Author's Note- This is the new story I will be typing. I wanted to thank ListenerRayne for sending me this OC that I used in the chapter, Rayne Dragonheart. Keep reading, people!
The Bee and Barb in Riften was loud and rowdy that night. The Seventh of Frostfall. News had reached Riften that the Stormcloaks had defeated the Empire, and the people were overjoyed. They revelled and danced, as Black-Briar mead was passed about the people. The celebration lasted for hours, with drunk couples falling into rented beds, people taking the celebration outside, lighting wall-bound torches to light up the central area of town. Jarl Lalia Law-Giver was even counted among the bunch, along with the Riften Guards.
With the guards away from the gates, this gave those who wish to leave umpermitted the perfect time to make their exit. Including Rayne Dragonheart, the Listener for the Dark Brotherhood. She slipped away, unnoticed, and took to the shadows to make her way to the gates at the back of town. She made sure no one saw her, peering over her shoulder every few seconds, or so. When she reached the gates, she picked the lock with ease, and left the town.
Rayne followed the outer wall of Riften to get to the Riften stables, where a man was waiting for her with her horse, Shadowmere, given to her by Astrid, who had forced Rayne to kill her with her own blade. The memory was still fresh in Rayne's mind, which haunted her. She pushed the thought away and leapt onto the horse, paying the hooded man 200 gold for his services and delivery of her horse. Then she sped off down the stone pathway, moving quickly.
Rayne's next objective was to go to the small town of Ivarstead, where another man would be awaiting her arrival, with news of her targets whearabouts. She did her best to avoid the occasional bandit, sabre cat, and troll, but took many detours to do so. No matter, however, since she knew most all the short-cuts throughout Skyrim's cold lands. They were pretty easy to find, too, and she's used them so much, that her horse kind of takes over for her when riding, as if it knows where to go.
When she reached a certain stone path, she slowed to a stop on her horse, hearing a few voices nearby. Talking about her. Immediatley she knew who they were, and she readied her bow, an arrow ready to fire. She told Shadowmere to stay as she flanked the small group of people surrounding a fire. from a clearing, she counted four people. Easy enough, she thought to herself. She raised her bow, and released an arrow at the man closest to the fire, and he dropped, the arrow piercing his neck. The other three men looked over at her, and pulled out their swords, and axes. She grinned, quickly putting away her bow and putting her fists up.
They charged her, swinging their weapons. The first man swung his sword, causing Rayne to duck under the blow, and slamming her elbow into his ribs. He screamed and clutched the three broken ribs. She then roundhouse kicked him in the throat, killing him. The next man swung an axe at her. She waited for the right moment to quickly grasp at the handle, using it to twist his wrist, and kickied his knee, knocking it out of place. She threw the axe at the final man, the metal slicing into his skull, sending him falling backwards. Then she turned to the man with the busted knee.
Rayne approached the man, pulling out her dagger. "You can't make me talk, you bitch! I'll never tell you a- AAAAGH!" The man grunted as Rayne drove the knife into his leg, twisting it slowly.
"You will tell me what I want to know, or you'll end up like your buddies over there. Got it?" Rayne had a devilish smile spreading across her face, and the man grunted in pain, and said "Ffffuck you".
"Okay, then." Rayne tore the dagger out of his leg, and shoved it into his throat, leaving it there. She then got up, and walked over to Shadowmere, mounting onto the saddle, then continued on her way.
The deer let out an odd sound as it was snared by a sharpened branch, striking it's side. A man dressed in animal furs knelt down and drove a steel dagger into it's neck, holding it there until the animal had fully died, then cleaned the blade before sheathing it. He then dragged the animal to a small cave dug out of the rock in the forest near Riverwood, where a fire was burning in a dug-out pit. He skinned the animal, and hung the skin to dry. Then he cut cartain parts off of the deer, such as the legs and chunks of deer meat before cleaning the bones and disposing of the guts into the nearby river.
Rayne arrived in Ivarstead, approaching her contact. "Last I knew, he was just outside of Riverwood, in the forest." Rayne nodded and payed him, turning to get back on Shadowmere. The man grabbed her arm."Be careful. He's well known to set traps in the forest, so be careful." Rayne nodded, and slowly pulled her arm away from the man's grip. She pulled herself up onto Shadowmere, then made way for Riverwood. Riverwood was not far from Ivarstead, which proved to make this a lot quicker than Rayne though it would be. She sped up her horse, moving faster, getting anxiety knowing her target is a mere twenty minutes away.
She raced past Helgen's outer wall, avoiding the bandits who took over the abolished town. After a few minutes, she came to a sudden stop. An arrow pierced the tree next to her. She looked over her shoulder. behind her was a group of bandits. She sped up, racing down the stone path to Riverwood. But the horse took a few arrows, and fell over. She screamed with pain as it crushed her leg. Quickly, she attempted to push herself out, but it didn't work. The bandits were nearing her. She continued struggling with the horse, trying to get out from under it. It was hopeless. The bandints were a few yards away now. Then the unthinkable happened.
One of the bandits stepped on a trip wire, a barrage of boulders falling from the branches of the tree aboce them. Then a man dressed in furs and animal skins began to shoot at the men with his bow, landing every shot. Rayne stared at this man, seeing this as her last chance to escape. She pushed the horse with all her might, then finally pulled her leg out. But she couldn't get up. She had broken her leg beneath the horse, which lay dead in front of her.
The last few bandits fled, and a wave of relief washed over Rayne. But she still had her leg to worry about. She looked over to the man who'd saved her, who was approaching her. She tried to get up and run, but only hurt herself more. The pain sent her to go unconcious. The last thing she saw when she was picked up was the mans face, which she recognized.
The man who saved her was her target. The person she was supposed to kill.
Rayne slowly awoke, blinking away the blurry vision in her eyes. She observed her surroundings, looking at the cave mouth that led outside to the forest. She looked at her clothing, animal furs and skins sewn together with some sort of tight rope-like material. She looked at her leg, which had healed most of the way, and rubbed her hand over the spot where the bone had broken. It didn't hurt as bad as it did before, but she could still feel it.
Behind her was the man that saved her life, sharpening a thin, short branch with a dagger. The fire burned before him, lighting up his face. He looked up at her, and looked back down at what he was doing. Rayne turned back to look at the cave entrance, watching as the moonlight illuminated the forest, the water in the distance glistening. She sighed and shut her eyes tight, remembering what had happened last night. Was it last night? How long was I out for? , she thought to herself.
A few moments later, she got up and limped over ot the fire, then sat down across from the man, watching the flames dance before her. She thought for a moment in silence before speaking.
"Thanks." She said, quietly. The man looked up at her.
"For what?" He said, continuing to sharpen the small branch.
"For saving me that night. I would have died if not for you." Rayne looked up at him, and he stared at her.
"Think nothing of it. I only did what I had to do." He continued with the branch. Rayne just sat in silence for a while.
"I... I was supposed to kill you." She said, hesitantly. The man looked up and smiled.
"You are not the first, and will not be the last." He stoppped what he was doing.
"Really?" Rayne asked, intrigued.
"I knew who you were the moment I saw you, but I couldn't just leave you to die."
"But if you knew I was going to kill..." Rayne trailed off in confusion.
"We all have to make a living somehow. If I am to die at the hand of an assassin, so be it. But, I will not go down without a fight." The man pointed to a Rayne with his dagger as he said this. He held it there for a second, then let out a chuckle. "I am Thrynn." He said, then stuck the dagger into the dirt. He set the small branch to the side, then took the deer meat that was cooking over the fire and handed a piece to Rayne.
"My name is Rayne Dragonheart." She said, before taking a bite out of the deer meat. She pondered for a second, then asked Thrynn a question.
"How long was I out for?" Thrynn looked up at her, and finished chewing.
"Oh, a couple days, at the most. You kept saying stuff while you were out, too. I didn't understand a word of that gibberish." Thrynn laughed, and Rayne let a smile come across her face. Then Rayne thought to herself, Who would want a man like this dead? She finished her deer meat and went to sleep on a mat of furs that lay on the ground, while Thrynn took watch.
"What does she think she's doing?" The dark elf said to himself. He's been scouting from his position for an hour now. He looked closely at the man who sat in fron of the small cave, dressed in animal furs and skins, with a hunting bow in his hand. The sun would rise soon, which would expose him to view. The dark elf, Furan, made note of this location and hurried off down the stone path, heading towards a small caravan posted nearby, where the Bandit Chief waited for him.
Yet another Authors Note-Thanks for reading, please review and follow, more chapters will be up soon. I hope you guys liked it!