Chapter 4: Friendly Fire (POV: Lei Night-Eye)

I knelt by the man's corpse, checking his pockets for any hidden treasures. There wasn't much- just one small garnet, which was too cloudy to be worth anything, and a small bag of coins. Oh well. I raised my gaze to his face-well, really to the gaping hole in his neck. It was clear by the blood still pumping from the wound that the fool had tried to pull the arrow out-effectively hastening his own death. The arrow lay discarded a few feet away from where the man lay. I returned it to my quiver, gave the bandit one last look, then rose to my feet. "One down, five to go." I smiled. "This is going to be fun."

Finding my way back to the camp wasn't going to be easy-the freshly fallen snow obscured any footprints the two of us had left on our way out from the cave. The sun lay low in the sky, and the clouds overhead warned of worse weather to come. And, to make matters worse, if I didn't find the entrance by nightfall, I was going to have to expend much more energy than I wished just to keep myself warm, since even the simplest spells could chip away at my reserves if I wasn't careful.

Hang on. Simple spells? What about… I raised my hand, palm facing skyward, and used a small amount of magicka to form a small sphere of energy above it. "If this works, I swear..." Clairvoyance was a spell every student of the college was taught, but I had rarely found any use for it. As I had been instructed, I called forth an image of my destination in my mind, and fed a small stream of magic into the orb. Slowly, a ghostly trail began to form before me. Ha! Guess those lessons are going to pay off after all! I began to follow the glowing path, but in the interest of conserving magicka I only cast the spell every so often to check my course.

Only minutes later the camp was in sight. Unsurprisingly, there was a guard waiting outside, no doubt waiting for the return of his comrade. "Your mistake," I muttered, reaching for my bow. I crouched by a outcropping of rocks protruding from the snow, making sure my shot was clear before I nocked an arrow. Silent as death, the arrow flew through the air and buried itself in the man's heart. He was dead before he hit the ground. Just as I had before, I searched the his pockets for anything valuable before recovering the arrow-a bit harder than last time-I had to make several incisions in the man's chest to free the head. The tip was a little damaged, but I kept it regardless. "Never can have too many arrows," I said with a shrug.

With two of the bandits down, I slipped into the cave. The remaining four were still huddled around their fire, oblivious to the danger lurking not twenty feet away. The idiots don't even have a guard posted! If I was quick, I could take two of them down with my bow before the others even knew what was happening. I glanced around, assessing my targets. The chief sat with his back to me, and wore little armor. His sword lay in its sheath across his legs-enchanted, from the look of it. To his left there was an Orc, half-clad in iron. Yikes. There was a positively massive Dwarven greatsword strapped to his back. Can he use it, though? I thought. I'd rather not find out. A small wood elf sat next to him, with nothing but fur to protect her. She had a bow slung over her shoulder and a dagger at her waist, but I doubted she'd be too much trouble. The fourth bandit sat farthest from the fire, his nose buried in a book. Huh. Didn't think bandits could read. He wore the robes of a mage, and had nothing but a dagger sheathed at his belt.

So who to kill first? Each bandit was different-a mage, an archer, a berserker and a warrior. The mage? Mage fights were destructive and deadly, even to those uninvolved, and leaving him unchecked would mean I would have to defend myself from both magic and corporeal attacks. Think I'll pass on that, thanks. The wood elf might prove dangerous, but my wards could protect me from a couple arrows while I took down her remaining companion. Besides, her aim would be obstructed by whichever bandit that would be trying to lop my head off at the time. That left the leader and the Orc. Orc. I barely had to think. The chief's sword might have been enchanted, but I'd seen how well Orc warriors could wield their blades.

So that settles it. I raised my bow and selected two arrows from my quiver. Having one arrow already in my hand would make it easier for me to take down two targets in quick succession. As I had done a thousand times before, I drew back the bowstring and focused my attention on my quarry. The mage sat with his body angled towards me, his eyes still trained on his book. This is too easy. I released the string, knowing my aim was true. Barely a second had passed before I had the second arrow at the ready. The mage fell to the ground with a strangled cry, blood seeping through his robes. My bow sang its deadly song once more, and the Orc careened forward with my arrow in his neck.

The remaining two bandits jumped into action, but it was far too late. I cast away my bow and stepped from the shadows. Their faces were priceless-fear, anger, and shock all rolled into one. The Bosmer actually screamed. I suppose I did look fairly terrifying, with my clothes ripped to shreds and hands filled with crackling electricity-not to mention the maniacal grin and black eyes filled with rage. Still, I hardly had time to savor the moment. The leader charged me with a bloodthirsty roar, sword raised high above his head. Fool. Lightning shot from my hands, filling the room with purple light… and the smell of burning hair. The spell struck the man square in the chest, blasting him off his feet. He hit the floor, twitched once, twice. Then went still.

At this point the Bosmer was visibly terrified. She had dropped her bow, and had backed into the corner. I approached her, my steps silent as death. She held her dagger with trembling fingers before her, tears streaming down her face. "I-I'll kill you!" she sobbed. "Don't c-come any c-closer!" I stepped forward. "No! Stay b-back!"

"Or what?" I asked, the contempt I felt obvious in my voice. "You'll cut me with your little knife?"

The girl whimpered. "Please."

Why do they always beg? "Please? Please what?"

"Please… don't hurt me." The knife fell to her feet. She raised her hands to her head, palms facing me in a sign of surrender. "I'm no danger to you."

"Hurt you? Oh, dear me, I wouldn't dream of it!"

"R-really?" She sounded so hopeful. Pathetic.

Gently, I took her face in my hands. Her eyes met mine. I smiled. "It won't hurt a bit." The girl barely had time to register my words before the spell took effect. The life faded from her eyes, her fear-stricken expression slowly relaxing into one of content. I stood back as her body fell with a soft thump at my feet. Despite myself, I felt bad. You didn't lie, I told myself. Her death was painless. She died thinking of her happiest moment. I turned to leave, but a flash of silver caught my attention. My breath hitched in my throat. A ring. A wedding ring. There was a matching one on the mage's finger. "Gods… I'm sorry." No. They were bandits. They chose this life! They would have killed you… Remember what they've done in the past. With a final glance at her corpse, I moved away.

It didn't take me long to find the shipment Brynjolf had been talking about. The bandits hadn't even tried to hide it. The gems sat in their original casing on an old, rickety table by the leader's bedroll. The man himself carried two of them. His sword-a little bloody, but nothing I couldn't fix-was one of the things Brynjolf had listed as stolen, and the pendant he wore would get me the bounty. I buckled the sword to my belt, and tied the necklace's chain around its hilt. The jewels I placed in a small knapsack I found by the fire. I checked the chest by the entrance to find the sword's matching dagger, which joined its counterpart on my belt. With my job done, I turned to leave. I pushed aside the door, bracing myself against the sudden cold. I was prepared for the wind. I was ready for the snow. What I did not expect was the fireball flung at my face.

I had a split second to throw out my arm and construct a ward before the spell detonated against my own. What the hell?! I leapt backwards, casting a hasty Ironflesh spell as I moved. Another fireball whizzed past where I had been standing only seconds before. My attacker stood a few meters away, their features concealed by a hood. I could feel the magic radiating from their skin-they were far more powerful than me. Their hands filled with fire once more, my only warning before another deadly spell flew past. I jumped to the side as it approached, singeing the ends of my hair when I didn't move in time. Desperately, I sent a bolt of lightning arcing towards them-to no avail. The mage cast a ward of their own, effectively negating my attack. I was forced to defend myself as my assailant launched spell after spell, with no time to retaliate.

Shit. I was out of magicka. Shitshitshitshit. The mage showed no signs of tiring, and I had no wea- Wait, no. I'm an idiot. I reached for the bandit leader's sword, flicking it out of its sheath with ease as I advanced on my attacker. I ducked yet another fireball, then sprinted to meet them before they could summon a new one. I drove my shoulder into the person's stomach, bowling them over. They tried to roll away, but I slammed the hilt of my sword into their head before they could get free.

The person-male, it seemed- lay stunned. He shook his head a couple times as if to clear it, then tried again to push me off. I held the blade of my sword to the man's throat. "Right," I growled, "Who the hell are you?"

No response.

"Oh come on, I haven't hurt you yet. Yet." Using my spare hand, I ripped the man's hood down. "Now you better have a damn good re-By Sithis!" The man below me was Altmer. A very familiar one at that. "Jakev?!" I moved my sword from his neck, nearly impaling myself with it as I struggled to my feet. "It's me, Lei!"

"Wha- who?"

"Lei? Lei Night-Eye? Come off it, I didn't hit you that hard, did I?"

"But you're… aren't you?"

"What?" I was beginning to become rather concerned. "Hang on, you are Jakev, right?"

"I do believe so, yes." He looked down and patted his chest. "Last time I checked."

"Well, at least you remember that much. But, it's me, your old friend, the assassin?"

"Assassin? I don't – wait. Lei?"

"That's what I've been saying."

"Oh, gods, Lei! You aren't a bandit." The idiot was smiling. "Sorry about that. My fault."

"Sorry? You're sorry? You nearly incinerated me!" All the same, I held my hand out to him, helping him to his feet.

"How was I supposed to know who you were?" he said. "I hadn't seen your face till now! And it's not exactly like I expect my friends to come barreling out of bandit dens at the drop of a hat."

"Hadn't seen my… Oh. I suppose you hadn't." Whenever I was in some major city or on a mission, I would have been wearing a mask to hide my face from the authorities. "I guess I understand that. I haven't seen you in ages, my friend!" Oh gods, I was smiling like a bloody idiot, wasn't I? Damn it.

His smile faltered. "I've been getting that quite a bit."

"We haven't really gotten the chance to talk, you and I… You were always…"

"Drunk?"

I winced at the bluntness in his voice. "Yeah."

He smiled again, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yes, well, I'm past that now. I'm not much use passed out over the bar, am I?"

"So, you still are trying to find… her… then?" Avalyn. I hadn't thought about her in ages. But looking at Jakev now- how could I have forgotten?

"You know I can't stop. Not while she's… I need to know."

"I understand." Hesitantly, I asked, "Do you want any help?"

His face lightened. "I would love some. Anyway, what brings you out here?" He was clearly trying to steer the conversation away from his friend, and the bad memories I knew accompanied any thought of her. I obliged.

"Guild stuff. Bandits raided a shipment of goods traveling to Riften. Brynjolf sent me to recover it." I gestured to the weapons on my belt and the pack slung over my shoulder. "There was a bounty on their heads as well. Thought I'd make some extra gold with that."

Jakev's face dropped comically. "Darn! I had hoped you didn't know."

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Here he was, after an entire year of losing himself to drink. Same as ever. "I could be persuaded to split it fifty-fifty. But only if you help me find my stuff."

He cocked his head to the side quizzically. "You lost your stuff? As in armor, weapons, all of that?" Clearly, he was just now noticing the ragged, dirt-caked and fire-scorched shift, the lack of my usual daggers and cloak. "That explains why you don't have the mask. How did you manage to do that?"

Damn. "It's a bit embarrassing. Err… I might have gotten captured by bandits in my sleep." He grinned, eyes filled with mirth. "Shut up!" He started laughing - the same, chittering laugh I had missed so much. "Shut up, shut up!"

"Ah…" He wiped a tear from his eye. "Sorry, I just need to picture this for a second. They snuck up on you-the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood-in the middle of the night. And…" He mimed swinging a club. "Just like that?"

"Yes. Now shut up or you get nothing. Can you find my bag or not? I'm out of magicka or I'd do it myself."

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a moment…" He took a deep breath, getting his laughter under control. "Here you go." Just as I had done before, he cast a Clairvoyance spell, the trail leading off into the forest. "After you, my lady."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS IS NOT A NEW CHAPTER. THIS IS ME FIXING MY MISTAKES. Cleaner dialogue, fresher characters. Also, this was not two weeks, was it? I'm a terrible person, and I clearly cannot promise anything, but thanks for sticking around guys! And guess what? Two new chapters, coming soon! (They're already written, so there shouldn't be too much of a wait!)

(I don't own Skyrim nor any of its characters, etc., etc.)