Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this work, the Elder Scrolls series belongs to Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks
A loud noise awoke Nadiya. Startled, she looked around and realized that she was in darkness. She seemed to be lying down, and she shifted her hands around to feel the touch of wood. She tried to sit up but bumped her face on what seems to be a kind of wall, or panel from the hollow sound it made. Strange, she thought. How did I get here? Where am I even?
She decided to take a moment to collect herself, while what sounds like muffled violence took place not far from her. She thought and thought.
She went to sleep. That much was clear. But she wasn't alone. There were others... the twins? Yes, the twins, as well as some others. Who were they?
Her coven. They all slept in caskets, to disguise themselves. For what purpose? To... leave safely? Yes! From... Cyrodiil, no wait... the Imperial City? Yes! Wait, if she and the others were being woken up, then-
More noises came as she thought, this time right next to her. Locks were being undone, and what sounded like a blade struck something soft, with a soft sigh emerging moments later. Then, some scuffling about, as if one were picking pockets. Were… were the others being killed and robbed?
Nadiya braced herself. If the other members of the coven were being killed, then this means the shipment was intercepted. Oh gods no, she thought. I hope at least that the twins are alive.
She waited patiently for whatever was to come. Eventually the scuffling stopped, and she could hear footsteps growing louder and louder, until they stopped mere paces in front of her. Then the casket began to shake with the locks being sawed off one by one. Once they all came loose, the casket opened and Nadiya pounced.
The robber yelped in surprise and Nadiya quickly took advantage of the brief window of opportunity. She lifted him up and bashing his head against the ground, knocking him out soundly. Not bad for a little Breton girl, she thought. She smirked in contempt of this would-be robber, and she thanked the Divines that her instincts and training hadn't eroded. Who knows how long she spent in that casket.
"What - hey!" a gruff voice exclaimed. She turned to see a couple of other people, friends of her robber based on their reaction, looking at her and the knocked-out assailant in surprise. She quickly formed ice spikes in her hands and as they rushed to attack her she shot the spikes at them, the ice going through their legs. As they fell crippled by the spikes, she cast a paralysis spell on them and then went about tying the three up to save them for later. Once she was satisfied that all three were appropriately bound and gagged, she turned to the other coffins that the robbers had been working on and started to open the caskets still closed.
Most of them were already opened, and had skeletons in them. Of those that had fresh bodies in them, their injuries were slight but fatal. None of them had been close to Nadiya in life though. Somewhat of an oxymoron considering her and the coven's status as undead vampires. Truthfully, she was only close to the twins and no one else within the small group since the others were quite arrogant. From what she remembers, the other members of the coven were quite outspoken in their self-professed superiority compared to mortals and acted that way much of the time; the fact that many of them were quite wealthy and even nobles served to intensify their beliefs. The twins on the other hand were rather humble when it came to their opinion on the gift, and they asserted that despite the truth that their unique state of undeath bestows upon them great gifts, they have no obligation to misuse their power. Their humility, and the fact that vampires were innately granted great powers of the night led Nadiya to give into the temptation, and she has had no major complaints after her Turning although the issue of the sun caused her irritation. Ultimately though, even without the input of the twins she felt she still would have Turned since for Nadiya power is paramount, especially given the War and its causes.
After going through several skeletons she eventually found Milana, thankfully still alive and untouched, and within several minutes they also found Kamilia, also unharmed. After some time, they stepped back with all of the caskets having been opened. Out of a coven comprising of several dozen members, only Nadiya, Milana, and Kamilia were left alive. It seemed that for the ones that were now skeletons, someone had undone their magical seals and left them to die of starvation. The nails scratches underneath served as a grisly reminder of what might have happened if their caskets had their seals broken.
There were only a few other bodies, belonging to those who were hastily killed by those robbers. After closing the caskets with respect to their deceased clan members, they started to go around the small underground den they were in and check the various chests arranged next to the walls to see if the gear and possessions that were meant to be shipped with them were here. Thankfully they were, and after organizing everything including the possessions of the now completely dead members of the coven and then resting for a moment to recall their memories, they all started to discuss what to do.
"Well this is fantastic. Everyone else in the coven is dead, we don't know where we are, and we have no idea how far into the future we are," said Milana in irritation. "Based on the fact that we're not safe and sound in our secret hideout and instead inside a den meant for robbers and bandits, it's probably likely that we're far away from proper civilization. So, what do you girls think we should do?"
"I don't know about you two but I'm quite thirsty, and I don't think that group of criminals are in any way important amongst them based on their obviously secondhand apparel; I say we feed first, then question them about where we are, and then we can go - wait. Should that be the other way around, question them first and then feed? What about you, what do you think Nadiya?" Kamilia put forward.
"They're murderers, that much is clear. I don't see what difference it makes whether to feed or question them first," Nadiya said with crossed arms. "If they were Thalmor, things would be more straightforward, but they're clearly not. How about this, I go interrogate them and you two search the place for some kind of journal or logbook? Records and whatnot?"
"What makes you think a tiny band of small-time robbers would keep any kind of written material?" asked Milana. "Honestly, I'd be surprised if they could read."
"It doesn't hurt to check, and to counter that point take a look around. This place is fairly well-stocked, clearly meant to operate in isolation for extended periods of time, there's a good stash of weapons over there, there's a nice fire with food nearby, and there's even a couple of cages down there. Oh, look, there's a body in that far one. Looks like it's dressed in mage's robes, at least that one must have something on hand. Anyways what I'm saying is that for these criminals, despite their raggedy, keeping records would be a good idea."
"Alright, you made your point Nadiya. Glad to know the thief within is still alive and kicking," said Kamilia in jest.
"Well, duh. I mean, it would take some serious brainwashing for me to forget my past. You done?"
"Yeah. Well, sort of. Maybe you could tell a story about something exciting from your life as a super-secret criminal sometime later. We could probably learn something, which would help us a bit considering we're literally criminals last we knew. According to the Thalmor anyways."
"Yeah, sure, later. Look, I'd really like to know what's going on sooner rather than later so we should get started. I mean, what if the Thalmor won the battle and the war and they're running around killing everything like the formal savages that they are?"
"I doubt they'd have won. I'm pretty sure some of the assaulting Legions were reinforced by the Nords if I recall correctly, so those Legions would have given the Dominion a really hard time. And besides, even if - okay, okay, we'll start looking, don't give me that silly face. Just don't, you know, make them cry too much. Knowing how you deal with criminals and stuff. Irony at its finest, seriously," concluded Kamilia with a mischievous smirk at the last sentence.
Milana had already walked off and was browsing through the various books stowed away in one of the robber's chests, while Kamilia went to the lower level to check the body. Nadiya headed over to the fire pit where the three robbers were tied up next to, all starting to stir. She looked them over, decided on the large Nordic man that had the nicer apparel and cleaner features out of the three, dragged him a bit away and started about her task of interrogating him.
She went to undo the gag tied around his mouth, and once she did so a slimy glob of spit landed on her face. Nadiya glared at him, wiped off the spit and began. "You know, I could have been persuaded to let you and your friends go once I was done questioning you all, but that little action right there made me quite unhappy."
"Oh go back to Oblivion you monster! I know what you are and I know what you plan to do to us once you're through with your bloody questions!" the fearful bandit exclaimed. "By the Divines, if only you weren't a damned vampire I'd have run you through like a dog."
"Oh please, even if I weren't one I could vaporize you in a heartbeat. And you're just a common criminal, you and the other two thugs; I doubt you people could ever stand a reasonable chance against me, vampire or not. Now, if you want to keep your skin intact I suggest you cooperate. Maybe I'll still consider letting you all go."
"And if I don't?"
"I do have a few black soul gems that I was going to save for the Thalmor, but I could recharge my axe. Oh, and I would also start feeding on you, the girls and I haven't drank for some time now."
"The Thalmor? You're thinking of fighting them? What are you, crazy? I don't think even you monsters, powerful as you say you are, could get away with harassing them for long."
"So they still exist. I'm not surprised. Now what do you know about the Thalmor? What is the situation in Tamriel?"
"So wait a moment, was this was a beauty sleep you just woke up out of? Nice to know you girls took a sweet little nap all while the elves invaded and the War was going on."
"Just answer the questions."
"Ugh, fine. I'm not much of a historian though, so don't get mad if it turns out something I say is dead wrong, heh get it? Now, the Thalmor are a bunch of snotty elves that decided that they wanted to destroy the Empire and-"
"I know who they are, I meant what they have been up to in the meantime, since the War."
"Then why'd you ask who they are? That time in the coffin mess up yer pretty little head a bit?"
"What? I didn't mean who they are as an entity. Look, how about we start with events that happened right after the battle to retake the Imperial City? In fact, who won?"
"Fine, fine. Don't be so pushy. Well, the Empire won the battle, but then afterwards the Emperor signed the White-Gold Concordat, I think with the same exact terms that was given before the war because people say that the Empire might have lost if the war continued. And since the elves had the upper hand, he didn't want to make them mad again. Because of the treaty, the Thalmor are allowed to roam the Empire freely to root out Talos worshippers. Damn those uptight bastards, I'd hunt down every one of them if I could get away with it. But their spies are everywhere, so I can't really do so without having a bounty on my head and elves at my tail. Officially the Empire and the Dominion have a kind of agreement since the war ended over thirty years ago, as long as the elves are allowed to roam Tamriel like a bunch of wolves for Talos worshippers."
"Are you serious? Talos worship is outlawed now?"
"Yeah. That's one reason why me and the boys are out here. That, and raiding and looting certain caravans. When we're not delivering uh, 'special' goods, like you three beasts. You know, who would've thought there would've been so much gold in the average caravan? The only issue is dealing with the travelers, but nothing a little bashing here and there takes care of."
"Gods, this is bad. Okay, how have the Thalmor gone about with this? You know, enforcing this clause?"
"Oh the usual, raiding random homes and dragging people off into the night."
"And this has been going on since the end of the War?"
"Um, funny thing actually. The Thalmor only started doing stuff like that once Ulfric made a big deal out of it. For a while, as long as you worshipped Talos quietly and out of sight, the elves wouldn't suspect a thing. Up until Ulfric did some battle against weird tribals or something and started to openly worship Talos afterwards. That's when the elves threw a fit and basically threatened to start another war unless he was arrested or killed or whatever. He got arrested, and after he was freed he went up to High King Torygg and killed him as tradition in becoming High King, and afterwards declared that Skyrim should be independent. Of course, the Empire didn't take kindly to all of this, and tried to kill Ulfric. Luckily a guy helped him escape, bless him. So now Skyrim's in a war for independence from the stupid Empire, Ulfric leading the way with his Stormcloaks. I hope he wins; he's the true High King and a real Nord hero, and we don't need no Imperial or elf telling us who to worship. Milk drinkers, all of them, and you too!"
"Whoa wait WHAT?! This Ulfric is rebelling because he wants to become the king of Skyrim AND secede from the Empire?"
"That and the right to worship Talos. We Nords don't need some pointy-eared snobs telling us who to worship. But yeah, he's been leading a rebellion for some time now. As the future High King, he wants he wants to kick out the Empire and form a land free of the Thalmor, and then wage a righteous war against those yellow pointy-eared milk drinkers."
"Well this Ulfric sounds like a damned moron. Delusional even. I mean, does he really think that he and an independent Skyrim, assuming he wins this rebellion, would be able to tackle the Dominion alone, the Empire's greatest threat?"
"You know, Hammerfell is independent and managed to fight off the Dominion."
"Really? How did... wait. Wait, that reminds me, didn't General Decianus discharge a large number of 'invalid' Legionnaires in order to defend the province? Because I recall him unwilling to completely abandon Hammerfell and leave it to the mercy of the Dominion."
"Uh, maybe. Why, who's he and what's that have to do with anything?"
"He was a general in charge of defending Hammerfell until he was recalled to Cyrodiil to prepare for the battle for the Imperial City. Now, you said the Concordat was ratified with the same terms prior to the War, right? If Hammerfell was given to the elves, obviously they'd fight back. I know the Redguards are proud like that. Since the Dominion was likely greatly weakened by their failed invasion judging by the fact that you said the Empire won the battle for the City, those Legionnaires left behind must have played a pivotal role in defending the province. Along with the likelihood that the Dominion was not up to full-strength at that time, I'd wager that's these are the main reasons they managed to fight off the Dominion, assuming you're telling the truth about Hammerfell."
"I... guess? Wait, how would you know all this? Are you some kind of military officer or something? By the Nine, you mean to say that the Empire is ruled by vampires?!"
"That's not for your ears. And don't worry, no vampires. Our control was never total, and besides the others are all gone now thanks to you robbers and whoever decided to release the seals prematurely. We're the only ones left it seems. Now about Hammerfell, why didn't the Empire reject the Thalmor's claims over it despite the victory?"
"Obviously because the Emperor's a coward and a milk drinker for signing the damned treaty! Damned Empire sold out!"
"What? Why - look, just tell me... um, actually we'll continue this later," Nadiya concluded, seeing Milana waving her over. "Thank you, you've been helpful enough, and maybe I'll be willing to let you three go later," she said quite pointedly as she put back the gag over the man's mouth, ignoring his protests. He dragged him back to the group of robbers, now fully awake and struggling against their binds, then went over to the twin standing next to some bookshelves full of books, tomes, and the like.
"Hey, so what have you found?" asked Nadiya.
"A few journals. You were right, they were keeping records of what they've been raiding and other miscellaneous things," replied Milana.
"Okay, so where are we? Skyrim?"
"Yeah, did that guy tell you?"
"More or less. Alright, we're in the land of the Nords. Never been here before and honestly I'm not too excited, but surely we can make the best out of this. Hopefully. So what date is it?"
"4E 201, 17th of Hearthfire. We're in an underground hideout for smugglers."
"Huh, over twenty years. At least the Empire's still kicking, assuming that man's testimony was true. Um, what do they smuggle? I'm curious."
"Looks like they're willing to transport anything for the right price, unless their contacts get killed, or some similar inconvenience occurs. In that case, they'll just take those goods for themselves. When not under contract, they take to raiding isolated caravans. It seems that our shipment became too problematic and so they went about disposing of our remaining members."
"Any details on why that's so? I mean, why our shipment was problematic?"
"It's written that our destination fell under scrutiny by some pirates, and they raided and looted the hideout we were supposed to go to. Oh, and now some beasts inhabit it. Coupled with the fact that most of the coffins were already in a sorry state prior to them getting the contract, the smugglers must have decided they should just salvage the remaining coffins and material."
"So it took over twenty years just to get us to here, to Skyrim? What in the world was going on? What led to such a delay?"
"I haven't found anything pertaining to our delay. All they wrote was that they were contracted to deliver us about two weeks ago by letter, and though they noted the decrepit state of most of the goods they didn't pay too much mind to them; they just wanted the gold. They retrieved the shipment close to a city called Helgen and they were about to leave Skyrim to Morrowind when they got word that delivery to our destination would be impossible. So, they took us back here to salvage what they can."
"Huh. Well, I can't say I was excited to be heading to an obscure hideout close to Red Mountain in the first place. My place is within the Empire, fighting against the Dominion and the Thalmor. Besides, Morrowind's still a dangerous place, if everything is still the same since we went to Sleep. I wonder if we'll find out what in Oblivion delayed us. I mean, twenty-plus years? How is this even possible? Are our plans ruined?"
"Well, at least we aren't bound to the coven anymore. Good riddance," Kamilia said as she walked up to the two. "I didn't find much on that guy down there except for his records of hunting down evil daedra worshippers and other bad guys. He had some pretty gnarly wounds too."
"That's fine, we found enough info on where we are and what's going on. Speaking of, Mil, are there any maps here?"
"Yes, right here on this shelf."
"And is there a list of cities, locations of all the major guilds, books on the current state of Tamriel, the Legion, et cetera et cetera?"
"Yes, yes, yes, and presumably so. I swear these boys raided a library, what with all of the books, tomes, scrolls, journals, and records here."
"Huh. So if we have all this info at our disposal, then the usefulness of those three over there just diminished to the point where we don't really need them. Girls, I we're all thirsty, yes?"
The twins nodded eagerly.
"Well since those three are dangerous criminals and will likely be locked away if they're turned in, basically a waste of space to whatever city takes them in, or executed which would be a waste of blood, and since it'd be difficult at best to walk all the way to a city with them in tow, I say we just deal with them right here, right now. Afterwards we'll bottle up excess blood for our journey back to civilization. Forget about keeping them as thralls; they, or at least their leader admitted to being killers, and I don't like people who kill with no remorse, as you girls well know."
"Sounds good to me," said Milana. Kamilia grinned in agreement, her fangs baring menacingly within sight of the criminals.
The three smugglers widened their eyes upon overhearing their fate and started to plea for mercy despite their muffled mouths. When they began to cry out, the three vampires glared at the criminals in irritation. As she looked on, their faces contorted with fear, Nadiya began to feel that may be inhumane to dispatch of the smugglers so callously, even though they did admit to committing violent crimes.
She realized that the situation that the smugglers were in was not so dissimilar to some of her own experiences when she was captured by the Thalmor at the beginning of the Great War and essentially made a slave. She would have been killed if it weren't for the intervention of a Justiciar who had taken an odd interest in her, which she would very quickly realize why.
She had spent over a year in his control, and during this time she both endured and witnessed the worst of the Thalmor's excesses. The Thalmor were absolutely ruthless in their battles against the Empire, and she saw many prisoners of war tortured before execution. When the army that the Justiciar was assigned to needed to rush elsewhere, the Dominion's soldiers would use magic to slaughter any prisoners wholesale with barely an afterthought.
As for Nadiya herself, she had to put up with many things. His wanton desires were something she didn't think that one who proclaimed himself to belong to a "master race" of sorts would delve into. His sickening lust for both her and killing "inferiors" was a combination of traits that indicated madness, and his affinity for using magic to control her body during his time for "leisure" furthered supported it. Nadiya was a girl with a very strong will, but the torture that the Justiciar inflicted upon her both physically and psychologically was nearly enough to break her will and resolve. "Lesser beings would have fallen within hours," the Justiciar once told her, "but you survive nearly a year later. That is why I keep you, for your ridiculous stubbornness to not submit to one so superior is highly intriguing to me." Lucky her, to be saved by a madman.
Eventually, a marauding thief with incredible courage found her while searching for valuables, and she was able to exact revenge upon the Justiciar in a fittingly ironic fashion. After they escaped and parted, Nadiya began to show more empathy to others, which admittedly wasn't much since she was in a battlefield most of the time after her rehabilitation, and her past of being in a minor thief's guild still made her slightly wary of others save for close friends. But still, there was definitely a positive change to her personality. To those under the banner of the Dominion however, things were very different. Indeed, Nadiya had wondered if she was a hypocrite for not showing the same empathy for the Dominion's soldiers. But times were tough and war makes people desperate; it was a kill or be killed scenario.
As Nadiya looked at the criminals, she saw eyes wide with fear, echoing that of the Imperial soldiers killed as prisoners of war by the ruthless Thalmor. After a long moment, while the twins were waiting impatiently for her to give the go ahead, Nadiya started abruptly, "I feel a little sorry for them. Would it be right for us to pass judgement so quickly?"
"Huh? Why the change in heart Nadiya? And for these criminals and murderers?" asked Milana in confusion and with a raised eyebrow, while Kamilia looked on in surprise.
"I just want to make sure that we would be in the right. What do you two think?"
"Maybe if you've seen their records you wouldn't be so hesitant. Let me open this logbook first. Okay, it says here that they tortured the man down there to death. Here, come take a look, the both of you. Yeah, you see? They did that for a quick laugh, in their words. Barbaric I say. In fact, they do it fairly often to those they decide to take back here, for ransom or whatnot. Just to take out their frustrations. Oh, look here. On this page, it says upon targeting this particular wagon they killed all of the men and then took turns on, 'having their way' with the surviving women before they-"
"Stop, stop," Nadiya said in disgust and anger. She took a deep breath, and continued, "Never mind, I think all this evidence is quite damning, don't you girls think?"
"Yes, of course," muttered Kamilia impatiently. "Very much so," followed Milana.
"Well then, in service to those you three have sent to the afterlife for the sake of material wealth or for any other similarly profane reason, I condemn you three over there to Oblivion, assuming these black soul gems take you to that realm of existence," called out Nadiya to the criminals as they began to walk towards them. "I don't know what it's like to be trapped in a soul gem, but you guys will find out soon enough. Now don't squirm too much, I'm not in the mood to struggle against my prey."
As the three vampires chose and closed in on their targets, the smugglers continued their fruitless pleas for mercy despite knowing full well of the broad extent their crimes. They even began to wail and scream against their gags in vain hope of attracting someone's attention outside. But alas no one came, for they all were far away from civilization.
No shame, thought Nadiya. Even with the proof of their crimes shoved right into their faces, they still want to be shown mercy, something they denied to all of their victims. Oh well, they're no big loss in the grand scheme of things.
Chaotic as the next few minutes were, things eventually settled down though it took a while for the criminals to be totally subdued. For an hour or so afterwards the three drank and read up on current events in Tamriel, discussing with each other about how they should go about fighting the Thalmor, where to go and what to do once they leave the den, and why they were awakened much further into the future than they expected. None of them were particularly enticed with being so far from civilization, something they were born into, so they talked and planned about what major city to head to.
Eventually, being engorged with a fresh meal plus the alluring feeling of sleep that came very quickly overtook the three, and they vowed to continue their discussion in the morning. Small talk of 'goodnight' and 'sweet dreams' was exchanged between them just before they all closed their eyes and went to dream about tomorrow and the future.
Up in the Aetherius, the spirits of those slain unceremoniously by the criminals chuckled at the fate of their killers. Being killed by those already dead, now that was a good laugh.