Murphy's Law

Chapter 33

The Legion had swarmed the city and their base, but the Thalmor had spread out outside Windhelm's walls to catch anyone who managed to escape. The Knight slid to a halt as he emerged into the woods to see what seemed like the entirety of the Thalmor forces in Skyrim waiting for them, the others piling up behind him. Someone cursed quietly. Someone else sobbed.

"Oh Divines, where's Benny when you need him...?"

Unseen behind the faceplate of his helmet, the Knight narrowed his eyes as he spotted the Head Justiciar among the Thalmors' numbers. Of course he'd be there.

"Surrender now, and we may give you a quick, merciful death," Ondolemar announced. As he spoke, his archers drew back their bowstrings, arrows aimed and ready to fire. "And you. Don't you think it's about time you showed everyone who you are?"

The Knight relaxed his stance, tilting his head at the Head Justiciar. 'You know, I think you're right. It's about time I reminded you of who I am.' Ondolemar stared at him, confused, when he drew in a deep breath.

And with a voice rough and cracked from years of disuse, he Shouted.

"Strun Bah Qo!"

Immediately the skies overhead darkened. Rain began to fall, and thunder rumbled so loudly, they could feel it in their very bones. And the Thalmor, with their metal armor, were prime targets for lightning strikes.

'Fight!' he gestured to the stunned remnants of the rebel army, and drew his greatsword, charging forward. It was as if a spell had broken, and as one their warriors flowed forward, weapons drawn. The mages stayed back, casting as quickly as they could manage, throwing buffs and Destruction spells or summoning atronachs to bolster their numbers. Ken nearly knocked himself out summoning a dremora lord, leaning heavily on Lenny as he panted. The summoned daedra charged toward the Thalmor, sending several running just from the sight of it.

"Don't go fainting on me yet," Lenny chided. "We still need your help."

"Tryin'," Ken murmured, and managed to push himself back onto his feet. His summoned daedra was tearing through the Thalmor ranks with ease.

Ondolemar could only stare as his troops fell under the rebels' fury. There was only fifteen of them, it should have been impossible...

"Yol Toor Shul!"

He glanced over at the Shout and just barely managed to scramble back in time to avoid being roasted alive. So the Black Knight could breathe fire. He knew there was only the one Dragonborn, but there had been no Tongues other than the Greybeards since the dragons disappeared.

"Who in Oblivion are you?!"

The Knight's only response was to gesture rudely at him and Shout again, unleashing a cyclone on the Thalmor troops. They scattered to avoid being either ripped apart by the whirling winds, or crushed by uprooted trees. The rebels took advantage of the chaos to make their escape.

By the time the cyclone vanished and the skies cleared once more, they were nowhere to be seen.

The General made his appearance then, the Ambassador at his side, looking none the worse for wear (though perhaps a little... rounder, than when he'd last seen Sirius, a fact at which he sneered). Sirius swept his gaze over the scene before them, and fixed a firm stare onto the Head Justiciar. "Tried backing them into a corner, didn't you? I could have told you that wouldn't work."

"I did try to tell him," the General rumbled.

"There were fifteen of them! They should have surrendered!"

"You haven't fought the Knight since the start of the rebellion, have you? Been too busy trying to root out Temu worshipers in Markarth for the past five years. 'Backed into a corner' is when he's at his most dangerous."

Ondolemar glowered at him. "Even you couldn't have possibly guessed he's a Tongue."

Sirius stared at him. That was a surprise. "He- he Shouted? He actually spoke?" He was kind of sad he missed that.

"Well what else do you think could cause this mess?"

"Regardless, we have the First Emissary once more, and the rebels have no place left to run," the General interrupted. "We'll have them again soon."

Not quite, Sirius thought to himself. They'll head for the Reach, no doubt. But he found he couldn't bring himself to actually say it. He could tell the General exactly what the rebels' plans were, and yet...

He couldn't stomach the thought of another Helgen. He couldn't stomach the thought of watching a public execution after he'd learned their faces, their names, their hopes for the future.

So he kept his mouth shut, and let himself be taken to the camp where their own healers looked him over, just to be sure.

There were a lot of questions, after that. General Callaghan's concern was both surprising and touching, but the Thalmor... Well, he supposed he couldn't fault the foot soldiers for being curious, even if it was annoying. It was Ondolemar's persistent harassment that nearly had him throttling the other elf every time they crossed paths. In the past, a curt word had been enough to make the Head Justiciar back off, but now he only relented for a short time before starting up again. Something about the balance of power had shifted. Either Ondolemar was letting his brief time as acting Ambassador get to his head, or...

Or the High Council had made some decisions in his absence. Either option did not bode well for him. More and more often he found his fingers slipping inside the sleeve of his robe, feeling for the dagger the Knight had given him- now secured in place with a proper arm sheath he'd pilfered from Legion supplies. It was a strange comfort to know it was there.

At least the General's behavior toward him hadn't changed. Still as gruff but respectful as always, which was more of a comfort than he'd ever expected. He didn't seem to care much for Ondolemar either, and curiously enough, always seemed to loom whenever the Head Justiciar was anywhere near the Legate. He wondered what had happened to cause that sort of protective reaction. He never got the chance to ask, whisked away to the Embassy as soon as they returned to Solitude, but he was willing to bet Ondolemar was too comfortable with overstepping bounds with them as well.