If I start putting these at the top then the chapter number won't be off centre from now on. Every follow, favourite and review is very much appreciated, so if you like the story then tell me and if you think it could be better then tell me.

Word count.

Original: 1,944.

Re-write: 3,130.

Chapter XV

Blood Money

Mortis

14 years before the reformation of the Dawnguard

The rain beats down hard, I wait by the road, crouching in the thick and heavily water logged mud. The carriage I've been waiting for slowly comes down the dirt road, a couple of guards flanking it on either side and in front on a horse. His gleaming golden armour shining brightly even in the dull and dim night. I rest my hand on the sword at my hip, there's two of them on the carriage, one driver and one passenger. The driver looks to only have a dagger but the passenger has a crossbow.

The other two have swords and the third and final one has a spear. If I can move quickly I'll need to kill the archer and then my next target should be the driver. I flex my fingers, if I can summon up a big enough blast then I might be able to scare the horse, hopefully it'll throw the rider. The two with swords should be easy enough, just have to make sure I don't get in the middle of them. I concentrate on the spell, the only one I know. I manage to throw a modest blast of fire at the horse, landing in front of it, a few stray flames licking at its hoofs. I rears up and throws the rider off and I move out of the tree line quickly, going straight for the carriage. I unhook my hatchet and jump onto the carriage, grabbing onto the side with my right hand. I swing the hatchet into the archer's neck, the thick blade cutting deeply into the flesh.

I manage to climb into the back and draw my sword. The driver turns to face me, pulling out his dagger, he lunges and I step back to avoid him. One of the Thalmor guards rushes round the back sword ready. I should've planned this better. I improvise and throw myself forward into the driver, forcing us both off the carriage. We land hard in the mud and roll off him as he stabs at me with the dagger. The one with the spear rushes at me, stabbing forward with enough force to break my bones, I duck back to avoid the attack and slip back in the mud. I recover quickly, getting back to my feet to block an overhead strike from one of the other guards, he jumps as he does it, putting his entire weight and the weight of his armour into the swing. I stumble back and he tries to take advantage by going for a low strike I block it with much more ease then the previous one and push my shoulder into him as I do. He falls back and his back hits the carriage.

The driver gets comes at me, along with the spear guard. I move so the drivers in front of me, stopping the one with the spear from stabbing at me. I take a couple of steps back give myself to thinking room, his armours lighter than the other's especially around the abdomen. He stabs at me and I grab his forearm and run my sword through his stomach. He screams as the blade goes through and comes out his back. The other guard with the sword drops down to the floor with a squelch, Astrid follows the lifeless elf and the one with the spear turns to her. He goes in for a stab but she drops to one knee, grabs the spear shaft as she moves down next to it and slashes him across the knee, forcing him down he moves her blade of woe around and stabs him up through the chin. I throw the driver off my sword and quickly stab down into the other guard's stomach as he attempts to get up. He cries out as I keep the blade still, just the tip embedded in him.

"Where were you heading?!" I shout at him as he tries to pull away from my sword. He stops as I push down harder, sliding the metal in deeper. "Where?!" I shout at him.

His life is cut short as Astrid runs her blade across his throat. I pull my sword out and look at her as the Thalmor guard clutches his throat and bleeds to death. "There's no profit in this." She mumbles absently, looking away from me as she cleans the blood from her long knife. "We kill for money, not for whatever cause you've decided to take up." She spits, gesturing to the dead Thalmor. "Fighting a war that we have no part in?"

I slam my sword back into its scabbard and rub my hand over my face. "Fighting mine." I growl at her. "They killed the listener, they've brought us to our knees." I grumble, getting in her face, she takes a step back as I move forward. "I won't kneel to our enemies." I start to walk away from her, getting my hatchet from the passenger's throat. "I'll kill for more than profit." I grumble to her. "I won't die with the rest of you."

Present

The Ratway smells like piss, always has and it probably always will. There's a body leant up against one of the walls, fresh stab wounds in his stomach, about a dozen or so, a pool of blood underneath him. I crouch down in front of him and lift his head up slightly. Been awhile since I last came here but I don't recognise him. Hopefully that's good. I carry on through the piss stained damp tunnels, towards the Ragged Flagon.

The Ragged Flagon, a shit hole that reeks of piss and vomit but sells ale, and it has Riften's sewer system running through the majority of it. I walk towards the "bar" where all the tables and chairs are, lucky for me the man I want to see is sat at one of those tables, nursing a bottle of mead. He looks at me and freezes slightly probably wasn't expecting me to ever walk into here again.

I pull the chair opposite him out and sit down heavily. My ribs groaning at the action, they're getting better but they still ache, along with my leg. I slam some coins down on the table. "Bottle of ale!" I shout to the bloke whose name I can never remember. I turn back to Delvin. "Morning." I grumble in way of greeting.

"What does the Brotherhood want now?" He asks leaning back in his chair slightly, I see his hand stray down towards his dagger. I turn my head to him slightly and glance down at his dagger then back to his face and shake my head slightly. His hand does go any closer to the dagger but it does move away.

I lean on the table and tap my fingers against it slightly. "Need some stuff." I grumble, picking up one of the coins between two of my fingers, I start taping it on the table. "Might stay here a few days, Dawnstar's looking a bit grim as of late." The bloke comes over and puts a bottle of ale on the table, collecting the few coins. "Could do with a new sword." I grumble, pulling mine out and holding it out to him. I touch my thumb to the blade. "Getting a bit dull."

"Dirge can sharpen it for you." He says quickly, obviously trying to get rid of me. They've never liked dealing with the Brotherhood but they liked Astrid, I think they're scared of me. "Dirge!" He shouts. "Need this sharpening!" He adds taking the sword from me.

The man grabs the sword. "And this." I grumble, taking my dagger out. I pass it to him and he walks away, into the back of the Ragged Flagon, where the guild normally meet. I pick up the ale and pull the cork out of the top, quickly taking a gulp of it. Delvin sits opposite me, looking tense and ready to stab me at a moment's notice. "Saw the dead bloke out there." I mumble, pointing in the general direction of the Ratways. "What he do?"

Delvin grins slightly, first time I've seen him grin since I walked in. "He came down here." He starts, taking a sip of his mead. "Tried to… take advantage of our little Vex." He mumbles, looking down at the table for a minute, I can see the anger in his eyes. Still carrying a torch for the blonde then. "She don't like rapists too much." He grumbles, he starts smirking again. "She cut of his cock and balls." He says. "Tried to run away, straight into me."

I grin as I take another drink. "Finally put those daggers of yours to actual use then." I say to him. "No good cutting purses from belts." I tell him. "Meant to be buried up to the hilt in some poor cunts belly." I lean back in my chair. Delvin isn't grinning anymore, back to being tense. "I'm not here to kill anyone." I tell him, he looks up at me. "Only here to have a rest." I mumble. "Leg hurts." I grumble, leaning back further and letting my eyes close slightly.

14 years before the reformation of the Dawnguard

I lean against the wall, flicking through what must be one of Cicero's journals. The others are all rushing around, trying to help their fallen brother. "Cicero believes he's the listener?" I ask them, not really directing the question to anyone in particular. I throw the journal onto the table near the others that they must have found in his quarters. I walk over to Veezara, who's sitting on the floor, gripping his wound tightly. Astrid is stood over him. "Where is he now?" I grumble.

"Arnbjorn went after him." She says, sounding… anxious, not really a word I would ever use to describe Astrid but it's the only way I can describe the tone in her voice. She looks up at me. "I searched his quarters, he was interested in the old Sanctuary in Dawnstar."

I walk away slightly, pacing. Astrid orders everyone out of the main room, except me and Nazir, Gabriella helps Veezara leave and head into the back of the sanctuary. "Arnbjorn have a plan?" I grumble to them. "Or was he just going to chase him?"

She walks over to me resting her hand on her belt. "The plan is to kill him." She tells me, looking like she can't believe I'm even asking her a question like that. "Cicero is small and weak, he was only able to injure Veezara because we weren't expecting it."

I lean forward, getting closer to her. "And if he is the listener?" I ask her, she pauses, leans away from me slightly. "You've already abandoned all the tenets." I tell her, lean in closer to her. "Why not kill the listener as well I suppose." I take a few steps back, scratch absently at my beard. "You should keep your pet on a tighter rope."

Astrid looks about ready to gut me, she even puts her hand on her blade of woe, takes a few steps towards me. "We haven't got time for this." Nazir says, interrupting the fight that was probably just about to start. He turns mostly to me. "What should we do about Cicero?"

"It doesn't matter." Astrid says, waving us both off, stopping me from answering. "When Arnbjorn catches up to him, he'll tear him limb from limb." She mumbles, going to walk away. "That little weasel doesn't stand a chance against a real warrior."

"That little weasel is a lot smarter than that fucking mongrel." I grunt, she turns around sharply, reaching for the blade or woe. She takes a few steps towards me before Nazir stops her. "Arnbjorn might be a lot stronger but stronger doesn't mean owt when you've got a knife in your back."

"Will he even be able to catch up to Cicero?" Nazir says, sounds like he's talking more to himself then to me or Astrid.

I smirk slightly and lean back against one of the walls. "Dogs run fast." I grumble, I look up at Astrid and scratch at my beard again. "I'll go." I say pushing away from the wall. "Get the job done right, your dog will either come back skewered or not come back at all." I walk towards the door, grabbing one of Cicero's journals on the way.

I walk into the Dawnstar sanctuary, it's bigger than the Falkreath one, more built up as well; not relying so much on the natural cavern as they did with our sanctuary. I walk down the stairs, left hand resting on the hilt of my sword. "Cicero!" I call out into the silence. "I know you're here!" I walk over to a table that has a very old skeleton on it.

There's a sharp clang behind me, I turn around only to be met with a dark tunnel. I draw my sword, the sound of the razor sharp blade leaving the scabbard echoes around the stone room and down the tunnel. I head into it, seems to be a catacomb of some kind, it's littered with alcoves some have coffins and urns in, most are empty. There's another clatter somewhere off to my right, hard to pin down in the tunnels with all of the echoes.

I edge round one of the corners, looking both ways before I commit to going round. "You can hide in the shadows all you want." I mutter, gripping my sword tighter. "I will find you." I grumble under my breath.

There's a clang and a scrapping sound. "You wouldn't kill me." He laughs from somewhere down the corridor. There's another scratch followed by another laugh. "I'm the listener, killing the listener goes against the tenets." He sings to me from somewhere behind me. "You hold them almost as dearly as I do."

"You're not the listener." I grumble under my breath, I pass by one of the alcoves. There's three bloody finger prints on it, he must have Arnbjorn's blood on his hand. He's been an assassin for years, wouldn't leave a trail. He's making me follow a path. Must know where I am. He's smart, might be insane but still smart. Maybe I can get him to drop his guard, slip up. "How many voices do you hear?" I call out to him. "How could you even tell which one's the Night Mother?"

"Oh." He laughs, sounds more strained then it did before. "You want to run from the truth, ignore the truth!" He screams at me. "After what happened with the last listener!" He adds, still screaming. "What happened to her?!" He shouts at me.

He's obviously trying to get under my skin now, that won't work, not with me, not now. "What happened to her?" I call out, repeating his question. "I fucked her!" I shout into the direction I think he's in.

That does the trick, he rushes out. Dagger held ready up and ready to stab. "I'll kill you!" He screams at me, running straight for me. He brings the dagger down and I manage to react quick enough, bringing my sword up and severing his hand at the wrist. He cries out in pain and goes passed me, grab the back of his clothes and stab him in the small of the back. The blade pushes through, snapping his spine as it goes through and comes out through his stomach. Blood gushes out of the wound, running down the blade and pooling in the on the floor.

"Do you really hear her voice?" I grumble to him as he falls back onto my sword.

He coughs, blood following it as he does. "Yes." He groans, putting all his effort into the word. I let him fall down, pulling my sword free as I do.

I wipe the blood off the blade and stand over his now lifeless body. "Then may it comfort you in death." I mumble, Arnbjorn staggers round the corner, griping his stomach and leaving heavily against the wall. "For all the good a lie will."

"Is it done?" He asks me, I look up at him, he's just staring at the body, obviously still sore of the jester getting the better of him.

I slide my sword back into its scabbard, and wipe my hand on my armour, try to get some of the blood of it. "I told you to head back." I look up at him and walk over to him. "Astrid will worry where her wife is." I walk straight passed him, he hangs his head slightly. "Go home dog." I order him. Only kill for profit, only kill when it's needed. I'm going to finish a job I've started, don't need money to do it.

Present

"Here." Dirge mutters, putting my equipment on the table. "Sharpened and cleaned." He tells me. I nod and pass him some coins. He walks off as I pick up my ale and take a quick gulp. I look at Delvin, still sat opposite me, a new bottle of mead in front of him now.

He takes a drink of his mead and then puts the bottle down hard. "I assume you'll be leaving soon then." He mumbles, I nod my head and look around the Ragged Flagon.

I left her. I left her when I said I'd get her home, get her back to safety. Instead I left her with the Dawnguard, people who won't acknowledge her as anything but an "it". I've failed what I told her I'd do, I need to change it all and finish what I've started.

"How would you read an Elder Scroll?" He'll know, he has to. "Without the help of a Moth Priest." I tell him. It's time, I can have it and I can finally grasp it.

Not the best chapter by any stretch, hopefully the next one will turn out better. Reviews, follows and favourites are always appreciated. Couldn't be arsed to read through it cause its like 2 in the morning so I'll fix any mistakes at a later date, probably in like the next week or so.