h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Omens of Oblivion V: The Assassination

The Emperor held up his hand, stopping the guard from attacking Freya.

'No, she is not one of them. She can help us - she *must help us.'

Hesitatingly, Freya stepped forwards, only to yet again become involved in a rather confusing conversation with the Emperor - he seemed to know of so many things, even personal details about herself, that she found it hard to follow what he was saying. Stars, Signs, the Nine, Fate... it all whirled around in her head, but she replied as well as she could.

Turning around, the Emperor followed the guard leading the way. The other guard approached Freya, brusquely handing a torch to her and instructing her to use it to light the Emperor's way. Torch, shield, sword? Freya realised she couldn't hold them all at one and the same time, and settled for torch and shield. After all, she had been asked to light the Emperor's way, not fight for him.

Suddenly, they were attacked. In surprise, Freya watched the Emperor draw a blade and join in the fight. Hurriedly, she tried to catch up with him. The guards handled the situation admirably though - three dead assassins, and not too badly wounded themselves.

Another door, another corner - and yet another attack. And this time one of the assassins attacked Freya! Holding up her shield, she slowly retreated, hoping to draw the attention away from the Emperor without, necessarily, drawing away the attention of the guards.

Just when Freya felt she would not be able to hold back the assassin much longer, the guards finally came to her aid, after having killed off the other assassins. Two such vicious attacks one after another made them all more cautious. Proceeding slowly, Freya stuck close to the Emperor, figuring it was the safest position to be.

Finally, they reached what seemed to be the destination; an irone barred gate. Only, it appeared to be locked, something the guards had not expected. They circled around, arriving in what seemed like a dead end, when there was the sound of footsteps behind them.

'Stay here with the Emperor, guard him with your life!'

With these words, the two guards left them, rushing towards the assassins, with the Emperor and Freya standing back. The Emperor turned to Freya and started talking about dangers and threats awaiting. He removed the jewelled pendant he had been carrying around his neck and handed it over, instructing her what to do with it.

'And close shut the doors of Oblivion.'

Puzzled, Freay grabbed the pendant and turned towards where the guards where fighting off yet another attack of assassins. Once she realised that the grating sound of stone against stone came from behind her, not ahead, it was already too late.

Her blood freezing, Freya watched as an assassin hurled himself at the Emperor, slaying him with one decisive flash, then turning at her, blade raised.

'Stranger, you chose a bad day to take up the cause of the Septims.'

http://a-picture-per-day.blogspot.se/2011/11/omens-of-oblivion-final-assassination.html

Omens of Oblivion VI: The Reluctant Courier

As the assassin approached her, Freya realised that she must not allow him to get his hands on the pendant the Emperor had given her. Instead of fighting, she turned around and fled in the direction the guards had gone, fearing she would not be able to rid herself of this fiend single handedly. Screaming for help, Freya was relieved to see one of the guards running towards her. She stopped, turned around, and together they finally managed to kill the assassin. The guard then rushed off towards the dead end where she and the Emperor had been waiting.

Freya looked around her. There were several dead assassins littering the floor around her. As she searched their bodies for potions, jewelry or other valuables, she came across the body of one of the guards. As she bent down to pick up the guard's sword, she heard an anguished exclamation and, taking a deep breath to steady herself, Freya walked back to where the Emperor had been slain, to find the one remaining guard examining the body.

Hearing her approach, the guard aimed an accusing stare at Freya:

'The Amulet of Kings - where is it? It wasn't on the Emperor's body!'

Freya didn't know how or where to start. Would the guard even believe her if she told him the Emperor himself had given it to her? What if he thought she had picked it up herself once the Emperor had been killed? Hesitatingly, Freya tried to recount for everything that had transpired and, to her relief, the guard did not seem to be very surprised. It seemed that one learnt to expect the unexpected when working for the Emperor.

The guard stressed how important it was that she immediately deliver the Amulet to Jauffre, the Grandmaster of the Blades. Freya started protesting, she did not even know which way to head for Chorrol and the priory, and had he not noticed they were still stuck in the dungeons?

'Take it easy. You'll be fine. I know this is a lot to take in all at once. No one's more surprised than me that I'm sending an escaped prisoner off with the Amulet of Kings!'

He started describing the mission in detail. It turned out the guard's name was Baurus, and that he could actually be quite nice. Baurus pulled out a piece of parchment and sketched a rough map, and handed it to her together with a key. Pointing into the narrow doorway from where the assassin that killed the Emperor had come, he explained to Freya that she would probably be able to find an entrance to the sewers, that would lead her out of the city.

'By the way, thank you for recovering my comrades' swords - I'll make sure that they are given a place of honor in the halls of the Blades.'

Frustrated, Freya handed him the swords. She had planned on selling at least one of them to buy supplies, and possibly keep one for herself - they were good blades; sharp and well balanced. Ah well, good thing she had picked up as many weapons as she could carry while she trawled through the tunnels, even though most of the items were pretty rusty.

Taking farewell of Baurus, Freya headed for the sewers. It wasn't as far as she had expected, and only inhabited by a few rats and goblins that she quickly took down with her bow and arrow. Fairly soon, she thought she could see daylight ahead and started running. Freedom, fresh air, maybe even sunshine!


http://a-picture-per-day.blogspot.se/2011/11/omens-of-oblivion-reluctant-courier.html

Actually, I want to rewrite the next chapter a bit, not just correct the spelling errors. Not sure how long it'll take.

What a good idea. I mean, I'm looking forward to when you get to any new stuff, but this is a really good use of the time in many ways.

Revising in public, you mean?

Actually, this is giving me the kick in my behind that I needed to come up with new stuff, helping my brain to get geared into Oblivion mode.

*slaps self*

Don't over-use the word 'actually'.

I never quite managed to find the time to get to the end of what you wrote last year. As I'm already struggling to keep up with conversations I think what I might do it wait until the end of the month then print them to pdf (if you don't mind) and stick them on my kindle. I know I really enjoyed the story last year and it would be fun to reread with your amendments then carry on.

Just wanted to let you know that you are being read, even if I can't comment as you're posting.

Deb

Thanks Deb, and thanks Sol - 'all' I have to do is to rewrite chapter seven *grinds teeth*