Into Oblivion

24

The second quadrant that had escaped the vast wastelands of Oblivion had been destroyed, but not as effortlessly as the first. More guards had fallen and hope ran dry. Daelon held back a charging Dremora who wielded a great battleaxe. The Altmer stumbled back with widened as he whispered to the wind, "... how many... more bloody gates?!"

The bodies began to pile upon a snowy mountain terrain. The Hero turned and called out, "How are you holding up, Martin?"

The heir laughed uncertainly as he rolled his shoulders attempting to bring them back to life for they had fallen numb during his last fights. "I'm doing fine," his head turned to a side and he looked at Jaufree, "... and you, Grandmaster?"

"I'm not as young as I used to be," he huffed while wiping a coat of sweat from his brow. "However, I believe I'm holding my own."

"Good," Martin said while turning forward. He saw the still standing twins and he grinned while calling out to them. They stood so far away between the gap of the two defeated Oblivion gates, "How are you doing, boys?"

Orrick lifted his helmet from his head allowing the arctic mountain breeze to rush past his drenched hair. A few droplets of blood had crystallized to his face; nevertheless, he was not disturbed by this. "We're doing fine, milord!"

Caldwyn lifted his helmet as well with a scoff, "Speak for yourself! This armor is chaffing against areas I don't wish to speak of."

"Then don't," Orrick laughed while glancing over to his brother.

Daelon stepped over the fallen bodies with his long black cape draping over their frozen facades. His ebony armor gleamed with freshly drawn blood that was not of his own. He turned his eyes to Martin and questioned, "... shall we send for more guards, sir?"

"Why?" a nearby Cheydinhal guard questioned, "We've got them bastards beat! They outnumbered us and still we prevail! It looks like Tamriel has one this war."

The eldest Altmer tossed his eyes to a nearby puddle of blood and saw the contents beginning to tremor. His vivid amber eyes narrowed as he sneered, "... don't be so sure about that."

The wind began to bay and press down upon the somnolent soldiers as they stood motionless in the battlefield. Their eyes shifted about attempting to locate the next gate, if there was one. The ground began to quake and a few boulders from the nearby mountain plummeted to ground level. Daelon retreated back towards the other guards as the rumbling became far fiercer than the additional roar from the other archway. The Hero stepped forward with a creased brow as he slowly sheathed his tainted silver longsword and enveloped his hand around the hilt of the Daedric Claymore. Could it be probable that this was his gate?

The billowing clouds darkened even more so, turning the day into shadows allowing only the thundering firestorm to be the sources of light for the fighters of Tamriel. Orrick and Caldwyn felt their legs vibrate so harshly that it nearly knocked them off their feet. All of a sudden, before the twins arose two immense jagged thorns from the surface of the earth. These two structures were nearly ten times the size of the regular archways. From their sides came even more wicked thorns that pierced the mountain sky. A lake of fire burned from the earth as well and rocketed to the sky soon causing the entire horizon to turn into a hellish portrait. Caldwyn and Orrick stumbled back as they attempted to lift their eyes to see the end of this abomination; however, no matter how far they tilted their heads they could never see the end.

Martin's pupils disappeared as he gawked upon this gate. His hand loosened and he nearly dropped his sword as he wheezed, "... by... the Nines..."

The Hero steadied himself as he knew within his hardened heart that this was the gate Broga had told him about. He drew his Claymore and stood tall as he knew that he would be protected by Broga and he needed not to fear the monsters of this gate. Daelon was mesmerized for a few seconds until he saw the first wave of Daedra escape the gate. He tore his eyes away and suddenly he felt his heart fall.