I found Jauffre in the next room, giving orders to make things secure to several of the sentries. They bowed quickly and ran to carry out his instructions. As soon as he saw me, he called me over.

"Shakula, I'm glad you're here." he said, in a very worried tone. "You remember the note you brought back from the spy hideout?"

"Yes." I replied. "The one about opening Oblivion Gates nearby, right?"

"The very same." he said. "I've just received word from the Countess of Bruma that an Oblivion Gate has opened outside the city. It seems that the Mythic Dawn are wasting no time in putting their plans to attack Bruma in motion."

"What are we planning to do?" I asked.

"I don't want our forces diluted trying to deal with each of these gates." he said. "Since you've dealt with these gates before, I'd like you to help show the Countess' guards how to close this gate. Once they've seen how it's done, they should be able to handle any new gates on their own."

"Yes." I replied. "I know the technique. It's just a matter of getting to the right tower and grabbing the Sigil stone from the flow of power it resides in. The Gate collapses immediately once its taken. Where is the Gate located now?"

"Captain Burd is waiting for you outside the Bruma city gate." Jauffre replied. "He'll show you where it is. Well, actually, you'll probably see it before he shows you."

"Yes." I replied. "It has a most determined effect on the sky. Thunder, red clouds, and so on. I never seem to miss it."

I was glad I had restocked my potions and sharpened my sword recently, because I figured this was going to be trouble. I ran to the east gate outside the Bruma city walls. As expected, just south of the walls was an Oblivion Gate. The bodies of several monsters already littered the area nearby, and the soldiers seemed to be able to handle anything that came out. But they'd have to continue doing this until the Gate was closed, and that was the immediate task at hand.

I ran towards Captain Burd, shouting at him. He raised his hand, greeting me.

"Thanks for coming." he said.

"I'm glad to be of assistance." I replied. "I understand you need some instruction on how to close these things."

"That's correct." he said, smiling. "Since we had the Hero of Kvatch available, I didn't think it made sense to try this on our own the first time."

"You're right." I said. I explained what to expect once we were on the other side, how the configuration of the towers might change with each Gate they encounter, as well as the secret of how to actually close the Gates as they were opened.

"It seems pretty clear-cut to me." he said. "I'm bringing these two guards with me. We're ready when you are. Just say the word and we'll follow you into that hell-spawned Gate."

"I'm ready now." I replied.

Captain Burd gathered his men around us. He gave an impassioned speech about having to go into the Gate in order to close it. He warned that failure to succeed would mean Bruma would suffer the same fate as Kvatch. He chose two guards that would follow us into the Gate. He finished with "The rest of you, stay outside and kill anything that comes out of that Gate."

"Except us!" I added. That got a chuckle out of the men, including the Captain.

We ran though the Gate, finding outselves in Oblivion. The men took a moment to look around, taking this all in. I had closed several Gates already, but I understood how it was the first time I did this.

"Captain Burd!" I said, "Stay here. I'm going to cloak myself and scout on ahead. I want to make sure you and your men make it to the tower, and you probably don't have the spells I have that will get you there."

"Very well." he replied. "We'll hold this position and kill anything that tries to get out of the Gate."

I used my cloaking spell, then summoned my bound armor for 60 seconds, sneaking up on several creatures, finishing them off. A number of them were pretty hard to kill, and one or two of them could actually sense my presence, in spite of my spells. Those "detect life" spells work just as well for them as they do for me, I guess.

One fireball tower after another became active as I approached them, and it was only a quick dodge here and there that saved me from being struck down. I took shelter right at the base of one of them, catching my breath for a moment.

After that seemed like hours, I finally made it to the base of the tower housing the Sigil Stone. It was easy to find, since it was the only tower in this Gate area. There were often several towers, using a maze to get to the top of the Stone keep.

I made my way back to the Oblivion Gate, being the brightest thing in this dark and dangerous place.

"You're alive!" shouted Captain Burd. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes..."

"The way is clear." I said, "But keep an eye out for anything I might have missed."

"Missed?" replied one of the soldiers.

"Well, I went pretty fast." I said. "There's always a possibility of something behind a rock that I didn't see, or that didn't see me. Stay sharp!"

"Yes, ma'am." came the reply from all three of them.

Good thing they stayed sharp. At least two daedroths came from behind a large outcropping, hungry for blood. The two soldiers ran ahead of us and engaged the two monsters, putting both of them down in short order.

It wasn't long before we made it to the vicinity of the tower. "That's it." I said, pointing to the top of the tower. "See that slit? That's where the Sigil Stone is housed. There are variations in Oblivion. Once in a while, you might have two or three towers, or an entire circle of them."

"You mean there might be more than one Stone?" asked Captain Burd.

"No, not so far." I replied. "In multiple tower Gates, the other towers are designed to make it more difficult to find your way to the top of the tower, but there's always just one primary tower, and one Stone."

We made our way around several fireball towers, as well as several of the plants that would rob you of your speed, and others that had roots that would reach out and grab you.

Just about everything in this place is dangerous.

"This wasn't so hard." said one of the guards.

"I wouldn't be so sure." I replied. "Inside this tower, well, the fun is just beginning.