Here's chapter 14, enjoy :)

disclaimer: I don't own a thing

::Steve's POV::

The shopkeeper only had seven-hundred fifty coins and apparently, our gems were we ranged at total of ten-thousand coins in worth, which is a lot. More than enough to pay off the house. The shopkeeper agreed to give us his seven-hundred coins for a couple of gems. Then Kevin payed the builders some of the fee.

Bame and Cain have been gone for three days. I have no idea when they'll be back, but I need Bame here to figure out what exactly the Dark Brotherhood is and what we should expect from them as a retaliation.

"Steve, shouldn't we ask Vilkas about the Dark Brotherhood?" Jon asked me.

"Oh yeah, he probably knows something about them." Jon, Kevin and I walked behind Jorrvaskr and sure enough, there was Vilkas swinging his sword in the courtyard. I don't know if I should interrupt his little session or not.. Well, assassins are trying to kill us so I think it is necessary. "Vilkas, we need to talk to you." He stopped waving his sword and glanced at us.

"What do you need?" He asked in a serious tone as he walked up to us with his giant sword still in his hand. He was one handing this giant sword.. Yeah one hand for me wouldn't work for that giant blade.

"Can you tell us stuff about the Dark Brotherhood?" His eyes widened and he glanced around at us three.

"Why? What happened?"

"We got attacked by two of their assassins." He raised both his brows and walked a little closer.

"By Ysmir, and you took them out?" He asked in an amazed fashion.

"Yeah, it was hard, but we did."

"Shor's bones. Alright, come take a seat." He restlessly motioned us to follow him to the patio and we followed him. We sat down next to the old man and Vilkas sat in front of me. "Tell us what happened."

I glanced at Jon and took a deep breath. "Well, Jon and I were at the plot of land the Jarl gave us and these two hooded guys came up and tried to kill us. One of them almost did but," I looked at Jon and grimaced, "his head exploded."

"Exploded? How?" Vilkas leaned in towards me with all his focused attention.

"I'd rather not say, but if you need to know, I stabbed him in the throat and used my electrical powers to overload his head, which made it explode." I placed my elbows on the table. "Interesting I know, but I'd like to know who they are."

The old man cleared his throat. "A dishonorable group of assassins they do the.. 'Night Mother's' biddings. They take contracts from civilians and kill who is written on the paper."

"Who is the 'Night Mother'?"

"Not really sure, but I know she tells her Listener who needs to be killed. She's might as well be a Daedra." Gosh I wish I knew these dumb Skyrim terms! What is a Daedra?!

"What do you think they are going to do when they find out we killed two of their guys?"

"They will try to avenge them." Oh God, this is worse than I thought. "Don't worry boys, we won't let those bastards get their shadowy fingers on ya." The three of us chuckled lightly. The old man was always good at reassuring.

"Can't we kill them?" Jon suddenly asked out of the blue. "I mean, I don't want to keep an eye on my ass for the rest of my life." Geez, Jon is getting a little dark. Kodlak and Vilkas glanced over at each other and shrugged.

"We could, but I wouldn't know where to start looking," the old man said.

"I think I know where their place is. Isn't it in Falkreath?" Jon placed his elbows on the table and folded his hands.

"I wouldn't know, how do you know that for a fact?" Jon glanced around at us and shrugged.

"Bame told me." Obviously. Who else would?

"Alright. We can send a courier to Bame as soon as we know where he is to tell him to be on edge. I'll tell the rest of the Companions the news."

"You don't have to do that Kodlak," I replied to him. He gave a low grunt and smirked.

"No, I must. You five are Companions, and no Shield-Brothers are left behind."

"Thanks Kodlak, we really appreciate your guys' help." Seems like we have war. How many people we have, I don't think they will stand a chance. "Wait, how many of there?"

"Can't be sure. I know the leader is a woman by the name Astrid, but when it comes to this secret 'organization', there can't be too many."

::Bame's POV::

Septimus is actually a really creepy dude. It looked like he hasn't slept in weeks. Well, quite understandable knowing that Hermaeus Mora had him enslaved.

Well, we're back in Winterhold. This place is fucking colder than they say it is! Then again, Nords are the ones saying it. Lydia has been relatively quiet about all this, but I guess that's what she's been trained to do as a housecarl.

"Hey Lydia, you want to take a rest here for the night or go on to the crypt and get the Elder Scroll?"

"That's your decision my thane, I'll do either one." She needs to understand that she is allowed to call me by my name. She looked off at the road and rested her hands on her thighs.

"Lydia, you are allowed to call me Bame. I insist that you do. And we are in this together, I'm good to move on, but I need to know if you are able or if you need a rest." She smiled and looked back up at me.

"I'm ready to go then, Bame."

"You sure?" I rested a hand on her shoulder. She smiled a little more and nodded.

"I'm sure."

"Okay. Lets hit the road then." The two of us started on the road to the Dwemer ruins. It was roughly ten or eleven miles away from Winterhold, ugh.

As we were walking in the road, I noticed the Shrine of Azura on the top of the mountain. Very faint, but I could see it. Suddenly I saw a man running towards me and I placed a hand on my war axe. "Whoa hold there man."

He put his hands up. "I mean no harm. I have a message for you from Whiterun, here." He passed me the note. "Alright, that's it. Gotta go!" Without looking at me again, he sprinted off towards Winterhold, probably delivering more mail or whatever.

"From Whiterun? Is it my father?" I opened the note.

'Bame, it comes to my attention that the Dark Brotherhood has a bounty on your head along with your friends. Steve and Jon were in a fight with two of the assassins. Don't worry, they're fine and they killed the assassins. Problem is, the Dark Brotherhood will most likely retaliate due the losses of their fallen comrades. Watch your back out there and come back to Whiterun as soon as you can. We are planning to strike but to do so, we need you here to help. Until then, be on edge.

-Kodlak White-Mane'

Holy shit, the Dark Brotherhood is after us.. "Lydia, we are going to have to keep our guard up. Kodlak said that the Dark Brotherhood is after us."

She sighed and glanced around quickly. "By the nine! What are we going to do?"

"Nothing for now, our priority now is the Elder Scroll. Then we'll take care of those dark thugs. C'mon, lets get to the crypt." We both pushed on the road to the ruin.

::Cain's POV::

This is awesome, three words to the whirlwind sprint. I've been using this shout all the way down the stairs of High Hrothgar. It actually made my trip like five times faster.

So here I am at Helgen, the place I could of got my head cut off if not for Bame. This place is pretty busted up. I can see that this place got looted by bandits pretty bad. I should probably get out of here before some criminal sees me or something.

The road to uh, Riverwood isn't that bad I guess, except the fact that it's raining. I hate rain, and it's not helping me with this green heavy armor! Whatever, Whiterun should be less than five miles from here. I'd probably get there just before dusk.

Whoa, where did these wolves come from? Two wolves seriously came out of nowhere and they are trying to surround me. "Hey there, doggies. I don't wanna hurt you-" both wolves snarled and barked at me. "Fine, your funerals," I took a deep breath, "Fus.. Ro.. Dah!" The wolves rocketed backwards on the road. One of them had its head jammed into a cliff with extreme force making it lay there motionless. The other one staggered to its feet, glanced at me and scurried away into the woods. "Stupid wolves."

I continued walking on the road and finally arrived in Riverwood. The people of the town were just trying get along their simple lives. Seems peaceful here, I don't understand why Farengar called it a miserable town. Everyone here seemed kinda nice and laid back, except for the person in the inn that always plays his flute and guitar-like instrument. He was pretty cocky last time I remember.

All the peacefulness instantly faded when my gaze laid onto this weird hooded person. Standing on the porch of the inn with her hands folded together, she won't stop looking at me. Her face is covered by her hood, damn it. This is pretty sketchy.

Suddenly, a dog brushed past my leg and I staggered back a couple steps. "Whoa what the..?" The dog stopped, looked up at me and barked happily.

"Oh I'm sorry sir, he didn't mean it, he just wants to play," a young boy cried up at me with a concerned look.

I smirked and shook my head. "Oh nah it's perfectly fine. Don't worry bout it man." I patted his shoulder and he smirked.

"Alright, see you later. C'mon boy!" The dog gave a friendly bark and followed the boy down the street. I glanced back over to the porch and the hooded woman was gone. Holy shit..

I quickly looked around the town and she was nowhere in sight. Well... Time to go! I literally started sprinting out of the town towards Whiterun. What the hell is going on? And screw the roads, I'm not going to stay on the roads and get ambushed by some dark hooded assassin or whatever!

Finally I made it out of the woods and I can clearly see the city on the mini-mountain. I glanced back behind me to see if she followed me, no sign. Suddenly, I heard a twig break in front of me and I drew my sword out. "Hey, whoever you are, stay away! I don't want trouble!"

"Then you should of thought of that before you killed two of my brothers.." A malicious feminine voice echoed through the air, almost like she's in front of me! Suddenly my sword flew out of hand and I was pushed to the ground. I tried getting back up but I was pinned down.

Then out of the clear blue, the woman appeared on top of me like she was invisible! "What the fuck? Who are.. You?" Her blade was on the soft skin of my neck and I couldn't move or else she'd slice my neck open.

"I just had to see you for myself. Are you this mighty Bame?" Her voice was calm, but in a very dark tone. Her dark brown eyes glared into my very soul.

"No! I am not! What do you want with me?" She chuckled and pushed down her hood. She was light skinned and had blonde hair. Her smile was just beyond demented, almost bloodthirsty look on it.

"Oh you aren't. You must be a friend of his, right?" She pushed her knee down harder on my chest and I couldn't help but give out a painful grunt. Fucking bitch.. Ugh.. "That's what I thought." She looked behind her and saw a blue butterfly on a flower. She swiftly snapped at it and pulled off its wings. "I gotta better idea, than to just kill you like this." She took the edge of her blade and rubbed the wings on the sharp part. Then she took out a small container and poured a couple drops on to her blade. "Let me test your immunity." She took ahold of my arm and slit the middle of my palm. Almost instantly I felt a sudden shock take over my body and I she let go. She got to her feet and looked down at me. "Enjoy." She took another potion, drank it, and she was gone again.

Ah fuck, my vision is becoming obscure and I could barely get to my feet. I could barely feel my hands or my legs. It was hard breathing. I fell to my knees and looked up at the blurry city less than half a mile away. "Gotta.. get.. to.. them.." My eyes flickered on and off. My balance was way off, my arms felt like jelly, my head felt like it was going to explode. I could barely breath. I must use whirlwind sprint.. "Wuld... Nah.. Kest.."

Instantly, my body flung forward and my body rolled almost a hundred fifty feet. Suddenly I heard footsteps running toward me. "Hey are you alright?" I barely opened my eyes and saw an elf. His mouth moved again but I couldn't hear him say anything. Then everything went black.

...

"...Cain...Cain..." I felt so queazy and my head was throbbing. I knew that voice. "...Cain... Are you up...?" I tried opening my eyes but everything was blurry, but I did see that reddish lights were flowing in the air around me. "Cain?" The voice started coming in clearer. My vision was starting to clear up very slowly, but I still couldn't see the person. "He seems to be getting better."

"W-where am I..?" My voice was extremely shaky. I swayed my head around and noticed five figures surrounding me.

"Temple of Kynareth. You've been out for two days." My vision cleared up and Steve was standing next to me. "What happened to you?"

"Some.. Some woman poisoned me and left me to die." His eyes widened and he glanced over to his brother.

"What was she wearing?"

"Dark hood, black clothes. Seemed like she was an assassin.."

"Oh God.. They are retaliating.." Retaliating? Who? Why? What happened?

"What's going on?"

"These assassins are trying to kill because we killed two of their guys even though they were the ones they going to kill us."

"Oh my God.." I glanced around the room and noticed the elf I saw before I blacked out sitting in chair behind everyone. "Are you..?" He smirked and got to his feet.

"If I remember correctly, you shouted and you rolled around on the ground on the road. I helped get you up here." He reached out a hand. "I'm Faendel, of Riverwood. Nice to meet you."

I reached out my hand and shook his. "Cain. Thanks for saving my life." He nodded and smiled wider.

"No problem." I noticed the bow on his back and a bunch of arrows. I'm assuming that he's a hunter. He glanced around at the twins and Jon. "You fellas seem like you need help with something. So who are these assassins?"

Steve scratched his head and looked over at Jon. "The Dark Brotherhood. We are pretty much in a war with them."

"Shit.. Well," he paused and scratched his head, "I guess I could help. Is it just you four against all of them?"

Steve shook his head. "Oh no, the Companions are helping us as well. And we have a big guy with us who I think knows a lot about them. Once he gets back, we are going to plan a counterattack."

He nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright then. I can help I guess. Besides, I never liked those killers anyways."

"Thanks a lot, can I get your name again?" Steve asked as he led out a hand.

"Faendel," he shook his hand. "And you?"

"I'm Steve." He pointed at Kevin and Jon. "Kevin and Jon."

I exhaled a large breath and moved my feet onto the ground. Instantly, Steve tried to stop me. "Whoa there Cain, I don't think you are ready to get up yet."

"I'll be fine. I've been out for two days and I'm not about to go onto my third." My back is gone from this horrible excuse of a bed. I twisted my back and pretty much cracked everything. "Ahh, that's better."

Steve smiled. "Geez Cain, how'd that feel?"

"Spectacular," I simply replied. I got to my feet and tested my balance. I looked over at the priestess. "I'm not feeling any pain, do you think it's alright I move around?"

"Well, sir you are Thane of Whiterun. We gave you the best medicines we had and it looks like they did their duty pretty well. So yeah, I guess so, but you should stay calm for the next couple of days just to heal up."

"Alright, thanks miss." She humbly smiled and moved on to the next patient. I gazed back to Steve. "Is Bame back?"

"Not that I know of. Why isn't he with you?"

"He said he had to go get the Elder Scroll in order for me to defeat this black dragon, Alduin. Supposedly, it's my destiny."

"Oh okay then. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"No idea, but I'd think he would be back pretty soon."

::Bame's POV::

This Elder Scroll is fucking heavy. And it only took us almost a whole day to get it! Whatever, at least we got it.

Lydia and I just passed the giant camp north of Whiterun. I could very faintly see that our house was either close to being done or just about done. That was pretty quick. I hope Cain got back to Whiterun in one piece.

We approached the northern checkpoint and guards stopped us. "Halt, what is your business in Whiterun?" The guard's tone faded when he realized that Lydia was standing behind me.

"Hey it's alright guys, I'm the new Thane."

"Oh I'm sorry sir. Carry on." The guard looked away. I patted him on the shoulder and continued on. The house was pretty much done, but the builders looked like they are making sure things are in order.

"Are you Bame?" On of the builders called down from the rooftop.

"Yeah, is there something wrong?"

"Your fellas need to talk to you as soon as you can, hurry on to the city." He went back to pounding away on the roof.

"Alright." I looked over to Lydia and she shrugged. "Lydia I gotta ask you something."

"Yeah, what do you want to know?" Her voice was reassuring and sincere.

"I need to know if you are alright with going to war with the Dark Brotherhood. If you do not want to do this, I won't think less of you. This is a very dangerous situation and I don't want you to lose your life just for the sake of mine." I placed a hand on her shoulder. She hesitated and looked away.

"I mean, it's my duty to protect you, Bame." She turned her head back to me. "I am scared, but if you get killed, I will never forgive myself knowing that I could of been there to prevent that." She leaned in and wrapped her arms around me. "You saved my life on many occasions. And I need to repay my debt to you." I wrapped my arms around her and smiled.

"You don't have to repay me with anything, Lydia. I didn't save you so you can repay me back, I saved you so you can live." She looked up at me with a smile.

"Thank you," she whispered. She leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm going to help out."

"Okay. Please just stay near me when the fighting actually starts." I kissed her on the top of the head. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Lydia. That's what I'm afraid of.." She leaned back away from my chest and looked up at me with her mouth open. "I'm seriou-" Suddenly she gave me a long tender kiss. She put her hands on my cheeks and I placed mine on her hips. The touch of her lips made me shudder all the way down my spine. I never had this feeling when I kissed my other ex girlfriends. This kiss was.. different, like it was full of meaning and.. Never mind, I shouldn't jump to rash conclusions just yet..

She broke the kiss and took a couple steps backwards with eyes closed. She took a deep breath, opened her eyes and looked over to me. Those eyes are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, even in the real world. Her expression suddenly changed to embarrassment. "I'm sorry.." Sorry?!

"Oh no, that was amazing! I never," I took a deep breath, "I never kissed a girl like that before, up till now." She smiled and rammed back into my arms. I gave her another kiss on her head. "Lydia, uh.. Shouldn't we go up to Whiterun now?" Instantly, she let go of me and the next thing I felt was the regret of opening my huge mouth flow right through my body.

"Oh yes, definitely." She smiled at me once more and the two of us continued to the gates.

::Steve's POV::

"So nobody knows what an Elder Scroll is?" I mean shouldn't they know about it?

Vilkas shrugged his shoulders lightly and Kodlak shook his head slowly. Maybe Bame would know. I'm sort of sick waiting for him to get back. "Sorry boy, couldn't tell you to be honest."

Suddenly the front doors opened up and Bame and Lydia walked into the hall. "Uh hey," Bame greeted us. I noticed a very large thing on his back.

"Is that it?" Vilkas said with his eyes wide open.

"Yes, it was pretty hard to get." Bame grabbed the scroll off his back and started lifting it like weights. "And it's very heavy."

"How do we use it?" Vilkas asked.

"Only way is to get at the top of the Throat of the World and open it up. And only the Dragonborn can use it." He walked up to the table and glanced around the room. "But that's not going happen just yet. Let's get down do the real problem. What's the deal with the Dark Brotherhood?"

I cleared my throat. "Well, they had a bounty for you and I to begin with. Two of them attacked us but we managed to kill them. Then Cain got poisoned by one of them, a woman to be exact." His eyes widened and he gazed over to Cain who was sitting at the main table, resting his head on hand.

"Shit.. Cain you alright?"

"I'm fine now, if not for my Whirlwind Sprint and for Faendel here, I think I'd be dead." Faendel faintly smiled and looked away.

"Faendel? You're from Riverwood right?" Bame asked the elf.

Faendel nodded. "Yes, how did you know?"

Bame glanced at me and shrugged his shoulders. "I heard you were a good shot with your bow." The elf smiled and looked down at the table.

"I'd like to think I am. Oh and by the way, I'm helping you kill the brotherhood. I never liked them to begin with."

Bame nodded. "Thanks a lot Faendel, you do know how dangerous this is, Right?"

"Oh trust me I know, but I'm getting sick of working at Hod's mill. Cutting wood isn't the fondest hobby to me, y'know?"

Bame chuckled and nodded. "Yeah I know what you're saying. Well thanks again." He set the Elder Scroll on the table and leaned down on the table.

Kodlak cleared his throat. "So Bame, what do you know of the Dark Brotherhood?"

Bame snorted and smirked. "Almost everything. First off, their sanctuary is just west of Falkreath. And their password is 'Silence, my brother'." He leaned up and paced back and forth. "Their backup sanctuary is in Downstar, just north of it. The leader is Astrid and the second in command," he paused and looked over to Farkas and Vilkas. "I'm sorry to say.. Arnbjorn is second in command." Every Companion gasped with the exception of Kodlak. Kodlak merely smirked and shook his head.

"Grr.." Farkas grunted and turned his head fiercely. "I should of killed him when I had the chance."

"Gods damn that man.." Skjor whispered to himself. He rubbed his head and squinted his eyes.

"He would be an assassin! Bastard deserves to rot in Oblivion," Vilkas spat. What did this guy do?

"Wait, he was a Companion?" I asked as I glanced around at the Companion veterans.

Kodlak nodded a yes. "I knew I made the wrong choice when I suggested that he'd be a Companion. The man is none else than a killer, murderer, an assassin," He glanced at Vilkas, Farkas, Aela and Skjor with a pitiful expression, "and a werewolf." All four Companions shot their face at the old man and then looked away.

"He was in the Circle, that's when he really went overboard," Vilkas said directed to me and my brother.

"Why did you let him in?" Kevin asked, more like interrogated.

Vilkas took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. "He moved up in terms of respect. But as soon as we heard stories of his brutality towards his victims, we excommunicated him from the Companions forever. But I think he did it just to be a werewolf. He could care less about the 'honor'."

"So, basically, we are fighting messed up killers?" Kevin concluded.

Bame nodded. "The most fucked up people in Skyrim, so to speak."

"Fantastic."

"Alright, should we get down to business?" Bame called out to everyone in the room. Everyone gathered around the table. "Alright, here's the plan.."