CONTRACT: KILL LURBUK
There wasn't enough alcohol in all of Skyrim that could keep me from hearing his damn voice. I had no idea a bard could be so obnoxious or horrible with words, but this guy proved me wrong. Especially with this song.
"Cast them out!
Bash them out!
Send your spell far out but not to the trout!
For the deceivers are lying and are here for your treasure!
Make sure they measure the well worth of the endeavor.
If they are to steal.
Then let them heal.
Ohhh my heart was Shackled in the Shack of Love!
Shaking in terror I saw them there!
But among them my heart fluttered, bright and anew.
If they gave me a smile, then maybe I could come out of the blue!"
It was gods awful and it went on like that forever. I drank two mugs of mead before the guy next to me fell flat on the floor after drinking four. I smirk. Lightweight. The contract kept singing like people weren't getting antsy. Based on the way the two guards next to the Orc keep glaring at him, it looks like my job might be done without me interfering. I raise my hand for another drink.
Awful, slit his throat now. Voice says.
"Can't." I gasp around my mug. It won't go down fast enough.
The song finally, blessedly, ends and the Orc bows to a chorus of boos. A few cheers from the bartenders. "I just wanted to say thank you for the support. That was a new song for me. I got the inspiration from a story and I hope it was accurately portrayed. The emotional turmoil…" He shakes his head before diving right back into the Dragonborn Comes.
I groan. If he's playing all night, I might as well just go pass out somewhere for a while. A calm hand lands on my shoulder, "Are you alright, miss? Might want to buy a room for the night." A young lady…or man, I can't tell anymore, was right in front of me.
"Fine, fine, but you might want to fire your bard." I grumble.
"Now, now, we have him here with a place to stay, he brings in customers from all around Skyrim. He is quite good." The woman chides.
I suppress a gag, "If he's so good then I'll need at least two more drinks to get through it. How about another round of mead? On me." I smile and the two men near me cheer.
She huffs, "I am sorry, but we are running low on alcohol at the moment. It seems like you had your fair share, I'm closing your tab now."
I whine, but there's no stopping her. The men talk amongst themselves, asking if I will still pay the tab. I slam fifty coins on the table next to them, get up, give a hard glare at the bard who is now watching me and leave this damn place.
Outside it's just beginning to snow. I check here and there for a suitable tree to wait out the rest for the night. With no good option, I lay flat on my back out on the roof of the Inn.
Two hours later and patrons begin to trickle out. I blink the haze out of my eyes. Maybe Lurch here would have some delicious blood. I've never had Orc blood before.
They are gone. He is alone. Whispers Voice.
I smirk, "Is it cheating if you help me out? The other assassins don't get such special treatment."
Stop fooling around and get in there you lazy slob.
"Oh wow, don't like someone drinking on the job, huh?" I smack my head, as if that will get anything through to her.
You are impressively drunk, but you still have a kill to make. Go.
I sway as I rise to my elbows. Then roll down the roof and land cleanly on my feet. The world spins. I grab my head and then I hear the heartbeats.
Five come from inside the Inn, I'm guessing two are the owners, the third is the contract, and the others are lingering customers. Right when I walk through the door, I know I'm right. The woman who was yelling at me looks up from another man who was passed out. Her lips thin into a hard line. "What do you need?"
"Restroom." I lie, she points to a door near the end of the Inn, right next to the bar. Right before I get to that door, I slip into the one with the Orc heartbeat. This one has a far stronger beat than the others. Lurbuk looks up from the lute he was cleaning.
"Here for after hour ballads?" He asks. I pause, I thought his question had more intimate connotations but based on his expression…he really wants to sing again.
I fling out the Nightingale Blade that was resting on my hip and aim right for his boar-like face. He ducks just in time, leaving the blade impaled on the woodwork behind him.
"Help! I'm getting attacked!" He yells. Harsh footsteps fall outside. If I keep us in here, then I'll have to deal with more innocent casualties. I look back at Lurbuk and before I can consider further, I tackle him. We burst through the flimsy wall of the Inn and go rolling outside on the ice covered docks. He roars and begins to punch me in my pretty face. But I punch back harder.
Each hit causes him to squeal, his hand palms the ground for his lute. I want to bash his blurry face in, but this isn't the way to execute someone. I reach back for the Ebony Blade, it's hilt barely brushing my fingers when he smacks me on the cheek so hard, I fall off him. He rolls out from under me and scrambles down the frost covered docks. Electricity fills my palm. If I can fling enough power… I lash out at his receding form but he slips on the ice, avoiding my attack.
"Damn it!" I yell. My mind and movements are not what I want them to be.
I wonder why. Voice asks with a hint of sarcasm.
I can't help his singing was so bad I had to drink that much, can't help that the encounter with Cicero in the Sanctuary threw me off, and I definitely can't help the feeling that I never want to return there. Easier to drink the sorrows away.
Then I will help you, child. She replies.
I leap and vault myself across the docks. The scent of his fear permeates the air. I thought he would enter the water and attempt to swim, instead, he runs to the marsh.
I chase him for a few minutes, a newfound energy fueling me like never before. Electricity wraps my body in a caress only Voice could provide. His frantic heartbeat nears. I crouch, ready for the kill…when his shadow turns, and I see the chicken he's holding.
"What the hell?" I can't help but ask. This is new.
"Kill me and you kill him!" He yells, his voice higher pitched than most Orcs, then again, he is facing death itself. "If you do that, then all the guards and villagers will attack you…and there will be a public execution!"
I can't tell if it's bullshit. But I have heard some bad things about those who kill chickens.
"Set it down." I growl. The lightning surrounds me and flares. Purple light bathes Lurbuk and only then can I recognize the fear in his eyes.
He shakes his head. "No. I won't. Why are you trying to kill me? All I wanted was to sing you a song."
Must be the alcohol but I have no tact. "I was sent by the Dark Brotherhood. Someone wants you dead, multiple people actually. They don't like your singing…" I trail off when I hear him sniff.
He starts sobbing, all out body shakes, tears streaming down his face. "I knew I wasn't what I could be. I wanted in the Bard's College, but they never accepted me. My own father hates my path…he hates me…" He breaks down again.
Must be the stress but I can't keep watching this. It's uncomfortable. "Um. No, actually you're decent. Might need some more work but decent. I think they wanted to kill you because you looked at them funny." I mumble.
Kill him. Voice reminds me.
He sniffs. "What? You like what I sing?"
This is awkward, I need to zap him, chicken be damned. But so far, I find no reason to kill him. He's just a guy doing what he loves. Even though it might make people's ears bleed…it's not harmful.
You are not judge or jury. My say in contracts is final.
I gulp. The electricity swarms me again. Even brighter. "Dragonborn Comes was good. I always like that one…"
He takes a deep breath, then starts to sing that very song. He takes a long time getting through the first few sentences, which is strange, because they repeat the same words multiple times. But I should cut him some slack. I am here to kill him.
He continues singing and it's horrible as usual but I can't hear him anymore. Voice is taking over, her presence seeps into my mind, like cobwebs forming without a guide. I know exactly how it will go, she may or may not send me unconscious but soon, Lurbuk will be dead.
He did nothing wrong. He's still doing nothing wrong but holding that chicken a little too tightly.
"Run." I grit out through clenched teeth. Electricity swarms and begins to zap me with her rage. "Run Lurbuk! Now!" I remember that power I got from Nocturnal. The Agent of Stealth…I think that's what it's called. Anyways, it should turn me invisible and keep me from Voice for enough time to let Lurbuk get away. I use it now. The power sounds through me quickly and I crouch. I know I'm invisible now.
Lurbuk keeps looking around like I'll show up to tell him the way out. "Run, Lubuk, you don't know who you're dealing with." I growl harshly. In truth I'm kind of dazed. I haven't been without Voice for so long…I should have used this power before.
I'm good with time. I know how long it takes for a second to beat, for a minute to pass, and right when the clock hits an hour. It's not even a minute until she comes back in full force.
HOW DARE YOU USE HER POWER IN MY PRESENCE!
I scream when the lightning starts again. The chicken screams bloody murder along with Lurbuk. I fall to the ground in jerky motions. "Run you idiot!" I don't mean it…that much but Lurbuk won't budge.
His eyes widen at the light show occurring but thank the gods, he turns and runs with the chicken. The marsh gets in the way of him. I see him trip a few times. My fangs extend.
I give chase once again, the water not slowing me down as much as it does him. He screams again when I tackle him, we go falling to the wet dirt of the marsh bank. He jolts with electricity, but I try hard. I hold back the worst of it.
What are you doing? She snarls.
I roll off the poor Orc and shove him away from me. I track the scent of blood and it takes everything in me not to follow the call. "GO!" I yell again. Lurbuk cries as he rises, I might have broken something in his leg or hip. I can't tell. I turn away and curl up into a ball. This time I shut her out. I pretend one of the Daedric Princes is with me, that they want to talk and that they have control over her. She can't get me here. She can't even find me.
KILL HIM.
That command used to bring me to my knees. Instead, I squeeze my eyes shut and hug my legs tighter. Her screaming drowns out Lurbuk's cries of pain and frustration as he races through the endless marsh. The electricity surrounding me is like a storm. The pulsing purple light fills the night air, signaling to anyone nearby a storm is brewing. I know she's trying to reach him from here…but I hope I'm far enough away. I can only pray.
GET UP. HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME.
The lighting races up and down my body, a familiar pain. Holes form in my skin. I've felt this so many times before and this was just as painful. I clench my teeth and hold on. If I can die and return as a vampire. Then, I can survive this.
I don't remember falling unconscious. It just happened. For a moment I'm terrified she took over my body like she did with Potema. Instead, I find her shriveled body right before me. I'm curled up on the soft grass of my old gardens in High Rock. The scent of roses surrounds me. So does the scent of decay.
Her mummified and gnarled form is swaying on her feet. Her eyes, milky and unfocused, are filled with rage.
You disobey.
I don't say anything. I watch the colors of the roses change, red to blue, to pink.
What do you have to answer to?
I still don't say anything, not even when her rotted hands pull me up by the shoulders. She should not be this strong, her muscles have atrophied. But here she is, holding me eye to eye.
"I told you. I didn't want to kill him. He was innocent." I should not be saying this. But I can't deny the truth.
She growls and before I can react a fist smacks me clear in the face. I go down bloodied.
You know the rules. You must follow the Black Sacrament and you let him get away.
I spit out a mouthful of blood, all over her feet and glare up into her shriveled face. It used to scare me more. "I did. I'm allowed to follow or break the rules. Get over it."
She smacks me again. I dodge but take the blow in my ribs. I groan.
I will make your life worse than anyone in Oblivion could dream of.
"You already have!" I can't help it. I still feel drunk so maybe I'm going too far with this.
Consider your lover dead by sunrise.
That's why. I look up at her again and grin. "You won't. Because then you would lose me. I would take that dammed crown and throw it into the depths of the sea. I'll discard it and there's nothing you could do to stop me." Please don't call my bluff.
She freezes. Her head is still tilted to the side. I will kill your friends.
We're in a standoff now. I know she doesn't have enough power to control me at all times, so I very well could throw that damn crown somewhere else. But she could just as easily force someone to perform the Black Sacrament on my friends.
"I'll make a deal with you. The crown stays nice and safe with me. You don't kill my friends. We call Lurbuk a lost contract. He wasn't that important anyways. Good enough?"
I see she wants to punish me. Oh, I see she wants to skin me alive and gut me while I scream. But she just watches.
The contract is too far away to chase now. He is with too many people. You failed. I did not. I won't kill anyone you hold dear…for now. But disobey me again and I will make sure anyone you've come into contact with carries the mark of death for any assassin to see.
I keep my face carefully composed. She does not know what she has given me today. Hope of sorts.
"Deal. Wake me up."
She moves closer, her steps so slow. But where they are frail and failing her arm movements are quick. She punches me right in the face and I fall unconscious…again.
When I open my eyes, I'm still lying in the marsh and surrounded by guards. All have their swords in my face. "You have committed crimes against Skyrim and her people. What say you?" One asks.
My voice is gravelly when I reply, "You got me."
Cicero's Journal Entry
23rd of Evening Star, 4E 201
While Traveler is out on a contract, Cicero decides to look around a bit. Nothing out of the ordinary. I wanted to check Astrid's room but her lumbering dog of a husband is in the way! He won't stop growling when I near him…the distrust in this Sanctuary is suffocating…
Update…Mother! Stop screaming! What angers you so?! Cicero is sorry he can't get what you want from Astrid! You said to be patient! Please, Mother, have mercy!