Children of the Void, The sequel to The Story of the Listener Options

[Kayla]

I walked down the winding path of the hill until I reached the base. The surviving guards and villagers alike were resting at a makeshift campsite. Small tents were pitched everywhere, most of them made of quilts or cloth wall hangings. The area was littered with odd items, such as paintings, chests, pillows, shovels, and small cloth sacks, most of them empty.

A Redguard woman sat near a small fire, cooking something in a pot. Her face was covered in ash and dirt and a small child clung to her leg, crying. People of all ages who occupied the camp were crippled with grief over the loss of loved ones and property. Many people were crying, and those who weren’t were sitting or standing near the tents, talking quietly. Injured people lay on the ground, some of them were being tended to, but most weren’t.

I walked through the campsite, watching the pitiful scene. There were more survivors than I thought. Suddenly, something grabbed my foot. I looked down to see a man with graying hair, a large, bleeding wound in his chest.

“Please… lady… sit with me.” he rasped.

I nodded, and sat down on the grass next to the man. I knew he wouldn’t live much longer. He was an Imperial, dressed in a regular brown robe. His face was contorted in pain and deathly pale.

“Thank you, miss. You are too kind…” he said.

I didn’t know why I was sitting with this man. I didn’t know why I had helped that woman in the city. I should have been trying to find the guard captain, and if he was still alive through all this chaos, I was supposed to be burying a dagger in his back.

“I think we all fear dying alone…” the man said, pulling me from my thoughts. “I never thought I would… I had a family, a very loving family…my wife… she was too good for me, my son… always made me so proud… he’s a member of the Imperial Legion… But, I haven’t seen my son in awhile… my wife is dead… killed by a damned Dremora.”

He paused, coughing violently, and spraying a fine mist of blood into the air.

“I tried to protect her… but, I was too weak… I’m just a priest after all… but, I know… I know my son could have protected us…"

He clutched his wound, but blood seeped through his fingers.

"I was always against violence… I wanted him to be a priest just like his old man… I was a little upset when he joined the Legion… but, he’s become a fine warrior… I only wish… he… was here… I only wish I could see him... just one more time... I don't want him to know that his father died... here... like this... but at least I'm not dying alone... and I no longer have anything to fear...”

The flames from the burning city lit up the sky, making the shadows move and dance around us. What wasn’t cloaked in shadow was bathed in an orange glow. I watched as the man winced in pain. He would die soon.

“Thank you, miss… may you always walk with Kynareth…” he whispered.

His brown eyes widened, and he let out one last breath, before his body went limp and his eyes closed.

I stood and looked toward the city. I scanned the crowd of survivors in the camp, looking for anyone who even remotely resembled a guard captain. I sighed, not seeing anyone save for weeping civilians. Some of them were weeping over corpses, but I didn't see anyone coming to weep over the man I had just watched die. Somehow, I doubted anyone would.

As I scanned the crowd for the second time, I noticed a figure in a black cloak standing near a tent. Stunned and confused, I quickly walked forward, pursuing them. It looked like the person I’d bumped into at the Arcane University. What were they doing here? Were they following me? Why?

Suddenly, there was a very loud crash of thunder. Involuntarily, I looked up to the sky. When I looked back down, the figure was gone. The sky began pouring rain. Each and every eye in the camp cast its gaze toward the city on the hill. A guard came running down the path.

“Another gate is opening in front of the city gates! A huge one!” He yelled over the sound of the rain.

All around me, the people who were capable of taking up arms did so and began to run up the hill.

“What is there left to protect?” I asked myself as I watched them run to the ruined city.

I sighed and followed them. I still had a contract to fulfill.

At the top of the hill, I joined the people as they watched in terrified awe, a very large wall of flame form right in front of the city gate. Almost immediately, floods of Daedra came pouring out.

“Don’t let them get down the hill!” A commanding voice yelled.

As the people ran forward, their swords raised high, I looked to the source of the voice. I spied an Imperial man, wearing captain’s armor. I smiled.

“I could kill him right now and no one would even know who did it…”

I worked my way through the small army and the Daedra, keeping my gaze fixed on the captain.

“Someone go in there!” He yelled. “We’ve got to find a way to close it!”

Just as I was within a few feet of the captain, a flame antronach jumped between us. Cursing out loud, I began slashing it. Inside, I was yelling at myself for losing focus on my environment. This whole situation was stressing me out too much... I couldn't let it get to me. My job was too dangerous to lose focus like this. The captain definitely noticed the Daedra and helped me take it down.

“I admire your fighting skill!” he yelled over the sounds of war around us.

Before I could say anything in reply, he grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him.

“We need someone to go inside and close that gate! A lot of men have gone in already, and the gate still isn’t closed! We need someone else to try!”

I looked at him blankly.

“You’ve lost something here, haven’t you?! We’ve got to show those Daedra what they’re dealing with!” he screamed.

Then, without warning, he tightened his grip on my arm and hurled me toward the towering wall of fire.

“Damn!” I yelled as my right shoulder connected with the wet ground, making a small splash.

I stood up, rubbing my shoulder. I was more surprised by his strength than hurt. Perhaps he would be harder to kill than I originally thought… I stared up at the wall of flame, the gate to Oblivion, and over the yelling of the people and roar of the Daedra, I heard a familiar, yet distant voice.

“Listener!”

As I turned around to face the voice, something hit me. Literally. Whatever it was hit me with such force, that I was sent careening right into the wall of fire.

[Black Hand]

NiiiiIIICcccE!

Keep it up!

[jack cloudy]

I have the feeling our Guard Captain is the man's son. Nice update, though now I wonder who shouted listener.

[The Metal Mallet]

A very intriguing update Kayla. I liked the dying man part particularly. I, too, am curious about who had called out to Sarelle. But now she has bigger concerns...

It'll be interesting to see how long she works with the Captain before she decides to kill him or if she even does.

[Kayla]

I have another update for you guys! And a very happy Thanksgiving tomorrow for the Americans!
----
For the second time that night, I found myself lying on the ground. This ground, however, was hot, cracked and very dry. I quickly found my feet and stood to see Ro’Vir smiling insidiously as his tail flicked.

“I have you now, Listener!” he hissed, shifting into an offensive stance and brandishing his claws.

Sighing, I took a moment to look around. Where we were now was completely different from ruined Kvatch. The sky was cloudless and blood red. I could see rivers of bright yellow lava and tall ebony towers in the distance. The sparse patches of grass were stunted and twisted. They cracked as they moved in the occasional, hot and gritty wind. On the ground all around us lay the charred bodies of both Daedra and men.

I turned my attention back to Ro’Vir, who was still ready to strike me, and then I began to laugh uncontrollably. He growled in apparent frustration.

“What is it?” he asked, exasperated. His lips curled up, revealing sharp white teeth.
“Do you remember what you told me earlier?” I asked between amused gasps for air.

“I will be the one to send you to hell, Listener.”

He titled his head slightly in confusion. “No…”
“You said you would send me to hell… Well you just did!” I said, laughing harder.

His eyes lit up and he began to laugh as well. "Wow. I guess I did.” The silver blade on the tip of his tail made whistling noises as it cut through the air.

His countenance became serious. “Wouldn’t it be great to die in Oblivion? Your soul wouldn’t have to travel very far at all.” He said, squinting his yellow eyes.
“Yeah, Ro’Vir. Wanna try it?” I asked.

He growled and leapt at me. I stepped out of the way of his attack, giving a little more room to dodge that deadly blade on his tail. As he turned to face me, I made my way around him. I jumped over him, grabbed his neck, shoved him to the ground, and then dragged him over to a pit of molten lava. I lifted him up, and held him right over it. He gulped and looked down, holding his tail up to avoid having it burned off his body.

“Now listen to me, Ro’Vir. I have a contract straight from the Night Mother. It’s urgent, and this is a very bad time for me to be away from the sanctuary. I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to kill me.” I hissed, angrily.

He glanced down at the bubbling lava again.

”Hey!” I heard a voice from behind me.

I looked over my right shoulder to see an Imperial man dressed in the Kvatch city guard chainmail armor. He was half running, half limping toward us. I cursed under my breath, pulled Ro’Vir up and set his feet firmly on the ground, then turned around completely to face the man. He was being almost playfully chased by a Clannfear. It would run up behind him, claw his back, then fall behind just to close the distance between them again to nibble at his neck with its beaked mouth.

The Clannfear was a very annoying Daedra. Though they were relatively short in stature, they were strong and hardy, as well as extremely fast. They had very sharp claws on their small hands, and strong feet that could very easily and quickly disembowel a man. I found them most useful to conjure in battle, but they were a hassle to fight.

“Help me, please!” the man screamed. His voice was hoarse and his face was red.

I looked down and spotted a quiver containing a few ebony arrows. Whoever had once owned the quiver was lying dead on the ground and burned beyond recognition a few feet away. I grabbed an arrow, summoned a bound longbow and quickly took aim at the Clannfear in the distance. When I had a clear shot, I let the arrow fly. It hit the Clannfear between the eyes, almost instantly killing it.

The man slowly made his way toward us. When he finally got within earshot, he thanked us breathlessly. I could see that he was bleeding from a nasty looking wound on his leg, which he occasionally covered with his hand.

“Lets get out of here before more Daedra show up.” I said, looking at the Oblivion gate. I was sure we could get out the same way we’d come in.
“No!” the injured man protested. “The Daedra took my friend, Claudius to that tower!” He pointed at one of the tall dark towers in the distance.

I sighed, and looked into the man’s frightened blue eyes. “Listen, it’s far too dangerous, especially if you’re injured. Forget about your friend. It’s probably too late for him now.”
“He wouldn’t forget about me!” the man exclaimed, emotionally.

Ro’Vir shifted uncomfortably. I could tell he didn’t want to be here any more than I did. Quickly, I reviewed the events of the past few days in my head, wondering how I’d even gotten mixed up in all of this.

Suddenly, the guard captain, as well as a few men, came through the Oblivion gate.

“Look! There’s a tower!” he yelled, pointing. “There has to be a way to close the gate there!”
I shook my head. I was in for a long night.

The injured man’s eyes lit up and he limped over to his superior. “Captain! The Daedra took Claudius to that tower!” The captain turned to the men he was obviously leading. “They have one of our own in there! We must save him! For Kvatch!”

”For Kvatch!” The men echoed.

The captain pointed a commanding finger at Ro’Vir and me. “You two! Breton and Khajiit! Come with us! Help us save what is left of Kvatch!” I could see why this man had been marked for assassination. He had a very abrasive personality.

Reluctantly, I stepped forward, joining their ranks, and Ro’Vir followed. I needed to find a way to kill this man, and a little tour through Oblivion would be enjoyable, I was sure.

This post has been edited by Kayla: Nov 23 2006, 02:19 AM

[Black Hand]

Savlian? Not him!

Once more you fail to dissapoint me!

[The Metal Mallet]

If that is Savlian, I fear he's walked into a cauldron of boiling water, surrounded by man-eating Daedra, who are being commanded by wall of flaming death.

Anyways, excellent update Kayla. Now this guard captain is actually making two of the deadliest assassins in the Dark Brotherhood help him in defeating the Daedra. We'll see if he manages to spare his life through his actions...

[Kayla]

Expect a nice update sometime soon! I've been swamped with work and school trying to get everything done before the holidays, but I haven't forgotten you guys!

[jack cloudy]

Oh yeah, we'll be waiting for ya!

[Lord Revan]

Awesome, new update soon! I can understand completely with the plight of last week before winter breack stress syndrome. In English class, they're making us do a project where we cut alliterations, consonances, assonances, and a whole host of other junk out of a perfectly good magazine. And then we have to write narratives and Hiakus (sp./ japanese peom with 5-7-5 sylabelles on each line).

Seriously, it seems that they drill things into us that we'll never use unless we specialize in it. I mean if we can write at least half-decent stories then I think we can survive without knowing how to write poems and cut things out of magazine ads. It's enough to drive someone crazy!

Anyway sorry to rant, I anxiously await the next update.

[Kayla]

Sorry the holidays were a bit more than I expected. But, I have given you guys the gift of a rather long update! Hope you are all doing well! And Revan: I know exactly how you feel. I too, have an insane English teacher.
----
We fought our way through clusters of Daedra over the rough terrain, slowly but surely making our way toward the ebony towers. After killing a Dremora, I managed to find a beautiful Daedric dagger on its body. I had always admired the undeniable uniqueness of Daedric weapons.

Though I found the fighting rather easy, one of the guards with us was killed before we could even reach the towers, and I was positive the bloodshed wouldn’t stop there.

When we arrived at the towers, a quick scouting of the area revealed that only one of them had a ground entrance. The ebony towers were connected high above us by a long, thin bridge.

It took all of our combined strength to push open one of the massive doors at the tower’s entrance, and I was the first one to walk inside with Ro’Vir behind me. I was pleased that he hadn’t tried to kill me since our little talk. The guard captain had taken to helping the injured man walk, with the help of another guard. The other guard with them did whatever the captain told him to do. I was intrigued by his blind obedience.

The lower floor of the tower was very dark. A few torches of blue flame stood in the far recesses of the room. They reminded me of the magicka torches at the Arcane University. The room itself was circular with a large fountain in the middle spewing red liquid.
“What do you think that is, Captain?” asked the guard that wasn’t encumbered by the injured man, as he walked forward to examine it.
I smirked. I could tell by the smell that it was blood. I glanced at Ro’Vir who was calmly inhaling the scent.
“I don’t know…” the captain said, “Why don’t you go inspect it?”
I watched the guard cautiously step forward, and dip a few fingers into the liquid. He rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger.
“It’s blood, sir!” he exclaimed, dumbfounded and repulsed.
“By the Nine…” the Captain muttered, shaking his head. “Imagine how many people it took to fill the fountain that full…”
I smiled when I found myself thinking that over.

We all examined the room. In the darkness, I managed to find two doors on the east and west walls, with the majority of us being closest to the western one. I walked closer to the door. It seemed to be made of stone and charred flesh. I was incredibly amazed, and wondered how the particles of stone and flesh were held together. Just as I reached out to touch the door, it split apart in the middle with a sickening ripping sound. There, standing in the doorway, was a Dremora. As soon as it saw me, it let out a roar and brandished an enchanted claymore.

I backed up, giving myself some room to attack. His claymore was much longer than my Elven shortsword, and he was quite the skilled fighter. I concluded that he was most likely a higher rank of Dremora than the ones we had fought outside the tower.

Immediately, Ro’Vir jumped to my aid as well as the captain, leaving the injured man to the other two guards. I lured the Dremora’s attacks. His claymore had a long and powerful reach, but because it was so heavy, he was slow swinging it. As I skillfully dodged his blade, Ro’Vir unleashed the fury of his claws upon the Daedra. I knew how painful those claws were and how quickly they could kill. Together, we felled the Dremora within a few minutes, with no real help from the captain.

As I sheathed my sword, I watched the captain walk through the still open door. I followed him quickly. Through the door, there was an inclined hallway, leading up until the hall turned sharply to the right.

As we walked up the incline, I could hear the sound of the wounded man’s leg dragging across the ebony floor. I highly doubted he would last much longer. He was foolish for staying here just to save his friend who was probably already dead. He would pay for his foolishness.

We turned the corner to the right and walked out into a large room adorned with stone benches and smaller fountains of blood. As the rest of the party caught up with us, I noticed a Dremora standing near a door on one of the walls. It was obvious that he hadn’t seen us yet.

Telling everyone to be quiet and still, I ducked into the shadows. Noiselessly, I crept up to the Daedra, focusing on its intense yellow eyes that seemed to burn with the fires of Oblivion. When I got close enough, I reached out, grabbed his neck just under the chin, and pushed my blade through his skull, and then with my left hand, I unsheathed my new Daedric dagger and severed the Dremora’s vocal cords before he could scream. I’d always hated the way they screamed. The Dremora crumpled to the floor the moment I pulled my blade from his head.

As it lay on the ground, a glint caught my eye. The Dremora was wearing a chain around his neck, and attached to the chain was a key. As Ro’Vir and the others advanced into the room, I pulled the chain from its neck and looked at the door. It was much larger than the other one I had seen, and I noticed a keyhole through the flickering light of the torches that burned in the room. I approached the door and put the key in the keyhole. Immediately, the flesh and stone door opened with the same wet ripping sound I’d heard when the other one opened on the first floor.

As the door opened, we stepped out onto a stone bridge. We were back outside and ahead of us was the tower we couldn’t find a ground entrance to. Arrogantly, the captain stepped ahead of us and began quickly walking across the bridge. I looked down at the almost blackened soil and lakes of lava far below.

“I could push him off the bridge… I could trip him and easily make it look like an accident…” I thought, remembering my contract.

I quickly hurried to catch up with him. Ro’Vir caught up to me, walking at my side.
“He’s your contract, isn’t he?” he whispered.
I nodded.
A sinister grin spread across his furry face. “Happy hunting.”

Ro’Vir hung back, letting me close in on the unsuspecting captain. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to face me.
“Be on your toes.” He said. “We don’t know how many Daedra will be in here.

I had come so close to killing the man, I could almost hear Sithis whispering to me.

The captain closed the distance between him and the door to the other tower. He drew his sword and disappeared inside.

I sighed and looked back at Ro’Vir. He shrugged. Unsheathing my sword, I walked inside, closely followed by Ro’Vir and the other three guards.

Upon entering the other ebony tower, I saw the guard captain locked in combat with two Dremoras. I rushed toward them, attacking one Dremora to help the captain. I thought about letting a swing of my sword miss my target, hitting the captain instead, but my battle was short with the help of Ro’Vir’s claws. The captain and his men managed to finish off the other one, then we set out to inspect the room.

The room had a floor that was made completely of cloudy, thin glass. In the middle of the room, there was a cage that was hanging from the high ceiling by a chain. Inside was the wilted, dead body of an Imperial man. He was dressed in the Kvatch guard uniform. The wounded guard hobbled forward and leaned on the bars of the cage.
“I couldn’t save Claudius… I couldn’t save my family… I couldn’t save Kvatch…”

I sighed, examining the body of one of the fallen Dremoras.

“We came all this way for a dead man.”

Suddenly, the Dremora’s eyes opened. He grasped his battleaxe, raised it, and then slammed it into the thin glass floor. Cursing out loud, I slashed his throat with my sword, but it was too late. I watched as the cracks in the glass spread, radiating out from the area where the axe struck. The room went dead silent; everyone stood perfectly still, their eyes wide with fear. All that could be heard was the splitting and cracking of the glass.

I could feel sweat beading on my forehead as I looked up, calculating how many steps I was from the door. I sighed as I realized that I was probably the furthest one from the door. As I watched the cracks weave under my black boots, I realized that I would have to do something soon to survive. I didn’t know what was beneath the floor of glass, and something told me I didn’t want to find out.

The captain let out a loud cry as he and his men made a dash toward the door. Already, I could feel the floor giving out from under me. As I looked around frantically, I realized that I was very close to the cage holding the dead guard, and it was securely attached to a chain that was attached to the ceiling.

Just as the floor fell out from under me, I leapt toward the cage, grabbing the bars and pulling myself up on top of the rectangular shape.
“Listener!” I heard Ro’Vir’s voice to my left.
Grabbing the chain that connected the cage to the ceiling with my right hand, I turned to face him and stretched my left hand toward him.

Ro’Vir half ran, half stumbled toward me over the floor that was steadily falling into the darkness below him. Just as he got within reach, he took a wrong step and began to fall. Straining, I quickly reached down and grabbed his hand. I heard screams and turned my head just in time to see the guard captain and his men fall into the blackness.

“Listener… oh thank Sithis you caught me…” Ro’Vir said breathlessly. “When we get out of here, I promise you a painless death.”
I let my grip on his hand slip a bit. “What was that, Ro’Vir?” I asked.
He looked down, gulped, then managed a toothy grin. “I mean I’ll never try to kill you again!” he said.
“That’s good.” I replied, pulling him up on top of the structure with me. “Looks like I’ve succeeded in my contract…” I said, looking down into the darkness.
Ro’Vir laughed. “Congratulations. Now, how are we going to get out of here?” his tail twitched as he looked around.

I felt hopeless looking around the room. Almost all of the glass floor was gone, save for some jagged pieces that were at areas where the floor connected to the wall. We were ten feet or more from the door, which had a small stone ledge in front of it.

I pointed to the dead man in the cage below us, his arms hanging limply between the bars.
“Get him out of there. He’s dead weight. We’re going to see if we can swing over to the ledge in front of the door.”
Ro’Vir climbed down the bars to the side of the cage, broke the lock on the door, then dragged the corpse out, letting it fall into the pit below. It was a long time until I heard the body hit the bottom.
“Stay there on the side. If we manage to swing close enough to the ledge, jump over.” He looked up and nodded at me.

I stood up and began to shift my weight, holding onto the chain with my left hand. Slowly, the cage began to swing back and forth. As I looked down, I realized how much I didn’t want to fall. I’d always been nervous around heights. Even scaling high walls in past contracts had always bothered me. I shivered and shook the fear from my mind. I didn’t have time to be scared.

The cage began to swing faster, covering a larger area with each swing.
“We’re getting closer to the ledge, Ro’Vir! Get ready to jump!” I yelled. The air rushed past my face, blowing my hair behind my head, then in front.
“I’m going to jump!” Ro’Vir yelled, then he jumped toward the stone ledge. He sailed through the air and hit the side of the ledge. Brandishing his claws, he dug his elbows into the stone, and pulled himself up. Once he found his feet, he leaned back against the door behind him, breathing heavily with a wide-eyed expression of fear on his face.
“Come on, Listener! You’re next!” he called, outstretching a furry hand.

“Why did I let him jump first?” I asked myself, going over all the ways he could let me die here. I could envision him catching my hand and letting go, or just simply knocking me out of the air. The only thing he had done to show me he could be trusted was not attempting to kill me since I held him over the lava pit when we first arrived here.

As the cage swung through the air, I sighed and tried not to look down.

“Lucien… I really hope you’re watching over me…”

As the cage neared the ledge, I let go of the chain, and jumped with all the strength I could muster, toward the door and Ro’Vir. I could feel the air hitting my face and blowing my hair and robe, but time seemed to stand still as I seemed to inch my way toward Ro’Vir. Finally, I felt our hands touch, and he quickly pulled me up.
“I’m glad you could join me.” he said, smiling.
“Trust me, Ro’Vir, I’ve never been so happy to join you in my entire life.” I answered.

[Lord Revan]

Well, Ro'Vir's actions were unexpected...... but they weren't unwelcome either. Maybe he isn't as much of a back-stabber as we thought he'd be.......... Probably not!

[The Metal Mallet]

Well it could be the fact that Ro'Vir might possibly have some honour about him. Moments before aiding Sarelle, Sarelle saved him when jumping for the cage. Maybe he though he owed her one.

Anyways, excellent update. Though I'm a little disappointed in seeing Kvatch guards dieing (I have a bit of a soft spot for them, you would know if you read my fic), I still enjoyed basically everything involved in this update.

I look forward to the next update, however long that might take

[Black Hand]

S.G.M.

[jack cloudy]

You know, I had kind of hoped that the captain would survive.
About Ro'Vir, he might be lying. Who knows? Though getting rid of the need to watch out for a murderous Khajiit in every shadow definitely helps Sarelle.

And do Daedric doors really open that way? Ewww.