"Your reputation precedes you, Bella." Vicente handed me the newest edition of the Black Horse Courrier, "Murder in Bruma!", as the bold, black headline. "That was you, right?"
"Yes, it was far too easy to frame Gromm. You told me I couldn't kill him, but not that I couldn't ruin him." I took pride in my work. I never thought that I would be here, bragging about murder and framing an innocent man. But shit happens.
"Very true. Creative liberties are, of course, encouraged. Create a name for yourself. Instill fear. Why, the Black Hand were happy enough to hear of this impressive turn of events, they decided it time to promote you. Here is your reward, five hundred Septims, a dagger rightfully named Sufferthorn, whose prick I assure you is deadly, and the title of Slayer. Well done." He stood and awarded me, then gave me a hug which I felt inclined to return.
The family were all too happy for me, congratulating me with pats on the back and words of praise. I wasn't sure I'd ever get used to attention, even after years of being Champion.
"Tell us about it, Bella! Go on." Antoinetta urged, everyone standing around to hear of the newest contract. And easily most exciting one within the last few months. If only it had stayed that way.
"Your next contract may prove harder for you to accomplish," said Vicente.
"Go on," I gave a sly, intrigued smile.
"You've had no problem breaking out of the Imperial Prison, how would you feel breaking into it?"
"I'm in." I said without a second thought. He laughed a little.
"I haven't even finished my proposition." He threw his hands up, smiling. "You will need to go in the very way you came out. There lies now only one prisoner, and he needs silenced."
"Valen Dreth?" I asked. He sighed.
"Yes, Valen Dreth. By Sithis, you are too much for me sometimes. I will provide you a key to enter the grate, which you already know where to find. Valen Dreth has been imprisoned for many years. His tongue is sharp, but his body is limp and frail. He will prove an easy, pleasurable kill. You will receive a bonus if you fulfill the contract without killing any of the prison guards." I had already stood up to leave. "Now go, and may the Night Mother go with you." He called as I left hurriedly and excitedly. Finally, a contract really worth doing.
It had only occurred to me once I was halfway to the Imperial City that I never told them I was the prisoner that escaped. In fact, nobody in all of Tamriel was supposed to know other than what remained of the Blades and the few I had told myself. Which did not extend to the Dark Brotherhood. Just as I did not tell Alval Uvani my name. He could have heard I was the Champion, hero of Kvatch, Savior of Bruma among many other things. But he had never, in all my years of knowing him, said my name until I entered the Brotherhood. I had my suspicions, but kept them to myself.
I had reached the waterfront district by nightfall and traced my steps back through the sewers following the trail of skeletons left from years prior, along with randomly dropped loot I had decided I wouldn't need at the time, and still would not have. The air was deadly quiet and I could taste decay in the air. It clicked in my mind, seeing coffins lined around the walls. Empty. Surrounded by candles with still warm wax and trails of blood. Vampires. Having no time yet to dispose of them, I treaded on and found myself through the first area of the the Emperor's secret escape tunnels. Guards were few and far between, easy to maneuver around, and I found myself back in my old cell in no time.
Memories. Not quite pleasant ones, but memories none the less. When I was younger, ignorant, arrogant, moldable like undried clay. I waited for the sounds of the guard and Dreth to cease and the footsteps to fade before I pushed forward and revealed myself. Before Dreth could even get a single word in, I shot a fireball through the bars and it killed him instantly. I stopped only a moment to appreciate my work. A moment too long.
"I heard something, this way!" I heard a guard coming down the stairs and fled as fast as I could, stopping to breathe only when I had reached the sewers once more. Believing to be safe, I rested a moment.
A moment that nearly cost me my life. A rat attacked and I accidentally screamed out of surprise, quickly slicing it with my blade and running for safety. Something was different this time, I remembered skeletons on the floor that weren't there anymore. Loot that was there not an hour earlier that was gone. Coffins moved from the wall they were on. I was going down corridors I didn't recognize, and I realized, horrified, that I was lost. I realized only a moment too late.
"I can smell you," I could hear the vampires taunting. How long I'd been in the sewers running from them, I couldn't tell. Maybe a day. I had killed a couple but there were so many and I was running quickly out of energy. I was breathing hard, my back facing the way I came into the twisting Labyrinthine corridor, and looking deep into the darkness to find either an escape route or a target. I found a target, yet no escape. I turned around and found, behind me, a vampire that had not yet noticed me. I was crouched in the shadows and the only light I could see was their glowing eyes.
Both were approaching each other from behind and in front of me and I was trapped between them, not knowing what to do. Trying to move closer to the wall, my footing slipped ever so slightly and I heard a bone crunch under my foot. The sound of a dinner bell being rung. Within seconds, they were on me like starving, rabid wolves, trying madly to bite through my armor which offered enough protection to not be pierced through. I leaned back into one, spouting fire at the other as my weight toppled it onto the ground. The one on fire staggered around like crazy to put out the flames. Knowing I only had seconds, I used a lot of strength to stomp in the head of the one I knocked down. And by the time the flames had gone out, I was stabbing the other repeatedly in the dark, fighting for my life.
It was quiet again. And I could feel warmth oozing down my face and armor. Wether blood or sweat, I couldn't tell. I didn't know if it was mine or not, either. I found only an hour of rest there in that dark corridor, enough to keep me going until I found an exit. Or at least that's what I prayed to the Night Mother for. My first time praying to my Unholy Matron, and it was to beg for guidance to safety. After taking so many lives carelessly, I was begging for mine. And it didn't bother me. Maybe it should have, but it didn't.
I could feel something was wrong in the air, another vampire. I could smell it, just as it could smell me. I was pulling out a blade before either of us could find each other. I couldn't tell which one I had pulled out, but when I saw a ray of light, I was distracted and I followed it with hope. And it was an exit. Praise Sithis, an exit to the middle of nowhere, far from Imperial City. I could see it off in the distance, white-gold tower glistening in the moonlight and I wondered how long it had been since I entered the sewers. I could only guess a few hours. Maybe eight.
I looked around me, trying to find something I recognized. I saw an Ayleid ruin named Belda and suddenly, I had a heading.
For how long I walked, I wasn't sure. It was mindless walking. Tired, mindless, painful walking. Exhausted was the only word running through my mind. At the same time, I felt I had been followed. I'd felt it since leaving the sewers and worried it was a vampire. I prayed the sun would come soon and stave it away.
My prayers went unanswered. Soon after hearing a rustle behind me, I was jumped by a lone vampire that had been stalking its meal for miles. I panicked and tried hard to get it off of me, not before it took my blade and stabbed me with it. I cried out in pain, kicking the vampire hard and sending it a deadly blast of flame. It lied still and I looked down, hardly able to see the hilt now buried into my abdomen. It was dark, but just ahead, I could see Cheydinhall past the treeline.
The guards didn't notice me in the dark, and I stuck to the shadows as well as I could. But I was feeling woozy. I knew removing the dagger could mean dying from blood loss. But if I was unlucky enough should it be Sufferthorn... I felt confused with my surroundings, the Sanctuary being the only thing I was sure I recognized.
I wobbled through the door of the house, nearly tumbling down through the basement and pushed open the door to the Sanctuary, leaving a bloody hand print dragging down it as a fell to my knees. I was up again, holding onto the hilt and trying to walk it off like I was okay. In my state of mind, it had felt the right thing to do in the moment. Sufferthorn was a good name. I was feeling alright. Many things, feeling nausea, pain, seeing colors, seeing darkness. Everything all at once. Time was fast, but it was going so slow. So very slow. So much was happening in my mind, my system was shutting down. So much I couldn't hear the commotion around me as my family members gathered around. They were shouting maybe. Talking? Singing? Silent? It was all so confusing. I couldn't understand a word they said. It was almost funny how their appearances seemed warbled and my vision was dancing. Then I looked around as I felt like I was floating. No, someone was lowering me gently to the ground. I had fallen. I could feel my heart skipping beats and was only acutely aware of Lachance being instructed to remove the blade before the poison could seep any further into my system. I could feel the dagger slicing through me again and stopped breathing for a few seconds, then feeling him applying pressure and I could only cry out in agony, taking pained, labored breaths. Complete and utter agony. I was pleading helplessly. I was desperate for something. For relief. I started begging for death to come. I couldn't tell if the words I was saying were even words.
I could hear his voice, feel a warm hand on my face. He was trying to get me to respond. And I couldn't. But I could taste blood and I could feel every agonizing moment of the ordeal. I was trying to speak, to plead, beg for death. For mercy. For anything. I was aware of my heartbeat slowing. I knew I was dying. I could feel myself being lifted by Lachance, being transferred somewhere else. To where, I didn't know. I could only hear his voice saying something over and over. And I strained hard to listen, looking hazily into his eyes and he talked to me. "Don't die." I could make that out. It was all he said. Again and again. "Don't die." I tried responding. I tried to move, to do anything. All of my muscles were failing me. I could feel myself not breathing while my lungs screamed for air. There was nothing I could do. And my vision faded away to black.