Chapter 2

The sun was setting in the sky and Deezgul knew the time had come. He had watched the shadows of the trees grow longer and longer, until they began to disappear into the darkness of the night and then he knew it was time. Having spent most of the day wandering around the immense burial site, admiring the haunting beauty of it all, Deezgul had come to admire this small city. Each gravestone told its own story and he wished he could learn them all but there was business to attend to. Perhaps another day, Deezgul thought.

The Dead Man's Drink tavern was located back towards the centre of Falkreath. Deezgul assumed it had been given that name due to the burial site that stood a few meters away from it and the subtle joke made him smile. The Argonian admired the Humans taste for irony. On his travels, Deezgul had learned that the tavern was run by a woman called Valga Vinicia, a former citizen of Cyrodiil. He had been told that the woman had a fiery nature but Deezgul was certain that the amount of gold he carried would be able to extinguish any flames the woman might spit at him.

Deezgul approached the tavern and heard music being played inside. Those Bards get everywhere. He opened the door and was greeted by a cacophony of heat, music and alcoholic smells, the typical greetings of a Skyrim tavern. There were a few people sitting at tables, mostly Nords and off duty soldiers who were discussing the hot topics of the day over ale and mead. Falkreath was a city with a sworn allegiance to the Imperials and that was plain to see; there was Imperial armour everywhere. Falkreath had once been a part of Cyrodiil so the presence of Imperial troops didn't surprise Deezgul. He wasn't at the tavern to talk to soldiers though; he was there to speak to Lod. The big blacksmith was nowhere to be seen though so Deezgul went to see Valga Vinicia instead. She was standing behind the bar serving another Imperial soldier as Deezgul approached and she glimpsed towards him for a brief moment, with the faintest look of shock in her eyes. Composure took over quickly however and once the soldier had paid for his mead, Valga gave Deezgul a broad smile.

"Hello there! What can I do for you traveller?" Despite her best efforts to sound welcoming, Deezgul could still hear the surprise in her voice, mixed with a hint of fear. Still, it was friendlier than the greeting Lod had given him.

"Good evening, I am looking for a bed for the night. Do you have any rooms to spare?"

"But of course!" Valga rummaged under the bar to find a key and Deezgul studied the woman. She had long brown hair and a fair face, despite her age. He had seen her like before; battle hardened women who will smile at you one minute and stab you the next. While Valga searched for the keys, Deezgul thought it would be wise to enquire about Lod.

"Your town's blacksmith, I believe his name is Lod, I am to meet him here. Have you seen him at all today?" Deezgul had to raise his voice over the sound of the music being played in the tavern and his noticeable Argonian accent caught the attention of a man sitting close to the bar. The man looked at Deezgul, his beady eyes fixating on the Argonians dagger. Deezgul stared back at the man, waiting for him to say something. The man had a bald head and was wearing simple blue robes but the look in his eyes worried Deezgul. Before he could analyse the man further though, Valga stopped rummaging under the bar and came up with a key and an answer.

"Lod? Haven't seen him since last night I'm afraid. Why might you be after him?"

"Just some business I have to attend to with him". Deezgul could tell Valga didn't like that answer. Argonian business was considered to be bad business by the citizens of Skyrim and he realized that Valga probably didn't want anything unlawful happening in her tavern, especially not with so many Imperial soldiers around.

"What kind of business?" Valga was wise enough to keep her tone friendly but there was the merest hint of suspicion in her voice too. Deezgul saw no point in lying to her.

"I am buying a sword from him. He was busy earlier on so he told me to meet him here and we could commence business."

"Damn Lod. Well do the business in your room; I don't want any of these soldiers seeing someone buy a weapon in my tavern, it can lead to awkward questions that I don't have the answers to."

Deezgul suspected that Valga was probably involved in some kind of unlawful activity herself, which was why she was so suspicious of his business dealings but he was not stupid enough to quiz her about it. He paid for his room and Valga showed him where he would be sleeping. The room was small but it had a bed and that was all Deezgul needed. As Valga left the room, she turned back and said, "I'll send Lod to your room when I see him. Make it quick." Deezgul had every intention of making it quick.

He felt the hours pass and tiredness crept into his body and mind. He had been out to the bar twice to purchase a drink and had enquired about Lod on both occasions but Valga was adamant that Lod had not entered the tavern. As Deezgul walked back to his room, a man stumbled into him. He was almost knocked to the ground but Deezgul managed to stay on his feet and hold the man up too. The drunken man stared up at the Argonian and to Deezguls surprise, it was the same bald man who had been staring at him when he first entered the tavern earlier that night.

"Thank you kind stranger." The man had a soft voice but those were the only words Deezgul would hear him say, as the man regained his composure and walked out of the bar, staggering only once or twice. Deezgul was slightly shocked by the incident but shrugged it off when he remembered how annoyed he was about Lod not showing up. The midnight hour was approaching and sundown had long gone. Deezgul entered his room and sat on the hard bed, wondering why the blacksmith had decided to not come. He pondered the question for some time, until he heard the lock twist in his door. Is that Valga?

"Valga? Did you just lock the door?" There was no answer from the other side. Deezgul grabbed the handle and tried to open the big wooden door but it refused to move. A twinge of panic hit him.

Why would she lock me in?

Deezgul had stayed at taverns in Skyrim before and it was not customary for the innkeeper to lock in their patrons at night. He remained calm and reached for his pocket to use his own key to unlock the door; but his pocket was empty. Deezgul stared down at the pocket on the front of his hide armour and scrabbled around looking for the key but the pocket was barren.

The bald man.

Deezgul realised the man must have pick pocketed him when he stopped the man from falling flat on the floor. A calculated move, the Argonian concluded.

"Valga!" Deezgul shouted for the Imperial woman, in a desperate attempt to get his door open and to destroy the pieces of the puzzle that were beginning to fit together in his head. Deezgul knew he was wanted but he didn't think anyone in Falkreath knew. How wrong he was.

Giving up on Valga, the Argonian walked towards the window and prepared to smash it and provide himself with a quick exit. Suddenly, the window smashed and two steel arrows came flying through the room. One missed Deezgul completely, the other grazed his arm. He wasn't worried about that though, he was much more worried about the fact his only viable escape route was about to be cut off by a hundred more arrows. Two more flew through the open window pane but both missed the Argonian and buried themselves deep within the door. Deezgul dropped to the floor as more arrows whistled above his head. Who was firing them? Lod? The bald man? Imperial soldiers? He had no idea but one thing he did know; barring some kind of miracle, death would not be far away.