Author's Note:
I'm assuming it takes a bit for the Forsworn King to hear word of things, decide what to do, and get a message out. And if you remember, I was making Skyrim and cities a lot bigger so even though there are only nine agents not imprisoned, there should honestly be more in a larger city. In other words, I'm adding another Forsworn agent.
I'm also assuming the bulk of the Forsworn are extremely organized and not as careless as Weylin (who leaves his dead drop orders in his personal chest? Wouldn't you burn it or something so people can't trace things back to your leaders? I'm sure there's a protocol for that).
Also, wouldn't it make sense for a curfew to be instated for Markarth in response to the Forsworn threat? Yes, the conspiracy; but again, I don't think Jarl Igmund is in on it because the quest does not implicate him.
Since Hreinn is very... naive (he asks why his mother and father fight and if he'll have to "talk loudly" with his own wife) and both he and his sister look fairly young, I am going to make them approximately in their late teens.
Chapter Ten
"Ow! Stop! That hurts!" The blonde boy continued to raise the shaft of his greataxe to prevent the two maces from smashing in his face.
His assailant did not stop her onslaught; if anything, it only infuriated her even more. She increased her pace, swinging wildly at the boy and releasing her pent up frustrations. Her victim struggled to match her speed and his hold on his weapon slowly began to weaken. Suddenly, the girl threw a side kick into the boy's stomach, knocking him to the ground.
Air escaped the boy's lungs and he stared up at the red, twilight sky. The pair's shoulders rose and fell with each intake of breath, the ridge now silent from the absence of their combat. Finally, the boy pushed himself into a sitting position and glared at his companion. "That's no fair!"
The brunette sheathed her weapons. "I doubt the Forsworn will fight fair, Hroar. You must be prepared." Ignoring the boy's grumbling, Runa turned her head up and sighed. They had been out longer than she had realized; night would be upon them soon and she did not wish to find themselves locked out of the city gates. "Come, we must make haste." She did not wait for a response. Instead, she raced off the ridge and hurried past the stables.
A few of Banning's hounds barked once, announcing the newcomers' presence to their master. The young man simply waved once at the pair and Runa politely returned the gesture. Rubbing her upper arms for warmth as the temperature began to drop, Runa's thoughts diverted to the dismal state of their equipment.
The leather straps securing their armor to themselves needed replacement. The flanges on the heads of her maces had grown dull from seasons of smashing into animal skulls and the armor of her companions from sparring. Even Hroar's leather grip on his iron greataxe was beginning to fray. Deep, long gouges dug into their matching iron breastplates where bears and blades had tried to rend them in two.
Runa smiled at the memory of Hroar insisting everyone in the group have matching sets of armor. At first, he required everyone to wear iron armor; but Sofie's lack of endurance and Alesan's agility proved light armor was also required. Still, the Nord got his way: whether it was cut from leather or forged from iron, he demanded the nine of them have the two blades of Riften embossed or engraved on their chest. Aventus had vehemently disagreed, insisting their worst memories were in Riften. Hroar's rebuttal was to remind him Riften was the city in which they had all met. Sam demonstrated his leadership and offered a compromise: two downward blades crossing, an inversion of the Riften sigil. No one could argue with his suggestion.
The girl sighed to herself and she wished the boy could be with her now to help guide her; she knew Sam would always lead her down the right path. For now, however, she was resigned to pursuing revenge against the Forsworn. Once they could no longer harm the ones she cared for, then could she search for the others. Runa and Hroar bounded up the stairs to the gates and nodded to the guards just as the red sky shifted to pink and periwinkle.
"Cutting it close," one of them said before pounding his fist against the metal door. "You best arrive earlier next time. Not all who wear this armor are as... sympathetic."
"I apologize, sir. It will not happen again." Runa reassured as the city was opened. The pair hurried into the Silver-Blood Inn, not wanting to receive a reprimand from a patrolling guard for venturing out during dusk. Smoke and the mixed stench of burnt venison, ale, and body odor filled her nostrils. Her lip curled up with disgust, yet they had no choice but to enter: Uthane had already paid for their meals and beds for yet another week.
"Welcome to the Silver-Blood Inn," the young man with dirty blonde hair smiled at Runa as he continued to sweep dirt and bits of broken glass across the floor. Runa politely smiled at the innkeeper's son and searched for the Bretons. "Is there something I can help you with, Runa?"
Eyes scanning the room, Runa craned her neck and shifted her weight from foot to foot in an attempt to get a better view. "Have the mages from High Rock arrived?"
Hreinn leaned closer to the girl and pointed a finger towards the back of the room, his arm extending in front of her. Runa followed the direction he was pointing to and smiled once again at the older boy. "Thank you, Hreinn."
The seven mages were seated before the fire pit, eating and, unlike the rest of the inn, in complete silence. Andoryan's eyes were already upon them and, grinning, he waved them over. The pair of Nords shuffled past the innkeeper's son before almost running into the woman who had been attacked by Forsworn the week before. Muttering an "Excuse me", Runa led Hroar past the woman, a huge Nordic mercenary, the elderly bard, and the terrifying meat merchant.
As they finally approached the fire, Andoryan greeted them. "It warms my heart to see you once again, Miss Fair-Shield."
It took the entirety of Runa's self-control to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She had grown tired of the "formalities" and simply wished the older boy would speak to her like a normal person. "Yes, we have returned." It was only in that moment Runa noted the way the senior mages had seated themselves slightly apart from the Restoration and Mysticism mages and the two Nordic teens. The elders exchanged words in hushed tones, just low enough so the other four could hear their voices but were unable to make out distinct words.
The innkeeper's daughter hurried over, arms laden with several plates heaped with cuts of beef and pork. She set the plates before Hroar and the boy eagerly snatched them from her hands, stuffing his cheeks full of meat. The young woman turned away to hide her smile as the blonde teen released a muffled, "Thank you!"
"I will return shortly with yours, miss." she assured, placing a hand on Runa's shoulder. Nodding in response, the girl smirked; she was too preoccupied silently counting the other girl's stares directed at her companion.
"I could not help but notice," Andoryan spoke up as he swirled brandy around in his goblet, "the innkeeper's son, he seems to have taken a liking to you." He drank and his tone had been calm, yet the way he stared at her over the rim of his glass made Runa uneasy.
From the way Vyctyn's ears perked up, Runa knew she would be listening intently to the conversation that would inevitably follow. The brunette simply shrugged. "We have been lodging here for a week, and, by now, he surely knows who I am."
"Were the two of you..." he paused, seemingly searching for a word, "close when you lived here?" The long-haired blonde locked eyes with Runa.
The girl did not understand why any of it mattered. "Not particularly. I would see him in passing when he and his sister were sent out by their mother to fetch something from the market, but they never ventured out of the inn. They were always working."
Hreinn's sister, Hroki, presented a bowl of mushroom and venison stew alongside a mug of green tea to the girl. Runa thanked her and accepted her favorite meal from the barmaid. The older girl placed a tankard of water on a stool in front of Hroar and offered a smile before rushing away to answer another patron's request.
"And they still are," Runa stated. The Restoration mage grimaced but returned to his food. Ignoring his strange behavior, Runa leaned forward to ask a question to the other mages, though she kept her voice low to avoid any unwanted attention, "Have we made any progress with our... mutual friends?"
To Runa's surprise, Vyctyn replied. "The locals refuse to speak with us." She nibbled on a quail's leg before continuing. "Not even the woman who was attacked in the market will offer a word to us." The brunette glanced at the Nordic woman sitting alone in a corner. The Forsworn were a menace, yet no one agreed to talk. How could they expect things to change if they refused to cooperate?
After another hour of conversing, the group was ready to turn in for the day: women in one room, men in the other. Runa had been skeptical at first, both unsure of how four women could fit into a single room and afraid Vyctyn would smother her in her sleep. Nevertheless, the innovation of mages surprised her. Between Vyctyn and Elayne, the tiny, single bed room had been transformed into a large suite divided into four compartments. If Runa had been told she would thank Vyctyn that first night in Markarth, the Nord would have laughed.
The four women entered their room and retired for the night.
Runa's eyes snapped open, the last tendrils of her dream fading away from her mind. Her heart pounded in her chest and her hands flew to her maces. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pulled on her boots as quickly and quietly as she could. Gathering her equipment, she crept out of her chamber and peered into the adjacent, doorless rooms. Gwynolda laid in her bed, asleep.
The brunette took a step back to look into the Illusion mage's room, when she bumped into something behind her. Hand closing over the grip of her mace, she whirled around and swung at the presence behind her. A flash of green washed over her and she froze in place, unable to move. Runa came face to face with the presence, but her arm remained fixed in its mid-swing position.
Vyctyn's gray eyes stared at Runa and blinked in surprise. "You are in luck, Vyctyn," Elayne's voice whispered. "If I had been any slower, you would no longer have a head." The mage in green robes waved her hand and Runa dropped her arm from beside the Mysticism mage's head to Runa's side.
"What is occurring?" Runa hissed, her nerves still on edge.
Entering the sleeping woman's chambers, Elayne allowed Vyctyn to elaborate. "I have detected a stranger just outside the men's door. From their movements, I have determined they are attempting to enter their room."
Runa felt the blood drain from her face. She dashed to the door, keeping her steps just as silent as she would if she had been hunting. She hefted her mace in her hand and Elayne whispered in her ear. "He has just entered their room, we must make haste!" Another flash, this time of blue, appeared and the creaky, wooden door opened without a sound.
The four women darted out of the room, into the candlelit hall, and sprinted silently into their companions' room. A spark of violet adjusted Runa's vision to see in the small, dark room and her eyes immediately locked onto a figure crouched over a sleeping form. She charged forward and cracked her mace against the intruder's head.
As he fell to the ground, she raised her weapon above her head to strike again but she once again found herself paralyzed. The men in the room leapt to their feet at the struggle... all except Perynak, the Alchemist. He remained still in his bed, a flow of blood gushing from his open throat.
Gwynolda cried out in shock and grief, Andoryan rushed to the man's side but Uthane stopped him. The eldest Breton shook his head at the youngest. Everyone's eyes drifted to the petrified man on the floor. "Tend to his wounds, Andoryan." the lead mage ordered.
"Perynak..." the Destruction mage whispered as the mage in white stooped down beside the intruder.
"There is nothing we can do for him." Uthane concluded.
Elayne placed a hand on the Alteration mage's forearm. "He must be buried."
The man looked from the attacker to his fallen friend. "Gwynolda, Edwistair, Hroar, would you please take Perynak outside the city gates to be read his last rights?" The mages nodded while Hroar stared at the corpse in shock. "Elayne, if you would please." Edwistair motioned to the Nord and the pair lifted the Alchemist off of the bed.
Waving her hands, the Illusion mage concentrated for a moment before the group disappeared from view. After a few moments, the door closed. "Where should we take him?" Elayne asked, her eyes burning with ferocity.
"To the authorities, of course," Andoryan looked up, "Where else might you suggest?"
"We have been met with nothing but opposition since we began asking questions." Vyctyn reminded her colleague.
Uthane nodded. "We cannot go to the authorities. Even if we did, he would be locked up in Cidnha mine and we would be unable to question him. We must take him to a discrete location for questioning."
"Vlindrel," the brunette stated before she realized she had spoken. The four mages surrounding her stared. "It is abandoned. If we are followed, Vyctyn can detect them and Elayne can ensure our escape."
The Alteration mage blinked in approval. "I find your logic sound." Vyctyn cast a pink spell at the frozen man and he was lifted into the air. Uthane stood at the front, followed by the paralyzed man, Elayne, Vyctyn, Runa, and Andoryan. Each able to move placed their hands on the previous' right shoulder, save the paralyzed man who floated above the short Illusion mage. She raised a hand and everyone disappeared.
Runa felt Vyctyn begin to walk forward and she followed. Their footsteps fell silent upon the inn's stone floor and the group strode out and into the city beneath the midnight moon. The group hurried quickly up the steps, causing Runa to almost trip several times due to her inability to spy her own feet. She was forced to adapt quickly, however, as they avoided patrolling guards by stepping out of the way and waiting patiently. Finally, they arrived at Vlindrel Hall. A golden blaze came into Runa's vision and the door swung open. Soon, they were all surrounded by cobwebs and a vacant stone abode.
As Uthane cast an orb of light into the room and the others prepared the empty kitchen for the interrogation, Runa slowly walked around the place she once called home. Everything was gone: the dining table, the chairs, her mother's library, her father's armory, even the handwoven tapestries she had watched her mother make over the years. The only things present were cobwebs, abandoned by their weavers.
"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!" an enraged voice echoed off the walls. Runa returned to the front of the empty house and took a good look at the Forsworn agent. Like all Forsworn, he was a Breton. Dark hair fell down to his clean shaven chin and his pale green eyes stared defiantly up at Uthane. He looked rather strange, standing motionless before the older man yet his head and mouth moved freely. He spat in the man's face, almost daring him to strike him.
"Who commanded you to slay us?" Uthane asked calmly.
"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!"
"Who commanded you to-"
"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!"
"Who -"
"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!"
Runa was beginning to doubt the man understood anything other than the six word phrase he screamed continuously. Uthane sighed and nodded to Elayne. The woman raised a hand and the man's eyes became shrouded in fear.
"Who commanded you to slay us?" the Alteration mage repeated.
"Red Eagle will rise again," the man chanted in fear, his eyes darting around as if he were surrounded by some terrible beasts. "and all who stand in his path shall perish! But he will spare the loyal!"
The girl grew irritated at the man's ranting and raving. They needed answers. She strode forward, her iron gloved hand clenched into a fist. Andoryan pulled her back as she approached. "Hold." he insisted.
"Who commanded you?"
"Red Eagle! Red Eagle!"
"Trouble." the redhead announced. Elayne paralyzed the screaming man once more and the group fell back in line, descending into darkness as Uthane cut out his light.
The metal doors swung inward, revealing the "trouble" Vyctyn described as several Markarth guards. The men and women brandished torches and stormed into the empty hall. Runa suppressed a sigh of relief after she found she could not see the Mysticism mage's red hair nor her own hand on her shoulder. Rushing forward, the group dodged and weaved between the newcomers. Once again, their movements were silent and the line was careful not to come into contact with the guards. They may have been invisible, but that did not mean they were intangible: one brush against a guard's shoulder would certainly guarantee capture.
As they bounded down the steps, Runa whispered into Vyctyn's ear, "Could you not levitate us out of the city to meet with the others?" She stepped hastily yet carefully, knowing if she fell she would bring down the entire line.
The redhead murmured in return, "I cannot. Only immobile objects may be moved by way of telekinesis." Runa rolled her eyes. Mages and their rules.
By the light of the moon, the group strode to the ramparts of the city gates. The girl peered over the side of the wall, down to the stables below. It was not the worst fall she could encounter, but it was not one she would like to experience.
"Uthane says we must walk off the side of the wall." Vyctyn whispered to Runa.
"I am not -"
"There is no other choice." There was not time for Runa to protest as Vyctyn surged forward and Andoryan pushed her from behind. The girl's eyes widened and she opened her mouth in a silent scream... before she found herself walking on air.
"How!?" she hissed to the redhead.
From the tone of her high-pitched voice, Runa could tell Vyctyn was smirking at her. "Uthane applied his theory on water walking to air." They walked over and around the stables to a clearing nestled in the rocks to the northeast of the city. They found Edwistair commanding several skeletons to fill a hole with dirt.
Elayne released her invisibility spell and Uthane landed the group and their prisoner before their comrades. "We are unable to return to Markarth." he began.
As he explained the situation to the rest of the group, the Illusion mage glanced up at the sky. "It is time to rest, we will need it tomorrow." She glanced at Edwistair and the Conjuration mage quickly assembled a ring of nine tents around a fire pit. After a moment, he realized his mistake and removed a tent.
Runa sighed, unsure of how she could help the mages cope with their loss. Deciding there was nothing she could do, the girl crawled into a tent and tried to sleep. She laid herself on her back and stared up at the point in her tent. Allowing her mind to wander, she began to wonder why the guards would search for them. If they truly did want aid in the fight against the Forsworn... then it hit her.
Perhaps the guards did not want aid. But why? The Forsworn were responsible for disappearances and murders. It made no sense to Runa. She sighed and shook her head, knowing that if she continued upon the trail of thought she would never sleep. Instead, she closed her eyes and began to remember the days she and Sam and Hroar would laugh and spar.
She remembered Sam's blue eyes and brown hair and that stupid, crooked grin that crossed his face whenever he had done something foolish. Runa smiled and shook her head again. Her breathing began to slow and she felt herself drifting off into sleep. A hand clamped over her mouth and her eyes snapped open. She released a scream of terror before her world turned to black.
Hey guys, sorry, I know it's late. Parents have said we have financial issues so I've been applying to get a second job. I hope I can continue to post twice a week; but if things get crazy, I'll probably have to reduce it to once a week (like this week). I'm not abandoning it, life is just getting in the way of writing as much as I would like.
Again, sorry guys.
Thanks for reading, though! I really appreciate it!