CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Janus and I followed Burd through a wooden door that led to a rather smelly hallway. At the end of the corridor was yet another door, this particular one leading to a small room with a desk, and I realized we were at the jailor’s office. There was a door that had been left wide open in the back left corner, and as soon as I noticed it an Imperial man walked out carrying a torch.
“Servious, how many times have I told you not to leave the door open?” Burd asked the man sternly.
The guard sat down in his chair behind the desk and said, “But sir, I was only helping the soldiers put away the traitor, or at least that’s what they called him anyways. What happened, Captain?”
“Never mind that now. Do not leave the door unattended to no matter what the circumstances are. Especially during these times I might add. Do you understand what I am saying? Am I being clear enough for you?”
I was very surprised at the way Burd was speaking to the guard. He was rude, and I know the guard probably deserved being reprimanded and all that, but Burd could probably have done it in a more respectable way. But of course it’s really none of my business what he does.
“Yes, sir, please forgive me,” the soldier replied.
“Also, do not let anyone into the dungeon while we are in there.” Burd said while pointing to Janus and me, as well as himself.
So then Burd motioned for us to follow him into the prison area, which we did. Burd closed the door behind us once we were in and then we walked down the aisle. There were not any prisoners except for the traitor. I was sure Burd was definitely proud of the low amount of inmates. As we neared the last cell on the left two Bruma soldiers were standing outside speaking with the prisoner.
“You may now leave,” Burd told the soldiers. They simply nodded, shook their heads in disgust at the traitor, and then left the area, closing the door behind them.
“Why?”
This is the only thing Burd asked the traitor, though he didn’t get anything out of it. The prisoner said not a word, but was weeping in the corner of the jail. It was very pathetic and I could tell Burd was already starting to get impatient. Janus and I simply stood out of the way while Burd spoke with the prisoner.
“Stop crying, Maloney. Why did you and Serantivous attack me?”
“I…I did not attack you, Captain. I could not bring myself to do so…unlike Serantivous. As you can see…he paid the ultimate price for his treachery.”
“You have not answered my question, Maloney. Who swayed you to Mankar’s side? I know that is who you’re working for, now tell me who’s poisoned your minds!”
Maloney was still crying, and now was huddled up into a ball in the corner of the cell. “I…I cannot say, Captain. They will have me killed if I say anything.”
“They? Who is they? Are they in the city right now? Do not be afraid, Maloney. I swear to you now that we will keep you safe. I promise you that.”
“No,” Maloney gasped loudly. “You do not know what is going on in your own city. There are many involved in this, Captain. I am afraid you will not succeed. Please forgive me, sir.”
Maloney then reached for a wooden knife with an iron tip that lay on a stool inside the cell. Burd knew what was about to happen and he immediately reached for his set of keys. He was fumbling with the key and attempting to unlock the cell, but it was too late. Maloney had had already jabbed the knife into his heart, and blood was spouting from his chest fast. But he was not dead just yet. Burd finally unlocked the cell and the three of us ran inside. Burd knelt down and grabbed Maloney by the shirt and said, “WHO IS IT? WHO HAS INFILTRATED OUR CITY?”
But Maloney only smiled for several seconds, and then died in Burd’s hands.
“NO!” Burd yelled out in frustration. He let go of Maloney’s shirt and stood up with his hands in his black and gray hair. “This is bad. I’ve got even more traitors walking around as we speak! What should we do?” He asked Janus.
“This is very bad indeed, Burd. There is virtually nothing you can do. I am sure there are more traitorous soldiers other than Maloney, but it will be almost impossible to figure out who they are. It seems we don’t even know who’s on our side anymore,” Janus said, and then sighed heavily. “I think you should tell Rayden what the plans are before anything else happens.”
Burd nodded and then started to speak. “Rayden, you are to travel to Anvil and find Ormellius Goldwine. He alone will no where Mankar is located and you will find the Altmer and kill him. Yes, I know plan sounds a little vague, but that’s basically it. Find Mankar and end this threat. I do not know you that well, but Janus brings high praise for you. He suggests that you are the only one who can defeat Mankar, for whatever reasons I have not yet seen, but I’m willing to trust the words of my old friend.”
High praise? I certainly didn’t expect something like that come from Janus. Even though he’s angry with the way I carry myself, it was sure good to know that he still believes in my ability.
“But, there’s a catch. Janus also tells me you don’t make friends easily and you trust hardly anyone. I realize you would probably like to conduct this mission alone, but I will not allow that. It is too dangerous for you to go all by yourself, and that is why I am sending the last living Blade to accompany you.”
“Blade, you mean the warriors that protect the Emperor?”
“Yes, that is exactly who I am talking about. Over the past weeks all of the Blades officers have been hunted down and assassinated. And I’m not talking about just in Cyrodiil. According to my source Blade agents from around Tamriel have been eliminated.”
“And who is that source of yours?”
“The last Blade herself, Jena. She resides now in Cloud Ruler Temple, still mourning the losses of her brothers and sisters. Jena is trying to uphold the temple by herself, but I spoke with her earlier today about what I am telling you. She has agreed to help you, if only avenge the death of her friends.”
I didn’t like this a bit. Burd was forcing me to take someone with me; some that I didn’t even know! Granted this Jena is an agent of the Blades. So I guess it couldn’t be too bad. And besides, I was trying to get away from the whole ‘everyone is against me’ attitude anyway.
“Alright, when shall I meet this Jena?”
“Right now, Rayden. Let us go speak with her so that the two of you may leave quickly. I am afraid Bruma is running out of time.”
The three of us walked out of the prisons, and then Burd ordered two soldiers talking to the jailor to take care of Maloney’s body clean up the blood as well. The soldiers reluctantly walked into the prison area while Janus and I followed Burd out into the cold once more.
Outside a Bruman officer had rounded up the citizens just as Burd had wished. He and other soldiers were asking them many questions, and some civilians were getting worried, some were getting angry.
“Molvar, after you are done speaking with the civilians, I want all soldiers to report to the castle.”
“All of them, Captain?”
“Yes, all of them. There is a rat in our ranks and I will find him no matter how long it takes. Make sure nobody enters or leaves the city.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldier said a bit questionably, and then walked away.
“The temple is outside of the city, on top of a large hill. We’ll take horses up there because I don’t feel like walking in the snow as of right now,” Burd said to Janus and I.
We left the city through the side entrance, and outside the horses were stabled in a large barn. A heavyset Nord was sitting in an old rickety chair, seemingly talking to his self. We walked up to the Nord and Burd asked to borrow some horses.
“Excuse me, but may we borrow three of your horses?”
The Nord looked up at Burd with his majestic blue eyes and responded, “Well of course, Captain! Me and Bruno here aren’t using em’ at the moment anyway.”
“May I ask who Bruno is?”
“My dog, of course! I found him running wild in the forest a few days ago. Cute, aint he?”
At first I didn’t see anything, but then a white ball of fur appeared out of nowhere. His fur was so white he blended in with the snow perfectly. The dog came over to get some attention, and Burd petted the dog for several seconds before the three of us walked over to get our horses. I mounted on mine, a black horse, while the other two did the same. Then we left the area and followed Burd. He took us across the snowy plains, towards a large mountain with a winding road going up. It took us nearly thirty minutes to get to the top of the mountain and the entire way we saw nothing but trees. Then, at last, we came upon an unusual looking structure. The walls went up extremely high into the air and there was only once entrance, a very large and high door that was open for just anyone to walk into.
“Here we are. As you can see the entrance is open. Yes, I realize that is dangerous, but since it is now only Jena that remains, she cannot scout atop the towers all day. Come; let’s meet your partner, Rayden.”
We walked up a long flight of stairs, and then we were face to face with the entry of the temple. There were entrances to the left and right, as while as in the middle. Burd explained that the left door led to the barracks, the right led to where the agents would eat, and the middle led to the lobby area. Burd then suggested that we check the lobby area, since it was almost nine o’clock in the evening, and that Jena always read by the fireplace at night.
So we opened the middle door and stepped inside the old structure. Inside, just as Burd had foretold. When she heard us close the door she turned away from the fireplace and said, “Well hello, Captain. How are you?”
“Not good, I’m afraid. Yourself?”
“I’ve gotten rid of most of the junk that’s been lying around. It shouldn’t be more than a day before everything is cleaned up. But I guess that’ll have to wait, given the mission I am about to embark on,” she said while winking.
“Yes, well, here is your partner, Rayden. He’s very skilled with stealth and security I hear. Count Janus Hassildor has very high praise for him I might add.”
Jena closed her book on a stool and got up to shake my hand. Her skin was very gentle, obviously because she was a girl. I also noticed that she was very pretty, for an Imperial at least. Her eyes were bright blue, almost mysterious in a way.
“Hello, Rayden. I’m glad to finally meet my partner. I promise you we will take down Mankar and he will pay for all of the grief he’s caused everyone. What is your reason for fighting against Mankar?”
“I, um, don’t want to see the province run by a tyrant such as him.”
My answer was rather dull and boring, but it was the truth. None of my friends have been killed or anything, only because I don’t have any friends. I was almost certain Jena would scoff at my comments, seeing as she was part of such a prestigious group like the Blades, but I was wrong and she accepted what I had to say.
“I agree. We can’t have something like that happening. So, has Captain Burd explained everything to you?”
I nodded.
“Good, then we can leave now?”
She was very anxious to get going, and I was impressed by her eagerness. No doubt she wanted to get her revenge.
“Yes, Jena, that would be wise; the quicker the better. What do you think, Janus?”
“I believe you are right, Burd. We are wasting time standing here,” he said smiling. “One thing though, Rayden, Once you do learn Mankar’s location I do not want you to return here. Simply find and eliminate him. Understand?”
I nodded again. “Very good, then off you two should go.”
“What about Martin? I need to speak to him for a minute.”
“No, Rayden, there is not enough time for that. You can speak to him when you return,” Janus said.
“Please, it’s very important. I need to…I…”
“You want to apologize to him, Rayden? Forget about it, I’m sure he’s okay. It’s time to leave; the Mythic Dawn is marching towards our city as we speak.”
I was about to argue further when the door opened and in came Martin.
“You were looking for me, Rayden?” He said, with a frown on his face. He walked over to me and got just inches away from my face. Anger was clear on his expression and right then I thought I had lost his friendship. But then he smiled and hugged me.
“I’m so sorry, Martin. I…I haven’t been thinking lately. I swear to you I will never have an attitude again.”
“Yeah, and I can fly,” he laughed. “Don’t worry about, Rayden. I know deep down inside you mean well. I saw you three riding up here, and I knew what was happening. You, see, Janus told me of the plan earlier. I just wanted to say goodbye and be careful. And don’t go and get captured this time!” He laughed again.
I laughed with him and shook his hand, not knowing if it was for the last time.
On to the next chapter
Janus and I followed Burd through a wooden door that led to a rather smelly hallway. At the end of the corridor was yet another door, this particular one leading to a small room with a desk, and I realized we were at the jailor’s office. There was a door that had been left wide open in the back left corner, and as soon as I noticed it an Imperial man walked out carrying a torch.
“Servious, how many times have I told you not to leave the door open?” Burd asked the man sternly.
The guard sat down in his chair behind the desk and said, “But sir, I was only helping the soldiers put away the traitor, or at least that’s what they called him anyways. What happened, Captain?”
“Never mind that now. Do not leave the door unattended to no matter what the circumstances are. Especially during these times I might add. Do you understand what I am saying? Am I being clear enough for you?”
I was very surprised at the way Burd was speaking to the guard. He was rude, and I know the guard probably deserved being reprimanded and all that, but Burd could probably have done it in a more respectable way. But of course it’s really none of my business what he does.
“Yes, sir, please forgive me,” the soldier replied.
“Also, do not let anyone into the dungeon while we are in there.” Burd said while pointing to Janus and me, as well as himself.
So then Burd motioned for us to follow him into the prison area, which we did. Burd closed the door behind us once we were in and then we walked down the aisle. There were not any prisoners except for the traitor. I was sure Burd was definitely proud of the low amount of inmates. As we neared the last cell on the left two Bruma soldiers were standing outside speaking with the prisoner.
“You may now leave,” Burd told the soldiers. They simply nodded, shook their heads in disgust at the traitor, and then left the area, closing the door behind them.
“Why?”
This is the only thing Burd asked the traitor, though he didn’t get anything out of it. The prisoner said not a word, but was weeping in the corner of the jail. It was very pathetic and I could tell Burd was already starting to get impatient. Janus and I simply stood out of the way while Burd spoke with the prisoner.
“Stop crying, Maloney. Why did you and Serantivous attack me?”
“I…I did not attack you, Captain. I could not bring myself to do so…unlike Serantivous. As you can see…he paid the ultimate price for his treachery.”
“You have not answered my question, Maloney. Who swayed you to Mankar’s side? I know that is who you’re working for, now tell me who’s poisoned your minds!”
Maloney was still crying, and now was huddled up into a ball in the corner of the cell. “I…I cannot say, Captain. They will have me killed if I say anything.”
“They? Who is they? Are they in the city right now? Do not be afraid, Maloney. I swear to you now that we will keep you safe. I promise you that.”
“No,” Maloney gasped loudly. “You do not know what is going on in your own city. There are many involved in this, Captain. I am afraid you will not succeed. Please forgive me, sir.”
Maloney then reached for a wooden knife with an iron tip that lay on a stool inside the cell. Burd knew what was about to happen and he immediately reached for his set of keys. He was fumbling with the key and attempting to unlock the cell, but it was too late. Maloney had had already jabbed the knife into his heart, and blood was spouting from his chest fast. But he was not dead just yet. Burd finally unlocked the cell and the three of us ran inside. Burd knelt down and grabbed Maloney by the shirt and said, “WHO IS IT? WHO HAS INFILTRATED OUR CITY?”
But Maloney only smiled for several seconds, and then died in Burd’s hands.
“NO!” Burd yelled out in frustration. He let go of Maloney’s shirt and stood up with his hands in his black and gray hair. “This is bad. I’ve got even more traitors walking around as we speak! What should we do?” He asked Janus.
“This is very bad indeed, Burd. There is virtually nothing you can do. I am sure there are more traitorous soldiers other than Maloney, but it will be almost impossible to figure out who they are. It seems we don’t even know who’s on our side anymore,” Janus said, and then sighed heavily. “I think you should tell Rayden what the plans are before anything else happens.”
Burd nodded and then started to speak. “Rayden, you are to travel to Anvil and find Ormellius Goldwine. He alone will no where Mankar is located and you will find the Altmer and kill him. Yes, I know plan sounds a little vague, but that’s basically it. Find Mankar and end this threat. I do not know you that well, but Janus brings high praise for you. He suggests that you are the only one who can defeat Mankar, for whatever reasons I have not yet seen, but I’m willing to trust the words of my old friend.”
High praise? I certainly didn’t expect something like that come from Janus. Even though he’s angry with the way I carry myself, it was sure good to know that he still believes in my ability.
“But, there’s a catch. Janus also tells me you don’t make friends easily and you trust hardly anyone. I realize you would probably like to conduct this mission alone, but I will not allow that. It is too dangerous for you to go all by yourself, and that is why I am sending the last living Blade to accompany you.”
“Blade, you mean the warriors that protect the Emperor?”
“Yes, that is exactly who I am talking about. Over the past weeks all of the Blades officers have been hunted down and assassinated. And I’m not talking about just in Cyrodiil. According to my source Blade agents from around Tamriel have been eliminated.”
“And who is that source of yours?”
“The last Blade herself, Jena. She resides now in Cloud Ruler Temple, still mourning the losses of her brothers and sisters. Jena is trying to uphold the temple by herself, but I spoke with her earlier today about what I am telling you. She has agreed to help you, if only avenge the death of her friends.”
I didn’t like this a bit. Burd was forcing me to take someone with me; some that I didn’t even know! Granted this Jena is an agent of the Blades. So I guess it couldn’t be too bad. And besides, I was trying to get away from the whole ‘everyone is against me’ attitude anyway.
“Alright, when shall I meet this Jena?”
“Right now, Rayden. Let us go speak with her so that the two of you may leave quickly. I am afraid Bruma is running out of time.”
The three of us walked out of the prisons, and then Burd ordered two soldiers talking to the jailor to take care of Maloney’s body clean up the blood as well. The soldiers reluctantly walked into the prison area while Janus and I followed Burd out into the cold once more.
Outside a Bruman officer had rounded up the citizens just as Burd had wished. He and other soldiers were asking them many questions, and some civilians were getting worried, some were getting angry.
“Molvar, after you are done speaking with the civilians, I want all soldiers to report to the castle.”
“All of them, Captain?”
“Yes, all of them. There is a rat in our ranks and I will find him no matter how long it takes. Make sure nobody enters or leaves the city.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldier said a bit questionably, and then walked away.
“The temple is outside of the city, on top of a large hill. We’ll take horses up there because I don’t feel like walking in the snow as of right now,” Burd said to Janus and I.
We left the city through the side entrance, and outside the horses were stabled in a large barn. A heavyset Nord was sitting in an old rickety chair, seemingly talking to his self. We walked up to the Nord and Burd asked to borrow some horses.
“Excuse me, but may we borrow three of your horses?”
The Nord looked up at Burd with his majestic blue eyes and responded, “Well of course, Captain! Me and Bruno here aren’t using em’ at the moment anyway.”
“May I ask who Bruno is?”
“My dog, of course! I found him running wild in the forest a few days ago. Cute, aint he?”
At first I didn’t see anything, but then a white ball of fur appeared out of nowhere. His fur was so white he blended in with the snow perfectly. The dog came over to get some attention, and Burd petted the dog for several seconds before the three of us walked over to get our horses. I mounted on mine, a black horse, while the other two did the same. Then we left the area and followed Burd. He took us across the snowy plains, towards a large mountain with a winding road going up. It took us nearly thirty minutes to get to the top of the mountain and the entire way we saw nothing but trees. Then, at last, we came upon an unusual looking structure. The walls went up extremely high into the air and there was only once entrance, a very large and high door that was open for just anyone to walk into.
“Here we are. As you can see the entrance is open. Yes, I realize that is dangerous, but since it is now only Jena that remains, she cannot scout atop the towers all day. Come; let’s meet your partner, Rayden.”
We walked up a long flight of stairs, and then we were face to face with the entry of the temple. There were entrances to the left and right, as while as in the middle. Burd explained that the left door led to the barracks, the right led to where the agents would eat, and the middle led to the lobby area. Burd then suggested that we check the lobby area, since it was almost nine o’clock in the evening, and that Jena always read by the fireplace at night.
So we opened the middle door and stepped inside the old structure. Inside, just as Burd had foretold. When she heard us close the door she turned away from the fireplace and said, “Well hello, Captain. How are you?”
“Not good, I’m afraid. Yourself?”
“I’ve gotten rid of most of the junk that’s been lying around. It shouldn’t be more than a day before everything is cleaned up. But I guess that’ll have to wait, given the mission I am about to embark on,” she said while winking.
“Yes, well, here is your partner, Rayden. He’s very skilled with stealth and security I hear. Count Janus Hassildor has very high praise for him I might add.”
Jena closed her book on a stool and got up to shake my hand. Her skin was very gentle, obviously because she was a girl. I also noticed that she was very pretty, for an Imperial at least. Her eyes were bright blue, almost mysterious in a way.
“Hello, Rayden. I’m glad to finally meet my partner. I promise you we will take down Mankar and he will pay for all of the grief he’s caused everyone. What is your reason for fighting against Mankar?”
“I, um, don’t want to see the province run by a tyrant such as him.”
My answer was rather dull and boring, but it was the truth. None of my friends have been killed or anything, only because I don’t have any friends. I was almost certain Jena would scoff at my comments, seeing as she was part of such a prestigious group like the Blades, but I was wrong and she accepted what I had to say.
“I agree. We can’t have something like that happening. So, has Captain Burd explained everything to you?”
I nodded.
“Good, then we can leave now?”
She was very anxious to get going, and I was impressed by her eagerness. No doubt she wanted to get her revenge.
“Yes, Jena, that would be wise; the quicker the better. What do you think, Janus?”
“I believe you are right, Burd. We are wasting time standing here,” he said smiling. “One thing though, Rayden, Once you do learn Mankar’s location I do not want you to return here. Simply find and eliminate him. Understand?”
I nodded again. “Very good, then off you two should go.”
“What about Martin? I need to speak to him for a minute.”
“No, Rayden, there is not enough time for that. You can speak to him when you return,” Janus said.
“Please, it’s very important. I need to…I…”
“You want to apologize to him, Rayden? Forget about it, I’m sure he’s okay. It’s time to leave; the Mythic Dawn is marching towards our city as we speak.”
I was about to argue further when the door opened and in came Martin.
“You were looking for me, Rayden?” He said, with a frown on his face. He walked over to me and got just inches away from my face. Anger was clear on his expression and right then I thought I had lost his friendship. But then he smiled and hugged me.
“I’m so sorry, Martin. I…I haven’t been thinking lately. I swear to you I will never have an attitude again.”
“Yeah, and I can fly,” he laughed. “Don’t worry about, Rayden. I know deep down inside you mean well. I saw you three riding up here, and I knew what was happening. You, see, Janus told me of the plan earlier. I just wanted to say goodbye and be careful. And don’t go and get captured this time!” He laughed again.
I laughed with him and shook his hand, not knowing if it was for the last time.
On to the next chapter