Gaenor: Reloaded Options

[ShraX]

I posted this on the official TES forums, and although it's not finished, I'll continue updating both here and there.

If you haven't read the other two stories I've written, one of them is in the Fan Fiction section of this site, and you can PM me for the other. There really is not much needed to know when reading this one, except who the already well-known characters such as Gaenor and Almalexia are.

Enjoy--

The Nerevarine lay a lifeless corpse upon the Mournhold Temple steps. His blood trickled out of the slashed openings in his neck, limbs and torso, and down each stair, leaving its stains as it went before collecting into a shapeless pool on the tiled courtyard floor. The High Ordinators were still, their armored masks hiding the looks of terror on their faces as they stared at their defeated savior. The Temple doors were now wide open, and Almalexia hovered at the entrance. Her Hands were nowhere in sight.

"My champion," she said softly in disbelief, her golden face emotionless. "Who is responsible for this?" She spoke quietly but the entire city heard her. A Hand emerged from the darkness of the Temple and removed his helmet., engraved with the Daedric runes for S and V. "Our guards watched the battle," he explained in his low, rumbling voice. "They dared not aid your Nerevar for fear of death by his murderer - the Bosmer, Gaenor." The Demigoddess floated down the stairs, over the the corpse of the Nerevarine and turned back to the Temple. "Salas, this wood elf has gotten his revenge, but Terenius' life is nowhere close to Nerevar's in worth. Remain here and clean this mess. I will find young Gaenor and speak with him." Her Hand bowed and ordered the two Ordinators, still in a stupor, to dispose of the Nerevarine's body, as well as those of the four slain Hands within the Temple. Almalexia's wrath was unbridalled, and vengeance consumed her. Her fury at the news of Nerevar's death manifested physically, killing all but her favored Hand, Salas Volar, in an explosion of goldy flames.

She flew from her place in the Temple courtyard high above the city and into the clouds which concealed the late afternoon sun's light. The moons were now more than halfway over the mountainous horizon and brought their stars with them. With a gesture of her wrist the dense clouds parted in two and the light of the lowering sun lit the city aglow. She closed her eyes and began searching for her prey. However, this was unnecessary. Almalexia expected this mortal to flee into hiding from her might, but he welcomed it. He was sitting on a bench in the Bazaar, doodling shapes in the dirt with his sword.

His armor was sundered, dented and sliced through. One pauldron was missing as well as both gauntlets and parts of his greaves. It wasn't clear to tell from his ebony armor, but he was covered in blood from head to toe. He leaned his blade on the bench and removed his helmet, then placed it over the hilt. It was hot and sweat was dripping from his forehead to his beard. He put both hands to his face and wiped it, and ran his fingers through his stiff hair. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, waiting with open arms for death's embrace.

Almalexia dove towards him like a starving hawk upon a field mouse, disintegrating the clouds with the aura of flame around her. This mortal wood elf defeated her martyr in combat and had the audacity to sit on a park bench in plain sight! Masser and Secunda were rising in unnatural quickness and the sun was already out of sight. The furious demigoddess did not realize in her blind rage, but Gaenor tore away from his hands and looked up past her to see it: both moons took position directly above him, Secunda in front. As they slowed to a stop everything around him turned pitch black, aside from the raging Almalexia, now halted in mid-air, as well as both moons.

The elf slowly stood and faced his enemy in partial confusion. After his ordeal he truly cared not what his fate was. 'An eye for an eye,' was his logic. 'She took Terenius and I take the Nerevarine.. but this is very strange. perhaps this witch's debt is still not repaid.' He walked past her toward the moons, which were glowing and pulsating with light, as if to communicate.

"Much has happened this day. We must speak."

[ShraX]

The citizens of Eredjan were in mixed feelings about their hero. He saved them from certain death at the marauding hands of Nels Llendo, in his crazed and blind bloodthirst, but shunned them when they offered their thanks. Opinions could be heard throughout the tavern for the following week. Some said he did it for himself, not for them. Others defended him and argued that he just did not know how to accept congratulations, and that he had been in Skyrim for years alone, away from civilization. A few even claimed that he and Nels were partners, but the Bosmer got too greedy and decided to kill him so he could sack their town by himself. None of them truly knew for certain why Gaenor had acted the way he did, but no one dared confront him about it, as they valued their lives and feared his power.

Two days after the battle, he left early in the morning headed southwest to the Imperial City. His map did not show the smaller, more insignificant landmarks of Skyrim and Cyrodiil, so he planned on asking where Goldstone Ridge was there, as not a single person in Eredjan would answer him. After all, Azura mentioned seeking out the prince, and perhaps he could speak to the Emperor himself about his exact whereabouts. There was also the matter of why he was to speak with him in the first place.. Gaenor still knew absolutely nothing of his quests' purpose, but only that it was of dire importance and hopefully led to the destruction of Iranon and Henar.

The grassy hills stretched for miles beyond even his far sight. He felt renewed after his rest in the small town, and found himself leaping from hilltop to hilltop at a rather quick pace. Although they were small, only a Bosmer used to hopping treebranches in Valenwood could successfully and gracefully move with the speed and efficiency that the elf did. At one point he was forced to pause after realizing he'd cut the back of his leg on a thorn bush. The blood trickled down his ankle and onto the rustling grass. Once again reminded of his curse, as he thought of it, he tore off his left sleeve and fashioned a makeshift tourniquet, then promptly continued on with heightened speed. Constantly, anger brewed within him over both his enemies' inexcusable and monstrous actions, and what he had become; a creature void of all feeling.

He passed farms, villages, lone homesteads, and roads at times. The Imperials stared at him, if they were ever even fortunate enough to spot him leaping across the fields, in utter confusion. He hardly noticed anything aside from the horizon, however, and focused on it until he met with the capital city's walls. At his incredible speed, it wasn't long before he arrived.. but Cyrodiil City had more security than he had expected. He stopped suddenly and examined his obstacles: a three-mile-long moat, a ten-story-tall plateau and another three-story stone wall surrounding it on all sides. There was no conceivable way to enter, so he thought on it for a short while. 'Forcing through would not work.. I don't want innocent deaths. No peaceful entry seems available. There is not a clear path inside.'

"It has been half a month since we last spoke, Gaenor."

The elf turned to find the stranger from Snowfold standing directly behind him, looking at the city walls far in the distance. "There is no way in save for being an Imperial and asking at the main gate. I do believe your ears are far too sharp to be considered human." Gaenor was not surprised, as he heard him throughout his journey across the hills, but he was slightly impatient with him. "Tell me your name and why you're helping me." The tall man chuckled to himself and once again removed his top hat. "I am called Naztheril by most.. directly translated it means..." The Bosmer interrupted with the answer, "Beast of the Night Sky". The stranger laughed louder this time and put his large hand on Gaenor's shoulder. "Tell me, before you and I enter the city, how do you know this? What have you heard of me?"

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