Warning: This story contains violence, swearing, gore, sexual themes, assault, drug use, alcohol use, racism (Skyrim racism), etc. Not intended for children. Please read responsibility.
Prologue
It had been nearly two years since Luna had awoken in the darkness of the Thalmor prison cell. Snatched just as she crossed the border into the province of Skyrim. She knew the land was rippled by the civil war. But she hadn't expected the Thalmor to be as brutal as the rumors claimed. All because one of the border guards had spied her Amulet of Talos in her shoulder bag, a gift from a long-dead friend. A lot had happened in those two years after her daring escape from the Thalmor be it at her own Execution she found her way to Riften where she was accepted into the Thieves Guild by Brynjolf.
A funny man Brynjolf was, he was cold and serious yet had a humorous side to him, and was often seen cracking jokes alongside Delvin. Luna fit right into guild life, her dark elf heritage made her nearly vanish into the shadows, and she wasn't half bad with a spell either. She quickly rose to the top of the Thieves Guild and traveled all across Skyrim bringing the name of guild back into the limelight. She still remembers the day Mercer Frey ordered her to accompany him in killing the murderous traitor Karliah.
Mercer Frey had always struck a nerve with Luna, the way he glared at her out of the corner of her eye made her feel uncomfortable. He seemed to have decided he hated her the moment he saw her despite her skills in thieving. Like she reminded him of a thorn in his side or a ghost from his past. Which is why it both surprised and worried Luna when he did order her to accompany him.
"This is the place we are supposed to meet this Mercer fellow, my friend?" Inigo's voice rang out in the darkness. It was cold, Luna could feel her limbs shiver in the northern night's frost.
"H-he said to go to Snow Veil Sanctum, apparently it's where K-Karliah is" Luna replied as she road her steed that she of course stole.
"Well I hope this journey is worth it, I think my tail has frozen solid" Inigo replied in a joking manner, he reached down and petted the soft grey hair of Artax as they kept trudging through the snow.
Luna had found Inigo within the cells of Riften Jail after she had been caught stealing. She had managed to pay off her fine but needed to get back to the jail anyway to 'reclaim' her things, they never even knew she had taken anything. Inigo was sitting there in a cell of his own, talking to the Dragonfly in the jar on the table. The guards mentioned to her that he had paid them to lock him up. They thought he was mad, but Luna knew grief when she saw it. So she had approached the blue Khajiit only to find that he had recognized her. He begged Luna to kill him for what he had done, for all he had done. Luna had no memory of what the Khajiit was rambling, but that wasn't new for her. She offered Inigo a chance to fight by her side, to repay his apparent debt to her. Inigo quickly agreed, and the two have been friends since.
"My friend! I smell something up ahead!" Inigo said kicking Artax into a gallop as he ran past her, Luna trusting Inigo's nose was quick to follow as the two galloped off into the blinding snowstorm that had surrounded them.
"Good your finally here"An unfortunate familiar voice sounded as Inigo and Luna arrived at an ancient Nordic burial mound. They both dismounted and tied their steeds to a nearby tree as Luna approached Mercer Frey.
"You didn't tell me we would be riding into a snowstorm Mercer," She said with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.
"Well, you made it, what else matters" Mercer replied in a cool manner.
"So this is where that Karliah girl is? This does not look like a very enjoyable place my friend" Inigo said approaching the conversation.
"I've scouted the ruins and I'm certain Karliah is still inside" Mercer replied, he crossed his arms.
"You saw her?" Luna asked.
"No, I found her horse, don't worry she won't be using it to escape," Mercer said nodding his head tot he crumpled body of the dead steed, laying next to a small makeshift tent that had been set up by the Sanctum.
"That is going to attract some wolves" Inigo commented.
"Enough, Let's go inside, I want to catch Karliah before she leaves, while she's distracted," Mercer said as he turned to Luna. "Take the lead"
"You want me to take the lead? what about Inigo" Luna said
"No offense, but your friend here will more than likely blunder into a trap and alert Karliah to our presence. And yes, I want you to lead. Last time I checked I was your superior" Mercer said, giving Inigo a glare before hissing his words at Luna.
"It is alright my friend, I will stay here and make sure nobody sneaks up on you yes?" Inigo said, putting a hand on Luna's shoulder and giving her a smile.
"Hold the fort Inigo, I'll be back before you notice I'm gone" Luna replied, returning the smile.
Inigo watched as Luna and Mercer walked into the sunken burial mound, as Luna approached the door to the burial sanctum she noticed it was barred shut with some kind of specialized ancient lock. She gave the door a good hard pull only to find it didn't budge an inch, she didn't realize the lock couldn't be picked until she knelt down and studied it further. She sighed and stood up before looking back at Mercer.
"There's no way I can pick this lock without a key Mercer," She said.
"They say these ancient Nordic burial mounds are sometimes impenetrable," Mercer said as he approached the door. "This one doesn't look too difficult"
Luna rolled her eyes as Mercer insulted her, but as she did she head a familiar clicking noise as Mercer somehow unlocked the door, Luna raises an eyebrow slightly confused as to how he did that but watched as the metal grates blocking the door creaked as they were pulled back into the door frame.
"It's quite simple really, I don't know what all the fuss is about with these locks. All it takes is a bit of know-how and a lot of skill" Mercer said with a sly smirk, Luna's lip twitched in annoyance but she didn't say anything as she entered the crypt.
The dungeon was pretty standard as far as Luna was concerned. She had dove in and out of nordic crypts before on guild missions or to retrieve lost items for paying citizens. Most dungeons had similar layouts, old stone walls, and floors, fallen down or crumpled wall sections or ceiling tiles. The sides of the hallways mostly held small shelves filled with skeletal ones or draugr. Sometimes they would enter a large room with a Nordic puzzle or several caskets with sleeping draugr inside. The air was heavy with the smell of death and mummified remains, causing Luna to pull her cowl over her face, her armor was very, form-fitting, protective light armor that she wore with a torn up dark red shawl and a similar colored hood and cowl, the armor itself had skeleton-like designs in it from metal plating, a broach that clipped to her black shoulder bag, and Gaitars for her feet that came with metal Sabatons. (Gaitars are heeled boots in a way and Sabatons are like armor for the feet/legs), it was unenchanted but allowed her to sneak around and move in ways she wouldn't be able to in heavy or bulky armor.
The undead draugr only bothered her if she woke them up, which she tried her best not to as she was not an entirely huge fan of undead mummies trying to kill her, despite Mercer complaining about her being too noisy, only to wake the draugr with his yelling. Luna hung back and watched as Mercer angrily tore apart the Draugr with his dwarven sword, it glowed slightly red so Luna knew it was enchanted, probably with a fire or health draining enchantment she couldn't tell. The anger in Mercer's eyes did scare her a little though, it was like a child taking sick pleasure from torturing an animal.
After almost an hour and a half of wandering through tunnels, combating Draugr and solving puzzles did Luna and Mercer arrive at a large hallway with a heavy door at the other end. Luna approached and touched the carvings, it was some kind of puzzle door with three rings each holding different symbols on them. Along with a golden plate that appeared to have claw puncture marks in it, like some kind of claw key was needed to activate the door.
"Ah, it's one of the infamous Nordic puzzle doors. How quaint" Mercer said sarcastically as he shoved Luna out of the way of the door. Luna stumbled a bit and dusted her arm off as if to wipe off his touch.
"Nordic puzzle door? I've never seen one before, how do we open it?" Luna asked.
"Well, of course, you wouldn't have seen one before, considering your experience level" Mercer began, giving Luna a glare. "Without the matching claw, they re normally impossible to open. And since I'm certain Karliah already did away with it. We're on our own"
"So we can't open it?" Luna said with a sigh. "Karliah just locked herself in a crypt with no hope of getting back out?"
"I never said any of that," Mercer said as he crouched next to the claw keyhole, Luna gave a sigh as she rubbed her eyes, the air in the crypt was giving her a slight headache not to mention Mercer's attitude.
"Fortunately, these doors have a weakness if you know how to exploit it. Quite simple, really." Luna could hear Mercer say as she rubbed her face, she suddenly heard a click and looked back up as the ancient door creaked before sliding down into the floor, putting up lots of dust and soot from centuries of staying closed, Luna gave a cough as she put her cowl back over her mouth. "Karliah's close. I'm certain of it. Now let's get moving"
"Is there anything you can't unlock?" Luna said jokingly. Mercer gave her a glare.
"Don't waste any more time than you already have, get moving" He hissed.
Luna sighed and rolled her eyes as she stepped forward, she could see the large room that laid on the other side of the door. It appeared to have steps leading somewhere with pillars holding up the crumbling room, two nordic statues sat upon the steps and there was a large hole in the ceiling where some of the stone had crumbled to the floor. However, the second Luna stepped past the door to enter the huge room she felt a piercing pain in her chest as she crumpled to the ground as the feeling in her legs and arms suddenly vanished. She tried to sit back up only to see her vision began to blur before she fell unconscious Luna did manage to see an arrow sticking out of her chest.
Luna awoke slowly as she wheezed, her entire body felt numb as she struggled to try and move. But nothing budged, she couldn't even wiggle her toes in this state. She was lying on the floor facing into the large room, she must have passed out only for a moment because out of the corner of her eye she saw Mercer Frey step over her useless body and walk into the large room like she wasn't even there. Out of the shadows came a hooded figure walking with a bow in hand towards Mercer.
"Do you honestly think your arrow will reach me before my blade finds your heart?" Mercer said smugly, in an extremely cocky tone. His hand laid rested against the hilt of his dwarven sword.
"Give me a reason to try" The figure hissed back, it was a females voice. It sounded somewhat comforting, it was soft and a bit angelic sounding, yet cold and filled with hatred Luna suspects has been festering for years.
"You're a clever girl, Karliah. Buying Goldenglow Estate and funding Honningbrew Meadery was inspired" Mercer said, putting one of his hands on his hips, the smirk still smothering his face.
Luna watched as Karliah sheathed her bow and pulled her hood down from her face, she was a dark elf and had the same black hair as Luna did.
"Well, that explains a lot," Luna thought to herself as she was forced to watch the exchange occur.
"To ensure an enemy's defeat, you must first undermine his allies" Karliah began. "It was the first lesson Gallus taught us"
"You always were a quick study," Mercer said, hissing through his clenched teeth.
"Not quick enough, otherwise Gallus would still be alive" Karliah replied, hints of anger and sadness laced into her voice.
"Gallus had his wealth and he had you. All he had to do was look the other way!" Mercer shouted, raising his voice as he got angrier.
"Did you forget the Oath we took as Nightingales? Did you expect him to simply ignore your methods?" Karliah hissed in response as the conversation got more heated.
"Enough of this mindless banter!" Mercer shouted, drawing his sword and smirking at Karliah. "Come, Karliah! it's time for you and Gallus to become reunited!"
Mercer charged and went to stab at Karliah however she quickly chugged a potion and vanished, becoming invisible. Mercer's blade stabbed nothing but air as he straightened and looked around, hearing Karliah's voice echo throughout the large chamber.
"I'm no fool, Mercer. Crossing blades with you would be a death sentence." Karliah's voice rang. "But I can promise the next time we meet, it will be your undoing."
Luna watched as Mercer scouted the room in a fit of rage, Karliah was nowhere to be seen or heard. He cursed loudly and kicked a nearby rock into the wall as he finally seemed to take notice to Luna. Who was still unable to move or speak. He twirled his blade in his hand as he approached her, chuckling to himself in a cocky manner.
"How interesting. It appears Gallus's history has repeated itself." He said crouching down, Luna could feel him lift up her chin to look at him. Luna struggled once again to move but couldn't, she could only muster a glare at him. A chill went up against her spine since she didn't like to be touched at all.
"Karliah has provided me with the means to be rid of you, and this ancient tomb becomes your final resting place," Mercer explained, Luna could feel her eyes widen at the thought of dying in some decrypted tomb, she tried to move again, willing her body with every fiber of her very being to move, to do something, anything. But it was no use, whatever Karliah shot her with was keeping her immobile, she couldn't even feel her heartbeat pick up as her mind began to stress over the worse.
"But do you know what intrigues me the most?" He continued, he was almost whispering to her now in a sinister tone, his hand still on her cheeks forcing her to look up at him. "Is the fact that this was all possible because of you."
Mercer slowly stood and moved Luna's limp body so she was now on her back, he ripped the cowl off her armor as it exposed her neck, glancing her over one more time with a smirk his gaze turned down to his blade. Which glistened a bit within the dim lighting of the room.
"I suppose this is farewell. I'll be certain to give Brynjolf your regards." He said, the sinister look in his eyes ever present. Luna could feel her mind beginning to panic and spin out of control, fear grasps at her heart like icy claws. Memories of her time in the Thalmor prison flashed in her mind if she could tear up and cry Luna suspects she would as she felt Mercer place the dwarven sword against her neck, before slowly pressing down stabbing into her throat, brutally slicing across deeply until Luna's neck was cut wide open. The pain was unbearable, Luna tried to scream out and cry but she couldn't move her lips, her breathing picked up as she wheezed loudly, her body only giving small jitters of pain as her vision began to blur once again. The last thing she was was Mercer Frey, standing over her with that smirk across his lips, and the taste of her own blood in her mouth and dripping onto the floor.
It had been nearly four hours since Inigo had watched his friend enter Snow Veil Sanctum with the angry man. Inigo had set up camp beside Karliah's old tattered tent and successfully dragged the horse corpse away so that wolves wouldn't attack them with the help of the horses. Who were both tied up on the tree beside Inigo's tent, grazing on some apples he had left out for them. Inigo looked around as the storm had begun to die down, revealing the crisp morning rays from the rising sun beat down against the frozen snow, causing it to glitter and glow. He sighed and poked at the fire he had started with his sword, his tail swished in the snow as he waited. However, his ears swiveled in the direction of the burial mound as he heard something coming towards him. it sounded like somebody carrying a body, dragging it part way through the snow. Ingo stood and looked to find Karliah, with Luna slumped against her shoulder, her limp feet dragging in the snow as they walked towards the camp, Inigo could smell the blood coming from his friend's body, and see it begin to soak through her armor and drip onto the bright white snow.
"Let her go you sleazy little ratbag!" Inigo hissed as he drew his sword, the hooded Karliah approached her campsite and held out her hand for him to stop as she tried to balance Luna's body against her.
"Wait! please, if I don't tend to her now she will die!" Karliah's voice rang out as Inigo hesitated, Luna appeared in a very poor state as he nodded.
"If you try anything I will gut you myself," Inigo said as he stepped back allowing Karliah to lay Luna on the spare bedroll Inigo had set up by the fire.
"A fair deal I say," Karliah said before she got to work, taking bandages and healing potions out of Luna's shoulder bag that she had taken off her body.
Inigo sheathed his sword and knelt next to Luna, noticing the horrific laceration on her throat, and the arrow sticking out of her chest. Luna was wheezing heavily as her body convulsed, the effects of the poison were wearing off as her body began to react to the pain it was enduring and causing Luna to bleed more.
"What happened in there?!" Inigo said a mixture of confusion, anger, and worry crept into his voice.
"Hand me that healing potion," Karliah said ignoring his question.
"Tell me what happened!" Inigo shouted as he grabbed Karliah's arm, she looked up at him calmly.
"I will explain everything, but please. Not now, let me work. If I hadn't shot her with that arrow she would be dead by now. The poison has slowed her heart so she won't bleed out but it's wearing off, if I don't heal her now she'll bleed to death" Karliah said in a stern and powerful tone.
Inigo's ears went back against his head as he handed Karliah the healing potion, watching as she poured it directly onto Luna's neck, the skin began to stitch itself back together as Karliah continued to work, Inigo felt the worry grow inside his chest. He had seen Mercer Frey exit the crypt but when he confronted him he was told Luna was right behind him.
"I feel like such an idiot," Inigo said to himself as he watched his friend being tended to.