A/N: This chapter starts the much larger over-arching plot of Sable's tale. It is my own original story that does not follow any game story lines very closely (if at all), although there will be familiar characters and locales. Thanks again to everyone that has followed along and enjoyed the story. Hope you continue to do so.
-E.K.

What about the end of your life?" The old man, a priest of Arkay, asked.

The question caught the white-haired, curvy assassin off guard and she paused. What had caused anyone to want a feeble old priest of Arkay dead, she had no idea, but it didn't matter. A contract was a contract. He had been easy to find and she hadn't expected any real resistance so she had revealed herself and the intentions behind her visit to his temple. What she hadn't expected was the conversation he had engaged her in. He had recognized her affiliation with the Dark Brotherhood immediately from her black and dark red leather armor and had simply questioned why it was she did what she did. She explained that she enjoyed power and that power over another's life or death was the highest form of power to which one could attain. And then his simple question stopped her cold.

"What do you mean by that priest?" She asked back to him.

"Do you have any power over your own life?" He asked again.

"Of course I do, old man." The assassin spat back. "I've held my own life in my hands since I was barely a woman. I am solely responsible for my life and none have proven more powerful over it than I."

"So you don't plan on aging?" The old man asked, his steel gray eyes focusing on hers. "Death is as natural as birth. It is a part of Arkay's cycle of life. What happens when you grow old like myself? What power do you have then?"

Her countenance darkened. Just what exactly would happen to her when she grew too old to carry out assassinations? Would a knife eventually find its way into her back? Would she die on bed too feeble to fight back as she coughed out her last breaths? With those horrifying thoughts circling, the priest took her pause as a sign he would possibly get her to see reason and continued.

"No one has the power to extend their life beyond it's time."

"Of course one can." She said snapped back from her thoughts. "What of Talos, The Hero of Kvatch, The Nerevarine? These legends live beyond their time."

"And are any of these still alive?" The priest rebuffed her argument almost without effort it seemed. "Only their names remain for a time. Eventually legends fade as well. There is no shame in death. Indeed, on the contrary, it is the fulfillment of divine ordinance that …"

Sable's elven dagger being plunged hilt deep into his chest stopped his speech. His eyes went wide as they looked into hers, smoldering in rage.

"Tell me, priest of Arkay, how glorious do you feel now?" The White Deathbell asked venomously to the no longer hearing shell of an old man as she wrenched her dagger from his body. It crumpled to a heap in an ever spreading pool of blood. Sable pulled a small white flower and let it fall to a rest on top of the now dead old man. She then turned and stalked angrily from the temple to collect her payment from the contract.

"The pay for this had better be worth it." Sable snarled to herself.

Sable made her way quickly back to the client and then back to the Sanctuary afterwards. The words of the priest of Arkay continued to haunt her and she uncharacteristically took another assignment immediately. She hoped that keeping herself busy would drown out the disconcerting feeling of one day being completely powerless and helpless.

It kept finding its way insidiously into the edge of her concentration, however as she slipped through the underground corridors of one of many of Skyrim's cave complexes that served as some lowlife's hideout. Strangely there was no resistance as the assassin made her way silently towards her target. There were no guard or others of any kind. The ease of the infiltration was unnerving.

Eventually she made her way to a dark cavern with a single shaft of light breaking through the near pitch dark. She didn't know how, but she somehow knew that the small circle of illuminated floor in the cavern was in the exact center of the room. She looked up, following the shaft of light up, but couldn't see any discernible source of it.

As her gaze came back down, suddenly there was a hooded figure standing in the light. Sable was sure she hadn't seen him there before. She was about to move forward supposing him to be her target when suddenly everything just felt wrong. The figure turned and looked directly at her. She was still deep in the shadows. There was no way he could have spotted her, but yet he was looking her right in the eyes.

The figure lifted the hooded and Sable gasped. It was the old man; the priest of Arkay. But how could he still be alive? She had watched him die. But there was no doubt in her mind it was him. He had the same steel gray eyes, the same long beard twisted into a knot just below his chin.

"Did I not tell you, my dear." He said smiling. He pointed a gnarled finger at her. "No one can escape death. You are not as powerful as you think."

As he finished, the light in the cave widened. As it did, she saw piles of dead bodies all over the floor. Her horror increased as she realized they were all bodies of people she had killed. She recognized Alain Dufont, the abusive innkeeper that had been her first kill, all of them.

As the light washed over her, her hair became thin and began falling out. Then she felt something in her mouth. She spit the object out into her hand and saw it was her tooth. It was just the beginning as the rest of them began tumbling from her mouth. She watched as the skin on her hand deflated and then stretched thin over bones. Her armor suddenly went loose and felt quite heavy.

She brought her hands to her face and felt the deep sagging wrinkles in her cheeks and around her mouth. And then she didn't feel her fingers touching anymore. She pulled her hand away and saw that it was crumbling to dust. The disintegration began working its way up her arm.

She fell to the ground as her feet and legs turned to dust as well. A silent scream burst forth from her as she lay on the floor of some unknown cave literally wasting away. She heard the old priest laughing at her as everything went black and she died, crumbling away to nothingness.

Sable woke with a start panting heavily as if she had been screaming. Her white hair was plastered to her face and neck and she shivered uncontrollably despite having been under the warm fur blankets of her bed. She was drenched in sweat and it was taking every bit of her to reign in the feeling of sheer terror that threatened to overwhelm her.

Just as she thought she might lose her grip on herself, the door to her room burst open. Even with the warm light of the corridor outside offering her a quick and gentle salvation from her fear, it took her several deep breaths to reclaim her own mind.

"Are you alright, sister?" the voice of Gabriella sounded out full of worry. Initially it sounded like a clanging gong that reverberated through head. She never thought that such a thing could sound so comforting before then. She looked over with partially wild eyes and saw the dunmer also in night clothes, but holding a short sword each hand. Behind Gabriella stood Veezara and Nazir similarly armed and half dressed.

As moments passed others began to show up.

"Sister?" Gabriella repeated even more insistently when there was no response "You are alright, sister?"

Sable focused back on her dark elf friend. "How … How … uh …" She couldn't seem to manage any more than that.

"We heard your scream." Gabriella explained crossing the room and kneeling before her. "It sounded like death itself."

Upon hearing the poor choice of words, her nerves threatened to take over again. "Yes! It was death itself, Gabriella. It was death. I couldn't stop it!" Sable began quivering again.

Gabriella moved up and sat on the bed and held her sister gently rocking her. One hand lit up with a light blue energy sending calming magic into her friend to soothe her. The dark elf looked to the crowd.

"I suspect she will be okay. You can all go back to bed." As they began to turn away, she add, "Babette, please stay with us as well. Will someone please fetch some spare bedding?"

Babette came into the room and helped Gabriella get their Nord friend out of the sweat soaked night clothes and laid her back in bed. A little more calming magic from the dark elf helped her friend find a peaceful sleep.

Nazir and Veezara returned with a couple of cots and some spare blankets and then left them, experience having taught them that there was nothing more they could do just then.

Gabriella turned to Babette. "I suspect Sable simply had a nightmare beyond her control." She explained to the vampire. "But if there is something more sinister to it and she needs to be restrained, I suspect you are the only one of us that would be able to do so."

Babette only nodded as the two of them settled into the cots for what promised to be a night of uneasy rest.

Her eyes opened to darkness but it was different this time. The mind-numbing terror from before was gone, replaced now by a disconcerting feeling of powerlessness and despair. As stated by the old priest and frighteningly cemented by the dream, she was completely powerless against death. Sable sat up and looked around. Movement to her left caught her attention. She saw that Gabriella and Babette had slept in her room to tend to her if needed.

In that moment, she recalled everything. The dream and the fear-induced insanity it had inspired and how the Family had rushed to her aid along with the internal war fought within between the terror and the bliss of whatever spell Gabriella had used on her left her embarrassed. Her brothers and sisters had seen nothing but weakness in her at that point and she had been able to do nothing about it. Anger began to rise up in her in response to that helplessness, but it quickly faded when she heard Babette's voice call out.

"Sister, are you alright?"

"That depends, Babette," she quietly answered. "If you mean to ask if I have regained myself, then yes. I am alright. But if you mean to ask if I am whole and well … No, I am nothing near alright."

She wasn't sure she could say anything more and thankfully Babette didn't push it. By now, Gabriella was sitting up looking their way as well. The dark circles forming under her eyes told Sable that she hadn't slept much. She guessed that aside from the cots likely not being very comfortable, they had probably woke every time she moved or made even the slightest noise in her sleep.

"Thank you both." She said somberly but sincerely. "I don't think I remember the last time I've had such care shown to me."

"None are needed, sister," Gabriella answered. "I am sure you would keep the same vigil over me were our positions reversed." The last statement confirmed Sable's thoughts about their presence, but caught between the conflicting emotions of frustration from the display of weakness and being loved she couldn't find any words to say. She only nodded and hoped that they knew what she meant by it.

"We will leave you to dress." The dumer spoke after a short silence. "Join us for breakfast whenever you are ready."

Gabriella left her then, no doubt to change into her robes and start her day as well. Babette, however, lingered.

"Astrid asked to see you," the child-looking vampire stated. "She wants to know about your last contract and about last night. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." She turned and left as well.

Sable stood and rummaged through her dresses eventually settling on her favorite. The heavy material of the dress along with a low square cut neckline showed off her curves and just the right amount of cleavage she thought. It was a made from crimson red crushed velvet trimmed with cream and gold. It had been the first gift she had received from her Family after joining the Dark Brotherhood . She had worn the dress to distract the Jarl of Falkreath and steal a valuable brooch when she had formerly worked for Thieves Guild. She had reluctantly left the dress behind. Somehow the assassin's guild had known about it and Babette had retrieved it as a welcome home gift. It had been the first time she could remember truly feeling loved and knew then she would defend her new Family to her last breath.

It seemed almost silly to think of a bunch of assassin as a warm and loving family, but that is exactly what they had been to her. She found it strangely comforting though, and a wisp of a smile appeared on her face. It was the first time she had in the last couple days since she'd dealt with the old man. And, just like that, it was gone.

The despair didn't last long, as she looked down as saw how pretty she looked in the dress. The white-haired assassin couldn't resist the urge to twirl herself around a few times and the smile resurrected itself even greater than before.

She grabbed a comb and de-tangled her hair as best she could from the sweat the previous night and eventually decided she would have to find some time for a proper bath. With that in mind, she put on her favorite boots – another gift to her from the Family – and left to find Astrid.

As usual, Sable found the guild's matron standing over table in the first cave inside the entrance of the complex.

"You asked for a report, mistress." Sable stated coming up behind Astrid.

"Yes," Astrid replied in her usual silken tones, "tell me about your last contract."

"You've haven't asked me about a minor contract since my first, why now?" the white-haired assassin voice confused rather than defensive.

"True," the matron conceded, "but neither have you ever screamed in your sleep after returning from a contract, much less a rather simple one such as an old priest of Arkay. It tends to raise eyebrows."

Sable's face flushed with embarrassment that soon found her grinding her teeth in anger at the helplessness she felt.

"I do not mean to shame or embarrass you." Astrid assured her, accurately reading her face. "I am simply concerned for the wellbeing of a sister. I want to hear what happened so I can help in any way I can."

Sable understood and even appreciated Astrid's intent, but it only made it worse for her. She was so used to being in control and exercising power over any person or situation. There was no lower she could get than to have had them all see her in the state she was in the previous night. She was embarrassed that her Family has seen her so weak and was seething at the loss of control. Once again her leader spoke seeming to know her thoughts.

"If you do not want to speak of yet, I will respect your wishes, but for your own good, I will not allow you another contract until I hear of your experience."

She desperately didn't want to tell Astrid of how a few simple words had brought her to this haunting, but decided that there was no use in lying or putting it off. There was no way her matron would believe a simply uneventful murder would cause this upheaval. And since she wanted to get back to work and hopefully forget about the whole thing, Sable told Astrid everything. She didn't leave out a single detail. She recalled every word of the old man and every detail of the nightmare.

It all sounded so trivial and stupid as the white-haired assassin recounted it all, she still felt thick and cold by the time she finished. Astrid never interrupted; never even passed a look of judgment on her while she spoke. There was a short moment of silence before the leader of the assassins spoke.

"Ah, I understand now. You've come face to face with the idea of your own morality." Astrid always seemed to know exactly what to say. Perhaps that's why she was the leader, but it was so uncanny at times that it bordered on unsettling. "Take comfort. You'll find no judgment here. Everyone within this sanctuary has experienced the same, though perhaps not in quite the same manner as you have. You are now even more a part of our Family."

"So, what now?" Sable asked.

"That, I cannot answer." The blonde Nord replied. "You must find your own way through this. Each of us has dealt with it differently. Some distracted themselves with contracts until it went away. Others, used the support and advice of the Family to work their way through. Some have even quit."

"How did you handle it?" The pale Nord asked of her mentor.

"It took some time." Astrid replied with honesty. "I did not accept a contract for a while, but eventually, I realized that death was nothing to worry about as long as I survived each day. And if by chance, I did not, I would only go to the void that is Sithis and it would be nothing to worry about."

"I see," Sable said taking it in. "Thank you, mistress."

"No need to thank me, sister," came the reply and as Sable turned to leave, Astrid offered her customary parting words. "Kill well. Kill often."

Sable barely heard them as she was already deep in thought. While some of what Astrid said had made sense, there seemed to be more needed for her than what she had received. "Death was nothing to worry about as long as I survived …" her mistress had said. There was something left unspoken there but she did not know what. Of course there was no need to fear death provided one was alive. It was so simple it almost seemed like a stupid thing to say. There just had to be more to it.

Then it hit her. As long as one was alive, death held no power over them. She was exerting her power over death, perhaps even Arkay himself. Every moment she was alive, she was spitting in the face of any forces wishing to end her life. Her paced quickened with purpose. She had to find Nazir to get a new contract. She would prove her power over death and perhaps even over Arkay himself.