Here we are, everyone! Chapter 9 is here. I want to give a big thanks to everyone who's supported me so far—this chapter is a huge milestone to the fic. Here the identity of the Nightingale is revealed, and we're introduced to a bigger picture of what's been going on. Chapter 10 will expand on questions presented here, but that probably won't be uploaded until Saturday night. After that I'll need to take a break for a week or two, but I'll have that figured out by the next update. For now, enjoy the new chapter!
If you're hurting for things to do—you can go back and reread the previous chapters when you're done with this one. Some of the scenes are engineered to have a totally different meaning once you know who the Nightingale is.
"No luck?" The Nightingale asked as Hadvar entered Dustman's Cairn. She'd asked to meet there thanks to the fact she was a wanted criminal. Hadvar shook his head.
"None at all." The commander replied, tossing the hefty claw at the thief. "There's absolutely nothing on it in the libraries. Of course it would help knowing what that thing is made out of." The Nightingale rubbed her thumb over the icy blue surface. She winced and pulled it away.
"Well, we have one mystery solved." The Nightingale said, rubbing her thumb on her armor. "The darn claw is made out of some form of enchanted stalhrim." Hadvar was confused.
"Stalhrim?" Hadvar asked, slightly cocking his head. "The indestructible ice from Solstheim? How can you tell?"
"It's expensive." The master thief replied. "And everything expensive passes through the black market at some point. I've seen enough stalhrim to identify it now. It has this funny habit of nearly freezing your fingers."
"So the door it unlocks is all the way in Solstheim?" Hadvar asked.
"Gods, I hope not." The Nightingale rolled her eyes. "I'm really not a boat person. Besides, I'm not entirely sure it's even a key. Take a look at the underside." She handed the claw back to the commander. Hadvar flipped the ornament over to find no carvings on the dragon's palm.
"There's no combination." Hadvar remarked. "Then how on Nirn does it open the door?"
"Damned if I know." The Nightingale said, shrugging. "Maybe it's got something to do with that odd enchantment. Personally I think it's a step in the right direction, putting the combination on the key seemed a little...silly."
"So we don't know where this door is, what it looks like, or how it opens." Hadvar summarized. "That's just great. How on Nirn are we supposed to find it?"
"Maybe it's not even a door." The Nightingale said. "It could be something else entirely."
"Just great. We have absolutely no leads." Hadvar sighed. The Nightingale looked past Hadvar's shoulder.
"Maybe not." The master thief gestured behind the commander. Hadvar turned around to find a spectral shade staring at the two. Or rather, the horse was doing the staring. Its rider had no head.
"Is that the Headless Horseman?" Hadvar asked. "As in the old Ragnar the Red?"
"Well, that's common belief." The Nightingale replied. "But that's not actually Ragnar the Red. It's the ghost of a monster hunter who was beheaded on horseback by his prey." The horseman's horse continued to stare.
"Isn't he supposed to go away after a while?" Hadvar asked, unsettled.
"Right." The Nightingale tilted her head slightly. "He is, but he's not moving." She observed the ghost for a moment. "It's almost as if he's trying to tell us something." She moved past Hadvar and closer to the shade. The ghost's horse brayed. Realization dawned on her.
"What if we're hunting the same creature that beheaded him, and he's trying to tell us that?" The Nightingale wondered aloud, turning back to Hadvar. "It makes sense." The Headless Horseman reared his spectral horse and took off, leaving the Nightingale and Hadvar in the dust. The duo instantly leapt onto their horses, the Nightingale onto her mottled mare and Hadvar to his black steed. They rode hard, chasing the speck of blue in the distance.
After an hour or so of following the shade, they came to an old Nordic ruin. The Headless Horseman trotted to the center of the courtyard and vanished, leaving the two living beings alone. The Nightingale dismounted her horse and looked around.
"This is Hamvir's Rest." The commander said, dismounting from his own horse. "Why on Nirn would he lead us here?"
"I have no idea." The Nightingale replied, looking around. "Maybe the place is important or something." She thought for a bit. "Check the claw and see if it's doing anything." Hadvar fumbled through his pockets and pulled out the icy ornament.
"I don't see any change." The commander reported. The Nightingale shrugged.
"Well, we might as well secure the area." She said, starting to power walk around the rim of the graveyard.
"What are you doing?" Hadvar asked.
"Checking for traps." The Nightingale replied, barely paying him any heed. "We both know your aptitude for falling into them."
"Why even check for me in the first place?" Hadvar asked. The Nightingale froze in place for a heartbeat, but the vulnerability was gone as soon as it had come.
"You're more helpful to me alive than dead." The Nightingale resumed walking. "So I might as well make sure you stay that way." Hadvar shrugged and went back to observing his surroundings. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so he just started walking. Unlike the route the Nightingale took, Hadvar blundered straight towards the center of the circular courtyard.
Within moments of walking around, the claw in Hadvar's hand began to glow. Hadvar didn't know what to do, so he simply stared at the ornament like a confused puppy. The Nightingale walked over and gently took the icy claw from the commander's hands, placing it into a crevice in the wall. The wall glowed as an ear-piercing pitch rang throughout the ruin. The sound grew higher and higher as Hadvar quickly realized what was about to happen. Without thinking, he tackled the Nightingale to the ground, letting his heavy armor protect the both of them. The wall erupted into flying rubble, raining down on the two. The Nightingale scrambled out of Hadvar's grasp as soon as the rain of rock had finished.
"You okay?" Hadvar asked as he rolled his shoulders, making sure they weren't dislocated.
"I-I'm fine." The Nightingale replied, her voice shaking and directed more to herself than the commander. Her back was to Hadvar, but he could still see her wringing her hands. "You?" Hadvar gave a silent nod. He gazed at where the wall once was.
"I guess we now know how it works." Hadvar said, looking at the underground staircase. The Nightingale numbly nodded, still reeling from whatever was bothering her. She shook it off, instead deciding to concentrate on the newly discovered staircase.
"We should be the first ones here." The master thief began to descend down the stairs. "But stay alert just in case." Hadvar nodded as he followed the Nightingale down the stairs.
The spiral staircase quickly descended into darkness. Hadvar lit a torch, but the Nightingale was quick to avoid its light. The staircase led to a long corridor followed by a circular chamber, lit with a kind of purple glow. On a stand in the center of the chamber stood an odd altar. Hadvar walked closer to get a better look.
"Is that… a bone?" Hadvar wondered aloud, gazing at the massive hunk of marrow. The Nightingale vaporized out of the shadows to join him at the altar.
"It looks like it." The master thief responded, leaning in to examine the object more closely. "Whatever this belonged to must have been huge."
"But why is something like this down here?" Hadvar asked. "I mean, the architects who built the claw and this place seemed Oblivion bent on hiding this chamber so well."
"I have no clue." The Nightingale cocked her ebony-cloaked head. "Do you think it belonged to our mystery creature?" Hadvar chuckled.
"If it did, then I don't think we need to worry much about it." The commander figured this creature must be very, very dead by now.
"Well, there is this little thing called necromancy." The Nightingale quipped back, moving to examine the nearby candles. "So don't go ruling out the dead."
Hadvar opened his mouth to speak, but was instantly cut off. An ebony hand wrapped around his mouth as the Nightingale dragged him and all his heavy armor into a corner.
"Someone's coming." The Nightingale hissed. Hadvar listened. Only after several seconds did he make out the ever so faint footsteps. How the Nightingale heard that before he did was beyond him. Several more seconds of waiting produced a tall man in black robes. Very familiar black robes. Ones with gold embroidery.
With a crooked smile, Aincatar turned to face the shadows.
"I know you're there." The Thalmor said. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." Hadvar was about to move, but the Nightingale held him down. Aincatar waited patiently before walking up to the altar and picking up the bone. "Well." Aincatar continued. "If you won't come out, Nightingale, then I guess you don't mind me taking this." Aincatar turned to leave, but came face to face with Hadvar.
"Where do you think you're going with that?" The hulking Nord asked. Aincatar flashed a toothy smile. The Altmer reached for his dragonbone dagger when the Nightingale shot out of the shadows and tackled him to the ground. The master thief scrambled off the man as quickly as she had attacked him, placing herself between the Altmer and Hadvar. Aincatar looked between the two.
"I should have known you'd follow us, Aincatar." The Nightingale growled. The Thalmor agent tsked.
"That's a rather uncommon mistake for you, little birdy." Aincatar said as he straightened himself back up. "You're usually far more vigilant than this. Could it be that you're slightly...distracted?" The Thalmor's eyes moved to Hadvar. The Nightingale visibly stiffened.
"Leave him alone." The master thief said, placing a protective arm in front of Hadvar. "He's not a part of this."
"That's where you're wrong, girl." Aincatar replied. "You made him a part of this. That commander was integral to our little war ever since you tipped him off. You let your feelings cloud your judgement, Nightingale. Don't think I didn't notice." Hadvar was very confused. Clearly there was something about their situation that he didn't know. He looked closer at Aincatar. There was something...off about him. Something he hadn't noticed before. But he couldn't figure out exactly what.
"Ahem." The commander said, clearing his throat. "Does someone want to clue me in?"
"I'll tell you later." The Nightingale snapped back. "Now's not the time. Right now we need to stop Aincatar from making off with that bone."
"Right." Hadvar said, drawing his sword. "I trust you. Whatever that elf plans on doing with that can't be good."
"'This elf' has intentions low-borns such as yourselves can't possibly fathom." Aincatar replied, crossing his arms.
"I think I very much understand." The Nightingale responded, drawing her two swords. "How about we start with the fact you're a servitor of Mannimarco?" Aincatar looked back at the Nightingale. "And then there's your, well, Stormcloak ties. Don't go thinking I don't know about that." Aincatar took a step back, eyeing the both of them.
"So I guess you won't just let me walk off." The Altmer said, sighing. "Well, sweetheart, it's been a good chase. But you have a certain Key I need, and you're in my way." Aincatar swung his dagger through where the Nightingale was, but the thief had already activated her Shadowcloak and dove out of harm's way. The dagger harmlessly bounced off of Hadvar's heavy Imperial armor. The commander's quick shield bash knocked the Altmer against the wall as Hadvar drew his sword. The hulking Nord drove his blade through the Altmer's heart, pinning his body to the wooden support in the wall. Aincatar let out a cry and Hadvar looked up to find dead eyes. Hadvar let out a breath and stepped back, figuring Aincatar was dead.
But the elf's eyes fluttered back to life.
In one fluid motion, the Thalmor drew the Imperial sword out of his chest and used it to knock down an invisible Nightingale. Aincatar raised his other hand at the commander and a massive force of magicka slammed into Hadvar's chest. The force of the impact sent Hadvar flying into the wall behind him. Part of the wall crumbled, pinning him in place. Aincatar charged a shock spell in his hands, with the clear intent of hitting the commander full force. Hadvar closed his eyes and heard the roar of shock magic and a cry, but he felt no pain. The cackle stopped and Hadvar cracked his eyes open in time to see the Nightingale fall to her knees in front of him, panting. Did she take the entire blow for me? Hadvar wondered. Why? I thought she only cared for herself. His thoughts were interrupted by Aincatar's cackle.
"I thought so." He said to the fabled thief. "The stone-cold Nightingale has a soft spot for the commander." Aincatar stepped closer, but the Nightingale couldn't move. He turned to Hadvar. "Any idea why?" Hadvar remained silent. Aincatar's face broke into a sadistic grin. "You honestly don't know." He said. "After all this time traveling with her, you still have no idea who she is. Well then, let me show you." Aincatar grabbed the Nightingale's hood and tore it off. He kicked the woman in the chin, sending her falling onto her back and looking straight at Hadvar.
He recognized her instantly. Hadvar had seen that face a thousand times: those perfectly rounded lips, her black-as-night hair, that nearly flawless skin. Hadvar could only think of one name.
"Anali?"