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“Fuck…” I breathe out. Martin stares at the approaching figure, and his face drops.
"We're too late... Mehrunes Dagon is here!” Fear lights his eyes. “Lighting the Dragonfires will no longer save us... the barriers that protected us from Oblivion are gone."
I look over to Martin, and grab his hands, lifting them up to our chests. “Could we possibly…?” I peter off, trying not to further panic the already large crowd.
Luckily, he gets what I meant. "I don't see 𝘩𝘰𝘸. Mortal weapons may hurt him, but now that he is physically here in Tamriel, they have no power to actually destroy him." Talos bless him, he looks so damn stressed. I can tell he is too, based on how hard he’s squeezing my hands. I wish I could ease his burden just a little bit.
A thought hits me like lightning, and I drop his hand by accident. He looked at me, concerned, but at that point I had already started running my mouth.
“Have you forgotten the Amulet?” I ask him, thoughts swirling in my head, “What if there’s another way to shun Oblivion forever? Something else the Amulet of Kings was made for besides the Ritual?”
Martin opens his mouth to counter me, then closes it. He looks lost in thought for a short while, then something seems to click. "Wait. Yes. The Amulet was given to mortals by Akatosh. It contains His divine power, but how to use this power against Dagon? The Amulet was not intended as a weapon…” He looses himself in thought once again. “... I have an idea. One last hope. I must reach the Dragonfires in the Temple of the One."
“Might I ask why?”
He shakes his head sadly. "You'll just have to trust me. I now know what I was born to do. But I'll need your help. I have to get past Mehrunes Dagon, somehow."
“Then I shall do everything in my power to help,” I affirm, hating the way my stomach was sinking into a spiky cavern.
“I shall do the rest, then,” he chuckles. “Lead on, my love.”
oOo
“Martin.”
I tap his shoulder, and I nearly get a sword through the gut before he sheathes it. “Apologies,” he murmurs, “ I was unaware it was you.”
“Never mind that,” I affirm. I wave my hand in the direction of the Temple impatiently and start tugging on his arm. “We’ve got to get going. Now.”
He looks towards the temple, then nods. “Lead the way, my Champion.”
It takes me a few steps to realize that I’m dragging him along. I drop his arm, trusting Martin to follow me, and then I start running to the Temple, praying to any god who’d listen that no Daedra would block my path.
I hear the continued screams of terrified civilians. Talos, I wish I had the time to go back and help, but time is of the essence. Especially now. Nothing short of either a miracle or a sudden realization is going to halt Dagon in his destructive path.
I can’t help but wonder what Martin’s plan is. It has to involve the Amulet somehow, as me mentioning it put the idea in his mind. Is he just going to light the Dragonfires? Will there be some weird stipulation for the Lighting this time around, or is it a different idea completely? Alas, I will not know of the plan until it is in motion.
A treacherous voice in me whispers that something horrible is going to happen to Martin, but I shove the thought aside. I need to focus on the task at hand, and that task is to guide him. All I need to do is guide him to the Temple of the One, and hopefully this crisis will end.
Focus, Esdienus. You're close to ending this whole mess.
oOo
My heart sank into my feet as I fully realized what he was planning to do. Sacrifice. He’s sacrificing himself, for the good of Tamriel. Before I could get a word in, I could feel his gaze on me. I keep my tearing eyes on the ground.
“Kelian. Look at me,” Martin pleads. I do as he says, as who am I to deny my dying lover one last wish? I look at him, really look at him, for what I know damn well is the last time.
Martin fiddles with the amulet, and delivers his last speech.
“I do what I must do. I trust you’ve realized this by now, but I cannot stay to rebuild Tamriel. That task falls to others. To you.” His brow crumples, betraying the grief he felt towards his destiny. He steadily breathed in, and almost whispers in the roar of Dagon, “Farewell, my love. You've been everything to me for so long, both while apart and while within my reach. But now I must go. The Dragon waits.”
We notice the cracks in the ceiling before we notice Dagon. “Stay back!” Martin bellows, crushing the amulet in his hands and throwing the cord towards me. By the time the roof displayed Mehrunes Dagon, Martin was no longer.
Where he once stood, a golden dragon, no, an Avatar of Akatosh, stood in his place. It was brilliant, with golden scales and flames dancing around it. A true paragon of the God it represents, at least from my limited knowledge. I shielded my eyes from the scene, not wanting to witness the confrontation.
After a minute of fighting, I hear a resounding roar. When I look up, the Avatar is turning to stone, any hope that Martin will transform back solidifying with it. Dagon collapses and disappears into a portal, but I could not care less. I collapse to my knees and reach for something, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 that he might have dropped.
My fist closes around the Amulet’s cord, and I bring it up to my working eye. Both of my eyes start tearing up. It’s exactly what I was looking for and more.
I pull the cord down to my chest and silently weep.
oOo
Before I even realized anyone had come into the Temple, Ocato yells, “Where is he?” My head snaps to the door. “Where’s the Emperor, Esdienus? I need to congratulate him! The fiend is gone! Tamriel can finally know peace!”
“He’s gone,” I monotone, wiping my eyes in a vain hope the Chancellor hadn’t noticed my grief.
"What do you mean 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦? We all saw the dome explode, a-and then that Avatar…” Ocato’s eyebrows furrow, “That was 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯?”
I nod and stare blankly at him. There’s a tense, awkward silence
Something comes over me, however, as I feel the need to entertain my ‘guest’. “They’re at least sealed forever. Don’t think they’ll ever bother us again, eh?” I attempt to joke.
“At the very least,” he agrees solemnly. “What happened in here?”
I reveal the cord to him. “He crushed the amulet,” I state, “Threw the cord at me and transformed into an Avatar of Akatosh.” A fresh wave of tears hit my eyes, and I quickly scrub them away.
“Did he say anything to you before he did that?”
Don’t mention the speech, Kelian. Don’t tarnish both of your names.
“He just told me what he was about to do,” I rush out, “Nothing, uh, nothing noteworthy.”
The Chancellor raises his eyebrows, but makes no comment. He walks over to the statue, and I stand back. He whispers something to the statue, then turns back to me, eyes locking with mine.
“Know his sacrifice will not be in vain, as with it, he sealed the Oblivion Gates. Mehrunes Dagon and his ilk will never blight Tamriel again.” He averts his gaze and continues on, quieter than before, “We lost an amazing leader, Kelian. It is normal to grieve. Be glad he died an emperor to rival Tiber Septim instead of a nobody.”
I tilt my head at him, confused. Why would dying a nobody be bad, in this case? Does the Chancellor realize he had a life before this? He was a Priest. He was living comfortably. If he were still living his life as it was before, or if this plot was stopped before it even began, he would still survive. The Septim line would still survive.
I let out a noncommittal noise, and leave the destroyed Temple.
oOo
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵.”
“𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”
“𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘉𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘜𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.”
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 ‘𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧𝘴’ 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵.”
“𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭.”