Chapter 23
By Any Means Necessary
XxXxXx
The thing about using a bow was that it was a great stealth weapon. If Nevano could stay hidden his targets often never knew what hit them, especially with a weapon as nasty as Bonebiter. Bows were also great as a support weapon, backing up a melee fighter who was distracting an enemy. The drawback to using a bow was that they were horrible one on one with an enemy who was well aware of the archer. The time it took to draw an arrow, knock it, sight it and fire was often the time it took for a melee fighter to close the distance between the two opponents. Nevano was fast on the draw when it came to all that but it still took him a few seconds. Those precious few seconds wasted in trying to get one last shot off on a charging enemy that may or may not kill them could have been spent drawing a melee weapon and going into a defensive position or even running. It was why he had always counseled archers in the Fighters Guild on learning a melee weapon, even if it was just a dagger. That small piece of metal could be the difference between life and death. The other drawback to a bow was that the archer had to have good aim. There was nothing more frustrating or wasted as a missed shot, especially when it blows the element of surprise. Which is exactly what happened.
He missed.
At the last possible second, his broken ribs shifted, the shattered ends grinding against each other making his nerves scream in pain. His body gave an automatic twitch is response, jerking the bow just as his fingers released the arrow. He watched in helpless horror as the arrow buried itself into a bookshelf, the magic of the bow shattering the wooden piece of furniture into splinters.
Ildari looked up, her eyes meeting his from across the room. A chill ran down his spine as his gaze met her. Put a gold mask on her and she might as well have been Dagoth Ur. "You! How did you survive? Neloth found someone with some strength it seems…"
Nevano didn't waste what little breath he had in lungs on her. He had done that with Dagoth Ur, actually spending over an hour talking to the mad false god. It had completely shattered the raw remains of his nerves and left him going into battle with shaking knees and hands. He wasn't going to make the same mistake this time. This time he allowed the raw beast-like anger that he tried to keep locked away to take over. It pushed away the pain, it pushed away fear and it pushed nearly all of his sense of self away. Nerevar sent a ping of alarm but Nevano ignored it. He unsheathed Truefire and Hopesflame, their fire taking on a distinctive primal ferocity.
"No, no…it doesn't matter." Ildari muttered. "You will die!"
Electricity danced from her fingertips and arced across the room, the brilliant bolts seeking out the interloper but struck only air. Nevano dove into a forward roll and came up running, closing the distance between them. He wound Truefire back, ready to strike as soon as he was within reach…
Something struck Nevano in the side, throwing him sideways. Ildari ran to the other side of the room and Nevano growled like a rabid dog as he watched his prey get further away. He wanted her DEAD! He wanted to feel his swords slice through flesh, have the blood splash over his arms, to have the smell of blood fill his nose, to taste her fear. He was snarled as he was struck again. There was another soul gem, another damn annoying soul gem, throwing balls of fire at him. Another growl bubbled from his throat, his anger increasing.
"Die already!" His gaze snapped to Ildari has she readied another spell. He focused solely on her, his vision blacking out everything else. The muscles in his legs tensed and quivered as he coiled them under him like a cat ready to spring. She blinked at him, hesitating for the first time. She could see he was injured, the voices surely were telling her that he was. The thought that she was taken off guard excited him in a way no woman's body ever could. He had the advantage. She was his prey and he would take her down. His taunt body released in a massive propulsion, more reminiscent of a mountain cat than a mer. Fire from the soul gems pelted his body but he ignored it. The rest of the world ceased to be, all except him and his prey. He howled in exaltation as he finally caught her, his swords eagerly seeking to sink into the soft flesh. She was fighting, trying to fend him off with a dagger, preventing him for getting in a lethal wound but he had cut her skin. The smell of blood was sending him into a frenzy, desperate for the kill.
"Ugh!" Ildari cried out. "The heartstone will protect me!"
"No." Nevano growled. "It won't"
Stop.
No. He couldn't stop now. He was so close. Soon he would be bathed in her blood, the hunt complete.
STOP!
But…
YOU ARE NOT A MONSTER, LAD!
He froze. Firebolts from the charged soul gems continued to pelt his back and arms but he ignored it. Truefire and Hopesflame fell from his suddenly nerveless hands, the angry flames dying as soon as they hit the floor. He looked down at Ildari. She was covered in cuts, her blood smeared everywhere. She was exhausted from fending him off and could barely move anymore. He had worried her like a dog with a rat. Her eyes were still clear but not focused on him anymore. She was muttering, pausing, then muttering again. He realized she was talking to the voices in her head. She had shut down to the world around her, much like he had. Like. He. Had. Oh gods…
Finish her off, lad. End this.
He grabbed Ildari's shirtfront and held her up. Her eyes went wide, finally registering him and what he intended to do, first with shock and then from fear. Perhaps the voices were finally telling her that this was the monster who was finally going to end her miserable existence. However, even if she knew what was going to happen, she no longer had the energy to stop it. Nevano plunged his arm into Ildari's chest and grabbed the heartstone that was nestled in the gaping hole, bound by organic tissue and magic threads. He yanked as hard as he could.
Ildari screamed as her life force was severed violently, blood and bits of bone and flesh erupting from her chest as the magic sustaining her beat a hasty exit. Both she and Nevano were thrown away from each other from the violent force. Magic was slung around the room, bouncing off the walls and shredding what was left of the furniture before finally dissipating.
Nevano stayed where he was on the ground for a moment, wheezing painfully around his broken ribs, gripping the bloody heartstone in his hand. The whole room was washed in a sudden silence, the negative energy bleeding from the room and his mind like water from a sieve, leaving him feeling drained and exhausted. Slowly he sat up. The room looked as if a hurricane had tore through it. Furniture was splintered and destroyed, scorch marks from the soul gems marred the walls and blood from both him and Ildari covered the floor like a grotesque lake. In the middle of it all was Ildari's broken body. Nevano stared at her empty glassy eyes and realized he felt just as empty as her eyes were. He felt nothing. He should have felt relieved, happy even, that such a monster was finally destroyed. Instead he felt nothing at all. He felt a remonstrative pounding like a headache in his head and knew it was Nerevar doing his best to slap him upside the head. He remembered what he told Dreyla, that love was something that kept fighters from becoming monsters. He meant what he said…he just had nothing holding him back from becoming a monster anymore. This just proved that.
He got up and limped out of the room, towards the exit. He shouldn't have let that inner rage out. Every time he did it chipped away at his humanity bit by bit. He had nothing and no one to help rebuild the cracks anymore. If he wasn't careful, he would become a beast as mad as the one he just killed.
Easy, lad.
"Easy for you to say." Nevano muttered out loud. "You and Azura…you just sit back and watch the insanity unfold. See? I'm talking to voices no one else can hear. That's the number one indicator of insanity."
Nerevar had nothing to say to that. It was just as well. His chest was really starting to hurt, making it even more difficult to breath. He stopped walking and doubled over, his hands on his knees, hunching his shoulders in an attempt to relieve the pressure on his ribs. It did nothing. Instead the tight feeling got worse. His stomach dropped as he realized what this was. The familiar tightening of the muscles in his chest emanating from a single burning point, the difficulty in breathing and the closing of his throat…it was yet another attack of this mysterious ailment. He gasped as the muscles in his chest and neck spasmed painfully, making it difficult to draw breath into his lungs. Black dots appeared in his vision as he dropped to his knees. He would pass out soon but he couldn't out here in the wilderness. He might as well sign his own death sentence right now.
"Nerevar…help me!" he croaked, clawing at the ground. Almost immediately he felt a foreign strength fill his body, like someone was slipping his skin on like a coat. An invasive presence took control of his limbs, forcing his body to stand up like a puppet master tugging at strings. He didn't fight it. Instead he concentrated fully on dealing with the pain of both the attack and the broken ribs, forcing life-sustaining air into bruised reluctant lungs while the other entity moved his body.
'One stop.' He thought as he stumbled through the woods. 'One thing I need to do then Raven Rock.'
After what felt like an eternity, just as the last of his strength and resolve were failing, the Bulwark came into sight, filling him with relief. He could feel that Nerevar was getting tired. He could only maintain a physical presence for so long and he was pushing his limits. Nevano knew that once Nerevar retreated from this physical form, all of Nevano's previous fatigue would come crashing back but would be compounded by Nerevar's own exhaustion. At least he could pass out here and be dragged to safety by a patrolling guard. He was on a patrol route and there was a guard due at the point in twenty minutes. And here Veleth thought he was strange for memorizing the patrol routes.
What he didn't count on was the two guards were scrubbing at the Bulwark. Oh good. That made things much easier. He tried to call out to them but Nerevar chose that moment to abruptly withdraw. All that came out was a crackling groan as his legs turned to jelly and unceremoniously dropped him to the ground. He watched as the two jumped, dropped their brushes and ran over to him. At least he thought there were two. They were perfect mirrors of each other in their movements and appearance. Nevano blinked. He didn't think he was that oxygen starved that he was seeing double…
"Hey, Nevano, what happened?" The one on the right asked as he dragged Nevano up.
"You look…like how we look after a double shift of netch crap duty." The left said. Nevano blinked. They were speaking independently of each other. He didn't get hit in the head…not that hard anyway.
"Hey, Zeb, we should get him to the captain…"
"No, Min, he needs to see Aphia. C'mon, Veleth won't get upset if we shirk netch crap duty for this." Oh wait…twins! How could he forget about the twins?
"Do me a favor." Nevano tried to keep him voice from slurring as he was slung between the two guards. "Someone send a message to Neloth that the next time he wants me to kill his demented, undead apprentices…I'll chuck the heartstone at his head instead of at his mushroom fortress!"
The last thing he heard before he passed out was one twin wondering out loud "Did he really throw a heartstone at the Telvanni's tower?"
Yes. Yes he did. It was completely worth it.
XxXxXx
Several days later found Nevano in his favorite corner of the Retching Netch, polishing out a knick in Truefire's blade. He had been keeping to himself since he had gotten his ribs fixed. That brush with insanity had rattled him more than a little. Nerevar, still exhausted from helping him get to Raven Rock, had been completely silent as well. He wasn't so sure if he was upset at the silence or relieved. He knew he wasn't insane per say. Nerevar was…part of him. He was the embodiment of the Chimeri general. He was Nevano but he was also Nerevar. That wasn't insanity was it?
Nevano rested his foot against the table, propping Truefire against his knee so he could get a better look at the knick. It was far worse than he thought. He shouldn't have pushed the sword as hard as he had. No one could fix the legendary blade if he broke it. He grunted and polished at it, working the knick out particle by particle.
He was certainly different than Ildari, who had never heard voices up until the heartstone incident. Was he doomed to end up like Ildari? Nerevar never tried to take over his mind…if anything he wasn't all that intrusive. He would let Nevano know if he approved or disapproved of something but never tried to convince Nevano to act otherwise. He only took over when Nevano was about to get killed and even then he often waited for Nevano to ask for help. Ildari's voices would have eventually told her to wipe the island clean of all life. She was never offered a choice. Was he insane? Maybe…but not insane like Ildari had been insane. The thought loosened the knot in his stomach a bit.
"Do you have a moment?" Nevano glanced up to see Adril Arano standing over him. Instead of his normally aloof look there was a tight glint of worry in his eyes. Nevano wordlessly nodded at a nearby chair, not pausing in his work on Truefire.
"After everything you've already done for Raven Rock, I hate to ask you for more but I can't risk Councilor Morvayn being killed."
"Well, if you wanted my full attention, that definitely got it." Nevano blinked. "What in Azura's name makes you think he's going to get killed? Well, other than the obvious dangers of Solstheim that is."
"The Ulen Family of House Hlaalu, a rival Great House, has placed a deathmark on the councilor's head."
"Why specifically?" Nevano ran his thumb over the edge of the blade, testing the perfection of the edge.
"I can't go into great detail but Councilor Morvayn once ordered the execution of one of the family members and I think there are hostile members of House Hlaalu living undercover in Raven Rock." Adril said tersely. "I only have my suspicions. Councilor Morvayn seems to think I'm paranoid but I don't want to wake up one morning and find him dead!"
"Paranoia is good to have in healthy doses." Nevano said pointedly, not taking his eyes off his sword. Truefire flared briefly in response to his emotions.
"I deserve that, don't I?" Adril sighed. "As an outsider, you have a better chance of discovering who might be behind this. As the renowned fighter you are, you stand a better chance of defending yourself against any sort of hostilities."
"You did deserve that." Nevano jerked his thumb back as the sharp blade split the skin, drawing a few drops of blood. There was a small hiss as a small flame burned off the drop of blood that landed on the blade. "Alright. I'll help. Mostly because you finally admitted, somewhat, that you acted like an ass. Oh, and I don't want to see Morvayn get killed either. Out of all the councilors I've delt with, I like him best. He doesn't give me a headache." Nevano finally took his foot off the table and sat up, meeting Adril's eyes. "Do you have something for me to go by or am I working on a wing and a prayer?"
"I cannot accuse anyone based on a haunch…"
"Right, go talk to the only one here more paranoid than you." Nevano sheathed Truefire as he stood up. "And one whose gut has never been wrong."
"I was going to suggest Geldis here." Adril said dryly. "He's been here longer."
Nevano paused and glared at Adril, sending the mer back a step in surprise at the anger and spark of hatred. "If I were you, I wouldn't keep making those subtle little insults at those I consider near and dear to me, especially after you just asked for my help. That's called bad politics. Veleth might hate the game and refuse to play but I WILL play and you might not like the rules I play by. You want my help, fine…but you keep your little remarks to yourself."
Fuming slightly Nevano stormed outside and snagged a rather disgruntled captain from his patrol route and wordlessly dragged him to his dark corner of the Retching Netch and shoved him into a chair. Fortunately Adril had left. Nevano couldn't guarantee he would be as polite as he was a minute ago.
"Tell me about these Hlaalu assassins."
"Not much I can tell you really." Veleth didn't sound surprised at the topic at all. At least he knew what was going on. "The first attempt happened before I got here and they've been clever at evading all attempts at us trying to locate them since. Someone has been leaving offerings at the Ulen's tomb but they avoid the temple when we tried to wait for them."
"You don't say." Nevano said in a flat voice, tapping his nails on the table. "That has got to be the most transparent plan I've ever heard of. Get someone drunk enough to loosen lips, threaten to beat someone into the ground, sleep with their mother if you have to. Something…creative!"
"Sleep with their mother?"
"Well, yeah, sure. Why not?"
"Would you really sleep with someone's mother?"
"Depends on who it is. Different people require different plans." Nevano said easily, enjoying himself. Scandalizing Veleth was about as easy as scandalizing Gunjar except Veleth wasn't as shocked as he was disapproving. That took some of the fun out of it. "However, I need to know who you think it is. You can't tell me that your gut hasn't been growling at someone."
Nevano grinned wickedly as Veleth made a face. Oh, he could see that the son of the most infamously paranoid fetcher in Morrowind did not appreciate his gift at all. The kid KNEW who was behind this but his rigid moral conscious was heavily resenting pointing fingers without proof. Nevano knew he just needed one more good push and he should be able to get past that annoying conscious and make the captain sing. "C'mon, Bull. That magic Veleth gut has saved many lives before. Use it to save one more life. Lleril Morvayn's life."
"Fine." Veleth huffed, glaring at the extortion. Or the nickname. Or both. "Severin."
"See? Was that so hard?"
"There's no concrete evidence against them. I can't just act on a haunch."
"Yeah, well, I can. Quit thinking so uptight over rules. Act less like an Imperial and more like a Dunmer and cheat a little." Nevano grinned even wider when Veleth growled at him, "Oh look, there's that temper I heard so much about. Seems this place hasn't knocked it out of you after all, you just tried to bury it."
"I…what?"
"Ok, I have a plan." Nevano switched topics on Veleth abruptly, a tactic that worked so well on everyone. "Your gut is actually lining up with the suspicions I've had from the beginning. There's no way Mirri is Tilisu and Vendil's daughter unless the so-called parents had her when they were five years old."
"Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that…" Veleth muttered.
"And yet no one called them out on the shoddy façade." Nevano held up his hands at Veleth's glare. "Mirri is our way in."
"How so?"
"Mirri has been flirting with me nonstop since I first stepped foot here. I think it's time I get to know her."
"Mirri flirts with everyone." Veleth said flatly. "She actually got so aggressive she scared the twins. I don't care what my men do off-duty but I told them all to stay away from that one. Be careful going after her. She just…rubs me the wrong way. Sets my teeth on edge. I can't even listen to her speak without wanting to shove a dagger through her throat to shut her up."
"Hilariously, the last time I saw Mirri talking to you I thought Dreyla was going to try to claw her eyes out with her bare hands." Nevano snickered when Veleth perked up at that tidbit. "However, I need you to keep Vendil and Tilisu occupied for a few hours. I don't want them interrupting. I'm sure you can think of something to keep them in town."
"Well…it WILL get you inside the manor. Legally, at least."
"I'll be happy to argue the loopholes of legality with you later. One catch; our esteemed councilors can't know what I'm about to do." Nevano crossed his arms, "We'll hand them whatever I find and leave the fine details out. I don't believe in letting council members know how I got the information. Especially not Adril. He doesn't need to know what I'm up to. He can deal with whatever fallout happens later."
"For once we are in perfect agreement."
"We still got plenty of time. Let's get this over with."
"Vendil and Tilisu should be out and around the town. I think I can come up with something to suitably occupy them. Or I'll get the twins to be annoying. Good luck."
Nevano didn't have to go far. He rented a room from Geldis and went into the small room. He removed his weapons belt that held Truefire and Hopesflame and laid them on the bed along with Bonebiter and his arrows and covered them with the blanket. From his pack he removed a simple silver ring and exchanged it for his moon-and-star ring. That he slipped into a small pouch for safekeeping. He made sure Wraithguard and Keening were secure in his pack before sliding the whole thing under the bed. Then he went out and ordered a few bottles of sujamma. All he had to do was wait.
He wasn't disappointed. Mirri came in, her hips swaying in such a way that it made a man want to slide his arm around her to keep her steady. The only problem was that most of the men in Raven Rock were now immune to her allure. Nevano watched her, really watched her; she was seductive, of course, but not sweetly seductive, like a girl hoping for a first date but dangerously so, like a viper searching for prey. He was both intrigued and repelled by the idea. He was eager to have a drink with her but he would make sure he was across the table from her.
"Drinking alone?"
"Not unless you'd do me the honor and join me." Nevano smiled.
"It's not often a good looking man has the manners to offer a girl a drink."
"The women who raised me would be happy to hear I remember how to treat a lady." Nevano lied smoothly, passing her a drink.
"I'm surprised you're still here." Mirri said, taking a quick swig. "I've seen you coming and going the past few weeks. Most adventurers don't stay this long…or don't come back."
"This isn't my first trip here." Nevano smiled. "I'm familiar with Solstheim's dangers. I'm actually waiting for a friend to return. After he comes back I suppose we'll move on. Haven't decided yet."
"A second trip to Solstheim? More than a common adventurer then?"
"I guess you could say that. I prefer wanderer though. I seem to do more wandering than I do adventuring." That was true enough. "What about you?"
"Oh my family has a saltrice plantation just east of Safepoint Vvarden. We came here because we wanted to help and Raven Rock was in dire need of help."
"That was generous." Nevano smiled. "You don't hear about generosity like that often and I've traveled to a lot of places."
"I enjoy helping people but I admit it gets lonely here sometimes." Mirri shot him a look that was so filled with ravenous desire that for an instant he felt like his blood had caught on fire. Nevano clamped down on the stirrings of interest. He didn't want to go down that route if he could help it.
"A sweet generous girl like you?" Nevano took a generous gulp of sujamma. "I'm surprised your father isn't beating men off you."
"I'm afraid that is exactly what's going on!"
Nevano mentally sighed. This polite nothing was starting to get tedious. She was a good liar, this one. He would have believed her…had she not mentioned a saltrice plantation near Vvarden. Vvarden was the second to last in the line of Safepoints going east. There were no saltrice plantations out there because saltrice didn't grow in the rocky area west of Necrom. She had delivered that lie with such perfect conviction she probably had little trouble convincing most of the people here of that truth. Certainly the two councilors, who had never been on the mainland outside of Blacklight, wouldn't have caught that.
They made small talk for another hour or so, Nevano trying every trick he knew while supplying her with more alcohol, doing his best to get her to slip up. Never once did she deviate from her original story. If anything she made it seem even more believable, keeping perfect track of all her lies. Nevano couldn't help but admire her for that even as he mentally cursed the sujamma for not doing its job in tripping her up. Maybe he should have gotten his mazte and sujamma shots…
"So…my parents won't be back for a while." Mirri ran her finger around the rim of her glass. "Want to come back to my place?"
"I'd love to." Nevano smiled blandly at the clichéd exchange. He knew exactly where this was headed and he couldn't say he was fully committed to it yet. Part of him was greatly curious, intrigued by the earlier look she had given him that had sent his senses on over-drive but the other part was screaming at him that she was dangerous and he should run in the other direction. He sighed quietly as he followed her towards the Severin manor on the outskirts of the town. At least he was getting into the manor.
XxXxXx
An hour later Nevano lay stretched out on his stomach, eyes mostly closed as he enjoyed the feeling of Mirri tracing the silvery scars that criss-crossed his back and shoulders like a road map. The only reason he wasn't a purring puddle under her ministrations was because he was keeping an eye out for any sign that she might have caught on to him and was about to bury a dagger in his back. Until that dagger made an appearance however, he was going to enjoy the feel of her fingers dancing across the pale raised lines, leaving little shivers in their wake. He wouldn't admit it but it had been a while since he allowed himself this sort of luxury and he was a little attention-starved. Mindlessly rutting was one thing but being touched like this, by someone who was actively thinking about the person they were touching, was completely another. It touched at the chasm in his soul, one he desperately wanted to fill but at the same time wanted to ignore.
"Why are you here, Mirri?" he murmured, turning his head slightly so he wasn't completely muffled by the pillow.
"I thought our intentions were very apparent." She giggled.
"I meant on Solstheim."
"That's a long story. I hate it here." She admitted, walking her fingers up his spine, one vertebra at a time, making Nevano shiver, "I can't wait to leave this miserable place."
"Your parents seem to like it here."
"My parents…right." She said slowly, sobering up a bit, "They have their own plans. I'm stuck on the side. Bored. Unless a handsome stranger like you feels like paying me a bit of attention."
"I enjoy paying attention to you." Nevano smiled blandly through the lie, "You're a fun girl."
"Such a flatterer." She smirked hazily and sprawled on her back next to him, giving him a good view of her bare torso. However something else beyond her impressive breasts caught his attention. On the bedside table was Mirri's dagger. That in and of itself was nor remarkable but the red seal on the scabbard, almost small enough to miss, stood out. He knew that seal, had seen it many times before sometimes far too close for comfort. That red intertwining seal was the mark of the Morag Tong, the guild of assassins. So they were right to fear assassins after all.
"Will you stay a while?"
The question surprised him. It certainly wasn't the question usually asked by most one-night stands. In fact, most girls were usually giving him a look that it was probably time for him to consider leaving at this point. "I can."
"Oh good." Mirri muttered drowsily. Nevano watched until the rise and fall of her chest evened out into the unmistakable rhythm of sleep before carefully rising from the bed. Not yet bothering with clothing he padded quietly from Mirri's room and toward the door at the end of the hallway that he was fairly certain led to the master bedroom. If there was one thing he had learned over the years it was that most people felt most comfortable leaving important (or incriminating) documents in their bedrooms. They had a false sense of privacy there, an extra feel of security that no one would breech the sanctity of a private bedroom. They were wrong, of course. If anything, it was the first place that was ransacked. He wasn't disappointed either. It was almost depressingly easy. The only safe in the room contained a letter signed "Ulen".
"Always burn your mail." Nevano muttered to himself. Clutching the letter he quickly made his way back to Mirri's room and hastily pulled on his pants and boots. He could bother with the rest later.
"So you know." He froze, his hand inches from the door, Mirri's voice holding him in place more effectively than any other restraint. He turned to see her watching him with an unreadable expression. He felt more naked than he had when his clothes were in a heap on the floor. He had left Truefire and Hopesflame back with his pack at the Retching Netch. He had his dagger hidden in his boot as always but it was the backup for the backup for the backup. Seeing as he was caught, he figured to go for honesty instead of trying to lie his way out of it.
"That was the whole point of this."
"I see." She sounded completely unsurprised but Nevano could hear a note of wistfulness in there. She had been hoping against hope that this might have had a note of truth to it. Now that she had complete confirmation that this was not, her defenses would go up. He sighed and stuffed his hand into a small pouch on the back of his belt, slipping his ring back on.
"Mirri, I need you to tell me why." She looked up as his voice took on an edge of authority, meeting his eyes full on. As soon as she did, he knew that he had her; the ring's power influencing her to want to listen to him, to trust his words.
"I volunteered for this. Vendil? He's not my father. Far from it. We aren't even related. I…I loved him. Tilisu…that s'wit. She's the one who insisted we keep up appearances even behind closed doors! He hasn't so much as looked at me since we got here but I can hear them every night through the walls. She ruined everything. I've had nothing to do. I couldn't ever convince the guard for a romp or two, especially with that uptight captain thinking it's for personal gain. He's one to talk, flirting with that Dreyla girl. The town is boring and hardly any adventurers come through anymore…" Nevano sighed. Azura save him but he felt sorry for the lonely assassin. "That letter probably mentions Ashfallow Citadel. Vendil and Tilisu will take off for the place like a pair of startled hares once they hear I brought you here, mark my words. Be careful though. There are a lot of Morag Tong assassins there."
"Mirri…you know how this will end."
"I knew the instant you came back from Fort Frostmoth." She said with a shrug, "You weren't like the normal brand of adventurer. I saw your face, your eyes. I knew who you were even if no one else believed me. Even after the guard started gossiping, no one believed me. I told Vendil that he needed to act then, when Veleth was still limping and you had gone off to the mine. But he wouldn't listen to me. The plan will fall apart. You freed up the guard and their attention. He will never get another chance."
"You know you could…"
"Could what?" She stopped him. "You could let me go and I could walk away but the Morag Tong would never release me. I would be hunted for the rest of my life, no matter how hard I try to hide myself in the farthest most miserable corner of Tamriel. No, my life was forfeit the moment the Nerevarine stepped foot in Raven Rock. Oh yes I know who you are. You came here wearing those lenses but you haven't in a while. I saw your eyes. I think every female mer in Tamriel has dreamed of those eyes at least once. It's not all bad…I got to bed Morrowind's greatest hero. Unfortunately, I still need to try to help Vendil. You understand…I can't stop loving him. Captain Veleth will have to try to finish this alone because now we both die."
Nevano barely had time to think before Mirri lunged at him, her dagger drawn faster than his eyes could register. He quickly drew his own dagger, barely dropping himself into a defensive stance before Mirri was upon him. Strangely she did nothing to try to break his defenses, instead she threw herself on him, impaling herself on his dagger. Nevano grabbed her hand before she could try to stab him in the back but her hand went limp in his grasp instead of fighting his hold. To his great surprise she used her last breath to kiss him full on the mouth, a long and lingering kiss that imparted the last wisps of air of her life into his mouth. He waited until her body was fully limp and starting to lose its heat before he gently lowered her to the ground. He picked up the last of his clothes and left the manor.
As soon as he stepped outside, still shrugging into his armor, the twins, Minassour and Zebdusipal, came running up to him.
"Nevano!" One of them said. Nevano really couldn't tell them apart. "We were told to come looking for you."
"Captain Veleth asked if we could help keep track of Tilisu and Vendil Severin…"
"And we were doing a good job…"
"I think they were actually starting to get annoyed with us…"
"But then Second Councilor Adril started talking to Brelo and Drarana and asked them to go out and do something…"
"We had to report to Veleth. Those two are worthless…"
"Right before we ran off, Vendil had asked where Mirri was and got upset when someone said she was last seen drinking with you…"
"Veleth said to come find you while he talked to Councilor Arano…"
"So here we are and…"
"STOP!" Nevano held his head. "I get vertigo when you two do that. Hitting every sort of extreme today I don't need to add a migraine on top of that. What happened and only ONE of you tell me."
"Tilisu and Vendil are gone." The twins said together.
"That…wasn't much better." Nevano winced. "I kinda already figured those two would take off. Am I safe in assuming that the small volcano of fury I can feel building up is our favorite captain?"
"I haven't seen him THIS mad since we got that one idiot in that we had to train from the ground up and it turns out he was utterly hopeless at even HOLDING a sword." The twin on the right said. Nevano was guessing it was Zebdusipal. He seemed to have slightly darker red eyes. At least Nevano thought it was Zebdusipal. The only one who could tell them apart was Veleth. "I really thought he was going to send that stupid fetcher back to Blacklight in a bloody box. Or at least with a politely rude note pinned to his collar with a knife."
"No, Councilor Morvayn stopped him remember?"
"Oh yeah that's right. We went through some brutal training workouts for a while after that until he burned through that temper."
"You two are rambling…" Nevano sighed.
"Oh, sorry." Minassour said, not sounding sorry in the slightest. "He's pacing a hole over by the Bulwark. I'd get your gear and hurry. He might leave without you."
XxXxXx
Veleth frowned as Nevano stopped for the third time to vomit in a bush, "Alright, this time, when I ask 'are you alright?' you are not allowed to brush me off."
"Mirri poisoned me." Nevano said bluntly, spitting out the last bit of bile.
"Excuse me, what?!"
"Don't worry. I had my Date Ring on." The look on Veleth's face was absolutely priceless. Totally worth making up the name on the spot. "I'm already immune to diseases and my necklace gives me some protection from paralysis so this protects against poisons. It's not perfect. I'm really not a good enchanter and I didn't have enough to pay a mage to enchant it for me at the time so it makes me sick as a dog as it rejects the poisons from my body. I'll be fine once we get to Ashfallow."
"Why do you have a…what did you call that thing?"
"My Date Ring? Maybe I should all it my One-Night-Stand Ring. Oh, even better, One-Ring-Under-Girl-And-Sheets!" Nevano snickered to himself at the look on Veleth's face. This was too much fun. "Mirri is not the first girl to try to poison me. Poison lipstick though…that's a new one. Usually it's poisoned drinks or a poisoned hair pin that has 'accidentally' slipped. Definitely dangerous, especially since she probably poisoned herself at the same time but she had already resigned herself to die so therefore highly effective…except I didn't die. Rather tragic really."
"What are you doing that would make that many women try to poison you?"
"I breathed." Nevano caught sight of Veleth's flat look. Damn. He was over his shock and no longer amused at Nevano's attempts at levity. "Not all my 'dates' are for pleasure. Some, like Mirri, were merely steps in completing whatever mission I'm working on. Most of those girls are already on the lookout for something or someone and are most likely under orders to kill me. Sometimes it's beneficial to pretend to be dead and other times, like with Mirri, someone dies…and it's not me. I generally don't LIKE killing them but it's unavoidable sometimes unfortunately."
Veleth frowned but stayed quiet. Nevano didn't push him. Using his body as a means to an end was nothing new but it probably rang discordantly in the soldier's mind. It did with most people but most people had more respect for themselves than Nevano did. He had long since lost any reservations over using himself like that. It was just the way it was. Poor kid probably-
"So that was why I kept smelling sweat, sex and shame."
Nevano burst out laughing, taken completely by surprise. "So there IS a bit of a sense of humor in there! You should let it out more often."
"I do need to maintain an image you know." Somehow or another, Veleth managed to keep a straight face, "Around you though…you would tarnish anyone's image so why bother maintaining one?"
"I take great pride in doing that!" Nevano grinned. "Though I will correct you on one thing. There was no shame. Shameless would be a better description. She was a pretty girl after all."
Veleth held up a hand to stop him and pointed to a seemingly random spot on the ground. Nevano narrowed his eyes as he scanned the ashy foliage. A small drip of blood was splashed on a rock, almost buried underneath windblown ash. Nevano raised an eyebrow, highly impressed with the captain's tracking skills.
"We're almost to Ashfallow Citadel." He whispered, "It's entirely too quiet for the amount of people we are assuming are around here. We should have run across my men by now."
"I hate to break it to you…"
"I know." A muscle in Veleth's jaw leaped and his eyes burned. "As soon as Adril said he sent those two I knew. If he had asked me I would have given him the names of those more suited for tracking and far more experienced with being in the wilderness. Instead he tried to do my job for me."
" 'These two'?" Nevano asked. "Which 'these two' and why is it so bad they are out here?"
"Raven Rock was their first assignment outside of Blacklight." The fire in his eyes burned brighter, making Nevano shift away a bit. "This was a death sentence to them, especially against a tower full of Morag Tong assassins. Ever since the mine was closed the men that were sent here were no longer as well trained or as experienced as I would have liked. I can train them easy enough but the experience part is a bit harder. These two were among the ones so spooked by the ash spawn I had to send them to the other side of Raven Rock so they wouldn't demoralize the whole guard. Let's go. I'm hoping against hope that we might find them alive."
"Hope for the best, expect the worst?"
"Exactly."
They continued on, their way marked for them by a trail of blood that went from a few drops sprinkled here and there to massive puddles violently splashed against stones fallen from the citadel. Nevano could feel Veleth's temper rising with every bit of blood they passed. Halfway up the steps to the citadel they found the first body.
"Brelo…" Veleth murmured, crouching down next to the dead guard. "Kid was young, still learning to find his courage. Given a few months he would have toughened up enough to be just as good as the others. His parents are going to be very upset about this. They had vehemently opposed his coming here and I agreed with them but they didn't have the influence to keep him home unfortunately. I no longer have the power to be able to request they serve time at the Safepoints first. He would have benefited greatly from serving time at Kogo first."
A few steps further up they found the second body.
"Drarana. She had a few years on Brelo but all of it was city patrol. She wasn't used to creatures more frightening than a stray dog so when the ash spawn showed up she was really unnerved. Wasn't her fault, she simply didn't have experience. I had started sending her out with the twins on border patrols because those two scare up just about every strange animal on the island because they like catching them. Her first night in the Bulwark those two idiots had caught an ash hopper and snuck in into the barracks and it got into her bunk. Didn't think anyone could scream that high. Both twins walked around with a handprint on their faces for a few days after she slapped them. It was too amusing for me to say anything about it." Veleth sat back on his heels. "I really hate to add their names to the stone."
"There are not many people who honor their men like that. Especially in these far-flung outposts." Nevano put a hand on Veleth's shoulder. "You allow them to live on where others would let them be forgotten, another ghost on this island. C'mon. Let's go kill their killers."
"Our first opportunity is at the top of these stairs."
"Oh good, you saw him too." Nevano grinned widely and drew his bow. "I do believe it's time to introduce you to Bonebiter."
"It's impossible to make that shot from here." Veleth said. "Especially with a chitin bow."
"Sit back and watch me do the impossible then."
Nevano lined up the shot, enjoying the freedom of movement now that his ribs weren't grinding against each other. He could just make out the assassin at the top of the stairs, his armor the same color as his surroundings, making him almost invisible. He wouldn't try this shot with any other bow but he knew what Bonebiter was capable of and knew just how to coax out the bow's full potential. He let loose the arrow and watched as it flew through the air to punch clean the chitin armor with a loud crack and sent the assassin flying backwards in a shower of blood.
"Nasty enchantment on that bow."
"A gift from Sul-Matuul. This is Bonebiter, the bow that once belonged to the Ashkhan Sul-Senipul."
"Are you comfortable using that thing the whole way through?"
"I'm content using either the swords or my bow if that's what you're asking." Nevano said, "I like to limit the numbers before they reach me. I'm not a big elf in heavy armor like you so I shoot first then Hopesfire and Trueflame clean up the rest. As to what I know you're getting at…you go in first, I'll back you up. Just don't flinch when an arrow goes over your shoulder."
Veleth just smirked at him.
Nevano made the assumption that fighting with Veleth would be much like fighting with Gunjar. After all there were many similarities between the two; both wore heavy armor and both seemed to favor heavy, two-handed weapons. However, that was where the similarities stopped. Nevano scolded himself for making such assumptions. Veleth was nothing like Gunjar. Gunjar fought like a human. He was very skillful, that was obvious, but he moved…like a human. There was nothing wrong about that per say. If anything Nevano was often impressed at how skilled humans managed to get in the short amount of time they had but they never had the time to learn how to move like an elf.
Fighting with Veleth was a rush he hadn't experienced in a long time. Veleth, despite the heavy armor that probably all weighed more than Nevano himself, moved with the fluidity and grace that only an elf with an entire human's lifespan worth of experience could obtain. Nevano had only seen him fight once and that was at the tail end of an exhausting fight and injured. He was at full strength now and thirsty for the blood of those who killed his men. Nevano was rather glad he was behind him. Veleth was a master with that axe, using it as fluidly and almost as fast as Nevano handled Truefire and Hopesflame. Nevano fired off deadly arrows, sometimes close enough that Veleth had to feel the rush of ash as they whistled past him. To his credit, he never once flinched. They tore through the citadel together, leaving a bloody swath behind them. Then they came to a spot where two spike gates trembled ominously against the wall.
"Hang on, Bull." Nevano stepped forward. "Take a breather and let me."
The floor was littered with pressure plates, ones that were set extraordinarily sensitive. Even though Nevano was giving them plenty of room, they still creaked. If Veleth had tried, he would have set off the pressure plates and the spike door. There was something to be said for being small and light after all. After disarming the trap he gingerly tested a plate to see if he was successful and was pleased to see he hadn't lost his touch after all.
"Vendil should be just up ahead. This place isn't all that big." Veleth said, still hesitant about touch the plates. Nevano didn't blame him.
"Tilisu will be there as well." Nevano tapped his fingers. "And more than likely several more Morag Tong."
"It'll be a tough fight." Veleth rolled his shoulders, popping the joints. "But a satisfying one."
"Just don't get flanked again."
"Shut up."
Half an hour later the two blood-splattered mer left Ashfallow Citadel, stopping to retrieve the bodies of the two fallen Redoran guard before headed home to Raven Rock, their job complete.
XxXxXx
A/N: By now, the rating for this fic will have changed to M. Also, this chapter contains a bonus scene, which is available on Archive of Our Own. That's all the official notices. Unofficially, there were like 4 entertaining Super Bowl commercials and a super sloppy ball game. I needed liquid inspiration to make it through that fumble and interception filled game and those two teams weren't even MY team!
