Chapter 6: No Control
The road was merciless on Tyradus. The steel boots were giving his feet blisters, his helmet denied him nearly any oxygen, and wolves attacked every few minutes. Bite marks and sweat covered Tyradus's face. He was exhausted, but he knew that he couldn't stop. He would never forgive himself if something happened to his brother.
Something was wrong with him, and he knew it. His ears were ringing, his body felt like lead and his head spun. Still, he trudged on, almost unaware of his surroundings. His senses had dulled, yet he felt completely alert. He barely saw the road in front of him, yet nothing escaped his eye.
Tyradus stopped immediately, without even realizing it. He felt as if his body was taking commands from somebody else. He unwillingly drew his blade. The Nord was confused, but he did nothing to fight it. He turned and his arm swung horizontally. He felt and heard the tearing of flesh.
His senses returned to him, all at once. It took him completely off-guard. He let out a quick gasp before looking down in front of him. There lay the corpse of a Wood Elf. He was dressed in brown leather armor, and had a glass dagger drawn. It took Tyradus a moment to realize that the elf's head was severed from his body.
"What the hell just happened!?" Tyradus exclaimed quietly. "He must have been trying to assassinate me... but how did I know he was there? What made me attack!? Damn it, what's happening to me?!"
A voice rang in his head.
A Dovah fen dreh naan thing wah protect nimaar.
"For Stendarr's sake, Aldaril, where are we?!" The Thalmor woman was growing impatient with her comrades.
"Stay off my back, Nerussa. Judging by the terrain, we're probably somewhere in the Rift. What do you think, Carandial?" He looked back. "Huh? Carandial?" The justiciar was nowhere to be found.
"Damned fool," Nerussa muttered. "He probably found some flowers he wanted to examine. The idiot's taken up quite an interest in alchemy. Let's go find him."
"When we do, I'm setting his ass on fire!"
The Thalmor agents began back the way they came. They found their friend, but it was too late for him. His body lay on the ground.
"What could have happened!?" Aldaril shouted. "He doesn't have any injuries!" He turned to look at Nerussa. "Who or what could ha-"
He gasped. A hooded Khajiit, dressed in white robes, stood over Nerussa's body. A dagger hung from his sleeve, barely visible. Blood dripped from the small blade.
"You fools should have stayed in the Summerset Isles!" The Khajiit shouted.
Aldaril readied a Fireball spell.
"And maybe you should've stayed in Elsewyr!" He shut his eyes as he threw the spell forward. He didn't hear contact. Only a distant explosion. He opened one eye.
"Where'd the bastard cat go?!"
"Keep your eye on the target."
"Huh?! Whe-" The elf fell with a thud. The Khajiit assassin wiped the blood off of his dagger. "Thalmor bastards."
One good thing came from the dead Bosmer. He had carried a steel shield, the one piece of armor that Tyradus hadn't gotten. He knew that a shield was the best armor. He still trudged on, determined to reach Riften without rest.
"Must be a bandit!"
Tyradus halted. The faint voice came from above him, there was no denying that.
"What was that?" Tyradus gazed at the sky, looking for movement. There was none... until the hooded fighter leapt from a tree, his dagger pointed straight at Tyradus.
The Nord raised his new shield, which the Khajiit landed directly on top of.
"A quick one!" The Khajiit shouted as he pushed off the shield and onto the ground. Tyradus drew his weapon. The Khajiit clutched his dagger. As the Khajiit charged, Tyradus blocked the blow once more and swung at him. The assassin ducked under the blow, and tackled Tyradus to the ground. He held the dagger to the Nord's throat.
"Any last words?" The Khajiit was certain of victory.
"Only three. FUS RO DAH!"
The Khajiit screamed as he flew backward, but he had kept enough composure to break his fall with his arms.
The assassin gasped as he rose from the ground. "T- Tyradus?!"
Tyradus gasped. He knew that voice.
"Kh'aaru!?"
Tyradus took off his helmet. The Khajiit removed his hood. There was no doubt anymore.
"Brother!" They both shouted. Tyradus stood as quickly as he could. He threw his helmet to the ground.
"I thought that something had happened to you!" Kh'aaru exclaimed. "Why didn't you come for me sooner?"
"Something did happen to me. Something bad. I was apparently not far behind a group of Stormcloaks when I entered Skyrim. The Imperial legion ambushed them ahead of me, and captured me as well. I was sentenced to death with them."
"So, then, how are you still alive?"
"Well, I was surrounded by Imperial officers. Right before the axe separated my head from my shoulders, I figured I had to use my power to save myself."
"You mean you just used the power in front of hundreds of soldiers? We agreed to keep that secret. You ended up killing everybody who saw, correct?"
"Not exactly. All of the Stormcloaks saw it happen, and most of them made it out alive."
"And the Imperials?"
"Dead and burned."
"You'd better pray to the divines that any of them that made it out alive doesn't remember your face. If they do, your fate is just about sealed."
"Come now, Kh'aaru. What's the chance that they'll find me?"
"In cased you haven't noticed, brother, they control half of Skyrim. Not to mention the rest of damned Tamriel!"
"Alright, you have a point. Either way, we should probably set out back home. The sun is beginning to set, and we should cover as much ground as we can."
Kh'aaru sighed, "I guess you're right. Off to Whiterun."
The duo set out, back the way Tyradus had come. It wasn't long before night fell. The two decided to travel on, through the night and hope to reach home by morning. But, while traveling, they saw a strange orange light ahead of them.
Tyradus stopped quickly. "What is that?"
Kh'aaru stopped to think for a second. "Probably a bandit camp."
"Great. They're right in the path, probably waiting for some travelers like us to come along."
"I'm not entirely sure they're bandits, yet. Stay here. I'll check it out."
Kh'aaru climbed into the branches of a heavily-green tree. He hopped from treetop to treetop, with even Tyradus barely able to make out his form in the dark. He stopped once he had gotten close enough to the fire. His predictions were correct: They were bandits. At least thirteen of them, all heavily armored.
"So, what, we just wait here until somebody comes?" A Nord asked.
"Isn't that what I just told you?" The leader, a Redguard in steel armor, replied angrily. "Listen well, Vigunn. This is the last time I'll say it. Yes, we wait until somebody comes. Then, we try and convince them to hand over their money. Anyone who doesn't cooperate, we imprison. We can probably get a ransom if we play our cards right."
Kh'aaru had heard enough. He silently made his way back to Tyradus.
"So, who are they?"
"Thieves and kidnappers. They're waiting for their prey to come to them."
"So, what do we do about them?"
"We give them their prey!"
"What are you talking about, Kh'aaru!?"
"Listen to me..."
"I'm telling you, I saw the trees move. Someone's onto us!"
"Shut your damn mouth, Vigunn. It's probably a hawk or something. Oh... Here comes our first target!"
Tyradus walked toward them. His armor was invisible due to a spell he had cast on it. All they saw was his clothes underneath.
The Redguard drew his dagger, and approached Tyradus.
"You! Traveler! Hand over whatever gold you have on you, or I'll skin you like an elk!"
"Petty bandits like you don't deserve my gold!" Tyradus shouted smugly.
"Alright then, Nord. You've chosen the hard way to do this!" All of the bandits rose at once. Each drew a weapon, both one-handed and two. The Redguard leader drew a sword.
"Now... We're either going to take you hostage or kill you. Take your choice."
A grin cracked over Tyradus's face. "Try to kill me."
The bandits laughed. That was, until a flying dagger struck one in the head, killing him.
"Huh!?"
Kh'aaru, hooded once again, dropped down from a tree, bearing Tyradus's blade. He tossed it to his brother, who caught it perfectly by the hilt in his right hand.
The bandits charged. Tyradus fought head-on with his sword, blocking blows and delivering his own. Kh'aaru cleanly and quickly ducked or sidestepped any attacks coming toward him and stabbed his antagonist's unguarded bodies. It all came down to the Redguard leader, who was backed against a tree.
"Please! Don't kill me!"
Kh'aaru scoffed as his dagger hung out of his sleeve. "We don't have time for this. Let's slit his throat and be done with it!"
"No! Please! I'll do anything!" The armored man had tears in his eyes. He knew his death was inevitable.
"I have another idea..." Tyradus sheathed his sword.
"Yes!" The Redguard shouted. "We can work something-"
An IceSpear pierced his forehead, pinning his body to the tree he was backed against. Streams of blood ran down his head.
"That way, the kill is a lot cleaner!" Tyradus laughed as he and his brother began traveling down the blood-covered trail.