Arc 3—Uncivil War—Chapter 9:

Author's Note:

If you haven't read the previous chapter, I encourage you to read at least the last section of it before reading this chapter. Thanks!

I'd been in the Windhelm dungeon for what seemed like days as the guards beat me, over and over again, trying to get me to admit to killing Sofie. To killing others I didn't know, whose names I didn't even recognize.

"I'm telling you, I didn't do it!" I shouted back at them between spitting blood and trying to avoid calling out in pain. "I found her like that and tried to save her!"

Laughter. Despite all I tried, they didn't believe me, thinking that I was lying, that I killed her.

More blows fell, making it hard to concentrate. I considered doing a dragon shout, but with my hands in manacles, there would be no escape and it would give away my identity, if they hadn't already figured that out. As hard as I tried, I couldn't remember if I'd said or done anything that would have exposed me.

The cat of nine tails sliced into my back once more, leading me to cry out, "I didn't do it! She was my friend and I was trying to find her, to save her!" One blow followed another, to my face, my stomach, and my back. It was too much; this time, I passed out.

~ESV~

"Aerik, wake up. Aerik?"

It sounded like Serana's voice, but with the ringing in my ears, I couldn't be sure. I kept my eyes closed, trying to learn more of where I was and what was happening around me before I gave away the fact that I was awake.

A soft, wet cloth gently touched my face, cooling me. A moment later, a rush of similar comfort flowed through my back. Feeling that my hands were no longer shackled, I pried an eye open to see Serana kneeling next to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

My tongue was swollen but I forced myself to say, "Other than feeling like 'thit, I gueth tho'."

"Dragonborn, you only had to tell us who you were," said a voice I thought I vaguely recognized. "We know you weren't in Windhelm during some of the murders."

Looking up, I saw Jorleif, the jarl's steward and chief aide, standing nearby. "Tho' muth for keeping my identity thecret," I said. "Whath do you mean?"

"Just what I said: while it's true that Ulfric doesn't particularly care for you, I can assure you that he knows you're not the Slasher," replied Jorleif. "His spies have kept track of your whereabouts, at least most of the time, since your little disagreement late last year."

"Tha'th juth duckey," I slurred.

"Sorry about your privacy, but it does get you off the hook as the Slasher. We've kept records of each. Quintus Navale and this—" He looked at Serana with distaste, before continuing "—woman...have testified to and confirmed your relationship as guardian of the dead girl."

"Thofie'th really dead," I muttered to myself, the truth of the words crushing down on me, on my soul. I had little time to think of it, though, before another rush of healing power coursed through me. "Still hurth like hell, but that's muth, muth better. Thanthx, Therana."

She laughed. "Sorry I'm still not very good at healing spells. Looks like you need a few more." She started another.

It felt as if my tongue untied as the healing power coursed through me. "Thanks," I said again, feeling the shredded muscles in my back knitting back together.

"Aerik, you need rest. Sleep, my friend."

~ESV~

Serana, Quintus, Jorleif, and the jarl's chief wizard, whose name I couldn't remember, were looking at me some time later as I awoke. While still tired and sore, I no longer felt as if I was battering at Death's door. Or perhaps, more appropriately, being battered against it. The past few hours were a blur to me, and I wasn't sure what was real and what was a dream.

"Sofie's dead. You said you know I didn't kill her?"

"Or the others. We checked your weapons to be sure and found the little bit of blood to be dry, not from her."

"Never," I agreed. "I ran into a group of bandits."

"Your...partner...said you were going after the ones near Mixwater Mill. Any success?"

"No, ran into a different group," I said, "and didn't have much success with them either."

Not wanting to explain further, I changed the subject. "Jorleif, you said that there had been other murders. How many? And when?"

"We think this girl was number nine. We've found five bodies now, but at least four other young women are missing."

"Nine? Why didn't someone do something?" I asked angrily. "Why hasn't the killer been caught?"

Jorleif shook his head. "We tried, but we don't have the manpower, considering the war, and haven't had any success. There've been one or sometimes two murders on nights when the moons were both full over the past several years. The first occurs on the first night of the full moons and a follow-up murder occurs within the next three nights. Last night was the first night the full moons coincided in, what? Six months? This is the last time for several more, too."

"So if we're going to have a chance to catch this bastard, tonight, or possibly tomorrow, is our best chance."

"Yes, I'd say so," agreed Jorleif.

"His victims? Tell me about them."

"Young, female, usually pretty. Race doesn't seem to matter to the killer."

Stretching, trying to sit up, I asked, "What time is it."

"Mid-afternoon, about four hours before nightfall."

"Doesn't give us much time. Do you have any clues?"

"Nothing to speak of," replied Jorleif, "and most of the girls didn't have family. You might speak with Helgird, the priestess. She's seen the bodies...that we've recovered, anyway. Tova Shattershield was very close to her late daughter, Friga. Don't know if she'd have any info, but you might borrow the key to Friga's house. I don't think anyone's been in there since her death. Oh, and there's a fellow named Calixto, a curiosity dealer, who may have seen the killer running away from one of the murders."

"Four hours, eh? Doesn't give us much time. Serana, you speak with the priestess, and I'll take this Calixto guy. We'll meet at the Shattershield house—north of the temple, right?"

Jorleif nodded.

"—right after that. Now, first things first: clothes?"

"Quintus brought your spare clothes, your armor, and a clean cloak. Your old clothes..." She shook her head.

Understanding, I nodded and quickly dressed, doing a couple more healing spells on myself along the way to feel somewhat closer to normal. Jorleif wished us luck as we went our separate ways.

~ESV~

I felt like retching as we stepped out of Friga's house. The murderer had been using it as a hideout, probably with the key taken from the dead Shattershield woman's body. We made a quick visit back to Jorleif and then, at his recommendation, I swung back by Calixto's so-called museum while Serana went to visit a woman who'd been trying to drum up support for more investigation of the murders.

"Looks to me like some type of necromancy charm," said Calixto. "I've seen something similar in Cyrodiil. Say, I'd love to have it for my collection. Would you be willing to part with it?"

I looked at the creepy man, trying to hide the loathing in my eyes. "Perhaps...if the price was right."

"How about 100 septims?" he quickly offered.

Too quickly, I decided. "No, I think I"ll hold onto it."

"Wait! Five hundred septims!"

Again, his quick offer seemed to show too much interest for a minor collectible, but I decided not to push it. I swapped him the amulet for the gold, and then went to meet Serana at Candlehearth Hall, which we'd selected as the most centrally located meeting point.

"The Giordano woman is certain, in her mind, that Wuunferth, the jarl's mage, is behind it due to necromancy. She doesn't have any proof but she says he's the only person in town who has any interest in it."

"Not quite the only person, I'm afraid. The curiosity dealer wanted the charm, which he readily identified as a necromancy amulet."

"Well, it is a curiosity," she countered.

"But a curiosity worth 500 septims?"

"What?" she exclaimed, barely keeping her voice down.

I nodded. "Ten, fifty, or maybe even a hundred—if he hadn't jumped at it so quickly—I probably wouldn't have thought too much about it, but at that price, he was either really interested...or really needed it."

"Two suspects then."

"Two, plus any others we don't yet know about."

"So what do we do?"

"We need to offer our suspects the right bait. What was it Jorleif said? Someone young, female, and pretty?"

Serana gave me a skeptical look. "Sorry, but after the word got out about what happened last night, don't expect any of the young ladies of Windhelm to volunteer. From what I've seen this afternoon, most seem to be scared to death."

"I don't blame them, but I wouldn't want to ask any of them anyway. We need someone who can take care of herself in a bad situation, a female who's really pretty and who looks young..."

Serana's skepticism had changed to a frown. "Looks young?"

"Yeah. Hate to ask this, partner, but will you help me catch a killer?"

~ESV~

A new prostitute dressed in a rather revealing black dress prowled the streets of Windhelm that night. Whereas the usual crew of those selling their services hung out near Candlehearth Hall or sometimes near the Palace of the Kings, this one walked sections of the streets repeatedly before moving on to the next area, where she did the same. She was stopped a couple of times by off-duty guards, but they balked at her intentionally exorbitant pricing.

A couple of hours before daybreak, she made her way to the Gnisis Cornerclub, where she took a room. Later that morning, Serana, wearing a more respectable outfit, walked out and eventually made her way to the White Phial.

The second night followed the same course, though a few more guards approached her, not so much expecting to actually engage her services but to see if the first guards had been telling the truth about the outrageous pricing for her services. Thinking she saw something, she used one of the guards, who smelled better than most, as an example of her wares, kissing his neck and whispering in his ear. She told me later that she'd gotten a rise out of it, too, and even thought about taking a sample of his blood before she realized the heat of her own passion. She flicked his earlobe and sent him on his way, in a rather uncomfortable state, it seemed.

As she did this, I was always watching closely from a distance, sneaking from hiding spot to hiding spot where there was good cover. Where there wasn't, I used a potion of invisibility. Quintus had produced as many more as he could, but he'd warned me that he'd run out of the needed ingredients. "Three more invisibilities for tonight," he said, "and that will be it. Better tell her not to move around so much."

It was sometime after midnight when Serana, in her tarty get-up, entered the marketplace. I was a short distance behind and down to my last invisibility potion so I stopped when I reached the blacksmith's area. She made her loop around the square, but then, instead of repeating it, she came back toward me, back toward the graveyard. She glanced my way as she passed and gave an ever-so-slight wink, as if to her rear. Then she was gone.

I debated what to do, but Serana and I had worked together for long enough that I trusted her implicitly. Staying perfectly still in the darkness, I soon saw another dark shadow creeping along, heading in the direction she'd gone. Wearing a hooded cloak, I couldn't see who was following her, so I waited, wondering what to do as the seconds went by.

If I followed, I might spook her follower, but if I didn't, he might catch her. I suspected, though, that she would use the one-around we'd discussed, so instead of following, I went the other way, finding another hiding place behind a barrel where she would pass right by.

Minutes later, I heard rapid footsteps coming my way but then slowing as they got close to the square. By the time she passed me, she was moving at a leisurely pace as she stepped into the square and started to adjust her makeup.

Another set of much quieter footsteps followed her. The south wall cast a shadow over him, but I saw he was moving slowly, stealthily toward her. I waited, watchful, as he neared until he drew a long, slender blade that he drew high so it flashed in the moonlight.

"Zun Haal VIIK!" I shouted, sending the blade spinning from his hand. He started to turn toward me, but as he did, Serana's hand clamped around his throat, sending him falling to his knees.

He was shaking, clawing at her fingers, when I approached. Pulling back his hood, I saw the curiosity dealer, Calixto Corrium, looking at me in abject fear.

"Not too tight, Serana. We need him alive enough to try for Sofie's murder. And alive enough that he can be properly executed."

She made a fierce face at me. She'd gotten to know Sofie and actually care for her in their days together. "He killed her. He should die."

"I know, but we have to let authorities do it."

She slowly nodded, calming herself and easing off so he could again breathe.

After casting a candlelight spell, I yelled, "Guards! Guards!"

"No, let me go! I'll pay—"

"Enough!" growled Serana as she retightened her hold on his neck. "One more word from you and I'll rip out your vocal chords so you'll never speak again, in the short time you have left."

The guards arrived moments later, followed closely by several other townspeople. I picked up the blade that had flown from his fingers; an embalming tool like what we'd found at the Shattershield house and similar to that described by the priestess to Serana. The guards tied his hands and led him away to the jail, with Serana and I following along to make sure he got there safely.

~ESV~

Serana and I walked to the Palace of Kings the next morning to follow up on Calixto's arrest. As we did, Serana reached out and took my hand. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For stopping me last night. Sofie and I had become very good friends, but what I almost did would have dishonored her memory."

"I don't know," I replied. "What you did gave me just enough prospective to keep me from doing something much worse."

"You think?"

"I know."

Arriving at the palace, we were met by a pair of guards who took us into a side chamber where Jorleif met us.

"We've searched Calixto's person, his home, and Hjerim Hall, the Shatter-Shield house, and we have enough evidence to convict him several times over. He confessed this morning when offered the opportunity of a quick, painless execution versus something somewhat more drawn out."

Thinking of the beating I'd taken days earlier, I asked, "Did the guards have to beat it out of him?"

"Sorry about that," replied Jorleif, catching my drift. "No, when presented with the facts, he confessed on his own before they felt the need to lay a finger on him. Afterwards, however..."

"Good," both Serana and I said together.

"Ulfric wants to speak with you now to offer his thanks on behalf of the City of Windhelm. Please, come this way."

He led us to another chamber nearby where Ulfric, the wizard, and Galmar Stone-fist, Ulfric's chief military advisor, greeted us.

"Dragonborn," said Ulfric, almost dripping the sense of distaste he felt for me following our most recent meeting. "You're back in Windhelm, I see." The grimace on his face told me how much he didn't want to continue, but, a couple of seconds later, he forced himself to do so. "You've done us and our city a favor, so I'll overlook your trespass, this time. We appreciate what you have done to save young Nord women of our city. When the Shatter-Shield girl was murdered, we thought we had a real problem since there were no good clues as to the murderer's identity, but, fortunately, the murderer then focused on the grays and the lizards instead of coming after more of our own. Well, our women were safe for a while, but now you've caught him, he's admitted his guilt, and he's scheduled to receive his just punishment."

I stared at Ulfric. "Wait. He went after Dunmers and Argonians and you did nothing?"

Ulfric looked at me as if I was crazy. "No. Why should we? We want them out of our land by whatever means, so if he's doing that work for us, why should we get in his way? He even killed that hideous Elf woman. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say, though I must admit I miss her singing at festivals, even though I always suspected she was a spy for the Thalmor."

I was shaking my head, trying to deny what he'd said. "But those women, of whatever race—they live in Skyrim, too! They've come here to make a home for themselves and their fam—"

Ulfric's face was red as he shot up from his seat. "Not for long! When we run the Imperials from our land, the others will be right behind, if they know what's good for them."

My blood was boiling as I shook my head and turned to go. This fool's intransigence had allowed a murderer to continue his evil ways, which had led to Sofie's death.

"Wait, Dovahkiin! You can help us! We can drive the Imperials and the other scum away and make Skyrim the best it can be."

"Jarl, you wouldn't know what 'the best it can be' is if it slapped you in the face."

"Aerik, son of Bjorn, you make a deadly mistake making an enemy of me."

With my face set with fury, I turned back to Ulfric. "And you best remember, Ulfric Stormcloak, that can go both ways."

"True. Guards! Seize them!"

Serana and I ran, bowling over the guards who appeared in the door; I used a shout to knock a few out of the way at the main entrance. Outside, we walked quickly, without running to give away our status, and quickly disappeared in to the streets.

"What do we do, Aerik?" asked Serana. "They'll have the main gate and the dock gates blocked in minutes."

"If we hurry, me might get here before—"

A tolling bell in the palace told us we actually couldn't. The gates were being blocked and they'd search the city until they found us.

We turned a corner and I saw Silda, who half-jokingly called herself 'Unseen' to cover up for the pickpocketing she sometimes performed on unsuspecting citizens.

"Silda!" I said as we neared, shaking a few septims in my hand. "Here. Take these and give this message to Quintus at the alchemy shop." I whispered to her and sent her on her way, while taking Serana's hand and heading in a different direction.

"Not this way, Aerik. There's no way out. And really nowhere to hide."

"Right, we're going in the house," I said as I held up the key to Hjerim. I'd never returned it to Tova Shatter-Shield or to Jorleif, so unlocking it quickly, we went inside and locked it behind us.

"Jorleif will figure this out pretty quickly," she said. "They'll probably search the White Phial and the taverns first, but they'll be here before long."

I agreed. "Let's not be here when they arrive. Upstairs, quickly."

We went from window to window on the second floor, but it wasn't what I was seeking. Pointing up, I said, "The attic."

"I think I saw an access in here when we were searching," she said, pointing in the small bedroom.

Sure enough, there was an access but no ladder, so I laced my fingers and boosted Serana up where she was able to move the access panel. She cast a candlelight spell and I pushed her up a little higher where she was able to pull herself up into the space above.

"I've tied it off," she called a few moments later as she tossed a rope down. "Come on up."

In return, I threw up to her all of the bedsheets I'd found. Then, hand over hand with one foot curled in the rope, I made my way upward. There in the opening, she grabbed my arm and helped pull.

"Hold it! Sword hilt's caught." I backed off a bit and tried to turn to free it when pounding from downstairs startled me.

"What's that?" asked Serana.

"Unwanted company." I pushed as hard as I could, scraping the hilt across the ceiling and into the hole where I was able to climb on up. The access panel slid back in place with some effort, and we carefully crossed the attic, walking on the ceiling joists to avoid falling through.

What we were seeking was on the side roof. A dormer window was accessible from the attic so we opened it as quietly as possible and stepped out on the roof.

"Aerik, this is really steep," said Serana, looking about as uncomfortable as I'd ever seen her.

"Here. Tie this rope around you. I'll hold you until you get to the back. Then climb up and we should be able to reach the allure."

Narrower than a typical rampart, the allure was the walkway at the top of tall walls used by guards or defenders. When Serana made it to the top, she braced herself and I came out, with the other end of the rope tied about my waist. I used my fingertips to give a bit more holding power and I'd soon made it up with her. Another boost and she was on the walkway, with no guards in sight.

From the front of the house, we heard someone call, "We think they're in the attic. There's a mark on the ceiling next to the access panel! Bring more guards and a ladder."

It was Galmar Stone-Fist's voice who then commanded, "Get some people up on the wall. We'll cut a hole and come in from the roof, too, when we make our assault."

"No time like the present," I said as I tied our ropes together and tied off around a merlon, one of the crenelations in the top of the wall. Next came the two bedsheets, twisted together and tied together a couple of times before being tied to the ropes.

"That doesn't look too sturdy to me," she said.

"Well, ordinarily, I'd volunteer to go first, but I'll be more likely to break it than you. If you want down..."

She nodded, climbed between the merlons, and started down. I was in the slot looking down when I heard the shouting and the volley of arrows take flight toward me. Over the edge I went just before they hit the stonework. The bedsheets ripped when I hit that section, but I was near enough by then that I landed on the ground without injury. Serana fired off a lightning bolt at the guards who reached the top of the wall, and we were, once again, running for our lives.

~ESV~

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading and for your support!