The bastard sword glinted in sunlight reflected off of the mountain snow. Dark hands surrounded by iron plate gripped it fervently. Past the blade's edge stood a stony giant of a man: seven feet tall at least, with a war-hammer to match. His stance was lazy, which put the bastard-wielding dark elf in a spot of uneasy confidence. She stood at the ready, her stance wide, feet planted, and hips ready to turn into the swing. Behind her, three figures cowered in a mountain crag - a young man and woman in fine clothes and a young imperial soldier, his red tinted armor still shiny and new. His falcate was drawn, but cowardice rang through his eyes, and the dark elf knew he would do nothing.

"Move, elf. They aren't paying you enough for this." The mercenary's voice sounded like a cracked church bell.

"No, but this little incident may convince them to raise my wages." She spoke in a hushed, intense tone.

He chuckled, whirling his war hammer nonchalantly. "You gotta be alive to get paid. 'Sides, you got a cute face, I'd hate to ruin it."

"Then walk away right now, or get yer balls out of yer own arse and fight me like the man you seem to think you are."

His face went grim. "Wrong move, lass. 'Tis a shame yer tongue aint as pretty as the rest of ye."

"I am Alaise. Remember it so you may curse my name as your soul reaches the next world."

"Dark skin bitch like you couldn't even get close to me." He growled.

His stance shifted in an instant and the hammer swung up from his bottom right in a diagonal arc. Alaise swung her sword point-downwards, catching his swing in the curve of her handguard. She swung around and pulled upward, attempting to disarm the beast of his club. His hands held firm and they instead became weapon-locked. The next few seconds, Alaise knew, would decide who lived. The one who more gracefully came out of the lock would surely get the other in their next swing. Alaise dropped to the ground, a tactic she knew would not be expected. In the moment of hesitation it created she flung her smoothly shaved head full-force into his crotch. His muscles loosened in pain, she swept his legs and swung her blade down in a berserker's arc.

The mercenary's head rolled slowly down the mountain path, leaving a trail of swiftly darkening blood as it moved. The young imperial whooped and sheathed his sword.

"Yes! Alaise! Atta girl! Gods, ma'am you just…wow!"

Alaise couldn't keep the grin of relief off her face. She quickly wiped off her blade in the snow and sheathed it, looking up as soon as she could hold her face straight.

"'tis my job, lad." She said, her sentence giving an aura of quiet confidence.

"Aye but… I've never seen no one head-butt a man in the balls before! And you cut 'is head clean off!"

Alaise cleared her throat and gestured her head towards the pass they had been travelling to. "Best move swift now, Lucius. We may run into more o' these Rift mercenary bastards before we cross the mountains onto the imperial borders."

Lucius nodded soberly and tapped his sheathed falcate. "Next time, I'll try to be of more help." He turned to the finely dressed couple who still cowered in the crag. "Milord, milady, we must be on the move now. We'll have you in the legion's loving arms by morning, I swear it." The two highborn's nodded meekly, beginning again their trek up the path. The mountains on either side of the four loomed like gods, their snowy peaks hidden by a layer of thick clouds. Wind shrieked through the pass, pulling down wisps of loose snow that battered the travellers' faces. Alaise knew the pass would not be pleasant, but she was not born for snowy weather. The cold seeped into her bones quickly, and soon she doubted she would be able to hold her sword properly should they come across another bounty-man. More uncomfortable still however, were the lordlings she was towing. For some time after the killing they were quite silent, but as the winds picked up and the sun disappeared behind the peaks their moods turned sour, and they began to curse at both her and the young imperial. Alaise was used to dealing with the well moneyed, being a mercenary herself, but she could see their foul tongues wearing on Lucius' mood. His steps were heavy, his shoulders slack and tired. She was sure the cold had gotten to him too. Soon enough, continuing on the path would become unwise. She knew what they should do, but she knew the highborns wouldn't like it.

"We should make camp." Immediately she was met with poisonous glares.

"The boy said we'd be at the legion by morning!"

"Aye, he said an oath!"

Alaise sighed and looked to Lucius, whose face had morphed into one of tired acceptance. He sighed. "Some oaths must be broken, milord. We cannot go any further."

The young lord strode up to Lucius, his shoulders square and his brow furrowed in anger. Reaching out to Lucius' hand he removed the boy's gauntlet and struck him across the face with it in rage.

"We are getting off this mountain, you lowly, shit-stained whelp! My uncle will hear of your oath-breaking and you will never see-"

He collapsed in pain as Alaise struck the back of his knee with her sheath. "Down, milord Bolter. The boy has broken no oaths."

Fury in the highborn's eyes burned like hellfire and he spat at Alaise's feet "My uncle will have you executed, swine! Cunt! Your head will roll for striking me!"

Her Bastard sword was unsheathed in a flash of cold steel, and its tip pressed beneath his chin. The lord Bolter's eyes turned from fury to fear in an instant.

"Your uncle… Is not here. My sword is. I say we stop, so we stop. Your uncle is a wiser man than you; he does not raise a hand in anger when it is not needed."

Bolter fell back onto the snow, rubbing his neck as if to make sure it was still in one piece as Alaise re-sheathed her blade. "Now wait here. I'll get a fire going."

The camp was silent as night fell. The lordlings ate warmed soup near the fire as Lucius wiped bandages across his face. The points of his gauntlet had caught against his cheek rather badly and the side of his face had begun to bruise. The night around them seemed ominously quiet. The wind swept by in a relative silence, and the sounds of crickets and wildlife had left them at the mountainside. Alaise watched over the other three as they began to fall asleep, swaddled in their furs against the hard frozen ground. She would keep watch as long as her weary eyes allowed, but as far as she could see, their camp was well hidden, and she doubted that an all-night watch would be necessary. Still, something didn't seem right. The darkness of the sky was too complete. No moon shone through the clouds above, the thinly burning embers of her fire seemed like the only light left in the world. Despite her discomfort, she found herself drifting into a sea of sleep.

She had troubling dreams.

.

.

Alaise was awoken by Lucius. The sun was rising beyond the edge of the mountain, and the ominous darkness of the previous night had vanished. Once they had woken the Lord and Lady Bolter, they began anew their journey, this time mostly on a downwards slope. A welcome change, Alaise thought, from the upward struggle they had experienced the previous day. Soon she began to notice small shrubs and pines growing from the stones of the mountain, and beyond them, a forest stood against the foothills. "We are nearly in imperial territory your lordships." Alaise addressed the highborns. They both kept silent, and only the lady nodded her acknowledgement. It seemed the lord Bolter wouldn't soon forget his encounter the night before. Lucius lead the party down the final steeper section of the mountain into the first layer of the forest. "Finally, trees." He said breathing in deeply. "I'm afraid the mountain air does nothing for me compared to the smell of pine"

Alaise smirked. "Aye I'll take a forest over a mountain any day." But as she took her first whiff of forest air, her nose detected the faint smell of something unsettling.

She glanced meaningfully at Lucius, and from his face it seemed he understood there was something wrong. "What is it Alaise," he whispered. "Have you heard something?"

"Smelled." Alaise spoke back in a hushed tone. "Wood smoke. There's a fire nearby"

Lucius made a face. "Oh divines, Alaise. There are hunters everywhere in these woods. What kind of bounty-man would make a fire while on the search anyway? They know better."

Alaise brushed off his doubts and stepped ahead of the group, prying the forest for any sign of movement.

A twig cracked back near the others and within the right side of the wood. Alaise tensed and whirled around to see Lucius with his hand nervously attached to his sword. He looked up at her and nodded towards where the sound came from. As her blade began to unsheathe, the sound of whistling whispered through the leaves. Steel bolts ripped through the branches around the three party members behind her, their tips jabbing viciously into unsuspecting flesh. Lord Bolter was brought to his knee by one, as another two pierced his neck and chest. Lucius went down immediately as a bolt stuck into the side of his head beneath the ear. The Lady was pierced thrice in the chest and stomach. Blood spattered across the dirt path and turned black as it seeped into the earth. Alaise was left, mouth agape and eyes wide, standing alone in the trail's center. The unified marching of feet crackled through the forest near her dead cohorts. From the shadows of the pine strode a line of Rift guardsmen, led by a man in blue cloth over steel scales. A Stormcloak lieutenant. He turned to face Alaise, his crossbow at ease in his hand; one of the other men noticed the direction of his gaze and raised a crossbow to fire a round into Alaise as well. The lieutenant swiftly held his hand up in a halting motion.

"Wait. This one's a mercenary. No need for extra blood." He took a few steps towards the still-stunned dark elf. "I am sorry to impede on your work, my girl. I'm afraid I cannot repay you what you have doubtless lost by my actions."

Alaise's eyes were locked on the body of Lucius. His face was turned to hers, but his eyes stared beyond her, lips caked in his own blood. "I-I-o-of course. I won't trouble you." She stammered out to the Stormcloak. Her head awash with confusion and anger, she struggled to hold herself composed. "I have already been paid half. That will... have to suffice."

The lieutenant nodded with a smile, seemingly satisfied. "Aye, I'm afraid it will. Good luck in your travels miss." With a nod of courtesy, the Stormcloak turned back to his men, and after inspecting the lordling corpses to be sure they had killed the right ones, the party strode back into the forest. Alaise quieted her trembling hands and shaking breath, pacing back and forth past the bodies of her companions. Finally steeling herself, she laid the three side by side along the road's edge, removing the amulets of the nobles and Lucius' leather helm. The tokens would have to suffice as proof of their death. There was no way she could transport their bodies the rest of the way to the imperial camps. As a final thought before she left the road behind her, she laid Lucius' sword down his chest, and folded his arms over the hilt. The pose made him look heroic, as though he had died a warrior. She wasn't sure which divines he favored, so she said a silent prayer to the Nerevarine and turned away.