Light through Darkness, You asked for it, so here you go. Options

[Thomas Kaira]

It's getting close to Christmas, and I'll be away on Holiday to New York for a few days, so I decided to post this now so that you know I am at work. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Black and White

The suffocating darkness was broken only by the soft blue glows of unnaturally luminescent crystals. The high vaulted ceilings may have leant a feeling of grandeur before, but now felt strangely claustrophobic, as if the walls would close in and crush you at any moment. I was gliding softly through the blackness, guided only by the winking blue lights, following them through what seemed a maze of corridors and passageways.

Suddenly, the walls opened, and in front of me stood a grand chamber, it would have been spectacular had it not been so sinister. The entire chamber was bathed in red light, and strange, black figures were moving about, neither knowing nor caring where their feet carried them. In the center stood a high raised platform, and there another figure stood, emblazoned in armor that seemed sucked the light in from around him, and I was moving towards him. Try as I might, I could not fight the savage need to know whom this man was. I wanted to cry out, scream for help, but my tongue had become iron.

Closer…closer…ever closer I inched, feeling the icy metal flood to my limbs. The figure turned to face me, his eyes glowed a fiery red…


----



Ice cold sweat drenched my face as my head soared from my pillow, my breathing shallow and ragged. Feeling something in my hand, I looked down to see my steel dagger in my hand… how did it get there? Did I pull it out of my pack in my slumber?

I dropped the dagger to the floor, returning my head to the pillow. All a dream, I thought, just a dream, another dream. Calm down Derelas, it’s nothing to worry about. Old news.


----


The Imperial City was only half a day’s journey from Wawnet Inn, as the publican told me over breakfast. Just follow the high street out of town to the Great West Bridge over Lake Rumare, and follow the road from there straight to the gates. It was a lovely clear day outside, and the bridge was not hard to find when I left, the white marble spires framing the road practically burned new holes in my eyes.

The morning bustle was only just beginning as I made my way forth. A balding fisherman was making his way home with his morning catch of some of the biggest Slaughterfish I’ve ever seen. Many of the travelers who slept the night here were gathering their horses and pack mules to continue on to wherever it was they were going. Many others still were filing into the small stores nearby. It was a simple, yet elegant, vista of pastoral harmony.

Forcing my eyes away from the scene, I directed my feet toward the Great Blinding Bridge and made a silent note to thank Y’ffre if I could still see after crossing.

The bridge led to a switchback road up the steep incline of the Imperial Isle, many rocks blocking my view of the city proper. It was just after midday when I finally crested the hill. I was greeted with… more whitewashed walls. It might have been an awe-inspiring sight had I been able to see anything at all, but I ended up having to walk the whole rest of the way with my arm up shielding my eyes because of how brightly polished the marble was. I know this city is supposed to be the shining beacon of the Empire and all, but wow... you think you might be taking this a bit too far? I was quite thankful to finally reach the gates proper, just to be able to see again.

Once I closed distance with the walls, though, the blinding marble gave way to gray granite. Still not to be outdone, the stone was impeccably carved and rose into an imposing Gothic archway housing a raised portcullis and a well-polished bronze gate flanked by two men in flashy steel armor, flaming red feather plumes rising from their helmets… Imperial Legion Centurions.

“Welcome to Cyrodiil City.” One of them voiced to me. They then marched in unison to the great bronze doors and threw them open with an impressive flourish. “Enjoy your stay, citizen.”

I passed through the gates to a scene unlike I’d ever seen before. Instead of the peaceful maritime bustle of Weye, here it was an outright cacophony of voices, footsteps, shrieks, and hoof beats as people large and small jostled this way and that about their daily lives. The huge crowd, from the super-rich in fine linens to the street urchins with no more than stained sack cloth, pattered every which way you could think of past white marble buildings so tall they seemed to wall away the sky. Such a dizzying sight made me begin to wonder if I could ever find the Arcane at all, so I ducked into a shaded back street to pull out my map.

“Looking for something, citizen?” A passing legionary inquired.

“Yes, I’m looking for the Arcane University.” I responded, hoping this guy might be able to make some sense out of this madhouse.

“You’re in Talos Plaza," the legionary told me, indicating a gold sign nearby:

“Talos Plaza. IMPERIVM AD VITAM AETERNAM”

“Just follow Septim Way through Talos Plaza, take a right on Green Emperor Way, follow it around until you reach Stendarr Loop, and it will take you straight to the University.”

Follow who-da, take a right on what-da until I reach where-da? Thankfully, the guard noticed my blank look and handed me a new map, this time of the city itself, and noted everything he told me on it.

“Thanks.”

“We’re here to serve.” The guard brought two fingers to his helmet in salute before clanking away. I started to wonder why guards weren’t this helpful all the time, given my experience at the customs office on my way in from Valenwood, but soon did a double take. This was the Imperial City, after all. The Empire does have an image to maintain.

It took another hour just to find Green Emperor Way. I got lost twice in the crowds and at one point found myself filing my way down Septim Ave. rather than Septim Way, causing me to mumble curses under my breath for the Empire’s shameless lack of originality as I turned back. I eventually fought my way through the chaos of Talos Plaza, and the astounding noise of the crowd died instantly as I crossed the threshold of Green Emperor Way, giving way to a subdued, formal silence, and I felt a strange, liquid-like sensation pass over my skin, probably a spell to help keep the noise out.

“Please show your respect for the Imperial Palace by keeping your voice down.” A guard in blazing white armor decorated with dragons told me as I entered, and I joined the now near-silent crowd making their way along the road. Most of the time my view of White Gold Tower was blocked by the many high-rising buildings, mostly fine hotels and apartments for the city’s wealthiest citizens surrounding the Palace Road, but every so often I would pass a colossal iron gate barring the way to the Palace proper, and was able to steal a glance of the immense structure beyond the veil. It seemed to rise forever towards the heavens, perhaps ascending to touch the face of Aetherius itself, the marble walls were so well polished and maintained it was no wonder I was blinded on my way in, and almost completely blocked by the rest of the city, I could make out the royal graves. Such a sight, already breathtaking from here, must inspire awe when seen from outside the walls; a way of saying: “We are the most powerful society in this land today. To challenge us is to challenge the will of the Nine themselves.”

I felt myself smiling faintly as I turned onto Stendarr Loop.


----


Two shrouded figures crested a flight of stairs bathed in crimson light, where another shadowy figure sat upon a throne of black stone signaled them halt. They obeyed, and then sunk into a low bow.

“What news?” His voice rang with command as he spoke.

“Derelas just arrived yesterday.”

“And now?”

“He left for the Imperial City this morning.”

The cloaked man frowned, this might complicate things a bit; our kind is not welcome there. But no matter, he won’t stay forever.

“What else did you discover?”

“He’s searching for them, and he wants the Mages Guild’s help.”

Mages Guild? The shadowed man smiled, his red eyes lit aflame with amusement at the very idea. The Mages were fools. They had no idea what they were allowing to happen under their very noses. To think they could keep us at bay locked away like dogs. They would be in for a rude awakening, and soon.

“Good. Keep an eye on him. I want to know the instant he leaves.”

“As you wish, Lord.”

The two shrouded figures bowed again, then turned to leave themselves. The red-eyed man smiled to himself. Soon the pieces would be in place. The 433rd Year of the Third Era would soon become forever etched in history.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Dec 31 2010, 06:44 AM

[Thomas Kaira]

@rider: High praise indeed from you. I wasn't expecting to be S.G.M'd this early on. Thank you for that.

@Rick: Thank you for your kind words, You'll find out more about the yews, and what they hide, very soon.

@Acadian: I, too, recognize the importance of a good main character. When it comes to the plot, I enter each chapter, act, and full story with a beginning and an end in mind, but nothing else. I don't bother to outline the individual chapters, since this story is that of my character's. I want his voice to come through, and his experiences, not mine, or how I felt it should play out. Just having that start point and end point does do a lot, though, and allows me to build towards an ultimate goal. I have a very good memory, so although I may not have penned all my ideas, my musings for this story go all the way to the final climax at this point. Rest assured I will see it through to the end.

@SubRosa: Indeed, that was the last time he saw them.

@Hammerzeit: Ask Trayvond! The new hit carnival show! As for your little game, I'd place a wager, but I'm afraid I would have to be disqualified for obvious bias... and may perhaps with my omnipotence, I might just already know the outcome.

@Grits: Yes, what is in those yews? Trolls? Giants? Flesh-eating tomatoes? You'll find out soon enough.

@mALX: Your kind words are always appreciated. Let me reiterate my happiness for your good news with Dixie here. I hope she enjoyed her doggie-treat from Simone!

@all: I see I've gathered a lot of praise for my usage of Black Horse Courier. One of the trademarks of this story is the fact that Dere has very little interest in the Main Quest, and thus we learn about its effects indirectly. This is quite a departure from the nature of the game, so I'm glad to here it's working out so well. Expect to see more from Hassiri as we progress.

next: Our travels within the Ancient Yews begin...

Chapter 4-2: The Ancient Yews

The world had ended. My eyes were staring across a vast, rocky rift in the landscape all but concealed by the dense forest undergrowth. Thank the Gods I didn’t fall in, that would’ve been a nasty plummet. The stream I had been relying on to guide me now tumbled over the cliff with a roar rivaling the deluge I had fled from outside. The ledge was far too high to jump from, and even then, there was no telling how deep the tiny pond below would be. I had no choice in the matter, I would have to find a way around.

Lightning flashed violently overhead as I made my way across the top of the cliff face, and the thunderclap that followed not long after sent chills down my spine, not because it was so loud, but because of how unnirnly quiet it was. Despite the torrent overhead, the entire forest was utterly still and completely silent. It was like the towering yews had stolen the voice of the heavens, and all that existed now was within their gnarled branches and broad trunks. The longer I spent within, the more I felt I was venturing not into the unknown of the wilderness… but into the iron shackles of a prison. I briefly paused to string my bow and load the quiver at my hip.

Time itself had become a nonexistent entity, and so it escaped me exactly when I finally met the stream again. It was still swollen from the deluge above that still had yet to abate, but now the sound of its babbling had become mixed with another… a faint shrieking wail. Was this some new undiscovered sound of the storm above? Was it some strange new forest sound? The light wail then slowly rose in crescendo to a screaming shriek, dispelling any idea that it was a sound of the storm. Not long after, the swirling black cloud of a new storm, one of bats, came surging through the still shadow.

I threw myself to the ground with a yell as the swarm of bats passed overhead, shrieking themselves hoarse and their wings a such furious flutter they might have knocked each other out of the air with a touch. Every so often, one would brush against the exposed skin of my arms, greeting me with the bone-chilling brush of their furry bodies and the occasional pinpricks of needle-sharp teeth. By the time they were finally gone, my entire body was covered in their souvenir nibbles.

Before I could rise, however, a new sound greeted my ears… that of footsteps in the grass. My eyes rose to meet a familiar raven-haired, ashen-skinned face. I felt my face beginning to burn, this was not how I would’ve wanted her to find me, sprawled on the ground after having just become bat-food.

“What in the name of Kynareth are you doing in here?” Faith’s disapproving voice came sharply through the brambles as she returned her bow to her back. Not even an echo resounded through the trees. “What are you doing down there?” she then added as I got to my unsteady feet.

“Having an early dinner with some new friends,” I retorted snidely, coaxing a small healing spell to my fingertips. The open nibble marks on my arms promptly vanished, though an itchy feeling remained behind. It wasn’t all that powerful a spell. My parents taught it to me when I was a child so I could ease my pain if I got hurt until I got back home so they could see to the wound properly. Apart from that, it wasn’t much to speak of.

“Aren’t you the party boy,” she returned, her voice heavy with that same disapproval as she moved in to grab the arm I just healed, “come on, I’m taking you out of this place.”

“What’s to run from?” I asked rather aggressively, pulling my arm out of her reach, “I can take care of myself, you know.”

“Like you did with those bats?” Faith argued back, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “Brilliant, inspired, I’m sure General Phillida will be most astounded by your hereto unknown tactical genius.”

“Slaughterfish bite your butt?” I scathed back to her, stung, “Perhaps you might wait and see for yourself before you make any judgement?”

Our increasingly heated argument was then cut short by a rumbling growl, followed by a throaty bark that broke the stagnant air like a whipcrack. A huge, black-furred wolf pounced from the nearby bushes right for Faith. Caught unawares, it threw her to the floor, its toothy maw a vice upon her arm as she yelled in shock and surprise.

My right hand dove to my quiver as I filled my lungs with the forest air. Slowly, I let half of it go as I nocked a steel-headed arrow and drew the string back. I quickly tensed my muscles, listening to the creaking wood as the bow staff followed, my eyes deeply focused upon the dark creature savaging the elf. Then, satisfied I would strike true, my fingers upon the flaxen string loosed.

A fleshy thud greeted my ears as the arrow buried itself deep in the wolf’s torso. This was immediately followed by a loud yelp, and then the body went limp. After several seconds, Faith pushed the creature off of her, a vicious curved dagger in her uninjured hand dyed red by the creature’s blood. Replacing my bow onto my back, I moved over to help Faith up.

“I did tell you I knew what I was doing,” I stated simply, holding out my hand to her.

“Well, aren’t you my glowing hero,” Faith replied, voice heavy with irony. She quickly got to her feet, refusing my hand, and quickly checked over her arm. The bite had gone deep, straight through the hardened leather clad upon her skin, and the wound was bleeding freely. She quickly reached into a side-pocket of her own rucksack, removed a small vial filled with swirling red liquid, bit off the stopper, and drained it.

“I hope you see why we can’t stay here, now,” Faith continued, tossing the empty bottle to the ground and examining her now uninjured hand, “Shadow Wolves aren’t even close to the most vicious creatures you’ll find in these woods.”

“Point taken,” I replied icily, “right back the way we came in, I presume?”

“Naturally,” Faith answered, wiping her dagger on the wolf’s dark fur before sheathing it and grabbing her bow off the ground. “We’d better get moving before it gets… wait, what was that?”

A dull thudding noise was now making its way towards our little grove. The sounds were synchronized, which indicated more footsteps. Something very large indeed was approaching; probably because it had heard the racket that enormous wolf made, or perhaps it could smell the fresh blood.

I turned my gaze back in the direction Faith had proposed, but the undergrowth was so dense and the tiny trail so confused it was impossible to see anything within a few feet away. Nevertheless, my ears told me the creature was coming from there.

“Whatever it was, it’s coming from the way you want to go,” I repeated aloud, though at not much more than a whisper. *THUD* “And it’s getting closer,” I added not long after, nocking a second arrow and tensing my bow’s flaxen string.

“And you’re going to fight it?” Faith whispered back in bemused disbelief, “What are you going to do, stub his toes?”

“I’m going to be prepared, unless you have a better idea,” I retorted sternly. *THUD* Why did she find it so hard to just bite her tongue and trust in me right now? Didn’t this wretched place make it obvious enough we would need to work together to get out of here?

*CRASH*

An enormous, furry, three-eyed monstrosity smashed his way through the bramble thicket we were staring at so intently. He took one glance at us, then opened his maw filled with glistening sharp teeth and let out a throaty howl, beating his long, clawed arms to his chest.

“How about run!” Faith cried out. I didn’t need telling twice, quickly returning my arrow to quiver, I turned tail and dashed away as quick as I could in the opposite direction of the creature, Faith not far on my heels.

Our feet took us through bramble thickets with treetops so thick no rain could even hope to penetrate their suffocating, tangled branches and tiny clearings. Saplings had mysteriously managed to take hold in what little light they provided, and their roots were drowning in the torrent from above. Every so often, one of us would glance back, but the sight was always the same. The giant creature in hot pursuit remained ever present upon our eyes. The noise he made in his pursuit was deafening, be it crashing through overgrown hedges or tearing his way through the tangled mesh of low-hanging branches. Despite the racket, it still amazed me how none of our sounds seemed to echo. It was like the shadows within this forest were feeding off of them.

My clothes were being torn to shreds by the constant diving through the leafy thickets and thorny brush, and I was using my bow more than I would have liked to shield my face from lashing branches, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was to keep that thing from killing me right now. I danced my way through the city of trunks, gently hopping the many exposed roots. If my foot were to be caught in one, I knew it would be over. I don’t know how long I ran, but I soon reached another clearing. This one much larger than the tiny holes in the canopy we passed last. There was but one problem, the world had ended… again.

I barely brought myself to a skidding halt upon the slick, water-smoothed rocks of the brand new cliff face, fighting for balance. If it weren’t for Faith quickly grabbing hold of the scruff of my shirt and pulling me back, I might have gone over. I noticed her make a quick motion with one of her hands, a small trail was on the other side of the stream, winding its way uphill. Wasting no time, we quickly leapt across the swollen, roaring stream and dashed our way along.

A deafening howl sounded from behind, telling us we still had not managed to shake the beast. Ignoring the protests of my heart and lungs, I pushed myself to just continue running as fast as I could. It wasn’t hard to find motivation, not with death hot on my heels.

“There, get in that cave!” Faith shouted back to me, indicating a small hole in a nearby rock face big enough to admit us, but not our assailant. As quick as we could, we sprinted to the entrance, and dove inside.

“Stay there!” Faith commanded me, conjuring a small flame into her hand to light a torch as she made her way back to the mouth of the cavern.

“Are… you… insane?!” I shouted after her, panting deeply, “what on Nirn… do you think… you’re doing?”

The three-eyed beast had rumbled his way to the entrance. He took one look inside, then let out another low howl before pounding a gigantic clawed fist against the rock, sending vast thickets of dust tumbling from the ceiling. After quickly stepping back to avoid being possibly crushed, Faith then continued forward until she was as close to the creature as she dared, and waved her torch violently.

“GET AWAY!” She screamed, brandishing the torch as if it were a sword, “BACK! BACK!”

The creature gave another low howl, but flinched violently away from the flaming stick held by the Dunmer. She swung at it again, and he staggered back, staring intently at the flickering fire with an unmistakable fear in his three eyes. One more swing, and he stampeded away.

Breathing deeply, and clutching a stitch at her side, Faith then tossed the torch down on the cave floor at the mouth and returned inside.

“Troll,” she replied to my quizzical expression, “quite strong, but they come with a mortal fear of fire.”

“And a voracious appetite,” I added, wind and voice slowly returning to me, “fast, too.”

“Okay… well, looks like we don’t have much choice anymore,” Faith began thinking aloud, wiping her brow clean of sweat and rain, “We’re too deep into this forest now, and that troll will be waiting for us to go back the way we came. We’re just going to have to go south and hope for the best.”

She sighed deeply, then turned to look to me. Though I expected hatred and dislike in her eyes for the predicament we now found ourselves in, what I saw instead surprised me. Concern filled her gaze, as well as a relentless determination. I found myself silently thanking her for having sense enough to not toss blame around and spread discourse and hatred when lives most obviously depended on cooperation. It may have been a ludicrous thought, but perhaps she was genuinely worried for my safety?

“Looks like you got your wish,” she then said flatly. “I hope you kept your wits about you in our little jog, you’re going to need them. We’ve got two days of this nightmarish woodland in front of us now.”

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 19 2011, 06:28 AM