Her mother had always told her to never rely on the Nine. They never answered prayers. It was a statement that wound its way deep into her heart. And so far, the statement had stood the test of time. None of her prayers had been answered; not the one when she begged for her mother's life to be spared and certainly not when she found herself on death's door. It was not by the power of the Nine she was saved from most certain demise, but rather by the power of the Daedric Princes.

Since that day, the Bosmer never forgot how the Nine shunned her, turning their backs on her when her faith could have been restored had they answered. She instead took interest in serving Sanquine. At first she had felt guilty, stealing away lives and getting paid in gold for her crimes, but after this many years at her job, she had been hardened.

Now as she looked at herself in the mirror, wiping away dried blood, she saw no emotion. Her grey eyes were hard like steel, the scars across her face silvery lines representing the numerous times she had been hurt, and the raven hair on her head was as wild as her spirit. There was no remorse in this creature that studied herself, fingering the silver rings pierced through one pointed ear. There was no ability to feel guilt. Blood had washed both away, leaving a ruthless killer behind in the shell of what was once a loving wood elf.

The Nine did this to her. She knew it and so she swore vengeance against them, ignoring anything that could be taken as a sign from them. They were the reason behind her pain, her coldness, the emptiness inside that only dreamless sleep could ease. Chapped lips pressed themselves into a tight line at the thoughts. She would find a way to bring the Nine to their knees.

A short, silver blade was tied to her hips, gently tapping with every step. The feeling was reassuring, her blade would never abandon her nor would it fail her. She was entirely confident in her companion in bloodshed and mayhem.

As she walked from the underground hideout of the Dark Brotherhood, the only sounds were echoes from below. The hum of people moving around; training, speaking, eating. Not one of the people below held any value in her mind, they were as expendable as the air. That was why she informed the guards in Cheydinhal of the hideout and was quietly slipping away a few minutes before they were to arrive. Those fools below understood nothing of her quest. No one but herself did.

Her plan was solid, there was no way to err from it now that it was in motion. Unless something unexpected happened, such as one of the soldiers clamping iron shackles to her wrists and roughly throwing her over the back of a horse, tying her to his saddle with a length of rope. She scowled, attempting to figure a way to escape and possibly slaughter the foolish man that had caught her in such a manner. Her rage increased tenfold when her blade was removed and strapped to the guard's hip instead. Her scowl turned to a snarl, then a growl. The elf was suddenly wishing for fangs and claws, she could do much more damage.

"Release me." she hissed, eyes flashing in anger.

The guard turned around and smirked. "When Oblivion freezes over elf, then I will release you. Until then, you will rot in the imperial prison."

"Bastard! I will slit your throat!"

Again the guard turned his head to glance at the reddening elf behind him. "I'd like to see you try. Now be a good girl and sit quietly. You're earning me a promotion. In fact, I should thank you."

Now she was livid. Daggers flew from her eyes as she imagined every way she could murder this man in front of her. His smirk, so broad on his cheery face, did nothing to improve her mood. If only her restraints were gone, then she could properly deal with the imbecile that spoke down to her in such a way. "You should hope I never get loose. Your head will look perfect on a stake by my bed."

Now the guard snorted with laughter and shook his head. "Listen to me woman, you watch your mouth and I'll see to it that you get the best accommodations we have in the dungeon. Keep up these threats and I'll be the one to silence you in a most painful manner. Have we reached an understanding?" Of course he intended to find the darkest, dankest cell in the entire prison and chain her to the wall. This woman was a cold-blooded killer in every sense of the title. He had heard stories of her deeds and as much as he hated to admit it, she interested him. Maybe that was why her jaw was still intact. "You should tell me your name, that way I can be sure they reserve a sunny cell for you."

His prisoner scoffed at the idea of a sunny cell and his clearly fake kindness. "My name is none of your concern, bastard." The day he found out what her mother called her would be the day he would die. That would be the gift he received as all life flooded from his body and she stood triumphant above him.

"Suit yourself. I'll just have to name you then myself." he muttered, thinking of what to call the monster behind him. He didn't get much time to think before his horse began galloping at a breakneck pace. He slowed the horse and felt the reason why. The elf was using her free legs to spur the horse on with well aimed kicks to the side. "Clever, aren't you?" he muttered to himself, pulling a pair of heavy fetters from his bag. Without getting off, he clamped the metal around the flailing feet before using a bit of extra rope to tie her wrist chains to her ankle chains.

As his hands moved over her, tying her down more and more, she hissed and saw red. Oh yes, this man would die very, very soon. Perhaps she would skin him alive? Or create tiny cuts all over his body until it was drained of precious blood. When he tightened her bonds to the point she could no longer move, she decided on removing pieces of him one by one and then setting him on fire. That would really be the best. "I swear by all that I am, you will not live much longer."

"I told you to hush. Unless you want me to find something to gag you with, you should listen to me." he sighed, urging the horse back to the road. When she said nothing for several minutes, he let his mind wander. How could one woman cause so much fear and destruction? Or were the stories he had heard false? She looked nothing like a draedra in human skin, or a devourer of her victims' flesh. He still had to name her, but what name to pick? Monster, bitch, psycho, woman, nothing came to mind that he could see himself calling her. They still had a few hours before reaching the Imperial City, he had plenty of time to think of a suiting title. She certainly seemed to have picked his name.

"Bastard. Let. Me. Go." she ground out between clenched teeth. Her vicious side was appearing, the level-headed one rapidly fading. She attempted to roll herself off the back of the horse, but the rope keeping her attached to the saddle did its job. If only she had her blade….the elf quirked up an eyebrow. Her boot knife was still in place and she could almost reach it in the position she was in. It was just a few inches from her fingertips and she decided to try escape. The ankle restraints would be a problem once she was off the horse, but that bridge she would cross when it came time to.

As her fingers grazed the top of her boots, she bit her lip in concetration. Scarlet drops fell onto the light brown horse below her, quickly turning into a small puddle. Finally, she felt the cool metal hilt and grasped at it. Her fingers hooked underneath and pulled the knife from its hidden spot. She flipped it around and cut at the ropes, first the one tying her wrists to her ankles, then the one keeping her attached to the saddle. When both were gone, she threw herself to the side as hard as she could.

For a moment it felt like she was never going to hit the ground. Freedom had never tasted so good mixed with blood, she decided moments before slamming into the ground. The instant she could recollect herself, she was up and staggering away as fast as possible. There was no looking back as she headed for the nearby woods. If she could just get there….

AN:

Unfortunately, I don't own this game, just the characters I have created.

I've been wanting to do an Oblivion fic for a very long time and this idea just hit me. Let me know what you think about the story so far! Opinions are cherished and ideas may be included in the future. The more reviews, the faster I update!