My health potion was still working, restoring my life force from Mankar's last attack. I used another potion to increase my own magika, and used it to hit Mankar with not one, but two spells of God's Fire in a row.

He screamed in agony. One spell might have done the job, but two spells of the same power guaranteed success.

Mankar Camoran staggered to a wall, dropped his staff, looked at me in disbelief for a moment, then fell to the floor, dead.

I headed down to his corpse to retrieve the Amulet of Kings. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Martin was right! As Mankar had attached himself to his small Paradise as his own world, with his death, it too, was dying with him.

I didn't have much time. I grabbed the Amulet of Kings, tucking it safely away.

I didn't care about the rest of the items Mankar had on him. My family was avenged, the Amulet of Kings was in my possession.

The shaking of the ground became more pronounced. Huge sections of the walls and stairs began to fall all around me. I was hoping I'd get out of this place soon. I'd have hated to come all this way just to have the roof fall down on me before being returned to the mortal plane.

Just then, a mist began to form around me. I looked up, watching the roof begin to crack and crumble, dropping debris all around me.

Suddenly, everything went black! I could feel the ground still shaking under my feet, but there was no sound.

A moment later, the shaking stopped, and the air was filled with a brilling white light.

Ahead of me, the forms of people began to become visible.

The light began to fade around me. It was the portal that Martin had created. The brilliance retreated into each of the three claws that protruded from the ground.

I almost couldn't believe it!

I was back in Cloud Ruler Temple.

The flaming portal faided, the claws melted back into floor. All that remained to show that anything had happened here at all was a dark mess that used to be a huge pictograph on the floor.

I heard Jauffre shout: "Blades! Do homage to Martin's champion!"

The Blades around us bent to one knee. I was almost embarrassed by all the attention. I could understand how Martin must feel with all this attention being lavished upon him.

Martin, standing a few feet away, smiled and approached.

"You found a way back!" he stated. "Does this mean...?"

"Yes." I replied. "Mankar Camoran, along with his children, are dead."

Martin almost didn't know what to say for a moment, then continued "You did it! You defeated him. Then you have it? The Amulet of Kings?"

I smiled, handing him the Amulet that we wanted to give him so long ago. "Here." I said. "This belongs to you."

Martin took the Amulet, looking at it, staring into it's jeweled facets, seeing the magic inside. "Belongs to me?" he said, as if in a trance. "The Amulet of Kings? So you and Jauffre have said. If it is true, if the Emperor really was my father, then I should be able to wear it. Only those of the Septim blood can wear the Amulet of Kings."

"Well, try it on." I said, smiling. "Let's see how it looks on you."

"Yes, of course. What am I waiting for?" he replied, "After all, this is my destiny. No man can deny his destiny."

With that, he put the Amulet of Kings around his neck. It remained.

"Now you look like an Emperor." I said in approval. "You see? You are Uriel's son."

"I didn't really need the Amulet to tell me that." he said in appreciation. "I've known it was true since you first told me in Kvatch. But it is one thing to talk about becoming Emperor, and quite another to actually be the Emperor."

"Well, to me, and all of the Blades here, you are the Emperor." I said, trying to be encouraging.

"Not yet." he replied. "Until we light the Dragonfires, the Gates are open, and Mehrunes Dagon's invasion continues. While you were gone, I sent a messenger to Chancellor Ocato. He waits for us in the Imperial City."

"Ocato?" I asked. "Why meet with him?"

"Well, Chancellor Ocato is the head of the Elder Council." he replied. "The Council rules in the Emperor's absence. I don't expect any objections from the Elder Council, but we should defer to their authority. I think we should go to the Imperial City at once, before the enemy can recover from Mankar Camoran's death."

"He's right." interjected Jauffre. "Declaring oneself Emperor is a delicate matter. In this case, however, I do not think there should be any dispute. The Elder Council has been governing the Empire since the Emperor's murder. They will be overjoyed to have an heir to the crown. They've been unable to solve the Oblivion Crisis. The Empire is falling apart. Only a legitimate Emperor offers any hope."

"Then if you'll excuse me for a short while, I must return to Bruma and change." I said. "I should be back in within the hour."

"Very well." said Jauffre. "We'll make preparations here, and will be ready for our departure by the time you return.

I cast the spell of Recall and ended up in the basement of my new home in Bruma. I decided that if someone was going to be crowned Emperor, I should be in my best outfit. It would be a quick run from Bruma back to Cloud Ruler Temple once I was ready.