22nd of Frostfall 4E 202

Krii hovered away from the lit torch, peering around the corner and the post, tail twitching in aggravation.

"Gods dammit." she hissed, summoning the conjuration spell. The spectral bow formed in her hands, the ghostly quiver filled with wispy translucent arrows. "There's two guards, the bastards must have taken back the hideout." Krii whispered to Scouts-Many-Marshes, ears flat against her head in irritation. He remained motionless, watching her draw the bow and hold her breath, pale eyes intent on the men as she moved forward.

The two hadn't heard her yet, as she cautiously moved to be in the shadow of the support beam, telling Scouts-Many-Marshes to stay behind. She faced him, drawing the bow sans arrow and then motioning for him to slit the other Silver Hand's throat that was closest to him. He understood the silent orders, and then Krii loaded one of the spectral arrows and focused her sights on the pale Nord eating a chunk of skeever meat with his friend. The other one was talking, but she couldn't focus on the words as she aimed for the eating man's jugular. With deadly precision, the arrow sped out of the dark shadows and before the talking Silver Hand could leap from his seat, Scouts-Many-Marshes grabbed his head and exposed the man's throat to the glimmering ebony dagger. With swiftness he had split his neck and let the man fall to the floor. Krii grinned at him as she let the spell dispel, but he didn't see her smile as he wiped the blade clean on the dead warrior's armor.

She emerged from the shadows like a snake, naturally black fur having helped her hide and then she jerked his head up forcefully, exposing his neck in a mock kill attempt. She dragged a long sharp ebony claw across his throat gently, and then smiled as his posture went rigid.

"You'd be dead by now..." she whispered lightly to him, before releasing his head. He turned to face her with a small grin at the sudden playfulness, and as Krii swiveled around she began searching the bodies for any spare coins. Finding a small sum of twenty Septims, a few potions, and ingredients, she focused on remembering which door they had to go through.

She stopped dead as her hands were clasped together roughly and a tail snaked around her legs, immobilizing them. Scouts-Many-Marshes rested his head on her shoulder in the odd position, and Krii could feel the spikes on his cheeks brush against her.

"You'd be in a predicament yourself..." he said in a hushed voice*, making Krii blush as he let her go. She remained silent, as she tried the door opposite of the fire pit, finding it unlocked.

The corridor was darker than the other and she fell back into a crouch, relying on Night Eye to see. Her boots splashed lightly in the puddle, making Scouts-Many-Marshes jumped somewhat as he followed her. Rounding the bend, she saw a rotting skeever corpse was by the stone wall. The large table was filled with fresh food and mead, worsening the Khajiit's fear of more of the Silver Hand. Though she had grown much stronger since her first trip here, they still unnerved her with the torturous tactics they used on the moon-born*. She was thankful she hadn't opened the door with the hanging corpse of some poor nameless fool who had gotten caught in their beast form.

Climbing the stair way, she pointed silently to the floor trap, and then to the spiked gate on hinges. She skirted around it, and he followed. Krii stopped suddenly, mouth curling in a snarl as she saw someone sitting at the table ahead. She summoned the bow again, and searched for any other Silver Hand members nearby. To her satisfaction, she found none and released the arrow, leaving the woman slumped over the table. She moved more slowly, the once alive werewolves in the cages, now dead and covered in miscellaneous wounds from sadistic testing and torture. They came to the end of the cells, and found an Orsimer writing, clad in fur armor. Krii nodded at Scouts-Many-Marshes and allowed him to sneak up behind the elf, using the piercingly sharp dagger to execute the silent kill.

They continued on, the darkness becoming comforting as they moved surreptitiously through the bedraggle fortress. They followed the path down into the lower levels, meeting a cave in and another door. Krii's stomach was knotting up as she silently threw it open, exposing a few more members, though not as many as she remembered. She called the bow again, and looked around the second level for a target. She found one, and released the arrow, forcefully shoving the man against the wall as it pierced his chest. The woman closest to them bolted upright from her chair and ran to the stairway to see what had caused the thump. Another man came down from the stairs, and saw the two interlopers hovering in the shadows.

"You're dead!" he bellowed, rushing towards them with his silver sword drawn. Krii lunged from the darkness, her daedric dagger in hand, as she ducked underneath him and lodged it in his abdomen. In a gurgled scream he dropped the silver sword and Scouts-Many-Marshes struck the killing blow.

The woman that had been inspecting her companion's corpse had drawn her bow and was aiming for the pair over the railing as they dashed up the stairway towards her, shooting a steel arrow into Krii's shoulder blade. Roaring in agony, the Khajiit stopped and let a deep feral growl escape her mouth. She threw her undamaged arm out to hold back Scouts-Many-Marshes who was coming to help. The Breton Silver Hand readied another arrow, moving back from the pair as Krii leaned her torso back in preparation.

"KRII LUN AUS!" erupted from her crimson painted face, and the Breton stumbled back, becoming engulfed in purple markings that swirled around her form and seeped in. They mapped her body out, consuming life from the woman quickly. She fell to the floor crippled, the hunting bow sliding across the room and to Krii's feet. Releasing Scouts-Many-Marshes from her free arm, she charged forward and cut the woman easily, the shout having done majority of the work.

They stood without talking, both of them panting lightly from the adrenaline rush. Krii called Grand Healing to both of her hands, and let the golden light cover her and Scouts-Many-Marshes. The steel arrow dislodged itself and dropped to the floor, covered in deep red. Both of their wounds healed, and Krii flexed her shoulder blade with satisfaction.

"Was that the Thu'um?" he asked quietly, a mixture of fear and admiration in his voice. Krii wasn't facing him, but he could see her body go stiff.

"Yes...Only one of the shouts though. There are many more, but I'm sorry that's the first one you saw." she replied slightly wistful.

"...Your name was in the shout." he whispered, suspicion laced in his comment.

Krii faced him suddenly, a small forlorn smile on her features, "You don't miss much do you?" she sighed suddenly, and turned back around to the open door, "It is...another story for another time. Not here, not now, and not yet." she moved forward again, coming into another small living space.

She could feel the heat from the fireplace, and she quickly took out the one man who hadn't heard the aggressive Thu'um from the next room.

"We're close to the inner sanctum. Be careful." she informed him stepping over the carcass. The pair descended down the passageway, and Krii glanced around the final door. Bile rose in her throat as she saw more bloody pikes and their 'decorations'.

"Bastards." she hissed, transferring the spell from restoration to conjuration. To the Khajiit's favor, only one man was in the main chamber. He was leaning over a table, intently studying something that the pair couldn't see. Krii readied her bow, but the Silver Hand turned and heard the arrow being placed against the rest.

He drew his sword swiftly, and held it in their direction, "Is someone there?" he called out, moving forward a step. Krii released the tension on the bowstring and quickly moved backwards into the darkness, cornering her and Scouts-Many-Marshes in a small puddle. The Silver Hand took a few more steps, eyes searching the room wildly, until he calmed and sheathed the weapon.

"Huh. I guess it was just my imag-" he stopped short as the apparition was plunged through his throat. Gasping for breath the Nord stumbled slightly, and another arrow dug itself into his knee*. The lame leg buckled and he fell to the floor, slowly suffocating as the duo came into view. A spark of recognition was in his eyes as he viewed the battle-scarred Khajiit, and when she readied an arrow at point-blank range, the blue eyes swarmed with bitter malice. The next arrow found itself in the man's forehead.

Krii kicked him to the side, and moved to the back of the room. She found the large familiar chest and threw it open, trying not to look at the mutilated beast on the table next to her. She was glad Aela had removed Skjor's body from here; he hadn't deserved to die in this gruesome fort, but that had been his fate. As she pocketed multiple jewels from inside the chest, she found a simple dark gray amulet that was emitting magika.

She held it up to Scouts-Many-Marshes, "Is this it?" she asked, the necklace's chain hanging from her fingers.

"Yes that's her Amulet of Zenithar, Shahvee will be elated that we have retrieved it." he grinned, and Krii tucked it away.

"Alright, that's everything of value from the chest. Let's get the hell out of here, we still have a date to arrange in Riften." Krii said with a sparkle of rascality in her pale sky blue eyes.

~~~I spoiled y'all with this chapter, it's looonnnnggg. With innuendo too. ;) I came VERY close to making this chapter rated M, if you know what I mean. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out way. It felt like the last chapter didn't remain at the top of the page for a while, guess I caught the posting rush on the category. Thank you all for the reviews! I've reached a milestone of ten consecutive reviews, I have never achieved this in all of my time as a writer here! So thank you again. Oh, side note: I will be continuing the story More Travels and Roads for Tomorrow with Rajo (originally a short that was going to be titled Hunter's Discipline).

Asterisks:

"You'd be in a predicament yourself..." he said in a hushed voice*-This is an obvious suggestion; and I may make a short where Krii takes Scouts-Many-Marshes up on this offer. It will have to be rated M, again, for apparent reasons (read at own risk).

the moon-born*-Astrid's husband will call you moon-born (a nickname for werewolf) if you're a werewolf upon talking to him during the Dark Brotherhood Quests. I just like the sound of the word.

into his knee*-Enter generic arrow to the knee joke [here].

And finally, R&R.