Oblivion's Shadow

VII. The Break of Dawn

A sword? Nocturnal couldn't believe it. All Meridia's power resided in a sword? It better be more than just a sword if they hoped it could help them.

"Malkoran has forced the doors shut. But this is my temple, and it responds to my decree!" Meridia declared. "I will send down a ray of light. Guide this light through my temple and its doors will open."

The trio descended and softly landed back down on Meridia's temple. The beacon—still glowing brightly—came down after them and levitated in its pedestal. Macayla could feel the power resonating from it and transferring into the stone under her feet.

"Come on," she told the others as she headed down the stairs to the front doors. They offered little resistance as she pushed open the doors and stepped inside. It was immediately obvious that something was wrong: withered and blackened corpses littered the floor and a black haze drifted in the air. Macayla tensed as Nocturnal felt the dark power thickening the air and raising the hairs on her neck—it was black magick.

Macayla heard the others unsheathe their weapons out of precaution as she did as well. They began down the crudely crafted steps and cautiously advanced through the winding tunnels.

"Lass, what did Meridia mean when she said she knows what Nocturnal is doing?" Brynjolf whispered.

She took a heavy breath to explain. "Since I am affiliated with Nocturnal personally, it will be up to you two to become champions—Brynjolf, you as Meridia's, and Karliah, Azura's."

They continued creeping through the temple, nerves on edge at each defiled corpse and the black haze lingering in the air. They came into a large room, mostly empty except for broken pews and crumbled arches. In the center of the room, on a raised platform, sat a pedestal holding another sphere, identical to Meridia's beacon outside.

"Touch it, Brynjolf," Macayla said. "That's how you'll guide her light."

He stepped up to it and did as she said; the sphere reacted to his touch by rising up. A beam of light shot down from high behind them and struck it. It glowed as it absorbed the light—eliminating the haze in the room—but also reflected it toward an opening high above the shut door. As soon as it soared through, the doors opened.

The doors opened onto more stairs and a room at its base, but two black ghostly-figures with red eyes, resembling soldiers, patrolled it. They emitted a more evil aura than the mad Nightingale Sentinels. Macayla and Karliah had no trouble shooting them.

Their advancement deeper into Meridia's temple remained the same: kill ghosts, Brynjolf activate the pedestal to open the next room, and repeat. Their opposition also grew in number the further they went. In one room, they had to solve a puzzle to gain access to the adjoining chamber.

A pedestal raised high on a platform with multiple candles around it and three defiled corpses gave them pause. With the obvious significance of this room, the shut doors probably led to the main chamber and Malkoran. They made sure they were ready before Brynjolf activated the pedestal and opened the door.

They stopped halfway down the steps when the final chamber came into view. A tall man with neck-length blond hair in a black Necromancer robe faced something glowing on a dais. About seven ghosts hovered near him, watching whatever ritual he was performing. Many defiled corpses littered the floor and the dais.

Without speaking, Macayla motioned that she and Karliah would shoot at Malkoran; with him dead, the ghosts shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The Nightingale Trinity snuck to the entrance and the two women took aim. Like before with the bandits, the arrows were released consecutively. The missiles dug into Malkoran's back and he staggered to his knees, but he didn't die—his use of black magick had strengthened him.