I wanted to have this one up sooner but I unexpectedly met some difficulties along the way, but here it is and I hope you all enjoy it.
He sat down, one leg over the other and his arm over the back of the chair, watching Annie as she slept and occasionally slipped to and from consciousness. They were in a cell in the dungeon. It was dark for there were no windows and he brought no candle with him. Svengali had put a bed in this cell for Annie to lay in before they locked her in. She was in a damaged state and needed to rest. It was the least he felt he could do for her. She must have been dreaming for her breathing was hard and her face showed a kind of distress as she hardened her brows and uttered silent things to herself. Svengali slid his chair closer to her and he leaned his ear closer to make out what she was saying and though it was hard to hear he made out single word. Papa.
Svengali leaned back in his chair and threw both of his arms over the back this time, his left shoulder gave a painful, stinging throb as he did but he was able to ignore it, and looked up at the ceiling. He silently chuckled to himself and remembered back to the times he shared with her father in fondness. He and Annie's father fought side by side one another during The Great War. They were like brothers if Svengali was honest with himself and they always had each other's backs. Svengali looked up to him. He was a staple of what the Dominion was and he lead by example. He was fearless and tactical; a master swordsman and an inspiration for them all. His only problem was that his heart was too soft and the dominion and The Great War held no room for soft heartedness. That was why he died.
"Angamar." Sighed Svengali in a low and drawn out tone.
Looking back even further, Svengali would have never been able to predict that of which was going to happen. He remembered back during his and Angamar's younger years when Angamar first invited him to his house back on Summerset and when he first met his family. Annie and her older sister were but children then. Svengali remembered that Annie was a shy child that hid behind her father's leg who could never make contact; not even with members of her own family from what he had witnessed. Svengali had knelt down on one leg and said hello to her but she kept silent.
"Linilwe doesn't speak much." Angamar had told him before lifting Annie up and holding her where she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "She prefers to observe."
"A bit unusual for a child." Svengali had said.
"Yes." Angamar replied while also running a hand down Annie's hair with a smile. And Svengali could see how much he loved her. "Speech has always been difficult for her and usually only talks to me. We don't know why but we don't fault her for it."
That was the first time he had met Annie. Seemed like so much more time had passed before then and now than what really had passed. The memory to him was like finding an old painting in the back of an old, dark and dusty hallway that he knew was there because he deliberately placed it there with the goal to let it rot for it no longer served any kind of purpose and was better off being forgotten in the darkness; until now that was.
Svengali had only seen Annie and her sister one last time after Angamar's death. Annie's older sister had left to pursue what she must have felt life had to offer her and Annie then was still in process of maturing into womanhood of which she had done well; as what could be expected of an Altmer. She was no longer the shy little girl with plump, little hands and round, chubby cheeks that he had first met. She was now something more; something beautiful; and something dangerous.
Annie stirred; her eyelids clenched and she bared her teeth as she awakened to consciousness. She opened her eyes and her eyes moved from side to side as she tried to deduce exactly where she was. Her vision was still fuzzy and the room felt like it was moving; swaying from side to side like a boat on the waves of an otherwise calm sea. Her disorientation added emphasis to her nausea and she almost lost a fight with her stomach when she felt the contents thereof urging to be let out until she quelled it.
Shutting her eyes and blinking repeatedly she regained some accuracy of eyesight and looked around the room more carefully and saw she was lying in a bed in a cold, dark and malodorous cell that stank of wet moss and body odor with a hint of excrement caused likely by rats or skeevers.
"Is this," Annie paused for her voice was course and her throat was dry. She swallowed with some effort then said, "Oblivion?"
"No." Svengali replied. "You're still in Northwatch Keep."
A dull ache revealed itself in Annie's shoulder and as she was about to lift her hand up to it; she felt something heavy and metallic around her wrists. She lifted her arms out from the covers of the furs that covered her body and discovered that her wrists had been shackled together. Still she placed her hands on her shoulder for though she was bound, she wasn't bound to any surface which allowed more freedom of movement.
She ran her hand lower and felt bandaging around her shoulder and torso. She looked down and saw that her robes were missing and she was left topless save for the bandaging that covered her. She looked even lower and breathed a contented sigh when she realized she at least still had her pants, so there was still some dignity to be had despite her current circumstances.
"Why are you keeping me alive?" Asked Annie morosely.
"Do not get me wrong Linilwe; if it were anybody else I would have left them to bleed to death but when you suddenly appeared before me the way that you did; some might call it fate; some would have called it the will of the eight divines or whatever ridiculous occurrence of nature people choose to believe. But," Svengali stood up from his chair and winced when he moved his shoulder this time and moved to the other end of the cell and leaned against the wall with one foot set against it.
"But, that would be ridiculous." Annie finished for him.
"Yes." Svengali affirmed. "Chance can certainly be cruel. As if something is trying to remind me of things that I had forgotten about. Even crueler is after what you have done here, killing your own people; without cause or reason and without remorse; I wanted you to die. But, something," Svengali pointed to his head, "in the back of my mind told me something different. To maybe give you a chance to redeem yourself."
Svengali whistled and from somewhere within the same hallway, they heard the clanking of keys and the grinding of an iron door opening before it slammed shut. Armoured footsteps came closer and then the dim silhouettes of Lindel and other Thalmor soldiers came to Annie's cell. They unlocked it and entered whilst dragging a weakened man by the arms and dropping at the side of Annie's bed. It was Vilkas and he had been stripped of his armour and weapons. He stood only on his hands and knees and that was a good enough sign for Annie that she felt relief fill her heart and mind.
"Vil…" Annie almost shouted his name out loud but suddenly thought better of it. Assuming Vilkas hadn't already told them, which she doubted highly, she knew that the less Svengali knew of them the better.
Annie knelt down next to him and placed her bound hands on his bare back which was bleeding with fresh whip marks. "What do you want, Svengali?" She asked turning to look at him with an angry expression.
"I want you to prove to me that you are still worthy of being an Altmer." Svengali answered. "I want you to kill him."
Annie looked at him in wide eyed disbelief then hardened her glare and slowly shook her head as she said, "You're out of your mind Svengali."
Svengali snatched her wrists and slowly stuck the key to her irons into the lock and with one twist of the key the irons came undone they fell to the ground with a clank. Annie rubbed her wrists and Svengali produced her ebony blade that was being held in its sheath and tossed it on the bed. "Kill him – I will let you free and all that you have done here will be forgiven. Of this, I promise you. If not, then the both of you will rot in this cell for the rest of your lives."
"Annie!" Vilkas uttered through labored breath unsure if she would actually kill him or not. He did not fear death, but he did not wish to die like this. He always imagined himself dying in combat with his sword in his hands and his armour upon his body. That was what he lived and breathed for; if not dying on the battle field and living his years to old age, he would still be content in knowing that he died as he lived; as a warrior.
"What makes you think I care whether I live or die?"
"Of course you care." Svengali replied confidentially. "Unless you're that stupid."
At first she was quiet and surveyed the ground as if it was going to reveal the answer for her and so she was forced to contemplate it. She closed her eyes and took herself to the back of her mind and found what she needed to get through this.
Slowly Annie reached for her sword while moving with agony to sit back on her bed. She held her sword out in front of her, gripped the handle tightly and pulled it free from its sheath. The sound of it making Vilkas more and more anxious. Annie stood, ran her thumb over the blade delicately and stopped when she saw blood coming from the appendage. "DO IT!" Svengali ordered with a shout. Annie jumped slightly and slowly lowered the blade to the nape of Vilkas's neck.
She stared emptily at Vilkas and felt her heart thumping madly beneath her breast. She could kill him and leave. It would not be the first time that she had ever done it. She had experience in murder. But, as she continued to observe Vilkas; seeing him like this with his back whipped to nothing more than deep, bloody lashes; she for some reason heard Kodlak's voice inside of her head.
"Is this what you want, Annie? Do you think that this is going to be worth it?" Annie faced away, her eyes downcast and her jaws clenched. She had made a final decision and she resigned to sliding her sword back within its sheath.
"What are you doing?" Svengali asked with wide open eyes and disbelief in his voice.
"If there is one thing I can't stand Svengali, is people trying to tell me what I should do." Annie clothed her sword back in its sheath. "I am not about to play into your game. Not now. Not ever." Annie turned and held her sword out to him.
Svengali snatched the sword from her hand and held it out for Lindel to take it. When he no longer had the sword he quickly and unexpectedly slapped his hand against Annie's injured shoulder and squeezed tightly.
Annie's shut her eyes tightly and she cried out in pain. Svengali pushed her back and she landed backwards on the bed and Svengali sat on top of her, holding her down. Annie grabbed at his wrist and tried to pull it away but as she did, Svengali only squeezed tighter and she felt the wound re-open when he pressed his thumb hard into it causing it to bleed and seep from the bandages.
"You'd throw your lot in with him!" Svengali seething state of rage and his upper lip quivering in anger. Annie continued to try and pull his hand free from her shoulder but to no avail. She could barely understand what he was saying for she was in great agony. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and moaned through clenched teeth. "Angamar made the same mistake and that is why he died, Linilwe." He said in a calmer tone. "You're not an Altmer. Neither was your father. You're too soft hearted to of my kind."
Svengali was too experienced and world wary to think that the expression of history repeating itself was more than just an expression. In his experience, life was an endless cycle of countless other endless cycles that continued to spin on and on with little variation. The only difference was the size of these cycles. Some were larger and more complex but each and every other living individual was themselves a cycle of repeated actions. Angamar did not align himself the way that he should have and he died because of it and now one of his children are going to face the same fate as he.
He removed his hand from her shoulder and he was not gentle about it and when his thumb was free from the wound she rolled over to her side and huddled up while holding her shoulder. Her shoulders trembled and Svengali heard the sad, pitiful and heart breaking sounds of her hitched, broken breathing, and rough sniffles of her crying.
"Sir." Lindel spoke. "What do we do with him?" He gestured to Vilkas.
Svengali looked at Vilkas who was heaving with every breath and held a hopeless expression on his face. Svengali turned to Lindel and said, "Leave him. If they're going to die; best to let them die in each other's company." He walked away and his men closed and locked the cell door leaving behind a tormented Annie and a fragile Vilkas.
"Lindel!" Svengali said marching in a furious pace down the corridor.
Lindel was following pace behind him and said, "Yes sir"
"As of this moment I want you and two others to go to the embassy and inform First Emissary of what happened. We need to get the bodies back to Summerset and we need to find replacements as soon as possible." They entered into a room that had been massively eaten with cobwebs and wet moss. Old storage crates sat forgotten against the walls where rats hid from the elves marching across the corridor and into the next room.
It was a room they used mostly for storage. The contents of the crates therein where the belongings of all prisoners that they ever had. Svengali never went into this room until such occasions came about such as when he needed extra funds.
A chest was sat on top one of the crates and Svengali produced the key to open it. Inside was Vilkas's armour and the rest of Annie's robes. Their weapons were being kept in separate storage compartments for they would not fit in this chest; except of course for Annie's sword. They set the sword inside then locked the chest back up before Svengali said, "Return to your regular duties. And Lindel, get to the embassy as quick as you can."
"Justiciar! Are you sure I can't go by myself? Leaving you with such minimal staff is not very optimal. Wouldn't it be…"
"This is not matter of debate Lindel." Interrupted Svengali. "I appreciate your concern but should anything happen in the mean time I promise it will not be without difficulty."
They all nodded and they dispersed to attend to their duties. Those of whom did not die from Annie's attack would be attended too to the best of what remained of them, but none were doctors or healers. Some were not going to make it and Svengali was prepared for this eventuality. Just as he was prepared for anything that this cruel and indifferent world could throw at him.
Annie was still laying on the bed holding onto her pained shoulder staring only at the wall. She had calmed down some time ago and was deathly quiet. Vilkas was sitting next to her, his back feeling like it was fire and he tilted his head up and closed his eyes to help him ignore the pain and to help him think. He looked at Annie and took notice of her abstracted expression and how her eyelids were drawn low over her red rimmed eyes. It was odd but; for the first time since Vilkas had known her he felt a surge of pity for her despite how he believed that she would kill him to win over her freedom.
Now he was faced with a problem that would tax his sagacity to the utmost and that was how he and Annie were going to escape. He was aware that it was most likely fantastical thinking that lead him to believe that escape would be possible since neither he or Annie had their equipment and they were both in poor condition; Annie more so than he. He could withstand the pain that assailed his back but Annie seemed as if she had lost all since of urgency.
He did not like to see her in this way. Never before had he seen her in so black a depression even in her grayest moods.
"Hey." He said delicately while laying his hand atop her thigh and gently shaking her leg to get her attention. "Perhaps we should be seeking a method of escape, yes?"
"I'm working on it." Replied Annie irritably and Vilkas retracted his arm and apologetically raised both hands in the air. "I've been thinking of a way since I was able to collect myself."
"Couldn't you use magic too - I don't know – Hypnotize one of them?" He asked ignorantly.
Annie chuckled. "My field of magic doesn't work like that. I have to make them perceive a different reality than the one that is presented to them. I have to convince them of the difference. But, enough of that, let's not err to far or else we may never get out of here." She didn't tell him that she had to use more magika than normal against the Thalmor since Atlmer have a natural adherence thus more potent magic was required.
Stretching her arm out, Annie reached out for Vilkas to help her up. He took her hand and pulled gently so as to ensure she would be in as little pain as possible. She winced but sat there with her eyes closed and waited for the pain to subside before she stood up.
She paced in small steps around the room ensuring that every detail was seen and branded into her mind. Vilkas didn't catch in great detail what all she was saying for she was speaking quickly as well as quietly but rather he heard just random words such a moss, moisture, salt and other choice words. Annie went to the cell door and ran her hand over the metal bars feeling the crusty, metal grind and chip away beneath her touch. Annie pinched her fingers together and rubbed them together feeling grains between her tips. She held her fingers to her nose and sniffed her finger tips her then tasted them by giving them a little lick. She smacked her lips together and tasted the salt that covered the iron door.
Leaning against the door; Annie thought for a minute in silence before she broke out into an all new state of delight and chuckled under her breath in an almost manic fashion before recovering her self-possession in an instant (the speed of Annie's switch of emotions gave Vilkas a slight concern about her mental state) and said, "Vilkas, come over here and tell me what you see." She pointed to what she wanted him to specifically look at. "And do not disappoint me."
Vilkas did as he was bid. He leaned over and observed what Annie had pointed it. He pinched his chin between his thumb and index finger and carefully scrutinized every detail of the item that Annie hinted was significant.
"Well…" Vilkas said standing up straight. He set his hand against his hip and scratched his head. "It's a rusty hinge."
"EXACTLY!" Annie ejaculated with excitement. "Very good Vilkas! I could kiss you for noticing that it is not just a hinge; but a rusty hinge. Both being just so; and what does rust do to metal?"
"It…" Vilkas's eyes opened wide when the sudden epiphany of what Annie was getting at manifested in his mind. "eats away at it." He finished his sentence with pause in between each word and Annie nodded with a wide smile. Vilkas stole his gaze to the bed behind them that Svengali had at this point, naively placed in the cell with them.
"Alright, so Vilkas, I am going to need to be my muscle here. I would help you but the pain in my shoulder makes physical labour impossible. But, I will help with this." Annie motioned for him to stand on one end of the bed while she stood on the other. She placed her hand on the frame and Vilkas did the same from his end where they began to rock it back and forth feeling the frame gradually loosen with each push.
The bed became very loose until with one more push from Vilkas, the bed fell apart as it collapsed in on itself, almost taking Annie with it, but she was quick to compose herself and move out of the way. Vilkas took hold of one of the longer frame boards and got a feel for its weight, confident that it would do the job and he smirked.
"Now Vilkas, We're going to have to do this quickly so try to get both hinges within three strikes and I beg be careful. The last thing I need right now is a head injury."
Vilkas lifted the board with both hands, he lifted himself up on his toes and felt tension build in his torso and arms. He tightened his grip as much as he could and them he allowed himself to drop and he thrust the piece of wood at the hinge, letting all the tension in his torso and arms release as he struck the first hinge where it shattered upon impact. Annie shielding her face with her arm as Vilkas went at the hinges and cringed slightly when the heavy iron door crashed to the floor with loud clanks as metal hit stone that echoed through the corridor.
"Come on!" Vilkas exclaimed. "I know where to go from here!" He grabbed Annie's wrist and teid to pull her along but she pulled back. He turned around, gave her a confused stare and said, "What's wrong?"
"My sword Vilkas. I want to get back." She had a sudden saddened look on her face. "It's very important to me."
Vilkas took a deep breath and said, "It was your fathers wasn't it?" Annie didn't answer and instead looked at him with a look of pleading but he shook his head. "Look, I'm only picking up bits and pieces here Annie but we do not have the luxury of skulking around here. We need to leave and get back to Jorrvaskr."
"But Vilkas." She begged.
"Annie. I know losing family is hard but we need to move."
"Oh I do not think you guys will be going anywhere." A voice said from behind Annie. They turned their attention o the voice and saw Svengali standing there with a discontented look of anger upon his features. The last two of his able bodies men were standing behind him and in Svengali's hand was Annie sword. The very item that Annie wanted back.
He and his men had heard the collapse if the door and they all rushed as fast as they could to the source and none were pleased with what they had found.
Annie took a step, held out her hand and said, "Give me that sword, Svengali," in a tone that was building in frustration.
"No." He replied and stepped closer. "You two just don't know what too quit! It would have been easier for you to die in your cell. I didn't want to kill you like this Linilwe. But you have left me no choice.
"SVENGALI, I SWEAR I'LL…" Annie stopped and her eyes suddenly went wide. Vilkas had smelt these creatures coming while Svengali kept and did not say anything for it was the only way now that they would not be followed. Behind Svengali's men were slimy, lanky figures that were slowly and quietly crawling behind them. Their ears were long, their hands gangling and their teeth uncomfortably compact and jagged.
One of Svengali's men fell foward onto his belly and was pulled back. Svengali and his trooper turned and saw a horde of Falmer tearing their man apart and feasting upon his body.
"FALMER!" Svengali shouted.
Five the creatures crawling towards him while four more scaled the ceiling and walls. Annie quickly ran for Svengali, grabbing her sword while Vilkas pushed the other into the wall with his shoulder and he collided into it with a huge thud causing the wind to be knocked out of him. Svengali held onto it and tried to pull it back but Annie kicked him against the chest and pushed him away where he let go of the sword and he fell into the horde of monstrous snow elves. He stood back up and looked in all directions and the slowly closed in on him. He looked at Annie and said, "This will not be the end of me. DO YOU HEAR ME LINILWE!"
Vilkas grabbed her wrist and shouted, "COME ON WE NEED TO GO, NOW!" And they ran; Vilkas keeping a tight grip around Annie's wrist. He lead them down the prison cells and they took a right where a long stairwell was that bore no light save for small glimmer of candle light at the top.
Together they ran up the sdakr and cold stair well with the Falmer giving chase behind them. The blood curdling sounds of wheezing grunts and roars were close behind them and they ran faster, the sounds of the snapping of their boots of their bare feet on stone made the more pronounced as they neared the top. The candle light was no longer a glimmer as they got closer and closer to freedom and it became more of beckon of light beckoning for them.
Fur coats hung on the walls beside the door and they both quickly grabbed one before Vilkas shoved his shoulder in the door, opening up to the refreshing feel of the cold Skyrim air. When Annie stepped out Vilkas slammed the door but The Falmer managed to reach their arms out and the pushed, keeping Vilkas from being able to close it.
Annie drew her weapon and with all the strength she could gather in her one good arm, swung her balde downward. The blade cut through several of the pale, skinny limbs and they all fell to the ground in thuds. Blood gushed onto the walls and the door and ground. The Falmer shrieked loud, ear piercing squeals before they retreated into the keep allowing Vilkas to close the door and lodge it shut with a piece of wood stuck between the door handle and the ground.
They both breathed heavily. Vilkas was hunched over with his hands on his knees while Annie fell back and gazed at the early morning sky. Though it was cold she relished the feeling of the freezing snow on her back for it reminded her that she was still alive. She closed her eyes and smiled.
Vilkas knelt next to her and held out his hand. "The Divines certainly seemed to favor us this time." Said he.
Annie took his hand he helped her up. "The Divines had nothing to do with it, Vilkas." She said. She looked back up the sky and said, "Look at that." Vilkas looked up with her and they both gazed at the little pink clouds floating high above them as the red rim of the sun pushed itself over the cloud – bank over the horizon passed the ocean. "Simply beautiful, isn't it."
Vilkas smirked. "Come on, let's go. We can an enjoy a sunrise together when we get back to Whiterun." Together they found the horses the Thalmor kept in their stables and together they rode their ways back to Whiterun both letting the event's at Northwatch Keep become memories to a nightmare that neither of the could have ever expected to have. But, as Annie knew fully well, that such was the rules of life itself.
Deus Ex Machina anyone? Don't worry I have an explanation for this but it will be revealed later. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and now we can settle down from Annie's story a bit and focus on The Companions a bit more after I get a few chapters out here to expand some of what happened here and some more of Sigmund and Vancalmo. Again do not worry these chapters will still be important and very relevant to the over all plot. So stay tuned.
I'm going to take a break from writing for a few days so that my friend and I can discuss the content of the next few chapters and then I will try to get back to it by mid this week.
Cheers.