he could exercise control over the formation of men. A brass whistle hung from a leather cord around his neck for when the sounds of battle would drown out even the loudest of shouted orders and he seemed pleased to be leading his men in such an attack. |
Turning to the hulking form of his standard bearer by his side, he nodded once before drawing his sword with a rasp of metal. "Raise the standard Kurm. Let’s show these bastards who’s coming for them. |
The hulking brute of an Orc carrying the cohort’s standard raised the four metre pole and banner into the air where the silken cloth caught the breeze. Resplendent on the maroon silk the Imperial Dragon gleamed, the numbers of the cohort, casta and Legion picked out in golden thread under the point of its tail. |
"Dovah Invicta!" The orc bellowed, spittle ejecting from between its scarred tusks and broken teeth from a lifetime of fighting. With a solid thump he slammed the reinforced base of the banner into the ground with an audible crack. |
"DOVAH INVICTA!" The Legion’s battle cry tore itself from the throat of every legionary of every cohort including my own with a deafening wave of sound that was felt more than heard. Swords were thrust into the sky as the roar shook loose streams of ash from the walls as the men and mer of the 2nd Legion went to war. |
The cohort marched forward into Kvatch’s surviving gate and past the scorched cobblestones had been turned to glass by the energies of the Oblivion portal. The legionaries advanced in disciplined silence, only the sound of steel clad boots crushing broken stone underfoot and roars of burning buildings echoing around u... |
Advancing into a city or through a breach was the most hazardous of duties, and those in front were always guaranteed to be the first to face the enemies’ wrath. As such only the strongest, bravest and most heavily armoured made up the first rank to absorb the first blows and allow the rest entry of the legion’s force... |
The front rank hunched low behind their shields, allowing the thick towers of wood and metal that usually covered everyone from ankle to throat to cover their entire body’s and overlap with that of the legionary’s beside them. The second rank stepped in close, raising their own shields over the front ranks heads and r... |
Solid impacts echoed out from the shields causing the soldiers to hold them to grunt with effort at holding them aloft and steady against the sudden onslaught. The wash of heat that emanated from the gaps between the shields was enough to cause most of those in the front rank to duck their heads away to protect their ... |
"Archers! Ready!" Centurion Mede roared over the slapping sounds against the shield wall. An arrow was already nocked and held in my fingertips but at his word of command I raised my arms, drawing back on the bow with surprising ease and holding it level to the ground. In the current formation the wickedly sharp point... |
A single whistle blast echoed, sharp and succinct and immediately the front ranks dropped down low; the front rank placing their shields directly on the ground while the second rank hunched down and angled their shields down as low as they could manage. Suddenly the shield wall had turned into a shield fence, no talle... |
Dozens of scamps, and a handful of Dremora had surrounded the formation as we entered into the courtyard beyond the gatehouse. The impish creatures had been scampering about throwing fireballs that did little but peel paint from the fronts of the thickened tower shields of the front rank, and most of the Dremora seeme... |
Timed to the second from years of practice on the parade ground and against flesh-and-blood foes the archers and myself instinctively flexed, made minute changes to our aim and fired a volley of arrows that plucked the daedra from their feet. In less than a second after our bows twanged the front ranks had stood up ag... |
We advanced in step, stopping every few paces to the sounds of specific whistle blasts and repeating the same tactics that annihilated our foes with barely even a graze to show for it. The thick shields and full plate armour proving to be more than a match for the oblivion-spawn that cavorted about us. |
Even the Dremora present in the courtyard fell easily. Some dropping with their chests protruding several feathers shafts as though they had spontaneously grown. Others, mostly those in some form of armour that was similar in make but not in quality to those Viconia and I had faced within the portal rushed the shield ... |
Slamming bodily into the shields of the front ranks the dozen Dremora hacked and slashed at whoever they could reach. There was a rippling of motion in the seconds before they struck the line, as the second rank dropped back and lowered their shields, allowing the soldiers in the front to brace their own shields into ... |
Eyes, mouth, throat, groin; these were the places that every legionary was taught to strike through hundreds of hours of gruelling practice that left arms leaden and limp. But now, against a flesh and blood foe, albeit a demonic one the mind simply shut down and allowed the body to take over the motions long since eng... |
Several of the Dremora dropped, blood spraying from horrific wounds as the points of the legionary swords cut smiles in their black flesh. Eyes were speared, throats gouged and each blow was terribly effective even against such enemies. Only a few managed to strike back against the legionaries but most of their blows ... |
A pair of whistle blasts this time, and the entire formation suddenly shuddered before the daedra could reform and take advantage of the minor chink in its defences. Without conscious thought, those in the front rank suddenly took a half pace to the right turning in the same direction as they did so that their shields... |
The battle for the gate was over in almost less time it took to casually walk through the gatehouse and the courtyard beyond. Other than a handful of injuries, including the orc who would need a spear tip removed from his forearm and chest before some bones could be set there were no casualties. Several dozen minor da... |
Fanning out the five cohorts of the 8th Casta took up their positions and began the advance through the burning and corpse strewn streets of Kvatch. Barely a single building was left unmarked, most having lost their roofs to the inferno that had started during the opening phase of the city’s destruction. Others were b... |
Here and there however survivors were found, appearing from the ruins like frightened rabbits being coaxed out of their burrows. Pockets of individuals and families, groups of strangers huddling in the dark and destruction for mutual protection and sole survivors came out as the tramping of feet revealed the presence ... |
Deeper we made our way into the city and following along parallel streets and paths legionaries would make their way with a growing collection of gore coating their bodies. Buildings would be cleared by squads of five, paths and back alleys by detachments of 25 and main arterial routes through the heart of the city we... |
It was late afternoon by the time the 17th cohort came to a halt in the shadow of the broken belltower of the cathedral. Two of the other cohorts were continuing their advance through the city and the sounds of fighting and dying still echoed from the direction of the castle. The city had been mostly liberated after s... |
Sweat dripped down over faces, clearing tiny trails in the layers of ash and gore that clung to the metal plates encasing their bodies. Heads were bowed, lungs dragging in deep breaths as they slowly began to regain their strength and not a single one of them was not coated to the elbows in daedric blood. Shields were... |
The fighting continued sporadically throughout the night, although the lack of visible sun and the twilight of smoke, ash and burning buildings ensured that it seemed to drag on for an eternity. Under the commanding gaze and watchful eye of the Legate, the Cohorts rotated in and out of the battle, reinforcing and repl... |
Even the tactics and armoured might of the legion had not been enough to ensure that every man would make it alive or whole. There were injuries ranging from the mild and inconsequential to the crippling and fatal almost in spite of the most experienced of Legion healers. Several dozen corpses of legionaries soon foun... |
By what I had supposed was midnight the cohort I was attached to had been finally stood down for good. The battle for the castle still raged on the far side of the city as the full might of two cohorts rooted out the last of the daedra who had dared to claim it but for myself and the others our part was over. Most of ... |
I simply found myself a bucket, upending it over my head several times from a nearby well and drinking the mixture of blood, ash, dirt and sweat as it ran down my face. Too exhausted to care, my fatigue was total but unfortunately it still wasn’t enough to remove the sick pleasure of the taste of blood that mingled wi... |
The dreams that assailed my tortured mind were even worse than those the weeks previous. Now that my blood ran with the corrupted substance from a creature of Oblivion my thoughts seemed to be never ending images of death and destruction. In my mind I slew countless blood-robed assassins and drank of their flesh, twis... |
Even as I awoke, feeling no less rested mentally despite the overwhelming might that seemed to infuse my limbs the images continued. What was a result of the tortured depravations of my mind succumbed to bloodlust and vampirism and what was the result of witnessing the death of a city at the hands of daedra was strang... |
As what we assumed was mid-morning came, fires still raged fiercely and those who had survived either roamed in catatonic states or began the lengthy process of clearing the dead and saving those still alive. Corpses of the daedra were gathered and disposed of using the simple expediency of tossing them into still-bur... |
I awoke and rose in the middle of the hunched and prone forms of the legionaries of the 17th cohort, many still unconscious from their efforts over the previous day. Some had managed to scavenge enough cooking utensils and chunks of ruins to create makeshift campfires and everywhere I looked I could see survivors of t... |
Those who had defended the barricade were present in the plaza which had seemed to be the point where all of the survivors were gravitating towards now that the fighting was over. The tiny handful who had so heroically held the daedra from overrunning the countryside could be seen in their own tiny huddle, their share... |
Centurion Mede had delivered the news and the late Count’s signet ring personally to Savlian, expressing his condolences with honesty. |
"The Legate will eventually come looking for you once things begin to stabilise." The weariness and sorrow was evident in both of their faces. "In the meantime rest up while you can and you can be assured that the legion is here to stay for the immediate future." |
The young Centurion was exhausted but refused his body the luxury of giving into the fatigue. Eyes were sunken into their sockets, rimmed by soot, bruised and red from the irritants in the air. His hair plastered to his skull from sweat and the weight of his helmet and padding and I realised uncomfortably how young he... |
Savlian Matius was in a similar state as he stared absently at the ring in the palm of his hand. Such a simple bauble represented the full power of a Count and ensured a position on the Elder Council itself. For however long it took for Kvatch to start down either the long road to recovery or to permanent ruin it now ... |
The Centurion glanced in my direction and nodded. "As for you Kaius, the Legate has realised you from our service along with your companion. The two of you are free to go wherever and whenever you please." |
The grin seemed to erupt from his face however as a moment of mirth broke through his grim disposition. "However if you are ever looking for honest work after the Blades has finished with you, there will always be a space in the 2nd for an archer of your skills." |
"Thank you Sir." I replied honestly, feeling strange at the idea of serving in a different legion almost on the other side of the Tamriel to the 14th. The idea did have a tiniest amount of attraction. |
"Call me Titus." He replied, extending a hand and helping me to my feet. "Although I doubt that you two will be able to travel far without having every man, mer and beastfolk lining up to buy you drinks. Take care not to get that drunk in every tavern from here to Akavir that you can’t accept the Empire’s Septim again... |
I laughed briefly, shaking his hand firmly and bidding my goodbyes to them both, the conflicted emotions raging inside of my mind as I began the long and arduous task of not only finding Viconia but discovering if our priest still yet lived. There were so many dead, wounded and survivors that finding a single man amon... |
She was inside one of the buildings along the edge of the plaza, what had once been a tavern of considerable quality and class was now nothing more than the broken ruins where nothing above the ground floor had remained habitable. The second and third floors had broken and fallen in on themselves, leaving a pile of br... |
Carefully picking my way through the remains of the broken door and the shattered remains of the barricade of tables and chairs I walked over to her, keeping my hands visible at all times. Her glance in my direction and sudden and obvious trepidation rain through her like she had been hit with a bolt of conjured light... |
"What do you want Jaluk?" she spat as she leant against the least damaged portion of the bar, a gleaming dagger resting on the scratched surface. She had been carefully pulling her pack and outer layers of around apart and cleaning and repairing them as best she could, using the dagger’s edge to scrape away at the lay... |
"I wanted to talk to you." |
Her hair floated in the air slightly as she turned, resting a hand on her shapely hips and sneering while the other drummed her fingers against the daggers hilt. "I doubt it. What is there to talk about?" |
"Why didn’t you leave me in the portal?" |
A moment of indecision gripped her and she froze, staring at me as I moved inside while ensuring a sizable distance remained between us. "The thought had definitely occurred to me." |
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