Skyrim Thief Fic
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Bethesda Studios. I own F'arrasha.
Chapter 10: Tailing a Lizard
I was sharpening my weapons after a long rest when Mercer came looking for me. He said he had another job for me. Mercer was the present head of the Thieves Guild. He was a gruff man, balding, but clearly still sharp. I put my daggers down as he explained how he had seemingly respected the person or persons that were attempting to undermine the Thieves Guild. I was a bit surprised at that, but, he looked at me and said that, though he had respect for those individuals, he also would make them pay for attempting to undermine the Guild. There was a contact he had in Solitude that would know something. His name was Gulum-Ei, an Argonian whom they had dealings with. He worked for the East Empire Trading Company, which owned a warehouse. I was to get information out of him, but not to kill him. If he was involved in this scheme, Mercer thought it would be more useful to the Guild to keep him alive and around. Maybe even use him to smuggle stolen goods in and out of Skyrim.
I headed to Solitude by carriage and arrived at night. There were no more executions for the day, which I found both relieving and disappointing. With everyone attending the execution, their homes would be easy to rob.
A drunken lout was standing outside the Winking Skeever, where Gulum-Ei worked out of in terms of his less…legal affairs. I slipped by the drunk and walked in. There was a bard regaling tales of a time forgotten when I saw the Argonian I was looking for sitting in a private corner. I sat next to him and asked what he knew. At first, I asked nicely, but Gulum-Ei did not seem to pay too much attention. He was stubborn, I will give him that, but, he was also a thief, like me. So, I attempted to bribe him for the information. The scaly being told me of a case of wine in the palace he wanted procured for his personal use. If I purloined it, then he would tell me what he knew. I accepted.
The wine was easy to find. Someone left crate on a table. Making sure no one was looking, I slipped all the bottles I could and snuck out the back door of the palace. I returned with the wine to Gulum-Ei and he told me that he only brokered the deal with a woman. This particular woman was very angry at Mercer and wanted revenge. I asked for the name, but the Argonian could not give it to me, for he had no idea who it was. I leveled a stare at him, trying my best to be intimidating, but he was not going to tell me. He then left a bottle of the wine and told me to have at it. He then left.
I left the wine on the table and waited a few minutes before following him. It was still dark and I was able to tail him to his warehouse without getting seen by him. I had to be careful of the guards as I was tailing him to the warehouse, and act as casual as possible when around them.
I got to the warehouse and watched Gulum-Ei walk in with the key. Quickly picking the lock, I managed to slip inside. This place was slightly damp, but, it was a massive warehouse, and it was filled with guards. Staying in the shadows, I climbed the shelves and continued onward, staying just out of the bountiful torches' light. These guards were either city guards, or guards of the East Empire Trading Company, but, either way, I did not want to get spotted. I continued onward, slipping underneath a ship and into the water. I surfaced and saw him entering a private doorway. Slipping by the last guard, I found my way in.
The doorway led to more caverns, but, as I noticed, these were not guards of either the company or the city. These were bandits, holed up. I pulled my daggers out, waiting for the right time to strike. I kicked a rock and snuck away, diverting them to where they would separate. I stabbed one of them with both my daggers and then flipped over to the second one. He never got to swing his axe, as I landed a critical blow. He fell over dead, my daggers silencing his voice.
There were more bandits throughout this maze of caverns, and I easily dispatched them. Some I stabbed when they got too close, but others I took out from afar with my bow. I was growing fond of using the bow, at least for dealing with things far away from me.
The boss of the bandits was standing in front of a campfire. All of his compatriots were dead, and I saw Gulum-Ei pacing back in forth, nervous as to what was happening. I climbed up to a higher level, my daggers at the ready. When I was I ready, I jumped down on top of the bandit leader. I hissed and tried to stab him, to finally kill him, but he threw me off and went for his bow and arrow. He got a shot off, but I dodged it, barely. He was fast and accurate with that thing, and I had to be careful on how to handle it. I ducked and flipped, charging at him. He got two more shots off, one of which hit me in the shoulder. I lost that dagger, but roared with ferocity and stabbed with the other dagger into the bandit's chest. I missed some vital organ that I could have ended this with, but he was stunned. I flipped back, picking up the second dagger I lost and took a defensive stance against him. He had one hand on his side, attempting to stop the bleeding. My shoulder ached, but I was going to fight through it. He was too, as he pulled out his sword and came at me. I rolled out of the way and threw the daggers at him. His guard was down and both of them found their mark in his chest again. This time, the lead bandit was dead.
I clutched my shoulder and caught my breath. I was mad. I was furious. I glared right at Gulum-Ei. He backed away slowly, explaining he had no choice. He was going to get killed if he had talked. I pulled out one of the daggers and held it to his throat. He offered he would be useful to me and the Guild if he were to be kept alive. I glared at him and intimidated him into talking. He said the woman that hired him was named Karliah. I asked who that was and Gulum-Ei explained that she was in the Thieves Guild until she betrayed Mercer and left him for dead. She was scheming revenge against the Guild, attempting to take it over after Gallus died. I threw him aside and told him to get lost.
I recuperated in the bandit's camp for the night and returned to Riften the next day with the information. My shoulder was still aching, but I was fit for combat. I explained the situation to Mercer and he seemed to act surprised at the name. He then said that this was going to end at Snow Veil Sanctum, and that he and I were going out there. He looked at my shoulder and told me to get checked out at the temple before heading out on the mission of vengeance.
I had no idea who Karliah was, but, if she was the enemy of the Thieves Guild, then she was my enemy as well…
Next Chapter:
Sanctum and Betrayal!