It's finally here! Skyrim's Most Wanted, the sequel to The Legendary Arlen Shadowcloak. I don't know how many people have been waiting for this, if any, but here it is.

/\

Arlen stepped forward, and cursed as he trod on a dry stick. In the near silence, a guard heard him. He raised his torch and walked toward him. Arlen jumped forward and broke the guard's neck, then dragged him between two houses. From there, Arlen stripped of his burlap prisoner's tunic and donned the guard's armor. His equipment was in the guard's barracks right next to the Whiterun gate. Once he got it, escape would be child's play. He made his way to the barracks, opened the door, and walked in. Just inside the door was the prisoner belongings chest. Arlen's luck held as he found keys on his belt. Then his luck gave as a guard abandoned his patrol to sit right next to the chest. He would have to bluff his way through this one.

"Prisoner release."

The guard's response was like music to Arlen's ears. "Don't care."

"Alright, then." Arlen opened the chest, and saw that the only belongings inside were his. He pulled them out, starting with Mehrunes' Razor, and stabbed the guard. He then dropped the guard's clothes he was wearing and put on his brown boiled leather Thieves' Guild armor. Arlen took one last look around to make sure he wasn't seen, and burst out of the guard's barracks and Whiterun. From there, escape was only a bowshot away. He sprinted down the path, ignoring the shouts and arrows that followed him, and didn't stop running until he passed Helgen and entered the Rift. Even then, he only stopped because he saw a huntress on horseback. He jumped up, slit her throat, and took the horse. From there, he managed to get some half-asleep rest and let the horse do the running. When the horse stepped in a hole and broke its leg, Arlen jumped off, shook himself awake, and continued his run. The Rift was the only hold in Skyrim he wasn't wanted in, but it had been reported that Whiterun guards would chase escaped prisoners all the way to Markarth. And so, Arlen didn't stop until he entered the Ratway and collapsed across the bar.

Already, Arlen could see the changes he'd been making. He'd put off the Goldenglow job, and instead started doing jobs for Vex and Delvin Mallory. The coin these jobs had brought in had served a good purpose. The Ratway, even if it was a sewer, was clean, with Thieves' Guild banners up all over the place, a massive stock of mead and ale behind the bar, and even an armory built into several of the coves around the central cistern. Before, this place had been very aptly named. It was a rat-filled shit hole. Now, it was a functional Thief's base. When Arlen finally regained his breath, he stood and approached Delvin.

"Your job's done. I need another."

Delvin beamed at him uncharacteristically. "Aren't any left, I'm afraid. You've done everything we need to get this place back up and running. We're back on the map, and getting new recruits all the time. Good work."

"I'm glad you could help, lad," Brynjolf approached Arlen from behind. "I truly am. But while you've been having your little thief party, Aringoth has nearly finalized the sale of Goldenglow Estate. He's also tripled his guard by hiring mercenaries. The place is swimming with them. Mercer's impatience has nearly sent the entire Guild in to stop them. Are you finally going to get on it?"

"Of course, Brynjolf. I was previously unaware of the troubling proceeds at the Estate. Burn three hives, was it?"

"And only three," Brynjolf agreed.

"Then I'm off."

/\

Arlen approached the gate casually, still disguised in his nobleman's clothes. Of course, he'd prepared for a swift battle-readiness. The right side of the tunic was sewn with grass, long dead by now. It would tear in half a heartbeat, and then Arlen's armor, and in turn his true intents, would be revealed.

"Hold there!" a mercenary called from a tower near the gate. "Who are you?"

"A representative."

"Of whom?"

"Of your buyer."

The mercenary laughed. "No. The buyer always comes themselves, and works alone. You're no representative. Unless you have another reason for me to unlock the gate, begone!"

"So you have the key?"

"Of course I have the key! Now, last warning! Begone!"

Arlen smiled, and tore his bow from beneath his tunic. The mercenary had just enough time to pull out his own bow before Arlen's arrow slammed into his shoulder. The force behind the arrow spun the mercenary around so he fell from the tower. Arlen tore off his nobleman's tunic and put on his cowl, then took the gate key from the fallen archer. Nobody seemed to notice, which was exactly why Arlen used an ebony bow and arrows. They were, of course, ebony black, even the shafts and fletching. They were nearly impossible to see in the night sky, and only slightly less difficult during the day. If he'd used standard steel arrows, the shining head, light shaft, and bright orange fletching would be plain to see.

Once he unlocked the gate, Arlen slipped into the Goldenglow courtyard and melted into the shadows beneath the guard tower. From there, he examined the estate. It consisted of three islands. The one on the left had the beehives, the one just ahead had the house. All of them had small guard shelters with chairs and barrels of something. Arlen took out three specially made arrows, lit their tips on fire, and shot at the beehives. Each arrow went out at the top of its arc, and Arlen's heart sank. Then they all slammed into a beehive, and reignited. From there, it was only seconds before they were burned to the ground. Three mercenaries ran from the house island to investigate, and they were all killed as well.

Only difference: Arlen didn't kill them.

/Jo'Nir\

The wizard in the shadows was impressed by the newcomer's stealth, but it was nothing compared with the spell of invisibility combined with the natural stealth of a Khajiit. Of course, the rogue's fighting skill was unmatchable by Jo'Nir, but with his magic skill, the Khajiit wouldn't need any battle-readiness. If he...

Jo'Nir's thoughts trailed off as he realized he couldn't see the rogue anymore. The three mercenaries were still on the ground with lightning burns, nothing different there. Three beehives smoldering, the same. Four more mercenaries on the way, just as it was before. But the hooded one was gone. It wasn't possible that the rogue had seen the source of the lightning spell?

But Jo'Nir's heart was doomed to sink as he found a blade at his invisible throat.

"Up."

Jo'Nir closed his eyes, let the invisibility fade, and shook his head.

"Alright," the quiet voice said. Jo'Nir suddenly found himself on his feet, standing upright, with his eyes closed and his shoulder in massive pain. When he opened his eyes, he found that everything had changed.

Seven mercenaries on the ground, four more than before. Three beehives completely burned to the ground, no chance of being saved. No mercenaries approaching. A hooded figure in front of him, steadying him via the shoulders.

"How...?"

"No, no," the hooded man said. "The question is who. Who are you and why are you here?"

Jo'Nir, still not thinking straight, answered without hesitation or deception. "Jo'Nir, from the College."

"What college, Jo'Nir?" The hooded man pronounced the strange Khajiit name surprisingly perfectly.

"The Mage's College in Winterhold."

"And why are you here?"

"I was to collect domesticated bees and honey for an experiment."

"Well, there may be a stress factor on the remaining bees and heat damage on the honey." the hooded man pointed out.

"That's true!" Jo'Nir said, surprised that the rogue understood the basics of magic experimentation. "We'll have to-"

The rogue cut in, so they said the next part in unison. "find a new domesticated hive."

"Although," the rogue said, "you won't be the one to do it, Jo'Nir." With that, the hooded man raised his dagger and stepped forward.

/Arlen\

Arlen cut the Khajiit down, even more easily than he'd killed the mercenaries. Now the only remaining part of his infiltration was stealing the Goldenglow bill of sale and destroying it, and capturing the gold from the safe. And, if Aringoth got in his way, he would have to kill the owner of the estate. Arlen jogged across the wooden bridge to the main building, slinking through the back door silently.

Once inside, Arlen took a look around. Before he even processed what he saw, though, he noticed that the temperature had soared. That meant a lot of torches, candle sconces, and bodies. There was a corridor straight ahead, and one to the right. According to the run-down he'd been given by Vex, straight ahead was the way to go. He stalked forward, still silent, and peeked around a corner to the left. The swift look revealed a larger room, with two doorways leading from it. One led to a mercenary in a chair, and the other led to a dining area. Arlen snuck toward the mercenary, but suddenly panicked and nearly fell backward. There was another man, just to the left of the doorway, leaning against the wall. Arlen made a split-second decision and turned back to the dining area. Most Thieves' Guild members didn't kill, and Arlen planned to blend in with them. More bodies meant more evidence, which conflicted with Arlen's resolution to remain as anonymous as possible during his time in the Guild.

On the other side of the dining area, Arlen found what he was looking for. A wooden staircase up to his left, a steel cage door leading to downward stairs to his right. The right would lead to the cellar and the safe, the left to Aringoth's quarters. Only one mercenary stood in his way, and he would bleed just the same as the ones outside. Arlen killed him, made another split-second decision, and crept up the stairs on the left.

Immediately on the other side of the door, Arlen smiled. A purse sat on a table, tipped over and spilling gold coins. He dumped the purse into his Bag, and looked around the room. A few more coins sat on another table, not worth taking. A keg of mead or ale was set up on a bar, with a few tankards around. Arlen took a drink, and kept his tankard in his hand. It was made of a heavy metal, and could come in handy.

Arlen thought back to Vex's run down, and took a left, right, and another left turn, finding himself in a long corridor. At the end of it was a mercenary, facing slightly away from Arlen. He took the metal tankard in his left hand, opting to knock the man unconscious instead of killing him. Probably inexperienced in battle, the mercenary crumpled to the floor after one strike with the tankard. Another left turn brought Arlen to another long hallway, which he took straight forward to the end. He took yet another left turn here, and found the doorway to Aringoth's quarters on the right. He walked through it, hit another mercenary, and opened the chamber doors.

The quarters were of good quality. Low tables and tall shelves stood everywhere. On one was a golden statue of a bee, which Arlen knew Delvin would like to buy off him. If not him, definitely Tonilia. He stepped forward to take it, then tilted his head. He heard a soft metallic sound, and recognized it instantly. It was the sound of an Elvish arrowhead coming to rest on an Elvish bow when it reached full draw. He dove forward, and Aringoth's arrow thudded into a table leg. Even as a High Elf, Aringoth's archery skill was exemplary. Alas, Arlen's was better still. Before Aringoth could even draw another arrow, Arlen had drawn his bow and an arrow and fired it. The slender arrowhead pierced Aringoth's throat before he even knew it had been fired. In a few seconds, Aringoth slumped to the ground and let the key to his safe slip from his limp fingers.

Arlen took the key, then crept back to the stairs. From there, it was an easy task to slink silently into the cellar. The only thing in the way now was a puddle of spilled lamp oil and two mercenaries. It was only a second before Arlen managed to get a spark from his flint and steel, lighting the oil and the mercenaries on fire. An easy task, then, to find Aringoth's safe, empty it, and flee the estate through the sewer.

/\

Back in the headquarters, Arlen approached Mercer Frey.

"Found the buyer's signature. Well," Arlen added as Mercer perked up. Not really a signature as this odd symbol." Arlen handed him the bill.

"Hmm." Mercer Frey thought for a moment. "Never seen this before, but Gulum-Ei I have heard of." Mercer referred to a name on the bill of sale. "But, I'm getting ahead of myself. More dangerously, I'm getting ahead of Maven Black-Briar. She asked to see you. If I were you, I wouldn't dawdle."

/\

Arlen arrived at Maven Black-Briar's side in minutes, and walked with her down the street.

"As you know, a new meadery has opened near Whiterun. Its owner, Sabjorn, opened it in a mere two days. I need to find out how, and sabotage him. That is where you come in. Meet my contact at the Bannered Mare, name of Mallus Maccius. He'll fill you in."

With that, Arlen set off.

Once Arlen mounted Shadowmere, it was a swift ride to Whiterun. As he leaped from the saddle and opened the gates, Shadowmere seemed to disappear. The Bannered Mare was at the end of the main road, so Arlen continued in a jog until he found himself face-to-face with Mallus Maccius.

"Good, you're here. I thought perhaps-"

Arlen interrupted him. "Just tell me what Maven needs me to do."

Mallus gave him an annoyed look, but told him anyway.

/\

Arlen nodded at Sabjorn, accepting his instructions. He was to go into the cellar and the skeever tunnel dug off it, and poison the skeever nest with Sabjorn's formula. It would be simple, so long as he kept to the shadows. With luck, the tunnel would lead him to his real prize. Arlen strolled silently down the stairs, though he wasn't trying to sneak. The second he reached the cellar, he heard skeevers. They seemed to be coming from everywhere, but he soon realized there were only three of them at the moment. Instead of stab at them like he normally would, Arlen simply waited for them to be in a group, and drew breath.

"RAAN MIR TAH!" The skeevers looked up, but didn't attack, as the shout impacted on them. They stalked to Arlen's heel, and he continued to stalk toward the tunnel. The skeevers perked up, smelled the air, and charged forward. Arlen followed them, and soon came across a beast fight. His three skeevers were dancing around seven more, nipping at them and trying to attack their weaknesses. One of the seven died, then one of Arlen's. Next, two more of the remaining six died. Suddenly, the last two of Arlen's skeevers stopped, and looked as confused as a skeever can look. They were killed in their confusion, leaving four hostile skeevers in a group. Arlen's Shout had worn off. He stepped forward with his dagger, ignoring the fact that the skeevers saw him. They would be dead in a second anyways. With only two swipes of his dagger, Arlen slaughtered the four skeevers. He found his way to another tunnel, and identified the telltale signs: Thick-spun webs, dead skeevers hanging from the ceiling, eggs. There were frostbite spiders somewhere ahead. Hopefully not too large.

Regardless of size, Arlen sheathed Mehrunes' Razor and pulled out his ebony bow. Soon, he turned a corner and spotted two spiders, nearly as tall as him. He snapped of two arrows, and the force drove the spiders back several paces. He wasn't done yet, though. Three more spiders appeared from the gloom: one the same size as the two dead ones, one smaller, and one half a meter taller than Arlen. Three more arrows streaked from Arlen's bow, and dropped two of the spiders. The largest one took the arrow without even a stagger, though. Arlen fired once more, but the spider saw him, now. It used one of its long, clawed forelimbs to cut the arrow aside, then charged at Arlen, using its massively long stride and exceptional speed to close the distance in a second. From there, it tried to use its forelimbs to pull Arlen into its enormous mandibles, but Arlen managed to get out of the way and draw Mehrunes' Razor. As soon as he did, he felt his hood being pulled off. The leather string that the hood had been sewn to the armor with tore, and the spider guided the hood to its mouth. Arlen rolled sideways as the spider attacked again, slicing off one of its claws. It reared back, turned, and lunged. Arlen tried to slice off the other claw, but it flicked it out of the way and came in for an old-fashioned bite. Arlen waited for its mandibles to open, then dove past them and stabbed forward with all his might. The spider reared again, then went limp as Arlen's blade found its brain. He tore his blade from its brain, then continued in his search for the skeever nest. Only one more tunnel, and Arlen stepped on something. His reflexes took over, but he wasn't sure it was enough. He cut his boot, dropped a spare dagger next to his foot, and dove forward. The dagger intercepted one side of the bear trap, just in time, and the other side just caught the boot before Arlen slipped out of it. Now one-booted and hoodless, Arlen walked around a second bear trap and came to a tripwire. Using Mehrunes' Razor, Arlen cut the tripwire. A spiked ball on a chain fell from the cave ceiling, and Arlen deflected it. It buried itself in the sandy wall, allowing Arlen to stalk past. Through another tunnel he found a cavern, larger than the rest by far. Three skeevers slunk through the murk and fog gathered at the bottom of the cave, and a larger shape moved on the other side of the cave from Arlen. It looked like a troll from here.

Arlen kept low to the ground, concealed by the fog, and killed the three skeevers. As one fell, though, the fog was disturbed. The troll turned around as it parted, and saw the body. That was when Arlen saw that it was no troll. It was a man, just hunched over. He straightened, and ran forward to the dead skeever. Arlen jumped out of cover to stab him, but the man was fast and perceptive. He dodged sideways, leaving Arlen to roll to his feet. Before he even turned around, Arlen was hit by a bolt of lightning that sent him reeling. He managed to get behind something before two more bolts streaked past, and pulled out his bow. The mage appeared, ready to shoot more lightning, but Arlen shot first. The man's throat erupted in red, and his spell discharged upward. Arlen ran past him to the skeever nest, which he had seen a moment ago. He dumped half of Sabjorn's formula into it, then moved on through another tunnel. From there, he found himself in a similar cellar, but knew he hadn't taken a full circle. He must be near the brewery.

When Arlen opened the door across from him, he found that he was in the brewery. He climbed a vat, and poured the rest of the poison into it before climbing back down and opening the front door. Sabjorn came in as he was leaving.

"Killed the skeevers? Good. Now I just have to fill this keg for the captain..."

Sabjorn was holding a mead tasting for the captain of the Whiterun Guard. The poison would certainly ruin Sabjorn's life, and perhaps end that of the captain.

Arlen waited for Sabjorn to catch up, then followed him into the meadery. There, Mallus Maccius and the captain were waiting. In only a moment, the captain had downed three tankards of the poisoned mead. Just when Mallus and Arlen became worried that Sabjorn had filled it with the wrong vat, the captain collapsed. His two personal guards drew their blades and escorted Sabjorn out, leaving only the dead captain and the two conspirators.

"I don't think that could have gone any better." Mallus said.

Arlen cut right to the chase. "I need a look at Sabjorn's books. Maven needs to know how he managed to get up and running so quickly."

"Alright, then." Mallus handed Arlen a key and gave him directions.

/\

Having finished the job and gotten paid for it, Arlen returned to Mercer Frey.

"Now, what were you saying about Gulum-Ei?"

"Gulum-Ei? I've heard that before... Ah. Quite the memory you've got. Yes, I think our worthy adversary is slipping. Gulum-Ei, the name on the Goldenglow bill of sale, is an alias for a certain contact in Solitude. He may be able to give us some information about this wealthy foe. I want you to go to the Winking Skeever in Solitude and find him. He may call himself Gajul-Lei instead of Gulum-Ei. Don't let him convince you. His true name is Galum-Jei. If you throw that name at him, he's sure to listen."

"Understood," Arlen said, and turned to leave.

"One more thing: Do not kill Gulum-Ei. I think you can guess what'll happen if you do."

"No reward?"

"No," Mercer Frey said. "You'll get a reward: Termination from the Guild, and the face of Nirn."