A stab in the dark

by Gelyau

A bosmer called Loreal is an expert archer, she is extremely competent with a dagger and even more so with her bow "Geilrin." Which she treasures like family, one night she is attacked by bandits trying to get the jump on her. However she gets the jump on them and settles down to sleep, not aware that when she wakes up it will be in a wooden shack with 3 people and a murderer.

Loreal was sitting on a mossy rock a bit away from her camp, watching it intently with eyes like a hawk. She knew that someone had followed her, those snaps and rustles couldn't of been coincidences. Could they? She had been sitting there for a while and still nothing.

"For Mara's sake, I might as well-"

There, that tree branch had just moved. Picking an arrow from her quiver she nocked it and took aim. "Come out you sneaky bastard..." The bosmer muttered, a figure flitting into her sight. Clearly illuminated by the fire, a man dressed in hide and leather with a mace strapped to his hip and a greedy look on his face.

"There you are..." Loreal released the string and with a quiet "woosh" the arrow flew through the air and lodged itself firmly in the bandit's skull. He fell to the ground, lifeless, the arrow staunching the flow of blood threatening to pour from his head.

"There's an archer!" She heard a cry from the woods and a blue glow surrounded the bandit's corpse, raising it up with a groan. So they had a necromancer did they? "Let's see if you can raise yourself from the dead..."

Suddenly a group of angry looking bandits stormed into her camp, one knocked into another and they fell into the fire, screaming loudly. Loreal smirked and loosed some extra arrows, 3 bandits fell dead. The last one had raised a ward just in time. "Here's a tip" The female yelled, the bandit seemed to listen "Never fight a bosmer from a distance"

Loreal raised her bow and fired, she was way over the bandit's head and it looked like the mage was grinning before she realising the arrow had sailed over the ward at just the right angle to... "Tip two, never forget about gravity" She muttered, sliding down from the rock and landing nimbly on the ground. After a bit of searching she found a couple hundred septims and some gems, even a flawless amethyst.

After listening for a while Loreal decided it was safe to sleep, still setting up some tripwires just in case, anyone walking into those would fall into a bear trap. Killing them instantly. Loreal then removed her clothes and slid under the covers of her bed roll, smiling as the warmth wrapped around her before she fell asleep.