A/N: Welcome readers, new and old! If you're new to this tale, I truly hope you enjoy the content ahead! If you're a previous reader coming back to this story after its editing, you'll find that a few things have changed, starting with the new story cover. All of my works will now contain unique logos like this, so hopefully they can get a little more publicity. I'm really proud of this story, and of the upcoming work that I will eventually be sharing. Major story changes begin in the next chapter, but there are some minor ones here. If you want to move on to the drastically-changed content, just skip past this chapter. But for everyone, new or old, please enjoy the story, and I look forward to receiving your feedback!
Drink First, Fight Later
The traveler reined in his paint horse at Brina Cross Inn, on the Gold Road outside of Anvil. As the sun dipped beyond the horizon to the west, the man walked his steed to the old rickety stables across from the inn, which, instead of other horses, mostly contained barrels and crates. He brought himself off the old worn leather saddle, and there was an immediate sigh of both relief and pain, as his legs were worn from the long ride, burning terribly as the weary traveler checked his "important" parts. With a confirmation that they were still intact, he made his way towards the front door with his light wool cloak drawn over his shoulders. As soon as he entered the inn, the Breton man behind the counter gave him a confirming nod before he strung his cloak over the coat rack, walking over to the counter into the dim candlelight above. The man was Redguard, his dark brown hair shining with a copper tinge; however his skin was not that dark in terms of others. His complexion was incredibly light for his race and the armour that fit snug on his muscle toned body was also not usual for a traveler. It was Dwarven, with the bright bronze shine that came from the polishing it over and over; a known characteristic of only well-equipped warriors. With a silent gesture and the drop of a few gold septims from his pouch, the barmaid, a fellow Redguard, walked over to the table, placed a bottle of Nordic ale on it, and as the traveler popped the cork and took a swig, silence enveloped the room.
Suddenly, there was the sound of something tumbling down the stairs. The traveler glanced over to see a pointy-eared teenage girl, land roughly at the bottom. As quickly as she collapsed down the stairs, she threw herself up from her fetal position and immediately brushed the scuffs off her clothing. She leaned up against the wall, and simply by raising her hand, the barmaid knew to throw a bottle at her. The label said mead, as far as the traveler could tell. The girl noticed his glance, and smirked.
"What, you've never seen a girl fall down stairs before?" She chuckled. "You're... Not from the Legion, are you?" The girl looked him up and down, eyebrows scrunched together.
"Legion? Do Legion soldiers wear armour that would cost them an arm and both legs?" The traveler asked, turning back to the table and returning to his drink.
"No, I guess not. They kinda need their legs and arm." On that note, silence returned to the inn.
After taking down his fourth bottle of ale, the traveler finally decided it was time to hit the sack. Picking himself up from the barstool and wandering up the stairs, the Redguard gave the creaky wooden door to his room a hard shove, the smell of dust and onions filling his nose as he entered. The smell didn't bother him all that much, as he had seen, and smelled, considerably worse in his travels across Tamriel. With a kick to the door, it snapped closed as he stripped off his armour and gear, setting down each piece with a loud clang as he laid down in the old, hard bed.
The elf sat on the stairs for a little while after the adventurer made his leave, only her and the warm buzz she received after drinking down her bottle of mead. The feeling of being alone never bothered her. With that done, she made her way up the stairs once more, hoping she didn't fall. She made it up safely and curled up on her bed, trying to fall back asleep.
Sleep was never something that came easily to the Redguard, he always stayed awake for the first few hours of being in bed for the sake of not being stabbed in the back. More than once, what would have been the end of him turned into several bodies, no witnesses, and a full blown investigation of the guard; the usual for him. So he spent a little time sharpening his glass dagger, even though it really didn't need it. The sound echoed in the room, making his ears ring. But that didn't stop him from hearing a quiet creak on the floorboards outside. He stopped immediately and listened, but heard nothing after. Even so, he picked up his sword belt and put it on, carrying the Dwarven longsword in his hand, and walked towards the door. He opened it slightly and grew very angry at the sight of a person in thick red robes creeping towards the door next to his.
The traveler wasn't the only one who heard the noise. The door creaked loudly enough that the elf shot open her eyes from her light sleep as the sound came from behind her. As the quiet, faint squeaking of the boards grew closer and closer, she had already drawn her dagger halfway out of it's sheath, just enough to ensure she had enough time to use it but not enough to give herself away. As she waited, she heard the creaking of another person. These guys aren't very sneaky, are they? She thought to herself, fully prepared to attack. Just as her opportunity appeared, the assassin trying to be sneaky was thrown into a wall by a seemingly invisible force, until he stopped blocking the guy who threw him. It was the Redguard traveler from the ground floor, half-naked. And he looked really pissed. The assassin, now obviously dazed from the whole ordeal, attempted to stand and face the attacker, but was hit with a sword though the chest and fresh blood sprayed through his back. The Redguard kicked the body off of the sword with an audible thump, and with that done the man turned to the elf.
"Hey, klutz." He said with great emphasis. "You going to get your ass out of bed?"
"Well, gee, I just had someone sneak into my room and try to kill me. If I'm not getting up, who is?" She retorted, getting to her feet. She reached for the dresser to grab her bow, and threw her quiver over her back. "Now what?"
There was a brief moment of stillness before another red robed man came charging in, this time without the attempt to remain silent. The muscular, half-naked Redguard tried to bring his sword around, but the blade was too long for a proper strike, so he brought his arm up to try and strike the attacker across the jaw. But before he made contact, there was the sickening sound of tearing flesh as an iron dagger flew from the elf girl's hand, causing the robed man to crumple down to the floor. Knowing that there was more, he stepped over top of the body and strode out into the hallway, the elf close behind him as she drew the dagger from the body and continued on. As the swordsman began stepping out into the hall, there was a yell as a steel longsword came in his direction and jammed into the wood door frame. Damn, these guys are worse than me when I'm drunk, he thought to himself, grabbing the man by his collar and throwing him into the opposite wall, tearing the steel blade from the wood and gouging the man's neck out. Before he had time to rip it free, another came at him, blade held high in both hands, and a pure look of rage in his eyes. Amateur. The Redguard thought at the sight of the unrefined technique. He parried the strike easily, disarming the assassin and thrusting his own blade into his chest. He glanced at the elven girl, and caught a flash of awe on her face.
The two descended the stairs with no trouble, and found that the inn had been ransacked, the innkeeper and barmaid unconscious on the floor. At this, the elven girl gritted her teeth. "Damn them to Oblivion." The Redguard heard her mutter. Does she know who these assassins are? he wondered. Then he dismissed it. No. They aren't sneaky, but they aren't exactly public either. He walked over to the door, and found that it would not open. So he slammed his weight against it. After a few hits, it smashed off its hinges.
"After you, my lady." He gestured to the opening.
"Don't call me 'my lady'." She growled, walking out anyways. Looking around, she didn't see any immediate threats, which was surprising. "Only three guys? Wow, that's lame." She shrugged. The man shot her a strange look and shook his head.
"You obviously don't understand how mercs work." He shook his head while the elf gave him a nasty glare before seriously considering sticking a knife into his back. This guy needs to change his attitude a little, she thought coldly. At this moment, it then dawned upon her that this man that stood before her was in nothing but his undergarments, leaving his scarred, muscular torso exposed and leaving her blushing slightly in embarrassment.
"Umm…" She said, feeling kind of awkward. "Uh… We haven't been properly introduced. What's your name, anyways?" She stood across the door from him as he kept his head directed towards the door, shooting his eyes up at her before clearing his throat.
"Caesar, mercenary for hire, at your service." He gave a slight sarcastic bow before standing upright again. "So that leaves you to explain who you might be." She glanced over Caesar, smiling a little still from his shirtless presence. Finally she shook her head a little, coming to and glancing up to him. She opened her mouth to introduce herself, only to be interrupted by an arrow whizzing past her head and sticking into the ground between the two.
"I think my introduction can wait!" In one quick, fluid motion, the elf turned, pulled an arrow from her quiver, nocked it, pulled back the bowstring, and released, taking down the archer hoping to make a silent kill. Glancing back at Caesar, who nodded approvingly, looking a little surprised himself, she ran off to the back of the building where the assassin had fallen to ensure her job was finished. When she left, there was the pounding sound of earth giving way to horse hooves. Suddenly, as if the rider came from the shadows themselves, the man armed with a steel longsword swiped down at Caesar, who jumped across the horse's path before it sprinted straight by him. As Caesar began rising to his feet, the rider directed the beast back at him once more, fresh earth being thrown up from the muscular limbs of the horse. He didn't waste any time before flipping the Dwarven longsword in his hand, throwing it like a javelin at the rider and rolling afterwards to avoid being crushed. The sword struck true and dug its way into the rider's chest, leaving him coughing up blood as he crumpled to the ground and died.
"Why are these people here?" Caesar asked himself as he pulled his blade from the horseback rider's body, expecting no answer. He didn't get one, but he did nearly get a longsword sword through the heart. Luckily, he'd heard the sword being drawn from its sheath, and moved out of the way fast enough to evade it. Caesar himself held out his own sword and prepared to face his new attacker. The last remaining "assassin" appeared to be a little better off, actually prepared in a stance that implied some skill with a blade. He held his sword firmly, already bringing his blade in wide arc toward Caesar's torso with precision. Bracing his foot into the dirt and bringing his blade horizontally, he parried the blade aside with one fluid stroke, turning his body towards the attacker's ribs. But the man was too quick and managed to push the sword aside while getting a little nick over his chest, not even enough to affect anything. As Caesar once again prepared to attack, he caught sound of a creak, the sound of a bowstring being pulled back.
Throwing himself forward in a quick roll, the Redguard hoped that the arrow would find itself on the wrong target. When he came out of the roll he found that the assassin had been struck by the arrow, sticking out of the side of his neck as he collapsed. Caesar looked up, expecting to see the assassin archer, not expecting to see that the elf actually managed to kill the archer. Hmm…Not half bad, for a klutz. He thought humorously, stretching himself a little in the cold night air. The elf jumped down from her perch on the roof and walked over to the body, tearing the arrow from his neck and looking up to Caesar, smirking. He greeted her with a sarcastic grin before clearing his throat. "So, guess I can't call you useless huh?"
"Nope. I'm probably a much better marksman than you, Redguard." She retorted, giving him a sly grin before sticking the arrow back into her quiver. Caesar chuckled loudly before looking down at his chest, realizing that for the past little while he had been completely shirtless and covered in blood. Although sure about how fabulous he looked with his coat of blood, he decided it would probably be best to find his armour.
As the elf waited outside the inn, Caesar had his armour on before the elf could even begin to wonder where he was. The armour he wore was much cleaner than his flesh had been and his face was cleaned completely. He gave a jerk of his head towards the stables before breaking the silence of the night. "I've got a horse in the stables if you want to ride with me. That, or walk. It's your choice."
"Hell, I can run. I can probably keep up with it."
"Hey, that horse is pretty fast…considering she was hardly ever ridden." He retorted, trying to keep a hold of what little dignity he had left.
"So she's slower than molasses in Morningstar?" She spoke sharply, tired of Caesar's tough guy act.
"Well I'll make it real simple. You either ride with me or you get every guard from here to the Imperial City keeping you for the investigation that will follow. Your call."
"… Just who in Oblivion do you think you are, anyways?" The elf narrowed her eyes at Caesar.
"The craziest son of a bitch you will ever meet." He smiled sheepishly, walking off towards the stables without another word.
"… In your dreams, Redguard." She smirked, following him.
A/N: Okay, that is the new chapter. It used to have a bunch more useless exposition, trust me on that. I cut it down exponentially. Please feel free to review, I love hearing what you all think of my work!