Mu-ha-ha! I love writing plot twists. They're fun.
Marcurio woke with a bucket of water being tossed on him.
He jumped to his feet, startled so badly that he forgot to even ignite the magicka on his hands. 'What the hell, Violet?' He wanted to say, but something stopped him as he opened his eyes. This wasn't the forest. That wasn't his bedroll. And the woman holding the bucket wasn't Violet. Quite the opposite, actually. Where Violet was strong and calm with a tall posture, this woman was shaking all over and looked to be scared out of her mind. Nevermind the fact that she looked nothing like Violet with her blond hair and blue eyes.
Marcurio took a moment to observe his surroundings. He seemed to be in another dungeon, but this one was a lot less well-maintained than Dragonsreach. The cement ground was moist and moldy, and the cell he was in smelled like urine, sweat and blood. It was poorly lit, but he could still see the three other people in the cell with him.
"Where am I?" He asked the woman who had woken him with the bucket of water.
"She doesn't speak," a male voice said. It shook uncontrollably, and it took Marcurio a moment to interpret what was said and turn to the speaker.
It was a man with brown hair and eyes so dark they were almost black. He wore the same roughspun tunic as the rest of the prisoners (including Marcurio) and he was shaking just as badly as the woman with the bucket. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties.
"Who are you?" Marcurio asked the man.
"I am Logan," the man said, "but we're not supposed to speak our names here."
"Why not?"
"The masters don't like it," another male voice said. Marcurio eyed him and was surprised to find a Dark Elf in the cell with him, around the age of fourteen. He was so short that he barely came up to Marcurio's armpit.
Marcurio shook his head and massaged his temples as a headache began to form behind his forehead. "What masters? Where am I?"
"You're in Castle Volkihar," Logan told him, "but we're not supposed to speak of that either. As for who the masters are -"
"They're vampires," the young Dark Elf said. He spoke the word not with disgust, but with fear. "They feed off of us."
Fear twisted in Marcurio's stomach, but he forced himself to ignore it. "You're thralls."
"Not thralls," Logan corrected. "Cattle."
Marcurio ran his hands through his hair and began to pace.
This was not happening. This could not be happening! The last thing he remembered, he had been standing behind Violet, praying that Green wouldn't devour them all. When he began to change back to his normal form, Marcurio stumbled back to the house, searching for some kind of bandage. And then…
And then there had been a vampire waiting for him. Before Marcurio could have done anything, the vampire had knocked him over the head with the leg from a chair. That was the last thing he remembered.
Marcurio forced himself to take deep breaths. There was no way Violet would have missed his absence. She would be coming for him. She would.
But he needed to make it easier for her. She was so hot-headed that she would charge right in without thinking about the consequences, and she could very well get herself killed. Marcurio needed to be ready for her. He couldn't afford to be a coward.
He needed to escape.
x x x
Violet came to a stop outside Helgen. She had not been here in a long, long time. But there was someone there that she needed to see.
But this time, there was no Marcurio panting behind her. No voice spoke his concerns. There was no hand to stop her as she knocked on the doors of the broken town.
But this time she wouldn't be knocking.
"FUS RO DAH!"
The gates flew off their hinges, crushing the bandits lying in wait behind them. The assassins and thieves stared at her in disbelief, but Violet wasn't here for them. Not today.
She stormed past the assembled miscreants and shouted anyone stupid enough to get in her way to bits. After the first few perished, they left her alone. At least, they did until she reached the keep.
The bandits standing guard there raised their weapons, but Violet disarmed them all with her Thu'um. They let her pass after that, and she stormed into Naldo's office. The Orc was waiting for her expectantly, his hands folded together as he observed her.
Violet didn't waste any time. She rushed forward, placing her glass sword to his neck, and pushing him back in his chair until he was almost parallel to the floor. Only her hand on his fine shirt, under her sword, kept him upright. The trolls behind them began to protest, but Violet silenced them both with, "YOL TOOR SHUL!"
"Now," she said, turning back to Naldo, her green eyes full of fire. "Where. Is. He?"
Naldo shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that she was threatening his life. "You know the rules. No money, no sight."
"Damn it, Naldo! I don't have time to pay you! Every moment that I waste is another moment that he could be dead!" She realized her eyes were wet and blinked the moisture away, pressing the sword closer to his throat. It drew just a bit of blood. "And besides, I used the last of my money paying you last time. You're not exactly cheap."
Naldo tried to shrug again, but froze when the sword's edge cut into his green skin a little bit more. "You know the rules," he repeated.
Something in Violet snapped then. "You asked for this, Naldo." Turning her head to the ceiling, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "STRUN BAH QO!"
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then rain could be heard slamming into the roof of the keep.
Naldo laughed. "That's all you got, girl?"
Violet waited, and soon thunder was heard in the distance. Then it got closer. And closer. And then a sudden cracking sound came as lightning struck the next building over.
The Orc's eyes widened with horrible realization.
"That's right, Naldo," Violet told him, her voice shaking with anger. "If you don't tell me where Marcurio is right now, I'm going to bring this whole town down around your ears. And when I'm gone, who do you think all those thieves, smugglers, bandits, gossipers, assassins, and serial killers will blame?"
"N-n-now let's not be hasty," Naldo stammered. "I'm s-sure we can work out an agreement."
She shook her head. "No. No 'agreement,' Naldo. You're going to tell me where he is free of charge because it's the right thing to do."
He nodded feverishly, even though the action cut his throat just a little bit more. When Violet was sure that he was going to cooperate, she removed the sword and stood in front of him.
Naldo spoke quickly. "Marcurio Stagshot was spotted in a company of vampires on their way to a castle on an island off the coast of Solitude."
Violet paused. "Is he alive?"
Naldo was shaking. "I…I don't know."
She raised her sword.
"Wait!" He whimpered, raising his arms over his head in a feeble attempt at protection. "I might be able to find out!"
Violet returned her sword to her side. "I'm listening. Go on."
"I-I-I can use the Sight to find him! I'll tell you where he is and what he's doing!"
She crossed her arms. "What are you waiting for? Do it, then."
He nodded and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. When he opened them nearly a minute later, they were milky white. The voice that spoke was his own, though.
"He's at a place called Castle Volkihar. He's surrounded by vampires, though kept separate from them. He…he's in a cage. He's alive!"
Violet felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Marcurio was alive! However, Naldo's next words chill her.
"He's being used as cattle by the vampires. They haven't fed off of him yet, but the time when they will is fast approaching. He's planning on escaping, but he doesn't know the danger he's in. If he tries to escape, he could be killed."
Naldo slouched back into his chair as the power of Sight left him. When he came back around, Violet was already on her way out. She paused just long enough to shout, "LOK VAH KOOR!" and to make sure that the storm outside really had stopped before she moved on.
"Wait!" Naldo said, making her pause. She turned back to him.
"What is it?"
He swallowed. "This mage…you love him, don't you?"
Her face gave away no clues.
"That wasn't part of our agreement."
Please review!
Why can't pirates finish the alphabet?
They get lost at C!
