Hey! Sorry for the delay, but I'm back! That's right! Astrid has Archer at the Abandoned Shack. You'll see the Dark Brotherhood now. Here you go.
"What do you want from me? Who are you?" Archer asked as he opened his eyes, half asleep.
"Oh, don't worry. I won't hurt you as long as you participate. If you look to your left you'll see three people sitting there with execution hoods on. One of them is an escaped convict. Kill the one you feel isn't telling the truth."
"I've killed innocent people before...I came to regret it. You still haven't told me your name."
"Listen, I'll tell you everything as long as you cooperate. You're not doing a very good job with that."
"I see you've taken my weapon away from me. I'm going to need that to "cooperate."
"No sudden moves, elf."
Archer was handed his sword. He lunged at the woman who captured him. She kicked him to the ground, easily. He coughed up blood and spit it in her face.
"You certainly have real fire in you," the woman said. She grabbed Archer's sword and put it up to his neck. "You're going to listen to me. If you move, I stab you in the neck. You are going to kill one of those people. You won't get the key out of here if you don't, and you can't kill me...That's already been proved. And just to clear things up, one of them is a criminal, which means they're not innocent, so don't feel bad about putting a blade through their neck."
"Fine. Give me my damn sword." Archer went up to the prisoners. He was so mad at this point that he just kicked one of them over and stabbed them in the back. He removed the hood, revealing a Khajiit's face. Archer recognized him. It was the Skooma dealer near Ivarstead. Archer was relieved he had made the right choice.
"Okay, I killed someone," Archer said. "Now you're gonna answer my questions."
"Of course."
"Where's the Nord child that was sleeping in the room next to me?"
"Oh, him! We took him to our sanctuary-"
"You didn't kill him, did you?"
"Of course not... He's still there if you'd like to pay him a visit?"
"I have more questions."
"Go on."
"Who are you, and why in Oblivion did you make me do this?"
"You're the boy who killed Grelod. That's our business. I'm Astrid, leader of the Dark Brotherhood. I took you here because I wanted you to be punished for interfering with our work. You've clearly proven to me that you're Dark Brotherhood material...If you're up for it?"
"Just take me to your sanctuary. I'll decide when I get there."
"Here's the key out of here. When you get there, the door will ask a question. Answer, "Silence, my brother," and the door will open."
"Okay, Astrid. I'll be on my way."
By the time Archer went around Labyrinthian, instead of going through it, he was exhausted. He killed two packs of wolves and a settlement of bandits on his way to the sanctuary, and he was still only passing through the Reach.
It was night when Archer arrived at the Black Door. Archer was about to open the door when it spoke, "What is the music of life?" The door asked.
Archer remembered what Astrid told him. "Silence, my brother."
"Welcome home."
The black door slowly opened, making a creaky noise as Archer walked into the Dark Brotherhood's ancient sanctuary...
Pretty short chapter, yeah, but I like building suspense and stopping at good times. School starts tomorrow, BORING! Anyways, I'll be posting a lot less, but like I said, I'll get it done eventually. Please review, and ask questions. Thanks for reading!
