18+ The Wrath of Talos

Chapter 8: Riots in the Imperial City

"We need to tell this to the High Chancellor, he is in charge of the empire right now, he has to know of this so that he can send men to protect the provinces." Nerevar said and he kicked his horse to make it go at full speed.

"But we have no proof is Argon is even right, shouldn't we at least find evidence of this BEFORE we rush to the High Chancellor?" Fayen asked.

"Fayen, this is the best lead we have on what we're up against, you and I both know that there is a deeper reason Talos is doing this and this is most likely it." Nerevar said.

"But shouldn't we at least be able to prove it first with SOLID EVIDENCE??"

"Here's your evidence, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. I assume you have all heard of the Prophecy of the Dragonborn? You can find it on Alduin's Wall or in the back of any Book of the Dragonborn. Well, you see this prophecy speaks of significant events taking place that all lead up to what exactly? Well nothing really just some villain bent on world destruction coming and trying to kill everyone." Argon said.

"So what's your point?" asked Fayen.

"My point is that this if this has happened before, then who's to say it won't happen a second time? Is it so out there that another prophecy tells about events leading up to the end of the world?" Argon answered.

"Well, I guess in that case it makes sense." Fayen said.

"Good, then let's go." Argon like Nerevar, kicked his horse to make it go at full speed.

~~~~~~~~
After hours and hours of tiring running, the horses finally reached the top of a hill over looking the Imperial City, however unlike most times there was no beautiful sight of the white stone city and its crown jewel the White-Gold Tower. Instead, it looked like a city of gray, at least that's all the smoke made it look like. There were columns of smoke rising up from all distritcts of the city and not just one per district, there were many. The smoke caused a cloud around the city which casted a deep shadow just adding to the darkness. The sunset didn't help the horrible sight either. Rather, it set the gray city in front of a blood red sky with black clouds, and no sun.

The riots had reached the Imperial City.

~~~~~~~~
"By the gods the last time I saw the city in such a state, I was inside battling for its survival against the forces of Mehrunes Dagon." Sheogorath said.

"Cyrodiil is in a worse state than Skyrim." Nerevar stated.

"I suppose it makes sense, the Imperial City is the head of the worship of the Divines, its where the Dragonfires used to be, where the pact between men and aedra is sealed. So for one of the Divines to go insane and threaten Tamriel would cast this place into a darkness greater than anywhere on Tamriel." Kara said.

"We have to get over there, see if we can help." Garnin decreed.

"Guess it's a good thing that's where we were headed." Argon said.

As the heroes rode at top speed towards the city racing against the ever darkening sky, a devastated Sheogorath tried to keep his mind off of things.

"You know, Cyrodiil is where the majority of my adventures took place." he told the group, "Especially the Imperial City. I even became the Grand Champion of the Arena. The Black Arrow, is what they called me. Even though I never used a bow. It was still a cool name nonetheless and being champion came with perks, I got respect, I was the star of the arena, I had multiple fans, although there was a downside."

"What it Oblivion could that be?" Argon asked.

"Adoring Fan."

"But you just said adoring fans were a perk...?" Argon was rather confused.

"Adoring fans were a perk, Adoring Fan wasn't."

"So, it's a perk when they're in a group, but not individually? How does that even make sense?"

"No dear boy, Adoring Fan was his name. He was some elf, I ran into him after a right when I was headed back to the inn one night. He told me he was my biggest fan and asked if he could travel with me, I told him that if he waited outside the arena for me the next day then I would let him travel with me. Sure enough, as I walked out of the arena the next day he came running up to me with a large smile on his face. Staying true to my promise I allowed him to come with me." Sheogorath explained.

"How was that?" Argon questioned.

"It started off pretty good, he always carried a torch around with him which was good because that way I didn't have to carry one. He would run from danger so I didn't have to try to defend him. Also, he was very good at listening to commands, I would tell him to wait and the poor guy would be so star struck that he wanted to make sure he was in just the right place, and he would never move or run off from that spot. He would cater to my every need, for example he'd give me backrubs and shine my shoes, that sort of stuff."

"That doesn't sound bad at all Sheo." Argon said.

"It wasn't, but the luxuries of having an adoring fan didn't last. Eventually he got so annoying. Sometimes he wouldn't put his torch away even when we were outside, at twelve o'clock, during the day. I had to take that torch away from him just to put it away, but somehow, out of nowhere like he was the god of fluffing torches, he would pull out ANOTHER torch five minutes later! Then sometimes in his attempts to run from danger, he would run right into the middle of the fight! But the times he DID run from danger, we were in a dark ass cave and he would run off with his magic little torch that never leaves his side leaving me vulnerable and in pitch black darkness while zombies and phatoms came after me. Remember, I wasn't Sheogorath at this time in my life, I was still Tamiir, so I could die. And even after traveling with me for months, he wouldn't get over his star struckness and just had to be in the right spot whenever I told him to wait. The catering to my every need got really intense also, my shoes could be as shiny as the sun but would he care? No. He'd want to shine them again, even when we were running from the guards who were chasing after us because he had stolen a bottle of Tamik Vintage 415 from the wine cellar of the castle of the Count of Skingrad JUST because I said I was getting a little bit thirsty!!!"

"So... Why didn't you just tell him to leave you alone?" Argon asked.

"Oh I did, I finally got sick of his nonsense, it got the point in which he wanted to be as close to me as he possibly could and it almost proved fatal to me. We had traveled up to Dive Rock which as you know is the highest natural peak in Cyrodiil, I just wanted to see if I could make it up there, so we finally make it to the top and set up camp, and I decided to enjoy the view. So I go over to the edge of the cliff and as I'm standing up there enjoying the view, he come up out of no where and tries to stand next to me! We'll there is only room for one at the edge, so he is pushing and shoving me just so he can stand with me, and in the process I fall off the edge! I manage to catch the edge of the cliff with my hand and I am dangling above all of Cyrodiil. I try to pull myself up, but guess who was standing in my way. So, I finally manage somehow to get up and when I finally do, I tell him that he and I are done traveling together. The guy seems to take it pretty well actually and he says, 'Okay well I'll be waiting for you by the arena if you ever need someone to worship the ground you walk on.' I'm just like, 'Okay.' But here's the thing, he wasn't okay because the moment I turned to go to the tent and rest, I see out of the corner of my eye, the guy RUN FORWARD RIGHT OFF THE CLIFF! So instantly, I run down the mountain as fast as I can to try and catch him, but by the time I get down there, it's too late. The poor guy is dead. In guilt for making him do such a thing, I spend the next hour burying him at the base of the mountain. I kept the torch though as a way for me to remember him and what I caused him to do." even as Sheogorath talked about the poor guy's death, his mood didn't seem to change a bit.

"Sheo, that's terrible I'm so sorry that happened." Nerevar told him.

"Oh I'm not done," Sheogorath said, "because three days later, as I was walking out of the arena again, guess who comes running up to me askign if I'm ready to go on our next adventure as if nothing had happened?! The worst part though, HE SOMEHOW HAD HIS FREAKING TORCH!!"

~~~~~~~~
The heroes reached the bridge leading to the entrance of the city, the horses were worn out from the long day of running and couldn't go any further not even across the bridge to the stables on the other side. The heroes climbed off the horses and tied them to a pillar on the stone brige. Only Shadowmere wasn't worn out, he didn't get tired. Then again, he wasn't just some horse.

"Look guys, I don't know what we're going to see in there, but it is going to be pretty bad. Just remember, don't hurt especially not kill any rioters unless it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY they're still good people, just scared out of their minds. If we weren't great heroes we would be scared too, remember that though, we are the heroes they are the rioters. They might try to kill you but that doesn't mean you get to kill them. That's only for actually bad guys." Argon told the other five before they crossed the bridge, "Now, get ready. We need to get to the White-Gold Tower, the Chancellor should hopefully still be there."

"Aye sir." said Garnin.

Kara kissed Argon on the cheek, "Just in case something happens." she told him.

"Nothing will happen. We'll be fine." he answered her.

"How can you say that? These people are being oppressed by their own god, you have no idea how warped their minds are." Kara said.

"I know because I am the Dragonborn. And I will never let anything happen to you."

~~~~~~~~
Argon didn't know. He had been lying through his teeth then, he just didn't want her mind to be set on something could happen because then maybe something really would happen. Something horrible. But now, seeing the inside of the Imperial City, he knew even getting her hopes up wouldn't be enough to prevent any risk of her death.

There were fires EVERYWHERE. There were small camp fires and giant house fires. People were screaming in pain, terror, and anger. In the distance in a different district you could hear the sound of metal clashing and clanking as battles between rioters and guards went on. Large stones had fallen out of place from some of the houses and some crushed people, others were used to bash in peoples heads, and one was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Argon looked at the unfortunate man who had tripped and smashed his skull in on the stone. The smaller dragon that had been in the middle of the Talos Plaza, which is where the heroes were, had one of the wings slashed off and the head was missing. Around the bare neck someone either mockingly or as a symbol of who was causing the madness had hung an amulet of Talos for all to see. Carved in the stomach of the dragon in jagged dagger marks, was the world TRAITOR.

A mad ran across the heroes' view screaming in fear. A few seconds behind him were three men yelling hateful things at him and brandishing large warhammers.

"Help, someone please help me!" as he was yelling the man tripped and fell flat on his face, he managed to get himself rolled over but didn't have enough time to get up. He started backing himself away as quickly as he could, but sadly his back met a wall and he was pinned. The men slowly crept forwards, with large grins on their faces and with one hand they held the staff of the hammer and they repeatedly patted the other hand with the other end of the staff. To do this they must've been incredibly strong, and they were. The middle guy and presumably the leader, was built like a brick wall. Six feet tall, and he seemed to be made completely of muscle and nothing else. The other two men were about his height but maybe an inch shorter and they had a lot less muscle mass compared to the leader, but more muscle than most people.

"That was a big mistake," the leader told the man, "now you will be met with the end god-lover."

"This'll show you and everyone else like you not to say things like that." the second man said.

"Talos is a villain not a hero, no matter what you say there is no changing that." the third man told him.

"Smash his skull in boys." commanded the leader.

They grabbed the rest of the staff with their empty hands, readied their weapons and prepeared to swing them.

"Oh gods no! Please, no! I-I'm sorry, don't kill me! I have children! PLEASE!!!! Someone save me!" the man pleaded with the men and any hidden people.

"Don't worry, your Talos-loving children will be dealt with accordingly. Can't have anyone around who's minds have been poisoned by your lies." the leader promised to the man, a small fire was lit in his eyes.

"Oh gods please! Divines, save me!"

The men began the downward arcs of their warhammers, each one aimed at a different part of the man's head. Tears rolled down the man's face and he squeezed his eyes and using his arms tried to protect his head as he awaited the kill blow. But it never came. The man heard a loud noise, some sort of phrase he guessed, he couldn't pick out or understand the language though, but he heard a man yell in pain.

The warhammers flew out of the hands of each of the assailants, and as one of the warhammers flew by the third man it was spinning and the staff of it whipped him in the jaw and he yelped in pain.

"What in Oblivion just happened?!" the leader excalimed and he turned to see the Heroes of Tamriel running towards him and his friends, with their weapons drawn and Fayen with an arrow aimed directly at the leader's left breast.

Argon closed his mouth after having just yelled the dragon words for the disarm shout.

"Make a move and I swear to Sithis I will shoot you!" Fayen cried out to the leader.

The leader's sidekicks turned and ran off in the direction of the nearest exit to the next district. The leader obeyed orders and held as still as he could despite the fact that he was shaking in his iron armor. The heroes reached him and Argon, Fayen, Garnin, Nerevar, and Sheogorath surrounded him. Kara helped the victimized man to his feet and dusted him off.

"You're done." Argon ordered of the leader, "Go home, get out of the streets and stop attempting murder. If you leave we will be forced to kill you and we will not hesitate. That is my promise to you."

"What makes you think I will comply? What makes you think any of you six scare me?" the man retorted.

"Does the phrase 'I can instantlly rip your soul out of your body follower by only saying three words' mean anything to you?" Argon asked, obviously rhetorical.

"Yeah, so it's could outside... I think I'm gonna head home..." the man said and the moment Fayen and Garnin parted to form an exit from the circle, the man bolted out of it and headed in the direction of his friends.

"How are you?" Kara asked the man, "Anything broken?"

"Just a few scrapes from when I fell." the man said trying to sound strong but really felt much worse and his nose was bleeding.

"Why were they chasing you in the first place?" Argon asked him.

"Because, as they were executing people in the Arena, I decided to speak out. I told them that maybe we were all wrong, maybe something is making Talos go crazy and it isn't his fault. I told them that perhaps Talos is still a hero after all. They didn't want to hear any of it. It threw them into a frenzy and I was booed out of the Arena, then those three came running after me I ran through the Imperial Palace Plaza, but they still came after me. It's like they want Talos to be a villain, but at the same time they hope he isn't. But that's just it isn't it? They want him to be a villain because they can't hope he isn't, and they can't hope he isn't because.... there is no hope."

"There is always hope. Always." the Dragonborn reassured the man.

"Look, this is great and all you know, reassuring the poor man but I would really like to get back to what he said about executions in the Arena." Fayen demanded.

"Any guard that has been captured by a rioter. They're being taken there and killed. A man there, name of Selnay is running the guards through with his sword." the man explained.

"Why? What is the point of needlessly killing guards?" Nerevar asked.

"I guess the spectators view it as some sort of entertainment, plus it gets their minds off the danger we are all in."

"If what you say is true then we need to go. We have to put an end to that. I'm sorry we cannot escort you home." Argon apologized to the man

"Do what you have to. I'll be fine." the man told Argon.

~~~~~~~~
The heroes had cut through the Imperial Palace Plaza on their way to the Arena, and it was worse than the Arena or the Talos Plaza. There seemed to be three lines of guards outside the White Gold Tower, but you couldn't really be sure because they were so scattered. There were even more rioters however, so many that it was like a thick sea of people that you really had to squeeze to get through. The heroes managed though, but had some misgivings about leaving there. That's where their help was really needed.

The Arena District was quiet no one was out on the streets, no large stones had fallen, there were no fires, no rioters. That's only because all the rioters, were in the Arena itself.

Argon told everyone his plan, "Alright, so here's the plan. Fayen I want you to go through the door to the seats, find a nice spot on a balcony, keep your bow looking at Selnay. It should be obvious who he is, he's the one killing everyone. Kara and Garnin, you go with him. Watch his back. The rest of us are going through the Bloodworks to get inside the Arena area. Remember, don't kill anyone."

"Argon, you can't keep me out of fights forever. Sooner or later there is going to be a fight and you won't be able to keep me from it." Kara told Argon.

"But until that fight DOES come, I can keep you out of any others." Argon answered.

A frustrated look came over Kara's face, hadn't she proved herself down in Blackreach? She didn't need to be protected, she could handle herself in a fight. Even now with all that was happening, she was confident in her skills.

~~~~~~~~
Fayen, Kara, and Garnin all went up to one of the balconies. They found one that had only four people in it, it would be easy to take over. The three heroes broke through the doors with their weapons raised.

"Look, this is what is going to happen," Kara said, "you four are going to sit still and keep quiet. You are going to follow each one of my rules or my Daedra friend will get you." She motioned to Sheogorath.

"You get up without permission, Sheogorath gets yah. You talk without permission, Sheogorath gets yah. If you wanna talk, raise your hand. You make any hostile movements Sheogorath gets you. You try to run, Sheogorath gets you. You try to riot, rebel, be a hero, or try to call for help I think you get the point." the words rolled off Kara's tongue so smoothly it was almost like she'd done this kind of thing before. She probably had when she was still working with the Imperials.

One of the four, a young woman maybe about the age of twenty so about two years younger than Kara, raised her hand.

"Yes?" Kara asked her.

"What are you doing? Aren't you three supposed to be heroes?"

"Yes, and that's exactly what we are doing. Do you not see how wrong this is? Why are you rioting against people who had nothing to do with Talos going crazy? Why kill the guards and cheer as it happens when all they did was try to keep you calm? We are trying to save these guards when all you want to do to them is kill them for no reason."

"But.. but... they.... Talos..... I guess you're right......" the girl submitted.

Fayen went over to the balcony, put an arrow on his bow string and aimed it at Selnay below.

~~~~~~~~
The other three heroes walked out the door of the Bloodworks and were blasted with the noise of the cheering crowd as Selnay cleaned his sword and prepared to kill another guard.

"Citizens of the Imperial City! For years, we have been lied to and tricked into fighting and dying for a man who's only true purpose in life was to enslave us, but we will not stand for it! We will kill everyone who stands in the way of our rioting against this trickster! This man," Selnay motioned to the guard, "he attempted to quell our riots and oppose us, and now he shall pay the ultimate price! Our voices shal be heard! This false-hero god shall see that we will not stand for his trickery! For his betrayal! For the death of our loved ones! I fought in the Second Great War, I fought to bring down the Thalmor and bring back the worship of the one we held so high! I watched my friends die, I watched them be beheaded, I nearly lost my mind after witnessing all the chaos! All for the worship of this one man! Now this man, for whom so many gave their lives, has turned on us, spat in the faces of all those he stuck with him through everything. Now, all who oppose our rioting shall die!"

Selnay spun around and thrust his sword at the heart of the guard. The guard stood there, armorless and chained to a wooden stage. He stood in a puddle of blood from those who had been killed before him. He watched as the sword came at him, he took his last breath, closed his eyes and turned his head up towards Sovngard. He felt the icy sting of the cold blade as it implaed him and he dropped to the floor, lifeless and leaking blood.

Selnay threw his hands into the air and the whole arena cheered in satisfaction. A large smile covered the nord's grim face. He bent down and unchained the corpse and two people dragged it off to the other end of the arena where it was burnt with the rest.

"Bring in the next prisoner!" Selnay yelled.

A young woman, this one about the age of eighteen, with long blonde hair, and fearful grey eyes was brought out. Two men held her by the arms and dragged her feet and legs across the sandy floor. As she was brought out the arena cheered even louder than before, she was taken to the stage and chained up. Like the last guard she was completely naked, stripped down so she couldn't hide any weapons and attempt to escape.

"Please," she begegd of Selnay, "do not do this."

"This woman, is not a guard." Selnay told the crowd, "However, she thinks herself some sort of hero. She attempted to free the guards who we have already imprisoned, when she was caught she tried to convince me that this was wrong. That in doing this, I was just as bad the one who betrayed us. I wouldn't have any of that however, and now for her attempts at saving those who would keep our voices down, I sentence her to death."

"NO!!!" the girl yelled, "NO!!! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!!! I'M SORRY, PLEASE DO NOT HURT ME!!!"

"I'm sorry, but you know the rules." Selnay answered her, he kissed her on the forehead, and then put his eyes level with hers.

The girl spat in his face, he recoiled and slapped her with the back of his hand.

"You would kill your own sister?! All because I did what you are doing and rebelled?!" she yelled at her older brother.

"You rebelled against the wrong side!" Selnay yelled at her.

Selnay's sister leaned forward as much as she could and whispered to him, "May your soul be eternally bound to Oblivion." Then she spit at his feet and straightened herself out.

"THAT'S ENOUGH SELNAY!" Argon yelled to him.

Instantly the arena silenced and all attention turned to the Dragonborn and his two friends.

"Dovahkiin" Selnay said with reverence, "it is an honor."

"Not for me it isn't. You kill those who have done no wrong, who have hurt no one, just because you are scared. I understand being scared, but this, this isn't going to help anything. All you are doing is helping Talos by causing more and more chaos. This madness has to stop, send these people home. Release your sister and get back to your normal lives." Argon told the nord.

"Get back to my normal life?!" anger rose in Selnay's voice, "How can I get back to my normal life, knowing that at any given moment my roof could collapse on me, that Talos could swoop down and destroy this whole city and everyone in it?!"

"These riots are already destroying the city! Talos doens't need to destroy it because you are doing a bang up job of doing it on your own! These riots? They will not stop Talos, but me and my friends, we can! We can stop him, but you have to trust us! You must calm down and go back to living your lives or we won't be able to stop him because we will be too busy stopping you!" Argon shouted at Selnay.

"I will never trust you again Dragonborn. You are standing in the way of the riots, and for that I sentence you to death."

Selnay spun around, faced his sister, pulled back his sword and swiftly brought it forward, aimed straight for her heart.

"Selnay no!!!" Argon yelled, he started running but he'd never make it in time. He'd failed her. Argon watched as the sword came forward, but it never reached its intended target. Instead, Selnay screamed in pain and dropped his sword, he grabbed his left wrist as blood began to pour from it. It was then that Argon noticed the arrow, it had its familiar design brown shaft, and on the end were three feathers two red feathers and one gold one which gave it a firey look. These arrows were custom made, and only one person made them, he was the same person who used them. Fayen.

Argon turned and look over at the balcony behind him, there he saw Fayen with another arrow on the string, ready to fire again if necessary. Argon nodded to his friend and Fayen nodded back. Argon continued running, and he reached Selnay and pushed him over, off the wooden stage where he rolled around in pain still clutching his wrist.

The Dragonborn ripped the key off of Selnay's neck and unlocked the chains holding the girl in place.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine, thank you, thank you so much." and she hugged him.

"Don't thank me, I didn't fire the arrow." Argon turned to Fayen and so did the girl.

The girl smiled and blew the archer a kiss. Then she hopped off of the stage alked right over to her brother and began kicking him. She kicked him in the face and he cringed, she kicked him in the stomach and he rolled over. She kept kicking him and he kept rolling and yelping in pain from the arrow, the kicking, and the fact that he had just lost his sister and he knew it. He knew she would never talk to him again. For a few moments Argon just let her take out her anger on him, but it seemed instead of losing her anger it just got worse and worse. Up to the point that she was about to strangle him. Argon grabbed her and picked her up and she beat on him to try to make him drop her.

"Stop, it's done. You've made your point, you don't need to kill him." Argon hissed in her ear.

"Yes I do! He killed so many other innocent people, he tried to kill me! He deserves this!"

"No, he doesn't! He's scared, just like you. We tend to act rash when we're scared, that doesn't mean you can kill him for it though! We're gonna take him to the Palace, and we're gonna get you some new clothes, a place to sleep for a while, and he's gonna be locked away. I promise."

"He'd better stay locked away then, because the moment he gets out I WILL kill him. I promise."

~~~~~~~~
Using the chains on the stage Argon had bound Selnay. The six heroes, Selnay, and his sister who's name was revealed to be Lori, walked out of the arena. They walked through the Imperial Palace Plaza, up to the doors of the White Gold Tower. As they came through, the fighting stopped. The rioters were shocked by Selnay's capture, even though he wasn't the leader of the riots, he still had a big impact on them. The eight walked through the doors of the tower and went into the council room where a meeting of the Elder Council was going on. Lori felt instantly embarassed and attempted to cover herself using her hands.

"Don't worry, my dear." said the High Chancellor, "I take it you were a prisoner at the arena?"

"Yes." Lori answered.

"Understood. You there, take her to get bathed, clothed, and find her a nice bed to sleep in."

A guard took Lori by the hand and led her out of the room.

"How did you know?" Argon asked.

"I recognized Selnay. For a few days now we have been trying to figure out how to get into the arena and stop the madness. I guess we can check that off the list." The High Chancellor said. "Guards, take him to the prison."

A guard took to chains from Argon and walked out of the Palace. The sight of Selnay in chains shocked everyone that saw him and the guard and Selnay made it to the prison undisturbed.

"It is good to see you again my friend." The High Chancellor said and he took Argon's hand and shook it. "What brings you to the Imperial City?"

"We came to bring you news of the crisis, a recent discovery we made in hopes that you would send troops to each province to better defend it, but it seems you need all the troops you have here defending the city." Argon told him.

"Yes, we do need all the men we can get. But perhaps I can spare some men, just for you." The High Chancellor said.

"Even five men can make a difference. We will take what we can get." Argon said.

"Very well, I will arange for guards to be sent out in the morning. What is this discovery though?"

Argon told The High Chancellor his hypothesis about Talos being the Fallen God.

"It does sound highly likely. If this is true then we are in trouble, big trouble. We cannot take any chances with this man then. I don't know what a 'Fallen God' is, but it doesn't sound good." The High Chancellor rubbed his chin as he said this. "You look tired though Dragonborn, and it is late. I cannot let you back on the roads at this time of night, especially not with the state this province is in. Guards, escort these people upstairs allow them to bathe and then show them to some beds they can sleep in."

Guards escorted the heroes out of the meeting room and took them upstairs. The High Chancellor just stood there, scratching his chin and contemplating the situation.

One of the men on the council walked up to him and placed his hand on The High Chancellor's shoulder. "Is everything alright?" the council member asked.

"Yes, everything is fine. However, we need to keep and eye on Argon. I don't think he can be trusted." The High Chancellor told him.

"Why not?"

The High Chancellor looked the council member in the eye and said, "Talos is the second Dragonborn in less than a century to go crazy and try to enslave everyone. If two Dragonborns can do that in less than a century apart from each other, who's to say Argon won't either? I need you to send a spy to watch him until he leaves the city. Do this now, we can't take any chances."

You know what? No chapter this weekend.

Okay, so I have a ton of ideas all laid out for The Marksman, I think I'm gonna try to get a rough draft typed up sometime tomorrow and if anyone wants (just reply to this to tell me) I'll go ahead and post the first draft of chapter 1 up. I'm excited for this story so I hope when it does finally come out that you will enjoy it.

ORIGINALITY: 10/10
CHARACTER DEPTH: 9/10
STORY: !0/10
LORE LEVEL: 9/10
COMMENTS: Awesome originality for a base! This is truly an excellent piece of a fanfiction. Keep writing, I look forward to it. Again, excellent job writing this.
OVERALL LEVEL: 9.5

Lord Rokinges said:

ORIGINALITY: 10/10
CHARACTER DEPTH: 9/10
STORY: !0/10
LORE LEVEL: 9/10
COMMENTS: Awesome originality for a base! This is truly an excellent piece of a fanfiction. Keep writing, I look forward to it. Again, excellent job writing this.
OVERALL LEVEL: 9.5

Click to expand...

Hey, thank you so much! Not gonna lie, I've been hoping you would review this sooner or later. This actually really means a lot, glad you liked it.

There will probably not be a chapter this weekend either, sorry for that, for two reasons. One, I have fallen behind in my writings and this story has caught up with me. Two, I'm sick and really don't know if I'm up for writing a chapter in this state, and I fear if I do attempt to write the next one it won't turn out very well. I'm not saying there won't be one, it's supposed to be a short chapter anyways, but I can't make any promises.

ultimatedovahkiin said:

Lord Rokinges said:

ORIGINALITY: 10/10
CHARACTER DEPTH: 9/10
STORY: !0/10
LORE LEVEL: 9/10
COMMENTS: Awesome originality for a base! This is truly an excellent piece of a fanfiction. Keep writing, I look forward to it. Again, excellent job writing this.
OVERALL LEVEL: 9.5

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Hey, thank you so much! Not gonna lie, I've been hoping you would review this sooner or later. This actually really means a lot, glad you liked it.

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It was my pleasure to read this comediac, wonderful story. Whenever the next chapter comes out, I will truly be ready for it!

Looking forward to read,
Lord Rokinges
Fanfic Judge
The 6th Dreadlord

I was planning on posting a chapter this weekend but it was a busy weekend and I only got the first few paragraphs written but I swear I'm gonna try my hardest to get it ready by next weekend. However, in other news, just an update on The Marksman, not completely sure if I've said this already, but it will consist of 5 separate stories so I am estimating that if we go with my average length of my stories taking 3-4 months it should last about a year, but none of that is new news, so here is the update the first story has had more story elements to give it a bit more of a Robin Hood type feel than a Green Arrow type feel, and I've also gone over the final story (I already have The Marksman planned all the way to the end) to make the finale chapter and pretty much the entire 5th story much much better than previously planned. I'm gonna go over the other 3 stories to make them even better also, and again I'm still not completely sure when I'll begin the story, it'll probably happen halfway through Revenge (the final story of The Heroes of Tamriel) or the beginning of the sequel series. Maybe earlier, but that's a slim chance.

Chapter 9: The Choice is yours, Make the Right one

A guard led the six heroes upstairs and to the bed and wash rooms. Each hero had their own separate room except Argon and Kara who were sharing one. Sheogorath went into his room and threw his armor and weapons on to the bed so he was only in a pair of ragged trousers and torn up and scorched shirt. How the shirt got scorched Sheogorath would never know, it probably had something to do with a small mishap in the Shivering Isles and a rather drunk madgod....

Sheo sat on the bed for a few moments trying to gather as much strength as he could so that he could get up and walk go bathe. He looked at the Divine Crusader armor and weapons and remembered a time when things were easier, when things made sense, when a good man hadn't turned against everyone he loved, when Sheogorath was mortal, when he was no more than a man named Tamiir and name that no longer had any meaning to it. It may seem like everything would be easier once you become an immortal capable of doing anything you can, that was Tamiir's thoughts exactly when he first became Sheogorath. He was right at first, everything was easy, for a while. Then the Soul Wars began and his whole life had changed once again. He was back in the hero business, fighting alongside the greatest heroes ever to walk Tamriel, and one of them was his great-grandson. Then he had lost Argon for a year and slipped into madness, then Argon returned and stopped the Apocalypse. But for how long? The Apocalypse of Apocapher may have been avoided, but now the Dwemer were back a race long since lost in time, and Talos a man so honored in life he was granted divinity was now attacking the world seeking to rule it, so how long was the Apocalypse stopped for? Was there any REAL point in stopping the Apocalypse of Apocapher if the world is just going to end five months later? Or was this still the Apocalypse of Apocapher? Perhaps this was the true last gift Apocapher had given the world, maybe before he died he caused the end of the world, perhaps as some sort of fail-safe to ensure its destruction and that was his last gift.

Everyone had thought that the return of the Dwemer was Apocapher's final gift, but what if it wasn't? Or what if that was just a small fraction of what is to come?

~~~~~~~~
Sheogorath pulled himself out of his mind and wandered down the hall to the wash room. He walked in the door and found three wooden tubs steaming with hot water. Next to him was a metal rack with towels so he grabbed one and walked over to the middle tub. Between each tub was a divider so no one could sneak a peek. Sheogorath tossed the towel on the barrel next to the tub. The towel bumped a on the barrel which caused a rattling sound. Sheogoraht noticed the bowl and examined it, rose petals. He lifted the bowl up to his nose and smelled them, and for a moment, as he breathed in the smell and prepared to take his bath, he forgot all about the troubles of his life and the world and just felt, safe. So he undressed, threw his garments next to the tub and proceeded to climb in and relax. Grabbing the bowl from the barrel he poured its whole contents in the hot water and the smell of the roses lifted from the tub and filled Sheo's nose and the rest of the room.

~~~~~~~~
Sheogorath walked out of the wash room with the towel wrapped around his waist and his dirty clothes in his arms. He went down the hall and to his room, he opened the door and walked in and changed into a fresh pair of clothes left for him by one of the High Chancellor's servants.

After he was dressed he turned around and saw a man standing in the shadows watching him.

"Well come out then!" Sheogorath yelled at him.

The man walked out of the shadows with a smile on his face. "Hello Sheogorath."

Sheo dove for his bow on the bed and before you could count to five he had an arrow on the string and drawn back with the bow aimed at the spot right between the man's eyes.

"Talos, what do you want?" Sheo snarled.

"Just to talk." Talos answered.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't sink this arrow right into your skull!"

"Because I am a god, and rather than kill me, that will just make me very very angry and you won't like me when I'm angry."

Sheogorath lowered the bow and tossed it along with the arrow back on the bed.

"So I take it you were watching me change?"

"I shielded my eyes. Trust me, I don't want see that." Talos told him.

"Then what do you want?"

"To get you to give up. Despite being the madgod you have a nice level head, and you know that it is worthless to fight me. You can't stop me. No one can stop what is coming not even your grandson. You know the power I possess, you can feel it."

"I can sense your power alright. It feels familiar, however. I just can't place my finger on it. Perhaps it is something my predecessor delt with once. This is not the first time powers like your have been here. There was another time. I don't know how I know, I don't know who possessed them or when they were last present, but I know that they were here once." Sheogorath was saying this more to himself than to Talos.

Talos confirmed Sheo's assumption, "You are correct, they were here once long, long ago, in an age long since passed. Around the same time this world began as a matter of fact."

"And what was the outcome of powers like yours? Who held them? And what caused them to leave this world?"

"I cannot, no I will not tell you that. That is not something for you to know about Tamiir, just worry about what they can do and what they WILL do. It will be catastrophic. However, I can save you Tamiir. Protect you and shield you, ensure your future will stay the way it is destined to be. But if you stay in this fight, your future will change, I have seen it. If you keep in this battle you WILL fall and then you will never meet your daughter..."

"My daughter is dead. Died along time ago. I couldn't save her, but I did meet her."

"Not that daughter. I mean your other one."

"I have no other daughter." Sheogorath argued.

"Not yet, but you will. But not once you are dead. Not if you keep on with this path you are going down. Then you will have no daughter. And believe me, she is beautiful." Talos smiled, his plan was going all too well, "Would you like to see her? Of course you would. Let me show you."

In that instant Talos was by Sheogorath's side and he put his hand on the madgod's head.

A cloud of mist filled Sheogorath's mind, and he was trapped in his mind, staring into the mist.

"What are you doing?" Sheogorath shouted.

"Just look, here she comes. Can you see her?"

It front of Sheogorath, standing in the middle of the mist, was a beautiful young woman at about the age of twenty. She had coal black hair like Sheogorath's had once been. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders and to her back, and a small shadow was cast over her hazel eyes. On her head she wore a gold and ruby circlet and on here body she worse green and red tavern clothes with a towel hanging at her waist. She opened her mouth and a soft, lovely, voice came out.

"Hello father." she said.

Sheogorath stared on in awe, this was no trick, this woman was real. He could feel the father daughter connection between them. She really would be his.

Talos' voice sounded distant but still Sheogorath heard it. "Her name is Mira. She will be born in six years from now on this exact date, but not if you keep resisting me. Let me show you what she will do."

The scene changed and now Sheogorath was watching his daughter fight off a horde of monsters. She was dressed in armor with a grey cloak and hood covering her helmet. There were four others fighting along side her, three boys and one other girl. They were a team, each worse either a mask or hood to cover their face, Sheo wasn't sure why. But he heard her yell to her friends, "By the five, we can't hold them off much longer! We need to fall back! Father, please help us..." Sheogorath was shocked. She was praying to him, his own daughter praying to him.

The scene changed again, this time to a much different scene. Mira was wearing the same armor as was everyone else, but other than that everything was different, there was calmness, but it was evident a great battle had just happened. They were inside some sort of castle, the other girl was hunched over a corpse but Sheogorath couldn't see who it was, and off by itself was a second corpse this one wore a black mask with a skull on it. That's when Sheogorath realized it wasn't calm, instead everyone was crying.

"Mira will go on to be a great hero. She will suffer loss as everyone does, times will be tough, but in the end she will come out victorious. Your daughter will go on to be one of the most honored people ever. None of this will happen though, not if I am forced to kill you." Talos told Sheogorath and he removed his hand from the man's head.

The mist cleared out of Sheogorath's mind and he was back in his room at the palace. Talos was standing next to him. Sheo was overcome with love for his daughter and didn't want to risk losing her and preventing her existence, but then he realized that if he didn't the lives of so many other would be prevented. Even if it meant he might die and lose his daughter, Sheogorath had to keep on fighting, for Tamriel and its citizens.

"You get out. I will not tolerate your trickery in here any longer! You are lucky I do not strike you down right here!" Sheogorath yelled.

Talos laughed and obeyed, he may have been gone but his voice echoed in the walls, "The choice is yours, make the right one."

So let me just say a few things, I am truly sorry for not posting for so long, I have been really busy and a few times I got lazy. I am going to try, to get another chapter up tomorrow, no promises though. And for the last thing, this was actually a really big chapter even if it doesn't seem like it you won't know why for a while, but trust me you will in time.

So just a warning, this next chapter is pretty dark. I apologize if it disturbs anyone. Another thing, this chapter is pretty short as will be the next two chapters, but chapter 13 should have a medium sized length. In other words it won't be like really long but it isn't gonna be as short as 10, 11, and 12.

Chapter 10: When Grey Turns to Red

Atop the Throat of the World, inside High Hrothgar the Greybeards were all sitting in a circle meditating as Kynareth taught them about the Thu'um and a better more powerful use of shouts.

"To super-charge your shouts, you must all four be focusing and channeling all of your energy." taught Kyne, "Spread it out evenly between each of you so that you may become as one, then using all the energy passed between the four of you, you shout. It will create a Thu'um so powerful that it can knock down mountains, raze cities, and cause the Red Mountain to erupt. Be weary though, do not use this shout unless it is of the utmost importance. It is not used for learning as you might think, it should be used to destroy enemies."

"Lady Kyne, then why are you teaching us this? You know we only use the shout peaefully." Arngeir asked, "I mean no disrepect of course."

"I fear your peaceful use of shouts will soon end." was the answer.

"Why? Is it because of Talos?"

"Yes, and no. The power Talos possesses, I recognize it. In fact I am very familiar with it, and if I am correct then that means destruction for all."

Arngeir's curiousity was piqued, "What is it? This power I mean."

"Nothing I feel like speaking about, not until I am completely sure of it."

"I don't understand, why won't you say anything?"

Kynareth laughed, "That's what I love about you Greybeards, always looking for answers. But this is one answer you will not find."

A voice echoed through the hall, "Unless I tell them of course."

The doors blew open and a gust of wind and snow flew throughout the room painting it with white splotches. From the cloud of snow walked Talos, his sword in hand he stood in one of the open doorways.

"TALOS! Divines, run!" Arngeir commanded, and they obeyed and ran outside to the back courtyard.

"I do not wish to hurt you, I admire your peacefulness and will to understand even the darkest mysteries. However, if the four of you do not turn over the eight I will slaughter you all with no remorse."

"We will never turn over something good to men as bad as you. I demand you leave this place at once before we are forced to destroy you." Arngeir demanded with a sudden edge to his voice.

"I am a god, I will not be pushed around by you mere mortals." Talos tightened his grip on his blade.

"Lady Kyne was right, the time has come for us to put our knowledge to good use. Greybeards, it is time."

"Fus Ro DAH!!" All four of them shouted at Talos at the same time, their combined voices were so powerful that it seemed as though Talos was disintergrated right then and there.

It was only and illusion, for Talos had teleported behind them and grabbing Wulfgar by the back, he slammed his body on his blade and shoved the corpse off it. Wulfgar was dead.

"NO!!!!!" Arngeir yelled and he shouted at the god.

Again Talos dodged and attempted to severe the head of Einarth but Arngeir tackled Einarth to the ground. The three remaining Greybeards stood up to face the Fallen God. At the same time they once again used the Unrelenting Force shout and knocked Talos back into a wall. They kept shouting and Talos' head kept smacking into the wall behind him. They proceeded to use the Fire Breath shout in an attempt to burn him, but it took no effect.

Talos had enough he used his own Unrelenting Force shout, with the power of a god, and blew the Greybeards all the way across the room. Borri's head smashed into the rock so hard he busted his skull and died.

"Your pathetic mortal shouts are no match for me, I have the power of a god! You puny pathetic humans cannot best me!" Talos yelled at the remaining two.

Again Talos used a shout, but this time it was Ice Breath and he froze Arngeir. Then, using a telekinesis spell he lifted Arngeir up and threw him out the doorway. The popsicle flew over the edge of the mountain and shattered at the foot of the seven thousand steps. Arngeir, was now dead.

Talos looked out the door laughing silently to himself and enjoying his handy work. But a voice behind him dared to argue.

Einarth was sprawled out on the floor, his right legs was broken and couldn't stand up. "There will always be one who can best you. When there seems there is no hope, there is more hope than ever. A hero will always rise up and bring light to the darkness, save the world and conquer evil."
"And who will that hero be? Argon? His five friends? I do not think so. I have foreseen it, they will try to stop me but they shall fail miserably. A great battle is coming and of it there will be no survivors but the ones who choose to follow me. You believe that I will fall, you believe there is still hope, but your Divines just let you four die and didn't lift a finger to help. There is no hope." And with that, Talos lifted his sword and thrust it into Einarth's heart.

~~~~~~~~
Talos walked out the doors to the courtyard of High Hrothgar. The Divines looked up at him hoping that it was the Greybeards walking out of there, but it wasn't. They saw a burning fire in the eyes of Talos, rage filled them and dyed the blue rings around his pupil's red. Defeat had come, the Greybeards had failed and the eight knew they stood no chance. So they got down on their knees, crossed their wrists and stared into the face of evil. Talos snapped and enchanted cuffs materialized around the wrists of the eight. He snapped again and they disappeared, sent to the heavens of Sovngarde.

Talos laughed and yelled out for all to hear, "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!!!"

He then turned back to High Hrothgar, walked inside, took a seat in the middle of the diamond on the floor of the room, and waited.

AAAANNNNNDDDDD..... Spacing issues. I'm gonna try to fix them, tell me if you see any I missed.

Chapter release schedule for the rest of the story, I plan to release chapter 11 mid-week so Wednesday or Thursday, and then 12 & 13 this weekend probably on back-to-back days, so either Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday.

Chapter 11: 1, 2, Talos is coming for you...

The room was completely black, Argon tried to look around the darkness but his eyes couldn't pierce it. Next to him Kara's smooth, warm, and naked body lay next to him curled up in his arm. "Go to sleep," she told him, "it's been a long hard day, not to mention couple of weeks. You deserve the rest, we are in the lap of luxury right now. Take advantage of it."

"I dunno Kara, I just can't sleep. I slept better at the inn that night on top of hay and under animal skins."

"Well, while you deal with your nighttime demons, I am going to travel to dream land. You should get back to trying too. I love you, goodnight."

Argon leaned over her side and kissed her, "I love you too." he said, "Goodnight."

--------
Kara was fast asleep, Argon lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling. A dim light glowed from the fire spell on his hand, using the light of the fire he counted the stones in the ceiling above. The door crept open and in walked Talos. "Hello Argon. I've got something to show you." Talos drew his sword and Argon hopped up from the bed in only his undergarments. The spell in Argon's hand was gone, he couldn't summon it back. Argon tried shouting but nothing came out not even words. He tried crying out for his friends but he couldn't talk. He grabbed for his sword and his hand kept passing through it, he looked back at the bed where Kara was and laying on he back was Kara with her throat cut and covered in a pool of blood. The light from the hallway illuminated Talos's face and crawling along his cheeks were three spiders, they climbed all over his face. In and out his mouth, over his eyes, through his hair. Talos now stood in the middle of the room, Argon did the only thing he could think of which was run. As he ran down the hallway he tried each door to try and awaken his friends but they were all bolted shut.

Argon continued running down the seeming endless hallway all the while being pursued by Talos. The Fallen God was laughing and the laughter echoed through the tower. Argon came to a turn, he went down it. He kept running as knives, daggers, and arrows whizzed past his head. An arrow caught Argon in the heel and he toppled over, blood was coming out of the wound. Argon yanked out the bloodied arrow and threw it back in the direction of Talos, he then got up and continued running but at a slower pace.

Talos caught the arrow before it struck him in the eye and he snapped it in half with one hand, the broken arrow fell to the ground.

As Argon continued running visions began flashing through his head. A battle, four men versues one was all Argon could tell from it. He didn't know who was fighting, he didn't know which side was good or which was bad. The view of the room was not very clear so Argon had no idea where it was happening, he didn't even know when it had happened muchless if it had even happened yet, or if it was forthcoming.

Argon tried to keep the images out of his mind but they kept coming back.

"You don't like tonight's entertainment?" Talos teased, "Pity. I picked this out special. I particularly enjoy the outcome."

Argon kept running until he came to a forced turn. The hallway ended but a new one started, he went down it but came to a halt and turned out when he saw Talos walking down it in his direction. He ran back down to the other one but Talos had moved, now he was here. So again Argon turned around but Talos had moved back. That was when Talos came around the corner. He hadn't switched hallways at all. He was in both. Argon was trapped, his only option was to try one last door. Argon pulled but it didn't open, he pushed but it didn't budge. He shoved all his weight up against it and it broke. Argon fell forward and got spliters in his arms and chest. He got up and ran up the staircase, he kept running until he saw a trapdoor. He opened it and was blasted with daylight. He was on top of the White-Gold Tower. In other words, Argon was trapped.

Both the Taloses came up the trapdoor and stopped walking. They merged together back into one Talos. "Persistance always leads you to a bad place, Argon. You should have learned that by now."

"Says the man who is hell-bent on taking over the world!" Argon shouted and threw his fist and extended finger across his chest and towards the ground.

"But I am persistant about a good cause. The world is corrupt, the Daedra are corrupt, the Divines are corrupt. I am the only one who remains pure. I am the only one who can save this world. You see, I must be the sole-ruler in order for it to survive." Talos said.

"And those images you showed me? I take it that was you. You say you're not corrupt yet I watched you attempt to slaughter four people!" Argon retorted.

"So you did enjoy the entertainment. Yes, well, those four were harboring the Nine Fugitives as I have taken to calling them."

"Harboring the Divi-- Oh no... You didn't...."

"Oh but I did. How about we watch the rest of that little battle." Talos extended his hand and touched Argon's forehead. The rest of the battle was streamed into Argon's mind. He watched helplessly as Talos slaughtered the Greybeards. Again, and again, and again.

"ENOUGH!!" Argon shouted and he slapped the hand of Talos off of his head. The images instantly faded.

"Tired of it already? Funny. I was there and I am still not tired of it." Talos gave a small chuckle. "You see, no one can stop me. Not even the Greybeards. 'Masters of The Way of the Voice' or whatever they call themselves. I say they dress like they are at a permanent pajama party what with all those robes and stuff. You think they stay up late talking about girls and eating cookie dough?"

"I don't understand why you are doing this Tiber Septim, but it needs to stop. There are better ways to save the world." Argon pleaded.

"No. There's not. Not this time. The Divines severely wronged me once, long ago. Now they must pay in blood."

"They wrong everybody! Sithis, Xan, Apocapher, I'm pretty sure they're part of the reason the Dwemer disappeared in the first case! And those aren't the only ones, there are more."

"And I shall make up for any wrong they have caused. Then, and only then can this world be saved." Talos shoved Argon backwards and he fell off the tower.

Falling... Falling.... Falling..... Up until the point when he hit the ground and, SMACK!!!

Argon jolted up in the bed so fast that he hit the wooden post of the bedframe next to him. Kara's eyes fluttered open, "Well good morning, looks like someone got some sleep last night." She said to him.

"You're alive." Argon said.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Pack your things, we are leaving. Now."

"Why? Where are we going?" she got up from the bed very confused.

"Just do it." Argon commanded and he tossed her her clothes.

Argon got armored up and then went around waking up the rest of the heroes. Within twenty minutes they were already outside of the city on their horses.

Chapter 12: The Wheel Turns, One Last Time

"Are you planning on telling us exactly why you woke us up so early and forced us to leave? Are you even going to tell us where we are going?!" Garnin demmanded of Argon

"No. Just keep following me." Argon said. They were making good time, already they were back in Skyrim and drawing ever nearer to Ivarstead.

"Wait a minute, I recognize this area. Are we going to Riften?" Fayen asked.

"No, Riften is that way. We're going to Ivarstead." Nerevar answered for Argon.

"Why are you taking us to Ivarstead laddie? We can't exactly go pick up the Divines yet, we still got work to do." Sheogorath said.

"Argon, stop holding us in suspense. We have a right to know what's going on. We are a team." Kara said.

Shadowmere sensed his master's anger and knew what his next move would be. Shadowmere was a step ahead of him, he came to a sudden halt and turned himself around to face the rest of the team. Shadowmere's knowledge of him brought a slight smile to Argon's face. That's one person he wasn't mad at. Or I guess the one horse he wasn't mad at. Not that the rest of the horse population did anything bad, but we're getting off topic.

Argon sat for a second choosing his words, the team stared on with annoyance painted on their faces.

"Last night, I had a dream. In the dream, I was visited by Talos. He chased me down an endless hallway all the time saying he wanted to show me something and streaming images of a battle into my head. Finally, he chased me to the top of the White-Gold Tower. There he showed me the whole battle. It was him versues the Greybeards. The Greybeards lost, horribly. If the Greybeards are dead, then that means Talos has the Divines. If he has the Divines who knows what he will do. He said something about them being corrupt and wronging him once, long ago. Should I be worried that I find that easy to believe? What they did though, I don't know but it was clearly bad. Talos wants revenge, how he will take it though, I don't know. He'll probably kill them, from there he will most likely kill the Daedra and then take over the world. That cannot happen. We have to make sure the Greybeards are okay, and if they're truly dead then we must get the Divines back."

"What would the Divines do to Talos? He is one of them." Fayen said.

"Who knows, maybe it was before he was Talos back when he was Tiber Septim. Probably made him lose a battle or something and he has never forgiven them." Nerevar suggested.

"It doesn't matter right now. All that matters is finding him and putting a stop to all of this." Argon said.

Shadowmere turned back around and began to gallop down the road.

~~~~~~~~
The horses stopped outside the village and the six dismounted. They walked towards the town center where they were met by many villagers. They were greiving.

"Our heroes, I fear you are too late." said Froli, the village shopkeeper.

"The Greybeards, they were slaughtered. Arngeir landed down here last night, he was frozen in a block of ice. The moment the ice hit the ground it shattered and so did Arngeir. No one has been up there for fear of what may be waiting, but it has and eerie quietly about it. More so than usual." informed a young buff man named Yuni he was the innkeeper.

"We'll go up there then. Check the place out, I'm sure it's fine. Just try to go back to your daily business, everything will be fine." Argon tried to keep everyone calm and assured that it would be okay, but he himself was scared.

"Well then, 7000 steps later we'll keep that promise." said Fayen

~~~~~~~~
The heroes reached the top of the steps, barely able to walk. The snowstorm that began halfway up hadn't been much help either, Argon was lucky to have been holding Kara's hand or he would have fallen several times.

"My aunt used to tell me, don't fall asleep in snow. It may seem comfortable, but you'll never wake up. I think that's how my cousin died." Garnin said.

"The doors of High Hrothgar. I've heard a lot about this place. I know we've been here already, but I didn't actually take the time to appreciate it. I have always wanted to come up here, maybe live here for some time. Train and study with the Greybeards. Learn everything there is to know about the Thu'um, maybe even become better at shouting than the Dragonborn himself." Nerevar said.

Argon laughed, "No one is better at shouting than me. No one."

"You sure about that? Prove it. Shout for me."

Argon pointed to the sky, "You see that snowstorm. The one we're trapped in? Well if you can see my finger look where I'm pointing."

Nerevar stared at the tip of Argon's finger.

"Lok Vah Koor!" Argon shouted.

The thu'um traveled into the air and instantly the storm disappeared.

"You couldn't have done that as we were coming up the steps?!" Fayen shouted.

"I was quite enjoying the weather. I may be a Breton by blood, but I am a Nord at heart."

"So, should we go inside?" Garnin said, staring at the large building.

"I guess it's time to face Talos." Sheogorath said.

"Let's go." Kara started walking towards the doors but Argon grabbed her hand and pulled her back, "Argon, what are you--"

Argon got on one knee, pulled the Amulet of Mara which was already around his neck out from his armor, and pulled out a gold and emeral ring.

"Green, I know it's your favorite color. Personally, I prefer blue but this isn't my ring. It's yours if you want it, I made it for you." Argon said looking up at the woman he loved, "Look, I don't know what will happen in there. I'm not sure if we will come back, heck I'm not sure Talos is even still inside. It doesn't matter though, I am not going to take that chance when the odds are he's waiting inside for the final showdown. I was planning on doing this after this is all over but things have escalated to a scale I hadn't imagined possible. I love you so much more than anything, I know we started off hating each other but that is clearly behind us. I would never let anything happen to you no matter what I have to do no harm will befall you as long as I am around. So, before we go in there are risk our lives. Before we decide the fate of Tamriel and everyone living in it. I have to ask you. Kara, once this battle is over, if we are still alive and Tamriel is left standing will you please do me the honor and pleasure of becoming my wife?"

Two tears rolled down Kara's cheek and froze halfway down. The light reflected off of them and gave her face an extra sparkle. "Oh Argon..." she said," Yes!"

The rest of the team cheered and Argon jumped up and hugged and kissed his new fiance. After they broke apart he grabbed her small soft hand and slid the custom made ring on it.

"It fits perfectly." Kara said.

"Guys, I love you both so much and I am so happy for both of you truly I am. So believe me when I say I hate to ruin the moment, but do you mind hurrying it up a little bit? We got a world to save!" Nerevar said.

"You're right, you're right." Kara said.

"Well then come on boys, and girl! We got us a god to kill!" Argon shouted and the six charged for the doors.

They busted through the doors with their weapons raised. Nerevar tightly clutched Keening and Sunder, Sheogorath held the sword and shield of the crusader, Garnin had both his hands on his axe, an arrow was knocked and his bow was drawn, Kara held Silmeri out in front of her with one hand a magic ward spell in her other, Argon stood in the front with the Infinity Sword glowing in his hands.

They are crept into the room and found Talos sitting in the middle of the floor with his eyes closed and his legs crossed.

Garnin whispered, "Is he dead?"

Fayen released his bow string and the arrow flew forth. Talos shot up, caught the arrow with his telekinesis and threw it right back and into Fayen's left leg. The archer fell over in pain.

"I wouldn't count on it dear heroes." Talos said, "So, The Eternal Champion, The Hero of Daggerfall, The Nerevarine, The Champion of Cyrodiil a.k.a. Daedric Prince of Madness himself, and The Last Dragonborn. Five of the greatest heroes known to man, come to stop the greatest hero. Poetic, isn't it? Well well, this is where your journeys all end. Your lives as heroes have all added up to this, and now you will lose. I have come too far to be deafeated by you six. However, I would like you to be there when I kill the Divines. I want you to watch your failure. I want you to know what it is to experience true pain! The Divines have already felt betrayal as they betrayed me, now they shall feel revenge. All will feel my wrath!!"

"Damn, who shoved the stick up your ass?" Sheogorath said.

"You won't be so funny after you see what I can do!"

Talos used telekinesis again to lift up the six and suspend them in the air so they couldn't move. Like the Divines, magical cuffs appeared around their wrists and feet. Talos spotted the ring on Kara's finger. "Congratulations on your engagement, I am sure it would have been a lovely wedding." Then Talos snapped his fingers and he and the heroes teleported to the Heavens of Sovngarde.

Chapter 13: Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin

The Fires at each corner of the throne room were scarlet, the light from them made the whole room red. The eight Divine and six heroes were all forciby kneeling with their backs to the nine thrones. Talos paced back and forth in front of the fourteen hostages. He dragged his sword on the ground behind him which was causing the floor to be scratched up and sparks coming from his blade.

"Poetic justice isn't it Argon? To end right where your new journey began." Talos mocked, "I remember when you first died, you were just about to enter the Hall of Valor when the Soul Wars began. Right here in Sovngarde. A bit of irony also, don't you think? Sovngarde is where you saved the world, but it is also where you will fail the world. Plus, the place where the dead go, is the exact place where you will die."

"You will not win Tiber. I will not let you." Argon threatened.

Talos laughed and said, "Don't you see? I've already won! All fourteen of you are bound and at the mercy of my blade! And once you are all dead, I shall rule the realm!"

Talos went on with his plan that everyone had already heard multiple times yet Talos never seemed to grow tired of repeating himself. As Talos talked everyone zoned out and just waited for him to be finished, Kara nugged Argon and whispered something in his ear.

"Why don't you do it?" Argon asked.

"Because you're closer to her than me." Kara answered.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it." he said.

Argon leaned forward and looked down the line. "Mara!" he softly called. "Mara!"

Mara heard her name and leaned forward. "Yes?"

"Kara, her and I are, well we're getting married and we wanted to know if we somehow get out of this can we have your blessing?" Argon asked.

"That's wonderful news! I'll tell you what, if we survive this I will not only give you my blessing but I'll take it a step forward and wed the two of you myself."

"Really?" Argon asked.

"Yes really. Anything for my favorite couple." Mara winked.

"Thank you!" Argon whispered back.

"I'M TALKING!!" Talos spun around, the scarlet fires flared up as did the fires in his eyes. "If you really think you have better things to do than listen to me, I can just kill you now!"

Talos turned back around and restarted his speech. As he went on and on Argon started struggling to break his binds.

"It's no use." Nerevar who was on the other side of Argon told him.

"It's worth a shot." Argon said.

Argon kept pushing and struggling as he tried to break the binds around his wrists. They would not break no matter how hard he tried. So Argon stopped. He concentrated and gathered all his strength and power and released all at once in one final attempt to break the binds. He shoved his wrists against the sides of the binds and using everything he had he broke the enchanted fabric. Nerevar's eyes popped. Everyone except Argon gave a small gasp.

Talos heard this and turned around. He saw Argon's free wrists and charged at him. Talos held his sword against his side and tucked it in place. The fire in his eyes grew ever greater as he ran at the Dragonborn in full speed. Argon put his hands behind his back to try and break the binds on his ankles. That was when he felt a dagger pressed into his hand. He looked at Kara who nodded at him and in one swift motion he slashed the binds and dove to the side.

Talos ran straight past him and his sword stabbed into the throne of Stendarr.

Argon stood up, now with his sword in hand and stared at Talos.

The god ripped his blade from the throne at turned back to face Argon.

"You may have broken my binds but you will not escape." Talos said, his voice was deeper and it echoed throughout the room.

"I don't need to escape, I just need to kill you." Argon got into a fighting stance.

"Then so it shall be, that the Last Dragonborn faces the Superior Dragonborn, at the Heavens of Sovngarde."

"So be it."

Talos ran at Argon again, this time with his blade raised. He reached the Dragonborn and brought his blade slashing downward at Argon's head. Argon reached up and caught the blade in his gauntlet, he thrust Talos's blade arm to the side and then elbowed his in the face and as he pulled his elbow back to his body, he delivered him a punch in the cheek using the bottom of his fist.

Talos staggered backwards and Argon slashed him across the chest. The strong armor deflected the blade and it left only a scratch.

"You don't think I will be so easily defeated do you? I possess a power far greater than you have ever seen!" Talos shouted.

Then Talos smacked Argon with the end of his blade and knocked Konahrik off of his face. Argon pushed the hood down and let it hang at his back. Then he brought his sword coming from his right shoulder right down towards Talos's neck. The god raised his sword and caught Argon's on it. The two pushed on their blades trying to break the lock between them.

"Give up! You cannot win!" Talos commanded.

"It's worth a shot!" Argon retorted. Then he pulled his blade back, ducked under Talos's, and when Talos swung at Argon's feet the Dragonborn hopped over the sword and landed on the ground. Argon swung his sword at Talos and stuck it in the side of his armor. He tried to pull it back but it was actually stuck. Talos laughed and pulled the sword off his side. He threw the large blade behind him like it was nothing.

Talos raised his right hand and shot a spell at Argon. It landed at his feet and blew him backwards into the wall. Argon tried to get up but he was paralyzed. Talos approached lauging maniacally. The scarlet fires and the glow of Sovngarde below casted a dark shadow over half his face, but illuminated the other half.

"I told you that you would lose. Told you that you would fail, fall. Did you listen? No. You just had to have the hero's victory. Well, now you will have the hero's end." Talos stood over Argon, lifted his sword up high with the blade at a ninety degree angle right above Argon's heart. As he was about to stab Argon, the paralysis wore off and without thinking Argon shouted.

"RII VAAZ ZOL!!" Soul Tear.

Talos flew backwards in the air, his sword blew over to the side of the room. The Fallen God landed in the middle of the room almost knocked out. The binds dropped off of the thirteen still trapped. Everyone gathered around Talos as they watched some sort of struggle as the shout attempted to tear his soul from his body. Talos rolled around on the floor as something strong and powerful fought against the power of the Thu'um to stay in.

Ultimately, the soul that had been possessing Talos lost and was booted from his body. It shot up into the air above Talos and looked around at everyone staring at him.

"Well my old friends the Divines. Surprised to see me? Don't be. You should have expected this. You think that you can just murder me in cold blood and I won't come back for revenge?! You have no idea how wrong you are. The time has come, you shall all pay for what was done to me! Especially you Akatosh. The end is here. Each and every one of you in this room will fall to my blade. I no longer need to use Talos, he was merely a disguise. Well, the secret is out and now you shall face my full wrath!" The soul disappeared and a silence fell over the room.

Argon checked Talos to see if he was still alive, he was living but he was knocked out. Argon looked up at the Divines and saw the shock on their faces. Akatosh turned and walked to his throne, he sat down with a worried look on his face and he began to shake.

The Dragonborn rushed to his side, "What is it Akatosh?"

Akatosh took a deep breath and then began to speak, "This is it. The end has truly come. Alduin, Harkon, Miraak, Sithis, Xan, Apocapher, and Kagrenac, they were not the true end. They were merely the advent. The Advent of the Fallen God. When you came to me with this prophecy, I thought nothing of it. Talos, though strong he would be an easy fight. But this, this is a fight destined to end in destruction. I have made many mistakes in my time Argon, a lot of them you have helped to fix. But my biggest mistake, the one choice I wish I could take back, has finally returned to bite me in the ass. You must stay out of this fight Argon, if not you will lose everything you care about. The six of you must not join this battle, it is not your fight. The time has come Argon, the end is here."

Argon asked in a firm voice, "Akatosh. Who was that?"

The god turned to Argon and looked into his eyes, fear and worry clouded them, and he gave his answer, "That, was Lorkhan."

Will someone please review this chapter? I am sorry if this comes off rude, but the last 4 before this chapters no one has said anything about them! That's fine, I can deal with that but this one come on please. I have waiting to release this one for over a year now (yes I have been planning this for a year.) and I just left off with the biggest twist in any one of my five stories. The least someone can do is say something about it. You guys have no idea how much time and thought I put into each chapter but when they go so long with no reviews (and yes I do understand that I went a long time with no chapters being posted and that is a reason no one has said anything) I feel like I'm talking to myself and wasting my time. I will most likely publish Revenge because of the amount of work I have poured into it already, but now I don't know about a sequel series. One more thing, yes I understand that this chapter was just posted and no one can read it that fast, this post is not me being impatient that no one has said anything yet, it is just me begging someone to at least acknowledge my story. I am only asking for a review on this chapter because it is the most recent and the biggest chapter in this story and the one that I want a review for the most. And if you can't think of anything to say about the chapter itself, just say something about the twist at the end. Anyways, have a great day or night or morning or evening depending on when you read this . Goodbye.

For anyone who actually cares, I'm having a major writer's block for the next story but I should be over it soon which means hopefully by this weekend I'll have the story started up. After I get Revenge started and have a good amount of chapters written I am going to start on The Marksman and that should be up in a few weeks also. So if anyone is reading this (which I'm not gonna lie I HIGHLY doubt) thanks and as always have a nice day or night depending on when you read this.