Past the rocky hills and gnarled trees, Sarydos continued down the dirt paths and cobblestone roads of the Reach, Though Sarydos could return to Markarth, thanks to Madanach taking the blame for the murders, he'd rather not see the city of stone ever again. After escaping Cidhna mine with the Forsworn, Sarydos gave thanks to the Reachmen wishing them well on their quest to reclaim their homeland before departing to continue his own quest. Now he was on his way to leave the Reach as soon as possible, heading North along the road on his way to Solitude. Since leaving Madanach's camp, Sarydos had come across other Forsworn gatherings, At first they tried to attack him but when they notice the Necklace crafted from Nord bones hanging around his neck they left him alone, it had been a gift from Madanach and it was a symbol that Sarydos was a friend of the king in rags and therefore a friend to the Forsworn. Although Madanach had been imprisoned for 20 years, he still had influence with the Forsworn and the all the native sons and daughters of the reach. From Madanach's camp the easiest way out of the reach was to head for Dragon Bridge, a small settlement just outside of the Reach. He could see an old fort on the other side of the bridge, He was still technically in the Reach so it was probably occupied by Forsworn. He made sure the necklace was visible for when they rushed out to attack him but as he drew near he saw something, something laying in the road. It was a body as he moved closer to examine it he saw that it was a woman, she wore the armor of the Forsworn and been Hacked open. He knelt down to look closer, as he did someone emerged from the fort, Sarydos turned his head towards the door to see a warrior. He was definitely not Forsworn, he wore steel plated Armor and carried a mighty dwarven battle axe strapped to his back. The tail and the horns are a dead giveaway, It's an Argonian. He approaches Sarydos.

"You're too late, I've already killed them all. That bounty is mine."

Sarydos stands up, still looking at the dead body.

"You killed them? All of them?"

"That's right, The Jarl is offering quite a reward."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed, I've been killing Forsworn for months."

Sarydo looks at the Argonian.

"Really?"

The Argonian notices the necklace around Sarydos' neck and begins reaching over his shoulder towards the Battle Axe, Noticing the Argonians movements, Sarydos quickly unsheathes his sword preparing himself for battle.

"You should've stayed in Morrowind, Dark Elf."

"You mean what's left of Morrowind."

"Don't worry, my people will come to claim the rest of it soon enough."

"We'll see about that."

The Argonian lets out a deep threatening hiss in an attempt to frighten Sarydos but it is to no avail as Sarydos merely narrows his eyes in anger ready to slay the lizard at a moments notice. The Argonian lunges forward bringing the Battle Axe down in a hard swing but Sarydos steps out of the way letting it crash onto the ground.

"You should leave the Battle Axes to the Nords and Orcs."

"Shut up!"

"You're so slow, are you sure you're the one who killed these Forsworn?"

"What are you implying?"

"That they died laughing at your pathetic performance in battle."

The Argonian lifts the large battle axe of the off the ground swinging it behind his shoulders readying it for another strike, he swings it with all his might but Sarydos steps just outside of it's reach as it meets nothing but air and he stumbles forward. Seeing an opportunity Sarydos lunges forward in the hope that he can land a strike on the Argonian.

"Clumsy Argonian, you've left yourself open."

but as he moves in for the attack the Argonian delivers a quick headbutt to the stomach, it doesn't hurt too much but it pushes him back, the Argonian turns over the axe and swings it upward. The head of the axe slices through the chitin armor and tears open the flesh of Sarydos' forearm, gripping the wound Sarydos backs up. Assessing the situation, he realizes his mistake which is likely the same mistake the Forsworn made: while his initial attacks may be sluggish this Argonian has an extremely fast reaction time, the Forsworn were probably over-confident and charged in for a easy kill only to be slaughtered by his reaction time. Sarydos takes a moment to examine his opponent and notices the glow of the Argonian's armor, seeing as he regularly faces down Forsworn it is likely an enchantment to protect against magic attacks. Sarydos realized that he would need a plan in order to defeat the Argonian, he backs up putting more space in between them and begins piecing together an idea in his head. He steps off the path and begins moving into the hills of the Reach, around large rocks and gnarled pointy bushes. Not wanting to lose sight of his opponent the Argonian begins trotting after him into the wilds.

"Where are you?"

He sniffs the air to catch Sarydos' scent.

Having caught the scent he makes his way around the boulders after the Dunmer, but as he rounds the corner of a large rock a cold blast shoots up from the ground catching him by surprise.

"Gahh! What the..!?"

He gasps in pain, he had stepped on a frost rune. While the rune had not severely damaged him it had in fact slowed him down considerably, this was exactly what Sarydos had planned while the Argonian was still dazed from the rune Sarydos launched his attack. He leaped out from atop a large boulder, wielding his blade in both hands he brought it down, the Argonian tried to block but wasn't quite fast enough. The Blade severed one of his horns and knocked him back, tripping over a rock, he tumbles down the hill into the small valley. Sarydos quickly hops and runs down the hill, rolling very violently the Argonian is unable to keep hold of his weapon and the axe gets tangled in a thick root halfway down the hill. When Sarydos reaches the bottom of the hill the Argonian is trying to get up, grasping at his head where his horn had been he stumbles to his knees one hand on the ground, Sarydos approaches with his sword drawn.

" Wait! Please!"

The Argonian yells throwing his hand up to shield himself, Sarydos quickly swings the blade severing three of the Argonians fingers.

"Gaaahhh!"

The Argonian cries out in pain bringing his arm close to his body.

"Please…. No…"

Ignoring his pleading, Sarydos jabs the blade through the Argonians neck. He makes almost no noise, A quiet choking and hissing sound that fades to silence as he slowly drops to the ground. Sarydos puts one boot on the Argonian's head and pulls his sword from his throat. He wipes the blade clean and seeing how he was in no particular hurry decides to loot the Argonian's corpse, Finding some gold and jewelry he about to move on when he sees a note tucked in the Argonians armor. Curious about it's contents, he opens the letter.

Bounty

By Order of Elisif The Fair:

To all able-bodied men and Women of Haafingar. A heavy bounty has been levied against a troublesome Necromancer in the hold, see Falk Fire-Beard at the blue palace in the city of Solitude for more details.

Having read the letter Sarydos realized that he now had even more reason to head for Solitude and maybe even a way to earn his fortune…..

Author's note: It's been a few weeks since I last updated this story and I'm sorry about that. I've been quite busy with personal matters but you can expect more chapters soon.