Chapter 8: The Thunder

Torygg scratched his head. "So, you left with Lydia that night to get to Ivarstead?"

"Yes, although we didn't get too far. We ended up killing a bunch of bandits within an abandoned tower along the road. Lydia and I bonded a bit more in removing the scum. Akira herself was fighting a different kind of bandit, and she discovered the secret behind the Companions. At the same time, Errick was just being Errick, stealing things and trying to get the girl."

Night had fallen on Riften, and Errick could already feel a few rain drops falling down onto his head. Opening his jacket, he pulled out his cap to keep his hair from getting wet. Isobel had pulled up the Thieves Guild hood, but eyed Errick's cap.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a cap. Caps are cool."

Isobel ripped it off of his head, and smirked as she tossed it up in the air and lit it up with a conjured flame. Errick had a shocked look on his face.

"Well, that was very mean, princess."

Errick was caught off guard as Isobel had then grabbed hold of one of the treasures on him he held as most sacred. He grunted as she tightened her grip.

"Let's get something straight, here. Don't ever call me princess. Otherwise I'll take this away from you for good." She loosened her grip. "Gods, what have you been feeding this thing?"

Errick looked down before he looked straight at Isobel. "Blondes?" But before Isobel had time to react, Errick had released her grip on him and had thrown her into the wall of the house they were right next to. "One other thing, Isobel, grabbing my tender bits without permission is really not a good idea. I might just get the wrong idea."

"Whatever would you be implying?" Isobel spoke coyly, attempting to free herself but failing with his strong grip on her shoulder.

"I've had more than enough experience to make even the most experienced and controlling female lover bend to my every whim."

"And I've made men twice as lecherous as you beg and fluster like little virgins." Isobel retorted. "And with how frustrated I've been this past while you don't stand a-" She was cut off as Errick guided his other hand down to the spot between her legs, lifting her left leg up as he rubbed her sex through her guild armor.

Isobel tried hard to free herself, but Errick's fingers were doing the trick.

"I mean, it is only fair since you grabbed hold of my manhood that I get to explore a bit of what you've got." He started rubbing circles around her spot until he heard footsteps approaching. Immediately, Errick switched things up by bringing Isobel close, switching his focus from below to her lips. Isobel found Errick's lips pressed against hers. They were firm but soft, and still tasted of a wine he must have recently drank. Isobel then proceeded to try and turn things toward her favor, slipping her tongue into his mouth and clutching his hair rather tightly. They fought for dominance until a torchlight shined upon them.

"No lollygagging." A guard spoke, interrupting their kissing match as the rain began to fall harder.

Errick pulled away and looked at the guard. "You're the guard, Guard. Come on, Isobel." Errick grabbed Isobel's hand and started to walk to the gate. "Consider that a taste of what you'd get from a night with me."

"You don't seem to exaggerate." Isobel panted, feeling warmer from Errick's magic fingers.

"You're a pretty tough nut to crack. If that guard hadn't interrupted, I might've gotten you to at least stiffle a moan. Something tells me that you and I will definitely be a competition both between the sheets and in the field." Errick pulled out another cap and slipped it on despite the fact his hair was already wet.

"Really? You have another cap?"

"Well, I don't like hoods. And you better not destroy this one because this is the one my dad wore while working and I don't plan on losing the only heirloom I actually liked."

"You actually keep your father's cap?"

"It really helped him a lot with his jobs. And if I drink some alcohol, the cap makes my improved abilities even better."

"What do you mean 'improved' abilities?"

"I mean I got a trait from my mother that makes it so I can't get drunk. I actually get smarter the more I drink, and my dad's cap helped him with his intelligence. The only way that I could get drunk would be if I drank something along the lines of Daedric Fire Whiskey. That stuff can knock us mortals on our asses, and then some."

As Errick and Isobel were about to walk through the door out of Riften, the angry staring guy that Errick saw when he entered Riften came up, ready to grab Isobel. Errick noticed this and pulled her closer to him. "We're trying to have a conversation here, buddy!"

"Back off, meat! This woman promised me her body, and I aim to take what's mine!"

"Well you can go suck eggs, carrot. She's working right now."

"My name is Maul, and you're starting to piss me off. I'll fight you if I have to." Maul brought up his fists.

Errick merely laughed, pushing Isobel back as he walked up to Maul. "You don't want to do that."

Maul flung his fist right at Errick's face, but the thief was one step ahead as he blocked the man's punch with his forearm. Maul continued to throw more punches that Errick continued to block.

"Twelve septims on the big one!" One of the guards at the door yelled.

"Come on! Kick his ass, Imperial!" The other guard yelled.

"Wait, I thought I was the big one!" Errick joined in on the shouting. "Come on! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!"

Maul began to throw punches at a faster pace, but Errick was faster as he blocked them all. Eventually, Errick gave up blocking and hit Maul on his side. Maul began to collapse, but Errick was far from finished.

"I tried to warn you." Errick spoke as he pounded his fists together. He then punched Maul across the face with his right hand, hitting his left shoulder with his left hand, slammed his fist atop Maul's head as if he had hit him with the hilt of a dagger, and sent his left fist straight into Maul's face. A crunching sound could be heard as Maul's nose broke, and blood was already flowing out of his nostrils.

Errick smiled as Maul fell to the floor unconscious.

"Damn, Errick." Isobel commented. "You could give me a few pointers on hand-to-hand combat."

Errick took Maul's coin purse. "One hundred septims is the bet equivalent, right? I mean, Isobel looks like a more expensive sale, but brawlers always bet a hundred, so... Yeah, thanks for the fight, Maul. I wish you a speedy recovery."

"You totally just made Maul your bitch!" Isobel laughed.

"Technically, he was already a bitch. I just put him in his place." Errick noted as they exited Riften to head to Goldenglow, hearing the two guards chatter about how the fight went and how the loser owed the other twelve septims.

As Zacharius and Lydia had left Whiterun, the rain had begun to fall. It was currently just a sprinkle, but Lydia knew it was going to pick up soon enough. Zacharius, however, wanted to make progress to Ivarstead before falling asleep, much to the dismay of Lydia, who had suggested staying at the Bee and Bard for a night. Zacharius immediately headed out of Whiterun and along the road to the small town across the mountains.

"The rain's gonna pick up soon. We should find shelter."

"I know." Zacharius replied in front of her.

"So why did you not want to stay at the Bee and Bard for a night?"

"I don't feel like going to an inn where people have likely heard about the new Thane of Whiterun being Dragonborn. Then we wouldn't get any sleep. I figured we'd make some distance in the dark and find some shelter along the way." He lit his torch and set his shield onto his pack so he could carry the torch while still having a chance to pull out his sword in combat.

"Being a Thane is a great honor. People would respect you and see you as a hero. They would want their sons to grow up to be like you."

"Every Nord wants their sons and daughters to be great warriors one day. Even my parents wanted me to be a great warrior. Perhaps they had always suspected I would be one. My brothers are great in their own way as well. Treyvar is a good spellsword while Xaverius is a professional blacksmith."

"You have magic in your blood like your brother?"

"A bit. Magic has always been in our bloodline since Caleb Secus. Our family believes that the journals we hold of his indicate we were from his bloodline. His journals were with my great-great grandmother, Evangela Morrigan. Her son and daughter were also said to be his love-children with her. Her son Matthius was four years old when his sister started forming in his mother's womb, and they had mentioned in his mother's journal that Caleb had come back from 'a portal to another dimension, wearing a suit of armor that matched the growing madness in his eyes.' She also claimed his hair had turned white and that he had an obsession with cheese. But at the same time, he was still the man she had fallen in love with. After that night, he was gone forever, and only his children were the last gift of his for Nirn."

Lydia was confused by this. "So, you're a decendant of the Champion of Cyrodiil, who disappeared almost two hundred years ago?"

"According to my great-great grandmother's journals, yes. What about you? Do you have any family?"

"I did." Lydia said in a flat tone.

"You did?" Zacharius asked with a confused tone.

Lydia sighed. "My farm burned down when I was eight years old. My parents were killed and I was orphaned. Jarl Balgruuf took me in and had me train to be a Housecarl. His ladyship had also helped raise me until she died delivering the Jarl's youngest child. Irileth taught me how to use the sword and Hrongar taught me how to use larger weapons and bows. I guess, in a sense, the people of Dragonsreach became my new family."

"That's a good story. Although I am sorry for your parents. I can't imagine what it must've been like to lose them."

"It hurt back then, but death is a part of Skyrim. I've gotten over their deaths, but I still think about them from time to time. My father spent his days either in the fields planting or harvesting crops or working on building materials in the forge. My mother helped out with the livestock while taking care of me. We'd always have supper together every night. The day the farm burned down was when I headed to Whiterun on the family's horse."

"Why did the farm burn down?"

"A group of bandits had a mage in their company. He lit the house on fire while mother had been inside washing the dishes. Father came out of the forge and was forced to fight the bandits. He managed to kill them, but the mage had mortally wounded him in the process. Despite my screams for him to get up, he told me to take our horse Merrill and head to Whiterun where I'd be safe. When I got there, the Jarl agreed to send a patrol to investigate. There was nothing left of the farm but ashes when they got there. Out of pity, the Jarl took me in. And now we're here."

Zacharius stopped walking, making Lydia pause. At first she was confused, but he turned around just as the rain began to pour harder. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For what you've had to go through. I mean, my family is still alive and yours is dead. I don't know if I could've overcome that. If they all had died, I probably wouldn't be able to uphold this whole Dragonborn business because I'd be a wreck. I'm the kind of guy that cares too much for people, be it friends or family."

Lydia found herself feeling sorry for the man in front of her. But something about the rain and this strange confession made him seem so... attractive. Zacharius had been thinking the same thing about Lydia as her hair began to get soaked. But Zacharius's survival instincts kicked in as he noticed her start to shiver.

"We should probably find shelter quickly." Zacharius noted, turning around. "There's a tower over there. Maybe we can make camp for the night there."

"And if it's occupied by bandits?"

Zacharius faced her again and smiled. "Then we clear them out. Just keep their deaths merciful. We don't need to stoop to their level."

Lydia smiled. "Then let's get moving so we can get somewhere warm and dry."

Zacharius immediately broke into a jog, wanting to get out of the rain as quickly as possible. Lydia followed at a similar pace until they reached the tower. A bandit had walked out with an iron mace in her hands.

"Hey, this here's a toll road, see? So you have to pay two hundred septims in order to use this road."

"Why don't you back off, you poor excuse of a Nord." Zacharius challenged.

"Ha! Tough talk for someone who's about to get their guts spilled."

Zacharius smiled as he took his torch and smacked the bandit across the face, temporarily blinding the woman. He pulled out his sword, turned her around, and stabbed her through her chest once, killing her.

"One down, a handful to go." He put his torch out and opened the door, sneaking up the stairs. Lydia's heavier armor did not help out with their sneaking, however, and Zacharius was glad he could at least get the jump on the bandit closest to him.

"Good job, my Thane." Lydia commented.

"Okay, you go up the stairs of this tower and clear it of any bandits. Then see if you can use that bow to give me some cover."

Lydia pulled out her bow. "Got it."

"Okay. Let's do this." Zacharius had pulled his shield off of his back and had started running along the bridge to the other tower, straight towards the bandit chief. Lydia was on the second floor of the tower with her bow pointed at a bandit aiming his own bow at Zacharius. Lydia's arrow met the bandit archer's head, going straight through to the other side. Zacharius himself had knocked the bandit chief close to the edge of the bridge, and it was only when he let out the dragon word he knew that the chief fell off into the waters below.

"FUS!" Zacharius blurted out again towards the next bandit that approached. His opponent stumbled before an arrow landed into his chest through his heart. Zacharius turned around and faced Lydia, who nodded her head as she shot another arrow at the bandit archer near the tower. Zacharius entered the tower opposite of Lydia only to find it empty. As he reached the top he found a small bedroom space the leader likely used. He made it to the top of the tower and waved Lydia over, indicating the tower was clear.

A minute later, Lydia was over the bridge and in the other tower.

"This will be a good place to sleep. We have a bed we can keep warm in while our clothes dry overnight. And these bandits might've kept a bunch of food and supplies we can take for the journey. We'll hopefully make it to Ivarstead in the afternoon." Zacharius set his bag and weapons down next to the bed and he removed his helmet. Lydia caught her first glimpse of the man behind the helmet. His face was strong and stern like any Nord's face, and his hair was golden and short. Along his jawline was a small beard that was forming, and raindrops still soaked it. His eyes were a magnificent blue that captured Lydia's thoughts.

Then he began to take his armor off.

He pulled off his gloves and set them on the dresser with his helmet. Then he reached down and unbuckled his boots, slipping out of them as he set them aside. His buckles on the leather chestpiece came after, and he set it aside with his belongings as he removed the bottom fur coverings, standing in nothing but a pair of fur shorts that reached his knees.

Lydia was too busy just looking at his body she didn't realize he caught her looking at him.

"Lydia?"

Lydia turned away embarrassed as her cheeks began to blush. Zacharius laughed at her response.

"You're not the first woman to blush like that. There were plenty of women in the Imperial City that looked at me like that. It's okay, though. I'm no stranger to the publicity. Neither are my brothers." Zacharius approached Lydia. "Seriously, I don't mind. Now, you should get out of your armor before you freeze to death."

Lydia snapped out of it and began to remove her gloves, setting them on the other dresser opposite of the bed. Her boots came after that as she set them aside. Her gear was placed next to Zacharius's as she removed her belt and pack. She tried to unbuckle the straps on her chest plate, but she was fumbling with them, which was strange considering she was always able to armor up without any trouble. Zacharius noticed this and removed her fingers from the buckle, feeling how soft her hands were as he freed her from the stubborn straps. The other buckle came loose a few seconds later, and her chest plate fell to the floor.

"Uh, thank you, my Thane." Lydia sighed before she felt his fingers cup her chin.

"Call me Zacharius." He whispered.

Lydia was beginning to feel heat stirring in between her legs over his words. As he backed away, she removed her wet shirt and slowly pulled her pants down. She was now in nothing but her undergarments and Zacharius was looking at her, likely as retaliation for Lydia's earlier looks.

"See anything you like?" She asked with her warrior tone.

"Honestly, you're every Nord's dream." Zacharius crawled into the bed and Lydia followed, getting into the other side. Her body trembled because of the cold and Zacharius could feel it, pulling her in closer to share his body heat. Her Nord blood should've kicked in, but her shiver likely came from another source. She suddenly felt his hands get warmer on her skin.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just using a trick my brother taught me. It's way to conjure up heat from a fire spell without actually conjuring a flame. It worked for those times I travelled in the mountains of Cyrodiil as a family hike. We occasionally made make-shift shelters and used some of our magic to keep us warm at night doing this."

"I never learned any magic. I wasn't attuned to it."

"Be glad that I can use magic, then. I don't use it as often as my brother, but sometimes it works."

"How much magic can you use?"

"Mainly restoration and destruction. I can also use the candlelight spell, but I don't always use it. I'm hoping I can learn a little more. Our family always respected magic, but not as much as the use of Nordic steel."

"That's impressive." Lydia placed her hand on his chest and he stopped. "Thanks. No more for now, please."

Zacharius chuckled. "Okay." He lay on his back in the bed and stared at the stone ceiling.

"What was your family like?" Lydia asked.

"We were the usual kind of family you'd see in the Imperial City. My family was rich, but we didn't live a rich lifestyle. My mother was on the council while my father was a legion commander. He fought in the Great War and survived with only a few war scars to make his appearance a bit more intimidating. Both of my parents were well respected, and my brothers and I were troublemakers. That was only on the bad days. Our parents taught us right: respect your enemy and admire your friend. So if the Legion were to try and kill me, I would show them the proper respect of a fight. And I would grant them a merciful death."

"Why would the Legion try to kill you?"

"Because of the Thalmor. They killed my grandfather on my twenty-fifth birthday. He was a moth priest who hid a secret from the Empire. I carry that secret now, and my worshipping of Talos doesn't help out the situation at all."

"What kind of secret is it that the Thalmor wants you dead for?"

Zacharius looked straight into Lydia's eyes. "It's my destiny to defeat the World-Eater of legend, the dragon Alduin. That's why I'm Dragonborn. Those with the dragon blood can defeat Alduin, and my entire family might be blessed with the gift if not just me. But I can't do it alone. I need allies, and my grandfather's journal tells me who to look for. A Breton with a fire in her soul, an Imperial with a lot of luck, an Altmer with a gift, and a Dunmer with a dark secret. First, I wish to learn more of my Dragonborn gift, then I'll go look for them. The Breton and Imperial I've already met, but the elves may be a bit harder to find." Zacharius looked up. "I also want to understand why I was chosen as the Nord with a destiny from his notes."

Lydia felt herself falling asleep, but she wanted to say one last thing before she did. "Sometimes, men are born understanding what their role in life is, while others carve their destinies into history. You'll figure out why you were chosen some day, and when that day comes, I shall serve alongside you should you allow it, my Thane."

"Thanks, Lydia, but please..." Zacharius turned to see she had fallen asleep. He chuckled before finished speaking. "...call me Zacharius."

Sleep overtook him as the rain continued to pour, granting the two Nords nature's lullaby for the night.

Somewhere outside of Whiterun, Akira was shivering at the pouring rain as she and Farkas rode on her horse to the location of the fragment of Wuuthrad. Dustman's Cairn was an ancient Nordic tomb that housed draugr of all things. Askar the Great had told Akira of those monstrosities; Nords that came back from the dead and tried to kill you. He fought a dozen in his early years as a mercenary. Akira never thought she'd ever get to see one, but she expected it could've happened given that the Companions face many kinds of challenges in exchange for gold.

"You should get warmer armor." Farkas commented, noting her constant shivering along the ride. "You did not come prepared for Skyrim's cold weather. I wouldn't want you to freeze."

"Where would I get better armor from?"

"Eorlund, of course. And if not him, you could get it from Warmaiden's. Steel could protect you and keep your body warm with the furs it possesses. If not that, there is Nordic armor. The finest quicksilver armor with plenty of protection both from the swords of your foes and the cold of my land. If you wanted to be more like my brother or Skjor, the wolf armor works well, too."

Akira chuckled. "No offence to your brother, but that armor is just ridiculous. You would never catch me wearing it."

Farkas laughed. "Don't worry. I won't tell him that." He looked out in the dark and saw the large mound that was Dustman's Cairn. "Stop here. We'll go inside, find the shard, and leave."

"We'll get this done easily." Akira smiled before she shivered again.

"Let's get inside. It should be warmer there." Farkas dismounted and held out his hand for Akira to follow. She took it and dismounted her horse. The stairs down to the door were slippery, and Akira nearly fell on her way down. Farkas chuckled to himself as he opened the door to the tomb, allowing Akira to enter first.

Outside of Riften, Errick and Isobel had reached the Goldenglow Estate. Errick could already survey their opposition; five armed mercenaries with big weapons on their backs. There were multitudes of bee hives along the perimeter, and Errick could see his entrance. A sewer grate was only a few meters away, and Errick already had the game plan in his mind.

"Okay, here's how it's going to play out: you're going to light the beehives on fire while I go inside and get the contents of the safe."

Isobel raised an eyebrow. "Why am I taking care of the bee hives?"

"Because you can conjure a flame. Just picture lighting the cap my mom knit me on fire. And before you even comment, she's dead, so I can't ask mommy-dearest to knit me up a new one, you little minx."

"Fine." Isobel pouted. She was about to move when Errick grabbed her wrist.

"One second." He extended his hand and gave her a ball rolled up in cloth.

"What's this?"

"It's a smoke bomb."

"A ba?"

"No, not a ba. A bomb. It creates a puff of smoke that conceals your escape. The guards will run into it confused, so you'll be able to just run in the opposite direction with no trouble. Just be careful. There's a few things that must not happen when you use it."

"Oh, goodie. What do I need to know?"

"First, don't get it entirely wet. The bomb falls apart when completely covered by water. Two, don't keep it in your hands after you light it. If it explodes in your hands, you'll likely not be able to pick locks or pockets anymore, along with a few other things you like to do with your hands. Same goes for your eyes and face if it's anywhere near that when you light it. Third, do not, I repeat, do not let it catch on fire. The materials needed to make this are flammable... Or inflammable. Forget which. Doesn't matter."

"Terrific." Isobel commented sarcastically. "Are we finished, Doctor Solus?"

"Who?" Errick asked, confused.

"Just a guy I robbed in my early days. Never mind about him. Just get robbing, you greedy little bastard."

Errick smirked as he walked over to the sewer grate, reminded again of how much he hated the smell of shit. It was too late to swap positions, anyways. He navigated the sewer to the other grate that led to the side entrance to the building, killing a few skeevers with a special rat poison he loaded into his needles. The ladder to the door was easy to access, and Errick was able to slip into the house with no trouble.

Back at Dustman's Cairn, Akira had been surprised that there were draugr laying on the floor. Recent cuts and stabs were present along the corpses, and it worried and intrigued her.

Farkas knelt next to one of the dead. "This is recent. Someone else has been here. I don't like this."

"'I don't like this?' That's right next to 'what could possibly go wrong?'"

"There's a chance that someone else might've found the fragment already. We should keep moving into the ruin until we either find the fragment or a lead as to who has it now." Farkas stood back up. "Let's go."

"Right." Akira nodded, yawning quickly. Even though she had an hour to rest, she still felt tired. Her aches and pains from the dragon fight were gone, however, so she was combat ready. They walked down the stairs to a small chamber, where they saw a gate blocking the way forward.

"There's got to be a lever that opens the door." Farkas noted. "Look around. See if we can find anything to open the gate."

"You got it." Akira looked around the room for a lever, and figured she spotted it over in a corner. It was a small room that had a few tables and items on top of it, with the lever in the middle. She approached cautiously, looking at the health potions sitting on the table. After considering the possibilities, Akira took the vials and put them in her satchel, just in case she or Farkas got injured. It was possible, but unlikely.

She pulled the lever, and turned when a gate slammed down behind her.

"Crap." Akira approached the front gate and saw Farkas approaching the gate.

"Now look what you got yourself into." Farkas chuckled, but with a serious tone.

"I bet you the ancient Nords built it this way because they thought a stupid treasure hunter would come here alone. Good thing there's a conquering Nord hero here to rescue the damsel in distress, no?" Akira's last sentence was a flirt. She knew Farkas's boyish looks towards her at times had been because he thought she was attractive. She got those looks from a member of Askar's band, but she honestly couldn't picture him as more than a friend.

She was still recovering from her family's murder during that.

"Well, I don't know about that, but-" Farkas stopped and pulled out his greatsword. "Wait. What was that?"

Suddenly, there were a large group of bandits surrounding Farkas. They were all dressed up in furs and had strange swords in their hands. They seemed to gleam silver and they were as sharp as steel. Farkas stood unafraid of the dangerous group that surrounded him.

"Which one is that?" One of the men asked.

"Doesn't matter." Another spoke. "He wears that armor, he dies."

"Killing you will make for a good story, beast." A third growled.

"You won't be alive to tell it." Farkas growled himself. Suddenly, Akira watched as Farkas threw his greatsword on the ground and roared. His body began to drastically change as his armor began to disappear from his body, replaced with fur as black as the night. His hands grew larger and his face became more wolf-like. When he had finished transforming, Akira saw a werewolf in Farkas's place. It was seven feet tall and it roared an inhuman roar at his foes. The men in front of him shivered before they tried to swing their swords at the beast.

Farkas-wolf suddenly grabbed one of the men by the head and threw him into a wall, cracking his skull on impact. His claws tore through each man that raised their sword against him, and he killed the last one by jumping onto him and tearing out his throat with his teeth.

Akira was both terrified and intriged by Farkas's transformation. The stories of werewolves her father had told her when she was a child had painted them all as monsters, but Farkas wasn't a monster. Aside from how he tore through those men, Farkas looked to be as harmless as a fox cub. He didn't act at all like a blood-thirsty monster. He acted like a regular kind and caring guy.

The gate pulled itself up and Akira stepped outside, looking straight at Farkas, who had reformed into his normal human self. "I hope I didn't scare you." He joked, a wolfish grin on his face.

"I was caught off guard at first. I mean, I didn't think you were a werewolf, Farkas. You seemed too cuddly to be a werewolf."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He smirked. "A few of the Companions possess the beast blood."

"Are you planning on making me a werewolf?" Akira wondered out of curiosity.

"Perhaps. Prove your worth to become a Companion. Eyes on the prey, not the horizon."

"Who are the men that attacked you?"

"The Silver Hand. They hunt my kind to exterminate them. We've had skirmishes with them before, but nothing like this. I'm not surprised they're here to stop us from getting the fragment of Wuuthrad. It's one of their personal missions against us."

"Well," Akira pulled her battleaxe off of her back. "let's tell them to back off."

Within the halls of Goldenglow Estate, Errick was glad that security was a bit sloppy inside. All the guards would do is just stand around while he stayed crouched to the ground walking past them all. And if the situation permitted it, he could walk up a wall and hold onto the ceiling for dear life if he wanted to avoid approaching henchmen. But so far, he had made his way up to the second floor with no problem. Errick wanted to make sure that the man who owned the place had keys to the safe. Sure, he could pick a lock easy now with his new goggles, but what's better than scaring the shit out of a business partner that turned south?

He slipped around the corner to see a guard at the end of the hallway. He was just standing there, so Errick made his way through the door in the middle of the hallway, slipping through and around the guard through the side room without any trouble. It was going perfectly, and Errick was able to hold his breath long enough to pass by a guard in a chair, making it to the master bedroom without any trouble.

Aringoth was sitting along a bench near the bed, and Errick almost thought his cover was blown until he realized the man had fallen asleep in his chair. Taking that opportunity, he walked over to the man's end table and grabbed a bee statue that he thought would be worth quite a bit of gold. He then proceeded to walk over to Aringoth, feeling around the pockets of the rich man for his keys.

Aringoth's head shot up before he got hold of the keys.

Errick caught that quickly and punched him in the throat, catching him off guard so he couldn't call for help. Aringoth fell to his knees and before he could get back up, a blade was hovering over his neck. The blade felt as if it was on fire, and he held back the cough that threatened to escape his lips. Errick himself was waiting with anticipation, but he really felt uncomfortable pulling out his blade.

The Thief's Way. It was a devastating blade of chaos and destruction from the realms of Oblivion. Whenever any new person lays their hand on the blade, it binds their life essence to the user until death. The sword also changes shape to accommodate the stars born around the user. Errick had been born on the sign of the Thief, and it fit him considering he was a thief himself. The sword also had three special carvings on it that changed the enchantment it used. The spider was for fire, the lion for electricity, and the snake for ice. Errick hated snakes in real life, though, so he never tried to look at the snake.

"You really shouldn't have tried to break away from Maven." Errick whispered menacingly, keeping his face hidden. "She's really pissed at you."

"Look it was all just business!" Aringoth begged, hoping that the man that had snuck up on him wouldn't kill him. "Someone payed a great deal to me to do it! I swear!"

"I believe you." Errick removed the blade from under his neck, swinging the hilt down onto his forehead. A jolt of electricity flowed through Aringoth, and the man fell on the floor unconscious. Errick looked at his blade one quick time, grimacing at the snake on his blade.

He's alive, you know. A certain daedric voice spoke. The spider daedra that had been captured into the sword was once very powerful, but it wasn't strong enough to avoid having its soul trapped inside. You should've killed him.

He should've destroyed him! Another voice yelled. The Xivilai had been bred for war before his soul had been trapped within the sword by the daedric lord. It was the embodiment of the lion. His soul would have been welcome in Oblivion with him!

And what would that have accomplished? A third voice asked. Why not use him as a potential ally until he's ready to drain him dry? The voice of the Daedroth was very snake-like, sending shivers down Errick's spine.

You're always one for snacking on your allies when they are of no use to you anymore!

Do you thank the creator of this infernal blade that I can't eat you?

Every single fucking day!

Gentlemen, The Spider Daedra interrupted. Errick cannot handle your constant bickering. I can feel the strings unravel within his thoughts.

"Yeah, she's right." Errick whispered as he pulled Aringoth's safe key out of his pocket. "So Spider, keep sounding hot. Lion, quite shouting. Snake, stop creeping me out."

How do you expect me to do that?

"By shutting up. Now take a hike, fellas. I need to concentrate on this mission."

Fine, but we expect some blood soon. The Spider finished as she subsided from his mind. Errick shook his head as he snuck out of the room, heading back to the safe.

Outside of Goldenglow, Isobel had made it to the beehives without being seen. That was all likely to change after she lit them on fire, but for now she was clear. However, the storm had picked up and made it a bit tougher to see people. That placed her on edge. The worst enemies to encounter were the ones you couldn't see.

There were ten beehives lined up along the edge of the bank, with a fence behind the row to block out intruders. But seriously, why put a fence that short up if people as nimble as Isobel could just jump over it without any trouble? Isobel made the jump and stood still as she waited for any sign of a guard sneaking up on her. When there was no indication that she was in trouble, she began to channel some flames in her hands. She wasn't adept in destruction magic, but she could use the basics, and fire was easy as pie.

Crunch time, Issy. The voice of her friend Brutus echoed in her head as she began to light the first hive on fire.

Within Goldenglow's basement, Errick snuck along until he approached the one guard sitting down at a table. There was no way he could sneak past the man without drawing attention to himself, and he didn't have a potion of invisibility on him. That meant he'd have to knock the guard out. Moving with a swiftness matched only by spriggans, Errick grabbed the guard's arm and forced him off of his chair, hitting the pressure points to knock the feeling out of his arm before he made a chopping motion with his hand into his neck, knocking out the poor guard.

"Snoozing on the job. I wonder what your boss will think after he's done taking aspirin." Errick took the man's coin purse, which had fewer coins than the damn Nord that threw a rock at him. Shrugging, he put it in his pocket and continued onward, descending another staircase to the safe room. Using the key he picked off of Aringoth, Errick unlocked the safe and frowned when there was nothing but a letter and a coin purse. Normally safes would have things like jewelry and ingots but all it had was those two items. Opening his jacket, Errick slipped the two items into some of his extra pockets. He knew they would be safe and dry once they escaped in the rain. Following his instincts (which literally an arrow where to go showed in his mind) he found another hatch that led back to the sewers, making haste to get back to Isobel before she got caught or worse. However, he couldn't shake the feeling something bad yet funny was about to happen.

Isobel had lit the first two beehives on fire, but she knew the guards had taken notice. Using the last of her mana, she tried to light the third beehive, but her spell gave out before it lit ablaze like the others. Isobel supposed that would have to do, and she needed to get out of there before the guards overpowered her. A few bees began to sting her along her face and hand, emitting a yelp from Isobel.

"Let's hope Errick's little bomb-thingy works." She muttered as she pulled it out of the cloth that protected it. Lighting the fuse with a bit more magic, Isobel threw it to cover her escape.

She tossed it at the beehives that had caught on fire.

Errick exited the sewers and took a long breath of fresh air. He hated the foul stenches of sewers with a burning passion. But the pouring rain brought out a relaxing scent in the air that Errick filled his lungs with. It was this kind of weather in the southern part of Skyrim that Errick actually enjoyed, rather than the harsh cold of the north.

His meditating breath was interrupted by a loud explosion.

Errick looked at the location where the explosion had been in shock, confusion, anger, and finally in hysteria. Half of the beehives were really on fire and the mercs that were nearby were complaining about the bees stinging them in rage. Isobel was nowhere to be seen, but if she was alive Errick wasn't going to abandon the minx. Running over to the hole in the fence, he found her sitting in the water, unharmed. Her uniform had been splotched a bit with mud and black marks on her chest and face from the explosion, but she was still intact.

"What the shit, Errick?!" Isobel cursed as he knelt down beside her.

"I told you not to throw it at the fire, didn't I?" Errick asked, a tone of seriousness in his voice as he helped her up.

"Well-"

"Yes, I did!" Errick interrupted. "I said it was flammable... Or inflammable. Either way, I said it was susceptible to fire, which meant it explodes if anything but the fuse is touched by fire! Gods, minx! Do you want to die?!"

Isobel was about to scream at his face before an arrow flew by her head. Two archers had taken positions and had their arrows trained on them. Errick threw another smoke bomb that successfully covered the archers line of sight.

"We'll argue about this later. I got the safe's contents. Let's get the hell out of here!" Errick dived in the water, making Isobel growl before she followed. They swam as fast as they could up river, but before she made it to shore Isobel felt a sharp pain enter her leg. She fell under the surface of the water, but Errick had grabbed her arm and brought her up to land. Upon examination, there was a steel arrow in her upper thigh on her right leg.

"Fuck, that hurts." Isobel muttered as she coughed from the gulp of water she had taken during her struggle. Snapping off the back and front of the arrow, she kept the part that went through her flesh as a cork to keep the blood in her body.

Errick then picked her up and started carrying her in his arms.

"Hey, what in Oblivion are you doing?" Isobel scolded, trying to get Errick to put her down.

"I am being a gentleman and carrying you back to the cistern to be treated."

"I do not need someone to treat me like a lady or a child! Put me down!"

Instead, Errick threw her over his shoulder, placing a firm hand on her ass. Isobel couldn't see the smirk that resided on his face.

"This is not what I meant." She growled.

"I'm not carrying you like a lady now, am I?" Errick joked. Isobel pounded on Errick's back to try and get him to put her down, but the stubborn man had endured worse than that just sleeping with most ladies that liked scratching their partner's backs. Eventually Isobel gave up, and Errick set her down on a rowboat they took to the docks that connected to Riften. Brynjolf was actually waiting on one of the docks as he saw the two row towards him.

"How'd it go?" Brynjolf asked.

"With a bang. Didn't you hear it over the thunder? I told Isobel specifically not to throw a smoke bomb near flames, but all she got was 'Bingle bongle dingle dangle lickity-do lickity-da ping-pong toppa-tippy tu-ta!'"

Brynjolf raised an eyebrow before he realized Isobel's leg. "What happened to you, Isobel?"

"Someone actually hit her. But the mission was a success. Let's get her inside and we'll go over the details."

Brynjolf and Errick put Isobel's arms across their shoulders, much to the dismay of Isobel, who kept trying to get out of both of their grasps on her hands. In her old guild, she was never exposed to this kind of humiliation. But here not only was Brynjolf (who was a total ass for a few weeks when she was first here) carrying her on one side of her body, but the blasted new charming thief with an even bigger ego was stroking her other hand without Brynjolf noticing.

This was going to be a rough night for Isobel Woodwing.

Back at Dustman's Cairn, Akira and Farkas had finally fought their way to the main burial chamber in the crypt. For half an hour, they had fought their way through both the Silver Hand and the Draugr that adorned the halls. Farkas had fought nearly everything with a ferocity that could not be matched. Akira had pulled her own weight, too, killing nearly as many opponents as he had.

Then came the spiders.

As soon as Farkas saw the giant frostbite spiders he nearly ran back out the entrance. But Akira had charged in, cutting down the insects within seconds with her iron battleaxe. She joked about how it was cute to see a strong Nord like him flinch at the sight of a spider when a Breton woman that's about their size charges right in and kills them. Farkas followed with a sarcastic laugh before they made it to the main chamber.

Akira walked up the steps but stopped when she thought she heard chanting.

"Do you hear that, Farkas?" Akira asked.

"Hear what?" He asked as he approached the table. He eyed the fragment of Wuuthrad and picked it up off of the table. "This is what we're looking for."

As soon as Akira looked at it, the crypts began popping open. Draugr in heavier armor came out brandishing black weapons of ancient Nordic steel, and Farkas and Akira immediately grabbed their weapons to retaliate.

"By the Nine!" He shouted as he started swinging his blade at the approaching menace. Akira took out two others as they snuck up behind them, removing their heads from their bodies with one fatal swing. Suddenly the chanting in her head got louder, and she turned to face the wall behind her. One of the words was glowing in its strange language, and Akira felt it calling to her. Farkas was too busy fighting off the undead to realize his Shield-sister walk up to the wall. The chanting got louder for Akira, and when she finally reached the word a strange power surged through her, warming up her body like her soul was on fire. For a moment it felt painful, but she somehow adjusted to this strange power coursing through her. Was this how Zacharius felt when he absorbed the dragon's soul?

YOL!

Akira felt her head ache as she turned around to see Farkas down on his knees. One of the larger draugr had overpowered him and he was on his knees, but Akira needed to do something. She tried to run over to help, but her body felt weak, and her muscles still burned from whatever had just happened. Thinking of nothing better to try, she uttered the phrase in her mind before she fell to the floor.

"YOL!" She yelled as a wave of fire escaped from her lips, hitting the deathlord that was ready to kill Farkas and lighting it on fire. Farkas saw this and brought his sword up to kill the undead warrior in front of him.

"Gods, Akira. How did you do that?" But when Farkas turned to face Akira, he watched as she fell to the floor unconscious. He ran to her side and felt that her body was on fire, almost as much as his wolf blood. "Come on, Shield-Sister. I'm getting you out of here."

He carried her in one arm while carrying her axe in another, praying to the gods she would be all right.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know that seems like a bit of a cliffhanger, but I was writing way too much and needed this chapter finished. A whole segment is being moved to the next chapter now. That's one reason why this chapter is considerably late. I've also been playing video games, helping my friend Zombarbment with his two new stories he's starting, and I was writing on a special segment that's going to appear within the next five chapters I estimate. I won't get into detail, but it does involve Isobel and Errick, and SpiritofJazz has looked over it.

Also, I hope that the Zacharius/Lydia segment isn't rushing in on their relationship, which does happen in this book. I mean, they've only known each other for one night so romance shouldn't just happen so suddenly, right? Oh, wait. That happens everyday, doesn't it?

That last bit was a joke. Shoutouts to the people who have reviewed. You are all awesome!

One last thing: if you haven't read Shadowed Love by MasterAssassinScrolls, go check it out and tell her I sent you. Her character Strider is incredible and follows along my planned line for the assassin Scarlai. She's very talented and could use more views.