Brynjolf was handing out jobs in the cistern in Mercer's absence.
"Hey Thrynn!" He called out to the large man. "We've got a difficult client hanging out in Shor's Stone. You think you can handle it?"
Thrynn grinned viciously at him. "Ah, of course. It's been too long." He said, striking the air with an imaginary dagger.
Brynjolf rolled his eyes and was about to offer a strict warning when he heard the trapdoor open and someone dropped from above. He turned, expecting to see Vex or Sapphire returning from a job, but instead he saw Mercer looking uncharacteristically frazzled.
"Hey, Mercer! You're back awfully early. Was it that easy?" He joked, but he faltered when realized that Mercer's eyes were dark, and there was a striking absence of a certain Breton thief.
"Where… where's the lass?" He said carefully. The rest of the guild had noticed the commotion, and were filtering over to the two thieves. Delvin's face was carefully guarded, and Tonilia's fists were clenched at her sides. A few people echoed Brynjolf's question.
"She's dead. Karliah shot her."
The announcement hit Brynjolf like a mace to the chest. He sucked in a pained breath, and felt sick. He felt Delvin's hand on his shoulder, and felt the intense need to sit down. He gritted his teeth, and asked, "How?"
"Karliah shot her in the shoulder. It was an ambush. She disappeared before I could catch her. It was too late by the time I got back to her. The arrow was poisoned, Brynjolf, more powerful than anything I've ever seen. She was unconscious for the last few minutes." Mercer's description sent a pang through Brynjolf. He momentarily imagined Kyn lying on the ground, bleeding out, her face contorted with the pain and helplessness brought on by poison.
"Karliah needs to pay." Delvin's voice was steady, but his face had gone pale, as had everyone else's. He felt Delvin's sympathetic eyes on him and wondered why he hadn't listened to Kyn. Something feels wrong.
She had told him that. Had she known? Mercer's eyes were stone, unreadable and cold. He pulled something from his belt. "Here. I believe this is yours." He tossed him something, and Brynjolf caught it. It was his glass dagger, slightly scuffed where it must have hit the ground. So it was true.
"Brynjolf…" Delvin's voice was soft behind him, but Brynjolf didn't care. He turned, walking stiffly back to his quarters. He felt as if somebody had stolen something from him that he didn't know he had, and it had ended up being a vital organ. It felt hard to breathe. How did this happen?
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Am I dead?
No. If I was dead it wouldn't hurt this much.
Kyn's whole body ached, and her eyelids felt stuck together. She pryed her eyes open, blinking at the unpleasantly bright sun. She tried to sit up and grimaced at the burning pain in her stomach and shoulder. She had a strange sense of déjà vu of when she was lying in a wooden cabin with a wound in her side after Goldenglow.
"Woah, woah, don't get up so fast." A soft voice said, gently pushing her back down on her back. That voice… but who…
Karliah!
She looked to the side, and saw the small figure sitting beside her. Karliah was a pretty dark elf, with large violet eyes and tightly pulled back black hair.
"You… you shot me!" Kyn's voice came out a hoarse whisper, her throat burning.
"Yes. And it saved your life." Karliah's voice was reassuring, but there was no remorse. "That poison slowed down your heart and kept you from bleeding out before I could get to you."
"You should have shot Mercer." Kyn said bitterly, remembering the agony of the poison running through her system. "That hurt like hell."
"Aye, I noticed." Karliah frowned at that. "I don't know why. Your body fought the poison, I've never seen anybody react that way. It should have just paralyzed you and made you numb. You've been unconscious for two days… what's your name?"
"Kyn." Kyn said, not bothering to give her full name. She was surprised at that. Two days? Then she had a sudden thought.
"What about Mercer?" She asked, her voice barely shaking with her fury.
"He got away." Karliah shook her head. "I'm sorry. But… is it true? What he said about you and Brynjolf?"
Kyn blushed. "Uh, well… yeah. I-" She tried to sit up again, now acutely aware of the thick bandages around her stomach and shoulder. "I need to get back to Riften. Everyone needs to know about Mercer." She stood up, leaning heavily on the elf. "Where's my pack?"
Karliah gestured to her worn leather pack sitting by the campfire. "I'm coming with you. I've got something that will confirm anything we tell them." She handed Kyn a sturdy notebook. When Kyn flipped through it, she saw pages and pages of strange script. "What…"
"I don't know either." Karliah said. "Gallus wrote it in some strange language. But I'm sure that whatever's in it, it will confirm everything." She stepped away, revealing Kyn's horse waiting patiently behind her, it's golden coat shining in the sun. "I need you to take it to his friend in Winterhold; If anyone knows what it is, it'll be him. I recovered your things from Snow Vale." She shrugged apologetically. "I would go myself, but what with recent events, I need to lie low."
Kyn nodded understanding. It hurt her stomach to talk, and she knew that she'd have to ride hard to Winterhold. "I'll see you at the thieves guild when I have it translated." She said tightly. "Just stay hidden in the city until I arrive. I'll find you."
Karliah nodded, looking back at her own slaughtered horse. Mercers work. "I better get on my way if I'm to get there before you do." She said with a small, sad smile. "I'll be waiting."
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
"I'll tell you what; If you want information, go into the excavation site, and kill the spider they call Nimhe. Then I'll translate your journal for you." At Calcelmo's bargain, Kyn's face dropped with frustration. She'd known it had been too easy.
"Alright." She sighed. "I'll do it."
"Excellent!" Calcelmo's attitude shifted dramatically, tired frustration morphing into excitement. He led her to an immense set of reddish-metal doors. He fiddled with the lock, and then gestured at the now unlocked door. "Return when the spider is dead."
Kyn stepped inside, struck by how loud it was. There were ancient moving parts, doing who knows what, steaming along the walls. She crept through the empty halls, following the sticky trail of cobwebs. Every once in a while a small dwemer thing would come skittering out of the nooks and crannies in the ancient corridors. However, they were easy to dispatch, a swift slice with her sword or a well placed firebolt sending them back to Oblivion.
It wasn't long until she came upon a large chamber, swathed in webs, with a large dark den in the back. Kyn was willing to bet that this was the spider nest she'd come looking for. She swallowed the urge to turn, and run back the way she came, but she chastised herself calmly. No problem fighting dragons, but as soon a larger-than-average spider comes along, you want to run? I don't think so. She took a deep breath, trying to decider her next course of action. First thing was first. She needed to know what she was up against.
Kyn concentrated, willing a small ball of pure light to appear in her hand. It glowed with a ghostly blue-white light, lighting up half of the enormous chamber. Kyn focused the light, directing it to fly with a small pop towards the shadowy back corner of the room.
The brief illumination of the creature was enough to send all Kyn's bravado plummeting into the ground. It was at least three times her size, with legs the size of small trees. Two huge fangs protruded from it's grotesque head, it's beady eyes full of hate and the intent to kill. Kyn took a step back, and in her panic did what came naturally to her. She shot the great spider Nimhe in the face with a lightning bolt.
The spider emerged from it's den, it's legs clacking unpleasantly on the dusty stone floor. It hissed in anger, its shell steaming where the lightning had hit it. It spat at her, sending a glob of venom shooting at her. She sidestepped, cursing at the evil smell coming from the now bubbling stone floor. She drew her sword, zigzagging towards Nihme. The spider was impossibly huge, but it was also slow. It spat again, the venom splashing next to Kyn, too close for comfort. She dove underneath the spider, praying to the gods that it didn't have to thought to lie down on top of her. She sliced upward, creating a large ugly gash down the monster's abdomen.
Nimhe let out a bloodcurdling screech as Kyn slid from beneath her, whirling on her with newfound aggression. As Kyn rolled away from the flailing legs, she realized with horror that the spider no longer had to worry about splash back if it wanted to vaporize her. She dodged to the side as the spider spat at her, but she was a fraction of a second too late.
The venom struck her in her thigh, and she was intensely glad she was wearing her new armor. The poison steamed through the leather, and she let out a cry has what was left of the poison blistered and burned her skin. Her vision went read, and she screamed at the spider.
FUS RO DAH!
The concussive energy of her Shout send Nimhe flying across the chamber with the force of Kyn's fury. There was a sickening CRACK as the spider struck the wall, and when it struggled to its feet, three legs were dangling uselessly behind it. Kyn charged, slashing viciously with her sword. Nimhe didn't have time to react; it tried to scrabble away on its five good legs, but before it could escape Kyn was upon it. She stabbed and swiped, lost in her battle rage. After a few silent moments she was standing over the spiders corpse, its shell pockmarked with dents and gashes received from Kyn's blade.
As the red faded from her vision, she winced and clutched her leg, the adrenaline wearing off. She limped back towards Understone, glad that she had taken care of all the Dwemer spiders beforehand. Soon she emerged into the high-ceilinged chamber to see Calcelmo waiting eagerly for her. He took one look at her tattered armor, and handed her a few sheets of papers, and upon closer inspection she realized that they were rubbings of some great stone.
"Thank you for the help." He said, gracious but oblivious. "Here's the notes you needed. That should be plenty to translate anything you need."
He waved her off, and returned to his research. She rolled her eyes, looking down at the confusing mess of notes. "It's not like I'm hurt or anything," She muttered, but clutched the research notes to her chest as if they were all that were keeping her afloat in the ocean. They stayed there even as she left Markarth, climbed aboard the wagon, rode the way to Riften, and entered the city. As she entered the gates, she was surprised by Karliah's form materializing in front of her.
"Aye, Karliah," She cried, jumping back. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"I see you have the notes." Karliah said, ignoring Kyn's warning. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Lets go."
Kyn nodded. "Lets go." She echoed. They walked behind the estates on the east side of town, arriving at the cemetery. Kyn led the way down the ladder, and braced herself for whatever was waiting for her.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Yay action! I wish that there was more in this story, and there definitely will be in my next story, but this story is kind of writing itself. It kind of goes in whatever direction it goes in, and I try to articulate the plotline in my head. BUT ANYWAYS…
SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I've been busy with the end of school, but now should post regularly! Expect 1 every 1-2 weeks unfortunately. (Summer school :()
See you in the next chapter ;)
~SMCSMC