"Revenge, Bound by Blood"
Based on the Award-Winning Video Game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
"…So he offered to take me to a candy shop, I told him I knew a shortcut. He followed me into the ally, and I sucked him dry. I tell you, being a vampire sure has its perks," a young vampire declared proudly. She looked to be about nine or ten. You could still see a stain of blood on her red dress.
"Babette, you little fiend," an older Redguard man began with a grin, "you still reek of death. I salute you." The group burst out in laughter. He turned to a Nord male who wore steel plate armor and a mage's hood. The shoulders of the plate armor bore the Black Hand. "And what about you, Listener? How was your last contract?"
The Listener smiled. "Let's just say the animals of Whiterun Hold will be feasting on Roasted Noble." He began to chuckle. The others began to laugh along. They were having a good time, sharing their stories of murder. This was the norm, of coarse, for the Dark Brotherhood in the Forth Era.
The ways of old were gone, but, in the 202nd year of this Era, the old ways were returning, with the return of the Listener and the establishment of two more Sanctuaries. The Night Mother would now call her Listener, tell him where the client was, and then he would kill the target. Back in the old days, the Listener would dispatch a Speaker. Those ways weren't yet upon the Dark Brotherhood, for the Listener hadn't yet appointed the four Speakers.
Listener, a voice began in the Listener's mind. He knew what it meant. He left the group and approached the Night Mother. Yet another child has prayed to their mother. She spoke to the Listener through his mind. Speak to Lillianna at the Bard's College in Solitude. He knew what to do next. Still, he waited for the Night mother to finish and he listened. Accept her gold and eliminate the target. So begins a contract, bound in blood. With his instructions received, he left the Dawnstar Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary and departed, on his horse named Shadowmere, for Solitude.
After a few hours, the Listener arrived at the capitol of Skyrim. He took time to admire the view of the city from the docks. The overhang the city was on was still a site you'd have to see to admire the beauty. The Bard's College was on the far side of the city, near the Blue Palace. As he walked through the streets, a few children ran past him. He assumed they were playing tag. When he finally reached the College, a young woman approached the Listener.
"Are you from the," she paused, and began to whisper, "Dark Brotherhood?"
"Yes." There was no need for formalities, as was the Listener's standard. In order, he'd meet the contact, negotiate the contract, and kill the target.
"I've been waiting. I'm Lillianna." There seemed to be no hesitation in Lillianna's voice. "Come with me." The Listener asked no questions; he just followed. She checked to make sure they weren't being followed, and then they entered an ally. "Okay, we're alone. I want my ex, Derreshen, dead. He's the leader of a bandit group hold up deep in the ruins of Mzachalfez outside Whiterun. He needs to pay what he tried to do to me." The Listener wasn't necessarily fond of getting involved in personal affairs, but remained quiet and listened. "I don't care what you do with the members of his group; I just that bastard dead." She stopped to get some air in her body. "If you want a little extra, turn his body into ash. I don't care if you do it or not, I just want him dead." She pulled out her coin purse. "This should cover any costs when you return." They strolled out of the ally and went their separate ways.
The Listener was moving at a pace towards the gates of Solitude, when something caught his eye. A thief with his knife drawn to an older man's neck. Maybe it's time to practice my craft, he thought. Drawing his Daedric Dagger, he rushed the thief and threw the thief's knife out of his grasp. With a swift movement, the Listener caught the thief in the throat, and the now lifeless body of the thief collapsed. "Everybody gets one," the Listener stated turning away from the body.
About an hour passed, and the Listener was only about 2 hours of riding from the Dwarven Ruins of Mzachalfez. As he rode, he thought a lot about what his true purpose was. I am dragonborn, he began in his mind. I have the ability to shout as the dragons do. What have I done with this gift? I slay dragons, vampires, werewolves… damn it, I've destroyed Alduin, the World-Eater, the very dragon who began the war between men and dragons, a war that was ended gods know how long ago. His grip on the reigns tightened. Now, what to I do? I kill men for money just because I've been chosen by Sithis to be the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. He sighed. I wish I didn't kill the old woman in that orphanage.
The Listener stopped and dismounted his horse. This was it. He drew his Daedric Bow and readied a poison-tipped steel arrow. He would make the first shot count. The bandits outside the ruins were too drunk to notice his approach; Nord Mead would do that to a person if they didn't moderate their drinking. The Listener drew back the bowstring and waited. He confirmed his target and released. Headshot. He heard the others laughing at their comrade's misfortune. "Oh, don't worry," the Listener stated to himself, "you're all next."
The Listener readied two more arrows. He fired the first. The arrow stuck in the second bandit's head. One more left, the Listener reminded himself. He loosed his second arrow. It hit the third bandit in the knee – where he was aiming. The bandit let loose an ear-shattering scream. About seven bandits emerged from the dwarven ruins; all were asking what happened. Time to test that new spell out, the Listener smiled. His right hand began to glow an ominous purple. He began to close his hand and then, with the swiftness of the wind, opened and flung it forward.
The bandits were now in plain view of the Listener; he was crouching over the entrance, staring straight at the group of bandits. "Hey, bustards!" he shouted. The bandits turned to face him; they couldn't believe where he was standing. "Yol, Tor Shul!" With those words, an inferno shot from the Listener's mouth, burning the bandits to a crisp. He leaped from the roof.
The guards on the inside of Mzachalfez were no problem. It only took a few minutes for the Listener to drop them. By time he found Derreshen, the bandit leader was well prepared. "So, Dark Brotherhood scum," Derreshen began, "any last words before I sever your head from your neck?"
"Sure," the Listener laughed. "Sithis awaits you in the Void." Then came the slashing and crashing of steel that lasted about five minutes. Derreshen flung the Listener's steel blade to the far side of the room and, somehow, managed to knock the Listener to his knees. Derreshen raised his blade, smiling as he did so. The Listener drew a concealed Daedric dagger and thrust it into Derreshen's chest.
After a few seconds, Derreshen keeled over. The Listener retrieved his dagger from the dead man's chest. He began to walk away when he remembered what he had to do for a bonus. He noticed about 20 barrels of blasting gel. The most devious thought crossed his mind. He stuck a long piece of string into one of the barrels, and lit it. He ran like a deer from a troll. He made it out, but he needed more distance. He used his teleportation spell and landed near his horse, Shadowmere. He had just barely escaped being blown to pieces.
The Listener turned to behold his handiwork. Satisfied, he mounted Shadowmere and rode to Solitude for his extra reward, and after he would to the Dawnstar Sanctuary; this kill would make for one hell of a tale.