A/N: This chapter has undergone minor revisions since the final chapter of the story was released. Keep in mind revised chapters may be inconsistent with reviews and author's notes from unrevised chapters.

Sun's Height 6, 4E1

(Fights-up-close): Cheydinhal Sanctuary

I continued to climb in a zombie like manner down the ladder as the forces of cowardice and strength warred in my head. This was true loyalty, and I hated it. The assignment wouldn't be fun, wouldn't pay, wouldn't allow bragging rights, wouldn't be satisfying, and would cause me to lose my new family just when I thought I saw signs of hope, yet it was what I was ordered to do, so I would do it.

My feet touched the floor of the sanctuary. I surveyed the area for shadows and soft places to walk, then got into a sneaking position. You better fetching appreciate this, Sithis.

Chances are they were still crowded around M'raaj-Dar's body. I couldn't imagine how they planned to dispose of it.

If only I had something to hate them for, some passion to carry out this assignment with.

In harmony with the quiet and shadow, I crept in the direction of the Living Quarters, stopping in the nearest shadow. The pain of the situation seemed unbearable already, and I hadn't yet done anything.

Then I heard the sound of footsteps muffled through the door to the hallway. Someone was coming my way, towards the main room. He or she was away from all the others. This was the ideal time for a kill. However, unlike what would be normal, it didn't bring me any thrill to know that. It sent a crushing reminder of what I was there to do.

The sound of heavy steps towards the door continue. By Sithis, this dreaded moment was going to come so much faster than I expected. Right here, I could...no, I would seal my fate for Sithis-knows-how long.

It was Gogron, who turned the corner oblivious to me, his gaze distant. It was a look I saw so often in my enemies, but this was the first time I saw it in an ally. Then again, I'd never snuck up on an ally before.

He seemed to be heading towards the exit, perhaps to retrieve some supplies that would somehow help them dispose of M'raaj-Dar's body. My heart was pounding. All sorts of excuses to let him go were rushing through my head, but they were all failing. That meant I needed to kill now.

I unsheathed my dagger silently, trying not to think about the task at hand, then half-heartedly launched myself from the shadows to pounce.

As I was in the air, time seemed to become astonishingly slow. As I flew, there was at first a strong urge to burst into tears at the situation. I hated loyalty. I hated the world at that moment... and Gogron was part of it. In that split second, the hate provided a wonderful elixir to my pain. It gave me the passion I needed. He fell down face first instantly like a rag-doll, totally oblivious to my presence before hand. An inner-savage came over me. I plunged my dagger into his back. Just in case he wasn't dead, I stabbed again, and again. I was feeling a mix of hate, the urge to destroy every fiber of his being, and frantic mercy, the urge to make sure he would leave his body as soon as possible and find peace in the Void.

Once I stopped, the gruesome scene and mixed emotions all registered with me at once. It was dizzying. I had never felt anything like it before. It was like I was in a whole new world now, like my mind had been scattered completely. Something inside me changed. I wasn't sure if it was for the better or worse, but I felt light headed now. It wasn't painful or pleasant: my thoughts seemed unanchored.

They'd probably heard the thud and the screams, so I tried to take the time to calibrate my mind, turning away from the gruesome scene before me. I decided the best course of action was to hide behind one of the pillars and get ready to activate the mystic's sixth sense to find out who was the next family member coming.

I made my way behind the pillar in harmony with the stone and shadow even though my mind still rushing with all that had happened. The image of Gogron's now mangled body was stuck in my mind. Once a great servant of Sithis, now degraded a mess on the floor. The site made me feel odd. Not disgusted or sad yet, but odd. Odd to see the bodily fluids of someone I knew closely.

I braced myself, listening for footsteps from the Living Quarters. I didn't hear anything, so my mind continue to rush over what had happened. The thoughts going through my head were like nothing I'd ever experience before. It didn't even feel like my life. What was this? Was this really life? I felt out of place now somehow, yet I knew I'd known no other life.

New footsteps came, though faint. Someone was attempting to sneak into this area. I tried to clear my mind, destroying what images I'd conjured in it, and tried to sense whoever would soon find Gogron's body. I could see a lone colored blotch moving closer to the exit of the Living Quarters. The door was already opened, so I knew soon he or she would see Gogron. But whoever it was alone. I had another chance. Then the colored blob stopped. I knew why. I could feel the very shock in the air. I could feel the power of the revelation. No doubt he or she knew it was me. A discomforting and morbidly thought provoking idea, but I couldn't dwell on it.

The hand that held my bloody dagger shook with the bizarre emotional concoction inside me. I knew that family member wouldn't be alone for much longer. I made the conscious decision to charge out from my hiding spot run and pounce once again.

When I made it around the corner, which was likely no more than a second, I found out it was Stabber. She'd already unsheathed her dagger, but only just. Some kind of counter-force hit me upon seeing I was targeting a fellow Shadowscale, but it wasn't enough. With a bizarre passion pushing my inner energy into the outside world, I charged thoughtlessly, acting before the situation could get worse

Stabber grabbed my hand as I attempted to stab, causing me a surge of fury. It seemed so...cheap to compensate her unreadiness like that.

I would feel cold metal in my gut soon if I didn't act.

I realized my fleshy vulnerability an instant before I delivered a merciless blow to side of her face with my left hand, disorienting her, and compensating for my first set back. She stumbled back down the stairs still grasping my hand. There was moment of unpleasant suspense in the air before her head hit the floor with a sharp thud. Not enough to kill her, but it caused her to release her grasp.

I plunged my knife into her neck with brutal unhesitance, focused simply on eliminating the threat.

I'd have to deal with the rest of the family soon enough, even if Stabber couldn't scream at the moment, so the emotional impact of what I was doing didn't even cross my mind other than the way it played into my odds for survival. I'd already justified myself.

I withdrew the knife. She was holding the wound, thrashing violently against the no doubt ruthless pain and panic, but unable to scream. My survival instincts were flowing smoothly. I didn't waste a second I could use to my advantage. I turned towards the Living Quarters and pushed the Shadow's energy to the surface of my skin.

Already I could see two more faces, Antoinette and Telandril. They were in their night clothing and showing innocent concern, rushing out to what had happened. Both had grabbed their weapons, and Telandril, an additional hand full of arrows.

I didn't bother to make out the frantic chatter between them. I backed away, trying to maintain the very threshold of speed that could hold my Shadow energy, which was agonizingly slow in this situation.

When Telandril arrived at Stabber, she checked the top of the stairs, where I now was, but she was staring right through me. They both knelt down beside Ocheeva, panicking as death was spreading like wildfire around the sanctuary, now quickly engulfing its next victim.

Stabber, though unable to speak and thrashing violently from the pain and panic, managed to find it in her to sit up and point in my direction very briefly. Both Dark Sisters turned their heads in my direction. Of course, they saw nothing. Stabber violently tried to signal my presence, having seen me turn invisible, but to no avail. Trying to speak only caused her to cough up blood. The injury was clearly inflicting quite a bit of torture on her. I couldn't have even dreamt this up in a nightmare, but even so, she force me to take her life in such a manner. It could have come swiftly.

Telandril told Antoinette to try to get medical help to Ocheeva. Antoinette agreed immediately. The usual family roles had been reversed, with Antoinette acting as the mother figure to Ocheeva and Telandril providing the authority. It was disturbingly ironic that Stabber could count more on them than one of her fellow Shadowscales, but I couldn't think about that right now. I needed to think about this kill the way I thought about Gogron's.

Then Telandril, clenching her teeth, converting love and panic into fury, uttered the words "Night Mother grant me strength." before charging in my direction. This was my next chance. Telandril would come by, and when she did, it would be my time to ambush her.

With impeccable timing, I stuck my foot out infront of her right as she was within reach. The violent movement destabilized the Shadow energy, causing it to dissipate instantly, but the objective was successful. Telandril had tripped. With the merciless forces of nature, she tumbled forwards, soon finding herself face down on the ground. Her back was vulnerable and opened to attack. This was my chance for the next kill. I immediately seized the chance. Pin-pointing the right internal organs on the fly, I stabbed her in the back, puncturing her heart and a lung. It was amazing; I'd never performed like that against my true enemies, but now everything was different.

I turned back to Stabber. The scene had become far bloodier, but she still seemed to be fighting death. Antoinette Marie was likely in the Living Quarters now, looking for a healing potion.

It would probably be a bad idea to try to get close enough to finish the kill right now. I needed some diversity in fighting style. Despite my name, I knew there was a time and place for a ranged take down. I'd surprised myself quite a few times already, so I had faith I could pull this off.

I reached for the bow by my side, trying, with a bit of frustration, to fit an arrow in. Then, closing one eye for better aiming, I pulled back the string and pushed the wood forward, waiting for Antoinette to arrive again. There were a couple of seconds of silence. Long enough for the truth to pop up and torment me again. This was all real. This was all permanent. This was all loyalty.

She was back rather quickly, wasting not a second, with a bottle and cloth in her hand. Healing potion no doubt.

With her in my line of fire, I released the string. The arrow quickly flew forward. "Ah!" The force knocked her forward, spilling the healing potion onto the floor, furthering the chaos. "Sithis save me!" She cried. Of course, Sithis, indirectly, was the one brutally mauling her. She was trying to claw herself away.

I grabbed another arrow, clumsily trying to get it into an adequate firing position. Frustrated at first, I finally managed to get it in place while Antoinette was almost out of the range of my shot. In a moment filled with significance, I fired the arrow with last available fraction of a second, managing to hit her lower torso again. She cried out in pain once more, but stopped moving almost immediately afterwards. There was a soft sobbing sound from her direction that quickly faded. I looked over at Stabber, hoping that I had killed two birds with one stone.

Stabber had stopped moving. M'raaj-Dar, Gogron, Ocheeva, Telandril, and Antoinette. Five down. Amazing. Only two more to go.

At first I hardly realized what I was thinking. These were horrible thoughts.

But they were necessary. I needed to keep my thoughts from forming any structure. I needed to focus only on my objective.

The situation was as real and serious as could get, but I had keep it in the back of my mind.

I cleared my mind again, allowing my higher senses access. There was no life in the immediate area. That meant Vincenti and Cleaver were likely still in the Living Quarters, probably waiting for me. That was where M'raaj-Dar had emptied his bag of supplies too, so they'd have access to some pretty frightening resources.

I thought a bit further about Vincenti: he'd been alive for over two centuries, and presented me the opportunity to do the same. I'd never consented, but I'd never refused either. Now it was too late. Just another reason the situation was so hard to take in all at once and why I needed to maintain a state of semi-madness.

There was one arrow left by Telandril's body. I knew now I could take my time getting it into place. Holding the bow infront of me, half crouched, I slowly began advancing forwards, already facing the direction of the hall, making sure I couldn't be taken by surprise. I pushed more magicka into my eyes. Color left the world, but it was replaced with brightness.

I leaned around the corner, intent on releasing an arrow on the first sign of life I saw. I took care with every step, trying to get next to the wall closer to the Living Quarters. The suspense was grueling. These last two would probably be my toughest opponents. Tienaava knew exactly what I was capable of, while Vincenti had over two centuries of wisdom on his side. No doubt every second they were formulating a better strategy, built on top of who knows what kind of experiences.

I wanted to see if I could get any readings through the wall, as I was no doubt closer to them now. Before I could clear my mind, however, something happened.

A bottle was thrown around the corner. The abrupt movement causing me to fire off the arrow out of reflect. The bottle shattered easily against the stone floor, causing its contents to spill forward into the area I would have to head through, the dark liquid immediately catching fire.

I stumbled backwards as the intense heat of the fire smothered my face and stung my eyes. I knew what the substance was; It was intended as a liquid coating for weapons to make them go up in flames upon strike. "Fire damage poison" was its military terminology.

After stepping back, cool air felt good on my face after the close call with the fire, and I was unharmed, yet there was now a short wall of flames between the hall and the Living Quarters. Even so, it didn't cover the whole floor of the area. I wondered only briefly if I might be able to get around it, but then a second bottle of the same substance was thrown, completely engulfing my only way into the Living Quarters in flames.

I wasn't sure it was a set-back. In fact, I wasn't eager to meet the two Dark Brothers yet either, but I knew they must have done that with some sort of advantage in mind. Even so, my path was no more blocked than theirs. I pressed myself against the wall, listening for something that might indicate their intentions. I could hear shuffling. I could guess they were sifting through all M'raaj-Dar's merchandise. I hadn't gone to buy anything from him in ages, so I had no idea what might have been available.

I tried to get some readings through the wall again. I could see two blotches of color very close, moving slightly. I looked back into the hall. The fire was already starting to fade. The question was who would be charging who.

I tried to analyze the situation as the flames waned. If I waited, they might have time to better prepare for me, because they had access to all the gear. However, not being able to take them on one at a time would be a very obvious set back. It was hard to imagine winning a fight with two of them at once.

Tension began building in me as I noticed the uncertainty of the situation. I considered going back to Antoinette's body to retrieve the other two arrows, but I was strongly reluctant to turn my back on the remaining Dark Brothers even for that long. I needed an advantage. I knew they would show no mercy.

The flames were gone. I tried to get some readings once more. The peculiar shape of the blotches suggested they were still shuffling through the bag. Maybe now was the best opportunity I would get. Maybe I could grab the nearest Brother and use him as a human shield. Yes, I had to try. Sithis was testing my courage once again, and I wouldn't let him down.

Dagger raised, I charged around the corner.

Tienaava had managed to lift his head from his searching in a very timely manner, and managed to throw an odd item from the bag at me. I saw a metallic blur and heard and intense and sharp whoosh by the side of my head. Thankfully, whatever it was missed me, though it was an extra reminder of the danger of the situation, sending an extra wave of alertness through my body. Meanwhile, he still had a shortsword in his right hand. I continued forward. As he swung, I dived for his legs to get him to lose balance. We both fell to the floor in a wild and painful manner.

I drove the dagger into his chest before getting a chance to see exactly where it landed, then, well aware of how daring I'd been in the first place, rolled out the vicinity without withdrawing the dagger. Whether it was smart idea, I didn't know, but the desperate panic of the disadvantaged situation had told me to do it.

I tried to get back on my feet, but I staggered backwards as I grappled with momentum and gravity, eventually finding my back against the wall. Worse, I was unarmed. Vincenti's fangs were bared, and in his hand was a longsword. It had a subtle red glow. Enchantment, no doubt, and I didn't want to know what kind of pains that would add to the strike. Meanwhile, I was unarmed. I knew my doom would come about within the next few seconds if the situation didn't change drastically.

Vincenti made the decision to charge, and I had a grim idea of exactly how much damage such a huge weapon could do to my flesh; I'd seen Goes-in-heavy use swords like that on the target dummies in Gideon.

There was only one iota of hope to grasp onto, and that was the element of surprise. He sprung forward for the kill. I had to try. I too sprung forward, quickly delivering a punch to his face. The surprise of me charging at him had caught him off guard. Luckily for me, nothing in two-hundred years of experience had prepared him for that.

Vincenti grabbed his nose with his free hand and staggered back slightly. The attack had granted me a few seconds of liberty, and my body was still fresh and pure. I used the opportunity to back into the halls.

I could see an odd metal object on the floor of the hall way. It was thin and flat, with a hole in the center. Its shape was nearly indescribable, combining points and curves. Whatever it was exactly, it was the projectile Tienaava had nearly killed me with. Grabbing the light-weight metal, I had to hope I would be more lucky, because Vincenti Valteri was already coming forward. I threw the odd metal object. It glided through the air with swift and deadly precision, rotating at amazing speeds. It was Vincenti's flesh that stopped every component of its motion. It stuck solidly into his neck. He staggered backwards, stunned, his eyes wide, his face marked with fear. The last look I'd ever see on his face.

I could see Cleaver again. He was staggering wildly. He'd removed my dagger but was now helpless to the effects of blood loss. A sad and disturbing sight, but one I hadn't fully processed yet.

There was a finally thud, and various clatters, as my brother's body landed ineloquently somewhere out of my sight.

It was done. Silence. A necessary evil that would stick with me for ever. But was it necessary? I hated that question, yet I wondered if I should persue it.

Then I heard a sound I couldn't quite distinguish from my right. It sent an unpleasant tingling through my body. I heard it again. It was clapping. A robed figured flowed from out of the shadows, advancing, and clapping. It was Mr. Lachance, the man who had caused all this death. His face was plastered with a confident smile amid the gore and odd poses of death of the family members.

"The Ritual of Purification is complete. Well done. Sithis has been appeased, and the time has come to acknowledge, and reward, your unwavering loyalty. The Black Hand is most pleased with your progress. You have been invited to share in secrets few family members even know exist. Your life in the sanctuary is over. Those contracts are behind you now. Now you will serve the Black Hand. You will serve me. From this moment forward you will walk in the Shadows as my Silencer. You will receive contracts only from me. Your new life has begun."