The Refugees Content . The smell of the bay oozed through the stones of the cellar , salt and brined decay . The cellar itself had its own scents of old wine turned to vinegar , mildew , and the more exotic spices of herbs the healers had brought with them to tend to the wounded . There were more than fifty people squeezed into the big earthen room which had once been forgotten storage for the brothel above . The groaning and whimpering had ceased for now , and all was still , as if the hospital had turned into a mass grave . " Mother , " a Redguard boy whispered . " What was that ? " The boy ' s mother was about to answer him when there was another rolling roar from outside , which grew louder and louder , as if some great but incorporeal beast had come into the cellar . The walls trembled and dust burst from the ceiling in a rain of powder . Unlike the last time , no one screamed . They waited until the weird , haunting sound had past , and then was replaced by the soft rumble of the distant battle . A wounded soldier began whispering Mara ' s Prayer from the Doomed . " Mankar , " a Bosmer woman curled up in a cot hissed , her eyes feverish , flesh white and wet with sweat . " He is coming ! " " Who is coming ? " asked the boy , grasping his mother ' s skirt tight . " Who do you think , lad ? The sweets monger ? " a grizzled one - armed Redguard growled . " The Camoran Usurper . " The boy ' s mother shot an angry look at the old warrior . " She doesn ' t know what she ' s saying . She ' s sick . " The boy nodded . His mother was usually right . He had not yet even been born when people began whispering that the Camoran Usurper was coming towards her little village , and she had packed up their belongings to flee . Their neighbors had laughed at her , she said , saying that Rihad and Taneth would handily defeat him . Her husband , Lukar ' s father who he was never to meet , had also laughed at her . It was the harvest time , and she would miss out on the celebrations . But his mother , Miak - I , was right . Two weeks after she fled the village , she heard the tale that it had been obliterated during the night with no survivors . Rihad and Taneth had both fallen . The Usurper was unstoppable . Lukar had been born and grown up in refugee camps throughout Hammerfell . He had never known a friend for more than a few days . He knew that when the sky burned red to the west , they would pack up and move east . When it burned to the south , they moved north . At last , after twelve years of moving from camp to camp , they had taken passage across the Iliac Bay to the province of High Rock and the barony of Dwynnen . There Miak - I had promised , and hoped , that they would have a peaceful , permanent home . It was so green there , it blinded him . Unlike Hammerfell , which was only green in certain seasons and in certain places , Dwynnen was verdant year round . Until wintertide , when it began to snow , and Lukar had been frightened of it at first . He was ashamed to think of it now , when there was real danger , but the red clouds of war , the stink and pain of the refugee camp , that was familiar . Now , the red sky was on the horizon of the bay and coming closer , and he longed for the days when a scattering of white made him cry . " Mankar ! " the Bosmer woman cried out again . " He is coming , and he will bring death ! " " No one is coming , " said a pretty young Breton healer , coming to the woman ' s side . " Hush now . " " Hello ? " came a voice from above . The whole room , almost together as one gasped . A Bosmer limped down the shoddy wooden stairs , his friendly face very obviously not that of the Camoran Usurper . " Sorry if I frightened you , " he said . " I was told there were healers here , and I could use a little help . " Rosayna hurried to take a look at the Bosmer ' s wounds on his leg and chest . Dishelved but still beautiful , she was one of the favorites at the brothel , who had learned her healing skill along with her more vocational skills at the House of Dibella . She carefully but quickly pulled the rent leather cuirass , chausses , tassets , grieves , and boots off him , and placed them to the side while she examined the injuries . The old Redguard warrior picked them up and studied them . " You were in the war ? " " Next to it is probably a better way to put it , " the Bosmer smiled , wincing slightly at Rosayna ' s touch . " Behind it , beside it , in front of it . My name ' s Orben Elmlock . I ' m a scout . I try to avoid the real battle , so I can get back and report what I see . A good job for people who don ' t like the color of their own blood very much . " " Hzim , " said the warrior , shaking Orben ' s hand . " I can ' t fight anymore , but I can fix up this armor if you ' re going to return . " " You ' re a leathersmith ? " " Naw , just a jack of all trades , " replied Hzim , opening up a small canister of wax to prep the hard but flexible leather . " I could tell you were a scout from the armor , though . Can you tell us what you ' ve been spying on ? We ' ve been down in here for half a day now , with no word from the outside . " " The entire Iliac Bay is one great battlefield on the waves , " said Orben and sighed as Rosayna ' s spell began to close his jagged but shallow wounds . " We ' ve shut off the invasion from the mouth of the bay , but I was coming from the coast , and the enemy ' s army is marching over the Wrothgarian Mountains . That ' s where I had my little scuffle . It ' s not too surprising , moving the flank in from the side while the front battle is occupied . It ' s a play right out of Camoran Kaltos ' s book of tricks the Hart - King borrowed . " " The Hart - King ? " Lukar asked . He had been listening quietly , understanding everything except that . " Haymon Camoran , the Camoran Usurper , Haymon Hart - King , they ' re all the same , lad . He ' s a complicated fellow , and needs more than one name . " " You know him ? " Miak - I asked , stepping forward . " Near on twenty years , before this whole black , bloody business . I was Camoran Kaltos ' s chief scout , and Haymon was his sorcerer and advisor . I helped them both , when they were vying for the Camoran throne , and began the conquest of - Ouch ! " Rosayna has ceased her healing . With eyes of fury , she had reversed her spell , and the closed , mended wounds were opening again , dark infections returning . She held him with surprising strength when Orben tried to pull back . " You bastard , " the healer courtesan hissed . " I have a cousin in Falinesti , a priestess . " " She ' s fine ! " Orben yelped . " Lord Kaltos was very adamant about not harming anyone who did not pose a threat … " " I think the people of Kvatch would disagree with that assessment , " said Hzim , coldly . " That was horrible , the worst thing I have ever seen , " Orben nodded . " Kaltos wept when he saw what Haymon had done . My master did everything he could to stop it , begging the Hart - King to return to Valenwood . But he turned on Kaltos , and we fled . We are not your enemy , and we have never been . Kaltos could do nothing to prevent the horror that the Usurper has brought to the Colovian West and Hammerfell , and he has fought for fifteen years to prevent more . " The frightening bestial roar passed through the cellar again , even louder than before . The wounded could not help groaning in helpless terror . " And what is that ? " Miak - I sneered . " Another of Camoran Kaltos ' s tricks that the Usurper picked up ? " " It is indeed a trick , as a matter of fact , " Orben yelled , above the screech . " It ' s a phastasm he employs to scare people . He had to use fear tactics in the beginning when his power was ascending , and he has to fall back on them now for his power is waning . That is why it took him two years to conquer Valenwood , and another thirteen to half - conquer Hammerfell . No offense to you Redguards , but it isn ' t only your battle prowess that has been holding him back . He does not have the support he used to have from his Master - " The echoing roar increased in intensity before once again falling silent . " Mankar ! " the Bosmer woman groaned . " He comes , and he will destroy all ! " " His Master ? " asked Lukar , but Orben ' s eyes had gone to the Bosmer woman , curled up in her blood - soaked cot . " Who is she ? " Orben asked Rosayna . " One of the refugees , of course , from your friendly little war in Valenwood before you and your Kaltos changed sides , " the healer replied . " I think her name is Kaalys . " " By Jephre , " Orben whispered under his breath , limping over to the woman ' s cot and wiping the sweat and blood streaked hair from her pallid face . " Kaalys , it ' s Orben . Do you remember me ? How did you get here ? Did he hurt you ? " " Mankar ! " Kaalys moaned . " That ' s all she says , " said Rosayna . " I don ' t know what that it is , " Orben frowned . " Not the Usurper , though she knew him too . Very well . She was a favorite of his . " " His favorites , you , Kaltos , her , all seem to turn against him , " said Miak - I . " That is why he will fall , " replied Hzim . Armored footfall rang along the ceiling , and the cellar door burst open . It was the captain of Baron Othrok ' s castle guards . " The docks are on fire ! If you want to live , you ' ll need to take refuge at Castle Wightmoor ! " " We need help ! " Rosayna called back , but she knew that the guards were needed for defense , not to help carry the sick to safety . With ten guards who could be spared and the most able - bodied of the wounded assisting , the cellar was emptied as the streets of Dwynnen filled with smoke , and fire began to spread through the chaos . It had been a single fireball miscast out at sea striking the docks , but the damage would be tremendous . Some hours later , in the courtyard of the mighty castle , the healers were able to set up the cots and begin to tend once again to the suffering of the innocent . The first person Rosayna found was Orben Elmlock . Even with his wounds reopened , he had helped carry two of the patients into the castle . " I ' m sorry , " she said as she pressed her healing hands onto his wounds . " I lost my temper . I forgot that I am a healer . " " Where is Kaalys ? " Orben asked . " She ' s not here ? " Rosayna said , looking around . " She must have run away . " " Run away ? But wasn ' t she injured ? " " It was not a healthy situation , but new mothers can surprise you with what they can do when it ' s all over . " " She was pregnant ? " Orben gasped " Yes . It wasn ' t such a difficult birth in the end . She was holding the boy in her arms when I saw her last . She said she had done it herself . " " She was pregnant , " Orben murmured again . " The mistress of the Camoran Usurper was pregnant . " Word quickly spread throughout the castle that the battle was over , and more than that , the war was over . Haymon Camoran ' s forces had been defeated at sea , and in the mountains . The Hart - King was dead . Lukar watched down from the battlements into the dark woods that surrounded Dwynnen . He had heard about Kaalys , and he imagined a desperate woman fleeing with her newborn baby in her arms into the wilderness . Kaalys would have nowhere to go , no one to protect them . She and her baby would be a refugee , like Miak - I and him had been . Reflecting back , he remembered her words . He is coming . He is coming , and he will bring death . He will destroy all . Lukar remembered her eyes . She was sick , but not afraid . Who was this " He " who was coming if the Camoran Usurper was dead ? " Did she say nothing else ? " asked Orben . " She told me the baby ' s name , " Rosayna replied . " Mankar . "