Tarsis slipped from the shadowy rooftop onto the deserted street below with a muffled thud and stalked cautiously towards the Morag Tong guildhall door. His hands came instinctively to his dagger and rapier when he noticed the absence of guards at the door and was just reaching for the handle when he heard a familiar voice whisper behind him.
'Tarsis, your alive?' Ember whispered as she stepped into the torch lit street behind him.
'Barely' he replied with a grim smile on his face 'What in Vivec happened back there' he asked aloud shaking his head in wonder.
'The Dark Brotherhood by the looks of it' Ember replied with an apprehension voice 'but the thing that scares me is the fact that they obviously were well informed about the job we were doing , and that' she murmured with a grimace on her lips 'means we have a traitor in the guild and I want to be the first to make the bastard pay!'.
He smirked at her words 'Ember, forever the hothead' he thought with amusement but quickly cleared his throat and said 'Calm down, we have to look at this situation from clearly' ok first things first we know that someone probably in our guild has been leaking information-
' Probably was Gurlag' Ember interrupted vehemently. Gurlag , the guild masters son, a pompous High Elf who was more interested in magic than assassination was the most likely suspect in both of their minds but Tarsis ever calculating had other people in mind.
' Could have been Grahl' he replied with a smile already seeing anger flush Ember beautiful ebony skin.
'It wasn't him, he would never do such a thing!' Ember answered viciously but widening Tarsis's smile in the process.
Tarsis bit his tongue at a sarcastic remark and smugly reassured his suspicions that Ember and Grahl were having a relationship. Grahl Blood Axe was probably the most unlikely picture of an assassin. A Nord standing at almost seven feet tall he wield a fearsome axe and was renown for his angry outbursts and his violent past. Still, he still only twenty-five and despite his angry exterior he was a very honourable man and very appreciative of nature and the wilds. He had been adopted into the guild as a child by some pitying high ranked officer when he was found wondering the mountains east of Balmora and although he felt at home in the guild he didn't make a very good assassin and so hadn't risen through the ranks much.
Tarsis hadn't really thought it was Grahl but he was just checking whether Ember and him were still having a relationship as she had seemed pretty depressed lately.
'Ok I can't really think of any whose interests would lie in the Dark Brotherhood' he replied truthfully as he scratched his chin.
'Lets just forget it for now and just report into our guild master and tell him what happened' muttered Ember , stamping her feet against the chill night air.
'Yeah good idea - ' Tarsis stopped dead in his tracks as he pushed the door open, he had forgotten the ominous sign that no guards were stationed at the guild entrance and the smell of blood had reached his nostrils almost instantly.
'Get do-!' he was interrupted as the door exploded outwards and three black clad figures barrelled out of the building. He and Ember were thrown back but both landed on their feet and drew their weapons, he had his dagger and rapier and she had her two sabres.
'Dark Brotherhood assassins' she whispered in his ear as the three figures slowed and advanced slowly on them. They were outfitted in plain black clothes , their faces were covered by masks and ornate glass daggers gleamed evilly in their hands. They advanced slowly and silently , pushing Ember and Tarsis into a corner and cutting off any means of escape
' Got any plans?' Ember smirked as she raised her weapons.
'How about you take all three and I sit down and have myself a glass of Filn' he answered with a smile on his lips.
'Or we could do this!' Ember cried as she jabbed a blow at the nearest figure, which he deftly sidestepped and counterattacked with a thrust to the chest. Ember dropped her sabre to meet the blow and pushed the blow before slicing at the assassin's throat which he blocked quickly again but he didn't see her leg snapping out into his kneecap but judging by his cry of pain he felt it intensely but he felt no more as her other sabre cut through his weakened defence and drove straight into his chest. Blood billowed in the cool night air as she pulled her sabre out and kicked the lifeless body away with a groan of disgust , she never like taking lives.
Tarsis meanwhile was faring better as he had one assassin down and was making short work of the next one who was killed in seconds when Ember joined the fray and the barrage of thrusts and jabs became overwhelming.
'Not too much of a challenge ' Ember panted slightly as she wiped the blood from her blade ' but I think its about to get a whole lot worse' she pointed at the open guild entrance.
Carefully they both approached the door with weapons drawn expecting more assassins to come springing out at any second but to both apprehension and relief not a sound could be heard.
Tarsis peered in first , drew his head back in disgust and wretched violently in the alleyway.
'Oh Shades' Ember muttered at the sheer horror of the sight before her. The main corridor of the guild was awash with blood and corpses. People she had once known beforehand were now nothing but mutilated bodies and in some cases headless corpses. She didn't realise she was crying until she felt tears sliding down her cheeks and into her mouth leaving a bitter salty taste in their wake. She felt bile rise in her throat and was forced to rush to the same alley that Tarsis was still being violently sick in and threw up in the gutter.
'Their….all…..dead' Tarsis kept on muttering with his head in his hands as ember lay slumped and sobbing and the filthy alley floor.
Suddenly a new fire surged through Tarsis and his stomach settled again and he sprang up his anger already pushing away his sorrow.
'The time for revenge is now' he whispered 'we can find the traitor and bring him to justice!' he cried with an angry shout.
'Yes its not like we have much of a choice left but to avenge the guild' she whispered her blood boiling at the prospect of coming face to face with the traitor.
'I agree' Tarsis said solemnly 'but first we have to check the building for any survivors before we go making drastic plans'.
'Lets go hunting' Ember replied already striding towards the entrance with her weapons at the ready and her face stoic and unfeeling. Calmly she kicked the door off its hinges and stalked into the dark and blood-soaked corridor remembering not to look any corpses in the face (if they had any) so not to instil sorrow in her and maybe cause her to make mistakes.
'Hey be careful' Tarsis whispered behind her 'we don't know how many of the Dark Brotherhood are still in the building and getting careless now will only cause our deaths. Ember nodded silently in agreement and carefully crept into the main chamber and was struck by the overwhelming silence and the strong stench of death. This room was even worse than the corridor as it looked as though the main battle had taken place here, indicated by the enormous amount of bodies, many of them belonging to the Dark Brotherhood. They blended in perfectly with the shadows and seemed like just a another figment of the imagination associated with darkness. They reached the foot of the main staircase and the moment they placed a foot on it half a dozen black clad figures descended down the stairs.
'Ember hold!' Tarsis cried as she had already begun to ascend 'we're badly outnumbered and we can't hope to take them in a straight fight!'
She never heard him as she flung a throwing star at the chest of the nearest assassin which dug deep into his chest and threw him back to the top of the stairs. Just as she reached the first assassin in melee in what was surely a death charge a massive figure rose up behind the assassins and chopped the head off one with a sweep of its mighty axe.
'Grahl!' cried Tarsis upon recognising the barbarian 'I'd have figured you to be dead!' he shouted as he clashed blades with an assassin and quickly slashed at their hand which chopped off a few fingers in the process. The assassin howled and turned to flee but Tarsis drove his rapier through the assassins back up to the hilt and felt warm blood wash over his hands.
Tarsis hadn't recognised Grahl because his usual assassin garments were replaced by heavy furs and also he had blue war paint on his face. Grahl fought like a man possessed when he saw Ember heavily outnumbered by three assassins and he drove his axe into one of their sides and chopped them right in half with the torso spinning away and the legs remained standing while blood squirted sporadically in crimson bursts into the air.
Ember was fighting defensively although she had sustained a couple of nicks but she was holding her ground well. Tarsis quickly leaped in and slit the throat of one while Grahl swung his axe into the back of another.
An awkward silence descend for a few seconds before Ember cried out
'Oh Grahl!' she cried as she hugged him around the waist in an iron grip 'I thought you were dead' She moaned as he gazed up at him through watery eyes.
'I thought you gone too' he replied sadly as he stroked her white hair with a gentle caress.
He cleared his throat unused to showing such emotion and turned his gaze and Tarsis 'My friend its seem like its been years but the last time we talked was a few hours ago nevertheless losing you was like a black pit in my stomach'.
'I felt saddened too when I thought you were lost' Tarsis replied in a thick voice but then regained his composure.
'So what happened here?' he asked Grahl 'I don't suppose you know who betrayed us?'
'Well as you can see the Dark Brotherhood launched a massive attack on the guild' he nodded at the bodies 'but as for who the traitor is? I have no idea' he shrugged brushing his long blond hair away from his face.
'Well first things first is their any other survivors that you know of' Tarsis asked gently.
'Well I think Gurlag was captured and brought up to the masters quarters' growled Grahl ' but I don't see much reason to save him'.
Ember silent up till now whispered 'we have to get Gurlag and see what information he has , maybe he was the traitor?'
'Maybe' Tarsis replied scratching his head ' but like I said before it could really be anyone but finding Gurlag is all we have to go on now so we might as well see what he can tell us' carefully he turned on Grahl and stared in a penetrating gaze at him. ' What bothers me is-
'Look if your asking how I survived the fight then you should just ask me' growled Grahl again ' I was fighting in that room over there' he jerked a thumb in its direction ' mean and about six others made a last stand there but I slipped on a blood stain and bashed my head and when I woke up several bodies were piled on top of me and that's when I heard the guards talking about how Gurlag was captured'
'I'm sorry friend for suspecting you' Tarsis felt a flush creeping over his cheeks ' I hope you accept my apology'.
'Lets just forget it, ok ' murmured Grahl.
'C'mon ladies lets move out' smirked Ember playfully over her back as she walked up to another staircase. They proceeded through the rest of the building with little difficulty and didn't see another soul as they reached the door to the masters chambers.
'Let me go first' Tarsis whispered as he opened the door a crack and peered inside.
'What do you see?' asked Ember anxiously peering over his shoulder.
'Nothing just pure darkness' he replied with a lump in his throat 'a magic darkness'
'Magic? let me handle the mage' growled Grahl as he loosened his axe from its holster.
'No I don't think this is a mortal mage judging by the power of the spell' Tarsis replied with a quiver in his voice.
'Lets just go in and kick its butt whatever it is!' whispered Ember shrilly drawing out her twin sabres.
'Agreed' Tarsis replied and without a further word he kicked down the door, stormed into the room and was engulfed by the darkness.
The three of them were blinded now but they could hear a faint whispering sound which sound like many voices on the wind. Suddenly the room brightened and the sight before them made their jaws drop in the middle of the room Gurlag lay strapped to the floor struggling to free himself from his bonds, his golden hair spilling over his face and his blue robes where stained with crimson. It wasn't that sight which was causing their jaws to drop , it was what was floating above Gurlag. A creature from the underworld it clutched a silver dagger in its decayed hand and looked about to stab Gurlag in a sacrifice and its thin decaying form was covered in a thin cloak which did nothing to hides its grotesque body.
'A lich' Tarsis whispered with awe and horror in his voice as lichs were amongst the most powerful beings in the use of magic in all the land. It turned its sightless eyes towards them and with a flick of a wrist sent a bolt of lightning straight at them. It arched towards Grahl but he deflected it with his axe and it smashed into a wall leaving a massive scorch mark. Already the lich floated quickly towards them and slashed the dagger at Embers throat which she blocked easily but it brought up its other hand , grabbed her by the neck in its paralysing grip and threw her at Tarsis and they both collapsed in a tangled heap on the floor. Grahl was on his own now but still he raised his axe defiantly as the lich descended on him ready to claim another easy kill. Using unpleasant memories the lich weakened its opponents by distracting it and then finished it off. Grahl fell to his knees as a rush of memories long forgotten rushed up out of his mind and overwhelmed him.
'No!' Grahl screamed and stood up again, swinging his axe at the creatures head and immediately a flash of light blinded him and the lich crumpled into a pile of dust at his feet but Grahl was astonished by something else. His axe glowed red and small bursts of flame erupted on its polished surface. He quickly holstered the axe as there were more pressing problems at the moment.
'I'm ok' Tarsis and Ember said in unison as they shook off the affects of the lich's mental attack.
'Hello you seem to forgotten about me' cried Gurlag still strapped to the floor 'I uh---' he faltered as three pairs of angry eyes turned to him.
Ember immediately strode over furiously, sat on his chest and placed a sabre to his golden neck 'Tell me all you know about the attack and I'll only cut off your nose' she whispered and let the blade fall teasingly down to his crotch.
'I uh I don't know anything! I'm as much as a victim as you! Look!' he raised his shackled hands 'that thing wanted to sacrifice me for Vivec's sake!'.
'We should trust him for now' Ember declared 'I saw no lies in his eyes'.
The others nodded in agreement , Ember had the uncanny knack of easily detecting lies so no argument was needed.
'Here let me help you' Ember said gently as she untied Gurlag's bonds but as soon as he was free he sprung up in disgust and backed away from Ember with fear in his eyes.
' Don't make another move or I claim your head' growled Grahl behind him which caused Gurlag to stop in a dead fright.
'Look you just have to look at things as a whole' explained the ever resourceful Tarsis 'we are being hunted as we are the only survivors and we have to stick together if we want to stay alive so I'm asking you Gurlag for all our sakes do you have any worthwhile information?'
'Well' Gurlag replied cautiously ' I'm pretty sure I heard one of the assassins mention the name Tradel Ornacle' smirking at their blank stares he replied 'a high officer in the Ald'Ruhn Mages guild'.
'Well off to Ald'Ruhn we go' replied Tarsis with a grin ' and we leave tonight'
'All of us?' cried Gurlag in disbelief.
'Yes even you and its going to be a long walk' he said , his grin widening.
'Walk?' gasped Gurlag in disbelief feeling his legs tremble.
'Well you can't expect us to take a strider as we're being watched' replied Tarsis with a wink , knowing full well Gurlag's hatred of physical activities and especially his loathing of walks.
WOW! THAT WAS WAY LONGER THAN THE LAST CHAPTER! IM REALLY PLEASED WITH HOW THIS CHAPTER WENT SO PLEASE REVIEW IT TO POINT OUT GENERAL MISTAKES OR IF YOU WNAT LET ME KNOW DETAILS OF A CHARACTER YOU HAVE AND ILL SEE CAN I INTERGRATE IT INTO THE STORY! ILL PROBABLY HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER UP IN A WEEK!