Dear Reader,
The Dragonborn agreed to use her unique talents to Maven Black Briars advantage as a means of absolving herself of any guilty / implication with Mercer Frey's plan to steal the Statue of Zenithar from the Black Briar estate... So, with a fiery determination to help her guild mates (and her lover), she heads towards the Heartwood Mill to slay a dragon...
Stolen Heart
By: Anonymous
- Chapter 10: Guild Wars -
Cathryne prepared to leave Riften a week after being found by Maven. Her wounds had healed enough that she felt able to settle her debt and slay the dragon as requested. It was early morning and a soft silver mist swept through the streets like a ghost, the air was thick and damp and filled with the scent of rain.
She neared the main gates of Riften and noticed a hooded figure leaning casually against the door. The outfit was clearly from the Thieves Guild and for a moment she wondered if Mercer had found her out.
Her fears ebbed as Brynjolf pulled the hood off and smirked "What? Did you mistake me for Mercer? I'm hurt, lass."
"Look. I think it might be understandable that I'm a bit paranoid…" Cathryne retorted, before moving in to his open arms "More to the point. Why are you here?"
He wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck with his nose "Well. A certain stiff nosed bitch may have tipped me off that you were about to go dragon-hunting." His eyes looked in to hers, searching for any glint of hesitation "Are you sure about this lass?"
"I'm absolutely sure." She nodded , returning his look with a determined gaze "Mercer needs to pay and more importantly the guild needs Maven on side. If I can kill this dragon and see to it that Mercer is put in his place, then I think the guild just might make it to those 'glory days' everyone's been harping on about, well… until the next travesty at least."
"You make a fair point lass but… Please don't do anything stupid. I mean it, too. You might be the Dragonborn and all but your bones can still break and you can still die." He poked her ribs, leaving his point aching in her side.
"Alright. I won't do anything too heroic." She replied, and mustered up the best smile she could as a means of reassuring him "So stop fretting. The guild is important to me. It's the first time I've felt like I had a home, even a dysfunctional one, for quite a while."
"I'm glad you feel at home with us… I think more so than ever, I feel attached to the guild and… to you."
"It seems your charm knows no bounds, Bryn." She looked up at the brooding skies "I better go. The sooner I leave the sooner I can return, to the guild… and to you."
He nodded "Alright. I'll be in the Bee and Barb. Come and see me when you're done so we can celebrate your victory over some mead."
"Okay." She tiptoed and kissed his cheek "See you soon. Make sure my drink is cold and my seat is warm, alright?"
"Aye. I'll make it so, lass." He kissed her forehead and released her from his embrace. He stood still and watched quietly as she left through the gates. When she was out of sight, he sighed and shook his head before turning to walk away. He passed through the streets of Riften and headed to the Bee and Barb. "Keerava, give me something to eat and drink. I'm planning to stick around for a while."
Keerava glared fiercely at him, glaring daggers if such a thing were possible "Don't you dare nurse a single tankard of mead like you usually do! I'm running a business not a charity."
Brynjolf dropped a coin purse on the table "Here. Consider this my tab and, for once, it's not even yours…"
Keerava picked up the pouch and grunted "Well… Fine. What do you want then?"
"Give me a beef stew and some mead. Oh and Keerava, none of that watered down swill you're palming off. Give me the good stuff you keep hidden under the bar."
Keerava's eyebrows rose for a moment then she scowled, bearing rows of tiny sharp teeth "I shouldn't be surprised that you know about that stash… fine. But it costs extra!"
"Fair enough, lass."
"I already told you to stop calling me that! I'm not some sort of cow or horse!" she snapped at him before stomping off.
Brynjolf smirked to himself as the enraged Argonian slammed a bowl of stew and a bottle of mead on his table. There was nothing quite so satisfying as pissing off a mark, which in turn yielded its own rewards. He tossed the coin purse that he had acquired from her apron up and down in his hand, feeling its weight.
A hand lashed out and caught the purse. Delvin sat down opposite him and dropped it on the table "You seem in… good spirits."
Brynjolf nodded "Aye. I'm waiting for someone."
"Who?" Delvin cocked an eyebrow up "Wait… you haven't found another woman already? You're going to end up being fleeter than Vipir!"
"It's a new recruit, Delvin. Someone that I reckon could be an asset to the guild."
"Not this again… Bryn… let it go. Let her go." Delvin frowned at his friend, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Brynjolf looked away and bit his tongue, he had to try and focus all of his attention on not laughing in Delvin's face. As he looked away, he looked out at Riften, by now Cathryne would be at Heartwood Mill. A sickening feeling filled his stomach, though he tried to quash it.
Catheryne crouched low to the ground, hiding amongst the grass, her Thieves Guild attire provided decent camouflage amongst the greens and woody brown tones. Before her a large dragon dozed atop the Heartwood Mill's watermill, on her way to the site she had met the owner and her two children. They were fleeing from their home, Cathryne promised them that they would be returning home by the end of the day – a big promise but one she intended to keep.
The dragon was large, more so than its green cousins, and adorned with scales the colour of bronze. It's tail lazily flicked from side to side and its sizable stomach rose and fell with rhythmic, growling snores. The wooden supports of the watermill groaned under the extra weight of the dragon.
Cathryne stealthily stalked around the house near the watermill and in to the shallow waters of Riften lake. She swam to the watermill and gripped one of the rotating rudders, it carried her up out of the water and in to the air. She neared the Dragon.
Readying an ebony dagger, she tensed, awaiting the moment that she could score a deep blow on the beast.
The watermill reached its pinnacle and she was finally level with the dragon's tail and hind quarters. She rose the dagger and swiftly plunged it down, embedding it to the hilt in the dragon's right hip, blood splattered and oozed as the blade dug deeply.
The dragon violently jolted awake and roared furiously, the watermill trembled under the sheer might of its voice. Cathryne twirled and swiftly dove in to the waters of the lake to avoid a crushing blow from the beast's claws or tail. She heard the great beats of its wings and felt the rush of air as it took flight. She swam through the lake towards the shore, she emerged from the waters and the ground trembled before her. She looked up and saw the dragon towering over her, blood pouring from its right thigh.
"Dovakiin!" It howled, furiously, flames hissing from its mouth as it spoke.
She drew her bow and fired a bolt in to one of its eyes, once more the dragon reared up in pain and roared furiously, this time its neck snapped to the side and it spat a great plume of fire at her.
Despite her best efforts, the flames singed her clothing causing intense pain to flood through her. She fired more arrows, backing towards the lake in order to extinguish the flames.
The dragon took flight once more, she ducked down in to the waters as its claws lashed out to grab at her. The large talons wrapped around her waist as she dived in to the waters. After thrashing and struggling violently, she managed to slip through its grip. As she emerged a second time from the lake she felt pain around her waist, looking down she saw deep gash marks from where the claws had grazed her.
The dragon landed once more and readied itself for another blast of flame. Cathryne charged forward and drove a second dagger in to the dragon's mouth, stabbing its tongue down in to its lower jaw. A strange, distorted whine emitted from the beasts mouth as it tried to dislodge the firmly placed dagger.
It stomped towards her, tail lashing out along with claws, but she managed to roll and dodge each strike. Finally with a loud roar of effort, she drew her bowstring back and lodged three arrows deeply into the dragon's chest piercing it fatally in the heart. It sank to the floor with a heavy thud, its body already dissipating in to ashes as it fell.
A skeleton remained as proof of her victory, its soul merged with her own.
She fell back in to the dirt, holding her waist, blood slicked her hand but it was a minor wound compared to the last. She drummed up her tried and tested healing spell, reducing the pain and causing some of the bleeding to ebb. Once the pain had faded enough, she stood up and turned towards Riften and began to make the slow journey back there.
"Mercer…" she thought as she walked "It's time we settled our scores!"
~ End of Chapter 10 ~
^^; Sorry for the long gap / inactivity, I've been ill over the past week and it's been really hard to write coherently (with that said, if anything does seem weird in the above chapter then I'm sorry! I'm still kind of sick-induced!)
Thank you again for all the lovely comments and all the favourites / story alert subscriptions - I really really appreciate all this interest! :D