Chapter 4
Kliftar glared at the endless sea of snow and trees that met him when they left the cave. He had absolutely no idea where they were, and everything around them looked the same. He heard Thorin grunt as Marandur helped him leave the mouth of the cave, both of them shivering as they were assaulted by a strong gust of icy wind, chilling all of them to the bone. They were all alive, but things did not look good at the moment; they had no idea where they were, they were all tired and injured, and they had little to no supplies. He searched the cave to the best of his ability, but there was little there to take; the cave seemed to have only been used to interrogate people by Felina and her stormcloaks. He shivered as the cold began to get to him, pulling his cloak tighter around him; in that moment, he debated just going back to base and recovering before trying again. They were given a year to pull this off; a week or two before starting would not hurt.
He looked around again, growing when everything still looked the same. Could they even make it back in their condition? Things were looking very bleak, and for once he could not think of a way out. He turned to his companions; hopefully they would have an idea or a plan.
"I admit, I am lost. Either of you know where we are?"
He sighed when both of them shook their heads, Thorin barely staying awake and Marandur looking weary. He had done his best to heal his wounds, but that did nothing to cure his weariness; his entire body felt heavy, and soon it would feel numb with this cold. They could not stay and risk Felina bringing reinforcements back, but just walking off blindly would just lead to a slow and cold death. Staying there, uncertain of what to do, would also lead to the same outcome. He had been in a lot of grim situations in his life, but never before had he felt so lost and doomed to die as he did at that moment.
He suddenly heard a sound behind him, the sound of someone walking in the snow. He swung around as fast as he was able, which was much slower than usual, drawing his sword and seeing a nord standing five feet away from them. He widened his stance, the snow making it hard to make out the nord's features; he could make out heavy armor and a large sword on their back, and that was enough to make him wary. He doubted he could win in his condition, but he would die fighting at least and go on to meet Sithis.
"You three do not look like stormcloaks to me." the nord said, her voice barely audible over the wind. He looked back at the other two, seeing that they were in no condition to fight either, and decided to try his luck. He lowered his sword, standing as straight as he could.
"We are not stormcloaks, although we just had a run in with a group of them."
She did not need to know all the details, just that they were not stormcloaks. The nord walked closer, being taller than him as most nords were with long blond hair and a stripe of blue war paint on the left side of her face. She looked around, seeing no one else but them, before speaking.
I am Mjoll. I saw a stormcloak fleeing and followed the footprints back before the snow covered them, wanting to see what the fuss was about. If you are not stormcloaks, then you are not my enemy; you look pretty bad. If you would like, I can take you back to Riften with me, and you lot can get your wounds looked at."
Kliftar blinked slowly, his mind having a hard time accepting how fortunate they suddenly seemed to be. What were the odds that they were not only taken to a cave close to Riften, their destination, but that someone would be close by to lead them in this blizzard? It was very unlikely, and he would think Sithis had been watching over them if that was a thing Sithis did. He looked back, seeing Marandur nod, before turning to the nord and nodding; he was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
. . .
He thanked the priestess as she handed him a mug of water, getting as close to the fire as he could. He looked around the temple of mara that they were currently recovering in, feeling out of place in such a place; he hoped Sithis was not the type to strike him down for entering the temple of another god. They were all treated and given food and water, something that the priestess would not take any coin for. The other two were alseep, and Mjoll had been joined by a man named Aerin who was fussing over her and her decision to bring them here.
"You have my thanks." Kliftar said, getting their attention. "We might have died if not for you. I do not have anything to give but some coin for your troubles."
Mjoll shook her head, smirking slightly at the offer. "There is no need. I am here to help, and not just the people of Riften."
"You need to be more careful Mjoll." Aerin said, and Kliftar guessed that he was the type that would worry himself into an early grave sooner or later. "What if they had been bandits, or stormcloaks?"
"Then I would have struck them down." was her answer, as if it should have been obvious. Kliftar said nothing as Aerin went on about how she was lucky, finding that he was unable to sleep; what they just went through was very fresh in his mind, and sitting here would only drive him mad. They were in Riften, and he decided he might as well make use of their fortune, standing and growling as his body argued with the decision; his head banged like a drum, his tail still felt like it was burning slightly, and his side was sore. He was still alive though, and he was not going to wait for the other two to wake up.
"I have some business to take care of. Can you keep an eye on these two for me? If they wake, could you tell them to wait for me?"
Mjoll simply nodded, giving Kliftar some relief; he thought she would ask what he was going to do. He nodded his thanks and left as Aerin continued his speech, looking like a chicken clucking over its chick; there was a story there, but it was none of his business. The door was almost thrown from his hands when he opened it, the blizzard still going strong; nothing new in Skyrim. He forced it to stay open until he exited the temple, letting the large wooden door slam shut with a loud bang and hurrying along. The blizzard blocked out most of the buildings, and the marketplace was surely empty because of it. He knew Riften well enough, however, and made his way to the Bee and Barb by memory.
He had to fight the door again, and when he made it inside his sense were assaulted; the inn was alive and roaring with laughter and talking, the smell of food and ale heavy in the air, and the warmth of the place hit him like a soothing wave, warming his body quickly. Glad to be out of the blizzard, he now had to deal with how packed the place was. He looked around, hoping to find at least one member of the Thieves Guild here; it was not odd to find one of them having a drink or looking for a purse to snatch. He fortunately did not have to look for long; he spotted Sapphire leaning against a wall and looking out at everyone. She was one of the grumpiest people he had ever met, but he was not in a position to be picky. He walked over, leaning against the wall next to her.
"What do you want, Argonian?"
About how he expected her to act. "Is Brynjolf in town?"
Brynjolf was the new leader of the Thieves Guild, and he was the man to talk to. The Nord scoffed before nodding, turning to look at him. "I remember you; from the brotherhood. Must be important then. I will take you to him."
Kliftar nodded his appreciation, following her as they went back out into the blizzard. She took him to the docks and into the underground, and he made sure to follow her closely; he had not been to their base much, and was not certain he remembered the way. They entered the Ratway, Sapphire leading him through the place as the other members of the guild barely batted an eye at him; they saw Sapphire and assumed he was here for a reason. They stopped at a desk, Sapphire simply leaving and Brynjolf looking up and seeing him.
"I think I have seen you before lad. You are with the Dark Brotherhood, yes? Have not had much word from the brotherhood since the original group was killed by the empire. What business do you have with me lad?"
Kliftar grabbed a chair, making sure to move his roasted tail out of the way and sit down, sighing with relief as he sat; his body wanted to rest much more than he did. "Brynjolf, you knew the Dragonborn if I remember correctly."
The red haired nord nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, I did; he even led the guild for a while. Why do you ask? You have seen better days by the looks of it; is there trouble involving the Dovahkiin?"
Kliftar hesitated, choosing his next words carefully; he would not fool the nord, as Brynjolf was a clever man, and knew what the Dark Brotherhood did. How do you tell someone you are tasked with finding and killing his friend, the man who saved Skyrim? It sounded mad now that he thought about it, but he had gone too far to simply abandon this quest.
"I will be honest with you; someone asked us to take him from this world. But no one has heard from the Dragonborn in years. I was hoping that you would have an idea as to where he is, or at least a lead I could follow."
Brynjolf laughed loudly, nearly making Kliftar jump in surprise. "Now isn't this a surprise. Someone was not only mad enough to put a contract out on the Dragonborn, but you are mad enough to try and kill him!"
The nord suddenly grew serious, looking deep into Kliftar's eyes. "You must be mad to take this contract. Not only that, but you are asking me, a friend of his, to tell you where he has vanished to. I should have you throttled and tossed into the ocean for making such a request."
Kliftar quickly looked left and right, checking to see if anyone was standing close to him, but stopped as he heard the nord chuckle. "Be at ease; I will not harm you. The situation with MeerFul is something I have not spoken about."
Brynjolf sighed, shaking his head. "I do not know where he is, but I know who would. You would have to ask Serana, the vampire."
Kliftar blinked, making sure he heard the nord correctly. "Serana? The daughter of that crazy Vampire Lord who wanted to plunge the world into eternal darkness?"
"The very same." Brynjolf answered, grabbing a mug and bottle and pouring himself some wine. "Before MeerFul left the Guild, he came with Serana to ask me to lead the guild. He did not go into detail, but he mentioned that he had to check up on something that could threaten Skyrim; crazy world ending threats was his drug if you ask me. He was...different that day. Jumpy, as if something was gnawing at him. That was the last I heard from him, and the vampire lass was the last person he was seen with."
Kliftar sat back, sighing in frustration this time; it was never easy. Castle Volkihar, where Serana would most likely be, was damn near on the other side of Skyrim. To add to that, it was under the Dawnguards control, and he saw little reason for the Dawnguard to help them. Serana was unlikely to help them as well. This just got a lot more tedious, and he had not even found the damn Argonain yet.
"You have a grim journey ahead of you." the nord said, filling another mug and pushing it towards the Argonian. "The Thieves Guild is still your friend. Take some time to recover here and grab whatever supplies you can carry; you are going to need all the help you can get."
Kliftar picked up the mug, nodding in agreement; they certainly did need all the help they could get.
. . .
"So, to add everything up, we need to go to a castle on the other side of Skyrim, owned by a group of justice loving thugs, to find a vampire that may or may not know where the Dragonborn is. She also may or may not try to kill us for asking where her friend is so that we can find and kill him. That sound about right?"
They were sitting in the Theives Guild base, going over everything they knew. Kliftar shot Maradur a look before slowly nodding. As she sighed Thorin chuckled, looking at both of them. "You forgot to mention that we do not even know if Serana is there; she could be anywhere."
"Very helpful Thorin." the dark elf said, now shooting him a look before sighing again. "We knew this was going to be tedious, but this is above and beyond what we thought it would be."
"You didn't have to come along you know." Thorin said, not very good at reading the room; Kliftar how much longer it would be before the dark elf burned the man for being a fool. "This was a contract for me and the lizard over there."
"Yes, and if it was just the two of you, you both would either be dead or stuck in a cage while a mad Stormcloak decided how to kill you as slowly as possible."
Thorin opened his mouth to argue then stopped, seeing that she had a very good point. Maradur turned to Kliftar, her expression softening; he saw her new scar and was stormed by guilt. She was right of course, but if she had stayed behind, she would never had gone through what she did.
"What is the plan grumpy scales? It is not impossible, but there are a lot of unknowns here. We just do not have enough information."
He scratched his head, at the base of one of his horns. She was right, but what other choice did they have? "This is the only lead we have. We either pursue it, or give up here."
"Straight to the point as usual." she said, poking him between his eyes again. He growled, too tired to retaliate, and to his surprise she leaned down and lifted his tail, frowning as she looked it over.
"Is your tail alright? I mean, I think it is looking better, but it is hard to tell..."
He flicked it out of her hands, thumping the ground with it. "It will be fine; we Argonians are tough. I am going to Castle Volkihar; I have no other options. You do not need to accompany me; I asked for this, you did not."
She crossed her arms, getting a stubborn look on her face; he knew her decision before she spoke, doing his best not to groan. "If you are going, then so am I. I did not get this ugly scar on my beautiful face only to crawl back and tell the others I gave up so soon. You are stuck with me grumpy scales."
He said nothing as Thorin stood up, stretching and turning to them. "Then this is where we part ways."
Maradur looked at him as if he was mad. "Do you not learn? What could you hope to gain by going alone?"
"It does not matter." Thorin replied, crossing his arms and glaring at them. "I am thankful for being saved, but I still plan on killing the Dragonborn before Kliftar. I can't very well do that if we all go together, holding hands and skipping through the snow. I promise I will not try to kill you or interfere with you, but that is where it ends."
Without another word he walked away, Maradur waving him away. "Fool; he will most likely die before even reaching the castle."
"That is his problem, not ours." Kliftar said, rubbing his side. "We will stay here for another day to recover, gather supplies, then head out at sunrise. Get as much rest as you can; it is a long journey, and our first one did not turn out well."
Maradur stood up, smirking and crossing her arms. "Look at you, worrying about me. Worry about yourself a bit more; next time, you might actually lose your tail."
Kliftar looked up at her, smirking and showing teeth. "If only I was so lucky."
I am sorry it took me so long to post another chapter. Life kind of beat me up for a few rounds. I will try to continue and finish this as soon as I can.