Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Shadow Rising
Chapter 3 – Everything changes
The stars shone onto the gilded gate, and the sounds of heavy hoof falls could be heard making their way towards the Embassy. Ambassador Elenwen, stood alone by her open window – silhouetted by the moonlight, her black and gold Thalmor robes swayed in the wind.
The gates swung open to admit Justiciar Ondolemar and his private guard. This was not out of the ordinary however, the tall Altmer had an air of worry about him and a suspicious charge slumped astride his horse. Deciding to investigate, the Ambassador strode down the stairs of her personal solar and out into the cold night air. "Ondolemar, while it pleases me to see you this is most irregular. Why have you arrived here at such an hour?" She asked looking suspiciously at him. Casting her eyes around, she counted ten men, plus Ondolemar's personal guard. She had sent twelve. "And why pray tell me have you only returned with ten of your requested guard when I sent twelve?" She now stepped up to Ondolemar's horse.
"My Lady apologies for disturbing you at such a late hour, the two men you speak of are dead. This boy killed them." For the first time, Elenwen noticed that the thing slumped on Ondolemar's horse was not in fact just a bundle of blankets, but a boy – not much past being a child.
"What? How could a child kill two of our warriors? Have you been drinking that Honningbrew swill again?" She asked incredulously. "My Lady I assure you, what I say is true. Let us get inside and I shall explain." Ondolemar ordered two of his men to carry there charge into the great hall and then he and the Ambassador followed closely behind.
Hours and hundreds of healing spells later, the Elven healers where finally satisfied that the boy was stable. "Now that we've spent hours and hundreds of septims worth of healing potions and spells on the boy, do you mind telling me just what is so special about him?" Elenwen asked as she and Ondolemar sat down in front of the fire.
"I was conducting my regular rounds in Markarth's Understone Keep when I overheard a conversation between Thonar and Thongvor Silver-Blood, they seemed very keen to keep it quiet, so I demanded a word with them. Neither was very forthcoming, so I ordered for the Captain of the Guard to be brought to me. He was much more…amenable. He told me that the Silver-Bloods had ordered he and his men to throw a thief from the cliffs, he'd apparently stolen a rare silver mould with magical properties. As you know the Silver-Bloods are somewhat of a troublesome family in Markarth and I was keen to have some leverage over them, so I ordered for a patrol – we found the boy quick enough. However, when we found him, it became apparent that the savages of the Reach got to him first. They had attempted to make him into a Briarheart. Probably out of some misplaced sense of honour at the killing of a child. They evidently thought they had failed because the boy was left on the riverbank, I like the rest of my men thought he was dead…but the dead don't move that fast. He threw one of them nearly ten feet in the air before he landed in the river, the second one he ripped apart like he was paper. He would have done the same to me had I not used my magic to sedate him." Ondolemar finished, Elenwen looked almost shocked.
"By the Aldmer of old, I've never heard of such a thing. We could use this to our advantage I think, the healers will see him again tomorrow morning, we shall see." She said and she and Ondolemar retired to their quarters for the night.
-x-
"Awaken, Awaken child." Spoke a soft, motherly voice. He looked around, or he would if he had eyes, or a body. "Where am I?" He thought to himself. "You are in the in-between my child, you must awaken, only then can you fulfil it." The voice answered. He was suspicious now. "Fulfil what? Last I remember I…" He trailed of, the last he remembered… He didn't. Nothing showed itself to him when he cast his mind back. "Why can't I remember?" He asked, knowing the voice could hear him.
"Your mind is damaged young one, only through the seed in your chest. Where you able to survive, you must fulfil your destiny. Now WAKE UP!" The world around him thundered and he saw a large bout of flame making its way towards him, just before it reached him…
He woke.
He couldn't move yet, his arms and legs refusing the action. So, he simply stared at the ceiling of the strange room he found himself in. After what felt like a century, his limbs started to stir – sitting up he found he was wrapped in bandages up to his neck and a peculiar itchy sensation coming from his chest before he could ponder the itchiness further, a tall Elven woman walked serenely into the room. "Ahh you're awake, good. Lady Elenwen would like to see you. I shall inform her immediately." She said and departed the room, the boy was then led from the small room into a grand hall where on a highly ornate throne sat who he presumed was Lady Elenwen.
"Ahh you are awake, come little one take a seat." She said kindly, though to the trained ear it was obvious this was little more than an act. The boy was ushered into a chair and he regarded Elenwen suspiciously. "I am Lady Elenwen, you where brought here by one of my Justiciars." She smiled at him in a way that lacked any real warmth and waved Ondolemar forward. "My name is Ondolemar, I was the one who found you my boy." He said politely with a small smile that did appear to be at least somewhat genuine.
The boy remained silent.
"Not a talkative one, are we? No matter, you'll soon come to trust us." Lady Elenwen said. "Do you remember anything other than waking up here my boy? Your name for instance?" She asked him, he thought for a moment and then very slightly shook his head and scratched at his chest.
"Ah yes that, well you see my child – we where not the first to find you, the natives of the Reach did. They performed one of there cruel rituals on you, you are now a Briarheart." Elenwen spoke evenly, the boy didn't know what she meant. "What's a Briarheart?" He said in little more than a whisper.
She smiled triumphantly and looked to Ondolemar. "Ondolemar, take the boy to the library. He will be under your tutelage for the foreseeable. You are to treat him as one of us, away now." Elenwen commanded and Ondolemar took the boy by the hand and lead him to the library.
In her throne room, Lady Elenwen waited until they where well out of earshot and turned to the healer. "It worked then; the boy remembers nothing from before he arrived here?" She asked, the healer nodded. "I am strong in the mind arts my Lady; the boy will never regain the memories of anything before he woke here." She said, Lady Elenwen smiled a sinister, cold smile. "He is gifted in the arts of stealth; we will mould him to our purpose. The Nord fools will never know what hit them when one of their own strikes out against them." She then stood from her throne and took her leave.
9 years later
Shadows, darkness, blood and fire, these where the things that made him whole. The shadows his domain, darkness his nature, blood his price and fire in his wake, it was all he had ever known since the fateful day 9 years ago when he awoke here, his "Home" if one could call it that. He was a creature, darkness given form – creatures didn't have homes.
He stood in the darkness of his personal quarters, deep below the Thalmor Embassy. Remembering the day, he awoke, almost like the day of his birth for he knew nothing of the events that brought him here. He had been led to the throne room and presented to Ambassador Elenwen – she always insisted he call her mother, but he had no mother, or father, nobody that could call him their own. After that he had been taken to the grand library by a man who he initially distrusted but had now grown to respect as close to a brother as he was capable. He had grown under Ondolemar's tutelage and learned much about the history of Skyrim and Tamriel, initially he was told that he was to be trained as a Thalmor Justiciar, however Elenwen had other plans. She oversaw his combat and magical training, seeing he had an aptitude for combat, stealth and magic – his intended purpose became an entirely more sinister one.
The first man he had ever killed was a visitor to the Embassy, a Khajiit merchant who was apparently trying to forge ties with the Thalmor. Negotiations went well and it looked as though the native of Elsweyr would get his deal, he had been granted an audience with Lady Elenwen and she had extended the courtesy of allowing him to stay the night in his own private lodgings. The oily man had greedily accepted and was shown to his room.
That night however, after everyone had feasted and drank as much wine as they could. The Khajiit – who had been getting steadily more flirtatious with some of the male company – had left the table in a drunken stupor, presuming he had gone back to his chambers too drunk to do anything else they had let him leave.
But you see he hadn't gone back to his chambers no, the man had ventured down, below the Embassy into the interrogation chambers and even further. What drove him down there, one could only guess but one thing was for sure – it would be his end.
You see it was a well-known fact among those in the know that this Khajiit merchant was a homosexual, or whatever word they use to describe one with a sexual preference for the same sex. Not that this was a problem of course, sexual preferences are no one else's business after all. No where the problem lie was that this merchant was attracted to a very specific age demographic.
Ten years old or younger, to be specific. This sort of behaviour was illegal in every civilized province on Tamriel and was punishable by death. So, when this perverted creature came to find himself in his domain, the sentence was passed.
He had decapitated the pathetic creature and dragged his body to the front gates, hanging it where the world could see what happened when you mess with the Thalmor.
He had killed more after that, more than one nobleman, Jarl and idealistic fools had fallen to his blade. Anyone who became a problem for the Thalmor, he slew without mercy or regret.
Hence his name: Feyn.
A/N: Yeah, I'm a bastard for cliffies… hehehe, so what does everyone think? I'd been toying with the idea of not only a Briarheart Dovahkiin but a Nord Thalmor Assassin? That sounded very cool, don't worry we'll get into Feyn's inner mind in the next one, he's no puppet. If anyone has any questions or feedback, please do review. However, if your feedback is just "YOU'RE SO SHIT WHY DO YOU EVEN TRY?!" etc. Do us all a favour and just stop reading yeah? I don't have time for idiots with nothing to say.
Anyway, sorry about that peeps!
Until next we meet,
Seya soon my freaky darlin's!
Grae.
