Chapter 12:
Razara could hear yells of pain emanating from behind the door. He smiled at the sounds of the traitor squirming. He had wanted to do that for a long time. To have Siris finally in his grasp made him feel an immeasurable amount of joy.
But, as much as he`d like to stay there and listen to Siris scream all night long, he had more important matters to attend. He hastily made his way to his own quarters. Even though he disliked Nords, he did cope with them. He needed to, or else he wouldn`t receive the army that Ulfric had promised him. But, to claim such army, he would have to help Ulfric in taking - or, as Ulfric so vehemently put it, "liberating" – Skyrim from the Empire.
He entered his room and sat by the desk. Picked a quill up and began to write and order. His "enforcer" in Whiterun needed orders. He smiled as he wrote two simple words:
"Kill her."
00000
Sirs cringed as another blow hit his chest. Tar-Ma had been there for about half an hour, and almost every second of it had been devoted to breaking the bones in Siris`s body.
By the time the larger Argonian left his cell, Siris had five ribs broken and four splintered, a broken wrist, a dislocated shoulder and knee, various bruises around his body, a swollen eye and, when he spit blood, a fang came with it.
"Damn!"Siris thought, body aching all over. "Razara is going to pay me dearly for this."
He looked at his cuffs again. The ones binding his wrists together and the shackles binding them to the wall were made out of iron, but the ones on his leg were made out of leather. Siris smiled, even if it did hurt.
Siris waited until there was only one guard in the cell block. Then he concentrated again.
"The Hist is strong."He thought, eyes closed. "The Hist guides me in times of peril. It is my mother, my guardian and my northern star. The Hist shall heal it`s son, so he can continue to spread the glory of Argonia through all of the known world."
His bones moved back into position and melded themselves, and his dislocated joints did the same with a sickening pop. His bruises healed, his eye returned to it`s normal size, and his mouth itched as another fang occupied the lost one`s place. He was fully healed.
He moved around as much as he could while bound that way. Even though all Argonians could call upon the Hist to heal their wounds, Siris was unusually good with the Histskin technique. There was only one person who could rival him in that power.
"Krona would have scolded me for taking so long. " he remembered, with a sad smile on his face. "She could heal so quickly it was unbelievable. And she didn`t even need to be standing still. It was almost impossible to kill her." His smile disappeared. "And, yet, somehow, I managed to do it"
He slowly moved his right foot back and forth, rubbing his leather pants on the binds at his ankles. Slowly, he could feel that it was beginning to loosen up. He quickly withdrew his leg, shredding it with his foot talon. He slashed the left ankle bind with his right foot`s talon, bursting it open.
"Now, for my marvelous escapade." He thought, flexing his legs up. He pulled his body up by his wrists and flipped himself. He touched the wall above the shackle joints with the tip of his feet, and pulled himself up higher. He rolled up the wall and managed to use his tail to equilibrate himself. Sweat trickled down his body. It was really hot in there, and the exercise wasn`t helping his body cool. He pulled his wrist locks with all his might. The cuffs were strong, but the ring keeping them locked in the wall was rusty. With a few pulls, it already showed signs of breaking. He pulled once again and the ring broke. The force of his pull made him backflip in midair and land on his feet silently, now free.
"Of this, Krona would have been jealous of…"
He hid in the darkest corner of the room and waited for a guard to pass by. He was getting out of there that night, no matter the cost. He had to get back to Whiterun quickly. He had to warn Dila of what was going on.
"I won`t let Razara lay his hands on her…"
00000
Dila was practicing her archery. It helped her forget about her problems. Just her, the bow and the target. It was late at night, and the stars were shining brightly above her head. She repeated the cyclic movement she had learned a long time ago: sight target, lower bow, reach arrow, load arrow, raise and ready bow, release fingers. Each of the three targets had their centers riddles with arrows. A bonfire was lit by her side, illuminating her "enemies". She had been doing that for quite some time now.
Suddenly an arrow came from nowhere and hit the central target in it`s border. She turned around, to see that Vilkas was standing behind her, a golden bow in his hand. He lowered it.
- You beat me in swordplay, and I`m sure I`ll never be able to surpass you in archery. – he said.
- Thank you, I guess. – she said, trying to be civil. It was clear that Vilkas wanted a conversation, and she had nothing better to do.
- I`m sorry for my behavior, earlier. I guess I was just frustrated. – Dila raised a brow at that. According to people inside Jorvaskrr itself, Vilkas wasn`t fond of two things: laughing and apologizing. He was getting strange. – I had never been t beaten by a woman. Not even Aela has beaten me.
- Everything has a first time, right? – she said, smiling, one which Vilkas, much to Dila`s shock, responded.
- Yes. I guess you are right.
They stood there, not knowing what to do. Then Vilkas suddenly approached her, closing his eyes. Dila extended her hand and stopped him. He opened his eyes, surprised.
- What do you think you are doing? – she asked.
- I… well, I… I….
- Don`t try that again, please. – she said, before turning back at the targets and drawing her bow once more.
Vilkas begrudgingly turned around and left, not before kicking a large amount of sand in the bonfire.
"Like that is going to stop me…"Dila thought.
Her pupils became slit, and, in seconds, she could see clearly. Khajiit`s had always had better night vision than anyone in Tamriel, and Dila had become an efficient archer in any situation because of it.
She readied another arrow, but this time, she didn`t aim it at the center. She let it fly, splitting Vilkas arrow in two perfect halfs. She chuckled to herself. She had never had the chance to try that trick. Siris would have been surprised. Even though he had told her he had had training in archery from his time as a Shadowscale, she had never seen him wield a bow. She was going to suggest it to him when they reunited…
"If we reunited…" she thought, feeling sadness creep in. She shook her head. "What am I thinking, of course we are going to be together again."
The bonfire became lit, and her eyes hurt with the change of lighting. Her pupils rounded up again, and she turned t see a couple of hold guards. There was a mage with them. The mage had probably lit the bonfire with the flames he held on his hand. They all looked like they were tired.
- Who are you? – the mage said.
- I am Dila, Auxilliary of the Imperial Legion and friend of the Jarl.
- And what are you doing here?
- I was practicing my skils with the bow and arrow. The war is coming, and it never hurts to practice. – she said, before smiling and continuing – Besides, I`ve got nothing else to do and I couldn`t sleep.
- I am Farengar, the private mage of the Jarl. It is a pleasure to meet you, Dila. The Jarl had already spoken of you in one of his letters.
Dila stood there, confused. That mage had a hood covering his face, but he seemed to be a Bosmer.
"Balgruuf`s seems to have one friend in every nation of Tamriel. I wouldn`t be surprised if an Orc casually strolled by Dragonsreach and took a sweetroll from my plate."
- What has he said? – she asked, now curious.
- He said that Siris brought you, and that you are the best archer he has ever known.
Dila blushed and giggled. Then, Farengar noticed the arrows in the targets.
- And he wasn`t kidding, I guess. Let`s go inside. I just arrived from Winterhold. I am tired and in the need of my bed…
Dila nodded and they went inside. In the way, she asked:
- But, Farengar, what have you been doing in Winterhold?
- It is where the Mages College is located. You never heard of it?
- No. I am… relatively new to this land. I can barely walk without someone asking me if I have seen something. Siris used to guide me, but now…
- Used to? What happened to him?
- The Jarl didn`t tell you? Go ask him. I can`t talk about it if he doesn`t give me permission to do so.
She stopped and turned around, ready to go down the stairs. The guards opened passage for her.
- You are not coming? – he asked.
- No, I don`t live in the palace. I have a room in the Bannered Mare. I will return there. I`m getting tired.
- All right. See you in the morning, then.
The guards let her through, and she quickly walked to the inn. Balgruuf had sent the message that evening, and now there was nothing Dila could do beside sitting down and waiting. When she entered her room, she noticed how tired she really was. She slumped to the bed, took of her armor and threw herself into the sheets. The air was begging to get cold, so the manager had put a few extra blankets for her. She made herself comfortable, and slowly dozed off into sleep…
The blur waiting on the other rooftop was waiting. A new raven was going to arrive shortly, and it was finally going to bring the orders it had been waiting for so long. It licked it`s lips. The city was going to get very interesting really soon…
00000
After one hour, a guard passed in front of Siris`s door. He turned to see the prisoner, only to find out that there was no longer a prisoner. He quickly drew his key from his pocket and opened the lock. He approached the spot where Siris had been, only to find two torn pieces of leather and the remnants of an iron ring lying on the ground. He had to warn Razara about that. Siris running loose could be fatal to everyone in the fort.
He turned his back to the wall. His last mistake.
Siris jumped down from the ceiling and the guard turned toward him. Siris put the chains of his cuffs in the guard`s neck and flipped over him. He landed behind the guard, who was now being strangled with the chain. The guard tried to remove Siris`s hands from his neck, but Siris bent over forward, lifting the guard from the ground. He then proceeded to pull his hands quickly, breaking the guard`s neck silently. Feeling no more reaction from the corpse in his back, Siris let him slid off of his back.
"Quantity over quality…"
Unfortunately, the now dead guard didn`t have the keys to his cuffs, but he did have some dried meat in his pocket, along with a key to his cell door. Siris was starving, so he ate the meat and opened the cell door. He looked up and down the hallway and, seeing nobody else, ran up the stairs. His stealth training did come in handy. The fort he was in was crawling with Shadowscales and soldiers alike, and he would have been dead if he had been heard.
Silently, he made his way to the other room of the dungeon. Two guards were there, discussing what had happened with the dragons.
So, you know what happened with the Dovahkiin?
I dunno. He probably settled down in some village and is now telling his stories in an inn, sitting on a pile of gold…
Actually, he is in High Hrothgar. – Siris said.
The two guards looked toward the door and they saw Siris, they stood there for a moment, confused, before unsheathing their weapons. One of them had a sword and a shield, and the other had a warhammer. Siris dodged a blow from the hammer and wrapped the chains on his wrist to entangle the hands of it`s owner. The other guard attacked, and Siris blocked with the hammer in the other man`s hands before kicking the sword out of the guard`s grasp. Siris flipped the hammer wielding thug over his shoulder while the other man grabbed a dagger from the table. Siris slid his cuffs chain up the hammer hilt and made it impact with the dagger. The dagger was made out of Dwenmer Metal, and it cut through the chains like butter. Siris disarmed the man wielding the hammer and , with a swift movement, brought it on the other man`s ear. His brains jumped through the other side. Siris raised the hammer and smashed it at the face of the guard at his feet.
"Messy… but effective. Now, to find my equipment." He thought, curling his fingers and moving his pained wrists.
He opened a chest, and smiled. All of his equipment was there, including his blade. He quickly put his clothes, dressed his cloak and picked his sword up.
"Miss me?" he thought, not sure if the Ebony Blade had heard. "Time to break out."
He went up the stairs again, only to find a couple guards waiting for him. He could see Tar-Ma and a few of his old companions in the group. He quickly bolted up another flight of stairs, with pursuers running after him. A few windows passed by him while he ran. He took a deep breath and jumped through one of them. Time seemed to slow down as he shattered the glass, and he didn`t dare opening his eyes, hoping he wouldn't be too far from the ground. He couldn`t even risk a broken leg. To his luck, as he opened his eyes, he could that he was falling in a river that was running below. He assumed diving position and plummeted into the river, barely making a splash.
He swam with the current for what he calculated to be an hour before stepping out of the body of water. He saw that it was still night. He looked at the stars. He recognized the sky. If he was right…
"I am in the Whiterun hold already." He thought, with a smile. He turned to the direction of the city and began walking. "If I put my back into it, I can see Dila today. Come on, just a few more hours."
In three hours, he was entering the prairie. He could see Whiterun really far in the distance. He smiled. The sun was beginning to shine from behind the mountains. He quickened his pace.
He then heard a crow fly over him. Crows didn`t usually flew at night. Something was off.
" I have a bad feeling about this…" he thought, running behind the bird.
00000
Dila was woken up by a sudden noise downstairs. Someone had entered the inn. No, not someone. It seemed like a group. There were far too many footsteps to be just one person. She put her ear on the door.
- … Khajiit? Where is her. – she heard.
- U… ups…upstairs, Eorlund… please… I have children.
- So do I. – he said, and Dila could hear a muffled scream.
She quickly put on her armor and got her bow. She lifted the window and jumped to the next ceiling.
"Grey-Manes." She said, looking toward the bar`s entrance. She readied an arrow. Her eyes adapted, and she could see that there were five or six standing by the entrance. It was pitch black, and if she could manage to keep moving, she could kill them all without a sweat.
But something jumped on top of her. She rolled down the roof, struggling with whatever it was. They fell from the house and landed on a few crates. She grabbed her side. She had fallen into something sharp, and it had cut through he armor. She saw the thing that had jumped on her come walking calmly toward her. It had a definitely female silhouette. Something hung behind her, though. She was wearing a hood. She kneeled beside Dila, and Dila saw that her eyes were of a reddish yellow. She crouched near the fallen Khajiit and put her index finger on top of her jugular.
- Still alive… - she said, with an almost monotone voice. She then chuckled. – You are resilient, Khajiit. Not many would have survived that fall, much less if they had fallen on the edge of their own dagger.
Dila saw her remove her hood. She was an Argonian, probably at the same age as Dila. She had tow curved horns, and her skin was orange. She was clad in what seemed like a tight leather armor. Dila had already heard of an Argonian with similar features, but she couldn`t recall where.
- Don`t know me? Has Siris already forgotten me?
Dila`s eyes shot open. No. It couldn`t be…
She gagged with her words. It was too far-fetched, but it could be. She knew of Siris, and her description matched.
- Krona?..
The Argonian laughed out loud, with a laugh that could only mean one thing.
"Yes"
And Dila had never felt so afraid her entire life…
PLEASE, JUST HEAR ME OUT! DON`T FLAME ME YET!
I know it sounds far-fetched, but please give me a chance! I will explain everything in the next chapter.
Oh, while I am at it, big shout out to Noodle12, my most faithfull reader. Thank you very much, Noodle. You win TWO Internets and a big party cake! Siris cooked it himself, so don`t worry if it does taste stale...
Eddy out.