Negotiating Nocturnal: Riften pt. 5
"They will try to kill you..."
Karliah's words from earlier echoed in Arn's head as he crouched in an alcove as glowing forms hovered in the air, gradually moving around the chambers inside the place Karliah had called "The Pilgrim's Path".
This all seemed very wrong. To have ghosts so focused on one objective, to have the servants of a supposedly "benevolent" Daedra become mindless, raging forms in the dark...it didn't sit well with Arn at all and only added to the apprehension he already felt.
Then there was the Skeleton Key itself.
Ever since Karliah had reluctantly handed it to Arn, he had felt confident. So confident in fact, that he had left his shield behind and opted only to take a sword and dagger in.
In retrospect, this had been a horrible decision and as Arn realized it, he was suddenly aware that the thing in his pocket might actually be affecting both his mood and thoughts, something that scared him more than anything else had up to that point.
Since that moment, he kept wildly wavering between supremely confident and horribly paranoid. It made him feel like a basket case.
He was taking a lot longer to sneak than he would normally, even though Karliah had outfitted him in Mercer Frey's old Nightingale Armor.
Oddly, or maybe magically, it seemed to fit him perfectly and made absolutely no noise at all, even when Arn had tested it outside and tried to make noise with it.
He would occasionally stop and look at his satchel where the Skeleton key was, almost worried the thing would somehow escape and cause some harm to him of its own accord.
Even as he moved deeper down the Pilgrim's Path, skirting the angry ghosts and making his way past several odd challenges, strange thoughts occurred to him.
If this is so powerful, why give it up? Just think of what he might be able to do with it. Unlock literally any door. Become a better at everything. Imagine being able to wield a sword like Frey had been able to.
No, he had agreed to do this.
How would they know if he didn't? All he had to do was say he did and they would believe all was well. A Guild of Thieves being stolen from...it would serve them right...It was..justice in a way.
Aagh! Enough of this!
As Arn shook his head out of the stupor that he found his mind clouded with, he realized he was standing at the bottom of a stairway, looking down into a pit.
How long he'd been standing there, he didn't know.
The power to bypass all obstacles before you...
Arn gritted his teeth and leaped into the abyss of the pit.
He fell briefly before seeing the rising floor with the broken body of some other unfortunate would-be adventurer.
Arn was about to hit bottom, but just then, the floor seemed to activate, swirling open in a vortex of bluish blackness that swallowed him up.
Everything was pitch black around him briefly before he was deposited abruptly, but gently into a stone room with a domed roof, several strange circle shapes on the floor, and a round platform with a small crevice in the middle.
As Arn stepped up on the platform, he felt the Skeleton key begin to hum in his pocket. Pulling it out, he could see it was glowing along with the crevice in the middle where it was obviously intended to go.
Looking at it briefly, he quickly and awkwardly pushed it into the crack before any more strange thoughts invaded his mind.
Instantly, an explosion of bluish black threw Arn backward off the platform as it burst open in a swirl of darkness.
Arn looked up to see the swirl of darkness turn into a flock of ravens flying in a vortex before shifting again into the shape of woman stretching her arms out as she floated in the air.
Nocturnal floated before him, her form that of a beautiful woman. Pale white skin draped in a black robe that floated on her much like she floated in the air, casting more shadows across her to add to those already cast by the dim lit room.
The only things that really could be discerned were scowling facial features crowned by fierce blue eyes shining down at him along with a plunging opening in the front of the robe, exposing the inner halves of large breasts.
Arn was only momentarily taken aback before he got to his feet.
"My, my..what have we here? You're not one of mine. It's been years...or maybe moments since I've set foot in this world. Hard to remember sometimes..." she spoke loudly and but curiously, briefly pausing to look around the stone room.
Arn was about to say something when she cut him off.
"So...you've returned the key that was stolen, and now await...what, I wonder.." she muttered, fixing him with the glowing blue eyes "A reward..a boon...perhaps some accolade or gift befitting a 'grand' deed such as this" she remarked with some cynicism.
"I came seeking nothing in particular from you" Arn ventured, hoping that didn't sound insulting.
"Oh? and just what were you seeking then and who from?" Nocturnal replied a little more smugly, making Arn surmise that somehow she already knew everything and was just toying with him.
As she spoke, she began to drift off the platform, slowly approaching Arn.
"I seek someone the Guild protects. This is...part of the deal" Arn replied a little nervously.
"Was it always part of the deal?" Nocturnal smirked back at him, drifting even closer.
"N-No"
"Tsk...you've been had then" she smiled before instantly vanishing in a whisp of black and blue "Dragonborn" she whispered in his ear, reappearing right behind him.
Arn spun around only to find she had vanished again as the room darkened even further.
"I need more than just the person I seek" Arn sputtered, glancing worriedly around and wondering if he should be worried for his life.
"I've watched you...child of Akatosh..." he could hear Nocturnal's whisper loudly as though she was all around, but saw nothing.
"For a time, you were a child of the dark..." she continued, now appearing to walk to the doorway and lean on it gently, looking away "Seeking refuge in the shadows and waiting..."
"Waiting to STRIKE from the dark at your enemies!" she exclaimed, whirling and fixing him with the glowing blue eyes, her words drawing him back to Cyrodiil, his guild's betrayal and destruction...and the revenge he wreaked in its wake.
The memory seemed to physically weigh Arn down, dropping to his knees and removing the Nightingale mask.
"I needed the darkness to avenge my friends, and others..." Arn drifted off sadly.
"I don't care why!" Nocturnal answered abruptly, appearing in front of Arn and gently tipping his chin up toward her face with a single pale, white finger.
"Everyone needs the darkness at some point. You...will need it again, but you already know this. Don't you?" she whispered, gently bringing him to his feet and looking him in the eyes.
Arn could only nod his head yes as he stared sadly into the dark blue eyes that had stopped glowing and were fixed on his.
"And yet you have become sloppy...lazy...foolish! Allowing yourself to be taken advantage of and nearly killed!" she scolded him with her eyes blazing up momentarily.
Arn couldn't take his eyes off hers and only nodded, ashamed of himself.
"You must begin to show the same cunning with people that you do when fighting an opponent" she replied tersely, nodding slightly.
"Know when to press your advantage" and she stepped right up to him..a mere inch from his face "And when to back away..." as she spoke, she vanished from in front of him and appeared across the room.
"Those who hunt you will be hard pressed to gain an upper hand if you keep to the shadows" she stated, pacing around the far side of the platform, eyes still fixed on Arn "And...you will need luck on your side."
"Luck?" Arn couldn't help but retort "Was it luck that my father was killed in a Thalmor raid...or that my friends and comrades were slaughtered while I was away getting supplies?" he quipped back more angrily than was wise to a Daedric prince.
"Is it ill luck that you weren't with them...or good luck that you survived, even when they did not?" she queried quietly, continuing to pace, seemingly unbothered by Arn's outburst.
"I could have-"
"You could have done nothing to change those events!" she commanded sternly, silencing his outburst "You would simply have joined those unfortunate souls in their fate.
Arn hung his head slightly, biting back the anger he wanted to lash out with, his emotions raging inside.
"Enough about the past...Just think what the future would be like if you were...more than just a little lucky..." Nocturnal's whisper echoed all around as she vanished again in a whisp of black and blue smoke.
"More luck in battle..." sounds of arrows thudding all around Arn made him jerk his head up and raise his shield arm for a moment before realizing it wasn't there and no arrows materialized.
"Lucky in love as well..." came her whisper next to his ear as she suddenly appeared right behind him, her form pressed to his.
Arn shuddered with desire as he suddenly felt her entire body pressed to his as though neither of them wore clothing, her large soft breasts pressed to his back, pointed nipples coldly poking his shoulder blades as a soft hand reached around and stroked his rapidly swelling cock.
"What man would not wish it so..." she lustily whispered in his ear before dragging her lips in a caress across the back of his neck. While Arn was in the thralls of desire, he had enough of his conscious mind still working to notice every part of her body felt cold or at best cool. Nothing was warm or hot.
"And if you wanted to gain an advantage in the markets of the wealthy, what could stop a man with luck on his side?" she continued, vanishing again as the sounds of coins raining all around Arn made him briefly cover his head, trying to regain his composure.
"Thrones of men would open themselves to you instead of having to take them by force..." she continued as the sounds of coins jangling changed to the clash of battle and shouts of men around him, shortly followed by loud cheering and shouting as though he were a King, marching in procession up the steps to a throne.
Nocturnal reappeared above the now swirling pool of black and blue that was the Evergloam on the platform in the middle.
"With the power that you wield, no one could stop you with luck on your side. Become one of my Nightingales, and you may know feats beyond what most could dream of!" Nocturnal commanded regally, gesturing with a sweep of her arm to the swirling pool below her.
Regaining his composure, Arn picked up his Nightingale mask and took a ready stance for what might follow.
"I've seen what your servants become. I think I'll pass" Arn tried to reply calmly, though still breathing heavily.
Nocturnal crossed her arms in disapproval while raising one eyebrow slightly.
"A pity...but...predictable" she sighed, relaxing as if she had expected this outcome the whole time.
Arn was about to say something when she cut him off.
"Still...you have restored the portal, and with it, the guardians of this place should know more...sanity, and yet..." she spoke loudly at first before quieting herself and making a shushing motion toward Arn as she waved her hand and the lone door on the one side opened, enabling both Arn and Nocturnal to see out into the Hallway.
At the end was a door, but in front of it, both of them could see Karliah standing with a glowing form.
At first Arn thought she was in trouble, but Nocturnal shushed him again as he made to move toward the ghostly apparition.
Taking a little longer to look, Arn could see that Karliah was having an intimate moment with what Arn could only surmise was the ghost of Gallus, her old lover.
"Not all become mindless and filled with rage" spoke Nocturnal quietly as Arn watched Gallus' ghostly white hand caress through the face of Karliah before vanishing away.
Arn could see Karliah put her face in her hands and her shoulders begin to shake with sobs.
"Emotion is often the price of failure. Look to your own feelings, Dragonborn, lest I be even more disappointed in you" Nocturnal smirked with finality as she floated back to the Ebonmere before vanishing in a swirl of black and blue.
Arn knelt quietly for a time as he gave Karliah time to collect herself before he approached her.
Deep in thought, he was taken off guard when he looked up to find Karliah looking down at him pensively.
"You refused the offer to become one of us?" she asked quietly, but there was surprise in her eyes.
"I told you before I had no interest in it" Arn muttered, rising to his feet.
"But...Nocturnal appeared. Did she not?" Karliah asked, still coming across confused.
"Yes, she appeared."
"And you turned down the offer she made?"
"Yes" Arn replaced the Nightingale mask on his head.
"She...must have been exceptionally pleased then!" Karliah seemed to brighten up.
"Why would you think that?"
"Well..it's just...no one's ever refused the offer before"
Arn scratched his neck as he looked over at Karliah's scrutinizing face.
"No one...ever?!" Arn retorted sharply, as he began to get a sense of why Karliah was surprised.
"No one who...was allowed to live..." she answered a bit meekly as she shrunk back from Arn's sudden outburst.
"So...this was all supposed to be a one way trip!" Arn growled, backing away and drawing his blades in a ready stance "Who is the one who cuts them down? Does Nocturnal do her own dirty work, or does one of you wait in the hallway to stab them in the back!"
"Please, Arn, I never meant it for you!" pled Karliah, drawing her own shortsword in defense as they shifted around the room, facing each other "I thought for sure once you saw the benefits yourself, spoke to Nocturnal on your own that surely you would agree!"
"And if I didn't?!" snapped Arn, unable to shake the itching on his neck from growing worse.
"Then if there was anyone who could go through the entirety of the path, deny Nocturnal herself, and walk away, then it would surely be the Dragonborn" Karliah replied with conviction "That is why I was HAPPILY surprised!"
"Convenient" replied Arn tersely, slapping her blade aside briefly before they resumed their standoff at blades' length again "Now that I'm onto it!"
"Please...it's not a practice I would enjoy, but it's a precaution we MUST take. Anyone leaving here knows too much not to be under oath to Nocturnal herself" Karliah tried to plead.
"That didn't seem to stop Frey"
"In hundreds of years, Frey was the only one to be a traitor, and even so, he still worshipped Nocturnal, he just...chose himself over the guild" Karliah stuttered out, as though trying to reason through the betrayal would help.
"You mean he just used you...like you're using me" Arn retorted.
"I have no desire to harm you, Arn. If I had wanted to kill you, I would have done so before now or made a better attempt than walking up to face you" Karliah replied more calmly, briefly opening her arms in a submissive gesture.
Despite his anger, Arn had to concede that she was right in that regard, relieved that the itching on his neck had subsided.
Sighing in annoyance, Arn sheathed his dagger, but left Dawnguard at a guarded position in front of him.
"Fine...I did as you asked, and FAR more than I agreed to the bargain with the guild"
"I cannot speak for the guild-" Karliah started.
"But you will" Arn interrupted her "when you and Vex go back and tell them what has transpired"
"But what-"
"I'll be along on my own time. Be sure you and your fellow guild members honor the terms. You've seen what I can do in a fight, and...if business is exceptionally good, I might throw in some of what Frey stole from the guild over the years" Arn answered sternly, motioning her to the door at the end of the passage.
Karliah's eyes went wide with surprise for a moment before returning to a sad, searching look he was used to seeing from her before she slowly backed down the passage, nodded, sheathed her weapon and departed.
Meanwhile, in Riften:
Lydia sighed for what felt like the hundredth time and sloshed the remaining ale in her mug around as she and Freyya sat in the Bee and Barb.
It wasn't the waiting that was the hard part. It was the not knowing.
Not knowing why they were waiting and wondering if Arn was out there somewhere with his life in peril while they sat and wasted time in the local inn.
Still, at least they would have a tale or two of their own to tell him when he did get back. First, they had to sneak away from the Stormcloak camp for fear several particularly amorous soldiers would follow, though Lydia was unsure if all of the ones in question were truly amorous or if Freyya was somehow using them to get messages to Ulfric.
She knew Arn was aware of the blonde housecarl's intentions, and that they'd had several heated discussions about it. However, she had no idea if any of that had changed the former stormcloak scout's purpose in swaying Arn to Ulfric's cause.
Lydia knew she couldn't take any chances though. Despite Freyya's desire to explore Riften and some of the surrounding area, Lydia had insisted they stay together and await Arn in the Inn as instructed.
It turned out to be a good thing too. During the second morning they'd been in Riften, a huge, green Dragon had sort of attacked the city.
She couldn't be sure if it was actually an attack because all it really did was crush one of the walls on the harbor side and sit there, growling loudly, sending any guards or townspeople fleeing like ants.
She and Freyya had taken up positions with their bows in the middle courtyard in case it encroached further into the city, but were surprised to see it glance around as if looking for something before heaving itself into the air with powerful beats of its wings and flying off into the morning mists.
She took another swig of Ale and took the liberty of glaring across the table at Freyya, who seemed a lot more aloof and unbothered about the whole situation than Lydia was.
Her musing was interrupted, however, when the doors burst open and town guards began filing in rapidly, weapons at the ready.
Several people who were obviously wanted by the law for one thing or another bolted from their chairs. One of them, a Khajiit, broke through a glass window in back and leaped into the harbor below. Another man ran upstairs.
Lydia was about to chuckle in amusement as the guards chased them, but was rudely awakened to the fact that all dozen of the guards closed and surrounded her and Freyya's table.
There was nothing she could do. There was no space to run, and in such tight confines, she would hardly get her sword out before they ran her and Freyya both through.
"You are under arrest, by order of the Jarl!" loudly proclaimed one of the guards before motioning them to raise their hands.
Instantly, Lydia's mind went to Freyya. This was somehow part of her scheme. Why else was she so calm and patient? This must be her way of getting Lydia out of the way.
"YOU!" Lydia hissed, turning on Freyya "Of course! It all makes sense now-"
"Wait, what are you-" was all Lydia heard from Freyya as she turned with raised hands and glared at her angrily before Lydia felt a sharp blow on the back of her head and the world spun into blackness.
Author's Notes:
1. Sorry for the long update delay, but some real life stuff happened and then my head was stuck in the Star Wars universe for a few months and I was loathe to get out of it.
2. To those perhaps puzzled by the Daedra behavior both here and elsewhere, the Daedric Princes all know a lot more about Alduin and the Dragonborn than Arn does at this point and for quite awhile later. Most if not all of them have a vested interest in making sure Alduin doesn't succeed. So it stands to reason they will push for his allegiance/devotion etc. but will not stand in his way if it comes down to it...at least, not until Alduin is dealt with.
3. Oh and those mentions of Arn's neck itching were not random or accidental.