Tes4Mod:Order of the Dragon/Hinrich the Lion, Book V

Hinrich wielded the sword through the ranks of the daedric monsters, the solidified metal an extension of his hateful thoughts. The battle in the depths of Armal Caves was his first. And he hated himself. The blood of his deeds pervaded his thoughts, pierced his eyes, and made him miserable. He felt like an animal, but the animal had to be if he wanted to solve this puzzle. This idea began to flow through his mind and, he slowly pushed against the bodies of his opponents with a surge of desperation. When he arrived in the last room, only Aldrecht - of the nine knights, with whom he had entered those dark corridors - stood beside him. He gasped and responded to Hinrich's worried look with a grim smile. Before the two stood a Dremora, holding a bluish shimmering scimitar, such as the elongated body of a snake. It consisted of a rare silver and seemed to hum as the smallest string on a melodious harp. The dremora concealed it with his unassuming shield, so that - because if you even get the sword to face - you could see only the tip of the monster and could only guess at its true size.

"I hear you've been wading around through my passage for a while," said the dremora. "What do you want in my kingdom?"  

Aldrecht was there as an advisor, and Hinrich looked into his eyes, then Aldrecht, who was the more experienced in these kinds negotiations, answered:

"You know exactly what we want. Enough with your honeyed tongue, or I'll try to cut it off, sleaze!" His voice sounded like a mighty horn reflected in the halls and Hinrich was impressed to hear speak his old friend with such strength after all the hardships that lay behind them.

"You stole the Blue Sword of Akatosh from our walls. Do not try to deny it! The trail was so obvious that you'd think you had left it on purpose to test the sword of his own servants."

"You are very perceptive and think almost like a Daedra." After these words,a smirk flashed quickly as a thought, on the dremora's face. As soon as it was gone, he set down at the sword and ran up to the two knights. Aldrecht, who stood foremost, raised his sword to parry the dremora's blow at the last moment. It swung the Blue Sword of Akatosh with full force against the knight and hewed him into two halves, as if he were made of hot butter. Aldrecht stood there defenseless and the dremora struck him a lethal blow to the neck with a swing of his sword. Blood gushed out in short bursts and colored monster's the black face in a bizarre pattern.

All this happened within a few moments and Hinrich had had no chance to react. Aldrecht lay on the ground and did not move. His best friend was killed by a being that just feasted on Aldrecht's death and would make its new target at any moment. Hinrich raised his sword to parry the of the rapidly approaching blow that would end him up being just like Aldrecht. But at the moment the weapons would touch and he thought he could hear the hum of the blades, Hinrich withdrew his sword and made a quick step to the side. The force that had already gone into the blow gave the dremora no chance to respond. So Hinrich swung his weapon towards the monster's neck and with a terrible crash, he swept its head from its body. The beast fell to the ground motionless, slumped and made no more sound. Hinrich fell to his knees, fell forward, and began to weep bitterly, not from the pain that ran through his whole body and not from the death that had overtaken his friend Aldrecht. He cried in horror and surprise, the clarity with which he now saw not only the suffering and chasms of life, but as he realized that he himself had become a part of them. After he had collected himself and banished the horrible thoughts, he got up, went to Aldrecht, lifted him onto his back and was finally able to leave the room cursed by fate. At the door he stopped and turned around one last time to the dremora's body and took the sword out of hands that still convulsively clasped it.

He carried sword and friend through two nights through the long way from the Armal Caves up to the buildings of the Order of Akatosh in Blacklight. The news of Hinrich's return was quickly borne by peasants, who received him at the gate as well as Bear Neck himself. The captain's face bore mourning for the loss of so many good men, but also joy at Hinrich's successful return.

"You are truly a lion among my knights, Hinrich. I hope the tears that still cover your face will let the the little plant that grows in you flourish and grow into a tree. Now should you go to sleep, you have truly earned it."

The next morning Aldrecht was buried in the town church. The Emperor's envoy, who was in town and had brought the order for the fateful mission, demanded that Hinrich should bring the captured sword to the Emperor personally. And so Hinrich the Lion strode on his journey to Cyrodiil, to meet the Emperor in the hope real honor and to be able to better process the events that had deeply shaken him.