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Arc 8 Chapter XXVII: Pursuing Traitors
🕑 Added 2024-11-09 23:10:22 +0000 UTC(Alor's POV)
The spasming body of the rebel leader hit the ground one last time as I finally got the information I needed, some minor sparks of electricity still sparking atop his twitching body from time to time.
Feeling thoroughly drained on an emotional level I turn to the Paladin "Have the traitor prepared for transport, that power he used in the end was doubtless of Daedric origins and the lord will probably find that curious at least."
Before Anondor could have some of the Sworn Mer comply, what looked to be a leader among the deceased Count's elite guard stepped forward "Hold on" He outright growled at me "This bastards needs to be executed, not given a new chance at life!"
Taking in a tired breath I look down at the man "Captain." At least I hoped he was one, the Cyrodiilics rarely gave out such ornate armor to lower ranks. Seeing as he did not correct me I went on "I assure you that we only want him for any information he may have, he will not enjoy his time with us."
"Be that as it may." The Captain shakes his head "Justice needs to be served and the people need to see it." He leans forward and speaks a bit more quietly "Also my men would riot if you tried that."
Unfortunate.
"He speaks the truth young Alor." Hassildor speaks as he rides up to the two of us, his mount's barding covered in splotches of blood here and there "You would be doing the entire city a disservice by trying to take him away."
"Thank you sir." The Captain immediately saluted him, visibly relieved.
"Very well." I try not to grumble "I would still like a bit of time with him before his execution and access to any private residence he may have."
"Stretching the law a bit there, but I do suppose he does deserve it." Hassildor chuckles with a tinge of morbidity in his tone, the Captain looking like he wants to protest again but relenting as he sees me get a bit of support.
He turns to the Captain "You may take command of my mercenaries, use them to pacify the city but take heed to spare as many of the rebels as possible. They were but pawns in all this and I would not have my city bereft of its people."
"Your city?" The soldier frowns, his tone half confused and half threatening.
Hassildor just scoffs at this lightly "Our primary task was to investigate Ferontius' actions and the rumors of the state of his domain, seeing as he has failed to the point of open rebellion he would have been removed no matter his survival. I have been named his replacement by imperial decree should that ever happen."
The Captain outright scowls at this but seeing as both his Count and his heir presumptive were quite dead at this point he has no real way of protesting the change "Very well sir, so long as the decree is in order I will make sure there are no issues."
"That is quite heartening to hear" Hassildor chuckles joyfully, even as screams of the wounded still fill the air, he claps his hands as if he had just remembered something and looks back down to the soldier "I never quite got your name my good man?"
"Captain Gregorios." The soldier salutes.
"Excellent." Hassildor grins "You may call me Janus Hassildor II, we will have much to discuss once the city is brought to order."
We both ride away from the baffled man just in time for Paladin Anondor to return from securing the rebel leader "Scribe." He calls me by my unofficial title "The wounded have been taken care of, we can move on whenever you give the order."
"Casualties?" I ask immediately.
"One lost of our ranks and about a dozen Fighters Guild mercenaries." He responds promptly "An unlucky stab to the throat got one of our less careful warriors."
"Unfortunate but unavoidable." I say even as my guts churn, something within told me I was the reason behind their deaths even as I knew intellectually that that was not the case.
Still, I could battle with my own emotions later, there was work to be done.
"The young fool said our mutual enemies are holed up within my castle." Hassildor speaks up after a moment "I remember an old secret passage between the chapel and the castle basement, we could use it to sneak in."
"We can only hope the passage remains." I mutter "How many men should we take?"
"How trustworthy are your subordinates?" He whispers loud enough for me to hear over the rain, his eyes flashing with hidden power.
"They will not say a word." I assure him.
"Good." He nods "Take thirty, have the rest join the mercenaries and guards in pacifying the city."
I hesitate for a moment, that was a rather low number to storm a keep but at the same time I had an old vampire on my side and my magic was not weak by any means "Very well." I nod after a bit and we both start giving out orders.
The delay was inevitable but we finally got moving after a few minutes, part of me thoroughly regretting the fact I had to leave my centurion behind.
-----
The narrow tunnel between the temple and castle was paradoxically silent and noisy at the same time, no one spoke a word but the sound of metal boots hitting stone was echoing inside of my head as if someone took a drum to my ears.
Our column soon approached the other end, Hassildor and Anondor standing at the front of our group as the most powerful being the first to reach it.
Without the barest hint of hesitation, Hassildor stepped forward, his hands elongating into shadowy claws as he grabbed onto both sides of the thoroughly locked and enchanted doors.
The protections inscribed upon it held up only for a few seconds before a loud cracking noise reverberated throughout the tunnel and the door was ripped out, hinges and some of the stone surrounding it included.
"We must move swiftly." Hassildor hissed out, his form looking far more bestial than usual "Half the castle has no doubt been alerted by now."
"Very well." I grumble "Next time be sure to alert us first."
"Here is to hoping we get the opportunity to work together again then." He grins and offers me a faux salute.
Shaking my head I snap my fingers, signaling the warriors of the house to follow him and we begin our ascent into the castle.
The first guards fall without putting up a fight, Hassildor was far less willing to hide his true nature now and his form practically blurred through the halls of his once home, the steel plate the guards wore folding like so much parchment as the threw them into the walls or ripped their limbs off in swift and brutal movements.
Those that survived his initial strikes would find themselves pelted full of crossbow bolts, none of the Sworn Mer reacting one bit to our allies' apparent vampirism as any one of them honored with following Lord Dagoth south were trained in fighting both with and against creatures of greater power.
Theirs was not to question after all.
A singular group managed to put up a fight before we reached our destination, the large waiting chamber before the throne room and reception hall had been prepared to receive us and an ambush awaited us at the entrance.
Four of my men fell to a volley of arrows and magic before we managed to cut them all down, including a whitecloak marksman who was struck through his visor by an errant spike of ice.
To say I ripped the lesser vampire who did it apart would have been the understatement of the era, not even the ash remained by the time I was done.
The men gave me approving looks at my swift retribution but I could not stop the growing feeling of unease as I led more and more of those dependent on my decisions to their deaths.
Is this how it felt to be a leader?
Hassildor once more did not give me time to ponder as he kicked the grand doorway to the throne room open, the splinters of wood flying in all directions before him only to be stopped by a wave of telekinesis, the figure atop the throne barely raising a hand to do so.
"Janus, my old friend." The vampire sitting atop the throne practically purred, his expression failing to hide his fury and fear at seeing him "I see the order has decided to finally pay me a visit." The half a dozen lesser vampires at his sides, one of whom wore the same uniform armor as the rest of the castle guards, tensed up at his words.
"Cut the theatrics, Aloncius." Hassildor scoffed loudly "You have gone rogue, and you know damn well what happens when a member of the order does as you have, you have enforced such rules yourself in fact."
"Ah yes, the order." Aloncius drawls, still not even bothering to get up "The same order who now bows before the whims of some Volkihar girl? The same order that folds whenever some uppity mage from a supposedly powerful bloodline looks their way?"
"I do wonder Janus." The 'host' finally stands with slow deliberate movement "How long will it be before our subjugation is officiated? How long will the vaunted order of Vampirum I had headed for centuries survive now that we are surrounded by the puppets of the gods?"
'The poor fool speaks as if he ever stood a chance at escaping my lord's grasp' I hold back the loud scoff but not the eyeroll.
"Oh?" Hassildor scoffs "Really Aloncius? Playing the righteous one? A man of your talents?"
"You cannot blame me for trying." He shrugs nonchalantly "Now then, who are these mortals you have brought for me to feast on?"
I fail to hold back the scoff this time "For someone who is forced to hide from the sun like a rat, you are awfully arrogant, creature." Here is to hoping the creature who was currently my ally knew to not take personal offense.
The vampire merely rolls his eyes at my response and looks to Hassildor with faux exasperation "And you think we should tolerate the cattle when they are this disrespectful? Seriously Hassildor you must be going senile in your old age."
"Where are the assassins?" Hassildor asks instead of being baited.
"Seriously, you expect me to actually tell you?" Aloncius laughs coarsely before cupping his chin and grinning "You know what, I actually am. They are in the vaults below, looking for some spirit or something of the sort that has invaded them..."
The air suddenly grew cold, all of the lesser vampires backing away while the house warriors tensed. Hassildor lets out a long furious growl as his form turns completely bestial, not a trace of his humanity remaining as his form turned hunched and his limbs elongated.
Even Aloncius looked a bit worried for a moment before his previous look of arrogance returned "So easily riled my old friend, but you always were nothing more than a beas-"
He does not get to finish the sentence as Hassilor turns into a blur of motion, a loud cracking sound overtaking the throne room as Alocnius was practically launched into his previous seat, breaking it into tiny chunks and smashing into the wall behind it.
My own forces were already moving by the time the lesser vampires got out of their stupor, a veritable sea of bolts stopping them from targeting our vampire while Anondor and I led the melee warriors forward.
Three of the vampires fell to the bolts before we reached them, the two greater vampires too engaged in their own blindingly rapid exchange of blows to truly care for what was happening between us.
The vampire garbed in guard armor attempted to take Anondor out with a surprise slash of his blade, but the ancient Paladin of Auri-El simply deflected his blow with his now glowing shield, the vampire shrieking in pain as the light of it struck him.
His blade of moonstone shone with the power of the sun as he jabbed it firmly into the vampire's throat.
Another managed to get between my forces too quickly for them to react, her claws rending a hand off of one of my shieldbearers before my silver spear lit up with energy and I incinerated her on the spot.
I failed to contain a flinch as a loud screech reached my ears, forcing me to turn around just as I was about to start healing the wounded Mer.
The last of the lesser vampires hung impaled by four different halberds, the creature glaring at me with bestial fury in its eyes as it attempted to summon its blood for one last attack.
One of the veteran warriors was having none of it however as his halberd lit up with power and the vampire was set aflame, the fact that the fire was not of my own sun imbued nature only serving to prolong the creature's suffering.
A loud crashing noise drew my attention once more, part of my force was sent sprawling away by a thrown object, none of them dying but a good few definitely getting injured heavily in an instant.
The dust cleared to reveal the bestial form of Hassildor standing atop a heavily breathing Aloncius.
"My old friend" He spoke rapidly and with great difficulty "Have merc-"
His throat was promptly ripped out in one swift motion, his eyes following just a moment later as Hassildor's other hand ripped off the top of his skull. The still berserk vampire roared as he threw the mix of bone and brain at the wall, his fury seemingly only growing by the minute.
My force had already reformed by this point, all of us readying whatever flames we could summon to ourselves or our weapons in preparations for what came next.
Only for the beast to slowly start turning back into the man, Hasslidor's usual form returning as his eyes stopped glowing with mindless fury, replaced with a far more controlled form of what my lord would call 'Absolutely fucking livid.'
"Apologies for that, my friends." Hassildor spoke after a moment "The very idea of the bastard desecrating my-" He shook his head "Never mind, we should move swiftly, lest my fears are proven correct."
I give the command for my people to ensure no one is injured and after three minutes of regrowing limbs and setting bones we are on the move once again.
Soon we descend into the depths of the ancient castle, only a few of the remaining guards having the distinct lack of brainpower necessary to try striking against us. Much to my relief, their idiocy was not enough to slay any more of my men.
Soon we stand in front of a recently un-warded stone pathway, crystalline growths of glass covering much of the way and an ominous air slowly overtaking the area.
"What is this?" Hassilor practically hisses, visibly holding himself back from just charging on inside.
"It looks to be an infestation of energy." Anondor wisely points out "Though I am unsure as to its nature."
"Daedric without a doubt." I voice, drawing their gazes "I do not know which Prince is involved but there is a certain buzz to the energies of Oblivion."
Hassildor frowns "Should we follow? I know that merely existing within such energies is no suicide but it is still a risk."
"I will consult someone far wiser than myself." I say after a moment and summon my Orb™.
[A-lore: My lord, we are currently following the enemy to the vaults of Castle Skingrad but they seem to be overtaken by odd glass-like growths of crystal. They look to be Daedric in origin but I cannot reliably confirm, your command?]
Only a few dozen seconds passed before I got my response.
[Big D: I do not know exactly what may be influencing the crystals which is quite concerning in its own right, I will probably have to consult the book for any potential information but I doubt that is of much use to you right now. Be exceedingly careful as you descend and retreat the moment you feel threatened beyond your capability to survive, the lives of you and your men are far more important than ending the Dark Brotherhood for good.]
I hesitate a moment before asking [A-lore: And what if something dangerous is afoot?] The implication of more Daedric schemes being rather obvious to the both of us.
[Big D: Judge at your own discretion, should things appear to be getting out of hand smash your Orb™ and I will come as swiftly as I am able.]
[A-lore: Very well, my lord. We will not let you down.]
Sighing to myself I unsummon my Orb™ and speak "We are to advance with caution, Lord Dagoth is prepared to intervene should things turn problematic."
"So he doesn't know either?" Hassildor laughs though not mockingly "Very well then, into the depths."
As I take my first step into the great underground vault I cannot help but frown as I hear what I think is glass grinding against itself. Let us hope this is something we are able to deal with, it wouldn't do for my lord to do every single thing on his own.
