The Ivory Lord : A Hero Born , V . 3 Content . Everywhere Erric looked , he saw white armor and Alessian banners . It wasn ' t a scouting party that the mercenaries attacked — it was an entire cohort of Alessian soldiers . The mercenaries fought hard , but they were undisciplined . They lunged at the wall of armored soldiers like drunks in a tavern brawl . They were cut down , one after another , with relative ease . The Alessians simply blocked and parried each attack , taunting their foolish foes before cutting them down . The only members of the mercenary band that appeared to be having anything close to success were Calinden and Kish ' na . The Ayleid knight Calinden ' s massive two - handed sword sliced through armor , flesh , and bone with equal ease , while the Khajiit Kish ' na ' s twin blades twirled around her in an exotic dance of death . Erric watched in awe as the battle played out in front of him . He knew that if he charged in to help the mercenaries , he would be cut down before he could so much as scratch an Alessian shield with his rusted sword . But if he turned and ran , and if any of the mercenaries survived , he would be remembered as a coward and a fake . They might even come after him , looking for revenge . All these thoughts and more bounced around and collided inside his head , leaving him frozen with indecision and fear . But nothing brings clarity of mind like a sharp blade cutting through the air in front of you and rushing toward your face . Erric barely dodged out of the way , just as an Alessian soldier backed into him and knocked him to the ground . The rusty blade that Erric had been holding so tightly flew from his hand as he landed on his back . His helmet slammed into the wall he had been standing next to , and for a moment everything went black . The next thing Erric knew , Calinden was standing beside him and lifting him to his feet . The street around him was littered with Alessian corpses . The Ayleid knight said nothing . He simply turned and walked back into battle . Erric had seen enough . He couldn ' t take it anymore . With growing frenzy , he looked for a path of escape . He could count the number of remaining mercenaries on one hand , but the sea of Alessians seemed as wide and deep as the waves that crashed along the Daggerfall coast . At that moment , Erric knew that he didn ' t want to die . He picked a direction and started to run — right past the most frantic and bloody fighting . As Erric ' s legs carried him past the combatants , he reached down and grabbed a sword lying near one of the many corpses . Drawing on reserves he didn ' t know he had , he increased his speed . He focused on reaching the nearest open doorway or getting around the next corner . He knew that he could lose himself in the back streets if he could just get away from the fighting . He was close . He was going to make it . As Erric turned the corner to make his escape , the sword he carried before him slid into something soft and wet . He was staring into the face of an Alessian officer who looked as surprised as he was . The officer wore multiple badges of honor , but not one of them had been enough to save him . Erric ' s blade had slid into the space between where the officer ' s armor connected front to back , slicing between ribs and puncturing a lung . The officer gasped as his eyes rolled back and his knees buckled . As the officer dropped to the ground , he let go of the ivory horn he had been holding . It rolled to a stop next to Erric ' s right foot . Erric stared at the horn for a moment , then he picked it up and stowed it in his belt . He had no idea what he was going to do with it , but it seemed like a good idea at the time . That ' s when the arrow buried itself in Erric ' s back . He stumbled forward as pain radiated from the point of impact . Already , his vision was starting to blur . He saw the Khajiit and the Elf run toward him . He saw an army of Alessians chasing after them . He tried to breathe but that made everything hurt even more . And then everything faded and Erric saw nothing at all .