Skyrim Thief Fic
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Bethesda Studios. I own F'arrasha.
Chapter 16: Ultimate Heist Part 2
This dwarven ruin was massive to say the least. We had gotten to where Mercer was last seen, but the stench of the place was plaguing all of us. I held my nose and tried to take a minute to calm down and allowed myself to regain my focus. I looked back and Karliah did not seem to be affected by the air here. Brynjolf seemed to put up a front, but I could tell he was having a hard time with it as well. Fighting through the Falmar encampments they made throughout this place was nothing like breaking into a mansion at all. This place…this place was a nightmare and I would hope I would never have to venture into one of these places again.
Along the way, we found the bloodied body of a thief. I shook my head, gagging at the sight. He had been tortured extensively. The Falmar were animals. He had been experimented on, testing the effects of different poisons made by these former Snow Elves. I shook my head and was about to leave when I saw a bloodied piece of paper with some writing on it. I looked and he ranted that he and his partner had seen the eyes of the Falmar. I blinked at that; the Falmar were blind, and had developed acute hearing of some kind. I threw the paper aside and harvested the poison. It would be poetic to use the very poison the Falmar harvested against them. And against Mercer as well.
Fighting through one last encampment, the three of us came to some sort of sanctuary deep within the ruins. The place was ancient, as if anything else in this place was not, but, there was something different about it. I looked up and saw Mercer quickly pulling out two gleaming gems from the large statue that dominated the room. It was easily as tall as a castle, and the gems were as big as shields. Mercer pried them both out and looked down at us, cackling that he had pulled off the greatest heist off all time, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.
I ordered him to give us the Skeleton Key. Mercer just laughed at me. He insulted me, saying that I had serious stones to be giving him orders, when he clearly had the advantage. Karliah pulled out her bow and tried to fire an arrow. That was when Mercer did something. He seemed to glow for a moment and launched a bolt at me. I dodged it and, in mid-air, pulled out my Nightengale Blade and Mercer's Chillrend that I had taken from his house. The bolt hit Brynjolf and he then interrupted Karliah's shot and attacked her. I looked at Karliah and she yelled to go after Mercer.
Mercer was waiting for me and came at me with that blade of his. I dodged, deflecting it with both of these swords. Though they were not like my daggers that I had fought with, I had learned to use two swords as effectively as two daggers. I pushed him off of me, but he was remarkably faster than I had anticipated, coming at me again. I dodged again, scaling up a wall and flipping over him. It was quick enough I got an attack in before rebounding back a little. Mercer noticed the cut on his arm. Though it was not severe, he was bleeding. He chuckled at me and came at me.
He and I continued this dance. He was obviously leading, and he was more experienced than I was. I ducking and dodging more than actually attacking, but I was getting an attack in every now and again. Mercer noticed Chillrend and snarled that, after he was done killing us, he was going to take his blade back. That blade was something he rightfully stole from a tomb. I smirked, remarking that he should have kept it locked up better. I ducked his overhand slash and came at him with Chillrend. The magic of the icy blade came forth and I watched as, for a brief moment, Mercer had been paralyzed by the blade. I quickly followed up with the Nightengale Blade and got a vital part of him. He was surprised by the attack and fell to one knee. I kept my guard up, but he came at me, maddened that I had hurt him. Though it was not enough to kill him, he was visibly hurt by the last attack and was going frenzy. I spun around behind him and slammed the Nightengale Blade into his back and he stiffened for a moment before collapsing onto the floor, dead.
I quickly looted his body and found everything I could ever want on a rich, dead man. Including the Skeleton Key. Brynjolf's confusion had subsided and now the three of us were over Mercer's body. He was dead, and the transgression against Nocturnal had been avenged. But, as we turned to leave, the place started to suddenly cave in. Rocks blocked the only door out of here, and the chamber began to flood. Karliah calmly told us to look for a way out, but, she was terrified of being buried in here. Brynjolf and I began running around, looking for any secret passage or something that could get us out of here. But, there was not. Not behind the statue, not near it, not even on the floor of the thing. I began to curse and swear out loud, calling on the divines and on Nocturnal to show us a way out. The water in the chamber rose up, flooding the chamber and forcing us upward. It all seemed to be over for us.
Then, what seemed miraculous, was the statue's head crumbled, revealing a path outside…
Next Chapter:
Return what was Stolen…