Chapter 1

It was the 7th day of Second Seed which meant that the people of Mournhold were excited for the Second Planting. The early morning hours had brought light through bars to come to rest on dark scales.

As the day grew older the light moved to shine brightly on a pair of closed eyes. Ice cold blue eyes opened and the young Argonian boy sighed as he remembered where he was.

It was the events of more than a week ago, that landed him in this cell. He tried to pickpocket a ring off a Dunmer woman whom he knew always had the ring on her person.

Spatial awareness was never a strong suit of his, but he was working on memorizing the Ordinators patrol schedule. His face was angular and dark. On his rough black facial scales he wore markings of red running down a line through his cheek from his shapely eye sockets. The red appeared again in two lines vertically from the top of his bottom lip to the lowest part of his chin where he had grown some small spikes into the shape of a goatee. Atop his head was a collection of tall black spikes. He was rather lanky for a boy and he was always teased about having a small frame.

He sat up on the bed he had been sleeping on for the last week or so. Today they come get me, he thought to himself and just as he completed the thought he heard a familiar voice outside the window.

"Zuryl believes that it is passed sleeping hours for Eldrin." She was a Suthay-raht Khajiit and a good friend of his. Although her speech left something to be desired he always thought she was very articulate for a Khajiit.

"It's hard to stay asleep on this metal frame." He said looking towards the floor of the square room. Zuryl was leaning her back on the outside wall as she talked to her companion.

They both had small smiles on their faces, "This one is glad. The time has been much boring without Zuryl's friend. Kadriel told this one she misses the lizard as well. Eldrin's parents are coming, yes?"

He frowned slightly, "Yes they are. Hopefully to free me instead of lecture me again." Eldrin's parents had visited over the last week but it was mostly just to scold him for his actions. His parents couldn't afford the bounty he'd acquired so he had to fulfill his sentence in jail.

"Zuryl must go. She would not want Eldrin's parents to think poorly of her. Meet this one near the usual spot after you are free." He nodded after he heard her steps as she walked away without waiting for an answer.

It was not long after that that he heard more familiar voices coming from the Ordinators table. As he stood near the steel gate trying to see what was happening, a guard appeared in front of him. He jumped slightly with the guard's unexpected appearance.

"Your guardians are here to collect you. Try to stay out of trouble this time," as he swung the door open for the young Argonian. Eldrin was hesitant to see them but it was an obligation if he wanted to spend the night in a soft bed. He thought about sneaking into the house later and avoiding them altogether but the thought quickly vanished when he saw their faces.

"I hope this has taught you your lesson," his father, Haevyn, stated dryly. Rutalu stayed quiet as she was never the one that disciplined their son. Eldrin stayed silent too. That was the best way to avoid fighting with them lately.

Haevyn continued to lecture his son about honesty and hard work all the way back to their farmhouse on the outskirts of Mournhold.

The Dunmer couple was old enough to be his grandparents. Haevyn was never fond of fighting but he kept enough armor and weapons to defend himself and his family. Rutalu was an adept healer, she just happened to make life work for the pair where ever they were called too. They were never able to have children of their own and since they were the only parents Eldrin ever knew, the family setup they had was unusual but good in a way.

The house was very small, no separate rooms or anything, just beds against the walls, a fireplace, a table and some chairs. There was a trap door to a basement under their only rug but Eldrin had never seen what was down there. He walked to his cot and sat down on it, continuing to focus on the ground, and buried his face in his hands.

"Eldrin, are you even listening to your father?" He hated his name, and winced with the use of it. How could they be called his mother and father? Eldrin was a Dunmer name and it always hurt his pride to be called by it.

He looked up, a small scowl on his face, "Yes yes, no stealing, is it alright if I go back to the city?" His mother was surprised, "You just got home after a week of no chores, you think you could help out here for a while first?"

Eldrin groaned, walked outside, and proceeded to complete the work he was expected to do. Haevyn came out to work by his side, the pair in silence the whole time.

A few hours went by and he happily ran into the city to meet up with his friends, still very dirty from the farm work but his dark scales hid the dirt well. Kadriel, a small wood elf, and Zuryl were waiting for him in the shadow of the town center.

"Eldrin looks like he has not cleaned himself in days…" Zuryl had a disgusted look on her face as Eldrin ran up to the pair, "Good to see you too, Zuryl."

Kadriel hugged Eldrin regardless of how dirty the Khajiit said he was. "Do you realize how late you are?" She asked the lizard while still hugging him. He let go and they moved away from each other, "No, I got held up at home. I hurried over here before you two could leave without me."

Zuryl butted in, "Ah yes, the plans for this evening. Eldrin made it just in time." He could never tell when the Khajiit was serious or sarcastic. The two beasts locked eyes and Zuryl gave him a small grin.

Kadriel's expression grew to concern, "We checked it out earlier and security is a little bit tighter than we initially thought so we might need to arm ourselves…"

Both of the girls were looking at Eldrin for an answer, "Well what are you expecting, I thought my role in this was just to show up?"

Zuryl tilted her head, "This one remembers hearing of a Dunmer warrior that lives in Eldrin's house… Maybe Eldrin steals weapons, yes?" Eldrin's eyes widened, "I can't rob my own house!"

Kadriel put a hand on his shoulder, "It's more like borrowing, we'll return it by morning but you need to go get it now and meet us there or we won't have enough time."

Panic began to set in, "There was never supposed to be violen—" Zuryl grabbed him and got her face very close to his, "The lizard's family is not wealthy, quite the depressing situation yes. Eldrin is completing this task to survive, no?"

He looked at Kadriel, her eyes looked like they were begging him. His stomach sank and his posture became exhausted as he pulled away from the cat's grasp, "Why does it have to be me? Zuryl is the better choice."

The cat blushed at the compliment, "Surely Eldrin knows his house better than this one. Yes Zuryl has never been there. Not to mention the lizard's wimpy body can fit in more places than this one's." He was so used to them poking fun at his size that he almost expected it.

"Alright, fine. I'll meet you there."

Kadriel was the shortest of the trio. Her hair was deep auburn with a small set of horns coming from her forehead. She had a petite body covered in tattoos. Her face was soft and the only part of her body free of markings. Zuryl was the tallest of all three of them. She was a white Khajiit with red facial markings down her cheeks. She often cursed her white fur since it was not very good for hiding. It reflected lots of light and often gave her position away.

All three of them were from similar backgrounds; they all became friends because they related to one another. The trio were roughians but still barely teenagers. The Ebonheart Pact capitol accepted them all within its walls, albeit with some prejudice from the locals.

As he ran home he thought about everything that could go wrong. His parents could be in the house sleeping, they could catch him stealing from them…

They were important people to him. He snuck around the fences and saw the Dunmer pair outside the house just visiting with each other on the porch. He figured this meant that he had time to sneak through the window.
The young Argonian lifted the window and, as graceful as ever, flopped through the frame. It's not even that high off the ground… he thought while holding his now hurt shoulder.

There wasn't too much time to recover though as he pulled the rug away from the trapdoor and began to pick the lock. The lock was open in a matter of seconds. The one thing he was good at, lock picking. He swung his legs around to feel for some stairs or a ladder.

After having found one, promptly climbed down and shut the door behind him. The basement was well lit which he thought was strange. There was all of Haevyn's armor and weapons hung neatly on racks in the corner of the stone room.

Eldrin was scrawnier than Haevyn's armor would allow so the lizard just opted to grab some weapons. Unfortunately Haevyn only had one sword but it looked sharp which was all he knew what weapons were supposed to be like.

The Argonian grabbed the sword and climbed the ladder to exit. This was only the second time in his life that he had even held a sword, it felt clumsy. Just as he was slipping back out the window he heard his parents on the other side of the house, entering. He crouched low, hoping that they wouldn't hear his footfalls as he left.

The walk after that was long and he tried to avoid the Ordinators outside the walls as best he could but the ones that saw him didn't seem to care much. Finally he'd reached the borders of the camp and he saw the girls hidden behind a rock. He crouched over to them and they began to scold him for only bringing one sword.

"Now with only one sword the responsibility falls on you entirely. Go scout ahead and we'll follow when we know it's safe," Kadriel sounded very cold and unsympathetic.

Eldrin sighed, "One of you can take it then." He outstretched the hand holding the sword as an offer but the girls shook their heads.

The lizard sighed again and began to climb the edge of the hill that overlooked the camp. He held the sword but thought constantly about how he had no idea how to use it.

What would happen if I had to use it? I don't think I could really… He was almost to the top now he could see the lights from the fires below. The camp was on the edge of a lake, but it seemed to be facing away from the lake as the biggest tent was on the lakes edge. He began his descent down towards the water.

Ugh so much walking especially if I have to walk around. Just as he'd finished the thought his foot slipped on a loose rock and he went tumbling down the cliff face. The sword was still in his hand and his thoughts were on his fate if he'd lost it. His efforts were spent not trying to catch himself but rather not to stab himself while he was falling. The water's edge approached more and more with every spin and tumble.

On his final tumble he saw the face of a Dunmer. Their bodies collided face to face. Eldrin's first and only thought was that the Dunmer had been bathing and he had crashed into a naked stranger.

The water was deep enough to cover them both horizontally but Eldrin quickly stood up. Barely waist deep in the water, he looked down trying to figure out what had happened.

The water started to change color and the Argonian began to panic. He plunged his hands into the water to find his new friend and finally pulled him up to the surface of the water with a sword jutting out of his chest at an angle.

The Dunmer floated easily in Eldrin's arms as the lizard stared in awe. The look of disbelief on the Dunmer's face was rather whimsical especially with the same shocked expression being mirrored back at him.

Blood spurted once or twice but mostly it was oozing from the wound and coating the Argonian's face and chest. Eldrin sensed a certain familiarity about the dark elf as he studied the face of his victim; he noticed the light fading in those deep red eyes. It felt like he had spent eons watching this mer die but only a second or two had passed.

A scream snapped Eldrin back into reality. A female Dunmer from about 5 meters away. He noted that she was also naked as he pulled the sword from the dead Dunmer and left the body to float on the surface of the water.

The boy tried to sprint out of the water but strange hands were clawing at him. Pure instinct sent his swordless hand backwards at his female assailant and he heard a small squeal and a big splash. Trying to make his way back to his friends, the lizard kept falling and scrambling.

The hill eventually gets too steep to climb so he settled on finding a hiding place underneath the cliff overhang at the top of the hill. As he tucked himself into some rocks a thought struck him, Who else might have heard that scream…

Eldrin stopped and realized his panicked breathing was incredibly loud and tried to calm down. The lizard heard a commotion coming from the camp below but he dared not peek around the concealing rocks. He just waited.