-1The Jaws of Oblivion
Chapter Twenty-Four - A Rat Problem
When Aldric returned to Cloud Ruler Temple, and after meeting with Captain Burd, Martin ordered the Blades to step up patrols and sentry duty in response to the threat mentioned in the letter. Burd had also sent a team of guards to Jearl's house to arrest her and her accomplice for treason.
The Redguard told Martin and Jauffre that he needed some time away for a bit and that he had some contracts for the Fighter's Guild in Anvil. The two reluctantly agreed and he set out for the Gold Coast.
00000000000000
The company hall for the Anvil branch of the Fighter's Guild was much larger than the Cheydinhal branch. More members were gathered here, too.
Aldric stood before the desk of the boss of the Anvil branch, listening closely to Azzan. A Redguard clad in steel armor, he looked to be in his thirties and seemed to have a habit of scratching his shaved head.
"Now remember, don't kill the rats," Azzan explained. "Arvena will give you payment for the contract once it's complete. Then report back here."
Aldric nodded, then walked out of Azzan's office, through the mess hall to another set of stairs, and down into the living quarters. Upon stepping outside, the sun greeted him like an old friend. He smiled, remembering how only moments ago, the beauty of the western coast's striking him with its beauty. Anvil was beautiful and the distant sounds of the harbor reminded him of Rihad's port. It would be a great day.
His contract was to investigate why a Dunmer woman's rats were being killed. At first, it struck Aldric as odd: why would anyone want to keep rats? Azzan said that the rats were her pets. Aldric, in turn, voiced how silly that was.
"Silly or not, you're getting paid," Azzan had said, a point on which Aldric conceded.
According to his Anvil map, Arvena Thelas lived up the street in the northwest part of town, on the right-hand side of the street. He intended to walk slowly so he could enjoy the sun's warmth and admire the city.
00000000000000
Normally Falvis wouldn't be on edge, but today he was, and he had been ever since the attack on the Sanctuary. Nevertheless, he had to stay professional. Luwin may have told Aldric his ethnicity, but not any specific physical features. He would have preferred for nothing to have been said, but it was too late for that.
Lucien had made the Dark Elf his personal assassin--a Silencer. He was currently walking the streets of Anvil to get a feel of the land. In all of his time in Cyrodiil, he had never visted the Gold Coast's most beautiful city.
He had purchased a room at The Flowing Bowl on the docks for one night. As he was walking toward the courtyard near the main gate, his face froze up.
Aldric was walking on the opposite side of the street, heading in the other direction. Falvis felt both fear and anger rise up and tried not to show it.
What kind of creature are you? Addamastra thought.
He watched Aldric move his hand near the hilt of what looked like a glass long-sword. Falvis couldn't help but flinch as the Redguard looked straight ahead.
00000000000000
He tracked the Mer on the other side of the street with his peripheral vision. Ever since he learned of Falvis, he was suspicious of every Dark Elf male he saw. He relaxed slightly as the green-skinned man passed him, but glanced over his shoulder just to be sure. Satisfied, he let his hand move away from his hilt and approached the home of Arvena Thelas and knocked three times.
"Miss Thelas," Aldric said loudly. "Fighter's Guild!"
The door opened immediately and an elderly Dunmer woman with slicked-back strawberry-blonde hair and a wrinkled face greeted him. "Oh, praise the Nine! You have to do something about my poor little babies!"
"What's going on, ma'am?"
"A mountain lion got into my basement," she cried, seemingly on the verge of tears. "I don't know how, but please do something!" She was shaking his arm repeatedly in fear of her "cute" pets.
A lion? he thought. How unusual.
"Don't worry, ma'am," Aldric replied. "Stay here."
He drew his glass long-sword and opened the door to the basement. He proceeded down a small flight of stairs and hung a left. Sure enough, amongst a gaggle of rats stood a mountain lion about to take a chunk out of one of the furry critters. The farmer didn't want to hear the hysterical Dunmer woman, so he chucked his sword like a spear…
…and missed as the sword slid underneath the lion's body, clanging loudly. The lion turned toward the newcomer, growling and showing its sharp teeth. Then it charged at him.
Well, this isn't good, Aldric thought as the mountain lion leapt and knocked him to the ground. He had his armored left forearm on the lion's face, but it still had sharp claws which flailing wildly. The lion began to bite into his arm, slowly crushing the strange Dwemer gauntlet.
He then remembered the dagger and struggled to reach for it. When it finally got into his right hand, he slammed it into the side of the lion's face. A long stream of blood squirted out and the animal let out a shrill roar. Aldric pushed the lion off of him, formed his hand into a fist, and hammered the dagger further into its side. It stopped moving.
He got up and removed the dagger, then went to pick up his fallen long-sword. That's when he noticed a large gaping hole in the stone wall that led to the outside, with a few wooden boards crudely placed over it. At least until the lion came in--now the boards were broken.
She should really do something about that, Aldric thought.
The Redguard sheathed his long-sword and backtracked up the stairs to the first floor. Thelas was standing there, anxiously tapping her foot. "Well? Did you save my babies?"
"Yes, Miss Thelas," Aldric replied with a hint of impatience. "Your rats are safe."
"Oh, bless you!" As awkward as it was, the hug she embraced him with made him relax. "Thank you! Though I think it would be wise to kill off the remaining lions near Anvil. Where there is one, there are more."
"So who should I speak to?" Aldric inquired.
"Pinarus Inventius is a local hunter who may know the source of where the lions are coming from. Do you have a map?" The farmer nodded and pulled out his town map from his rucksack.
"His house is here," she continued, pointing to a spot that was caddy-corner to her own house. "But he could be out hunting, so hope you're lucky."
"Okay, what does he look like? I might be able to catch him on the street."
"Imperial, long hair in a ponytail, iron armor."
Aldric nodded and left Thelas' house and followed the map to this man's house.
00000000000000
Later that night, while Aldric was elsewhere, Falvis was dragging the body of a priest through the desert Undercroft in the Chapel of Dibella. His mission was nearly complete.
He had followed his mark over the course of the day and, as usual, chose to strike at night. Addamastra was wearing his black shrouded armor, a Chameleon potion (similar to the ones he had provided for the deceased Bosmer twins) was in effect, and he wore a black shrouded helmet that casted a Night-Eye spell on him. He could effectively see in the dark.
The assassin didn't worry about waking any spirits as he lifted the lid of a coffin. He had Widowshire and invisibility on his side, as well as time. Falvis figured the time to be eight o'clock, so he had plenty of time to indulge himself with his sick pleasures.
As the Brotherhood agent lifted the priest's body up onto the coffin's rim, he heard a very faint flap originate directly at his feet. Falvis looked down and saw an unopened envelope resting at his boots. He hastily shoved the body into the coffin, which caused some blood to leak out of the priest's slit neck, and closed the coffin's lid.
Addamastra picked up the letter, noting the trail of blood that led from the Undercroft's entrance to the coffin. He smiled, then turned his attention to the letter.
As he tore the envelope neatly, for reasons he didn't understand, anxiety reared its ugly head. The contents within, however, grabbed his attention.
The priests of Rihad, Hammerfell were going to visit each of Cyrodiil's nine cities to provide medical and spiritual aid for the citizens of the Imperial Province. The letter stated that the Oblivion crisis, and the losses being suffered, were "demoralizing and we hope we can at least ease some of the suffering."
Falvis thought of all the Oblivion gates he had seen in the wild--from a distance, of course. He wanted to live as much as anyone else, to continue killing, but he feared the coming of a Daedric demon-god. Nevertheless, the Dark Brotherhood operated as though the world was business as usual.
The date the letter had been written indicated it was two weeks old. The coming of the Hammerfell priests said that they were going to arrive in Anvil…tomorrow morning. His eyebrows went up as he scanned the names of the priests that were traveling.
"Well, well, well…" Falvis mused. "I think we have a meeting tomorrow morning, Laendril."
He tucked the letter into his pocket and started his way back toward the entrance.
00000000000000
The next morning, after a successful contract whereas Arvena's neighbor had been trying to get rid of the rats, he reported back to Azzan on his success and caught some shut-eye in the guild branch member's bedroom, which had been kindly offered to him.
The sounds of a cheering crowd were what woke him, however, and he rubbed at his eyes as the sunlight filtered in through the window.
Half-naked, Aldric got up and approached the window. Outside, Anvil's citizens gathered as streams of paper and cheers were heard and seen. Curious to the activity, he quickly got dressed and put on his sheath and headed downstairs.
When he got outside, he saw three caravans being pulled by horse coming through Anvil's main gate. A puzzled expression came over his face. What's going on?
He tapped a man on the shoulder, who turned to face him. A band started to play loud music somewhere nearby. "What's going on here?" he yelled over the chaotic noise.
"Rihad's priests have come to bring aid for the people!" the man replied, and continued cheering.
Aldric's eyebrows raised as he scanned the uncovered wagons coming in. One man in particular stood out--a High Elf, balding on the top, wearing a brown silk robe, was in the middle caravan with a frown on his face. Something was familiar about him. And for some unknown reason, his gut wasn't feeling too good.
His eye was drawn to a man on the other side of the street, wearing a blue robe with the hood up. Aldric cursed at the fact that the hood covered half of the man's face. His attention seemed to be drawn toward the High Elf also, but the man's head soon turned toward his direction ever so slightly.
He could see the man's face clearly now--it was a Dark Elf. The man's eyes seemed to widen slightly, and his mouth moved. It looked like he was saying his name. The mysterious man looked like he was in a panic, and was reaching for something on his belt.
The man pushed through waves of people until he was in the street holding a dagger. He looked to be going for the High Elf priest.
Then it hit him. The priest…it was Laendril! But that means…
"FALVIS!"
In that moment, time seemed to slow. Aldric could feel his heart beating, and it seemed everyone else's too. The man turned at the mention of his name, committing one of the gravest mistakes he could ever do.