Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5583506-20160322234619/@comment-29559990-20160405194400

Athorian slammed the door behind him, and kicked it for good measure. Had there not been too many witnesses, he would've cut that punk down where he stood, and made a pear of boots out of his carcass.

Thalmor. It was the worst collection of letters that Athorian could concieve. And to be labeled among them made him shiver. Unfortunately, he was once a part of them, but he had no idea the horrors they were commiting. Not until he got the orders to do it.

~ 4E, 209. Rihad, Hammerfell

Captain Athorian Caelius planted his boot into the wooden door, knocking it off of it's hinges and sending it crashing to the floor with a large thud. A few screams were heard around the house as a result, probably from the terrified occupants. Soon, a small squadron of troops were filing in behind the Captain, breaking off and searching every inch of the house for citizens. They weren't particulalry interested in the citizens themselves, but a lot of reports from Rihad were claiming that the citizens were smuggling in war contrabands in order to stage a rebellion against the Dominion. And they were putting that down.

After a thorough search, nothing dangerous was found in the house besides a few kitchen knives. There were 4 people in the house, all rounded up and placed in the living room. A redguard couple, mother and father, another redguard girl that looked to be only 6, and an infant being cradled in the mothers arms.

A group was returning from the cellar. "Nothing, Captain. The place is clean," One of them announced.

"Good," Athorian nodded for him to fall in to line and stand at attention. Soon enough, the Lieutenant would be making his appearance and giving praise to he and his men. To have an unorderly line, however, would mean a good hour-long lecturing.

He heard footsteps approaching, and Athorian stood at attention. Lieutenant Faeuth, in his always-shining silver armor, approached slowly. Every step was louder than his last, and commanded the entire room's attention.

"Report, Captain," Faeuth spoke, his attention focused on the Redguard family.

"Nothing of importance, sir. A few cooking utensils, but that's the extent of it," Athorian answered. He pointed to a pile of knives on the floor to show him.

"Persons checked?"

"They have nothing on them, sir,"

"Good," Faeuth yawned, as if Athorian was boring him. The family kept quiet. The little girl was shaking. She tried to ask her father what was going on, but he hushed her before she attracted the ire of the Lieutenant.

Faeuth walked over to the pile of utensils and picked out a large cutting knife which looked far too dull to be of any use. He examined both sides of the blade, running his fingers across the cold steel, and asked the father his name.

"Grethik, sir," The Redguard answered.

"Mr. Grethik, why are you in possession of this?" He asked, holding the knife up in the air.

"It's used for chopping vegetables," Grethik answered.

"Yes, well, I found a similar utensil in a house not far from here. That family used it for more than chopping vegetables."

Grethik stiffened up, his heart dropping down to the bottom of his stomach in fear. Tears were welling up in the mother's eyes.

"Sir, please-"

Faeuth quickly unsheathed his sword and swung through Grethik's neck. In his final moment, he reached for his throat in shock, before his entire body went limp and his head rolled off of his shoulders and onto the floor. The mother shut her eyes tight and howled in misery, while the girl was too shocked to move. The men all gasped in surprise, and Athorian in horror.

"I find this household guilty of harboring war contrabands," Faeuth said. "I want them arrested at once,"

"Sir!" Athorian barked, outraged by the stunt he just pulled. "That's a bloody kitchen knife!"

"Are you trying to support these rebels, Captain? Would you like to share a cell with them?" Faeuth asked dryly.

Athorian glared harshly at the Faeuth, before he was interrupted by the infant wailing in the mother's arms. The mother tried to hush it, but could not. Faeuth's cold stare turned towards the mother, and he promptly marched over to her.

"Hand over the child," He demanded. The mother looked up at him in confusion, and shook her head nervously.

Faeuth's eyes grew wide, not one to be disobeyed, and pomptly ripped the child free from her hands. The mother reached for him and cried out in agony, begging the lietunenant to hand him back, but she was shoved back to the wall by his boot.

"Athorian," Faeuth called, walking back to over to the captain. "Smother it,"

Athorian glanced down at the child, which was wailing and struggling in Faeuth's cold hands, and then back up at the Lieutenant. "What?"

"I refuse to let this families offsprings live to produce more rebels," Faeuth said, handing it to Athorian. "Smother it now."

"No," Athorian said quickly, thinking little on the implications of disobeying his higher ups.

Faeuth stared at the Captain for a while, before striking the Captain with the back of his hand. "What was that, Captain?"

Athorian stood still, debating over what to say next. "Yes, Lieutenant..."

Faeuth shook his head with a chuckle, and snatched the baby from his hands. He then proceeded to drop the baby to the floor and he raised his boot high. There was a sickening crunch when it came down. The mother cried harder, and the girl fell back in horror.

Athorian, on the verge of loosing his lunch as blood began to seep out from the bottom of the blankets, went back against the wall. He couldn't fathom what had possessed the Lieutenant to do anything like this. It was all becoming too surreal for the Captain. Two innocent beings, man and child, cut down. And for what?

Faeuth soon gave an order to two men, and they hoisted the captain up and held him by the arm. "Captain Caelius, you are under arrest for treason against the Third Aldmeri Dominion."

"What?" Athorian swallowed. "What the hell do you mean treason?!"

"The Dominion does not tolerate insubordinate men," Faeuth shrugged, before turning to Athorians men. "You see, this man is a symbol of weakness. He is willing to betray his Dominion, his fatherland, for the lives of some insignificant peasant rebels," He spoke.

Athorian struggled violently against his captors. "We will purge this city of any further rebels. All  men and women of Redguard blood, are rebels unless told otherwise by your commanding officer. No Redguard leaves this city alive. No rebel leaves this city alive. None of their offsprings or family leaves. We will wipe away all opposition. And we-"

The Lieutenant could not finish his speech, as Athorian had broken free from the men and charged Faeuth. Every man in the room froze, but no one made an attempt to stop Athorian. Out of loyalty or shock, he didn't know. But it allowed his Dominion-assigned sword to find it's last victim in Faeuth.

---

The Altmer now laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Over the past 400 years, it was that memory that always stuck out to him. Maybe it was because it was the day he started a new life. Or maybe it was because it was the day he first started the crew out of the men who followed him out of that house and out of the city. Or maybe it was because he could never unsee that haunting image of an innocent child being stomped to death by that monster.

"Thalmor..." He muttered, letting the word linger on his tongue, before turning over and trying to sleep.